M O N D A Y SEPTEMER 9, 2002
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVII, No. 66
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
CIANCI GETS FIVE YEARS
Charlie Hall
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Ernest Torres, above seated, sentenced Mayor Vincent Cianci, above standing, on Friday to 64 months in prison for running a criminal enterprise out of City Hall. Less than an hour later, city officials swore in City Council President John Lombardi as mayor. Mayoral primary elections are scheduled for Tuesday.
Cianci vacates City Hall quarters BY JULIETTE WALLACK
Former Mayor Vincent Cianci’s reign over Providence has arrived at its finale. After comparing Cianci to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and describing him as a mayor who used his power for personal gain, a judge sentenced Cianci to 64 months in prison Friday for running a criminal enterprise out of City Hall. The sentencing follows a three-month trial that resulted in Cianci’s conviction on one federal corruption charge. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Ernest Torres suspended Cianci’s sentence for 90 days to give the former mayor a chance to appeal. Less than an hour after Torres announced Cianci’s sentence, city officials swore in City Council President John Lombardi as mayor at City Hall — across Kennedy Plaza from the courtroom where Cianci heard his sentence. The federal prosecutors who indicted Cianci and four of his staff members in April 2001 painted a picture for the jury of an administration that operated city government as a criminal enterprise. Cianci faced 17 federal charges when opening statements in the trial were heard April 24. Torres dropped five charges in June.
A long, troubled career Trouble in Cianci’s administration began long before the FBI’s recent investigation into City Hall, dubbed Operation Plunder Dome. In 1974, then-Republican Cianci was elected mayor by a city that had been led by Democrats for the past 34 years. By 1982, Cianci was popular despite a budget deficit and rising taxes, and he campaigned for re-election as an Independent. Personal troubles plagued his career during the mid-1980s, and in April 1984, Cianci received a five-year suspended sentence after he pleaded no contest to charges that he assaulted his estranged wife’s boyfriend with a fireplace log and a lit cigarette. At the same time the spotlight focused on Cianci’s personal life, a grand jury focused on corruption in the city’s government. On April 25, 1984, Cianci resigned after receiving a suspended sentence. Soon after, the government indicted 30 city employees on corruption-related charges. After a five-year stint as a radio show host, Cianci campaigned for reelection in 1990 as an Independent, and he won by 317 votes. Cianci’s 12-year tenure was marked by rapid development and revitalization in
Cicilline set for Tuesday primary BY JULIETTE WALLACK
With a win in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, mayoral hopeful David Cicilline ’83 could become the first Brown graduate to lead Providence. Cicilline, who announced his candidacy more than six months ago, has the support of 40 percent of respondents in the most recent poll. He faces a challenge from four candidates, including former Mayor Joseph Paolino. Cicilline told The Herald he attributes his success to the city’s readiness for change. “I think the voters are smart and know that the last thing that we need is another politician looking for political opportunities,” Cicilline said. “We need a mayor who has a real commitment, who has the courage to stand up and speak out against what was happening in Providence and has a clear vision about where we’re going to take the city from here.” With his campaign more than six months old, Cicilline said he’s had the opportunity to get his message out into the neighborhoods of Providence. “I’ve had a chance to lay out my plans
More crime alerts sent out this summer than last, signaling safety concerns for new year page 5
see CICILLINE, page 4
see CIANCI, page 6
I N S I D E M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 9 , 2 0 0 2 911 + 1 exhibit looks at the Sept. 11 attacks and their effects on American society page 3
for education, for neighborhoods, for economic development,” he said, and he added that other candidates seem to have picked up on his ideas. “That’s politics,” he said. “But, I think it’s clear that I entered the race because of a real commitment I have to the city.” Cicilline said his campaign is different because he represents “real change,” an idea the other three candidates have hit upon but not stressed as heavily, he said. Cicilline said he is the only candidate in the race who has refused to take campaign contributions from city employees, and as mayor, he said, he will not take contributions from city vendors. That, he said, will allow him to “break that link between politics and money and city government.” Now, half of a year into his campaign and independent of whether he wins the primary, Cicilline said he would have started his campaign even earlier, despite the fact that former Mayor Vincent Cianci’s decision to not run for reelection was not yet known. Cianci was convicted in July of racket-
One year after Sept. 11 rush, the blood banks of Rhode Island have again run dry page 5
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Chris Senio ’04 says a baseball players’ union strike would have been good for baseball column,page 11
Amid much spectacle, Pete Sampras defeats Andre Agassi to win U.S. Open title page 12
sunny high 90 low 67
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
THIS MORNING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 · PAGE 2 A story of Eddie Ahn
W E AT H E R TODAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
High 90 Low 67 sunny
High 86 Low 60 partly cloudy
High 70 Low 52 partly cloudy
High 75 Low 46 sunny
GRAPHICS BY TED WU
Pornucopia Eli Swiney
CALENDAR DISCUSSION — “What have we learned since Sept. 11, 2001?” an open discussion with Dean Karen McLaurin-Chesson, Brown. Third World Center, 68 Brown St., 2-4 p.m. DISCUSSION — Open discussion with Sarah Doyle Women’s Center Director Gail Cohee, Brown. Sarah Doyle Women’s Center, 26 Benevolent St., 2:30-4 p.m. DISCUSSION — “What have we learned since Sept. 11, 2001?” Graduate student gathering, with discussion led by David Ames, Episcopal chaplain and clinical assistant professor of community health, Brown. Arnold Lounge, Keeney Quad, 7-8:30 p.m.
My Best Effort Andy Hull and William Newman
LECTURE — “Aesthetic Securities,”Thomas Levin, Princeton University, curator of “911+1: The Perplexities of Security.” Awards announcement and screening of the winning entries in student short-film competition. Waston Institute, 7:30 p.m.
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Therapist’s response 5 Mississippi River flatboat 10 Jerky meat 14 French father 15 Warning that’s often red 16 Rock-’n’-__ 17 He outranks a viscount 18 Pastry with a hole 19 Deep black 20 Fail magnificently 23 Perform on stage 24 Shoshonean 25 Concur 29 Recliner, e.g. 31 Slapstick shtick 34 Loud and clear, as a trumpet call 37 Lubricates 38 Suffer from insomnia 40 “__ go bragh!” 42 Something to wrap 43 CliffsNotes offerings 45 Hitchhiker’s important digit 49 Fruit associated with Georgia 50 XXX ÷ X 52 Aussie hopper 53 Profit from one’s experience 58 “Wait just a minute!” 61 Get away from 62 Auth. unknown 63 Knocks the socks off 64 Perry of fashion 65 Hollywood intersector 66 Whipping memento 67 Nobelist Anwar 68 Sunrise direction DOWN 1 Medicinal syrup 2 Manhunt
3 Mistakes-andcorrections list 4 Slithery fish 5 Without a talent for 6 By oneself 7 Tear apart 8 Cowhand’s chow 9 Words from Caesar 10 Elicit 11 Many, many years 12 Antlered beast 13 __ in the ointment 21 Throws hard 22 Spiller of the proverbial beans 26 Cause of a game delay 27 Shelf bracket shape 28 Overhead trains 30 Attacker of traditional institutions 31 Evergreen trees 32 Reel holders 33 Kitty contribution
35 Horned vipers 36 Seldom seen 38 Rocking Turner 39 Up to the time when 40 Mind reader’s skill 41 Deli bread 44 __ Beta Kappa 46 Muse of astronomy 47 Idiots
48 Bee’s hat? 50 Gandhi’s nation 51 Latin for “that is” 54 Victory signs 55 Scat artist Fitzgerald 56 “__ Lang Syne” 57 Roof overhang 58 Internet abbr. 59 Gardening tool 60 Barn bird
Sinking World Kea Johnston
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: C A T S M E O W F L F I E I N A P I N C H I N A T E X A S T E A A L B E E A M I N O S N E L L S D O C R E D N E N A M E L A T T A L E B A N O N T Y P E C R O P T S T R A P S H I B A Y S L P Y T O T H O J E E P S S E E N J O N A H T A P E R N O M A T A P O G E E O N S T R R E B U T S N Y G I A E D E N S
A R S E N I C
I C E P I C K
R E C I P E S
C H I H O N A T F S S O T E R E A M N T S
Cookie’s Grandma is Jewish Saul Kerschner
9/9/02
xwordeditor@aol.com
Stumped? Call 1-900-226-4413. 99 cents a minute 1
2
3
4
5
14
6
7
8
9
17
25
30
31
34
35
32
27
28
36
46
47
48
37 39
41
MENUS
42
43
44
45
49
50 53 59
26
33
38
58
13
22
24
29
12
19
21
23
11
16
18
20
40
10
15
60
54
55
56
51
52 57
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
THE RATTY LUNCH — vegetarian Washington chowder, kale and linguica soup, beef burritos, vegan black bean tacos, vegan refried beans, Mexican corn, chocolate chip bars
VDUB LUNCH — vegetarian Washington chowder, kale and linguica soup, chicken parmesan sandwich, spinach rice bake, vegan ratatouille, broccoli, chocolate chip bars
DINNER — vegetarian Washington chowder, best ever roast beef, veal patty with onion sauce, sweet and sour pasta, rice pilaf, French style green beans, fresh vegetable saute, ricotta bread, apple oatmeal crisp
DINNER — vegetarian Washington chowder, kale and linguica soup, Italian beef noodle casserole, Mediterranean orzo, red potatoes with fresh dill, sauteed zucchini with onions, carrots in parsley sauce, ricotta bread, apple oatmeal crisp
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD, INC.
WANTS YOU!
(FOR A FUN TIME)
Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is published Monday through Friday during the aca-
Business Phone: 401.351.3260
demic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and
David Rivello, President
once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box
Beth Farnstrom, Vice President
2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195
Seth Kerschner, Vice President
Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web:
Stacey Doynow, Treasurer
http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $135 first class daily, $85 first class
Jamie Wolosky, Secretary
weekly. Copyright 2002 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
ARTS & CULTURE MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 · PAGE 3
911 + 1 exhibit examines a new security-obsessed United States BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZ
Seth Kerschner / Herald
The two-week 911 + 1 multimedia exhibition opened Sunday evening with a reception at the Watson Institute.The exhibit included digital maps of Lower Manhattan by Laura Kurgan, above, which covered the Institute’s floor.
The Watson Institute’s new “911 + 1” multimedia exhibition moves beyond the lives lost in the World Trade Center to mourn the living’s sacrifice to an increasingly aggressive, restrictive and security-obsessed society. Titled “911 + 1: The Perplexities of Security,” the twoweek exhibition opened Sunday evening with a reception at the Watson Institute. Organizer James Der Derian and curator Thomas Levin included the work ONE YEAR AFTER FIRST IN A SERIES of over 20 artists, from countries from South Africa to Romania, in the exhibit. The exhibition, supported by the Watson Institute, stands as the centerpiece of a week-long commemoration of last September’s tragedy. Other events include open lectures, a research seminar and a student short-film competition. A forum on the aesthetics and politics of national security, the exhibit better represents Der Derian’s understanding of the current political situation than of the tragedy itself. Der Derian described his work as an attempt to make viewers aware of what he sees as key political issues. He said he is concerned that “if homeland security gets to be what some would have it be, the assumption of privacy will become a class privilege,” forcing citizens to pay to protect private data. Peter Cornwell’s “Face (value)” plays on this concern by networking four screens on the Institute’s first floor to monitor and catalogue the faces of exhibition viewers. Three of the screens project virtual surveillance cameras but also contain actual ones, which the project’s software uses to “work with where people are in the space and choose someone to follow,” Cornwell said. The person’s image is then projected onto the screen as a reflection in the virtual camera’s lens. If a viewer stands motionless in front of the screen for several seconds, the software takes a still photograph of the person. The fourth screen plays a continuous loop of these stills, which at a recent show in Germany totaled over 35,000, Cornwell said. When used for security, this combination of cheap cameras and sophisticated software eliminates the need to record continuous surveillance footage. Rather than reviewing hours of footage, an agency could simply work from a database of identifying photographs, Cornwell said. John Klima described his work, “The Great Game,” as a “robotic kiddie ride controlled from an arcade game.” For a quarter — your tax dollars at work, Klima said — a player can simulate the bombing of Afghanistan. Klima worked from information he found on the Department of Defense Web site, he said, which gave him see 911, page 6
PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002
Cicilline continued from page 1
write join us
articles columns letters reviews features news H E R A L D @ B R O W N D A I LY H E R A L D. C O M
the brown daily herald
eering conspiracy and sentenced Friday to 64 months in prison. “I think you recognize that this is a big city, and I’ve walked in every neighborhood, but I know I haven’t met everyone I’d like to meet,” Cicilline said. Even with his heavy stress on plans for neighborhoods, Cicilline said he doesn’t necessarily support Business Improvement Districts in many neighborhoods, an idea that opponent Joseph Paolino is pushing heavily. BIDs are designated commercial regions in which property owners can provide supplemental services traditionally performed by the public sector, including security and sanitation. Cities like New Haven, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh recently established BIDs in their central business districts. Cicilline criticized Paolino for making an about-face on the question of BIDs. As a private citizen, Paolino opposed the idea because of how much money it could cost his real estate development company, Cicilline said. But last week, Paolino told The Herald that he supports the idea, saying it could give a boost to commercial areas. Cicilline said the use of BIDs means that the city is not holding up its end of the bargain. “The reality is the responsibilities of the BIDs are the responsibilities of city government,” he said. “Business Improvement Districts, although an exciting proposal, are also in some ways recognition that the city’s not doing what it should be doing in those communities.” On the same evening that Cicilline will hear the results of the primaries at Roger Williams Park, Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls will learn the verdict of their primary election. With three candidates rating almost equal in a recent poll conducted by Darrell West, director of the A. Alfred Taubman Center for Public Policy, the outcome is hard to predict. But Cicilline said he expects to have a good relationship with whoever ends up in office — a change from the past. Cianci and Gov. Lincoln Almond had strenuous relations for most of the former mayor’s time in office. Almond issued several calls for Cianci’s resignation during the past year. It is important that the next mayor work well with the governor, Cicilline said. Because “the departments of state and city government work together closely in issues of education, economic development and crime reduction. “I think it’s important … that the mayor and state government work closely as well,” he said. All Cicilline can do now is wait for the votes to come in for Tuesday’s primary. If he secures a majority of the predicted 30,000 votes, he could be a lock for mayor. Because the other candidates are less known than Cicilline and Paolino, the primary might predict the outcome of the November election, the Providence Journal reported Sunday. Herald staff writer Juliette Wallack ’05 edits the metro section. She can be reached at jwallack@browndailyherald.com.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
CAMPUS NEWS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 · PAGE 5
Summer saw crime increase A year after Sept. 11, blood banks run dry BY BRIAN BASKIN
After a lull in the final month of classes, campus crime returned with a vengeance during the normally quiet summer months. Sexual assaults, robberies and street attacks highlighted the summer crime report. Two sexual assaults occurred in the vicinity of Benefit Street. At 11:18 p.m. on June 28, a female Rhode Island School of Design summer school student was sexually assaulted at Canal Street near Hemenway’s Seafood Grill. She described her attacker as a man between 30 and 40 years old, 5’8” to 5’9” with a beer belly and possibly a tattoo on his upper arm and another on his calf. He was driving an old, gray fourdoor vehicle with a tan or vinyl roof and had plastic animal cages and blankets in the back seat. Since the victim was not a Brown student, Brown is not involved in the case, and Providence Police Department is investigating the attack, Perry said. A female Brown student was walking north on Benefit Street between Power and Charlesfield streets at 9:37 a.m. on July 3 when a clean-shaven bald man between 25 and 30 years old grabbed her chest before continuing down the street. Four students were attacked during June and July on East Campus. The first attack of the summer occurred shortly after midnight on June 9. Two men attacked three male Brown students from behind at the corner of Brook and Power streets. A security guard who witnessed the attack called Brown Police. The suspects fled when they heard sirens and were not apprehended. Brown EMS treated one student at the scene. Nearly a month later, three men attacked a male Brown student with broom handle-shaped sticks near Hope and George streets at 2:45 a.m. on July 13. The student received a severe laceration to the left side of his head. Three robberies occurred over the summer as well. At 1:39 a.m. on July 24, two men stole a female Brown Summer Studies student’s bag at the corner of Charlesfield and Thayer streets. The two men, both described as 6’5”, weighing 190 pounds and not wearing shirts, attempted to engage the student in conversation before one grabbed her handbag and told her not to scream. The suspects fled north on Thayer Street. On July 29 at 11:21 p.m. three men
robbed a man at knifepoint at the intersection of Thayer and Benevolent streets. The armed suspect was 6’4” with a thin build and wore a red bandanna over his face. The suspect held the knife in front of the man and demanded all his money. The other two suspects stole a bag containing water. Two sword-wielding suspects robbed East Side Mini Mart on Brook Street at 12:35 a.m. on Aug. 14. The suspects fled on bicycles, but a DPS officer spotted one. The suspect fell off his bike and dropped his sword before a passerby tackled him. DPS turned the suspect over to the PPD for further questioning. The second suspect was not found. On Aug. 15 at 1:40 a.m., a man walking down Hope Street near Barus & Holley was stopped by two men who asked him for directions to a bar. When he turned to point in the direction of the bar, the men hit him with metal objects. Providence Rescue took the victim to the hospital. A man riding his bike at the corner of Hope and George streets at 12:40 a.m. on Aug. 15 was hailed by two men who acted as if they knew him. Since he did not recognize them, he continued riding, but the men ran behind him. One of the suspects swung an object at his head. On July 7, shortly after 11 a.m., four women in a blue car, possibly a Ford Taurus, pulled up beside a female Brown student outside Barus & Holley on Hope Street. A passenger pointed a large black handgun at her and started laughing. The car then drove north on Hope Street. The Department of Public Safety, formerly known as Brown University Police and Security, e-mailed eight crime alerts detailing ten incidents and one arrest to the Brown community between June and August. DPS sent no crime alerts during the same period last year. DPS instituted several new policing procedures, including the hiring of new officers, cutting down on the number of security officers patrolling dormitories, enhanced shuttle and escort services and improved training for officers, Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter said. The University resumed using Sterling security to provide an additional police presence. There are between six and seven yellow-jacketed Sterling employees on duty at any one time, Hunter said. Herald staff writer Brian Baskin ’04 can be reached at bbaskin@browndailyherald.com.
BY JAMAY LIU
A year after the rush to donate blood following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 blood reserves are at a critical low, according to the National Blood Data Resource Center. Though blood banks witnessed the “largest turnout in first-time donors in modONE YEAR AFTER SECOND IN A SERIES ern history” after Sept. 11, a year later, only a few — less than 8 percent — of those firsttime donors have returned, said Stephanie Millian, a representative for the New England American Red Cross. According to the National Blood Data Resource Center, blood donation levels returned to pre-Sept. 11 levels by the end of December last year, and 2002 did not witness an increase in blood supply, despite a rise in demand. The Rhode Island Blood Center, the sole blood collection agency in the state with four sites, holds four to six drives a day. But it was not able to meet its goal of 280 pints a day this summer, said Peter Hanney of the Rhode Island Blood Center, who manages the Brown Drive. “We are riding the wave from Sept. 11,” he said. “After the news came out of the Red Cross throwing away blood, every blood center across the nation was hurt.” This current blood shortage may be partly due to media coverage of a surplus in blood after Sept. 11, 2001, said Marian Sullivan, director of research at the National Blood Data Resource Center. The American Red Cross reportedly collected so much blood in 2001 that unused units had to be thrown away. Blood centers across the nation tried to avoid surpluses by placing caps on collections, and many donors were turned away from blood drives. The Rhode Island Blood Center, which sent 110 units of red blood cells to New York, was one of the first blood centers to donate after the attacks, said Frank Prosnitz, manager of community development at RIBC. The center decided Sept. 13 to place a cap on all blood drives in order to prevent a surplus. “After Sept. 11, a lot of people saw donating blood as the only way they could help,” Sullivan said. “But the reality is, not much blood was needed — as we all know, most of the victims died. A little was needed — but not that much.” The amount of blood collected in
“It was those who understood the importance of donated blood prior to Sept. 11 who are the real heroes for the victims.” Frank Prosnitz Rhode Island Blood Bank 2001 exceeded the amount collected in 2000 by approximately one million units. Twenty-six percent of the total amount of blood collected was concentrated in the 10-week period following Sept. 11, according to NBDRC data. Because each unit of blood has a shelf life of 42 days unless it is frozen, some of the blood collected after the terrorist attacks expired before it could be used, Sullivan said. “It is important to know that it was the blood collected before Sept. 11 that was used for the victims of the attacks,” Prosnitz said. “It was those who understood the importance of donating blood prior to Sept. 11 who are the real heroes for the victims.” However, Prosnitz said “while Sept. 11 was an enormous tragedy, there are tragedies every single day,” and the blood collected after the attacks helped victims of all kinds of tragedies. Sullivan speculated that there are other factors contributing to the current blood shortage. The shortage may be due to a 5 to 10 percent increase in the demand for blood each year, caused by a shift in the age structure toward older age groups as people live longer and a large portion of the population is in the older age group, as well as an increase in medical procedures that require blood, Sullivan said. She added that the summer season is always a low time for blood donations because the high schools and colleges, which are big contributors, are out of session. Yielding 1,000 to 1,200 pints per year, Brown is Rhode Island’s largest contributor of blood, Hanney said. The Rhode Island Blood Center will hold blood drives at Brown on Sept. 20, 23 and 24. Herald staff writer Jamay Liu ’05 can be reached at jliu@browndailyherald.com.
PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002
Cianci continued from page 1 downtown Providence, and his popularity soared. But the capital’s growth took a backseat on April 28, 1999, when the FBI swept into City Hall with search warrants, arrested two city officials and seized materials related to the investigation. The raid brought Operation Plunder Dome to the public’s attention.
Charlie Hall
Mayor Vincent Cianci at his sentencing on Friday. He received 64 months in jail for racketeering conspiracy.
Cianci’s bleak future In addition to the 64-month sentence, Cianci must pay a $100,000 fine, which is the maximum allowed by law. After his release, he faces two years of probation and 150 hours of community service, for which Torres said Cianci’s charitable spirit was well suited. Before Friday’s sentencing, federal prosecutors filed a motion requesting Torres to consider sentencing Cianci to 9 to 11 years in prison rather than the normal 57 to 71 months. In court Friday, Federal Prosecutor Richard Rose told the judge that statutes dictate that the “person at the top of the pyramid should be punished” most severely, and because Cianci was the ringleader of the criminal enterprise, he deserved a long sentence. Conversely, Cianci’s legal team filed a motion asking Torres to consider a sentence shorter than 57 months because of the former mayor’s accomplishments while in office. Torres rejected both motions after lengthy arguments, saying that though a jury found Cianci guilty of corruption, there was insufficient evidence to prove the former mayor headed the chain of corruption. But he also turned down the defense’s request for a
911 continued from page 3 fair estimates of when and where U.S. bombs detonated. With more precise information, he could use his program to recreate the war in full, he said. Named after Rudyard Kipling’s description of the war between Russia and Victorian England for the land that now comprises Afghanistan, the Great Game “mocks the ideal of a bloodless, robotic, technologic war,” Klima said. Klima said the Bush administration attempts to frame the war in Afghanistan as divorced from reality, though innocent lives — and tax dollars — are lost daily as the military “hunts rabbits in
shortened sentence, saying Cianci’s good deeds were only part of his responsibilities as mayor. Before Torres announced the sentence, he gave Cianci the chance to address the court. “I appreciate the fairness that the court has afforded me,” Cianci said. “I’m sorry that it all came to this … I love the city very much.” Cianci also reiterated that he is innocent, and that he plans to appeal. The judge said Cianci is a “skilled and charismatic political figure” who “thinks quickly on his feet,” and Torres recognized Cianci’s role in Providence’s renaissance and commended the 61-year-old man who “demonstrated remarkable force under tremendous pressure.” Torres also said he realized Cianci had already been “severely punished by losing this office, which has been your whole life.” But Torres quickly reminded the court that Cianci was a man who “had administrations rife with corruption” and had committed an “egregious breach of public trust.” Cianci has 90 days to appeal his sentence before he must turn himself in at noon on Dec. 6. But Torres cautioned, “I certainly can’t say that a successful appeal is likely.” Frank Corrente, Cianci’s former director of city administration, was sentenced to 63 months in jail. Corrente, who will report to prison Oct. 11, was also fined $75,000. Richard Autiello, the Cranston businessman whose tow-truck enterprise was involved in Cianci’s bribery scheme, was sentenced to 46 months in prison. Herald staff writer Juliette Wallack ’05 edits the metro section. She can be reached at jwallack@browndailyherald.com.
Afghanistan,” Klima said. According to Der Darien, the exhibition is an attempt to fill the gap between “our desire to understand and our capacity to understand” the Sept. 11 attacks. Its focus, however, appears to be less on last year’s assault by external powers than on the current perceived threat of domestic security. In the eyes of contributors to “911 + 1,” the danger posed today by Sept. 11, 2001 may be, as Levin said, “the capacity to distract us from the incredible threat to civil rights that we’re currently undergoing in the U.S.” Herald staff writer Carla Blumenkranz ’05 edits the arts & culture section. She can be reached at cblumenkranz@browndailyherald.com.
join us
write TUESDAY, SEPT. 10 @ 9 P.M. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 11 @ 7 P.M.
open houses
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
WORLD & NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 · PAGE 7
IN BRIEF Army prepares for restructuring WASHINGTON (L. A. Times) — Facing a new mission since Sept. 11, the Army National Guard plans to transform some of its tank units to light infantry units that can be rapidly sent to military hotspots in the United States or abroad, Army officials said Sunday. The restructuring is designed to lighten the Guard force by jettisoning some aging tanks and turning four brigades into general-purpose “mobile light brigades“ that could perform everything from significant battlefield operations in wartime to homeland security tasks, such as guarding nuclear plants and bridges. Army Secretary Thomas E. White approved the plan last month as part of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld’s directive to alter the guiding strategy of the armed forces. Rather than being ready to fight two major wars simultaneously, the Pentagon is now preparing to engage in a broad range of smaller conflicts and “asymmetrical “ threats — such as terrorists — on several battle fronts. “This initiative will help the Guard become a more deployable, more mobile, and more flexible force, better suited to support our nation at home and abroad,“ White said Sunday at a National Guard conference in Long Beach, Calif.
Backup plan keeps brokers in business NEW YORK (Newsday) — Ten miles and a lifetime away
from the World Trade Center, 300 commodities brokers have spent the past year trading coffee, sugar, cocoa, cotton and orange juice in a box-like building in Queens, just down the block from an abandoned warehouse. Quarters are cramped and lunch choices are limited — the only familiar dining experience being the Jacque’s Catering truck that followed them from the trade center. But the brokers, left homeless when 4 World Trade Center was destroyed, are grateful to be alive and making a living, raising their familiar outcry in the pits of the New York Board of Trade’s Queens backup facility. Paul J. Spano, a 36-year-old sugar broker who now makes a long commute from Staten Island, said he had mixed emotions last year on his first day back to work: relief to see old friends, confusion about working in the crowded quarters and questions about whether customers would still have faith in the exchange. “Everything was gone. Records, phone numbers, even photos of my family, “ Spano said. “But it kind of put things into perspective. So now I’m going to complain about sitting the extra time in traffic!? Hey, I’m just glad that I’m alive! And as far as business is concerned, we’re not just surviving, we’re thriving,” he said. Spano said the time in Queens has served as a transition that will let traders ease back into the downtown scene and rebuild with the rest of the city.
Military: Al-Qaeda bombers will strike WASHINGTON (Washington Post) — One year into America’s war against al-Qaeda, U.S. intelligence officials believe that the thousands of al-Qaeda followers who have graduated from terror training camps in Afghanistan will try to launch their own rudimentary but deadly attacks. Al-Qaeda’s hierarchy has been significantly disrupted, according to officials trying to assess the state of threat against the United States and targets abroad. But the U.S. military’s success in rousting al-Qaeda from Afghanistan has had the unintended consequence of widely dispersing its adherents, determined to make jihad on whatever scale they can muster. Those fears were reinforced in recent days with the arrest in Germany of an al-Qaeda follower and his American girlfriend for allegedly planning to bomb the U.S. Army’s headquarters in Europe and the assassination attempt against Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The latter followed by hours a car bombing in downtown Kabul that killed 12 people. As the one-year anniversary of al-Qaeda’s attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center approaches, the CIA and FBI counterterrorism centers are seeing increased communication among suspected terrorists, approximately equal to the heightened levels they recorded leading up to July 4. But neither those communications nor information from informants has persuaded government officials to issue a public alert, as they have done four times over the past year. “Is an attack more likely on the 11th than on the 10th or the 12th? Not necessarily,” a senior intelligence official said. U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials say that, although another large-scale attack could be in the works, they are more immediately concerned about adhoc operations such as truck bombs, assassinations and suicide attacks by low-level operatives, especially against U.S. targets abroad. “All the people who went to the training camps and have graduated — not a lot is known about those individuals,” a seniorcounterterrorism official said. “Those are the threats that we face inside the United States; those are the biggest threats outside the United States.” The FBI has opened several hundred investigations of people in this country who have gone through the camps or who have other links to al-Qaeda. Firm estimates of the number of camp graduates are difficult to ascertain, but some experts put it at about 15,000. The number of sworn al-Qaeda members is a fraction of that. “It might be mid-level operatives in Africa or the Far East who says, ‘We’ve got to do something to show we’re still in business,’” the official said. U.S. intelligence officials say they are uncertain whether Osama bin Laden is dead, but at the least they believe his organization’s upper ranks are in disarray. Two key second-tier leaders who helped organize the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa and the attack on U.S. troops in Somalia are in Iran, not commanding operations but hiding out, officials said. The leadership void might have spurred two other mid-level operatives who helped orchestrate the Sept. 11 plot, Khalid Sheik Mohammed and Ramzi Binalshibh, to surface publicly in a documentary to be broadcast this week by alJazeera, the Arabic news network.
Disruption at the top of the organization appears to be sowing confusion but not inaction, officials said. From the local cells, an official said, “we hear things like: ‘Are you sure this is what they want?’” Al-Qaeda operations are changing their communications methods. With intelligence agencies having penetrated many of al-Qaeda’s telephone and computer conversations, some higher-level operatives have turned to couriers — a slower but more secure option. “They are moving around a lot, expressing concerns about avoiding capture,” said a senior intelligence official with access to the most current, sensitive reports on terrorists. “We know they are communicating with each other, and they are, as a class, also more conscious of communication security than they were in the past.” “Whatever al-Qaeda was on 9/11, it is a weaker organization today,” said Bruce Hoffman, a Rand Corp. terrorism expert who serves on the Defense Department’s counterterrorism advisory board. The hierarchical breakdown has created opportunities, too. “Because they are more spread out, they are more autonomous than they used to be. This is an evolving situation. You don’t need permission from the top. There’s a sincere effort to decentralize and set more fires worldwide,” said the senior intelligence official with access to current reports. Al-Qaeda’s ability to launch a large-scale, multipronged attack on U.S. soil continues to be debated among the most experienced analysts studying the threat level. Some top analysts believe that if al-Qaeda were capable of mounting another spectacular attack, it would have done so. Likewise, many analysts inside and outside government say bin Laden has tried repeatedly to acquire nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, and if he had succeeded, he would have used them. Intelligence officials don’t know whether the absence of another attack since Sept. 11 means the planning has not ripened, or whether those efforts have been disrupted. Al-Qaeda has a history of planning one major attack as another is being launched; the Sept. 11 attacks were being planned even before the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen. “There’s nothing to lead us to believe they can’t do again what Mohamed Atta did — kill 3,000 Americans,” a senior intelligence official said. “There is a diminution in the number of attacks they can mount, but no diminution in the size of the attack they could mount.” The main component they need is “organization skills, the ability to collect and communicate operational information to plan and execute an attack,” said Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., chairman of the Senate intelligence committee who has access to the highly classified reports on al-Qaeda. “Prudence would say we should assume they still have the capability of conducting significant-scale operations in the United States,” he said. Jack Devine, a former CIA operations officer who headed the agency’s Afghan task force in the mid-1980s, agreed that al-Qaeda’s infrastructure has been severely disrupted, but he estimates it took only 50 people to execute the Sept. 11 attacks. “Regrettably, they have the capacity to repeat that over and over again. ... I will be surprised if we get to January without another attack.”
PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002
Retirements costing New York Fire Dept. NEW YORK (Washington Post) — At a
coral-colored firehouse in Howard Beach, Queens, nearly all merciless banter wraps around retirement. Firefighter Mike Coyle spouts a poem about a firefighter who can’t decide whether to stay or go. Anthony Cummo regales over coffee and a sesame bagel how he waited five hours at headquarters to find out the best day to retire. And Dominick Randazzo touts his pending status as a single man with a pension. By the year’s end, Engine 331 Ladder 173 will lose a fourth of its most seasoned firefighters and officers when a dozen retire. “Everybody is talking to each other about things they learned in the pension seminar,” said Cummo, 51. “September 11 and probably at the end of the year is going to be the best time to leave.” The firehouse is a view in miniature of what faces New York’s 11,500member department, which lost 343 firefighters and officers in the World Trade Center attacks. The department now faces greater losses as hundreds of other firefighters, beset with grief and facing generous pensions thanks to the past year’s extraordinary overtime, leave. Since Sept. 11, 747 supervisors and firefighters have retired. The department expects the total departures to swell to about 1,000 by year’s end — a retirement pace that far exceeds previous years. These numbers don’t include an estimated 200 firefighters and officers who union officials say are waiting for approval from the pension board to retire on disability for lung
problems they developed at Ground Zero. “That’s like a triple hit we fear could have disastrous results for the fire department,” said Capt. Peter Gorman, president of the 2,500member Uniformed Fire Officers Association. “The fire department would be foolish to let them go.” These mass retirements coincide with a recently released report by the independent consulting firm McKinsey and Co. urging the department to add senior personnel and improve training. Many retiring firefighters say the financial incentives are too great to stay. New York City firefighters qualify for a pension after 20 years of service; the final pension amount depends on their last year’s salary including overtime. The amount of overtime firefighters logged in the past year left most firefighters with a higher salary than they ever made before or expect to bring home in coming years. “I’m looking at an additional $12,000 to $15,000 a year for the rest of my life. That’s why I’m leaving,” Cummo said. To stem the departure flow, fire department and union officials have discussed changing the system so pensions are based on firefighters’ highest salary, not their final year’s pay. But no final decision has been reached. Union officials concede pension changes won’t convince the families of these firefighters that their loved ones should stay. Their relatives have watched them take too many risks and struggle with too much survivor guilt since last September’s attacks.
Iraq’s work on nuclear bomb puts U.S. at risk, Cheney says WASHINGTON (L. A. Times) — In a media blitz to rally support for toughened action against Iraq, the Bush administration charged Sunday that Baghdad’s intensifying efforts to develop a nuclear weapon increase the urgency of ousting the regime of President Saddam Hussein. Iraq is “actively and aggressively” working on a nuclear bomb, with the growing potential for the United States to become a victim of Baghdad’s weapons of mass destruction, said Vice President Dick Cheney, one of five top officials who appeared on Sunday television talk shows to press the U.S. case for strong action on Iraq. Based on the looming dangers, the United States does not need additional U.N. resolutions, international participation or other justification to act against Baghdad, administration officials emphasized. “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud,” National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice said on CNN’s “Late Edition.” “How long are we going to wait to deal with what is clearly a gathering threat against the United States, against our allies and against his own region?” The administration can invoke President Bush’s new policy of pre-emptive action to eliminate the threat, the officials noted. “If we have reason to believe someone is preparing an attack against the U.S., has developed that capability, harbors those aspirations, then I think the U.S. is justified in dealing with it, if necessary, by military force, “ Cheney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” Despite the regime’s buildup of weapons of mass destruction, the vice
president predicted that a war against Iraq would not be “that tough a fight.” He conceded, however, that it would be costly and could involve a prolonged U.S. presence in the country. The increased danger in Iraq’s nuclear capability has become clear over the past 12 to 14 months from new intelligence and the interception of equipment needed to develop a nuclear bomb, including specialized aluminum tubes to enrich uranium, Cheney said. “We know about a particular shipment. We’ve intercepted that. We don’t know what else — what other avenues he may be taking out there,” he said. “But we do know, with absolute certainty, that he is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs in order to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon. And increasingly, we believe that the United States may well become the target of those activities.” In recent years, Hussein is widely believed to have used illicit funds derived from smuggling oil to procure goods to advance his weapons programs, in violation of several U.N. resolutions and the cease-fire terms of the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The United States is still uncertain when Iraq might have a bomb, although Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on ABC’s “This Week” that he does not believe Baghdad has a nuclear capability yet. As the administration prepares to mark the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld invoked the horrific magnitude and casualties of the terrorist actions against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in describing Iraq’s weapons program.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9
Schools test how much they can change in the name of security (L. A.Times) — As Mike Brooder pulls into the
student parking lot outside West Hills High School, wireless cameras record his face and license plate — doing the same to every car that follows. The cameras then track the 17-year-old senior as he walks up a concrete path, studies his schedule, scratches his chin, waves to friends, and then wanders to class. Every move Brooder makes — and every move of his 2,300 classmates — is captured and stored in the campus’ database. In the wake of last September’s terrorist attacks and years of school shootings, West Hills High sits on the cutting edge of the emerging surveillance society. Each bathroom door is monitored. Sensors that detect the smoke of a single match send alerts to campus security. By Christmas, four more cameras will be installed and hall monitors will carry wireless computers that can pull up a student’s school picture, class schedule and attendance record. School officials are considering whether to expand the SkyWitness surveillance system by adding facial recognition software that will allow a computer to filter out who should — and who should not — be on campus. Technology, once viewed primarily as a learning tool, is building a wall of electronic security on campuses. “People are saying they expected this to happen after the shootings and the terrorists last year,” said Brooder, an honor student who plays on the school baseball team. “Still, it seems a little overwhelming and extreme.” And likely to become far more common — not just in schools, but everywhere.
Schools are among the first to embrace new technology, often because companies view campuses as perfect testing grounds before rolling products out to corporate America. At West Hills, for instance, one of the companies behind West Hills’ system, PacketVideo Corp., predicts demand for products like SkyWitness will grow to track people at manufacturing plants, office parks and sports stadiums. Companies like the fact that students enjoy fewer Constitutional protections, and have lower expectations of privacy than their parents. For the students, such surveillance is standard fare. Their generation has grown up believing that such constant monitoring is normal, with cameras at every bank ATM and fast-food drivethrough. But the desire to protect has led to an erosion of individual privacy, civil liberty advocates argue. “Once privacy is gone, you can’t get it back,” said Dale Kelly Bankhead, a spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial counties. “This is not just about schools, but about a broader social attitude.” Relying on such high-tech systems is an unusual move for high schools, but is expected to become a more popular trend in the post-September 11 world, said Kenneth S. Trump, president and chief executive of National School Safety and Security Services, a Clevelandbased consulting firm. At Tewksbury Memorial High School, a suburban campus located about an hour outside of Boston, the push for security went so far as to result in a video-surveillance system that lets
both educators—and local police —to watch the hallways. “Cameras are everywhere someone wants to watch over,” Trump said. The technology at West Hills relies on advanced hardware, but basic, off-the-shelf technology already is used by both parents and educators to watch kids. Software programs take snap-shots of every Web page they visit, and every e-mail they send. Devices like AutoWatch can be popped into an automobile and programmed to record a car’s speed, as well as times, dates, and the length of time it is driven. Even cell-phone bills list the calls a student makes and receives. Such devices can just as easily watch adults. “You might call it control,” said Joe Schramm, head of security at West Hills. “We call it keeping the kids safe.” Tucked into the scrub-rush valley of Santee, West Hills High appears to be nothing but safe. The average SAT score is nearly 1,100 and 70 percent of last year’s senior now attend either a community college or a four-year university. But West Hills High has not gone untouched by fear. Less than three miles away, Charles “Andy” Williams went on a shooting rampage last year, killing two students and wounding 13 others at Santana High School. The community was stunned when nearly two weeks later another student launched a shooting spree at another school in the Grossmont Union High School District. Jason Hoffman, 18, wounded five people at Granite Hills High School in El Cajon. Hoffman committed suicide while awaiting trial. Williams this
month was sentenced to prison for 50 years to life. Despite the violence, the school district was forced to cut its budget across the board; the security group lost three of its 10 employees, including two of the staff members who helped patrol the 76-acre campus. Hoping to offset the pain of the staff cuts, the district started to look at technology already had in place on its various campuses and explore how the tools could be used for security purposes, said Sue Mangiapane, education global account manager for the Cisco Systems Inc. The San Jose computer giant had been hired to install the core routers, switches and servers that formed the computer brain to link campuses with the district’s offices and, in turn, to the Internet. Initially, the technology had been designed for instructional use, such as creating digital lockers where students could store their electronic art projects. Suddenly, the focus shifted toward security. At a technology conference this spring, executives from Cisco and San Diego-based PacketVideo began discussing the school shootings and tossing around ideas of how the tragedies could have been avoided. “Schools aren’t a key security market for us,” said James Carol, chairman and cofounder of PacketVideo, a privately owned software company that creates wireless video networks. The company, along with Cisco and Sony, donated the equipment and handled the installation of the $50,000 SkyWitness system. “This was the right thing to do for a school that’s essentially in our back yard,” Carol said.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
EDITORIAL/LETTERS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 · PAGE 10 S T A F F
E D I T O R I A L
Multimedia memory This week, the University — along with the rest of the nation — will pause to remember the horrors that occurred last September. Remembering the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is difficult for everyone. When we are reminded of those disturbing events, we are confronted with a variety of uncomfortable emotions, including fear, grief and vengeance. However, Brown’s unique way of remembering Sept. 11, 2001, does more than harp on tragedy and sadness. The Watson Institute’s two-week-long multimedia exhibition and forum, “911 + 1: The Perplexities of Security,” responsibly and thoughtfully steps back — or, rather, forward — from the tragedies of last September and asks where we are today. The exhibit synthesizes a variety of media and makes it easier for us to question the current heightened security state in which we live. In one of “911 + 1”’s most valuable contributions, the exhibit critically examines the actions that both citizens and government have taken in response to last year’s attacks. Through the work of artists, architects, engineers, programmers, writers and filmmakers, the exhibit questions the meaning and existence of homeland security, regime building and perpetual military actions abroad. Portrayals of last year’s terrorist attacks have been overly sympathetic and blindly supportive of the current government’s actions for too long. “911 +1” takes a critical and welcome look at how both government and people are responding now. “911 + 1” is powerful because of the variety and cleverness of media it uses. The exhibit’s hands-on approach counteracts the often-numbing barrage of buzz-words and feelings of helplessness that alienated many Americans last year. From video games to giant digital prints, the exhibit confronts the realities of the postSept. 11, 2001, United States in a way traditional forms of media have been unable to replicate. Indeed, much of the mainstream media coverage of what happened on and after Sept. 11, 2001, has been incomplete and uncomfortable. It is refreshing to see something as unique and thoughtful as “911 + 1” on campus. Hopefully, as we move further from the tragedies of last year, the media will follow “911 +1” and confront where we are today in a responsible and critical manner.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Beth Farnstrom, Editor-in-Chief Seth Kerschner, Editor-in-Chief David Rivello, Editor-in-Chief Will Hurwitz, Executive Editor Sheryl Shapiro, Executive Editor Andy Golodny, News Editor Elena Lesley, News Editor Brian Baskin, Campus Watch Editor Carla Blumenkranz, Arts & Culture Editor Stephanie Harris, Academic Watch Editor Juliette Wallack, Metro Editor Victoria Harris, Opinions Editor Sanders Kleinfeld, Opinions Editor PRODUCTION Marion Billings, Design Editor Bronwyn Bryant, Asst. Design Editor Julia Zuckerman, Copy Desk Chief Jonathan Skolnick, Copy Desk Chief Andrew Sheets, Graphics Editor Ellen Bak, Photography Editor Makini Chisolm-Straker,Asst.Photography Editor Allie Silverman, Asst.Photography Editor Brett Cohen, Systems Manager
BUSINESS Stacey Doynow, General Manager Jamie Wolosky, Executive Manager Jared Gerber, Associate Manager Angela Kim, Local Accounts Manager Hyebin Joo, Local Accounts Manager Moon-Suk Oh, University Accounts Manager Jan Vezikov, University Accounts Manager Eugene C. Cha, National Accounts Manager Joseph Laganas, National Accounts Manager Josh Miller, Classifieds Account Manager Elizabeth Tietz, Marketing Coordinator Shereen Kassam, Marketing Coordinator Tugba Erem, Marketing Coordinator Miguel Escobar, Subscriptions Manager Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Senior Advertising Rep. Kate Sparaco, Office Manager P O S T- M A G A Z I N E Kerry Miller, Editor-in-Chief Zach Frechette, Executive Editor Morgan Clendaniel, Film Editor Dan Poulson, Calendar Editor Alex Carnevale, Features Editor Theo Schell-Lambert, Music Editor SPORTS Joshua Troy, Sports Editor Nick Gourevitch, Asst. Sports Editor Jermaine Matheson, Asst. Sports Editor Alicia Mullin, Asst. Sports Editor Sean Peden, Asst. Sports Editor Emily Hunt, Sports Photography Editor Michelle Batoon, Sports Photography Editor
“When beer goggles turn into beer scuba gear.”
SHANE WILKERSON
write join us
articles columns letters reviews features news
TUESDAY, SEPT. 10 @ 9 P.M. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 11 @ 7 P.M.
open houses H E R A L D @ B R O W N D A I LY H E R A L D. C O M
the brown daily herald W W W . B R O W N D A I L Y H E R A L D . C O M
today.
Bronwyn Bryant, Night Editor Bilbo B. Baggins, Copy Editor Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Brian Baskin, Jonathan Bloom, Carla Blumenkranz, Chris Byrnes, Jinhee Chung, Maria Di Mento, Nicholas Foley,Vinay Ganti, Neema Singh Guliani, Ari Gerstman, Andy Golodny, Daniel Gorfine, Nick Gourevitch, Stephanie Harris, Victoria Harris Maggie Haskins, Shara Hegde, Brian Herman, Shana Jalbert, Brent Lang, Elena Lesley, Jamay Liu, Jermaine Matheson, Kerry Miller, Kavita Mishra, Martin Mulkeen, Alicia Mullin, Crystal Z.Y. Ng, Ginny Nuckols, Juan Nunez, Sean Peden, Katie Roush, Caroline Rummel, Emir Senturk, Jen Sopchockchai, Anna Stubblefield, Jonathon Thompson, Joshua Troy, Miranda Turner, Juliette Wallack, Jesse Warren, Genan Zilkha, Julia Zuckerman Pagination Staff Bronwyn Bryant, Jessica Chan, Sam Cochran, Joshua Gootzeit, Michael Kingsley, Hana Kwan, Erika Litvin, Jessica Morrison, Stacy Wong Staff Photographers Josh Apte, Makini Chisolm-Straker, Allison Lauterbach, Maria Schriber, Allie Silverman, Vanessia Wu Copy Editors John Audett, Lanie Davis, Marc Debush, Daniel Jacobson, Sonya Tat
CO M M E N TA RY P O L I C Y The staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns and letters reflect the opinions of their authors only. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. ADVERTISING POLICY The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement in its discretion.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
OPINIONS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 · PAGE 11
Lack of baseball walk-out a strike-out A strike could have been a natural market correction for an out-of-control business YOU HEARD FOR WEEKS ABOUT THE from a strike in the short-term. impending baseball strike and how awful Attendance would fall, and television revit would be for baseball. You heard it was enue would suffer. Some fans would leave going to be worse than the strike in 1994 the game, but new fans would eventually and that fans were so fed up with greedy replace those who didn’t come back. owners and players that they might cease Baseball would hurt, but it wouldn’t die and, as the cliché goes, anywatching the game altogether. thing that doesn’t kill you A picture in the Thursday, Aug. makes you stronger. 27 New York Post showed a fan Like many other profesdressed as the Grim Reaper sional athletes, baseball playwith a giant sign that read, ers are celebrities. Ever since “R.I.P. Baseball In America 8television, professional sports 30-82.” What you didn’t hear is have become accessible to an why a strike might have been increasingly large fan base. As good for baseball. technology advanced, so did It only sounds crazy when the potential market. It was you fail to consider that Major only a matter of time before League Baseball is a troubled CHRIS SENIO large corporations took over organization in need of masBOTTLES OF CHRIS and profit from professional sive change. Such change can sports. Now, sports such as not occur “naturally” because basketball, football and basethere are too many powerful, moneyed interests content with baseball’s ball have become staged, corporate, globeconomic status quo. I am in no way advo- al entertainment. That’s a little cynical, but athletes, especating a work stoppage. I love baseball and don’t want to see it go. However, there is no cially the good ones in popular sports, have question that there are big problems with attained a kind of star power they never had MLB, problems that were not adequately before. Much has been made of Alex addressed in the owners’ and players’ last Rodriguez’s astounding $252 million contract, but his case is not unique. Dozens of minute settlement. Major League Baseball would suffer athletes earn an annual salary of over $10 million. Even the lowest tier professional athletes earn a six-figure income – way Chris Senio ’04 hopes that the Mets strike, beyond that of the typical American houseso they stop losing.
hold. When athletes complain about their salary, they are rightly seen as greedy because their income is so out of reach of most other industries and lifestyles. Another result of the “corporatization” of professional sports is that only executives can afford to go to games. Owners built increasingly expensive stadiums with luxury boxes to attract corporate season ticket holders. To cover these costs they raise ordinary ticket prices. Compound this with rising player salaries, and an enormous financial burden is placed on the typical fan. When players and owners threaten to strike because they can’t reach an agreement over the threshold at which a luxury tax kicks in or an acceptable system for sharing teams’ revenues (i.e. when they fight about money), the typical fan cannot possibly sympathize. How long can a sport survive in which players and owners are so out of touch with their fan base? Not long. The tension has noticeably risen over the last decade, and a strike could be the proverbial “last straw.” Even though a four-year agreement was reached, the same strike talks will probably resume at the end of this labor agreement, and I don’t believe that any future strike will result in the demise of Major League Baseball; rather, it could cause some much needed, positive changes. Yes, in the event of a strike, fans would
be upset with the state of baseball, and interest would decline. They’d stop watching the games on TV, going to the stadiums and buying the merchandise. In short, they’d stop giving baseball what it needs: money. However, in order to bring back the fans, owners would be forced to make positive changes such as lowering ticket prices. It’s a simple case of supply and demand. Americans love a bargain and by lowering ticket prices or offering promotions, owners have the power to make fans feel like they are getting a great deal. A strike could be the type of event necessary to open American eyes to the power they wield as consumers. Positive change could result, and that effect could spill over into other sports. Lower ticket prices would inevitably lead to lower player salaries or at least a decrease in their current rate of growth. If some of the money were removed from baseball, the sport might return to some state of economic normalcy. Maybe the status of players as celebrities would diminish. Players might start sprinting to first on pop ups. They would be honored to start an All-Star Game and not leave after their three innings. The game might return to what it once was. Then again, maybe owners and players will realize how sweet a deal they have and keep reaching labor agreements and avoiding strikes. We’ll have to see.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
SPORTS MONDAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2002 · PAGE 12
Historic Marvel Gym concludes its storied run Full demolition of the gym began on Aug. 22, with the project expected to last for another month Brown University’s Marvel Gymnasium, a landmark on the East Side of Providence since 1927, is entering its final days with the start of demolition of the towering building on Elmgrove Avenue. Located across the street from Brown Stadium, Marvel Gymnasium is being replaced by athletics playing fields for intramurals and rugby. Full demolition began on Aug. 22 and will be done in stages, starting with the back of the building. The project is expected to last for another month. Marvel Gymnasium, named after Brown’s long-time athletic Director “Doc” Marvel, has been closed since the Spring of 1989 when the Brown Athletic department moved to the Pizzitola Sports Center. Marvel Gym was the headquarters of Brown Athletics with administrative and coaching offices, and was the home of Brown basketball, volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics. Its final event was held on March 4, 1989, when Brown defeated Columbia in women’s basketball. Some of the all-time greats of college basketball made their way through the hallowed Marvel Gymnasium court, which was framed above with a trademark banked-track. Among the Brown standouts to hone their skills at Marvel are Bears’ all-time career scorer Arnie Berman ‘72, three-time first team All-Ivy Mike Cingiser ‘62, and Ivy League Players of the Year, Peter Moss ‘80 and Jim Turner ‘86. Marvel fans also flocked to see visiting legends including former Holy Cross guard Bob Cousy, and Bill Bradley, Princeton’s all-time career scorer. Marvel has been closed since 1989 and has been used as a facilities storage area for the university. One of Marvel’s most distinctive features, the cupola and tower with its gold leaf dome and huge Aldrich Field clocks, will be carefully removed and stored. — Brown Sports Information
A rude awakening for the Dream Team LAST WEEK IN FRONT OF SPARSE CROWDS in Indianapolis, Ind., the United States Basketball Team lost its mantle of world domination in a stunning loss to Argentina. What was even more surprising was that the team did not learn from its mistake and lost its next two JERMAINE games, later to MATHESON Yugoslavia and REACHES then to Spain. The humiliated U.S. team members had little to say, other than they didn’t play their best and reminded all the cynics that in many instances they were playing against fellow seasoned NBA players. What is certain is this: teams such as Yugoslavia, Argentina and Spain have arrived on the world basketball stage, not as nominal opponents, but as fierce competitors. In the last Olympics, the U.S. was a missed three-pointer away from losing to Lithuania. Another integral part of the story is the complete lack of U.S. fan support. The seats were practically empty in the arena where the games were played. There were so many fans chanting cheers in foreign languages one might have mistaken it for the World Cup. The games took place in Indiana, the setting of Hoosiers, the birthplace of Larry Bird – a virtual holy site for basketball fans. One would have expected the arena to be overflowing in a place that loves basketball like none other. That the U.S. team lost here just added more fodder to the quick detractors. The initial response from the press was quite harsh. They speculated that this team would go down in infamy as the first group of professional players to lose in foreign competition. They criticized the team for not playing fundamental basket-
ball, being too concerned with slamdunks and in your face rejections. They were quick to heap praise on the foreign teams. They criticized not only the players and coaches, but also the United States Basketball Association for its fundamental lackadaisical approach to international competition. They made it sound that these players had let the entire country down. They even went so far as to mention that it was the 30th Anniversary of the U.S.’s controversial loss to the Soviets in the 1972 Olympics and that this group of players instead of winning the championship to rectify a past injustice gave away our national birthright of basketball supremacy. To them it was a national disgrace. I consider it an international celebration. To me nothing was more boring that the Dream Team with its ho-hum attitude winning without even trying. If nothing else, these three consecutive losses have indicated that U.S. team cannot have the same approach to international competition. They need to have their best players, their best coaches and an attitude and work ethic to match. I am very excited to see genuine competition develop between the U.S. and the rest of the world. To me this is on par as watching the U.S. do so well in the World Cup just a few months ago. Perhaps the U.S. defeat is the result of the gods of the sports world maintaining a competitive balance in international competition. Since we did so well in the World Cup, they make up for it by us doing dreadfully in international basketball. Sport is quickly transcending national boundaries to be embraced by athletes and fans the world over. Yet countries of origin still consider it a matter of national pride to triumph in their respective game.
Canada made it their unswerving mission to win the Olympic gold in ice hockey. And I am sure that after this poor performance, the United States will do the same for basketball. Come the next world championship or Olympics, players will be begging for an opportunity to redeem our national pride instead of inventing excuses not to play. Wherever the next games are played, I am sure the arena will be full of Americans cheering their team on. To Americans, it isn’t worthwhile if it isn’t challenging. For a long time, international basketball wasn’t. Now that it is, much faster than we anticipated, we should expect the U.S. team to play with a level of intensity they should have been playing with from the beginning. That the U.S. team could not recover from its first loss proves that no matter how good the players, it takes time to create a cohesive team. It is also a testament to how good some of these foreign teams have become. Not only has the rest of the world embraced basketball, they are excelling at it. How concerned should we as basketball fans and also as Americans be now that we can no longer claim world dominance over basketball — the game we invented? We should not be worried, but downright excited. I predict this performance will be a call to arms for American players and create rivalries and intensity that may eventually surpass the NBA. Remember how boring the last two NBA Finals were? In the end, I am sure the United States will emerge as world champions. Herald staff writer Jermaine Matheson ’03 is an assistant sports editor. He can be reached at jmatheson@browndailyherald.com
Sampras overcomes Agassi in U.S. Open final FLUSHING MEADOWS, N.Y. (Washington Post) —
The flashbulbs started snapping in earnest as Pete Sampras stepped up for his final service game at the U.S. Open Sunday night, a sparkling web attempting to ensnare a piece of history. In less than five minutes, Sampras would throw up his arms in 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory, hug Andre Agassi across the net, collect his record 14th Grand Slam trophy, and then he’d be gone, and everyone in the stadium knew it. Sampras hadn’t said he’d retire after pulling one of the great trapeze acts in the history of tennis, sailing from a two-year perch of desperation to the crowning achievement in the sport in a single, twoweek leap. And even after the match, he hedged, saying “to beat a rival like Andre, in a storybook ending, it might be nice to stop” but adding, “I still love to play, and I have to see where I’m at in a couple months.” Whether Sampras is actually back play-
ing or not next year, it is unlikely he will ever again hold this grand a stage, face this grand a rival or hold this grand a trophy. “This one takes the cake,” he said more than once as he held his prize — cradled it, really — and enjoyed this unexpected fifth Open title. At 31, he had been written off both by allies and enemies, not so much for a broken body but cracked confidence that seemed to splinter in a second-round loss at Wimbledon earlier this year. He no longer carried the aura of invincibility that used to protect him like armor, and as his ranking tumbled, he began to lose to anyone, anywhere. Even as recently as two weeks ago, he was knocked out of a warm-up tournament in Long Island in the second round by a 20year-old French clay-court specialist. The losses could have been devastating, and at times they were. “You hear the negative things and there was a point I was believing it,” said Sampras, who also heard
criticism that his recent marriage and impending fatherhood were to blame. In fact, he said, it was the opposite. At Wimbledon, his wife, Bridgette, wrote him a note of encouragement that he read atcourtside, and while it didn’t do much to plump his confidence then, he still carries it. And while he struggled all summer, losing early and often, it was Bridgette who stood by him. “She’s a big reason why I’ve been able to kind of get through this tough period,” he said. “She lives with me every day, and trust me, it’s not easy.” To say that Sampras was ornery by the time this tournament started would be no overstatement, but as he settled in, his selfassurance begin to grow along with his game. First one, then two and three opponents fell, and while rain tested his stamina, pushing his second week of matches closer together, he held up better than anyone, including Sampras, expected.
SCOREBOARD Weekend Results
THE BROWN
Women’s Soccer September 6 BROWN 0, New Hampshire 2 September 8 BROWN 1, Holy Cross 1
Football September 7 BROWN 49, Susquehanna 9 (scrimmage)
HAVE ANY INTEREST IN WRITING SPORTS? COME TO THE HERALD AT 6:30 ON MONDAY FOR A SPORTS WRITERS MEETING.
DAILY HERALD