M O N D A Y SEPTEMBER 23, 2002
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVII, No. 76
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
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Historical Society honors Simmons, Eustis as ‘History Makers’ The awards, bestowed annually since 1998, are given to individuals who have shaped Rhode Island through the arts, humanities, business, education or government BY ELLEN WERNECKE
Adam Theriault / Herald
PUPPETS HAVE TAKEN OVER THE WORLD Goblins and ghouls were among those in attendance on Thayer Street Saturday for the annual fall street fair, which included live music, entertainment and booths dedicated to the work of local artists.
For Brown’s bands, renovations force hunt for a new home BY BRENT LANG
After 10 years marked by bursts of activity contrasting with periods of idleness and reorganization, the Coalition of Bands at Brown may be out of a practice space by this winter and homeless until 2004. The group, which formed to provide performance and practice space and equipment for bands at Brown and RISD, regained its status as an active campus group last year. COBAB practiced and performed regularly at Faunce House until noise complaints necessitated its move to Russell Lab in T.F. Green Hall. The switch to Russell coincided with the University’s planned renovation of T.F. Green Hall that would have transformed COBAB’s practice area into three soundproof studios that it would share with other Brown groups. “Initially, we were highly supportive and more than willing to share the space,” said COBAB President Matthew Lewkowicz ’03. But when they returned to school this fall, COBAB members said they were dis-
mayed to learn the University might not be able to provide them with alternative practice and performance space for the duration of construction, which will start in January. Russell Lab was originally scheduled for renovations this October, but with construction now slated for January, COBAB will have space through the fall. Beginning Jan. 1, its future becomes uncertain, Lewkowicz said. The group proposed using an unoccupied Brown building for a temporary base and practice area, Lewkowicz said. COBAB Publicity and Events Officer Alexander Provan ’05 said the cost of opening an unoccupied building and turning on the water and electricity could be prohibitively expensive for the University. “As of now they don’t imagine they will be able to provide us with an adequate space since there are so many groups and so little space available,” he said. Dean for Campus Life Margaret
Jablonski said the University is trying to secure storage space for the group in alternative venues, such as the Underground, where COBAB members can perform once construction begins in January. Considering it will probably have to close shop at least temporarily and store its equipment in group members’ basements, COBAB has started to solicit the support of other Brown groups that also need practice space, including Shades of Brown and Brown New Music. COBAB members hope they can pressure the University to open unoccupied buildings for these groups, Lewkowicz said. COBAB is also examining renting space off campus with other groups from Brown. “Our main problem is we make a lot of noise and no one wants to be our neighbor,” Lewkowicz said. Herald staff writer Brent Lang can be reached at blang@browndailyherald.com.
I N S I D E M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 3 , 2 0 0 2 Indigo Girls play to delight of a packed Friday night crowd at the PPAC page 3
‘Wakati,’ the annual black opportunity fair, showcases 26 campus organizations page 3
President Simmons joins Secretary of State Inman to raise funds for hero’s statue page 5
The Rhode Island Historical Society honored three local “History Makers” at the State House Saturday, including President Ruth Simmons and Professor Oskar Eustis of the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance. A History Maker, according to RIHS, is an “individual of distinction who … has shaped the past or present of Rhode Island in such areas as the arts and humanities, business, education and government.” RIHS’ has hosted the annual Rhode Island History Makers’ Salute event since 1998. Marie Langlois, vice chancellor of the University, presented the award to Simmons, and called her “passionate, outspoken, articulate and extremely focused.” Langlois also highlighted Simmons’ initiatives to implement need-blind admission by 2003 and to expand the faculty by nearly 20 percent. She called Simmons “a leader without a peer.” Simmons spoke candidly about her childhood in Texas, where she said it was very hard to see hope. “Something very remarkable happened to me. I found a teacher that taught me how to imagine a place that was different,” Simmons said. “I accept this award in honor of all of my teachers who helped me, who inspired me, so I could one day turn around and inspire others,” she said. Eustis received a History Maker award for his work as artistic director of the Trinity Repertory Company. Since Eustis took the job in 1994, audiences at the company’s performances have doubled, said award presenter Sarah Dowling. Dowling said Eustis turned down an offer from Yale’s drama school and repertory theater last year to stay in Providence and at Brown. His latest project, a masters degree program jointly run by Brown’s Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance and the Trinity Repertory Company, admitted its first graduate students in acting and directing this fall. Brown plans to grant its first Master of Fine Arts degree in 2005. “My business is telling stories,” Eustis said. “Or, as my mother put it, telling lies to strangers in the dark for money.” He praised RIHS, which celebrated its 180th see MAKERS, page 6
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Brett Cohen ’03 highlights the best and most interesting of Brown’s hidden treasures column,page 11
With five turnovers, football falls to Towson despite second half comeback sports,page 12
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THIS MORNING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 · PAGE 2 Pornucopia Eli Swiney
W E AT H E R TODAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
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High 71 Low 54 light rain
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GRAPHICS BY TED WU
A story of Eddie Ahn
CALENDAR LECTURE — “Insurance Fraud in Demosthenes, Or. 32?” Gerhard Thuer, University of Graz. Room 102, Macfarlane House, noon. SEMINAR — “Full Information Item-Level Factor Analysis of the FTQ and DSM-IV Criteria for Nicotine Dependence,” George Papandonatos. First floor confernce room, Hemisphere Building, 167 Angell Street, 4 p.m. COLLOQUIUM — “Dark Matter Detection,” Nigel Smith, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Room 168, Barus and Holley, 4:30 p.m. MEETING — Hunger and homelessness awareness. Sharpe Park, Waterman Street, 7 p.m.
Yu-Ting’s Monday and Tuesday Yu-Ting
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Job for Perry Mason 5 “The Inferno” author 10 Stinging insect 14 Islands dance 15 Divas’ numbers 16 Shamu, for one 17 Portfolio parts, for short 18 Magic words 20 It’s a lot darker than azure 22 “Virginia” dances 23 Water conduit 24 Move about idly, as one’s thumbs 26 Magic words 30 Fire starter 31 Injure badly 32 CIO’s partner 35 “The other white meat” 36 “Keep your __ on!” 38 Ballerina’s bend 39 Poseidon’s realm 40 “__ a Song Go Out of My Heart” 41 College lecturers 42 With 55 Across, magic words 45 Make slightly wet 49 Developer’s map 50 Fragrant oil 51 Rainy day accounts 55 See 42 Across 58 World’s longest river 59 Connery of the cinema 60 New staff member 61 Winter driving hazard 62 Exxon’s old name 63 Football legend Bart 64 “Baseball Tonight” airer DOWN 1 Goatee site 2 Invisible emanation 3 Serb or Croat 4 Patsy 5 Showy perennial
6 In a circle 7 French Riviera resort 8 Sigma follower 9 Curve on a slalom path 10 Courted 11 Shaped like a rainbow 12 Racer’s oar 13 Out-of-date 19 Trojan War king 21 Ache site for golfers 24 Ski lift contraption 25 Order in the court 26 Egyptian cobras 27 Charitable fraternity: Abbr. 28 __ avis 29 Friendship 32 Skin lotion additive 33 Stereotypical name for a poodle 34 “__ we forget...” 36 Plumlike gin flavoring 37 Taken down, as a tree 38 Make-believe
40 Emcee’s prologue 41 H.S. junior’s exam 43 First game of a doubleheader 44 Northern Ireland province 45 Parsonage 46 Oklahoma natives 47 “__ a dark and stormy night...”
48 Refuse to give permission 51 Screenwriter Ephron 52 Cottonseed extractors 53 Gooey stuff 54 Already stitched 56 Sounds of hesitation 57 Morse code word
Penguiener Haan Lee
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: P A T S Y J A C K F R O S T A T A G L A N C E U S A I R B A R B A R I A N L I L T S O B L A A N N E L A K E F L E E C E D E S T A M I E E R A D E E P I N A N G O R A S S U N D E C K T A L O N R O T O R T H I M B L E T R O P I C S S E R E H O N O D E D O T T I N G W A S A D O F A R E O R S O D E S I S T O I C A B C S P O R T S S T O C K M I A M I H E A T T O M E S S T R E A M E R S
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THE RATTY LUNCH — vegetarian Japanese noodle soup, potato vegetable chowder with ham, cavatini, tofu spinach pie, sauteed zucchini with onions, carrot pineapple cake
V-DUB LUNCH — vegetarian Japanese noodle soup, potato vegetable chowder with ham, cavatini, vegan bean and eggplant casserole, carrot pineapple cake
DINNER — vegetarian Japanese noodle soup, potato vegetable chowder with ham, pot roast jardiniere, baked stuffed chicken breast, brown rice garden casserole, au gratin potatoes, asparagus, cauliflower, green beans and peppers, ricotta pepper bread, jelly roll
DINNER — vegetarian Japanese noodle soup, potato vegetable chowder with ham, honey dipped chicken, brown rice garden casserole, au gratin potatoes, asparagus spears, cauliflower, green beans and peppers, ricotta pepper bread, jelly roll
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ARTS & CULTURE MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 · PAGE 3
IN BRIEF Third annual black opportunity fair offers performance, resources “Wakati,” the third annual black opportunity fair, showcased 26 campus organizations and resources on Saturday night. Attending groups ranged from fraternities and sororities like Alpha Kappa Alpha to cultural groups like the Latin American Students Association, performance groups like Shades of Brown and University resources such as Career Services. The fair included tables representing each group as well as a series of performances. Fusion performed two dance numbers:“Move Sucka,” which chronicled the history of Third World activism at Brown, and a traditional African dance. Andrea O’Neal ’03 and Dominique Bosa-Edwards ’05 also shared excerpts from their own original poetry collections. “It’s an opportunity for organized groups to put themselves out there in the community,” said Dwight Vidale ’05, a member of the Organization of United African Peoples. Carmelle Romain ’05 and Eldridge Gilbert ’05, co-chairs of the event, invited all campus groups to represent themselves at “Wakati.” The event is open to the entire Brown community, Romain said, but is geared primarily towards first-year students. UCS President Allen Feliz ’03 also spoke to students, encouraging them to get involved in student government. He said UCS’ top two priorities were student service and community building. “We have to make sure we (build community) the right way,” Feliz said. He also said that only when students represent themselves on University committees do they create appealing events. Reverend Sakena Young-Scaggs, the associate Protestant University chaplain, spotlighted an organization for the black student body called Onyx, which is meant to bring the African American students of each graduating class together through senior trips and other events. Wakati was sponsored by OUAP and Rites and Reason Theatre. — Jen Sopchockchai
ARTS & CULTURE REVIEW
Indigo Girls play to a packed PPAC BY JAMIE FLEISCHMAN
Gracing the stage with joy, humility and a familiar intimacy with their audience, Indigo Girls Emily Saliers and Amy Ray could come off as a pair of high school students performing for their friends at a school talent show. Well, a pair of high school students with the incredible musical skill, versatility and composure that ten albums and a thirteen-year-plus professional music career can give you. Sponsored by the Brown Concert Agency, the folkrock duo played to an enthusiastic full house at the Providence Performance Arts Center on Friday night. No strangers to benefit concerts, the Indigo Girls have habitually played in support of causes ranging from human rights to environmental preservation. Friday’s concert was no exception: the proceeds of the PPAC performance went to Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) and Rhode Island Jobs for Justice, two organizations serving workers’ interests in the Providence community. Saliers and Ray kept it simple at PPAC, both of them donning their guitars along with the occasional banjo, keyboard, harmonica or accordion accompaniment. The evening was characterized by the roots/bluegrass influences that Saliers and Ray often incorporate into their music, a sound especially apparent in their most recent work such as “Become You” and “Come On Now Social.” After opening with an energetic rendition of “It’s Alright,” one of the trademark tracks of their 1997 album “Shaming of the Sun,” the set list was dominated by the newly-released “Become You.” The intimate and emotional ballads “Moment of Forgiveness, “Deconstruction,” “She’s Saving Me” and “You’ve Got to Show” were nicely interspersed with the vibrant rock-country blasts of the album’s title track, as well as “Starkville” and “Yield.” The set-list was also sprinkled with older favorites, such as “Power of Two,” “Virginia Woolf” and “Least Complicated” (during which the crowd was invited to sing the “Na Na” refrain). “The more albums you make, the harder it is to make up a set list,” Saliers told the crowd as audience members shouted out requests, including little-known songs such as “Airplane” and early hits like “Strange Fire.” Opening for the Indigo Girls were the delicate sounds of Belgian brother-sister duo K’s Choice.
Saliers and Ray kept it simple at the Providence Performance Arts Center, both fo them donnign their guitars along with the occasional banjo, keyboard, harmonica or accordian accompaniment. The evening was characterized by the roots/bluegrass influences that Salliers and Ray often incorporate into their music. Emitting the same aura of honesty and simplicity, K’s Choice melodic performance beautifully complimented the Indigo Girls’ set. In one of the highlights of the evening, Ray and Saliers invited K’s Choice’s Sarah Bettens to accompany them in a show-stopping performance of “Closer to Fine.” The Indigo Girls’ first major hit and best known song, “Closer to Fine” jolted audience members out of their seats to dance and sing along. The other half of K’s choice, Gert Bettens, joined the Indigo Girls on stage for “Kid Fears,” another track off their first album. The concert’s encore began with “Chickenman,” one of Ray’s rockers from the 1992 album “Rites of Passage.” Though “Chickenman” seemed an unusual choice for an encore, Saliers and Ray took it and flew with it, engaging in a lively and exciting performance bursting with dexterous guitar solos and a prolonged jamming session. “It’s so great to see them jam,” said McKenna Morrigan ’04, one of many Brown students who attended the concert. “When they just perform their standards, sometimes you can forget what incredibly skilled musicians they really are.”
PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002
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ic ability than Carter? Yes, but have they dunked on a computer animated raptor recently? I think not. Vince entertains the fans with the best of them. His marketability to talent ratio is unsurpassed, and so he deserves the recognition. While traditionally golf has been associated with old men in baggy flannel pants being slowly driven around by their caddies, Tiger Woods has somehow managed to shake things up. Complementing his unparalleled talent, Tiger has youth, style and charisma on his side. Never before has there actually been an incentive for Nike to sponsor a professional golfer as loudly as it does today. Now, Tiger is always decked out with a multitude of swooshes. He has also managed to perfect the victorious pumping of the fist without appearing overly full of himself. Because this phenom has already done the unthinkable by making golf a popular spectator sport, he is undoubtedly deserving of the entertainment award in his field. To specify one star in Major League Baseball as the league’s most entertaining player would be impossible. The sport is too diverse, and there are too many players who qualify as great entertainers to single out just one. While most of the female readers would probably vote for Derek Jeter, the majority of the WWF fans out there would root for John Rocker to take home the award. Personally, I think the most entertaining players to watch are those competitors who wear their emotions on their sleeves. As an avid Mets fan, I will site Al Leiter as an example. Leiter matches his talent with a devotion to maintaining purity of the game. He is not afraid of becoming furious with himself when he makes a mistake. Always remaining humble, he knows how to celebrate as well. He makes watching baseball games enjoyable for anyone who is a fan of the game. If you made it through the entire column, I hope I was able to convince you that there was more substance to my writing than just literary images of Anna Kournikova. I sincerely believe that athletes such as Anna, Vince, Tiger and Big Al make sports worth watching; we should praise them for it. So what do you think about that, Hatfield? Sports columnist Adam Stern ’06 is a native of Roslyn, N.Y. In addition to this column, he covers the women’s tennis team.
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CAMPUS NEWS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 · PAGE 5
‘911+1’ lecturer says Palestinian suicide bombings can be ‘morally rationalized’ BY SARA PERKINS
Professor Ted Honderich of the University College in London addressed the controversial idea of a moral justification for terrorism in Friday’s concluding lecture of the two-week long “911 + 1” program. Honderich said there was no moral justification for last September’s terrorist attacks on the United States, but said it might be possible to morally rationalize Palenstinian terrorist attacks in Israel. Reading a paper culled from his new book “After the Terror,” Honderich spoke to a small audience in the Watson Institute’s Joukowsky Forum. He said the “great goods” of society — which include sustenance, security and power — are unevenly distributed across different societies. Access to these goods differentiates good lives from bad ones, he told the audience. In the Western world, the average life expectancy is 78 years. In several African countries, life expectancy is 40 years, and is only 30 years for the poorest 10 percent of these countries, he said. These disparities, and the Western world’s unwillingness to sacrifice anything to close the widening gap, highlight what Honderich called a “deprivation of omission.” “We have done overwhelming wrong … in failing to help those Africans who lead bad lives … (that is) as indubitable as sexually abusing a child,” he said. “We need to escape the illusion that to be ordinary is to be innocent.” Deprivation by omission — the act of not giving what you can to those who need it — may be just as bad as deprivation by active commission, he said. He said that there was no moral justification for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the conscious murder that the hijackers perpetrated. There was “no reasonable hope that (the acts of Sept. 11, 2001) could work to secure a meaningful end,” he said. Honderich said he was less sure that Palestinian terrorists in Israel are not justified in their actions. “Palestinians have bad lives” and little other recourse, he said. Denied any reasonable path to secure “freedom and power in their homeland,” humans will resort to almost anything, Honderich said. An action that satisfies a desire for sustenance, security, power and other “great goods” can be morally rationalized, he said. Honderich is a professor of Philosophy of Mind and Logic at University College in London and has lectured at NYU and Yale University. His books include “Violence for Equality: Inquiries in Political Philosophy,” “Punishment,” “Philosopher: A Kind of Life,” “How Free Are You?” and “After the Terror.” see 911+1, page 6
Seth Kerschner / Herald
President Ruth Simmons joined Secretary of State Edward Inman Sunday afternoon for a tea party.The event was organized to raise funds for a $25,000 statue of Christiana Carteaux Bannister, a 19th-century Rhode Island philanthropist of African American and Native American heritage.
Simmons joins Inman to remember a RI hero BY JOANNE PARK
Secretary of State Edward Inman and President Ruth Simmons hosted a tea party Sunday at Sayles Hall to raise funds for a statue of Christiana Carteaux Bannister, a 19th-century Rhode Island philanthropist. Nearly 50 people came out to drink tea, enjoy fingerfoods and listen to speeches about Bannister. The state is planning to unveil the statue of Bannister in the State House this winter. It will cost about $25,000 to construct. Bannister, a woman of both African American and Native American heritage, dedicated herself to the care of others in Rhode Island in the mid-1800s, according to a pamphlet given to tea party guests. Her Home for Aged Colored Women, built in 1890, stands today and is now called Bannister House. Bannister also worked to support the families and dependents of the 54th Massachusetts Black Regiment during the Civil War.
She established a name for herself as a gifted and able patron of the arts, while maintaining her steadfast commitment to the welfare of those in the black community, according to the pamphlet. Though she died in relative anonymity, many of the guests at the Sunday gathering expressed hope that their efforts could revive appreciation for Bannister. “We pledge that her story will always be told, and she will always be honored,” Inman said. Inman recounted his days as a social studies teacher. When he brought his students to the State House, he said he noticed that all the portraits and paintings were of men. A state law that still stands requires all portraits lining Memorial Hallway in the State House to be of past governors or House speakers in Rhode Island. No woman has held these positions in the state. see STATUE, page 6
PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002
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anniversary this year, for telling “the story in history.” RIHS Director Bernard Fishman said this year’s History Makers were chosen for “their special level of creativity and community service … for making their public lives beacons of achievement.” RIHS also selected Thomas Ryan, Chairman, President and CEO of Rhode Island-based CVS, as a History Maker. In addition, Walter Stone, of the Litigation Group of Adler, Pollock and Sheehan, received the John H. Chafee Memorial Award for Service. Rear Adm. Barbara McGann, now executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Red Cross, was honored with the Newell D. Goff Institute Award for Ingenuity and Enterprise for achievements in her 32-year career with the U.S. Navy. Master of ceremonies Gene Valicenti of WJAR Channel 10 cracked jokes throughout the evening, telling Eustis he would like tickets to this season’s “A Christmas Carol” and referring repeatedly to Ryan’s occupation. “Do you have your CVS card?” Valicenti said. “No? Well, you can use this one … You do know that’s going on, right?” he asked Ryan. Ryan nodded from his seat on the stage. Valicenti elicited guffaws from the audience with his quip about 2000 History Maker and former Mayor Vincent Cianci. “I told my wife to bring her shawl,” Valiceni said. “The winds of change have been blowing around here.”
About 55 people, fewer than 10 of whom were students, attended the lecture. One audience member told the crowd that, when he lived in the Soviet Bloc, aid in the form of food could not have gotten past the “thugs” who ran the country, and military aid would have been more welcome. The event was the last in a series of lectures, panels and discussions called “911 + 1: The Perplexities of Security.” Previous speakers included researchers and scholars, as well as the president of the Naval War College and representatives of American University in Cairo and Hebrew University in Israel, who conversed via teleconference with participants from Brown. “I was afraid we wouldn’t find a common element” between the diverse speakers, “but we did,” said James Der Derian, the Director of the Watson Institute’s “Information Technology, War and Peace” project and the organizer of “911 + 1.” It worked “beyond my expectations,” he said. “I think maybe the reaction to Sept. 11 was even more of an event than the attacks themselves,” Der Derian said when asked whether there would be a “911 + 2” event. The “Information Technology, War and Peace” project responds to crises primarily, and Der Derian said he expects that there will be new issues to address a year from now. But “if 911 + 2 is deemed a global event, we will respond,” he said.
In his speech, Inman expressed his hope that the statue of Bannister would initiate a change to the law. Her statue would be the second in the State House to depict a woman after that of Elizabeth Buffum Chace, a founder of the Rhode Island Woman Suffrage Association. In her speech, Simmons said the history of slavery and disenfranchisement did not hinder Bannister. Simmons emphasized the importance of acknowledging the mistakes of history. “Though we cannot change what we have done, we can change the way we acknowledge the past,” Simmons said. She urged those present to invoke the spirit of Roger Williams, along with the “embodiment of Rhode Island’s ideals of tolerance and liberty. “Brown has an interest in the way the state conducts its affairs … and an obligation to acknowledge the outstanding work done by women,” Simmons told The Herald before the tea party. The guests echoed the sentiments of Inman and Simmons. “It is extremely important to acknowledge the benefits and contributions that women have offered society,” State Rep. Anastasia Williams told The Herald. Another tea party guest, Gerry Giroux, a local teacher, said her classroom would benefit from learning about people like Bannister. “There are a lot of people in Rhode Island’s history that are not in the textbooks,” she said. “This is a wonderful way that students can hear about their heritage.”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
WORLD & NATION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 · PAGE 7
IN BRIEF Deliberations begin in cigarette case LOS ANGELES (L. A. Times) — A Los Angeles Superior Court jury is set to start deliberations Monday in a closely watched case brought against tobacco giant Philip Morris Cos. by an ex-smoker suffering from lung cancer. Closing arguments were delivered Friday in the lawsuit filed by Betty Bullock of Newport Beach, who began smoking in the 1950s at age 17, and was diagnosed with cancer in February 2001. Bullock, who turns 64 Monday, primarily smoked Philip Morris’ Benson & Hedges brand. She has accused Philip Morris of negligence, fraud and making a defective product. The monthlong case is the first to be tried in California since a state Supreme Court ruling that said that smokers cannot present evidence of alleged deception based on industry documents created between 1988 and 1998, when a legislative ban on product liability lawsuits against cigarettemakers was in place. The ruling reduced only slightly plaintiffs’ arsenal of incriminating industry documents, most of which were generated in the 1950s,‘60s, and ‘70s. Even so, legal and financial analysts are waiting to see if the new ground rules can help cigarettemakers end their losing streak in California, where the three cases tried since the lawsuit ban was lifted all ended in multimilliondollar damage awards for for sick smokers. Damages in the three cases, all now on appeal, totaled $153 million. One of the three cases produced the largest jury award ever won by an individual smoker. Michael Piuze, the lawyer representing Bullock, was attorney for former Marlboro smoker Richard Boeken in June 2001, when a jury in Los Angeles County Superior Court ordered Philip Morris to pay him $3 billion in punitive damages and $5 million in compensatory. The trial judge later pared the punitive damages to $100 million, and Boeken, who suffered from lung cancer, has since died. In his closing argument Friday in the Bullock case, Piuze
displayed blowups of internal memos that he said showed Philip Morris had concealed the addictiveness of smoking and had conspired with its rivals to give addicted smokers such as Bullock “a psychological crutch” to keep on smoking.
Calif. a home for stem-cell research SACRAMENTO, Calif (L. A. Times) — In a symbolic challenge to Bush administration efforts to restrict stem-cell research, Gov. Gray Davis Sunday will sign legislation aimed at positioning California at the forefront of the controversial and potentially revolutionary biomedical field, state officials said.
A bill sponsored by state Sen. Deborah Ortiz, a Democrat, creates a review process for stem-cell research and paves the way for the state government to shift some of its millions of dollars in biomedical research funds to the emerging stem cell field, government and private health experts said.
Scientists and representatives of California’s multibillion-dollar biomedical industry say the measure is a badly needed boost for stem-cell research, which has sparked a divisive national political and ethical debate. “Stem-cell research is responsible research that could potentially save millions of lives,” Davis said in a written statement.“I am determined to keep California at the forefront of medical research and scientific innovation.” Scientists, patient advocacy groups and other supporters say stem-cell research could result in revolutionary treatments for spinal cord injuries and other diseases like cancer and Parkinson’s. Described by scientists as one of nature’s most powerful tools, stem cells found in human embryos, umbilical cords, placentas and elsewhere, have the ability to divide and become any kind of cell in the body. Opponents, led by the Catholic Church and anti-abortion groups, contend that research—which begins with the destruction of a human embryo—is tantamount to murder.
President Bush placed broad restrictions on federal funding for stem-cell research last year. Congress is deeply divided over the issue, with conservative Republicans seeking to make it a criminal offense to conduct the research or even avail of any resulting medical therapies. Scientists and industry groups praised the Ortiz bill as groundbreaking.“Sen. Ortiz wants to send a message that we want to maintain leadership in biomedical research in California, and this does that,” said David Gollaher, president and CEO of California Healthcare Institute, which represents bioscientists and the biomedical industry.
US identified 70,000 terror suspects WASHINGTON (L. A. Times) — U.S. officials have identified at least 70,000 suspected terrorists around the world and say an unknown number of al-Qaeda-trained soldiers have been trying for at least five years to infiltrate the United States and launch “spectacular” attacks, according to two congressional reports issued last week and all but ignored in the flurry of headlines that accompanied hearings into intelligence failures prior to the Sept. 11 attacks. The reports, based on recently declassified intelligence and law enforcement information, indicate that the State Department’s watch list of dangerous individuals contains the names of 70,000 “members of foreign terrorist organizations, known hijackers, car bombers, assassins or hostage-takers.” U.S. officials stressed that the threshold for making the watch list is low. But, in the reports, they also said they fear that anunidentified number of the suspected terrorists—both on and off the list—may already be inside the United States because of long-standing, serious gaps in information-sharing by the CIA and the State Department. The reports, which include other troubling insights into the ongoing war on global terrorism, were released during three days of congressional hearings into the missed warning signs of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. They provide a window into the ongoing threat that authorities say al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations continue to pose to the United States and its interests abroad. But the disclosures were overshadowed by the oftenriveting testimony that focused on the myriad mistakes, miscommunications and bureaucratic entanglements between the FBI and CIA that occurred as the Sept. 11 hijackers planned and launched their attacks without disruption by U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies. In an interview, a U.S. intelligence official said the reports only made public what the CIA and the FBI have known for years. “It gives you some idea of the enormity of the challenge we face,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “It’s a lot more complicated than is generally acknowledged, for a variety of reasons.” “Al-Qaeda continues to be a threat,” said the official. “But they are not the only threat out there.” The intelligence official said al-Qaeda remains as dangerous an organization today as it was before Sept. 11 and the global war on terrorism launched in its aftermath. The official also said the terrorist threat spreads far beyond alQaeda to other militant Islamic groups, as well as such terrorist organizations as 17 November in Greece, Abu Sayyaf in Southeast Asia and FARC in Colombia. A State Department official said Saturday that the number of suspected terrorists on the list actually has climbed to 80,000, growing by 2,000 names a month since last September. “It’s a lot of names,” said the official, “but it’s based on 15 years of information.” The two reports were issued by Eleanor Hill, staff director of the joint congressional inquiry, which spent months interviewing key law enforcement and intelligence officials and reviewing classified documents. They disclosed repeated attempts by al-Qaeda to recruit U.S. citizens in its jihad, or holy war, against the United States since at least 1997. The report said the terror network, led by Osama bin Laden, has created front companies on U.S. soil for terrorist activities and has acted aggressively to establish “operative” cells within U.S. borders to launch bombings, hijackings and assassinations of government leaders, as well as attacks on landmarks, government buildings and tourist attractions. The report cited one “closely held intelligence report for senior government officials” issued in August 2001 concluded that “members of al-Qaeda, including some U.S. citizens, had resided or traveled in or traveled to the United States for years, and that the group apparently maintained a support structure here.” Both reports focused mainly on the breakdowns in cooperation between intelligence and law enforcement agencies, but they also cited the dangerous professionalism of al-Qaeda members, including a much-publicized plot to hijack a plane and crash it into CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., in 1995. The conspirators, according to a 1995 intelligence study included in the report, carefully studied security procedures in the Washington area before choosing their target and means of attack. “If terrorists operating in this country, the United States, are similarly methodical, they will identify serious vulnerabilities” in the nation’s air travel and security systems, it said.
The CIA repeatedly failed to share important information with the State Department that could have been entered into its Tipoff watch list and used to keep terrorists out of the country. Similarly, a 2000 classified report by the FBI and Federal Aviation Administration concluded that international terrorist groups—al-Qaeda and others—were operating within the United States, and engaged in fund-raising, recruiting new members, disseminating propaganda and planning attacks. And a June 2001 warning found by the congressional investigators said U.S. intelligence officials believed Islamic extremists associated with al-Qaeda “are most likely to attempt spectacular attacks, resulting in numerous casualties.” The report also mentioned other terrorist plots involving U.S. citizens, including a plan by an American alQaeda member to fly a hang glider into the Egyptian presidential palace and then detonate explosives he was carrying. It said the individual received hang glider training in the United States and then brought the hang glider back to Afghanistan. In April 2000, the intelligence community obtained information regarding an alleged bin Laden plot to hijack a commercial jetliner. “The source, who was a walk-in to the FBI’s Newark office, claimed that he had been to a training camp in Pakistan, where he learned hijacking techniques and received arms training,” Hill wrote. “He also stated that he was supposed to meet five to six other individuals in the United States who would also participate in the plot. Although the individual passed an FBI polygraph, the FBI was never able to verify any aspect of his story or identify his contacts in the United States.” Much of last week’s congressional testimony focused on how the CIA failed to share with the FBI vital information about two of the hijackers preceding the Sept. 11 attacks that could have prevented them from entering the United States. That lack of information sharing has been widely reported. But the hearings also disclosed another, far less publicized problem in the counter-terrorism effort. According to congressional investigators, the CIA repeatedly failed to share important information with the State Department that could have been entered into its Tipoff watch list and used to keep terrorists out of the country. Most notable was the CIA’s failure to alert the State Department about two suspects who turned out to be hijackers. CIA officials knew that Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf Alhazmi attended an important al-Qaeda meeting in Malaysia in 2000. About a year later, the CIA linked the two to suspected orchestrators of the bombing of the U.S. warship Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in October 2000. Yet the CIA didn’t alert the State Department to add alMihdhar and Alhazmi to the watch list until Aug. 23, 2001. By then, it was too late—they were already in the United States. The report contrasted that failure with the case of another suspected terrorist who was added promptly to the watch list and stopped before he could enter the United States. The different outcomes, one report said, “dramatically illustrate that the prompt, routine and accurate flow of names of suspected terrorists (to the watch list) is an important part of the U.S. government’s efforts to keep terrorists out of the United States.” Those weren’t the only problems with the Tipoff system identified by congressional investigators. The CIA, for instance, failed to submit at least 1,500 intelligence reports in their files to the State Department until a month after Sept. 11. And after Sept. 11, the number of suspected terrorist names forwarded to the State Department by the CIA jumped nearly five-fold. From Sept. 12, 2001 until the end of that year, 4,252 suspected terrorists were added to the State Department list. The CIA explained that it had no formal system in place for forwarding the names to the State Department.
PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002
Life expectancy in the Americas up six years over past two decades (Washington Post) — Life expectancy in the Americas has risen by six years over the last two decades. Infant mortality has been cut by about one-third. Measles, a major killer of children, is nearly gone. Deaths from malaria are one-quarter of what they were just five years ago. Those are among the promising trends detailed in a portrait of health in the Western Hemisphere released last week by the Pan American Health Organization. The total picture, however, is decidedly mixed. The region’s overall improving health masks wide disparities among countries. The incidence
of AIDS in Caribbean countries is second only to that seen in subSaharan Africa. Furthermore, rising incomes are leaving the diseases of affluence, notably heart disease, diabetes and the complications of obesity, in their wake. Nevertheless, PAHO chief George A. O. Alleyne said last week that “the health situation in the Americas is the best it’s ever been.” PAHO is the section of the World Health Organization devoted to North America, the Caribbean and Latin America. Its “Health in the Americas”report is produced every four years.
Life expectancy, the best indicator of overall population health, is now 73.2 years for the region, with women living an average of more than 6 years longer than men. Canada had the highest life expectancy at 79 years, with the United States at 77.5 years. In Latin America, it is 70.4 years, although there were wide differences. Haiti had the lowest life expectancy at 53 years; Brazil’s was below average at 68 and Mexico’s was above average at 73. Infant mortality, the strongest indicator of a population’s ill health, is about 25 deaths per
Life expectancy, the best indicator of overall population health, is now 73.2 years for the region, with women living an average of more than 6 years longer than men. 1,000 live births overall, down from 37 in 1980. Canada has the lowest at about five deaths per 1,000. The epidemiologists at PAHO found something that had been noticed elsewhere—namely that wide disparity of income in a population is a hazard to health. The researchers divided the countries into high- and lowincome, and wide- and narrowincome gap groups. Income gap was calculated by comparing the average income of the top onefifth of a population with the average income of the bottom one-fifth. They found that low-income nations with relatively equitable distributions of income often had better health indicators than better-off countries with wide income gaps. For example, high-income, wide gap Brazil has a lower life expectancy (68 years) and higher infant mortality (38 per 1,000) than low-income, narrow-gap Peru (70 years and 37 per 1,000). The phenomenon appears to be a reflection of government policy and the extent of economic development, said epidemiologist Enrique Loyola, who helped prepare the report. “There may be smaller benefits, but they are better distributed,”he said. The income gap has been growing in the Western Hemisphere for the last 20 years, the authors noted. In 1980, the
median income in the wealthiest one-fifth of the population was 13 times that of the poorest onefifth. In 2000, it was 16 times higher. Death from infectious diseases, with the exception of AIDS, have fallen steadily. A major campaign against malaria has reduced mortality from that disease from eight deaths per 100,000 population to two deaths per 100,000 since the mid-1990s. Last year there were about 550 cases of measles in the Americas, compared to about 30 million cases and 777,000 deaths elsewhere in the world. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the hemisphere, as it has been in the United States for much of the last 50 years. The report’s authors said the region is marked by “epidemiological polarization,”in which infectious diseases continue to be the major threat to poor people, while non-communicable diseases such as heart attack, stroke, cancer and emphysema are the overwhelming killers of the more affluent. Adult-onset diabetes is expected to grow to near-epidemic proportions. About 35 million people in the Americas now suffer from it, with 54 percent of them in Latin America and the Caribbean. By 2025, that number is expected to be 64 million, with 62 percent living in South America.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9
Saudis not sure of Iraqi threat RIYADH,Saudi Arabia (Washington Post) —
This longtime ally of America isn’t convinced that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein poses a serious and imminent military threat to regional stability and security. That threat, it believes, comes from another source: the United States, top officials say. Many here think that Hussein has been chastened by his past military failures and is unlikely to wage war on his neighbors— unless the United States decides to invade. “The U.S. may know something about the existence of chemical weapons in Iraq, but we are not sure,’’ said the nation’s longtime security chief, Interior Minister Prince Nayif ibn Abdulaziz, adding that a U.S. attack on Iraq will create problems in the region “faster than any Iraqi operation against its neighbors.’’ For more than 70 years, Saudi Arabia and the United States have had close ties, a marriage of convenience that has served their mutual political and strategic interests. But relations have been strained since Sept. 11, and the priorities of both countries have diverged. The U.S. government wants Hussein ousted. The Saudi leadership wants the PalestinianIsraeli conflict resolved first. Neither side has been willing to budge. Against this backdrop, the White House faces the very real prospect of waging a major military campaign in the Persian Gulf region without the key strategic support of Saudi Arabia. “The Saudis don’t regard Saddam as a military threat,’’ said a high-level Western diplomat based in Riyadh, the capital. “For the Saudis, he is a political threat. The Saudis fear U.S. military action will not only divert attention and break up a coalition to fight terrorism, but will also foster terrorism.’’ So far, the Saudi government has been very clear. If the United States goes it alone, without the endorsement of the United Nations, the government will refuse to allow the use of its territory. When authorities said recently they would allow U.S. forces to operate here if there is a U.N. resolution, observers say, the goal was to thwart a war by pressuring Hussein to let in weapons inspectors — which it achieved. It was not meant as a nod to the U.S. agenda. “Anything that will avoid military operations against Iraq, or military operations in the region, will be a positive act,’’ PrinceNayif said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times. This reluctance to attack Iraq reflects the significant differences between what is happening today and what occurred in 1990, when Hussein invaded Kuwait and the entire area felt threatened by the region’s largest armed force. “Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait in August 1990 posed the gravest threat to Saudi Arabia’s security that I had yet encountered in my military career,’’ Prince Khaled bin Sultan wrote in his book “Desert Warrior: A Personal View of the Gulf War by the Joint Forces Commander.” Our vital oil-producing Eastern province—the principal source of our national wealth—lay open to his mecha-
nized and armored divisions.’’ Saudi Arabia is a large land mass, with a small population living on top of a valuable resource: one-fourth the world’s known oil reserves. It is surrounded by unpredictable neighbors, such as Iraq and Iran, and its leadership strives to preserve credibility in a nation that has blended political and religious authority. An alliance with the United States has helped the Saud dynasty maintain the status quo. For these reasons, Saudi Arabia continues to allow the United States to fly military patrols over a no-fly zone set up in southern Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf War and allowed America to use a high-tech command center to run the war in Afghanistan. Although the United States has moved thousands of its troops out of the kingdom, about 5,000 U.S. military personnel remain in Saudi Arabia as well as the command center, which could be quietly used in an Iraqi operation. At the moment, officials, diplomats and political observers say there is no fear that Baghdad will attack any neighbor. But there is a fear that if the U.S. strikes, Hussein could lash out, perhaps targeting the oil fields. U.S. officials in the region are paying close attention to what the Saudi government is saying, although they say there is no sign that it is wavering in its opposition to a war. Saudi Arabia’s leadership has a reputation of choosing its words carefully, and rarely being duplicitous. “They conceivably could have a powerful role if they offered facilities to support some sort of response to Iraq’s flouting of U.N. resolutions,’’ said a high-level U.S. diplomat from the region. “It would be practically very important—plus, it would be a huge signal throughout the Arab world.’’ Even during the Gulf War there were elements of concern, ideas that today have come to define the national policy. Some Saudi leaders didn’t like the idea of Arabs fighting Arabs, and they worried an invasion of Iraq could have negative consequences for the rest of the region. “Our fear is that a defeat will be inflicted on them, dividing and scattering their ranks and fragmenting their unity into ethnicgroups,’’ Crown Prince Abdullah was quoted as saying in the Joseph Kechichian’s book “Succession in Saudi Arabia.’’ In the end, almost everyone, including Crown Prince Abdullah and the nation’s top religious leadership, accepted the idea of allowing foreign forces to join a military coalition based on the Arabian peninsula. The war was successful, Hussein’s military was defeated, and, for a short time, Saudis thanked America for its help. But the anti-American sentiment started with a growing sense of embarrassment among Saudis who questioned why they could not defend themselves— especially after their leaders had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on weapons. The hostility was stoked by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In the early days of the Bush administration, in particular, the government here grew incensed at the White House’s hands-off policy.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
EDITORIAL/LETTERS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 · PAGE 10 S T A F F
E D I T O R I A L
Spread ’em out Last Friday, the Indigo Girls played to a crowd of enraptured Brown students at the Providence Performing Arts Center. Though we laud the Brown Concert Agency for organizing a show so close to the start of the academic year, we hope that it will not be the last until Spring Weekend. College is an ideal time for exploring and developing one’s musical tastes and although the appearance of the Indigo Girls is a step in the right direction for BCA, it would be better still to see several smaller shows over the course of the semester. An increase in performances at the University would yield more interested students and thus more recognition for BCA. Many more Indigo Girls’ fans would have attended the show if it were held on this campus, raising the question of why the University is not interested in building a large concert hall suitable for such events. Budgetary reasons presumably prevent BCA from booking more acts over the course of the year. There is a solution, however. Despite the joy that Spring Weekend festivities bring Brown students, most do not have the attention span or the time to watch five or six performances in the space of less than 48 hours. BCA should consider booking three smaller, local acts and three larger, more costly groups for Spring Weekend. This would provide valuable exposure for local bands while reducing the total cost of the event, allowing for BCA to bring big name acts to Brown throughout the rest of the academic year. Last, while the Indigo Girls are certainly a popular choice with the Brown student body, it would be wonderful to see students consulted more fully on their music tastes. In 2001, students were given the opportunity to vote for the bands they desired to see. This is commendable, and BCA should make this practice of gathering student tastes and opinions the norm when bringing musical acts to our University, not the exception.
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 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
BUSINESS Stacey Doynow, General Manager Jamie Wolosky, Executive Manager Joe Laganas, Senior Accounts Manager Moon-Suk Oh, Marketing Manager David Zehngut, National Accounts Manager Lawrence Hester, University Accounts Manager Bill Louis, University Accounts Manager Hyebin Joo, Local Accounts Manager Jungdo Yu, Local Accounts Manager Tugba Erem, Local Accounts Manager Jack Carrere, Noncomm Accounts Manager Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Rep. Genia Gould, Advertising Rep. Kate Sparaco, Office Manager
Sanders Kleinfeld, Opinions Editor PRODUCTION Marion Billings, Design Editor Bronwyn Bryant, Asst. Design Editor Julia Zuckerman, Copy Desk Chief
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
Jonathan Skolnick, Copy Desk Chief Andrew Sheets, Graphics Editor Ellen Bak, Photography Editor Allie Silverman, Asst.Photography Editor Brett Cohen, Systems Manager
SPORTS Joshua Troy, Sports Editor Nick Gourevitch, Asst. Sports Editor Jermaine Matheson, Asst. Sports Editor Alicia Mullin, Asst. Sports Editor
Marion Billings, Night Editor Jonathan Skolnick, Copy Editors Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Brian Baskin, Jonathan Bloom, Carla Blumenkranz, Chris Byrnes, Jinhee Chung, Maria Di Mento, Nicholas Foley, Neema Singh Guliani, Ari Gerstman, Andy Golodny, Daniel Gorfine, Nick Gourevitch, Stephanie Harris, Victoria Harris Maggie Haskins, Shara Hegde, Brian Herman, 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, 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 Copy Editors Anastasia Ali, Lanie Davis, Marc Debush, Yafang Deng, Hanne Eisenfeld, Emily Flier, George Haws, Daniel Jacobson, Blair Nelsen, Eric Perlmutter, Amy Ruddle, Janis Sethness
ANDREW SHEETS
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Even though the University has implemented a New financial aid new financial aid policy that replaces the standard work with additional scholarship, it is policy gives first-years term-time recognized that some students will still choose to work. additional funds Brown spends in excess of $5 million annually To the Editor: In the opinions column “To work or not to work: that is the question” (9/19), Seth Leibson ’05 makes several points that need clarification. Every student who qualified for University scholarship in the Class of 2006 received an additional $2,000 in grant resources in lieu of Federal work study. This change in policy was part of the President’s plan for Academic Enrichment and is intended to allow students additional time to explore the Brown curriculum and other parts of the community without the need to work during their first year. Our mission as a University is to provide the best possible learning experience to all students, and our nowork policy for freshmen receiving financial aid supports that purpose. The value, merit and need for working while enrolled as a student are often debated. This was considered when this policy was developed, with the following facts contributing to the decision to move forward with its implementation: Students receiving this award are not prohibited from working. They may obtain employment on campus despite not having a federal work-study award. Thus, these students gain $2000 in grant funding for their freshman year without foregoing the option to work if they choose to do so. Although, in the spirit of the policy, we hope that they choose to engage as fully as possible in Brown’s wealth of academic and non-academic offerings. Federal work-study earnings are not tax-exempt. The determining factors for whether or not a student has tax withholdings and/or a tax liability depend on filing status and on the individual amount earned by a student — regardless of FWS status. Therefore, students working on campus without a FWS award are not foregoing any type of tax benefit. There is one tax benefit exclusive to students: the IRS FICA/Medicare exemption. This IRS rule exempts students who work on campus from having to pay into FICA/Medicare during a period of enrollment, regardless of FWS status.
on student wages. Federal work-study funds make up about 20 percent of the total, and the University makes up the difference. Students who want to work, regardless of their financial aid status, can generally find work since there are more jobs on campus than students to fill them. Our financial aid packages meet 100 percent of a student’s demonstrated need with a combination of grants and scholarships, term-time work and loans. With the new policy, the University did contribute more money to the financial aid budget. In terms of loan levels, starting with the Class of 2003, the University adopted a policy to increase scholarships and decrease loans and has not increased student loan levels since then. While it is unlikely that we will never again increase loan levels, it is important to recognize the extraordinary effort that the University has made to improve financial aid packages over the last several years. As a University, we are always looking for ways to improve our financial aid policies to provide a better experience for students on financial aid. Often these polices are in competition with other University priorities and therefore are not adopted as quickly as some would like. However, that should not prevent us from identifying what is most important for Brown. The no-work policy is just one example of a recent change intended to make the Brown University learning experience more fulfilling for all students. The plan to adopt a need-blind admission policy is our next step. In order for Brown to continue to be one of the best institutions in the country, it is important that we constantly review our financial aid polices and improve them as resources permit. For more information on financial aid policies or policies governing student employment, visit our Web site at www.financialaid.brown.edu. Michael Bartini Director of Financial Aid Sept. 20
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 23, 2002 · PAGE 11
Brown’s hidden and underappreciated treasures Troves of joy await those who take advantage of these often overlooked Brown delights OVER SEVEN SEMESTERS, I’VE WANDERED nearly every corner of Brown, gradually finding out how to live what Aristotle (or if not him, then some guy) called “the good life.” As I’ve learned from biology, chemistry and history concentrators, while I cannot lead an equine to a hydrogenoxygen compound, I can at least map out some of the places you should check out on your collegiate journey. My list is by no means exhaustive, and I’ve refrained from including groups with which I’ve long been associated for some pretense of objectivity.
relatively private sphere. But the fun doesn’t stop at the bookstore — FGS boasts one of the most well-rounded activities rosters of any Brown organization, with outdoor/athletic events including Laser Tag, mock fighting (“boffing”) and in the fall, apple-picking. So it’s not hard to see what FGS brings its wide membership base, from its über-members to occasional players: the perfect combination of friendship and creative expression that rivals that of any official fraternity.
Brown Cheerleaders I don’t know how I spent six BRETT COHEN semesters without knowing or Fantasy Gaming Society CHECKMATE! seeing the Brown cheerleaders. A community unto itself, FGS I guess if I hadn’t seen them, I is like an extended family of wouldn’t have thought they people who are always celebrating something, hanging out and, of existed, or that if they did exist, they would course, playing games. FGS maintains a conform to some stereotypical image of myriad of delightful rituals from another Brown (i.e., our squad would be a bunch of age (or indeed, other ages) like their dinner environmentalists dressed as the “toxic and costume parties. Members get along avenger” or something. Yes, I know I’m conso well with one another, it seems there’s fusing the mascot with the cheerleaders.) always a birthday or other gathering to be Yet, on actual inspection, the cheerleaders enjoyed, with bonds so strong they stretch look like ... cheerleaders. True, as with the court-mandated male waiters at Hooters, to include Boston (or Bay) area alumni. The thinking person’s club, FGS is prima- the male cheerleaders are slightly unsetrily devoted to role-playing, which is at root tling, but they’re a small and easily ignored a creative literary activity that gives players price to pay for the rest of the squad. opportunities for writing and acting in a Free Windows XP From Microsoft Brett J. Cohen ’03 wants to make the world Although last year Microsoft gave free licenses for Windows XP to all Brown stua better place, and he is now actually trydents, as a result of Computer and ing to make it so, one small step at a time.
Information Service’s (CIS) uneven advertising of this gift, relatively few students are aware of this cost-free, computerenhancing boon. All you need to do is show up at the CIT at Thayer and Waterman, present identification, and you’ll receive a license key and compact disc (to borrow). Windows XP Pro can upgrade Windows 98/2000/ME and represents a tremendous improvement in reliability and usability. Use the money you save to upgrade your computer, if necessary, to at least 256 megabytes of memory, and you’ll be burning CDs and watching clips more smoothly than ever before. Third World Center (TWC) Building If there is one thing that can unite Brown students of all creeds, races and ethnicities, it is appreciation of the Third World Center. No, not the center, of course, but the physical structure —Partridge Hall. Beautifully restored as a special priority of former President Gordon Gee, the building is now one of the classiest joints on campus, featuring top-notch wooden paneling, a magnificent grand central staircase and a fresh coat of paint on the exterior. Amenities include deluxe couches, a kitchen and a formal lounge. Since many non-minorities never make it into the center, they don’t know what they’re missing: a delightful, air-conditioned study space. Until the University decides to fix the name/mission of the TWC to make it unambiguously welcoming to all students, with an appellation like “Brown Multicultural Center,” it’ll remain our de facto secret.
Brown Chapter of the ACLU Probably everyone at Brown is well-intentioned, and nowadays there’s some feeling of relief that if some decision really reeks of injustice there’s the option of a final appeal to the all-knowing, all-seeking, allbenevolent Ruth Simmons. However, all the power and rights rest lopsidedly on the side of the deanery and the administration. One of the few student groups to consistently demand that the University provide students the same level of protection as the Bill of Rights affords us as citizens, the ACLU has fought for a streamlined disciplinary code and randomized housing assignments, among a host of other issues. An excellent example of theory guiding practice, the ACLU affords benefits to us all, even if we hope we’ll never be in a situation where we them. People you can talk to about ideas Unless you become an academic, and even then, unless it’s some abstract field or a humanity or social science, a hallmark of your Brown experience will be the fact that you can strike up conversation with someone at lunch and talk about the way things could be, in the abstract sense. Trust me, law and medical students are usually preoccupied with nuts and bolts issues, and the rest of society outside the University is too busy just trying to get by to be concerned about the realm of possible ideas. For perhaps for the last time in our lives we’re open to possibilities we had never considered: the significance of our collegiate journey.
A critical look at TWTP: a building with no foundation Mere participant enjoyment of the TWTP program does not justify its exclusionary practices THE THIRD WORLD TRANSITION intellectual groundwork: “Frantz Fanon, Program opened another dependably author of ‘The Wretched of the Earth’ (1961), fractious year of racial debate at Brown, urged readers to band together against with impassioned pleas on these pages oppression and colonialism, by pioneering a punctuated by pointed barbs on ‘Third Way’… When students adopt the term Heraldsphere (a few even directed at yours ‘Third World,’ they use it in the sense of a cultural model of empowerment truly). To this point, the public and liberation.” Lest anyone debate has been inadequate. confuse students at an elite U.S. Most debate has settled along school with the unwashed these lines: defenders of TWTP masses picking through the insist that it was a great experigarbage in Jakarta or Sao Paulo, ence and that it didn’t inculcate it goes on: “[Third World] is not them with rage against white to be confused with the ecopeople, and opponents of the nomic definition of the term program usually respond with, used commonly in our society “If it’s a great experience, why today, but understood as a term not let everyone participate?” that celebrates the cultures of Both lines of argument are, as ALEX SCHULMAN Arab, Asian, Black, Latino, such, eminently plausible. BORN TO RUN Multiracial and Native Holding a racially demarcatAmericans.” ed orientation is such a divisive That’s a tall order, a lot of issue that it will not do to simply measure TWTP by how much its participants cultures to celebrate beneath one banner. learned, how much they enjoyed it or how TWTP’s specific Web site declares it “a much it did or did not segregate them from forum for students of color.” “It facilitates non-persons-of-color at the outset of matric- an exploration and (re)discovery of our ulation. Those are important concerns and uniqueness while encouraging us to celehave been passionately explicated here by brate the commonalities that bind us.” The others who have more personal experience real question is uncomfortable yet necesthan I have. I spent my freshman year else- sary: what commonalities? For instance, what commonality does the where, and thus did not experience either the program or the effects of exclusion from it. average Asian American student have with But for an issue so divisive, we must look blacks that he doesn’t have with whites? beyond utilitarian effect to intellectual Relative pigmentation? As denominators go, underpinning; TWTP’s foundation is at best a that’s pretty insulting, and I like to imagine wishful mirage, and at worst an insidious generations of civil rights activists as well as stab at reverse apartheid, masked with a immigrant families from the actual “Third World” heartily rejecting it. Did anyone’s famgenial, academic rubber stamp. The Third World Center’s Web site lays its ily — whether descended from poor immigrants or freed slaves — work hard toward middle-class freedom so that their children Alex Schulman ’03 has often been dubbed could be dubbed “Third World” by theory“the wretched of the earth,” and usually by people who have never heard of Franz Fanon. spouting ideologues? Partisans of TWTP
insist that its design is not sectarian — that is, it does not manufacture a sense of solidarity of “us against them.” If we grant this, mustn’t we then assume that solidarity among the above groups already exists? I’m sorry to break the news: four decades after Mr. Fanon wrote his treatise, it now exists only in the minds of academic bureaucrats on the road to hell — that is, the zealously, nightmarishly well-intentioned. It is positively ludicrous to assume that more cultural commonality exists between South Asians/East Asians and blacks than exists between the former groups and whites. It is impossible to imagine a prejudiced corporate manager dismissing a Korean American and an African American job applicant in the same way and for the same reason. While it is plausible, though of course not given, that a black student attending an elite school is there due to his race, it is equally likely that an Asian American is there DESPITE his race. What kind of ethereal Fanonist bond can explain the deep achievement gap between American blacks and anygeneration offspring of South Asian/East Asian immigrants? After all, on average, Asians score higher than whites on standardized tests, who in turn score higher than blacks. I know very few Asian, South Asian, black or Latino families that believe they have been treated anything but fairly by the U.S. system. In fact, the story of most immigrant populations is one of incredible success — so even if we admit the situation of African Americans is far different, as they were forcibly imported and long enslaved, that is all the more evidence that creating a solidarity between all non-whites is despicably dishonest. Personal experiences differ, and I will surely receive angry missives with conflicting accounts, but intellectual honesty requires a
look at broad, and often bleak, truths. As a cultural, if not really racial (for scientifically, there is no such thing as “race”) group, Asian Americans probably have much more in common with American Jews than they do with blacks or Latinos. Is anyone suggesting an orientation for only Asians and Jews? Or how about only Jews? After all, Jewry defines numerous campus groups, and the Jews have as distinct an American narrative as any other immigrant group. TWTP enforces the skin color obsession of which one would think left-leaning academics hope to rid us. And what about obvious extra-American cleavages within the manufactured “solidarity” group? TWTP’s only real intellectual premise is that it gets all shades of brownskinned students together and tells them they are brethren in a vague struggle. Well, let’s see: Coptic Christians are second class citizens in Egypt as they are not in America, yet they would be lumped in with all other Arabs according to TWTP logic. Japan has engaged in dedicated animosity with Korea and China for ages, ditto China and Vietnam, ditto Vietnam and Khmer Cambodia, ditto Hindus and Muslims in South Asia, ditto Muslims and Christians or Muslims and animists in North Africa. These hatreds are not idle academic games either, as this sort of thing can be in the Western academy (which glibly spouts phrases like “embedded power structure” to prove that society is racist at all times, whether we know it or not); they are the stuff of holocaust. To imagine the above are currently more persecuted in America for virtue of relative pigmentation than they would be elsewhere for historically far deeper reasons, and then to band all together against a protean white power is intellectual abdication. We are building a castle on quicksand, and Brown will reap exactly what it sows.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
SPORTS MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2002 · PAGE 12
The Kournikovas: Awards for sports entertainment SOMETIMES DURING A MAJOR TENNIS tournament I find myself propped in front of the television for hours, just staring. One player in particular always manages to captivate my attention: the beautifully blonde Anna Kournikova. Although some readers may feel the desire to write ADAM this column off as STERN another clichéd STERN ADAM “Anna is so hot column,” I urge you to bear with me. A point looms in the background. Those close to the sport will report that she is a sub-par performer; they will say she will never win a Grand Slam or even obtain much respect among her peers. Knowing about her professional mediocrity, I still possess a notable devotion to watching her play. I would guess that I am not alone when I say that there is more to enjoying sports than watching the stars with the most athletic ability. Even the most devout fan must admit that sports exist only for entertainment purposes. When life gets serious, sports take a backseat to “real life issues” (e.g. the days following Sept. 11, 2001). After acknowledging that sports are really only a form of entertainment, it is surprising to me that more sporting entertainment awards do not exist. Therefore, I propose the Anna Kournikova Award for Entertainment. It should serve as a reminder that enjoying a sporting event for reasons other than athletic admiration is acceptable. To appease those readers who may have already called me a male chauvinist, I would like to extend Anna’s entertainment award to some other sports. Take the NBA, for instance. While Tim Duncan may very well be the most talented player in the league, he has about as much charisma as my great aunt Helga. In this case, my prize would have to be awarded to a player like Vince Carter, whose mass appeal surpasses his talent. Do players of the likes of Paul Pierce and Allen Iverson have more athletsee STERN, page 4
SCOREBOARD Men’s Soccer BROWN 3, Alabama A&M 1 BROWN 5, Vanderbilt 1
Women’s Soccer BROWN 2, Columbia 2, 2OT
Football Towson 56, BROWN 42
Field Hockey BROWN 6, Columbia 1
Men’s Water Polo BROWN 20, Fordham 4 St.Francis 16, BROWN 11 Iona 11, BROWN 5
Volleyball Florida State 3, BROWN 0 Louisiana State 3, BROWN 0 Louisiana-Lafayette 3, BROWN 0
NFL
SCORES
NFL scoreboard Cleveland 31, Tennessee 28 (OT) NY Jets 3, Miami 30 Carolina 21, Minnesota 14 Kansas City 38, New England 41 (OT) New Orleans 29, Chicago 23 Indianapolis 23, Houston 3 Dallas 13, Philadelphia 44 San Diego 23, Arizona 15 Buffalo 23, Denver 28 Washington 10, San Francisco 20 NY Giants 9, Seattle 6 Green Bay 37, Detroit 31
Football falls despite 2nd half comeback BY JERMAINE MATHESON
In its season opener, the Brown football team (0-1, 0-0 Ivy League) committed late turnovers to give Towson University (2-1) a 56-42 home win. Brown was unable restrain a Towson offense that netted more than 500 yards, but it was the turnovers — a total of five on the day — that ultimately cost the Bears the game. The combination of 100-degree heat and the artificial turf of Towson Stadium led to an offensive explosion by the two teams. They combined for 98 points and 50 first downs. The Bears tied the game at 42 late in the fourth quarter, but Towson scored two touchdowns on the heels of takeaways in a span of 23 seconds to put the game out of reach. Scoring commenced on Brown’s first possession on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Slager ’04 to AllAmerican Chas Gessner ’03. Towson answered quickly, tying the game at seven. Gessner then put Brown ahead, this time on a 14-yard pass from Slager. However, Towson responded with three more touchdowns to bring the halftime score to 28-14 in favor of the Tigers. The second half saw Towson expand their lead to three touchdowns over Brown, but the Bear offense awoke in the third quarter. Slager threw a 13yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Walther ’03 to narrow the Towson lead to 35-21. With the Bears on defense, safety Shaun Eidson ’03 picked off a Towson pass and returned it to their 35-yard
Five turnovers overshadowed a defense that made key stops late in the game, but will want to improve on allowing more than 500 yards, 222 on the ground. line. Slager then found Gessner in the endzone on a 35-yard pass to bring Brown within seven points, 28-35. Towson then got a score back to maintain their two touchdown lead, 28-42. On the next possession, Slager completed a touchdown pass to wide receiver Brandon Buchanan ’03 for 29 yards. With one quarter to play, the Bears were behind by just one score, 35 to 42. After Brown started the second half with a defensive hold, tailback Joe Rackley ’03 had his first taste of the endzone, a three-yard touchdown run to knot the game at 42. Brown held the Tigers on their next possession and started their drive on their 28-yard line. Unfortunately, an intercepted pass from Slager set up another Towson score, pushing them ahead 49-42. Brown started their next drive at their own 18, but Slager threw another interception, this time returned 24 yards for a touchdown, making the score 56-42. On the ensuing kickoff, return spe-
cialist Buchanan netted 43 yards, starting the Brown offense in Towson’s end of the field. However, an errant pass from Slager ended up in the hands of a Towson defender, halting the drive and, with the return, put the Tigers in excellent field position. Yet the Brown defense would not allow them to score, capped by a tackle for loss by Ryan Devlin ’04. Both teams sputtered with the ball late, but Brown had one more opportunity with less than two minutes remaining to tie the game. Slager, who had been under pressure all game, threw another pick, ending Brown’s scoring chance. Towson ran down the clock to end the game. Brown had wanted to play this game to gauge their progress before starting Ivy League play. This game showed mixed results. The offense is still intact, though the Bears only ran for 48 yards, and will likely want more balance offensively. Gessner finished the game with 11 catches for 168 yards. Five turnovers overshadowed a defense that made key stops late in the game, but will want to improve on allowing more than 500 yards, 222 on the ground. Safety Hunter Young ‘03 led the way with 12 tackles, five unassisted. Quarterback Kyle Slager played admirably despite the turnovers, finishing the day with 434 yards passing and five touchdown passes. Jermaine Matheson ’03 is an assistant sports editor and covers the football team.
Statistical study says go for it on fourth and short (Washington Post) — Imagine you’re a foot-
ball coach. It’s early in the first half, and your offense has fourth and two at the opponent’s 10-yard line. What do you do? You kick the field goal, of course. But not if David Romer has anything to say about it. Romer, a University of California economics professor, has devised a statistical formula that suggests it makes more sense to go for it on fourth down—from nearly any spot on the field-than it does to punt or kick a field goal. He and five research assistants examined 20,000 first-quarter plays from 732 NFL games from 1998 through 2000, laying the groundwork for a 33-page working paper titled “It’s Fourth Down and What Does the Bellman Equation Say? A Dynamic Programming Analysis of Football Strategy.” Romer concludes that teams should gamble more often, even take risks that traditional football thinkers would consider insane. But, of the 1,100 fourth downs on which Romer thought it best to go for it, teams kicked 992 times. “Risks have upsides and downsides,” Romer said. “For some reason, coaches seem to emphasize the downside.” Through two weeks, NFL teams are 27 for 49 when going for it on fourth down. Seattle has tried it the most, having converted two of five. Jacksonville is four for four; Minnesota three for three, and St. Louis 0 for 2, having failed on pivotal fourth-down attempts in losses to Denver and the New York Giants. Last season, teams gambled on fourth
“I appreciate those kinds of studies by people who are really interested and have incredible intellect. But they’re in a `Star Wars’mode, and we’re down to the practicality of performing under tremendous stress. If you tried to transfer that (fourth-down theory) to warfare, an entire army would be annihilated in a matter of three to four months.” Bill Walsh Former Coach, San Francisco 49ers down roughly once a game. Detroit did it the most, 25 times, whereas San Diego logged a league-low four attempts-all of which the Chargers converted. According to the study, teams going for it on fourth-and-short near the goal line are successful only 43 percent of the time. Romer has determined, though, that the difference between a touchdown and a field goal makes it worth the risk. He’s still looking for an NFL coach who agrees. “I appreciate those kinds of studies by people who are really interested and have incredible intellect,” said Bill Walsh, who coached the 49ers to three Super Bowl victories. “But they’re in a `Star Wars’mode, and we’re down to the practicality of performing under tremendous stress.
“If you tried to transfer that (fourthdown theory) to warfare, an entire army would be annihilated in a matter of three to four months.” Walsh said there are factors that the numbers simply don’t take into account, such as injuries, crowd noise and momentum. “Another factor is your defense,” he said. “If you have the Steeler defense of the ‘70s, or the 49er defense of the ‘80s, you feel a lot better when you go for it and don’t make it.” Romer’s paper first attracted attention this summer, when he submitted it to the National Bureau of Economic Strategy, and he’s delighted NFL luminaries such as Walsh have taken a look. Still, the professor has grown weary of the response he has heard from coaches time and again: You’re tenured, I’m not.