T H U R S D A Y SEPTEMBER 26, 2002
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVII, No. 79
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
For 2 students, U. renovates to make dorms accessible
Football Bears frustrated by new Ivy League limit on recruits
BY ELLEN WERNECKE
The Council of Ivy Presidents dropped the number of football recruits per year to 30
Disability Support Services renovated Marcy and Sears Houses last summer to accommodate two students with muscular dystrophy, making those students the first physically disabled Brown undergraduates to live in fraternity and sorority housing. Zeta Delta Xi pledge Peter Gimbel ’05 and Alpha Chi Omega pledge Sarah Volante ’05 moved into their rooms on Wriston Quad this fall. The Office of Student Life, DSS, the Office of Residential Life and Facilities Management collaborated on the renovations, DSS Coordinator Elyse Chaplin wrote in an e-mail. “We’re happy to now have more accessible living spaces to offer to students,” Chaplin said. At Marcy House, architects installed a ramp and a door with remote-controlled access and remodeled a first-floor bathroom to make it accessible to Gimbel. The University made similar adjustments to Sears House, Chaplin said. Gimbel lived on the first floor of Poland House in Keeney Quad last year, an area he said was “pretty well set up” to deal with physically disabled students. “Some things were better, and some things were worse,” Gimbel said. He said ORL contacted him last February to dis-
BY JULIA ZUCKERMAN
Dawah Association spoke in prayer. Though there were mentions of Sept. 11, 2001 and war on Iraq being a shame to victims’ memories, the speakers focused on messages of hope and peace. “One of the important lessons of the tragic events of Sept. 11 is that American citizens are profoundly affected by decisions about U.S. foreign and military policy,” Bragg wrote in a press release. “Our security depends upon this country’s ability to work collaboratively with other nations in the peaceful prevention of deadly conflicts. We have a responsibility to our families, our communities, and future generations to make our views known.” Gathered together to affirm common religious values such as love, justice, peace and compassion and to urge the national leadership to peacefully resolve the Iraqi conflict, the organizations represented ranged from the Southern R.I. Islamic Society to the Coalition for Consumer Justice. “There’s a great community here in Providence, putting their faith into action in terms of moral convictions playing out in politics,” said Matt Hamilton ’05. “It’s really touching and something I wanted to
Football players are frustrated with the Ivy League presidents’ decision to mandate a reduction in the number of incoming students recruited to play football in the Ivy League. Under the new regulations, which will take effect with the Class of 2007, the number of entering students recruited to play football at Brown — and at its seven fellow Ivy League institutions — will be capped at an average of 30 players each year over the next four years. Each university currently recruits an average of 35 players each year, according to the Council of Ivy Group Presidents. In its June decision, the council also called for a review of recruiting policies for all sports. In an e-mail to The Herald, President Ruth Simmons wrote that the Ivy presidents’ individual votes are confidential, but that the policy isn’t intended to undermine athletic programs. “The presidents acted in what they believed to be in the overall interests of the athletic and academic programs of our universities,” she wrote. “I recognize that there are a diversity of opinions as to whether this action will achieve that aim.” Athletic Director David Roach said the council consulted athletic directors to determine the scope of the reduction. The council considered capping recruits at 25 per year before settling on 30, he said. Roach said he worries that the new regulations will hurt Brown’s football team. Many football recruits begin their Brown careers in the junior varsity program, a lower-intensity transition from high school to college athletics. Because of the new limit on the number of recruits, Roach said Brown may have to eliminate its junior varsity football program. The junior varsity program “allows you to bring freshman and sophomore football players along without having to rush them into the system,” he said. “It gives them time to adjust.” In addition, not all recruits ultimately decide to play football — out of 35 entering recruits, only 20 usually end up joining the team, Roach said. Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, and recruited athletes are not required to play their sport. Football co-Captain Andrew Gallagher ’03 said the high attrition rate is due to the stress of playing a Division I sport in addition to keeping up academics and other commitments. Roach said the decision jeopardizes the strong athletic programs on which Ivy League schools pride themselves. “If you’re going to have broad-based athletic programs, you need to bring in
see IRAQ, page 4
see RECRUITS, page 6
see ROOMS, page 4 Allison Lombardo / Herald
Judge denies request to send Cianci to jail early Former Mayor Vincent Cianci will not go to prison earlier than previously decided, a federal judge ruled Wednesday. Cianci will begin serving a 64month sentence on Dec. 6 for a federal racketeering conviction. At a hearing Wednesday that offered Cianci’s lawyer the opportunity to preview his appeals case, federal prosecutors requested that Cianci report to prison earlier than the December date. Cianci’s lawyer, Richard Egbert, argued at the hearing that Judge Ernest Torres shouldn’t have allowed the use of secretly recorded tapes in the trial. He also argued that the jury should hear a tape in which Cianci told an undercover police officer that “he would castrate anyone at City Hall who tried to shake the man down,” the Providence Journal reported Wednesday. Cianci, who resigned as mayor when he was convicted, is currently keeping busy as a morning talk-show co-host on WPRO-AM. — Juliette Wallack
Providence residents and some Brown students gathered outside the State House Wednesday night to rally against a potential invasion of Iraq.
At State House, a rally against war BY ALLISON LOMBARDO
Some 950 people chanted “Give peace a chance” in front of the State House Wednesday night during the “Gathering for Peace” — a protest of songs, speeches and prayers against a possible war with Iraq. People of varying faiths, ages and ethnicities attended the protest, which was organized by the Rhode Island State Council of Churches and the Rhode Island Peace Mission. Demonstrators displayed signs declaring “No Blood for Oil,” “Make peace possible; Break the cycle of violence” and “Food for Bombs” as RIPM Coordinator Carol Bragg called on protesters to contact their local representatives as well as President George Bush to express their opinions and catch politicians’ attention. The crowd cheered as Rev. John Holt, executive minister of the R.I. State Council of Churches, called them to action, alluding to Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letters from a Birmingham Jail. “We’ll have to repent in this generation not only for the hateful actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people,” Holt said. Echoing similar sentiments, Rabbi Alvan Kaunfer of Temple Emanu-El and Imam Farid Ansair of the Muslim American
I N S I D E T H U R S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 6 , 2 0 0 2 Northwestern University wires dorms for cable — through the Internet page 3
www.browndailyherald.com
Universities nationwide take a cash loss as students switch to cell phones page 3
Students volunteer time as KAMP volunteers, mentoring Korean adoptees page 5
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Kate Gubata ’03 asks ‘do we need religion to act as a basis for our moral systems and beliefs?’ column,page 15
Adom Crew ’04 wraps up a golden week of goals, garners Athlete of the Week honors sports,page 16
showers high 68 low 59