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T H U R S D A Y FEBRUARY 6, 2003

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 12

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

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Sarah Lamendola ’04 dies unexpectedly in dorm BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZ

Kimberly Insel / Herald

The four members on the “Brown Graduates Doing Social Change in Providence” panel talked to audience members about the difficulties and rewards of social-change work.

Brown grads discuss challenges of work in social-change careers BY JULIA ZUCKERMAN

Working in social-change careers requires a great deal of sacrifice and commitment, alumni said at the panel “Brown Graduates Doing Social Change in Providence.” Four panelists spoke with a small audience about the challenges they face in nonprofit careers. They emphasized the need to be passionate about a community in order to serve it. Natalie Lewis ’00.5 took a year off from Brown to coordinate a math and science program for grade school students of African descent in rural Alabama. “That was the single most transformative experience in my life,” she said. Jon Mahone ’99 turned down a Fulbright scholarship, choosing instead to continue working in the Providence community. His family was shocked, he said. But “there’s nothing else for me,” he said. “This is it.” Mahone, a youth organizer at Direct Action for Rights and Equality, emphasized the need to “know your role in the

community.” He warned against misjudging the community and trying to impose one’s own ideas of what it needs. “You have to go through a lot before you can really be helping them,” he said. Ralph Jonson ’98 said he has “selfish reasons” for doing social-change work: He wants to work with more people of color on a professional level. “I want more peers,” he said. When he was at Brown, he noticed people “talking about change and not doing anything about it,” he said. He recommended that students explore the resources available at Brown and in the greater community. “If you look hard enough, you’ll find way more resources than you ever knew there were,” he said. An audience member asked how the panelists dealt with paying off student loans and other financial pressures while working in traditionally low paying nonprofit jobs. “Doing social-change work is not see PANEL, page 6

Sarah Lamendola ’04, a geophysics concentrator from Weston, Conn., died unexpectedly in her room on the fourth floor of Graduate Center Tower A. Providence and Brown police confirmed Lamendola’s death after responding to a call from her suitemates at about 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday. The Rhode Island medical examiner has yet to determine the cause of death, but unofficial police reports show no evidence of foul play or unusual circumstances in the room, according to a University statement released at about 6 p.m. yesterday. “The story is so simple that at the moment we just don’t know what happened,” said Janet Cooper-Nelson, University chaplain. Cooper-Nelson described Lamendola as a “happy, strong and wonderful student who was loved by her family and her friends.” Last night, those friends, several of whom met her in their freshman unit in Andrews Hall, gathered together at the home of Professor of Visual Arts Wendy Edwards, the faculty fellow for Grad

Center. The students were “really a comfort to each other,” Cooper-Nelson said. In the coming weeks, the Office of Student Life and the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life will continSarah Lamendola ’04 ue to provide support for those who knew Lamendola and for the Brown community. “We’ve reached out to her friends and suitemates and will provide whatever support is necessary to deal with this tragic loss,” said Margaret Jablonski, dean for Campus Life. A campus memorial service will be arranged in the coming weeks in accordance with the wishes of Lamendola’s family, Cooper-Nelson said. Herald staff writer Carla Blumenkranz ’05 can be reached at cblumenkranz@browndailyherald.com.

Blood center banner stolen BY AKSHAY KRISHNAN

A banner worth $500 belonging to the Rhode Island Blood Center was stolen from the Main Green between Monday night and Tuesday morning of the group’s two-day blood drive in Sayles Hall. Peter Hanney, regional account manager of the RIBC, told The Herald the banner was custom-made and was hung between a tree and a lamppost on the Main Green. Hanney reported the theft to the Department of Public Safety, which has assigned a detective to find the banner. Hanney also asked DPS to adopt a “no questions” policy regarding the return of the stolen banner. “I have told Brown police that if a student voluntarily returns the banner, no

questions will be asked and no charges will be pressed,” he said. “The banner has zero resale value and I urge the person or group of people who took (it) to return it and we can all move on,” Hanney said. The RIBC, a non-profit organization, now possesses only three banners to use at events across the state. Hanney said RIBC does not have a banner for a blood drive in the North Providence community on Monday. A similar banner was stolen last year at Providence College in the middle of the day, he said. “I would expect something like that to see BANNER, page 4

Xu Wenli appointed senior fellow at Watson BY XIYUN YANG

Xu Wenli, appointed last week as a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, spent 16 of his last 20 years in a Chinese prison serving two sentences for his pro-democracy activities. A large portion of his imprisonment was carried out in solitary confinement, but at times he shared a cell with two convicted murderers. Upon his unexpected Christmas Eve release, Xu was suffering the effects of hepatitis, arthritis and malnutrition. But if you ask him, he’d rather be in China. “I am Chinese and so my duty is to improve the conditions of the Chinese people and of the country as a whole,” Xu said in Chinese. Xu, who speaks little English, is one of China’s most prominent political dissidents, but was flown straight from a Beijing prison to Providence upon his release. While holding his six-month appointment at the Watson Institute, Xu said he hopes to organize a symposium on Sino-American relations, featuring both scholars

and political figures. “What else can I do here?” Xu said. “I don’t speak English, and I can’t lecture.” Xu said he hopes to utilize his insights into the Chinese political situation to further Sino-American relations. “Neither side understands the other one right now,” Xu said. Forgoing higher education because he found it too politically restricted, Xu has been a zealous thorn in the communist Chinese government’s side for three decades. He has been convicted twice on counts of subversion. Xu was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1982 for editing an unauthorized political journal during the Democracy Wall movement of the late 1970s. Paroled three years early in 1993, prison didn’t deter Xu from pursuing his democratic ideals. During his time in prison, Xu covertly wrote an account of his trip through the Chinese judicial system. Five years later, openly petitioning for labor unions and independent political parties in connection with the

Photo courtesy of Watson Institute

see XU WENLI, page 4

Xu Wenli spent 16 of his past 20 years in a Chinese prison for his pro-democracy activities.

I N S I D E T H U R S D AY, F E B RUA RY 6 , 2 0 0 3 Committee appointed by Bush administration recommends changes to Title IX page 3

Subscription service announces financial problems, affects university libraries page 3

Brown students start new mentoring program, take girls to the outdoors page 5

TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Hanne Eisenfeld ’06 says shopping period doesn’t mean consumeristic education column, page 11

Women’s swimming and diving splits with Columbia, Cornell in New York meet sports, page 12

mostly sunny high 33 low 24

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THIS MORNING THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003 · PAGE 2 Pornucopia Eli Swiney

W E AT H E R TODAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

High 33 Low 24 mostly sunny

High 30 Low 17 snow

High 33 Low 22 partly cloudy

High 35 Low 19 partly cloudy

GRAPHICS BY TED WU

A Story Of Eddie Ahn

CALENDAR COLLOQUIUM—“The Success of the Massachusetts Department of Education’s Safe Schools,” Laura Szalacha, Brown, Center for the Study of Human Development, Program for Gay and Lesbian students. Room 241, CIT, Noon LECTURE—”Faculty Retirement Issues,” former Clark University President Mortimer Appley, Emeritus Faculty Committee. Faculty Club, Portrait Room, 4 p.m. LECTURE—“African Language Marginalization and Literacy Efforts in Francophone Africa,” John Hutchison, Boston University, Watson Institute. McKinney Conference Room, Watson Institute, 4 p.m.

Coup de Grace Grace Farris

LECTURE—“Seeing the Buddha: The Use of Images in Tibetan Buddhist Meditation Practice,” Deborah Klimburg-Salter, University of Vienna, The Francis Wayland Collegium. Room 106, Smith-Buonanno, 8 p.m.

CROSSWORD y ACROSS 1 Part of IRA: Abbr. 4 Fall bloomer 9 Elegant dress 14 LAX posting 15 Africa’s Cape __ 16 Key location 17 Start of a question 20 Legal brief authors, at times 21 Something to come up for 22 Lotion ingredient 23 Minute amount 29 Question, part 2 32 Dash 33 Once, once 34 Special school 38 In lumps, as metal 41 Taboo 42 John or Paul 43 Question, part 3 51 Present 52 Part of Q.E.D. 53 TV control 54 Mineral used as a weighting agent 56 End of the question 62 “The West Wing” star 63 Grammar class subject 64 St. Pat’s land 65 Doglike carnivore 66 Bring to mind 67 Nincompoop

11 Half a drink 45 “Cradle of 50 Cordwood 12 Jim Croce’s Love” singer measures “Time __ Bottle” Billy 54 Where a 13 Pierre’s denial 46 Home of the cowboy crashes 18 “David Green Wave 55 Semicircular Copperfield” 47 Dynamic church area clerk Uriah introduction 56 Sturdy wood 19 Zamboni site 48 Some 57 Reserved 23 Collar insert “Jeopardy!” 58 Golf bag item 59 Farm female 24 Give the boot material 25 “__ your 49 They may be 60 Fall mo. pardon” picky 61 Ark unit 26 Folk tales and ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: such 27 Strong desire S O S O J A B B A U M P S 28 Part of A.G.: O D E O N H O O K A T T N Abbr. C O M E T A R T Y L E E R 30 “Malcolm X” A R E Y O U S E R I O U S director S O L E M N P L E B E 31 Big tree 34 No voter A D A P T E R C O L 35 1952 McCarthy A T W A R N O W A Y J O S E appointee Roy T E N E T A D O G W E A N 36 Work without __ F A T C H A N C E P R E X Y 37 Moody U S C E N T E N T E 38 Knotlike tissue L E H A R A S S U M E mass F O R G E T A B O U T I T 39 FedEx rival O D O R I D E A L P E N H 40 Follow G E N R E E R O O D E B T 42 Ab neighbor 44 Nine-day prayer E L S A O N S E T R O S S ritual 02/06/03 xwordeditor@aol.com

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CAMPUS WATCH THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003 · PAGE 3

Students across country ready for war protests BY AMY RUDDLE AND JULIA ZUCKERMAN

Members of antiwar groups at many universities are preparing to walk out of class in protest if the United States takes military action against Iraq. Groups are using teachins, demonstrations and creative events to draw attention to the antiwar cause in anticipation of a military strike. Members of the University of Michigan group Anti-War Action! are organizing a March 5 walkout. During the all-day event, participating professors will lead alternative education workshops instead of their regular classes. The walkout at Michigan is part of the National One-Day Student Strike, an event organized by the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition, an antiwar organization. In a message on its Web site, NYSPC encourages student antiwar groups to participate in the strike instead of walking out of class on the day military action begins. Yoni Goldstein, a member of AWA!, said he does not know how many students will participate in the walkout. Goldstein said Michigan students are not apathetic about the possibility of war, but he perceives a sense of hopelessness nationally. AWA! is trying to demonstrate that “as students and citizens, we aren’t powerless,” he said. “We’re promoting the idea that war is not inevitable.” An antiwar group at Cornell University is asking professors to set aside their scheduled lectures for one class next week, using class time instead to talk about the war, said see ANTIWAR, page 7

Bush committee urges Title IX reforms BY DANIELLE CERNY

A committee appointed by the Bush administration recommended reforms last week for Title IX, a law that prohibits sex discrimination in intercollegiate sports. The reforms could affect the number of scholarships and opportunities reserved for female athletes at the college level. A 15-member Commission on Athletic Opportunity met last Wednesday and Thursday to discuss two dozen proposed changes to Title IX, which was implemented in 1972. The most controversial change being discussed was altering the principle of proportionality, which requires the percentage of male and female athletes at a university to be rep-

resentative of the overall student body. At the national level, women comprise 56 percent of enrollment, but only 42 percent of all collegiate athletes, the New York Times reported. The commission’s meetings were plagued by doubt and a lack of any independent- or government-sponsored analysis as to possible results of the commission’s decisions, the Times reported. In the end, the vote on changing proportionality to a 50-50 representation of the sexes ended in a tie when one commission member could not attend the meeting. But the commission recommended defining athletic opportunities as the number of positions available on a team

Brown student participation in ROTC is expected to grow BY EMIR SENTURK

Despite its eviction from campus in 1969, the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps remains central to the life of three Brown students who receive their training at Providence College. And as ROTC’s size surges nationwide, Brown student participation is expected to grow. Major Gregory Goth of the Dartmouth College ROTC attributes the increase in the number of students enrolled in ROTC to better outreach by the program, rather than changing political views. “Our enrollment has increased over the last four years that I’ve been here,

but it’s more of getting out and getting involved with the university in terms of recruiting,” he said. Dartmouth and Cornell University are the only Ivy League institutions that offer ROTC programs on campus. After abolishing the program during the Vietnam War, Dartmouth brought back Navy ROTC in 1984 and Army ROTC soon after. Cornell is the only Ivy League school to continuously grant credit for ROTC coursework. Brown eliminated the program in 1969, arguing the program’s presence on campus clashed with the nature of

rather than the actual number of active players. This would allow more backup players on men’s teams while staying within Title IX’s proportionality regulations, said Director of Athletics and Physical Education David Roach. The commission also recommended expanding the use of interest surveys in judging schools’ compliance with Title IX. The recommendations will be forwarded for consideration to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, who voiced a desire to ease Title IX requirements in ways that will not penalize male athletes. The decisions would then see TITLE IX, page 8

RoweCom financial woes could prove costly to libraries BY BAMBOO DONG

RoweCom Inc., a major subscription service for scholarly journals, is undergoing financial difficulties that could end up costing libraries and publishers millions of dollars, said David Lewis, dean of the library at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Brown’s libraries no longer purchase journals through RoweCom and will be largely unaffected by the company’s instability, said Sam Mizer, manager of the serials section of the University Library. But hundreds of other universities won’t be so lucky, he said.

see ROTC, page 9 see ROWECOM, page 6

you stole our sunshine

we love you sarahla

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003

Photo courtesy of RIBC

RIBC sends a message to the thieves with one of the three remaining banners.

Banner continued from page 1 happen at PC or other colleges, but not at Brown,” Hanney said. Two on-campus fraternities that sponsored the blood drive — Kappa Alpha Theta and Alpha Epsilon Pi — helped create awareness and take care of donors, respectively. Jessica Zerillo ’05, a member of Kappa Alpha Theta, told The Herald that she was disappointed to have a blood banner stolen on campus. “Only in December, the RIBC reached the 25,000 donor mark from Brown and it’s a tragedy that

someone would steal a banner when we’re actually a giving community,” Zerillo said. Despite the loss of the banner, RIBC is pleased with the amount of blood donated during the blood drive — 244 pints. “We expected 190 pints and we’re really pleased as to how we did. Imagine if the banner wasn’t stolen — we would have had even more donors,” Hanney said. Hanney said he is thinking about reporting the theft to the Providence Police Department, but is waiting to hear from the DPS detective. “I would prefer that DPS deal with all the resident counselors to spread the word that a banner has been lost and I don’t want them to search every student’s room — I respect privacy,” he said. The $500 banner is a capital asset to the RIBC, meaning it’s an item that needs to be budgeted. The failure to recover the stolen banner may mean the RIBC will have to wait until October, when it has its next budget allocation, to make a new one.

Xu Wenli continued from page 1 Chinese Democratic Party, Xu was convicted once again of “attempting to overthrow the state.” “I was afraid,” Xu said. “I am like everyone else — who is not afraid of going to jail?” His biggest fear, however, is for China to

www.browndailyherald.com

“I would expect something like that to happen at PC or other colleges, but not at Brown.” Peter Hanney regional account manager of the RIBC “We’re a non-profit and we don’t have any rewards to offer. I’m just hoping that if a Brown student was involved, he or she would do the right thing and return it, out of the kindness of their heart,” Hanney said. “I still cannot understand why anyone would do such a thing. It’s like stealing a disabled person’s wheelchair,” Hanney said. Herald staff writer Akshay Krishnan ’04 covers crime. He can be reached at akrishnan@browndailyherald.com.

remain in its current authoritarian political and social condition, he said. The Chinese government, fearing another written critique from Xu, had two convicted murderers share his cell and report on his daily activities, according to the New York Times. Xu said that although the China of 2003 is vastly different from the one he first began fighting for in the 1970s, he has not lost touch with the nation’s political situation since its transformation. Upon his release in 1993, Xu traveled extensively in China for five years to catch up to and understand a rapidly changing society and economy, he said. While serving his most recent prison sentence, Xu read multiple newspapers every day. “They treated me much better than all the other prisoners,” he said. His daily reading list included China Youth Daily, the main young adult newspaper. “Young people are very important to the changing of political tides,” he said. “So I keep up. I know about cell phones and what’s ‘Coo,’” he joked, using the English word adopted by many Chinese. Since his arrival, Xu has been encased in a whirlwind of media attention. Between giving interviews to Time magazine and the New York Times, flying between New York and Washington, D.C., and meeting those who lobbied for his release, including Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, DCalif., Xu has hardly had time to recover, he said. “What I miss most about China is her mountains. They are different from American mountains and they are beautiful,” Xu said. “My beginning was in China, and my end will ultimately be in China.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

CAMPUS NEWS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003 · PAGE 5

IN BRIEF Schools across country examine faculty-student relationship rules A University of California at Berkeley dean who resigned in November amid allegations that he had had a sexual encounter with a student two years ago has prompted schools across the country to examine the rules that govern faculty-student relationships outside the classroom. Since Berkeley’s Dean of the Bloat Hall School of Law John B. Dwyer resignation just before Thanksgiving, institutions such as Oberlin College and the College of William and Mary have banned all non-professional encounters between professors and students, according to the Los Angeles Times. But Brown has no specific policy on relationships between students and faculty unless they share a class. “Brown has a responsibility to protect its students but it also has a responsibility not to infringe on people’s rights,” said Associate Dean of the Faculty William Crossgrove.“It is not our job to govern other people’s lives or make their decisions, but faculty and students should be sensitive to the fact that a relationship like that could have other things involved in it.” Crossgrove said a memo is sent to each member of the Brown faculty and staff at the beginning of the school year that outlines the policy on sexual harassment and strongly advises against “amorous relationships with a student” as it could lead to the faculty member being “vulnerable to sexual harassment charges.” Crossgrove did say that the one instance in which Brown forbids any relation between faculty and staff is when it’s a conflict of interest — the student is actually directly in the class of the professor or graduate assistant. Crossgrove also said that accusations of sexual harassment against faculty members are rare, but that these “allegations usually were of the nature that the faculty member gave the student unwanted attention or conducted office hours in an inappropriate manner, but nothing very egregious.” Such cases could be resolved by mediation or a promise to stop the behavior, he said. Colleges that do ban such relationships use their policies to protect the community from any possible scandal that could arise from a relationship between a student and professor. In May, Stanford University made it mandatory for faculty to report all dating activity with students as well as to keep documentation of the relationship to avoid problems if the relationship ends. —Samantha Plesser

U. students found GORP mentor program to help local girls BY JULIA FELDMEIER

A ring of girls surrounds Marcelia Muehlke ’05 as she motions for them to hold their right palms open and directs them to place their left forefingers in the palms of the person to their left. “Gotcha!” Muehlke shouts. Hands clasp like Venus flytraps at the command and giggles burst throughout the circle as some have their fingers trapped in their neighbor’s hand while others have broken free. Breaking free is an underlying theme of the Girls Outdoor Recreation Program, a mentoring program that seeks to provide middle school girls from lower-income families in Providence with exposure to outdoor recreation. “Middle school is such a difficult time,” said GORP CoFounder Jessica Weisberg ’06, a Herald staff writer. “Outdoor recreation gives girls a chance to feel confident and imbues them with a sense of capability,” she said. The newly-established mentor program is the brainchild of Weisberg and Susan Keane ’05, and was conceived last fall when the two were unable to participate in the Outdoor Leadership and Environmental Education Project, another outdoor leadership program run by Brown students. At the suggestion of OLEEP Coordinator Rebecca Rockefeller ’03, Weisberg and Keane contacted Sofia Academy, a one-year-old, predominantly Hispanic, nonprofit school that caters to fifth through eighth grade girls in South Providence. By October, GORP was underway with 17 Brown students volunteering as mentors to interested Sofia Academy students, traveling to the school every Thursday afternoon for one-hour workshops with the girls. Although the Thursday meetings take place as a group, the emphasis is on building one-on-one relationships with the girls, Keane said. After a few initial “get to know the group” meetings last fall, each mentor was assigned a girl over break. “Now that they’re paired off, mentors have definitely extended themselves much more,” Weisberg said. She cited examples of the girls exchanging addresses, phone numbers and instant messaging screen names with their mentors. Additionally, mentors meet at Brown every Sunday evening to discuss the girls, upcoming events and new strategies to implement. “We’re still very new,” stressed Weisberg. So new, in fact, that they currently do not fall under the umbrella of Brown University’s Swearer Center for Public Service, which generally does not provide student groups with monetary assistance until they have existed for three semesters, according to GORP’s founders.

Photo courtesy of GORP

A Brown volunteer at a GORP gathering. Consequently, the program relies heavily on fundraising, spearheaded by a letter campaign in the fall wherein the mentors send letters to their friends and families seeking donations. “It’s all done out-of-pocket without resources,” Keane said. “At one point, we even went door to door in Keeney, asking for spare change because we had no money,” Weisberg said. Most of the mentors use their own equipment, and OLEEP and the Brown Outing Club have offered to lend some of their equipment to GORP, Weisberg said. But at last Thursday’s meeting, mentors needed to look no further than their linen closets and basements for equipment. The task of the day was to create a fort out of the blankets, boxes, plastic bags, rope and other motley materials brought in by the mentors. Immediately, the mentors and their younger counterparts set to work, stringing ropes across exposed pipes and around the four pillars that stand in the center of the old ballroom that Sofia Academy shares with the other businesses that also reside in the building. When the weather gets warmer, the facility has a nice backyard for GORP to use, Weisberg said. Ashley Lidman ’03 and 11-year-old Kathy busy themselves, sealing the sheets to the wall with tape while Muehlke sits to the side on the floor with two girls drawing on a T-shirt with permanent marker to make a GORP flag. Thirty minutes later, sleeping bags, blankets, bandanas, plastic bags and Saran Wrap hang from ropes to form walls and a ceiling. The fortress is complete. At the entrance hangs the flag, bearing the words “We Love GORP.” Huddled inside the fort, Weisberg surveys the finished see GORP, page 6

support the fresh air fund.

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003

GORP continued from page 5 product. “Can you believe we made this from nothing but rope and blankets?” she asks the group. “And Saran Wrap!” a voice pipes up, prompting giggles. Keane asks the girls to express some of the things they learned from the experience. “Teamwork” and “sharing” are first among the responses. In fact, they echoed some of GORP’s fundamental tenets: leadership, team building, wilderness skills and environmental education. Implicit in the GORP mission, too, is an awareness of women’s issues, Weisberg said. At GORP, the girls “see older women who are sufficient and capable, and in the outdoors they can see that they themselves can learn how to make something out of what you’ve been given, making from scratch,” Weisberg said. Later this semester, the girls will have a chance to try out their wilderness skills on overnight trips to a YMCA camp in Connecticut as well as a real, pitch-tent overnight campout.

For now, GORP circumvents the cold weather with trips to the skating rink downtown and the Thursday workshops that hone in on wilderness applicable themes like trust and awareness. Activities such as fort-building, trust falls and games that demand cooperation have reinforced these concepts, according to GORP’s founders. “The girls are loving it,” Weisberg said. “Having a mentor gives them even more of a chance to get individual attention which a lot of them don’t get at home,” she added. At 5 p.m., a mother arrives to retrieve her daughter, who is engrossed in the group’s game of “Mafia” inside the fortress. “But I don’t want to leave,” laments the child as she is called away. Keane and Weisberg said that they hope the mentors benefit from the experience too. “Sometimes I come from Brown with my head clouded and it’s hard to get away, but as soon as you see them all lined up at the door, jumping up and down, it gets you so excited,” said Logan Clark ’05. “It’s the highlight of my week,” she said.

Panel continued from page 1 glamorous in any way, shape or form,” said Lewis. She advised students to look for ways to rearrange their lives to save money and to be aware of their limitations when looking for jobs. Mahone and Tony Blackett ’89 told students to be prepared to take whatever jobs they can to earn money.

RoweCom continued from page 3 RoweCom acts as an intermediary between journal publishers and libraries, Mizer said. Rather than libraries having to pay thousands of publishing houses, they only have to fill out one order with RoweCom, he said. In the case of university libraries, they make the transaction with Faxon, a company branch dedicated to academic and medical subscription services, he said. On Dec. 23, RoweCom’s parent company Divine Inc. filed a “Notice to Customers” with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where the company announced that RoweCom and its tributaries were having financial troubles that may result in the sale or shutdown of the business, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. RoweCom said its journal clients would stop distributing journals at the end of January. If RoweCom declares bankruptcy, libraries fear the company will be unable to pay the publishers the money that has already been received from

She advised students to look for ways to rearrange their lives to save money

sion officer. He said having a steady source of income allowed him more freedom in figuring out what he wanted to do. “I don’t want money to be my motive” for working in a community, he said. The panel, sponsored by Black History Month and the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, took place in Salomon 001.

“You don’t have to make your money doing community work,” said Jonson, who spent three years as a Brown admis-

Herald staff writer Julia Zuckerman ’05 can be reached at jzuckerman@browndailyherald.com.

them, Mizer said. “It’s potentially devastating for libraries,” he said. He said Brown has not been using Faxon for several years because the company had previously had a hard time paying publishers. But many libraries have paid in advance for thousands of journals, Davis said. The total cost of these advanced payments reached nearly $50 million, she said. Dependent on limited university funds, libraries cannot easily repurchase journals, she said. “Overall, with the economy, everyone’s budget is extremely tight,” Davis said. The RoweCom announcement surprised university libraries because the company performed well in the past and showed no recent signs of financial difficulties, she said. “Many people are calling this the Enron of the library world,” Davis said. If RoweCom is sold, the situation would have a minimal negative impact on libraries, Lewis said. If the company files for bankruptcy, Lewis said libraries would lose more than

just money. “It would leave a huge gap in our collection,” Lewis said. “We would not have the money to repurchase the items.” Academic publishing houses are making sure they work through this incident with their clients, according to the Medical Library Association’s Web site. Several librarians and publishers formed an ad hoc committee to investigate and study the operations and financial condition of RoweCom and conduct negotiations with the company and Divine, as reported on the Web site. Some publishers extended a grace period to libraries, continuing to ship journals for the next few months, Lewis said. Other publishers agreed to ship this year’s supply of journals provided the libraries agree to buy subscriptions for the following year, he said. Many of the smaller publishing houses would be more negatively affected, Lewis said. “There could be some small journals that just won’t make it,” he said. Despite libraries’ fears of RoweCom’s possible bankruptcy, Mizer said there was nothing to be concerned about because another agent will likely buy the ailing company. Herald staff writer Bamboo Dong ’06 can be reached at bdong@browndailyherald.com.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 7

Antiwar continued from page 3 Anke Wessels, one of the group’s organizers. Wessels is the executive director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Social Policy, a nonprofit institution affiliated with Cornell. In an e-mail message sent to faculty members, the Cornell Forum for Justice and Peace, a group of faculty, staff and graduate students, compared the present situation to the Vietnam War era. “The university’s obligation to free and disinterested pursuit of truth in no way implies neutral disengagement from urgent issues and practical matters. On the contrary, universities have a particular obligation in times of crisis to provide a forum for principled dissent,” the group wrote. Wessels said CFJP plans to ask professors to set aside class time again on the day military action begins. “This is a teachable moment,” she said. CFJP is also working with Cornell’s undergraduate antiwar group and antiwar groups across the state of New York to organize a “Week Against the War,” a series of teach-ins, workshops and cultural events next week at several campuses. The Web site for the event lists 27 participating colleges, including Columbia University, Vassar College and several state universities, and five city high schools. The week will culminate in a Feb. 15 protest in New York City, organized by United for Peace and Justice. Brown students will join the protesters in New York on a trip organized by Students Against the War in Iraq, said Nathaniel Lepp ’06, a member of SAWI’s coordinating committee. “Nothing official is planned right now” for action on the day war begins, but SAWI is making plans to participate in local events during the following days, Lepp said. Events planned for the Providence area include a demonstration at City Hall the day after war begins, a candlelight vigil that night and a rally for peace at the Statehouse on the following Sunday. Providence-based antiwar groups are organizing the demonstrations. Lepp estimated that 100 people will attend upcoming antiwar rallies and events. SAWI, which “was formed for the

sole purpose of opposing the war on Iraq,” has 30 to 40 active members, he said. It includes several members of Not Another Victim Anywhere, which opposes all war and will also be participating in the local protests, he said. The Yale Coalition for Peace has used creative methods to draw attention to the antiwar cause. Last month, the coalition staged a “diein” to protest the potential invasion of Iraq and remember those who died during the first Gulf War. During the “die-in,” 40 to 50 coalition members lay on the ground in an area with heavy pedestrian traffic, while 20 “mourners” distributed fliers inviting passersby to a memorial. “We’ve tried to do a lot of creative actions and activities to make people think more about the war,” said Coalition member Ruth DeGolia. The coalition has held movie screenings, teach-ins and debates with ROTC cadets and conservative student groups. A petition the group circulated in campus dining halls received 1,900 signatures, she said — over a third of Yale’s undergraduate population. Yale’s 500-member coalition is also planning to take action in the event of war. “If and when the war happens, we have plans for an emergency action,” DeGolia said. Over 200 Harvard University students have pledged to the studentrun Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice that they will walk out on classes the first day offensive action is taken against Iraq. “We will continue protesting the loss of innocent life throughout the war, but we want to mark a very sad day, and inspire people with the hope that we will continue to work for peace,” said HIPJ organizer Shelby Meyerhoff in a Harvard Crimson interview. HIPJ plans to lead students leaving classes in further protests around the Boston area in order to involve the community. The organization is also encouraging faculty to either cancel classes or hold discussions of the possible consequences of violence in Iraq on the first weekday following a declaration of war. Other schools planning walkouts include the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Brandeis University, where a coalition member told the Washington Times that 400 students — onetenth of Brandeis’ student body — have agreed to a class walkout if offensive action is taken against Iraq.

Perlmutter

M. Track

continued from page 12

the past. This, combined with the inevitable adjustment time a quarterback needs, made it harder on Manning. But who knew? Manning still was able to post an 88.8 passer rating, the fifth best in the league. As for the Colts’ playoff loss to the Jets, it was not the type of loss you can pin on Manning’s shoulders. Chad “Baby Face” Pennington, the best quarterback in the league at the time, torched the Colts defense early and often, not giving Manning a chance to work his team into it under Dungy’s anemic offensive game plan. I know that the quarterback carries a lot of responsibility for the team’s performance, but that adage has a limit, one that should be respected when players or fans make judgments about the abilities of a quarterback as a leader. This off season will be full of talk about quarterbacks around the league — about whether Marc Bulger or Kurt Warner will start or if Brian Griese’s best days are behind him. Peyton Manning doesn’t deserve to be included in that group of “question mark” players.

competitions,” Johnson said. In the 60-meter high hurdles, Daveed Diggs ’05 captured first place with a time of 8.44. Also scoring points in hurdles was Brian Hulse ’05, who finished fourth with a time of 8.59. In the 60-meter dash, TriCaptain David Owen ’04 notched a fourth-place finish with a time of 7.08. In the 400-meter dash, Phil Sardis ’04 and Steve Marino ’03 finished third and fourth, with times of 50.91 and 51.19 respectively. In the 800-meter run, TriCaptain Chad Buechel ’03 took second place with a time of 1:54.9. Mike Keefrider ’04 pulled off a strong performance in the 1,000-meter run with a fourthplace finish in a time of 2:31.4. Pat Tarpy ’05 added another second-place finish in the mile with a time of 4:10.93. “We were very pleased with the competitive nature of the

Eric “Baby Face” Perlmutter ’06 hopes that the Colts’ kicker’s comments will vanderjagt’d them to the Super Bowl next season.

“I think we’re going to be pretty prepared going into Heps once everyone is on the same page.” Sean Thomas ’03 Tri-Captain meet. Things are looking hopeful for the end of the season,” Johnson said. “I think we’re going to be pretty prepared going into Heps once everyone is on the same page,” Thomas said. The team will compete on Friday and Saturday at either the Millrose Games in New York City or the URI invitational. Sports staff writer Joanna Grossman ’03 can be reached at jgrossman@browndailyherald.com.

PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003

Title IX

Jessica Cooper ’03,

continued from page 3

captain of the

be open to public remarks before finalization. Title IX has been ingrained in Brown athletics since 1992 when the women’s gymnastics and volleyball teams and the men’s water polo and golf teams raised a lawsuit after the University announced their funding would be cut. After losing the suit, Brown implemented the compliance plan it upholds today. Women currently comprise 51 to 52 percent of Brown’s athletics and the University offers 20 varsity level sports for women and 17 for men, accurately reflecting the student population, Roach said. If changes to Title IX alter the definition of an athletic opportunity, men may be able to walk onto Brown teams where cuts currently take place, such as track, cross country and ice hockey, Roach said. Under Title IX’s current outline, the University has had to cut male athletes so that the percentage of opportunities represented the student body, he said. “The change would not hurt women — it would only help men,” Roach told The Herald. “It is a win-win situation for everyone.” Many who advocate changes to the principle of proportionality claim males and females have differing levels of interest in athletic participation. Jessica Cooper ’03, captain of the women’s volleyball team and a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Board, said the problem is that Title IX came too late and has not had enough time to demonstrate its full potential. “Men’s professional sports are ingrained in American culture.

women’s volleyball team and a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Board, said the problem is that Title IX came too late and has not had enough time to demonstrate its full potential. But women’s basketball and (softball) started to catch on in the ’40s and ’50s and at the collegiate level they began to boom in the ’70s and ’80s,” she said. Even with the changes inspired by Title IX, female athletes receive only 32 percent of recruiting money and 36 percent of overall athletic funds nationwide. “We’re between generations right now. The women who played then now have kids playing the sports. It’s a second wave of players,” Cooper said. “To measure the benefits of Title IX we need to see the way it affects the second and third generations of these athletes.” Though the proposal to change proportionality requirements ended in a tie, Paige will still consider it without the commission’s support. Herald Staff writer Danielle Cerny ’06 can be reached at dcerny@browndailyherald.com.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

ROTC continued from page 3 an independent liberal arts institution. At the time, campus sentiment was strongly opposed to the Vietnam War, and cadets were often abused and harassed. Since the abolishment of the Brown ROTC, students have been permitted to participate in the program on other campuses, but do not receive credit for ROTC courses. Today, Advocates for Harvard ROTC, Advocates for Yale ROTC and Students United for America are pushing their universities to grant program participants financial support and course credit. So far, neither university has agreed to reinstate the program. But last summer Harvard President Lawrence Summers spoke at an ROTC commissioning ceremony — the first time a Harvard president had done so since 1969. “We venerate at this university — as we should — openness, debate, the free expression of ideas, as central to what we are all about and we should,” Summers said. “But we must also respect and admire moral clarity when it is required, as in the preservation of our national security and the defense of our country,” Summers said. In a Brown Alumni Monthly article last summer, Dean of the College Paul Armstrong said he did not see a need to bring the issue to the faculty again. “The program we’ve got seems to serve the students’ needs and I’m not sure what would be gained,” he said. Scott Quigley ’05, one of three Brown students who participates in the ROTC program, said he has no objections. “If we had to split up the program, it would definitely water things down,” he said. “We have such a large number over at PC.” Quigley is joined at PC by Myko Hull ’03 and Michael McBride ’06, as well as students

At the time, campus sentiment was strongly opposed to the Vietnam War. from six other local colleges. McBride said he participates in ROTC to defend the principles he believes the United States stands for. “A lot of people make the erroneous assumption that because I want to be a soldier, it means I want to fight wars and kill people,” he said. “But, at least for me, that is the last thing I want.” For Quigley, whose father served in the military for 25 years, military service is in the blood, he said. “Part of it was just the whole idea of what happened on 9/11 and another was very much this thing within me,” he said. “So far, I’ve been loving it — three days a week at 6:30 in the morning is early, but it’s definitely worth it.” In the coming year, the number of Brown students who participate in ROTC may nearly double. “There are currently two incoming freshmen to Brown to whom I’m trying to grant fouryear scholarships,” said Lt. Col. Steven McGonagle, PC ROTC’s commanding officer. “I’m really trying to grow my enrollment from Brown.” Overall, the PC ROTC program has “been on an enormous growth spurt in the last two years,” McGonagle said. He attributed the program’s increasing popularity to feelings of alienation among more conservative college students. One PC student told McGonagle “that he’s a little bit uncomfortable with some of the liberalism he’s exposed to and wants to join ROTC because he feels otherwise,” he said. Herald staff writer Emir Senturk ’05 can be reached at esenturk@browndailyherald.com.

the Brown Daily Herald WRITE

I N F O @ B R O W N D A I LY H E R A L D . C O M

| P H O T O G R A P H | D E S I G N 401/352-3372

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL/LETTERS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003 · PAGE 10 S T A F F

E D I T O R I A L

A shared loss It’s something that always happens to somebody else. A friend of a friend, that kid in your econ class sophomore year, a name you only vaguely remember. Death is something most of us, luckily, have not had to deal with first-hand. Our whole lives are ahead of us, we are constantly reminded; cherish these years of respite before entering the big bad “real world.” Our biggest worries involve passing midterms, enduring hangovers and figuring out how to get that cute girl’s number — until something happens that shatters our illusion of invulnerability, and those day-to-day concerns seem at once incredibly trivial and incredibly meaningful. To those who knew Sarah Lamendola, the coming weeks will present a struggle to comprehend something beyond comprehension. And even for those who never met Sarah, her death will have an impact. News of the loss of a potential classmate, someone you might have passed on the street or in the dining hall, strikes too close to home. We urge members of the Brown community to share whatever this tragedy means to them — whether it invokes memories of past loss, or a first brush with mortality. As with any sort of traumatic event that occurs on campus, the University had a responsibility to both accurately report the circumstances of the event and to do so with sensitivity. We commend the University for its prompt and sincere response to the tragedy. As the campus-wide e-mail reminded us, the University Chaplain’s office, the Office of Student Life and Psychological Services are invaluable resources that should be used by individuals affected by Sarah’s passing.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Elena Lesley, Editor-in-Chief Brian Baskin, Executive Editor Zachary Frechette, Executive Editor Kerry Miller, Executive Editor Kavita Mishra, Senior Editor Stephanie Harris, Academic Watch Editor Carla Blumenkranz, Arts & Culture Editor Rachel Aviv, Asst. Arts & Culture Editor Julia Zuckerman, Campus Watch Editor Juliette Wallack, Metro Editor Adam Stella, Asst. Metro Editor Jonathan Skolnick, Opinions Editor Joshua Skolnick, Opinions Editor PRODUCTION

BUSINESS Jamie Wolosky, General Manager Joe Laganas, Executive Manager Moon-Suk Oh, Marketing Manager David Zehngut, National Accounts Manager Lawrence Hester, University Accounts Manager Bill Louis, University Accounts Manager Joshua Miller, Classified Accounts Manager Jack Carrere, Noncomm Accounts Manager Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Rep. Stephanie Lopes, Advertising Rep. Kate Sparaco, Office Manager P O S T- M A G A Z I N E Alex Carnevale, Editor-in-Chief Dan Poulson, Executive Editor Morgan Clendaniel, Senior Editor Theo Schell-Lambert, Senior Editor Doug Fretty, Film Editor Colin Hartnett, Design Editor

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Dexter Holland, Night Editor Marc Debush, Copy Editor Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Zach Barter, Hannah Bascom, Carla Blumenkranz, Dylan Brown, Danielle Cerny, Philissa Cramer, Ian Cropp, Maria Di Mento, Bamboo Dong, Jonathan Ellis, Nicholas Foley, Dana Goldstein, Alan Gordon, Nick Gourevitch, Joanna Grossman, Stephanie Harris, Shara Hegde, Anna Henderson, Momoko Hirose, Akshay Krishnan, Brent Lang, Hanyen Lee, Jamay Liu, Allison Lombardo, Lisa Mandle, Jermaine Matheson, Jonathan Meachin, Monique Meneses, Alicia Mullin, Crystal Z.Y. Ng, Joanne Park, Sara Perkins, Melissa Perlman, Eric Perlmutter, Samantha Plesser, Cassie Ramirez, Lily Rayman-Read, Zoe Ripple, Amy Ruddle, Emir Senturk, Jen Sopchockchai, Adam Stella, Adam Stern, Stefan Talman, Chloe Thompson, Jonathon Thompson, Joshua Troy, Juliette Wallack, Jessica Weisberg, Ellen Wernecke, Ben Wiseman, Xiyun Yang, Brett Zarda, Julia Zuckerman Pagination Staff Jessica Chan, Melissa Epstein, Joshua Gootzeit, Caroline Healy, Hana Kwan, Alex Palmer, Nikki Reyes, Amy Ruddle, Stacy Wong Copy Editors Anastasia Ali, Lanie Davis, Yafang Deng, Hanne Eisenfeld, Emily Flier, George Haws, Eliza Katz, Amy Ruddle, Janis Sethness

SHANE WILKERSON

LETTERS Iraq protesters must Brougher should continue to make their realize that even voices heard racists are Americans To the Editor:

To the Editor:

I agree with Riana Good, who was quoted in The Herald saying that Sunday’s peace event was particularly successful because of its focus on action (“Antiwar gathering draws crowd,” Feb. 4). One of the most important actions that Providence residents can take this week is to support the City Council’s proposed antiwar resolution. Active public support is crucial because 7 of the 15 City Council members have already signed on to the resolution; one more “yes” vote means it passes. The resolution states that the City Council opposes a U.S. invasion of Iraq, but supports instead a genuinely multilateral diplomatic approach to the Iraq situation. Fifty-seven other cities have already passed similar resolutions, which are part of a growing message to the federal government that millions of Americans, including many elected officials, are deeply opposed to a war on Iraq. There are three ways one can help this resolution pass. One is to go to the hearing on Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. in City Hall. Students will meet at Faunce arch at 7 p.m. sharp to walk down. Another is to call the City Council office at (401) 5217477 and leave a message for your councilperson. Finally, one can sign the petition in the Brown post office.

I write in response to the opinion column “Time for a Different America,” Feb 4. Brougher paints bigots, conservatives and even the ignorant as unpatriotic Americans who “insult all true Americans.” This is an un-liberal idea if I’ve ever heard one. The very freedom that our country is “based upon,” as Brougher so eloquently put it, is principally the right to one’s opinion, whatever that may be. Racism, bigotry and ignorance do not make one person less American than any other person. It is distressing to see this view stated so clearly, because it discredits liberalism in general. I personally think it would be horrible to live in a place where differences of opinion were punished in the way Brougher describes. Brougher should certainly never be so self-righteous or presumptuous as to assume that he or those who think like him have the monopoly on wisdom or truth. It is my firm belief that the woman to whom Brougher refers, or even the members of the Ku Klux Klan in my hometown, are all just as American as you or me, even if they deny these basic principles themselves.

Aaron Fritschner ’06 Feb. 4

Katherine Fisher ’03 Feb. 4 COMMENTARY POLICY 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 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2003 · PAGE 11

Brown students are more than window shoppers Despite a student-centered curriculum, we remain an academically vigorous campus WHEN MY PROFESSOR STALKED INTO spawned a certain breed of expectation class early first semester, looked around at that once a student is accepted, his or her his unexpectedly filled classroom, and work is done. After doing the work to be sniffed, “Shopping – what a repugnant accepted to Brown, some think that they verb,” I saw only a symptom of his slightly should be catered to for the next four curmudgeonly eccentricity. I couldn’t years. It will be enough that they are here, that they attend and complete believe my ears when, attendcourses, and that they finish ing another of his classes this with a transcript and wellsemester, he again granted regarded accreditation. And the class a grudging hello and some are willing to rise no muttered something includhigher than these expectaing “shopping” and “repugtions. nant idea.” This time he didn’t But when I look around my simply carry on with the class, classes, finding students who having made his trademark fit such a description is a diffiprotest, but expanded on his cult enough task as to give lie topic, complaining that the to this professor’s objections. I term “shopping” too aptly can sympathize with my procharacterizes the current view HANNE EISENFELD CAST OFF THIS fessor’s impatience with those that perceives education as an TATTERED COAT who would view learning as an exercise in consumerism. intermediate process, the natHe seemed to take it as a ural consequence of paying the dual personal insult and challenge that students were granted these tuition and the natural precursor to a sucweeks to experiment with subjects and cessful career and fulfilling future. But I classes before making their academic cannot understand the source of his disschedules final for the semester. Preparing pleasure; the levels of excitement and joy to launch upon the material for the first in learning are palpable here. In my intensive German class we each day, he sarcastically told us that we could see if we were interested in buying “what spoke about what motivated us to learn he had to offer.” From an the language, and people interested in aesthetic/purist/philosophical point of subjects as diverse as music and mediview, I could sympathize with his indigna- cine said they were hoping through tion; the college culture seems to have learning a new language to improve their understanding of this other interest. Few who considered education and knowledge an assumed right would dedicate Hanne Eisenfeld ’06 is probably concennine hours of class time per week to the trating in Mythology Folklore.

endeavour. Such students recognize the opportunity as a privilege and a challenge. The open curriculum provides a setting in which it would be eminently possible to slip by along the easiest routes. Few classes are openly easy, but the S/NC option and the lack of any required classes would theoretically allow students to pursue only those areas with which they were comfortable and in which they knew they could succeed. Furthermore, when classes are calculated in terms of dollar amounts, the focus shifts and education ceases to be a privilege and becomes a right. Not only the right to learn, but the right to be taught, the right to succeed. Shopping period, in which we make sure that we like the classes we take, seems to strengthen the argument of those who say that students are catered to like consumers in a mall. But despite all of these institutional designs that make consumerism possible, it simply is not pervasive at Brown. The infrequency of such behavior is breathtaking; the privilege that has been granted us is, by the great majority, fully utilized and appreciated. Shopping period is simply another extension of this emphasis on academic choice and responsibility. Despite the economic worldliness that the greater community ultimately demands of us, this time on College Hill can and does allow us to separate ourselves from our consumer sensiblities and to learn for the pure joy of

humanity and wholeness. The fact that we pay large amounts of money to be at this University bears very little on personal goals and actions within our own educations. So we’ve earned the money or our parents have written the check or the school has been able to provide the necessary funds. With that stumbling block overcome, we have gained the privilege of pursuing an education. But that is the limit of consumer placidity that we may allow ourselves. Yes, we are here, we have come this far, but the rest of the way will not be easy going simply because we have paid for it. The central purpose of education, the truth of it, if you will, supercedes costs and dollars and socioeconomic standings. It overcomes the prestige of one university compared to another and undermines those who would depend upon their calligraphied degrees. These are all aids and trappings, but cannot substitute for the final truth of education, when a student stands alone in the face of their ignorance and all the things they desire to know and experiences the realization that it is entirely up to them. There is no buying or selling in this moment — understanding cannot be paid for so simply. The hours of trying to understand before a concept flashes into clarity, the dialogue between classmates and professors, the late nights and the overwhelming size of the opportunity, and the joy of it; these are far removed from the self-satisfied consumer mentality.

The storm, the whirlwind and the earthquake There is a strong historical precedent for critiquing one’s own country REBUKING AMERICA’S ACTIONS CLEARLY dictatorships of South America and even and vociferously seems to have always the tsars of Russia, “there is not a nation on been taboo, but after Sept. 11, 2001, point- the earth guilty of practices more shocking ing out anything negative about the and bloody than are the people of the United States would invite an almost ani- United States, at this very hour.” Douglass maintains there are times in malistic rage. Today, many who which “scorching irony, not oppose the war in Iraq and BRIAN RAINEY convincing argument, is other U.S. interventions are needed.” For him the country afraid to rebuke America’s GUEST COLUMNIST deserved “a fiery stream of actions, in fear of being brandbiting ridicule, blasting ed “anti-American.” But there is reproach, withering sarcasm, a long tradition and history of rebuking the injustice of one’s own society, and stern rebuke! For it is not light that is and it is something I am convinced is both needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the moral and necessary. Rebuking one’s own society for injustice whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feelwas common in ancient Palestine. “Your ing of the nation must be quickened; the hands are defiled with blood, and your fin- conscience of the nation must be roused; gers with iniquity; your lips have spoken the propriety of the nation must be starlies, your tongue mutters wickedness,” the tled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be biblical author known as “Third Isaiah” exposed and its crimes against God and must be proclaimed and thunders in what is one of many invectives man against the his people. Other biblical writ- denounced.” And this sentiment was not ers also denounced their societies for for- limited to Douglass. Numerous abolitionsaking “mishpat” (biblical Hebrew word ists shared the conviction that the nation for “justice”) and “tzedek” (biblical needed strong rebuke. Moving to the twentieth century, a Hebrew word for “righteousness,” but is now often translated in modern Hebrew as major component of “Beyond Vietnam,” a “justice”). Clearly, rebuking one’s own speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. society for injustice has long-standing in 1967, was a rebuke of the United States’ actions. “I could never again raise my precedents. This tradition extends to the United voice against the oppressed in the ghettos States, where in “What to the Slave is the without first raising my voice against the Fourth of July?” Frederick Douglass uses greatest purveyor of violence in the world coarse language to condemn the practice today: my own government,” King said. Calling the U.S. government the “greatof slavery in America. Douglass says that considering the tyrannies of Europe, the est purveyor of violence in the world today” is harsh, but King drew this conclusion because of his understanding of U.S. policies. Many — particularly Brown stuBrian Rainey ’04 is originally from dents — are fond of characterizing cold, Chesapeake, Va.

calculated policy decisions that are unjust as mere “mistakes” or equivocating them with soft euphemisms. Notice that King didn’t do that. “For nine years following 1945, we denied the people of Vietnam their independence, for nine years we supported the French in their abortive effort to recolonize Vietnam. ... After the French were defeated it looked as if independence and land reform would come again through the Geneva Agreement. But then came the United States ... and the peasants watched again as we supported one of the most vicious modern dictators, our chosen man Premier Diem,” he noted. He goes on and on in what would today be denounced as an anti-American tirade. This speech is a must-read for all opposed to the current path to war that the nation is taking. A speech analogous to the one in “Beyond Vietnam” would surely invite accusations of “anti-Americanism.” And in 1967, this is exactly what happened. King was mercilessly castigated in the pages of mainstream newspapers like the New York Times, and even by other blacks. The speech was “demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi,” huffed Time magazine. King “diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people,” sneered the Washington Post. And a rerun of this sentiment is sure to resurface if those opposed to the current course of action this country is taking, is denounced in the vein of King’s speech. But while there is strong rebuke in the speeches I have selected, there is also another component, which is what I will call “optimistic exhortation.” This part of the speech involves imploring people to

correct social injustices and to work towards creating a just society. For instance, after several stanzas of condemnation in chapter 58, Third Isaiah writes, “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil ... if you offer food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like noonday.” And King says after he lists the crimes committed by the U.S. government, “We as a nation need to undergo a radical revolution of values. ... America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world can well lead the way in this revolution of values. ... There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have molded it into a brotherhood.” These exhortations show that while the speakers realize that their society is going on the wrong path, they have faith in the people of their society to change course and steer it in another direction. So it is not enough just to criticize, or rebuke. The rebuke must be accompanied by a message of hope — because rebuking the actions of one’s society is not just an exercise in critical thinking, or something with which to patronize fellow compatriots. The rebuke is a call to conscience. The rebuke is a protest against the rationalization of injustice, which leads to apathy. The rebuke — whether it is from the mouth of a prophet writing thousands of years ago or from a preacher in the late 1960s — challenges the people of a nation to be honest with their society’s injustices so that they can confront them, and, ultimately, correct them.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SPORTS THURSDAY FEBRUARY 6, 2003 · PAGE 12

Vanderjagt should now be kicking himself FOR THE PROFESSIONAL SPORTS FAN, February is a month of hibernation. The football season has just ended, baseball can’t come soon enough and the lesser NBA and NHL are in the midst of the midseason drag. It’s the perfect time to kick back and reflect … … Which, apparently, is what Indianapolis Colts’ kicker Mike Vanderjagt thinks too. Last week, Vanderjagt criticized his quarterback, Peyton Manning, and his ERIC PERLMUTTER PERL MUTTERS head coach, Tony Dungy, casting doubt on their leadership. “Coach Dungy — he’s just a mild-mannered guy. … Peyton and Tony are basically the same guy. They work hard, they mark their X’s and O’s and go out and execute. If it doesn’t happen, there’s nothing we can do about it.” Pretty rough stuff from a kicker who had a mediocre year. Manning, not to be outdone, fired back during the Pro Bowl in a big way, calling Vanderjagt an “idiot kicker” several times over — his rant was easily the best part of a useless Pro Bowl. Many Colts officials were just as surprised by Manning’s retaliation as they were by the original comments — since when did Mr. Pretty Boy himself add slander to his repertoire? The reason the issue struck such a nerve is because there is some truth to what Vanderjagt said. Manning has never won a playoff game in three trips, most recently losing with zero points to the Jets this postseason. His inability to psyche up his players on the sidelines is paralleled by the failure of the team to elevate its level of play. He is not a loud, vociferous, Warren Sapp-style leader, but instead guides by example. He follows mistakes with a stern head-shaking, a “forget about it, we’ll get ’em next time around!” expression. Is Manning just mature, or too restrained? In spite of all of this, Peyton Manning is my boy. He has been a staple of the Perlmutter fantasy squad for the past few years, posting record numbers in his first five seasons. He is the only player to pass for over 3,000 yards in his first five seasons, has been to the Pro Bowl three times and loves DirecTV. Every time I watch him play, it seems that he’s victimized by poor routerunning or tipped balls that result in interceptions. Nobody doubts his skills, to be sure. But, as Vanderjagt implied, what does it all matter when the Colts keep losing in big situations? I’d like Vanderjagt to notice that it is the Indianapolis Colts, not Peyton Manning himself, whose record is printed in the newspaper. I think it is worth examining the circumstances surrounding Manning this year. Edgerrin James, formerly a Pro Bowl running back, did not fully recover from his surgery, regardless of what the Colts say. As a result, the Colts were 26th in the league in rushing yards per game, so Manning had extra pressure to perform and carry his team. Another factor is that Manning was playing for the first time under Tony Dungy, whose offense seems to be outdated. The NFL transformed into high-octane passing league faster than Michael Vick can run a 40 and Dungy’s conservative style is stuck in see PERLMUTTER, page 7

W. swimming falls to Lions, tops Big Red BY JINHEE CHUNG

The women’s swimming and diving team traveled to New York last Saturday to battle in a tri-meet against Columbia and Cornell. In this exciting match-up, the Bears dominated Cornell 210-88, but fell to Columbia 173-126. Already a great force on the team, Brown freshmen took home many wins, including first place finishes by Bridgette Cahill ’06 in the 1000 freestyle event and Michelle Oeser ’06 in the 200 freestyle event. Elizabeth Wong ’06 helped bring about a second-place finish against Columbia and a first-place win against Cornell in the 200 medley relay with teammates Liz Daniels ’04, Emily McCoy ’04 and Laura Mosca ’03. Katey Mirch ’06 pulled first against Cornell and second against Columbia in the 200 butterfly event. Daniels continued her stellar swimming by finishing the 50 freestyle event with a time of 23.67, setting a Columbia pool record and grabbing a first-place win for Brown. She added to her glory by taking a first-place finish against Cornell and second against Columbia in the 100 backstroke, and also led her teammates McCoy, Co-Captain Inbal Hasbani ’03 and Lindsay Hoban ’04 to an overall secondplace finish in the 200 medley relay. The powerful foursome followed up with a first-place win in the 400 freestyle relay.

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The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both compete this Saturday at the Smith Swim Center (above).The men face Columbia and Yale, while the women take on Yale. In diving, Co-Captain Kristin Duffy ’03 dove to a third-place finish against Columbia and a second-place finish against Cornell on the 1-meter dive, scoring 228.95. Jessica Larsen ’06 followed up this performance, grabbing first place from Cornell and fourth against Columbia on the 3-meter dive. The Bears’ next and last regular season meet is at home on Saturday, Feb. 8, when they attempt to defeat Yale.

Mixed results for squash teams in prep for championships BY CHRIS HATFIELD

With both the men’s and women’s squash teams ranked in the top 10 in the country and one week until their respective national championships, last weekend’s tournaments had important implications for both squads. Both had mixed results as they traveled to Williams on Friday, had a double-header against. Dartmouth and Colby in New Hampshire on Sunday and hosted the best team in the country, Trinity, on Tuesday. At Williams, the men’s squad (5-6 overall) came up against some stiff competition but pulled out a 6-3 win. Number one, captain Ben Oliner ’03.5, number two, Breck Bailey ’06, and number five, Dave Krupnick ’06, all outlasted their opponents in five sets. The other three wins came from number six, Captain Robert Park ’03, number eight, Jay Beidler ’05, and number nine, Gavin Watson ’05. With this momentum carrying them, the men hoped to sweep their matches on Sunday but came up short. Against host Dartmouth, only Beidler and Brian Rifkin ’06 could pull out wins as the Bears went down 7-2. The team performed much better against Colby, sweeping the matches with a 9-0 victory. Three-set sweeps by number three, Sean O’Boyle ’05, number six, Justin Wong ’05, Watson and Rifkin helped seal the deal on an easy victory. Tuesday’s contest proved to be a humbling experience as Trinity, the four-time defending national champions, cut the Bears down 9-0. Only Oliner, O’Boyle and Park were able to win sets, as the Trinity lineup proved to be too much to handle. The women’s team (8-6) went into Williams hoping to pull out a victory against another top-ten team, but were turned away 7-2. Lillian Rosenthal ’05, at number one, and Julie Flygare ’05, at number six, were the only two Bears who

With both the men’s and women’s squash teams ranked in the top 10 in the country and one week until their respective national championships, last weekend’s tournaments had important implications for both squads. came away with singles victories. Like the men, the women came away with a split at Dartmouth on Sunday. The hosts shut out Brown with the exception of Rosenthal, who proved that her number 11 ranking in the country is no fluke with a three-set win. But the Bears flipped things around against Colby, winning 8-1. Rosenthal was joined in the winner’s circle by Kari Betts ’06, Alicia Ringel ’04, Phoebe Anderson ’05, Flygare, Becky Hurwitz ’06, Courtney Quick ’06, Sarah Petrie ’03 and Jen Neff ’06. The women were less successful on Tuesday, when they hosted Trinity. The highlight of the day was Rosenthal’s huge singles win against Trinity’s number one, Larissa Stephenson. This win proved she can compete with the best in the country. Both teams square off against Yale on Tuesday, and the men against MIT on Wednesday, before the men’s and women’s international championships.

Men’s track ties for second BY JOANNA GROSSMAN

On Saturday, the men’s indoor track and field team competed in its first Ivy League match-up of the season, travelling to Cambridge, Mass., to compete against Harvard and Cornell. The day ended with the Bears tying for second place with Harvard. But some strong individual performances made the meet a success, said Tri-Captain Sean Thomas ’03. “We came to this meet pretty well prepared, and we had a couple of strong points during the day,” said TriCaptain Sean Thomas ’03. “The throwers really came through, and a lot of other guys are working on putting the pieces together.” Jake Golener ’06 threw 51’6.25,” a new personal record, to finish third in the shot put. “Our performances are all starting to get better based on how our workouts are going. All our time in the weight room is starting to pay off,” Golener said. “It’s nice to know I’m improving. I want to make the (top 10) record board, and I need eight or nine more inches to do that. I’m hoping to do it this weekend,” he said. In the weight throw, Walker Duncan ’06 finished in third place with a throw of 46’11.75”, a personal record for him as well. “This was a good performance for Walker. We knew he was working very hard, but it was a good surprise,” Johnson said. “We also know that (Kent Walls ’06) will be a factor for us — he just couldn’t find his groove this week.” In the pole vault, Brad Bowery ’03 and Aaron Salinger ’04 finished second and third at 16’8.25” and 15’3.25” respectively. Bowery said he hopes to improve upon last week’s jump. “It was the perfect environment to get a big height. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. I’m going to train hard through this week, and try to get a big jump in two weeks,” Bowery said. High jumper Ray Bobrownicki ’06 soared to first place with a jump of 6’9.” “(Bobrownicki is) really knocking at the door in this event. He’s been consistent at 6’9” and he’s had very good see M. TRACK, page 7