M O N D A Y FEBRUARY 10, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 14
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Trade unionist Hector Giraldo afraid for life BY LOTEM ALMOG
Colombian trade unionist Hector Giraldo fears for his life, he told a group of Brown students Sunday night. Although the AFL-CIO has gotten him permission to stay in the United States until March, at that time he must return to his homeland, where labor activists are frequently murdered by paramilitary forces, he said. At Sunday night’s lecture in Wilson 301, Giraldo further discussed such oppression by the Colombian government, while soliciting student support to fight for change. The Student Labor Alliance organized his visit in conjunction with Rhode Island Jobs with Justice. Giraldo speaks little English so he relayed his message with the help of interpreter Evelyn Duran ’06. Of every five labor activists killed in the world, three are Colombians, Girlado said. “To work as an organized laborer in my country is basically to prepare your own tombstone,” he said. Only 5 percent of Colombian workers belong to a labor organization, Giraldo said. Even so, in 2002 alone, 172 labor activists were killed in Colombia. Hundreds more were tortured, kidnapped, attacked and detained arbitrarily, he said. Statistically, this would make Colombia the deadliest country for organized workers, he said. Giraldo, who has organized unions since 1980, said he believes U.S. support of Plan Colombia is perpetuating the killing of innocent civilians and the destruction of life-sustaining crops for countless Colombians. Plan Colombia is a Colombian initiative designed to eradicate drug trafficking. The United States has supported Plan Colombia through military aid, according to the Department of State Web site. Giraldo says that the weapons and helicopters sent by the United States actually help the Colombian government and
Photo courtesy of Pinn Siraprapasiri
Members of the Chinese Students Association celebrated the Chinese New Year last Saturday night in Andrews Dining Hall.
Year of the Sheep rung in like a lion BY MONIQUE MENESES
Luck, prosperity and the Chinese Students Association version of “American Idol” helped ring in the Year of the Sheep like a lion at the CSA-sponsored banquet in Andrews Dining Hall Saturday night. The New Year’s celeARTS bration kicked off with & CULTURE the introduction of the Brown Lion Dance REVIEW Team’s new lion head. Legend has it that to “awaken” the newlypurchased lion head, an honorable person must perform the “Dotting of the Eye” Ceremony. The ceremony was performed by a Brown graduate who had been accepted into medical school, and entailed using a wooden stick to dot each body part, giving it “life.” Children aged seven to 11 from the Rhode Island Association of Chinese Americans performed another dance called the “Hei Goo” (Happy Trumpet Tambourine) in uniform red and white costumes. Their dance movements and rosy cheeks drew smiles from the audience. A Chinese fan dance performer, Hui Liu, graced the stage as she executed a
see UNION, page 4
delicate, traditional dance to the music of “Mei Hua San Nong.” The arcs she drew in the air with her fan, the swivels she made with the slightest twist of her wrist and the fluidity of her movements paralleled the theme of the song — a person searching for love. Between performances, the combination of the girlish sweetness of emcee Nancy Tom ’05 and outlandish humor of emcee Michael Wang ’04 riveted the audience. Both hosted the performance-break game titled “Ding Dong Says.” In this Chinese animation-inspired parody of the American game “Simon Says,” contestants were separated into two groups by gender and asked to perform a variety of Chinese calendar animal movements such as the dog, the goat and the tiger. Counterbalancing the game’s humor, the singing group F4 (Freshman 4) composed of Brian Huang ’06, Peter Yang ’06, Joseph Fungsang ’06 and Hanyen Andrew Lee ’06 serenaded the crowd with a love song called “Meteor Rain.” The sound of delicate melodies filled the air as Sarah Chou ’05 and Felicia Kuo ’05 imparted aspects of Chinese tradition and culture through Chinese instruments
Lamendola ’04 cause of death announced BY LISA MANDLE
The cause of death for Sarah Lamendola ’04 was determined to be acute pulmonary thromboembolus, according to the state medical examiner’s office. Acute pulmonary thromboembolus is a blood clot that forms in a leg vein, travels through the heart and blocks the artery between the heart and the lung, said Dr. L. S. Shukla, a pulmonary specialist in Newport Beach, Calif. The blood clot blocks blood circulation to the lungs and causes enormous stress to the heart, eventually leading to heart failure, he said. The medical examiner’s office released information about the cause of death, but does not release information on the manner of death, Director of the Brown News
Service Mark Nickel told The Herald. Jessica Purmort ’04, Lamendola’s suitemate, found Lamendola at approximately 8:15 a.m. on Feb. 5 in her dorm room on the fourth floor of Graduate Center Tower A, “up against the door, lying on her back,” according to the Providence Police Department report. She was last seen alive by a suitemate on Monday around midnight, the report said. According to the report, Lamendola was pronounced dead by paramedics at 8:25 a.m. on Wednesday. Funeral services were held on Sunday at The Unitarian Church of Westport, Conn. The Lamendola family welcomed students, faculty and staff to the service in
Connecticut, and plans to return to Brown for a memorial service, University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson told The Herald. Cooper Nelson said she does not expect to schedule the campus service before the end of next week and that she would prefer to see a one-week lapse between the two services. Shukla said pulmonary thromboembolus may be caused by long-term air travel resulting in “catastrophic illness” up to a week after travel, cancers and a family history of blood clotting. The use of oral contraceptives can also slightly increase risk in susceptible users, he said.
University’s housing lottery turns 30 but faces problems similar to the ones of 1973 page 5
UFS installs safer food-handling practices after Norwalk outbreak page 5
see CSA, page 4
ResLife makes changes for 2003 lottery The 2003 housing lottery will shrink from five segments to four, in one of several changes announced by the Office of Residential Life. ResLife removed the special interest segment and social dorm option. Segments will be held on successive Thursdays beginning Feb. 27. This year all of New Dorm A and B will be co-ed, adding 50 beds to the total number of rooms in available co-ed suites, said Sanders Kleinfeld ’03, chair of Residential Council. Although the Council had pressed for more, the administration requires all co-ed housing to have separate bathrooms for men and women. All five-person suites in Graduate Center Towers B and D will now be sophomore-only. Kleinfeld said the Council paid particular attention to ensure “sophomores can live together in decent housing.”
Herald staff writer Lisa Mandle ’06 can be reached at lmandle@browndailyherald.com
I N S I D E M O N D AY, F E B RUA RY 1 0 , 2 0 0 3 Jabberwocks make it to the semifinals of ICCA, besting five other New England colleges page 3
to the audience. Kuo played “Spring Comes to Ching River” on the dulcimer, an instrument that was introduced to China in the Ming Dynasty. The string instrument is played by striking two small instrumental hammers against the strings. Using the music of the Ching dynasty-invented zither, Chou told the Mongolian story of two shepherd girls caught in a snowstorm. Other performers opted for spoken word rather than music. The powerful words of poetry artists and activists Alicia Chang ’04, Melissa Koh ’03, Vincent
see LOTTERY, page 4
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Warmongers foolishly believe war will spark economy, says Seth Magaziner ’06 column, page 11
Men’s b. ball claims important victories over Harvard and Dartmouth sports, page 12
p.m.snow high 34 low 21