F R I D A Y MARCH 7, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 31
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Campus community prepares for possible outbreak of Iraq war BY DANA GOLDSTEIN
On Sept. 11, 2001, a shocked University community was kept informed by outdoor televisions giving minute-to-minute news updates and comforted by speakers on the Main Green and a candlelight vigil on the steps of Manning Hall that evening. A year and a half later, with a possible war with Iraq looming, the University community finds itself in a different position. Student antiwar groups, faculty members and Providence community organizations are involved in planning a variety of events to take place in the days immediately following the start of a declared or undeclared war. Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service, said he was unaware of any official plan the University would use to notify students of war or to provide a forum for discussion and reflection. “I don’t think there’s any plan to broadly notify people if hostilities begin,” he said. “I think people will know about that faster than we could tell them.” The group Students Against War in Iraq has already posted flyers throughout campus advertising its own plans for what the Campus Anti-War Network, a national student group, has deemed “Day X” — the first day of bombings over Iraq. A walkout is being organized for 11:30 a.m. on Day X, or, if bombings begin at night, the next morning. Unlike walkouts of the Vietnam era, which sometimes pitted student protesters against their professors, SAWI members said the purpose of this walkout will be to signify, along with members of older generations, widespread disapproval of an unjust war. Nathaniel Lepp ’06, a member of SAWI’s coordinating committee, said, “The idea of the walkout is that it’s a symbolic way to represent that life can’t continue normally when we’re dropping bombs on innocent people. “SAWI is inviting professors who are antiwar to walk out as well, and bring their classes with them,” Lepp said. “This will make a bolder statement. We are also suggesting that professors who don’t want to cancel their classes use ten to fifteen minutes to discuss the war.” After the morning walkout and meeting on the Main Green, SAWI is planning to move downtown to the Federal Building, where a 4:30 p.m. gathering has been organized by a coalition of Rhode Island peace, community and religious groups. see DAY X, page 4
Jason White / Herald
Novelist N. Scott Momaday spoke to a Salomon crowd Thursday as part of Native American History Week.
Novelist captivates crowd with tales BY MOMOKO HIROSE
With tales of talking dogs and the birth of stars, novelist N. Scott Momaday captivated an audience of about 70 at the Native American History Week Convocation Thursday night. Momaday spoke in Salomon 101, sharing his works and stories as a Native American and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. Momaday is currently a Regents Professor of the Humanities at the University of Arizona and teaches courses in Native American oral tradition. Nitana Hicks ’03, a member of Native Americans at Brown, told The Herald the main goals of the convocation were to raise awareness and inspire involvement in the N.A. community at Brown. “We wanted to bring a big name speaker to campus so that we could get more visibility from the University for our group, because we’re small,” Hicks said. Though he said he was born into the Kiowa community, Momaday described his childhood experience as “PanIndian.” He recounted his formative years spent in the Southwest on Apache, Navajo and Pueblo reservations,
Impact of potential war on Office of International Programs cause of concern for some participants BY JANE PORTER
With the Office of International Programs providing study abroad opportunities to approximately 500 undergraduates a year, the impact of a potential war on these programs is a concern for many incoming participants. Students and families have expressed reservations about study abroad, but the interest is still there, said Kirstin Moritz, director of International Programs. “We won’t know for a while what the fall numbers will be.” Much of the uncertainty is due to the possibility of new travel warnings being issued by the U.S. Department of State if the United States goes to war with Iraq. It is University policy to follow the State Department’s travel guidelines for students, Moritz said. If warnings indicate travel must be deferred or students must return home, the University will act accordingly.
In keeping with State Department advisories, Brown is currently not permitting study abroad in Israel, Jordan and Lebanon. However, students still express a desire to study abroad in these countries and, with the looming danger of war, the OIP has taken extra steps to ensure their safety. “I’m definitely concerned. People are always concerned, especially with the fragile state of world affairs,” said Ari Lucas ’05, who hopes to study in Israel in the spring of 2004. “We definitely need to take precautions, but I wouldn’t use the world situation as a reason not to study abroad.” Lucas may have to take a temporary leave from Brown and study abroad through another university, because the OIP cannot currently allow students to study in Israel. Regardless of where students are looking to study, see OIP, page 4
which gave him insight and subject material for his work. Momaday has taught a course in Native American oral tradition since 1969, but “I have only scratched the surface,” he said. “It is a rich literature.” Momaday said he sets the origins of American literature 2000 years ago when an individual put paint on walls. “Literature is a broader field than we consider, I think,” Momaday said, including any time an artist incises a surface. Momaday recounted the Kiowa tale of the Rock Tree Boy, where a boy pretends to be a bear chasing his seven sisters and becomes a bear in reality. The sisters try to run away and climb on a tree stump to escape. As the bear approaches, the tree starts to grow into the sky and the seven sisters become the stars of the Big Dipper. “Stories are extremely important to me,” Momaday said. “Language is important to me also. … I wonder how it happened that we can talk … when other animals cannot.” Citing his work, “In the Bear’s House,” which follows a dialogue between a bear, Urset, and God, Yahweh, Momaday discussed through his characters what a story is about. “A story is a telling — a narration of events. … It has wonder, delight, belief and grace,” Momaday said as Yahweh. Momaday said his experiences with an elderly Kiowa woman inspired him. “As I am reading, she appeared on this page … she said, ‘You remembered me well. You have imagined me well, and so I am,’” Momaday said. “At first, I thought it was all in my mind, but she said, ‘You imagine that I am in this room … it is one type of being, but it is perhaps the best type of being,’” Momaday said. Describing adventures of stoning an iceberg to make it break and the beautiful cave paintings in which animals moved with the flicker of the lights, Momaday said how precisely these types of mysteries inspire us. “A story ought to do this to make you think — to inspire your imagination,” Momaday said. “I don’t know if you could ask a story to do more. … Never again will you look at the Big Dipper in the same way.” “N. Scott Momaday was just an amazing storyteller. He had a great way of telling a story and showing how important stories are,” said Sam Klugman ’05. Herald staff writer Momoko Hirose ’06 covers the Third World community. She can be reached at mhirose@browndailyherald.com.
I N S I D E F R I D AY, M A RC H 7 , 2 0 0 3 Brown steps in to help in the city’s continuing Thayer Street revitalization effort metro, page 3
Post- travels abroad and comes back with a tan and mild case of malaria magazine
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Professor Neta Crawford ’85 outlines Bush’s new foreign policy doctrines guest column, page 9
Alex Schulman ’03 starts round two of his fight against affirmative action column, page 11
Athlete of the Week Ben Brier ’04 come through for the men’s tennis team sports, page 12
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