F R I D A Y APRIL 25, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 59
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
U. bio professor quarantined for possible SARS infection BY LOTEM ALMOG
A Brown faculty member has been placed under house quarantine due to a possible Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome infection, according to a campus-wide email sent by Provost Robert Zimmer and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Huidekoper. Kimberly Mowry, associate professor of molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry, recently returned from Toronto and has exhibited some SARS symptoms. Mowry’s condition has not been confirmed as SARS, but the University is taking precautionary measures as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rhode Island Department of Health. Director of University Health Services Dr. Edward Wheeler said the professor’s condition is already improving. “She’s been coughing for a week. She’s definitely sick with something,” said Sarah Denucci ’03, one of Mowry’s students. The University contacted 11 people who may have been in close contact with Mowry to warn them to be aware of any symptoms they may experience, Wheeler said. “We have to take our temperature twice a day and call it in (to Health Services) every night until May 1,” said Lisa Jasperson ’03, a teaching assistant for Mowry’s biochemistry course. Jasperson had turned in her thesis to Mowry and was thus among those cautioned by the University. Mowry e-mailed Jasperson on Thursday to say her quarantine would prevent her from attending Jasperson’s thesis presentation. Elliot Lieberman ’05, another of Mowry’s students, is also among those being asked to monitor his temperature. He went to see Mowry at her office hours this week and shook her hand.
Photo courtesy Daniel Keefe
Daniel Keefe’s "Sailing a Dhow in Tanzania: A Cave Painting," allows viewers to examine the ship from all angles. It will be on display in the virtual reality lab April 16 and May 3 in a limited exhibition, "Works from the Cave," presented by the David Winton Bell Gallery and the Creative Arts Council.
Cicilline delays proposed legislation for college tax BY DANA GOLDSTEIN
Legislation that would require Providence’s five colleges and universities to make direct payments to city government in lieu of taxes was delayed Thursday after an unanticipated announcement by Mayor David Cicilline ’83. In a press conference held at City Hall, Cicilline said he decided to postpone the introduction of his “Fair Share Act” just hours earlier, when the presidents of Brown, Rhode Island School of Design, Johnson and Wales University, Providence College and
see SARS, page 4
Former Brown president Gregorian to serve on WTC design committee BY JULIA ZUCKERMAN
Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation and president of Brown from 1989 to 1997, will serve on the jury for the design competition for the World Trade Center memorial. The memorial will be integrated into the master plan for the site designed by the firm Studio Daniel Liebeskind. Liebeskind’s plan for the entire 16-acre site was chosen from among nine submitted entries this year, but did not specifically designate what the memorial would look like. The 13-member jury was selected April 10 by New York Gov. George
Pataki, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Chairman John Whitehead. Gregorian said he was approached two weeks ago with the invitation to serve on the jury. “I did not want to do it, but I had no choice,” he said. “As a New Yorker, it’s a very important obligation.” Other members include architect Maya Lin, who designed the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, prominent artists and architects, a Lower Manhattan busi-
Roger Williams University asked the mayor for more time to negotiate the plan. Later in the day, Cicilline appeared at a question-and-answer session at the Old Meeting House on Benefit Street. He said he remained committed to the Fair Share Act despite the delay and called it a fundamental part of his drive to reduce the city’s $60 million budget gap. Audience members broke into a round of applause when Cicilline said, “It’s time for colleges and universities to pay their fair share.” Later, in a statement echoing one he made in February at the Taubman Center for Public Policy, Cicilline said Providence residents were “not wrong” when they complained that their property taxes were “subsidizing colleges and universities.” “We will resume our negotiations at a heightened level of intensity,” Cicilline said of his discussions with the schools’ representatives. “Brown University and RISD have a stake in what kind of city Providence is because their future depends on their ability to attract high-quality faculty and students. People won’t want to come to Providence if it’s not a safe and prosperous and vibrant city,” he added. Cicilline said his plan for the city’s relationship with colleges and universities differs from that of his predeces-
Loans will not increase thanks to anonymous donation BY DANA GOLDSTEIN
A substantial contribution to the University from an anonymous alumni donor will reduce the expected loan increase in students’ financial aid packages from $1,000 to between $250 and $500. The University decided in February to change $1,000 of grants in most students’ financial aid packages to loans. Those in the lowest income bracket were to see a $500 increase in their loans. Students on Financial Aid protested the decision by rallying during the February Corporation meeting and presenting Corporation members with 400 fake $1,000 bills bearing messages from students opposed to the increase. “We consider (the donation) an incredibly positive contribution to the well-being of Brown and its goal of economic accessibility,” said SOFA spokesperson Brady Dunklee ’04. “It was the result of a lot of hard work, both on the part of SOFA and the administration.” Dunklee said the donation was “an excellent beginning. … We’d especially like to express gratitude and thank in the strongest terms possible whoever the donor was.” Dunklee said he received a letter on March 23 informing him of the donation and that the families of students on financial aid were notified of the change about
see GREGORIAN, page 4 see TAXES, page 6
I N S I D E F R I D AY, A P R I L 2 5 , 2 0 0 3 One of three Shakespeare on the Green plays, “Much Ado” pleases crowds arts & culture, page 3
Negotiators finish 78th session over library contract, no closer to agreement page 5
see LOANS, page 6
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Recently created Africana studies dept. begins talks to establish graduate program page 5
Library negotiating committee says Josiah would suffer under reorganization guest column, page 15
Women’s sailing wins New England division and ranks second in nation sports, page 16
mostly sunny high 60 low 42