F R I D A Y J U LY 1 8 , 2 0 0 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 60
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
Providence institutions will pay $40 million to city in lieu of taxation
Simmons postpones decision on arming U. police force BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZ
Providence’s recent efforts to make its police force more communityfriendly have stalled President Ruth Simmons’ decision whether to arm the Brown police. Simmons had planned to announce her long-deferred decision on the arming of Department of Public Safety officers by the end of the academic year, she wrote in a May 20 e-mail to students, faculty and staff. But the June reorganization of the Providence Police Department into smaller, more community-oriented districts requires further consultations with the city — and further delays to her announcement, she wrote. Since June 16, the PPD has operated under its new community policing program, which divides the city into nine police districts, each of which is the sole and exclusive responsibility of its lieutenant and his officers. Under the previous system, the city was divided into four districts, with one lieutenant responsible for all of them during his eight-hour shift. The intent of the new program is to strengthen officers’ relationships with and sense of accountability to individual communities. Major Paul Fitzgerald of the Providence police said the PPD has no official position on arming DPS. “We will continue to have a partnership, whether they are armed or unarmed,” Fitzgerald said of the Brown police. Deliberations regarding the arming of DPS began in the winter of 2001, when a rise in crime on and around campus led the University to increase the presence of police and security in the area and hire the Bratton Group, a security consultant organization, to evaluate campus safety. In a report released in the spring of 2002, the group recommended, among other measures, the arming of the Brown police. Since then, the University has cut in half the number of PPD patrols and private security officers on campus but has continued to investigate the possibility of arming DPS. In November 2002, Simmons said she intended to announce a decision by the end of the fall semester, but then postponed that see ARMING, page 13
BY JONATHAN ELLIS
the effects of hypoxia on cognition and speech among mountain climbers. “Hypoxia seems to hit parts of your basal ganglia,” Lieberman said, the same part of the brain which is most affected by Parkinson’s disease. The effects of altitude illness sickness on the brain — reduced cognitive flexibility, slurred speech, uncoordinated motion — are related to those of
After months of often-heated discussion between the city and the University, Brown agreed last month to make voluntary payments to Providence to help close the city’s $40 million budget deficit. Brown, along with fellow tax-exempt institutions Johnson & Wales University, Providence College and the Rhode Island School of Design, will contribute a total of $40 million over the next 20 years, along with an additional $8.5 million stimulus over the next four years. Brown itself will give nearly $1.4 million in the 2004 fiscal year beginning Dec. 1. When talks over monetary contributions to the city began in February, President Ruth Simmons told The Herald she “would be very concerned about any effort to hold Brown responsible (for taxes). … As soon as the city begins treating the University as a corporation it will mean very damaging things for the quality of the institution. (Brown) has been around a long time doing things for the community precisely because of its notfor-profit status.” In a June 7 letter to the Brown community, Simmons called the agreement “good news” that respected Brown’s status as a tax-exempt institution. Last month’s voluntary agreement has no power under the law and can be terminated by any party with 14 months notice, said Richard Spies, executive vice president and senior advisor to the president, who served as Brown’s point person in the negotiations. “But then you go back to the beginning,” he said. Still, Spies predicted the pact would
see EVEREST, page 4
see TAXES, page 12
Photo courtesy of David Targan
Dean David Targan was one of four Brunonians who spent time on Mt. Everest last spring.
Brown dean, professor, students head to the slopes of Mt. Everest BY SARA PERKINS
Last spring a University dean, professor and two recent graduates ended up on the side of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak. Three were there for science, one to climb and, as is often the case when there isn’t enough of something, all four were thinking about oxygen. Philip Lieberman It manifests itself in the speech: the vowels get longer, and certain hard consonants, like P, become indistinguishable from a B or a D. Motor skills can deteriorate, making the victim look intoxicated. Cognitive flexibility corrodes, and switching modes, incorporating new information and changing plans become difficult. Experiencing hypoxia at 65,000 meters above sea level is inevitable: Reduced access to oxygen for cells and tissues affects the fittest mountain climbers. But with minimal access to medical equipment, conditions that barely sustain life and helicopter evacuation made all but impossible by difficult weather, serious cases are extremely dangerous. What better place to observe the effects of hypoxia than on the Roof of the World? With two Brown graduates and three researchers from the University of Vermont, Professor of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences Philip Lieberman traveled to the Himalayas in Tibet and Nepal in April for the third year in a row to study
Brown student taking summer course found dead in Minden Hall dormitory BY LISA MANDLE
Amanda Fenlon, a Brown student taking a summer course, was found dead July 4 in her Minden Hall dorm room by family and police. She was 25. Fenlon, a native of Newton, Mass., was concentrating in Old World Archaeology and Art and hoped to pursue a graduate degree in the field, said Andrew Fenlon, her brother. She had taken time off, but returned to campus to take a summer course. “Amanda was a beloved daughter and adored Brown student,” wrote Martha Joukowsky in an e-mail from Jordan, where she is currently conduct-
I N S I D E F R I D AY, J U LY 1 8 , 2 0 0 3 Thayer Street could have a new look when students return in the fall metro, page 3
www.browndailyherald.com
Brown alumna documents the wrongly convicted in a New York exhibition arts & culture, page 5
ing field research. Joukowsky, a professor of Old World Archaeology and Art, was Fenlon’s advisor at Brown. “She always asked the difficult questions of a particular subject or of herself — questions that had no easy answers,” Joukowsky said. “I tried to help her look for answers and she helped me ask the questions that needed to be answered.” “Amanda really loved Brown,” said her father, Michael Fenlon. “It was her life,” he said. “It gave her happiness and pride to see FENLON, page 11
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T First black Ivy League newspaper editor Wallace Terry ’59 dies at the age of 65 campus news, page 7
Stephen Beale ’04 explains the error of the Supreme Court’s sodomy decision column, page 19
Women’s crew team performs well in summer competition, both at home and abroad sports, page 20
mostly sunny high 79 low 63