F R I D A Y SEPTEMBER 12, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 70
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
CAMPUS WATCH
Yale’s “delicious revolution” has students happy BY MONIQUE MENESES
While Brunonians are piling up on charred hot dogs and greasy grilled cheese, Yalies are devouring the finest in organicallygrown produce. During the past few months, students, staff and project administrators at Yale University have worked to stage the pilot program of the university’s “delicious revolution” in Berkeley College’s dining hall. The pilot program, called the Yale Sustainable Food Project, is an attempt to renovate the College’s dining experience by using freshly-grown products to prepare meals. To promote a healthier diet for students, the university’s food services purchased and converted an acre of land into an organic garden — with the sole aim of providing fresh ingredients for the 450 students who eat at Berkeley College dining hall. Melina Shannon-Dipietro, project administrator for SFP, said the aim of the project was twofold. “(The goals) include the process of turning home-grown food into consumable organic matter, and the other is the ongoing educational work with students,” she said. “We are trying to educate them about the process of growing, cooking and eating their own food,” she said. Shannon-Dipietro said students at Berkeley College will soon be able to take cooking lessons and create their own meals in the College’s dining hall kitchen. Another ongoing proposal in conjunction with SFP is putting together regular hours for students willing to learn how to farm, she said. The idea behind renovating Yale’s dining experience arose in the fall of 2001. Students had been asking the dining contractor for more organic and local ingredients since 1998 and weren’t satisfied with the response they were getting, ShannonDipietro said. Yale’s dining halls finally got a makeover when Alice Waters, chef of Chez Panisse, an the award-winning restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., got involved. When her daughter, Fanny, entered Yale as a freshman two years ago, Waters found herself face to face with a project in much need of improvement, Shannon-Dipietro said. Waters suggested Yale develop a plan to make food more central to student life. Food has always been an integral part of Waters’ life. She opened her restaurant in 1971 and since then has tried to promote a healthy, simple way of eating. ShannonDepietro said Waters approached the university and began spearheading the project that has developed into the organic garden and student-focused organization it is today. SFP is planning to approach changes in Berkeley College’s dining experience a step at a time, Shannon-Dipietro said. “The first stage of the plan is to have the pilot program in Berkeley (College) with the side project of the Yale garden,” she see YALE, page 4
Marissa Hauptman / Herald
Nearly 100 students and administrators gathered on the steps of Faunce to remember the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001.
Brown’s meal plan cheap compared with others BY ZACH BARTER
Students may wonder what’s so magical about magic bars or so Brazilian about Brazilian chocolate cake, but one thing about the food at Brown is certain: It’s cheap, at least when compared with food at Brown’s peer institutions. Brown charges $3,066 per year for its standard, 20 meals-a-week board contract, the second lowest among the Ivies. At Harvard University a full meal plan runs $4,162 per year, while a similar year-long contract costs $4,000 at Princeton and $3,900 at Yale. Dartmouth, the cheapest among the Ivies, offers its standard meal plan for $2,550 per year. The process of setting meal plan rates is highly complex and varies from institution to institution, said Susan Howitt, associate vice president for budget and planning at Brown. “Schools have complex allocation schemes in terms of who pays for what,” Howitt said. “People can allocate costs in many different ways, and I’m sure our peers just have different methodologies.” Howitt noted that while the costs of meal plans vary widely among the Ivies, the total annual costs of attendance fall within a much smaller range. The variance in board rates, she said, might simply be an issue of which costs — space, administration and maintenance, for example — universities require their food services offices to cover. Student fees at Brown, including tuition, room and board, are set by the Corporation, based on the recommendations of the University Resources Committee. The URC in turn bases its
recommendations on the needs and requests of individual department heads. Once meal plan prices have been agreed upon, it becomes the job of Brown University Dining Services to look at its budget and decide how much to spend on food, labor and other expenses. Gretchen Willis, director of dining services, said BUDS prides itself on the flexibility and variety of options it is able to provide students within the budget it is given. “I think we offer a great product,” Willis said. “There’s a lot of meat in our program, no pun intended, in terms of what we offer students for their money.” Unlike some other Ivies, Brown allows students to redeem missed meals as credit or opt out of the meal plan entirely. Harvard requires all students to remain on the full meal plan for four years, while Yale requires all students living in dormitories to purchase a standard plan. Dartmouth requires students in dorms to purchase at least a $2,025 meal plan and students living off-campus to purchase at least a $1,425 contract. David Davidson, director of dining services at Yale, said his office has received little feedback from students complaining about the cost of meal plan. “What they’re looking for is more flexibility in terms of hours and service,” Davidson said. Davidson said his office has been
The JCB displays connections with Slavic Exploration in a new exhibit arts and culture, page 3
Bush cabinet officials are misleading the public, says Schuyler von Oeyen ’05 opinions column,page 3
Department of Public Safety officers are interviewing eyewitnesses and reconstructing the events of Saturday morning’s assault against a Brown junior, but so far no one has approached police with the identity of the assailant, according to Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services David Greene. “One of the things I’m pretty confident of is someone in this community knows who did this,” Greene said. “It’s time for somebody to come forward.” The victim was followed home by a college-aged male from a party where she had been in a 20-minute altercation involving homophobic slurs directed at her. As she walked down Charlesfield Street near Brook Street, the suspect yelled a homophobic comment and hit her on the right side of the head, knocking her unconscious. Some time later the victim woke up in the middle of the street and returned to her room, where she called DPS. She was taken to an area hospital and treated for eye and head injuries. Greene said the University’s first responsibility was to the victim, and that she received support from Health Services this week. The University began examining the facts of the assault Sunday evening, he said. DPS is taking the lead role in the investigation, with Captain Emil Fioravanti as supervising officer. Campus police sent out a campus crime alert Monday evening when enough facts were known, Greene said.
see MEAL PLAN, page 5
I N S I D E F R I D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 2 , 2 0 0 3 Acclaimed Iranian novelist comes to Brown, thanks to Professor Coover arts and culture, page 3
DPS trying to reconstruct Saturday assault
see ASSAULT, page 5
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Sports fan Yoni Goldberg ’04 hates the NFL, and he’s bitter about it, too sports column, page 12
Men’s soccer gears up to play one the country’s best teams this weekend sports, page 12
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