T U E S D A Y SEPTEMBER 16, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 72
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Hate crimes are cause for debate and concern on Brown campus
UDC ushers in reform; system will be more transparent
BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZ
BY ZACH BARTER
There are hate crimes that leave physical marks, and then there are ones that can be removed with an eraser. Though neither is commonly reported on Brown’s campus, hate crimes and noncriminal acts of hate remain a source of concern and debate for administrators and fear for some students. Following the Sept. 6 assault of a Brown junior that the Department of Public Safety is investigating as a potential hate crime, this is particularly true. A hate crime is commonly defined as a criminal act motivated by specific kinds of bias, including homophobia and racism. Many of the non-criminal acts casually referred to as hate crimes technically fall under the larger category of bias incidents, which encompass acts motivated by bias, including hate crimes. The line between a bias assault and a bias assault also considered a hate crime is often fuzzy, and this is as true for University administrators as it is for anyone else, according to Interim Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services David Greene. “I’m worried we’re all talking about hate crimes, when I think writing on a white board, for instance, is not a hate crime, in all likelihood,” he said. This particular issue has come up at least twice so far this semester, following two reports that hateful messages had been written on message boards in Keeney Quad. Unless the content of these messages threatened the safety of individuals, they most likely could not be classified as hate crimes. Yet these incidents, part of a general pattern of three to five reported bias assaults per semester, represent one of the most difficult and most ambiguous chal-
developments, it is integral to “save capitalism from itself,” he said. “The corporate world is stealing money from the public treasury, which leaves $487 a month for a mother and her two children.” Kennedy also expressed concern over the nation’s low voter turnout rate. “It’s hard to sustain a democratic system without participation of the citizen body,” he said. In terms of environmental protection, “this is the worst administration,” Kennedy said. “(They’ve rolled) back
Cases involving students charged with minor offenses will now be resolved by an all-student board under recently implemented changes to the University’s nonacademic disciplinary code. Those accused of more serious crimes can now choose between appearing before the University Disciplinary Council, composed of students, administrators and faculty, or having an administrative hearing before a dean. The long-awaited revisions should give the system more flexibility and increase student involvement in all aspects of the process, according to deans in the Office of Student Life. “We believe having students involved in setting the standards and helping uphold the principles of our community on campus is very important,” said Margaret Jablonski, dean for Campus Life. The changes, which were approved by the Corporation at its May 2003 meeting, took effect with the new academic year. The newly created Peer Community Standards Board, composed of 10 undergraduates, will hear cases involving minor, first-time offenses and residence hall violations. The new system also includes provisions for student organizations charged with an offense to receive a hearing before a dean. Jablonski estimated the system handles approximately 300 cases per year, only a few of which involve cases at the most serious level, where the outcome could involve suspension or expulsion from the University. Some offenses may be handled by both the University’s disciplinary system and local courts. Calls for disciplinary reform gained steam after several high-profile cases in the late 1990s. Student critics claimed the system operated without sufficient student input and lacked accountability. The movement to revamp the code began in March 2001, when Sheila
see KENNEDY, page 5
see UDC, page 3
see HATE CRIMES, page 5
Channel 12 culinary finalists are Brown students BY JONATHAN HERMAN
Steve Kaell ’04 and Cole Bolton ’04 have finally found a college shenanigan even grandma can be proud of. “We have a forecast for you,” Bolton told Channel 12’s weatherman Tony Petrarca during a live broadcast on Friday. “Our recipe calls for a 90 percent chance of deliciousness.” Kaell and Bolton, the self-proclaimed tag team chefs of Brown, were one group of eight selected to appear on Channel 12’s “Backyard Barbecue” contest — a series of segments on the popular Eyewitness News program presenting winning recipes. The students’ recipe was an extemposee BBQ, page 3
Sorleen Trevino / Herald
Rep. Patrick Kennedy spoke Monday afternoon to a crowd in the Taubman Center.
Bush is damaging long term future of U.S., Kennedy says BY JOANNE PARK
Unchecked capitalism in the United States will be the cause of its undoing, said Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., who issued broad criticisms of the Bush administration in his Monday afternoon talk at the Taubman Center for Public Policy. Kennedy, who was re-elected to a fifth term in 2002, represents the First District of Rhode Island, which includes Brown’s campus. He has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1994. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and has chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Kennedy criticized the Bush administration for its lack of checks on corporations and its failure to provide social welfare safety nets. Controls for capitalist systems are approaching dangerously low levels, Kennedy said. He cited the prevalence of child labor in Mexico, where children work for 13 to 14 hours a day for little more than pennies an hour. “When you look, many of these are American companies (employing children), some from Rhode Island, too,” Kennedy said. He said swift movements in the direction of unbridled capitalism could lead to a destabilized nation. “Where wealth is so concentrated, a society gives birth to demagogues, like Father Coughlin blaming Jews and foreigners,” Kennedy said. Taking into consideration these
METRO NEWS
Providence residents face tax raise BY ELLEN WERNECKE
Brown is picking up part of the city’s bill, but Providence residents are still going to pay the balance in an effort to eradicate the city’s $60 million deficit. Providence residents will face an 8 percent higher tax rate in the next fiscal year, despite a $48.5 million agreement with four of its private universities that asks Brown to pay $1 million over the next year to the city. The city made some “very difficult” budgetary and management decisions, Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83 told The Herald, but was left with a $15 million gap that could not be closed in this fiscal year without raising taxes.
I N S I D E T U E S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 0 3 Gunners make useless comments but add to Brown’s “diversity,” says Andrew Stein ’06 column, page 7
Ketaki Gokhale ’05 says not to embrace your ethnicity just to feel less insecure column,page 7
W. cross country gets revenge on Harvard, beating the team at its first meet of the season sports, page 8
“We inherited a budget with a huge deficit and a legacy of mismanagement, of decades of corruption,” Cicilline said. “There’s no question that taxes are too high in this city,” he added. “We’re working hard to fix what we inherited.” Richard Spies, executive vice president and special advisor to the president, said he regretted the tax change, but that the deficit was “a tough problem.” “Obviously, students who live in nonuniversity housing, as well as faculty and staff will be affected by it,” Spies said. “But I’m the last one who can tell the see TAXES, page 5
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Starting off the season, M. water polo loses three of four matches at an invitational sports, page 8
Sloppy ball handling and defensive breakdowns lead to 32-0 loss for the rugby team sports, page 8
showers high 76 low 59