F R I D A Y SEPTEMBER 19, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 75
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
New workshop brings study of female sexuality to Brown
New Windows vulnerability means campus at risk again
BY ALEXANDRA BARSK
BY JONATHAN ELLIS
It is a rare class at Brown where the syllabus includes pornography screenings and a fieldtrip to Miko Exoticwear. Female anatomy as well as sexuality, body image, masturbation and contraception are all among the topics addressed in the female sexuality workshop offered at Brown this semester. Femsex, as the workshop is most commonly called, originated at the University of California at Berkeley in 1994 as part of the school’s Democratic Education program, in which students create and instruct their own original courses called deCals. The workshop was brought to Brown last spring by Keira Wallman GS and Rhode Island native Anne Montgomery, both of whom participated in Femsex at Berkeley. Femsex has generated positive responses from its participants and has doubled in size since its first semester. Two sections of this not-for-credit workshop offered through the Student Activities Office are currently being offered at Brown to both male and female students. Each section meets twice a week and is led by two or three facilitators. There are currently no males participating in Femsex, although men have attended in the past. Men are accepted into the workshop as “supportive observers” whose insights are welcome in discussions, Wallman said. These facilitators are all women who have previously participated in the course. They said that they do not view themselves as teachers but rather as resources who aid in the process of self-reflection and learning. “Female sexuality is all about selfexploration. It’s not about research,” said Wallman who, along with the other facilitators, does not claim to be an authority on an issue she says is personal for every individual. Although the workshop is discussion based, it also includes readings, films, guest speakers and journal writing assignments. The workshop provides its participants with a safe forum in which to share, learn and “navigate through the labyrinth that is female sexuality,” Montgomery said. It is meant to serve as “an outlet to talk about things that in general in academia are avoided,” said Susan Scarlata GS, a Femsex facilitator. The hope is that female sexuality participants will gain a comfort and willingness to talk about and explore issues of female sexuality, said Emily Hunt ’04, one of the facilitators. According to the Femsex syllabus, the ultimate object of this exploration is female empowerment. “When I took the class I underwent a radical self-acceptance. … I was very empowered to be a better student, to be a better sister, to be a better daughter, to be a better lover,” said Wallman, who said she
Windows users who installed the free antivirus software distributed by Computing and Information Services may be living with a false sense of security. A new vulnerability discovered in Microsoft’s flagship operating system has the potential to wreak havoc similar to that caused last month by the malicious worm, W32.Blaster.Worm. Users of the Brown network must update their computers through Windows Update again, said Connie Sadler, director of information technology security. She said the flaw was announced around 10 days ago. “It looks like the exploits are starting to come out,” Sadler said, “although we haven’t seen anything at Brown yet.” Another worm, W32.Swen.A@mm, has just been discovered on campus, according to the CIS Web site. It spreads via e-mail or file-sharing programs and claims to be a patch from Microsoft. Once opened, it attacks antivirus software. The security holes caused by worms may have serious consequences for individual users and the University as a whole. The sheer amount of traffic generated by Blaster and its related worms caused two campus network shutdowns Aug. 26. At any given time, about 50 percent of the computers on the Brown network are vulnerable, Ellen WaiteFranzen, vice president for CIS, wrote in a campus-wide e-mail. CIS planned to scan the network Thursday night for computers that had not yet been patched, said Pamela Vogel, CIS associate director for communications and documentation. The department will send e-mails to the owners of those computers to alert
see FEMSEX, page 4
Sara Perkins / Herald
Boston-based Dominican band Grupo Fantasia entertained a hungry crowd at SPEC’s Carnivale.
Carnivale festivities light up Brown’s Sciences Park BY SARA PERKINS
Students heading towards the SciLi on Thursday night met with some unexpected obstacles: an eight-piece band and a crowd of salsa dancers in feathered masks and face paint. Carnivale, the first event of the semester from the Special Events Committee, featured empanadas and rice from Cuban Revolution and face painting and music from Boston-based Dominican band Grupo Fantasia. The event lit up the underused maze of paths and shrubs between the SciLi and MacMillan Hall with strings of colorful lanterns. SPEC, formed two years ago by thenUCS Campus Life Chair Anna Stern, was responsible for last fall’s Live on Lincoln concert and spring’s Heaven and Hell party at Faunce House. This is the first of six events planned for this year, SPEC member Ari Savitzky ’06 said. “There aren’t enough social events on campus that serve the entire student body,” Savitzky said. The band was located through members of MEZCLA, Savitzky said, who also showed up to dance. “We wanted to do something different,” said Rachel Lauter ’06, another event organizer. “We wanted a fun, simple event that’d bring out a lot of peo-
ple. “(Sciences Park) is a great space, but pretty underused,” she said. The area includes the wide concrete plazas in front of the SciLi and the CIT and the green space behind MacMillan. SPEC’s next event will be a repeat of Live on Lincoln, probably in October, Savitzky said.
Brown biomedical researcher chosen as one of 20 Pew Scholars BY MONIQUE MENESES
Tricia Serio, assistant professor of medical science at Brown, is one of 20 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences for 2003. The goal of the Pew Scholars Program is to identify and support young investigators who show promise in research leading to advances in health care, according to the program’s Web site. The four-year program is a way for Pew Scholars to exchange ideas and talk about their research. It is specifically geared to junior members of the faculty who are starting their independent careers, Serio said.
I N S I D E F R I D AY, S E P T E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 0 3 PW opens season with “The Skriker,” a nonsense show that entertains arts & culture,page 3
Brown ordered to create database of foreign students by Patriot Act 2001 news,page 5
Sarah Chiappinelli ’06 explains why you should pray for the extinction of dolphins news, page 7
see NETWORK, page 4
“It’s like college, but smaller,” she said. Brown nominated Serio for the program last fall, but it wasn’t until the beginning of the summer that she found out she was selected to be a scholar. A native of Belleville, N.J., she won the award for her proposed investigation of the Sup35 protein and its control of the production of other proteins. It does this by stopping the translation of a protein from RNA — a template for protein expression. A gene is transcribed from DNA into RNA and then translated from RNA to a protein. see PEW, page 4
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Modern art, like Magic Bars, is a love or hate affair, says Laura Jane Martin ’06 opinions, page 11
Adom Crew ’04 rebounds from injury, leads men’s soccer with style and grace sports, page 12
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