Thursday, October 9, 2003

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T H U R S D A Y OCTOBER 9, 2003

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 89

METRO SPECIAL

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

www.browndailyherald.com

UCS clarifies mass e-mail policy at weekly meeting

METRO SPECIAL

Heated debate for local tax reform group BY ROBBIE COREY-BOULET

Members of Citizens for Tax Reform, a local organization protesting city taxation policies, met Thursday evening to discuss plans to take their cause to politicians. But though the group intended to discuss a “March on the Capital” against unfair taxes, the meeting descended into arguments about the group’s mission and tactics. “The group is anticipating a long-term effort to rectify much of the unfairness … that surrounds the current taxation of property owners in the city of Providence,” said William Touret, a member of the committee who helped lead the presentation. Particularly heated comments surrounded the recent 8 percent increase in property taxes, especially in light of the pending reevaluation of property value scheduled for next year. The group expressed shock that Providence remains the fourth highest taxed city in the nation, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report cited by committee leaders. Barbara Church, one of two committee organizers, said she questioned the need for further evaluation by the state because an assessment occurred as recently as two years ago. Citizens for Tax Reform has constructed several smaller committees to assist in accomplishing its goals. These include committees that will address media representation, distribution, organization of research and data, as well as a general steering committee that will direct an overall agenda. “It’s a grassroots effort that will work through many of the neighborhood associations and other forms of community activism,” Touret added. The committee, only eight days old, received a much larger turnout at its first meeting a week ago. Several attendees challenged the committee’s relevance to city politics and questioned whether the organizational tactics will actually enact change. “The tax increase has already been passed, we’ve been billed, and we’re going to pay. But the exact same thing is going to happen next year, and it’s going to be compounded the year after, and the year after that,” said Vicki Veh, who attended the meeting but left amid concerns about the group’s leadership. “This is a disorganized meeting and they are not sure which direction they are going in,” said Grace Dugan, who was also dissatisfied with the presentation. “We have to find out where the budget sits and all the increases that they are not chasing down besides the taxes.” Some in attendance were especially skeptical of the actual effects of a demonstration like the one that was initially proposed for Nov. 6. Because the “March on the Capital” was not scheduled anytime near a budgetary review or a City Council meeting addressing property taxes, the committee decided to postpone the effort. Touret and others stressed the need to put forth demonstrasee TAXES, page 6

BY KRISTA HACHEY

attended the demonstration. “They’re very supportive of salaries with dignity,” Mesa said. The biggest bone of contention in negotiations is job security, according to union organizer Jenna Karlin. Under the contract proposed by the Biltmore, she said, the hotel would have the right to subcontract any of its services out at any time to restaurants such as McCormick and Schmick’s, a chain seafood restaurant attached to the Biltmore and currently under construction. Union member Juan Alvarez told

The UCS mass e-mail debate continued Wednesday night when representatives of the student group Students for Liberty requested access to send out a campuswide e-mail Oct. 17. According to a proposal put forth by the group, the e-mail is designed to inform students about an advertisement in The Herald compiling the names of students in favor of conservative ideas. At last week’s UCS meeting, the Council voted to grant listserv access to the Queer Alliance in order to compile names for a National Coming Out Day advertisement in The Herald. UCS members probed Students for Liberty representatives on their intentions, the prospective e-mail’s use of the term “Pride Day,” and the fact that the group has submitted their proposal at a time in close proximity to the Queer Alliance e-mail and advertisement. According to the group’s written request, “We are aware that our proposal is very similar to Queer Alliance’s Coming Out Day. Indeed, our proposal uses their template. We do not in any way mean this as mocking their activity; rather, we realize how effective their event has been in raising awareness on campus, and we hope to have a similar impact.” President of Students for Liberty Eric Neuman ’04 said the group’s aim is to highlight the fact that there are other political leanings on campus other than the pervasive left-of-center viewpoints Brown is stereotypically known to foster. Although Students for Liberty submitted the proposal only a week after the Queer Alliance made its request, access to campus-wide e-mail is timely for his group’s interests as well, he said. Neuman cited an upcoming lecture by conservative commentator David Horowitz, and a soon-to-be published issue of the Spectator, and a soapbox debate about institutional diversity.

see PROTEST, page 4

see UCS, page 8

Gabriella Doob / Herald

Members of the local 217 picket outside the hotel.

Union protesters picket outside Biltmore hotel BY ELLEN WERNECKE

Late-afternoon traffic through downtown couldn’t drown out some 50 protesters shouting “No contract, no peace!” in front of the Providence Biltmore Wednesday. Clutching red balloons, demonstrators marched in front of the historic downtown hotel in support of members of Local 217 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, whose negotiations with the Biltmore management have come to a standstill after almost six weeks of talks. On Monday, union employees rejected the Biltmore management’s latest offer, which a recent union press release called “unacceptable in areas of health insurance, wages and working conditions.” Members of Local 217 working at the nearby Westin Hotel also took part in the demonstration, as well as members of Local 1077 — the West Warwick teachers’ union — Jobs for Justice affiliates and supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich. Several members of the Newspaper Guild showed up in Tshirts reading “United We Bargain, Divided We Beg.” At one point, a semi-trailer bearing the name of Teamsters Local 251 pulled up behind a Providence Police vehicle and honked in solidarity. Abigail Mesa, a member of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, said that many members of Local 1701, the union for secretaries in the Providence schools,

Another attack outside Minden Hall BY ZACH BARTER

Police are investigating the robbery of a male Brown student just after midnight Wednesday, the fourth such incident reported on College Hill in as many weeks. The student reported walking along Waterman Street near Minden Hall when the suspect sprayed him with mace, punched him in the face and demanded his money. The suspect then fled the scene in a black vehicle. The student sustained no injuries in the assault, described the suspect as in his early 20s and wearing a black baseball cap. The campus community learned of the robbery yesterday in an e-mail from

I N S I D E T H U R S D AY, O C T O B E R 9 , 2 0 0 3 RISD students say they are uninformed about the changes at their school RISD news, page 3

Professor Marci Shore discusses ideological war in 20th century Poland campus news, page 5

von Oyen ’05 says the California recall represents a low point in our democracy column, page 11

the Department of Public Safety. Both DPS and the Providence Police Department are investigating the case, and DPS told the community it is increasing patrols in the area. Wednesday’s incident occurred close to the scene of a Sept. 15 strong-arm robbery outside the ATM lobby of the Citizens Bank on Waterman Street. Wednesday’s robbery also follows the Oct. 4 mugging of a student near Hope and Bowen Streets and the Sept. 22 attempted robbery of a student under Soldier’s Arch. RISD Public Safety apprehended a suspect in the Sept. 22 incident, but the perpetrators of the see CRIME, page 4

TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Adam Nelson ’06 argues that Brown school spirit exists, but in unlikely places column, page 11

The men’s tennis team suffers a loss to Penn, but places fourth at ECACs sports, page 12

sunny high 72 low 52


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Thursday, October 9, 2003 by The Brown Daily Herald - Issuu