T U E S D A Y DECEMBER 2, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 121
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
Right rising: conservatives on campus gain momentum
www.browndailyherald.com
BROWN WILL ARM POLICE
BY GABRIELLA DOOB
When Stephen Beale ’04 started writing columns for The Herald his first year, he was one of the few students publicly expressing conservative opinions at Brown. Today, Beale is editor-in-chief of Brown’s conservative magazine, The Brown Spectator. The Spectator is part of a growing conservative movement at Brown. Despite the school’s reputation as one of the most liberal universities in the country, conservatism on campus has grown significantly in the last few years. The articles and editorials published in recent issues of the Spectator — ranging from “Killing Capital Punishment: Exposing Cruel and Unusual Mercy” to “Invade Iraq: Now is the Time for Military Action” to “Affirmative Action is Negative Action” — make the magazine a mouthpiece for some of Brown’s most outspoken conservative voices, seeking to promote “intellectual diversity” and encourage debate when political conformity threatens to take over, Beale said. see RIGHT, page 5
CRIME SUMMARY
Bias incident, car break-ins top crime report BY ZACH BARTER
A bias-related incident outside Hegeman and a spate of car break-ins topped the Department of Public Safety crime report for the last three weeks of November. The bias-related incident occurred Nov. 8, when two males in their early to mid-20s directed racist comments toward the complainant when he attempted to walk around them. DPS is investigating two previous incidents as hate crimes — the Nov. 6 assault of a male student near Pembroke campus and the Sept. 6 assault of a female student on Charlesfield Street. Thayer Street saw two additional harassment incidents during the month. The passenger of a silver Nissan Altima stopped a passerby and asked him for directions. When he approached the car, the passenger threw a cup of water at him. A female student heading home from a party at 3 a.m. on Nov. 18 reported that four men taunted her near the corner of Thayer and George streets. The suspects reportedly pushed her around and asked one another, “Should we take her things?” before a Providence Police Department patrol caused them to flee the area. Officers also received reports of five car break-ins, all occurring between Nov. 15 and Nov. 21. Two break-ins took place
BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZ
Sara Perkins / Herald
“I was determined that a phone call (for a directing job) would fall out of the sky,” filmmaker Spike Lee told a packed audience in Salomon 101.“And then I woke up.”
Lee encourages audience to avoid pop culture’s trap BY ELLEN WERNECKE
Filmmaker Spike Lee was not shy about sharing his inspiration with a packed Salomon 101 Monday night — reality. “Brooklyn Gas turned off the gas, ConEdison turned off the electricity and Ma Bell turned off the telephone,” he said. But Lee encouraged audience members to follow their dreams, not their wallets, and to hold media and the government to higher standards. “You’re at a very important age where you can’t allow anyone to dictate what you want to do,” he said. “We don’t protest enough.” Lee said he discovered his own love of filmmaking as a sophomore in college, when he shot his first movie in Super 8 about the 1977 New York City blackout. But though he said he has tried to portray blacks realistically in his films, Hollywood fails to live up to
that standard. “Just because you have an African American behind the camera or in front of it doesn’t mean it’s going to be good,” he said, singling out the movie “Barbershop,” which pokes fun at Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. “We’re the only race that would do something like that to our heroes,” Lee said, “and then pay money to see it.” Lee said his goal has always been to put different forms of African-American culture onscreen and to “try to bring as many people of color in with me,” in his rise into the Hollywood elite. “We all need models,” he said. But he didn’t let audiences escape blame, either. He criticized consumers for being lazy and having low standards. “We need to be more choosy,” he said. “Somebody must be watching see SPIKE LEE, page 4
see GUNS, page 4
AIDS vaccine a more distant, but still real, goal for researchers BY JUSTIN ELLIOTT
In 1982, Secretary of Health Margaret Heckler said she expected an AIDS vaccine to be ready in two years. That obviously didn’t happen, said Professor of Medicine Dr. Charles Carpenter in a Monday afternoon panel on World AIDS Day. Since then, researchers have opened many fronts in the fight against HIV/AIDS, he said. Carpenter moderated the panel on HIV research and prevention initiatives, which featured four doctors from the Brown University AIDS Program (BRUNAP). The forum presented a broad look at current areas of HIV/AIDS research — from strategies for better adherence to drug regimens to the worldwide search for a vaccine. Dr. Kenneth Mayer, professor of medicine and director of BRUNAP, said AIDS has already killed 28 million people, and another 42 million are living with the disease. In the former Soviet Union, where HIV had been a relatively small problem, the infection rate has increased by 1,300 percent in the last few years,
see CRIME, page 5
see AIDS, page 5
Judy He / Herald
A small group gathered on the Main Green in honor of World AIDS Day and those affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
I N S I D E T U E S D AY, D E C E M B E R 2 , 2 0 0 3 East Providence rolls out plans to develop polluted and abandoned waterfront metro, page 3
Local rents rise, bucking the national trend, but students still live off-campus metro, page 3
Brown will arm the Department of Public Safety within the next 12 to 18 months, President Ruth Simmons announced Monday in an e-mail to the Brown community. The announcement follows over two years of deliberation and several high-profile campus crimes this fall. “I know that many will be unable to embrace this decision,” Simmons wrote. “It is, however, our firm belief that it is the most prudent course to assure the safety of (the) campus.” The decision permits DPS to develop use-of-force policies and submit its officers to intensive training in firearm use and community sensitivity, as well as renewed background checks and psychological testing. “We will move carefully to ensure that all safeguards, policies, procedures, training and supervision are in place before approving this step,” Simmons wrote. “The decision to proceed to issuing firearms will not be made until we are fully satisfied that the Department is ready.” Arming deliberations began in the fall of 2001, when, in the midst of a local crime wave, the University commissioned William Bratton, former chief of police for New York City, to study campus safety. Bratton and his consultants compiled a report recommended arming DPS among other measures the University has since taken, including improving safety on Thayer Street. Simmons was prepared to announce the decision to arm DPS as early as spring 2003, but postponed an official decision at the request of Mayor David Cicilline ’83, she told The Herald in October. New Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman had just instituted a community policing program and wanted to resolve a number of jurisdictional issues before the arming of DPS, Simmons said. The timing of Monday’s announcement was part of a long-term decision-making
Arming U. police is a difficult but ultimately beneficial move, says von Oeyen ’05 column, page 7
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T M. basketball wins two of three over Thanksgiving Break, including opener sports, page 8
Chris Hatfield ’06 says Patriots deserve more respect with consistent wins sports column, page 8
flurries high 31 low 16