Monday, February 2, 2004 by The Brown Daily Herald

M O N D A Y FEBRUARY 2, 2004

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXIX, No. 4

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

www.browndailyherald.com

Vranek ’04 remembered as dedicated to work, friends BY MERYL ROTHSTEIN

was very good. The entire room was packed,” he said. “But we also advertised on the (Daily) Jolt, we advertised by word of mouth, and we e-mailed our mailing list,” he added. “Some of our brothers are concerned our ads might be overlooked,” Bastien said. Meric said BSP has received mostly positive feedback from student organizations. “It’s the (savings in) manpower as well as the convenience of coming to one

Friends can only think of one thing that made Francisco Metha Vranek ’04 angry. Easy-going and energetic, Vranek would always laugh when others might get offended, friends say. That is, as long as they never went to the movies without him. When Vranek died last Sunday in a car accident in his hometown of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, he left behind friends touched by his dedication, compassion and enthusiasm for life — and the movies. A movie buff, Vranek served as his friends’ personal movie critic, recommending ones he thought they would like. Every weekend, he tried to drag friends to the movies with him; when he failed, he would sometimes watch two or three in a row by himself, friends said. Vranek was always up for anything and would encourage the same in his friends, “prodding” friends with chants of “Let’s go out!” until they gave in, said Alexandre Thiriez ’04. Or sometimes he’d bring the party inside, leaving champagne stains on the walls of his Buxton suite, Thiriez said. “He had so much energy that he would love to share it with people,” said Elena Esnaola ’04. Thiriez remembered foosball games with Vranek until 3 a.m., games loud enough to disturb the entire first floor of their dorm, he said. Though a champion foosball competitor, Vranek was less skilled at soccer, said Brice Neuman ’04. But that never stopped him from joining in matches with his housemates, he said. He loved mixing music on his computer, working out at the gym for hours each day and acting as the bouncer at Buxton

see TABLE-SLIPS, page 6

see VRANEK, page 7

Nick Neely / Herald

Patrick Clark ’07 browses through the newly instituted Brown Student Promotions’ table magazine during breakfast at the Ratty. Some students have complained that the new format is not a satisfactory substitute for the former table-slips.

Black History Month looks at higher education after integration BY ELISE BARAN

Carol Lee, professor of education and African American studies at Northwestern University and the founder of two African-centered schools in Chicago, will speak BLACK HISTORY at 7 p.m. tonight in MONTH • 2004 Salomon 101 to mark the beginning of Black History Month. Lee “has developed a theory of cultural modeling that provides a framework for the design and enactment of curriculum that draws on forms of prior knowledge that traditionally underserved students bring to classrooms,” according to her biography on Northwestern’s Web site. The theme this year is “Is this our Providence? Putting the master’s tools into whose hands.” Eldridge Gilbert ’05, who coordinated the activities for the month, said the theme is related to this year’s 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The theme is meant to raise questions about the accessibility into higher education for blacks since the decision, and is also meant to encourage students to explore the use of the tool of education see BHM, page 7

Some students dissatisfied with table-slip substitute BY JONATHAN ELLIS

Compared to the million-dollar Super Bowl commercials Sunday night, advertisements in the new Brown Events Magazine might seem insignificant. Yet the successor to table-slips is already raising a stir across campus. In publication only since Thursday, the magazine — with approval from Brown University Dining Services — has replaced table-slips in the University’s dining halls. While the quarter-page-sized leaflets used to cover tables, each table now receives one copy of BEM. BEM has a cardstock cover, full-page ads inside and quarter-page ads stapled to the back cover. “Students have noticed the magazine. We believe that the tables look better now,” said Beri Meric ’06, president of Brown Student Promotions, which publishes BEM. “Many students have commented on the fact that table-slips weren’t comfortable.” But some students are uncomfortable with the magazine. “This idea was foisted upon us,” said Adam Green ’05, concert manager for the University Chorus. BSP’s three main promises — that the magazine would be more effective, practical and environmentally friendly — were not fulfilled, he said. “The premise that it is more conducive to students reading it is false,” Green said. “The heavy cardstock and full pages means you have to use two hands to read it. I look around and nobody’s reading these things.” Marc Bastien ’06, a rush chair for the Zeta Delta Xi co-ed fraternity, said his house advertised an open mic night last weekend in the magazine. “Our turnout

University rewards some employees with merit-based bonuses BY ROBBIE COREY-BOULET

More than 200 University employees recently received merit-based bonuses on top of the flat salary increase awarded to employees prior to this academic year. The University awarded bonuses for exceptional performance, with amounts based on “the impact of accomplishment, results achieved and the time commitment involved,” wrote Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter in an e-mail to The Herald. “We provided bonuses to recognize and reward staff members whose extraordinary efforts contributed to the University in significant and meaningful ways,” he wrote.

see BONUSES, page 6

I N S I D E M O N D AY, F E B RUA RY 2 , 2 0 0 4 “Exchange Fields” allows visitors to break traditional gallery etiquette arts & culture, page 3

Dance, video and voice combine in RISD presentation of “Chopin and Me” arts & culture, page 3

Visiting econ professor tells audience coporate leaders’ responsibility to prevent fraud. campus news, page 5

This type of bonus differs from the salary increase of $900 awarded at the beginning of the fiscal year, which runs from July 1 to June 30, to all employees performing satisfactorily. That raise was originally intended for those employees earning less than $75,000 a year but was recently extended to all employees, Hunter wrote. Recipients of merit-based awards underwent a two-part process of performance appraisal. First, supervisors and department heads submitted written recommendations of staff members they wanted to be considered for a bonus. Committees of senior officers then made final evaluations of these recommendations.

TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Ben Carmichael ’05.5 surveys a lit survey and deems it deconstructed column, page 11

Men’s basketball and hockey pull out exciting victories in overtime sports, page 12

sunny high 39 low 23

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THIS MORNING MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 · PAGE 2 Coup de Grace Grace Farris

W E AT H E R FRIDAY

SATURDAY

High 39 Low 23 sunny

SUNDAY

High 38 Low 29 rain and snow

MONDAY

High 40 Low 19 snow

High 32 Low 24 partly cloudy GRAPHICS BY TED WU

Four Years Eddie Ahn

MENU THE RATTY LUNCH — Vegetarian Caribbean Black Bean Soup, New England Clam Chowder, Tangy BBQ Pork Spareribs, Spinach Pie, Broccoli au Gratin, Chocolate Lemon Squares, Orange Delight Cake, Raspberry Yogurt Pie.

V-DUB LUNCH — Vegetarian Mushroom Vegetable Soup, Rhode Island Quahog Chowder, Chicken Fingers, Broccoli Quiche, Corn Cobbets, Chocolate Lemon Squares. DINNER — Vegetarian Mushroom Vegetable Soup, Rhode Island Quahog Chowder, Breaded Pollock Fillet, Vegan Baked Polenta, Roasted Rosemary Potatoes, Sugar Snap Peas, Oriental Stir Fry, French Bread, Raspberry Yogurt Pie.

DINNER — Vegetarian Caribbean Black Bean Soup, New England Clam Chowder, Pot Roast Jardiniere, Fried Catfish, Red Potato Frittata, Spanish Rice, Okra and Tomatoes, Gumbo with Red Beans, French Bread, Chocolate Lemon Squares, Orange Delight Cake, Raspberry Yogurt Pie.

My Best Effort William Newman and Nate Goralnik

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Help in a holdup 5 Secret agents 10 Milk choice 14 Sculptor’s medium 15 Soup server 16 Change-of-heart word processing command 17 “Anything that can go wrong, will” 19 “The Simpsons” tavern 20 Tennessee __ Ford 21 D.C. bigwig 22 World book 23 1867 Alaska purchase, familiarly 26 Weenie 28 Parking place 29 Prefix with logical or graphical 30 Tie the knot 32 Palestinian leader 36 Miata automaker 39 Soak (up) 41 Talk show host DeGeneres 42 Santa’s transport 44 Schoolyard game 46 Whistler’s work 47 Kind of code 49 “Hurry up!” 52 It’s visible about every 76 years 56 Cream of the crop 57 Patriotic Uncle 58 Indian instrument 62 Disney’s “__ & Stitch” 63 Six-sided puzzler 65 Low in fat 66 Male bee 67 “Trick” joint 68 Fairy tale opening 69 New Jersey’s __ Hall University 70 Holler

DOWN 1 Highest point 2 Unfocused photo, e.g. 3 Make, as a living 4 Keyboard pro 5 Clever 6 Segments of books 7 Lazybones 8 Rare antelopes 9 Follow a pattern, maybe 10 Bottom line 11 Small hill 12 Standard of excellence 13 Like some tree trunks 18 Listen to 22 Prior to, oldstyle 24 Bowl over 25 Place to get pampered 26 Cure 27 Slowly flow 29 Baseball execs 31 Close an “i”? 33 Stars and Stripes, e.g. 34 Prefix for space 1

35 Explosive letters 37 Dead phone’s lack 38 Jibe 40 Trigger was one 43 “Yo!” 45 Diamond, for one 48 Make certain 50 Miss Trueheart of “Dick Tracy”

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51 Kind of wicket? 52 Welcoming word 53 E.T., e.g. 54 Purple flower 55 Diplomat Henry __ Lodge 59 Melody 60 Genesis victim 61 Film spool 63 Ave. and st. 64 Barbie’s beau

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ARTS & CULTURE MONDAY,

FEBRUARY 2, 2004 · PAGE 3

"Exchange Fields" subjects physicality to “poetic constraint”

“Chopin and Me” combines creation and interpretation

BY STEFAN TALMAN

You have to interact with Bill Seaman’s “Exchange Fields,” touching foreign objects in a dark room, to make it work. This is difficult because we are told to never touch artwork, but this exhibit is steeped in layers of media, theory and technology. “Exchange Fields,” currently on exhibit at the David Winton Bell Gallery, is composed of three mammoth video screens. Opposite the screens sit an assortment of what Seaman describes as “furniture/sculpture.” The gallery is almost completely dark, so that the screens’ glow lights the way through the objects. Sound pumps through the room: an ambient techno track with a poetry overlay. The three screens form a kind of electronic triptych. On the right and left, images of industrial sites and energyrelated processes (a burning lighter, cellular movement) imperceptibly appear and fade. In the center, tightly focused videos show Dutch dancer Regina van Berkel twist and contort. Filmed in a dramatic, high-contrast beam of light, her limbs glow. With van Berkel’s dances emerges the crux of “Exchange Fields.” Her dances respond to our actions. Each piece of furniture/sculpture is designed to elicit an action — we are supposed to touch it and to put our limbs in or on it. And while a bit of text on each one gives a hint — with the words “head” or “foot,” for example — the structure of each indicates how to interact. Seaman intended the spectator’s behavior to be environmentally determined. Your actions are subject to what Seaman calls “poetic constraint.” As you interact with the installation, the installation interacts with you. Each piece of furniture/sculpture contains a sensor. Having sensed the appropriate interaction, it triggers a particular dance of van Berkel’s. Each dance corresponds with the particular body part suggested by the furniture/sculpture. Having begun a particular sequence, correlating spoken text and modal musical drones blend into the milieu of media. “Exchange Fields” is fun. To begin interacting with the objects, touching them appropriately and moving about amongst them is to unlearn the years of gallery etiquette to which we have been subjected. For the art to “work,” you must touch it, step on it, kneel on it and place your hand inside it. Think “Exchange Fields” as “Dance Dance Revolution: the Art version.” This is not to discredit the serious nature of the work. Indeed, “Exchange Fields” is terribly serious. Seaman holds an M.S. in visual studies from the Massachusetts

To begin interacting with the objects, touching them appropriately, moving about amongst them is to unlearn the years of gallery etiquette to which we have been subjected. For the art to "work," you must touch it, step on it, kneel on it and place your hand inside it. Think "Exchange Fields" as "Dance Dance Revolution: the Art version." Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from the Centre for Advanced Inquiry in the Interactive Arts, University of Wales, Newport. Perhaps because of this, the work is laced with theory. The voice-over text, for example, speaks continuously on the topic of human-machine interaction. It says, in a velvet voice, “Light becomes information, response fields activated/ light becomes thought, trajectories and relays/ thought becomes action, enfolded in response. ... ” Meanwhile, you are interacting with the machine and light. The work thus becomes, as Seaman stated, “meta-behavioral” and “metapositional.” With layers of visual, physical and aural text to be “unpacked,” schooled in layers of theory (citing the likes of Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari), “Exchange Fields” is at once poetically and needlessly dense. Still, “Exchange Fields” pushes the boundaries between technology and art. Its very appearance at the Bell Gallery carries importance, as it pushes into the traditional gallery space non-traditional media interactions. Seaman’s “Exchange Fields” makes our interaction with technology beautiful, giving Art a long-needed stretch. “Exchange Fields” is on dislay at the Bell Gallery until March 10. Herald staff writer Stefan Talman ’05 can be reached at stalman@browndailyherald.com.

HERALD OPEN HOUSES Coming in February

BY SUZ TOLWINSKI

A dimly lit desk sits amid a sea of old books and an open potato chip bag. On top of the desk, the glow of an open laptop computer illuminates piles of paper and more books. In the background, the rumpled sheets and blankets on a narrow bed gape open and hang down to the floor, a surface ornamented by balled-up articles of clothing, toppled ski poles, potato chip crumbs and popcorn. This scene could be a college student’s room during exam period, but this chaotic disarray is actually what the stage of the RISD auditorium looked like by the end of dancer and choreographer Paula Hunter’s “Chopin and Me.” Hunter — a Providence dance teacher who is currently a guest instructor of dance at Brown — opened the eyes of her audience to a whole new kind of performance art during the opus’ premiere Saturday. “Chopin and Me” takes full advantage of several media: live musical performance, dance, videography and monologue. Structurally, the piece chronicles both its own artistic creation and Hunter’s interpretation of Frederic Chopin’s “24 Preludes” for piano. In between monologues and videos set to these preludes, the audience follows the creative process on the projection of Hunter’s computer screen as she types e-mails to her collaborators on the project. In them, she muses to pianist Leslie Amper and video artist Holly Hey about her studies of Chopin and her developing artistic and personal relationship to his life story. Amper is on the faculty at both the Longy School of Music and New England Conservatory, and Hey is an assistant in the Department of Film, Animation and Video at RISD and an adjunct professor of film at Rhode Island College. An intensely intimate work, “Chopin and Me” bares Hunter’s cutting intelligence as much as her eccentric wit. These traits were unmistakable and unanimously delightful in such moments as the irreverent video close-up of Hunter chewing taffy with great difficulty, or the one of her skiing the Brown campus in only a tutu to a swirling, rushing prelude. At one point, Hunter dances delicately across the stage en pointe while chowing down on a bag of potato chips. see CHOPIN, page 6

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CAMPUS NEWS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 · PAGE 5

Preventing misconduct is corporate leaders’ responsibility, econ professor says BY JONATHAN HERMAN

Corporate boards of directors must be held accountable for their corporations’ actions to prevent future scandals such as the one at Enron, said Paul MacAvoy, Williams Brothers Professor of Management Studies at Yale University, in a lecture Friday. About 20 professors and students gathered at the Alfred A. Taubman Center for Public Policy for MacAvoy’s lecture, “Preventing More Enrons.” The lecture was part of the annual Taubman Luncheon Series. MacAvoy spoke to an audience of approximately 20 professors and a few students on the Enron financial scandal and the steps necessary to prevent its repetition. Accountability of corporations’ boards of directors for the actions of their corporations would prevent future corporate scandals, MacAvoy said. Although Enron’s board of directors was filled with experienced financial professionals, it approved questionable business decisions brought before it on 16 different occasions, he said. Robert Jaedicke, dean of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, was a member of Enron’s board of directors. “(Jaedicke) is the author of the most widely used financial accounting textbook. He actually told the Senate committee (investigating the Enron scandal) that he was not familiar with auditing. He was chairman of the audit committee,” MacAvoy said. Wendy Gramm was another very experienced member of Enron’s board of direc-

tors who watched Enron’s bankruptcy unfold. “(Gramm) has a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and among her various challenging positions in life she was chairmen of the Commodities Futures trading commission. She probably knew more about trading than anybody else I know,” MacAvoy said. Another member of Enron’s board of directors, Herbert Winokur Jr., received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in economics and was president of ICS, a Washington, D.C., consulting company. “(Winokur) was chairman of the finance committee, chairman of the audit committee … with the analytical prowess to figure out what is going on,” MacAvoy said. An investigation by the dean of the University of Texas Law School found that the board of directors — specifically Jaedicke, Gramm and Winokur — had sufficient information to notice the questionability of Enron’s actions, MacAvoy said. The board of directors’ failure to stop the abuses at Enron ended up “extending virtual bankruptcy into a far worse bankruptcy than they would have later,” MacAvoy said. If the members of the board of directors knowingly allow abuses to occur, “then they should be off the board, or there should be no board, or the board or Bob Jaedicke should pay up,” MacAvoy said. Former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay and other Enron executives have been accused of altering the company’s financial records to allow them to sell their holdings see ENRON, page 9

Nick Neely / Herald

On Super Bowl Sunday,Thayer Street’s Wings to Go was overwhelmed by customers who had ordered out in time for the big game. The Patriots won an exciting victory with a last-minute field goal by kicker Adam Vinatieri.

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004

Happy Birthday, James Joyce

Table-slips continued from page 1 place,” he said. “It’s certainly a lot better than going from table to table putting down slips,” Bastien agreed. But Green didn’t find the new service more convenient. The 5 to 7 p.m. drop-off time “is less likely to work for some groups,” he said. According to BSP’s literature, student groups will save 55 cents for one day’s promotion if they continue to use quarter-pagesized ads. That accounts for printing one set of table-slips — instead of two — and BSP’s $4 service fee. But “the price doesn’t help people who have other ways of printing,” Green said. And the savings evaporate if groups opt for full-page ads, Green added. “I also feel the small ads could be overlooked, stapled in the back there, sort of as an afterthought,” Bastien said. Zeta Delta Xi elected to run full-page ads this week, which Bastien said he felt “a little bit” forced to do to compete with other large ads. “The full-page ad is nice, though,” he said. “I think it’s unfortunate that the small table-slip size ones are in the back,” said Garland McQuinn ’05, a member of Production Workshop. “It’s easy to overlook them.” The magazine “basically raises the price of advertising” because it encourages groups to purchase the larger ads, McQuinn added. The order of the advertisements within their respective sections is determined on a firstcome, first-served basis, Meric said. Advertisers can reserve the first two pages for a premium charge, he added. Meric said he believes groups are enjoying their newfound freedom to use full-page ads in the dining halls. “The full-page slips are a lot more visible,” he said. Student organizations already use full-page-sized posters around campus, he added.

Bonuses continued from page 1 Awards were not limited to faculty members, Hunter wrote. “The bonuses rewarded a wide array of accomplishments made by employees working in all divisions,” he wrote. Candidates had to exemplify one or more of the committees’ criteria to be considered for an award, Hunter wrote. The criteria included one-time achievements, completion of an ongoing project or milestone, creation of or improvement upon a University program and overall exceptional performance. Selection committees informed department heads and supervisors of these criteria prior to the nomination process “in order to achieve an appropriate level of consistency” among the nominees. Hunter expressed satisfaction with the selection process and its results. “The University developed selection procedures that ensured that the bonuses were awarded under an equitable process that was

“I would like to find a way in which I can make the table-slip size more visible,” Meric said. Though there are some kinks to be worked out, Meric said BEM has other positive aspects. It’s ecologically friendly, Meric said. “All magazines are recycled,” he said. “Each one is collected every night. None are placed in the trash.” Sohei Hashimoto, a junior exchange student from Japan, agreed. “I think it’s good because it saves paper,” he said. But Green said the magazine’s cardstock covers and full-page ads are “encouraging more paper waste.” Meric said the tradeoff was between three table-slips thrown away and a full-page ad recycled. Thursday night — BSP’s first night of publication — several tables in the Sharpe Refectory appeared to be missing their magazines. “A minimal amount have been taken from one table to another,” Meric explained. But overall, “disappearance is minimal,” he said. For Hashimoto, the inability to remove the magazines was the problem itself. “It’s harder to get information,” he said. “Before, I could take the table-slip to my room and get the information later. Now we have to take memos home,” he said. Lizy Freudmann ’05 also found shortcomings in the magazine format. “I kind of feel like tableslips were sort of a traditional thing that you did at meals,” she said. “They were more conversation pieces than this is. … It was always fun to see what people would come up with and put on table-slips.” Table-slips were fun “because they were brainless and you didn’t have to do too much to read them,” Freudmann said. But Chris Ordonez ’06 said he didn’t see any problem with the magazine. “It’s just a bunch of table-slips stapled together, right?” he said. Chorus concert manager

fair and balanced,” he wrote. Many professors said they approve of this change and believe it will bolster faculty performance. “I think merit-based bonuses are a positive thing,” said Professor of Philosophy Mary Louise Gill. “Nobody really got anything last year,” she said. Bonuses based on performance appraisal “would generally lead to an increase in faculty performance,” said Assistant Professor of Chemistry Brian Moulton. “I’m a firm believer in merit-based salary increases and bonuses.” But Lecturer in English Catherine Imbriglio said she also believes smaller bonuses assure all employees that their work is appreciated. “I know people work really, really hard, and sometimes it gets discouraging if there isn’t any recognition at all for the work,” Imbriglio said. “Sometimes those little tiny bonuses help.” Herald staff writer Robbie Corey-Boulet can be reached at rcorey-boulet@browndailyherald.com.

Green had a different perspective. “We’re hiring students to sit there and staple.” The University Finance Board ends up footing the bill, because groups have to spend their own UFB budgets on the BSP service, he said. “The real kicker here is that there’s no choice,” Green said. “We can’t go in and table-slip on our own.” Virginia Dunleavy, associate director of BuDS, told The Herald last week that a communication table will be set up in the dining halls for students who do not wish to participate in the BSP program. But “what some people don’t realize is that (BSP) isn’t a University program,” Green said. “This is a pair of entrepreneurs. … They are out to make money. There’s a real conflict of interest here. They get money, the Ratty saves money, but it’s screwing over small student groups.” “The reason (we charge a service fee) is there’s a number of us working here — we’re all students,” Meric said. The fee is “as minimal as we could make it,” he said. “We know it’s not perfect,” Meric said of BEM. “We’re committed to providing the best service possible. “We welcome feedback,” he added. “This whole service was created through input from the outside.” BSP already has some ideas for improvement, Meric said. Group members are working on a way to accept advertisements electronically and print them out themselves, he said. And “in the future we might be able to provide additional copies per table,” he added. But there may be some obstacles BSP can never overcome. “I miss table-slips,” Freudmann said. “I don’t understand why they had to leave.” Herald staff writer Jonathan Ellis ’06 can be reached at jellis@browndailyherald.com.

Chopin continued from page 3 Hunter’s uninhibited revelations of her quirky inner thoughts and good-natured selfmockery more than compensate for her unremarkable choreography and dancing. Amper’s beautiful live playing, Hey’s stunning videography and Hunter’s writing and acting combined successfully. The sensory variety of “Chopin and Me” experiments with what happens in the theater when the finished work is made up of the meanderings of the creative process itself. By using her own humorous artistic lens to consider weighty topics — such as fear of death and the conflict between past and present — Hunter reassures her audience that life itself is a process, and messiness is only natural. Perhaps most important, the piece demystifies both classical music and performance art. Through Hunter’s understanding of Chopin, the romantic-era composer’s music relates to the idiosyncrasies of modern life.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 7

Vranek

Friends turned to

continued from page 1

Vranek for help,

parties, a job well suited for his excellent personal skills, if not his stature. Friends thought of Vranek as their “little” friend, joking about his height — 5’6”. Yet he exuded so much energy, Neuman said, “I’m glad there wasn’t a full-sized version.” Friends also joked about his young age — he was a 20-yearold senior — but “in some ways, he was much older than we were,” said Jyri Wilska ’04. “Metha’s life changed a whole lot since he came here,” said Abraham Spitz ’04, explaining that Vranek matured greatly in his three and a half years at Brown. Friends said he was devoted to his girlfriend of three years, whom he recently helped through the college application process and who is now a college freshman in New York. Friends turned to Vranek for help, whether they needed to learn to navigate Providence for the first time or someone to knot their ties before a big night out. Also a “fashion icon,” Vranek always had the newest shoes and the newest gadgets, like cell phones, and he always gave the best birthday presents, Thiriez said. Vranek was balanced, Thiriez said, and friends said his dedication to having a good time

whether they need-

BHM continued from page 1 since the decision, Gilbert said. It also intends to question whether blacks have the responsibility to continue the struggle for equality in higher education, he said. For Gilbert, there still is a responsibility. He said although he does not have a solution, he feels that blacks need to be creative and innovative in order to find a new way to empower themselves. This month is filled with a diverse array of programs, from the impact of hip-hop to the psychology of integration. The first program featuring an outside speaker is Feb. 10. Chris Bell will come from Chicago to speak on his experience as an openly gay black man struggling with AIDS. On Feb. 16 and 17, there will be events on hip-hop, the first of which explores the role of hip-hop in higher education, and the second of which focuses on the impact of hip-hop in mass communication. Two psychologists will come to Brown Feb. 19 to speak about the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Both William Cross and Na’im Akbar have studied the psychology of integration and its impact. On Feb. 18, Brown students will have a chance to discuss with administrators and other students what it means to be a student of color at Brown. Also featured on the Black History Month calendar is the Feb.

TONIGHT: Black History Month Convocation Salomon 101 7-9 p.m.

ed to learn to navigate Providence for the first time or someone to knot their ties before a big night out. extended to his relationships with friends. “Just in three and a half years … he made such an impact on us,” Neuman said. Vranek would always go out for coffee or malts at Johnny Rocket’s (his favorite) with friends, even if he had already eaten, Thiriez said. If Vranek was going out to dinner, he made sure to call and include everyone in his plans, he said. Vranek’s friends said they have been receiving calls from all over the world — England, Ecuador, Mexico, Australia — by people Vranek touched. “Metha is probably the epitome of the global kid,” Wilska said. His mother is Thai, his father is German, he was born in the Canary Islands and he went to boarding school in Switzerland

12 convocation of the Native American History Series. Bill Yellowrobe, a Native American playwright who is currently teaching a course at Brown in Native American theater, will speak. Herald staff writer Elise Baran ’07 can be reached at ebaran@browndailyherald.com.

from the age of 10. This international mix made his phone conversations interesting to hear, since he’d slip into and out of Thai, German, Spanish and English, said Bruno Ambar ’04. “He spoke every language with an accent,” Thiriez said. Vranek was an international peer mentor at Brown, as well as a triple concentrator in economics, international relations and public and private sector organizations, the last of which was the focus of his honors thesis. Friends loved taking classes with him, Esnaola said, because he was so dedicated to his work and eager to tell friends how to improve. And “he had a knack for being able to predict what would be on an exam,” Wilska said, estimating that four out of five times he would correctly guess the test questions in advance. After graduation, he had a job lined up as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank, Wilska said. “He worked so hard to have it all,” Esnaola said. “And he deserved it,” Ambar said. Plans for a campus memorial service will be made in the coming weeks, said University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson. Herald staff writer Meryl Rothstein ’06 edits the Arts & Culture section. She can be reached at mrothstein@browndailyherald.com.

PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004

Basketball continued from page 12 both ends of a one-and-one from Forte. “(Martin’s) shot was made for TV, like ESPN,” said Forte. “I have never played in a game like that. If Mike hit a shot like that to get us to overtime, the least I could do was hit free throws in overtime.” For the game, Kilburn led Bruno with 12 rebounds and a career-high 26 points. More impressive was the fact that 14 of his points came in the last five minutes of regulation and overtime. Including his buzzer-beater, Martin finished one assist shy of a double-double, with 11 points and nine assists. Other scorers in double figures included Forte, who finished with 23, and Ruscoe, who finished with 17. The fifth starter, Powers, also added eight points and a team-high four steals. “(Kilburn) is a very tough player,” Miller said. “We ran the isolation play for Jaime in the low post and it was effective for us time and time again.” The previous night was a different story, as Princeton took a fivepoint lead with 15:15 to play in the first half and the Bears could get no closer. The team was hampered

Notes continued from page 12 got fatigued. But Brown had little time to think about the Princeton loss, as the two-time defending Ivy League Champion Penn Quakers came to the Pizzitola on Saturday night. The offensive struggles from the previous night were a distant memory as Brown drilled 10 threepointers and shot 50.7 percent from the field, including five of seven in overtime. Luke Ruscoe ’06 buried four three-pointers and Jason Forte ’05 and Martin added three each. Forte’s free-throw shooting was excellent under pressure, as usual — he buried all four of his attempts from the line in overtime, sealing the win. Brown got key contributions from the bench, as Marcus Becker ’07, Andrew Salter ’06 and P.J. Flaherty ’07 all played key roles in the win. On the night, the Brown

by poor field-goal and three-point shooting, finishing with a 37.2 field-goal percentage and a 10 (110) three-point shooting percentage. This was in stark contrast to Princeton, which shot 53.8 percent from the field and made eight of 17 three-pointers. Forte led the team with 18 points, and Kilburn was the only other Bear in double figures, scoring 15. Leading Princeton was Will Venable, who had 18 points on eight of nine shooting. Scott Greenman, Ed Persia and Mike Stephens each added 10 points apiece. With the weekend split, the Bears pushed themselves into a virtual tie with Princeton for second place in the Ivy League, with the Tigers sitting at 2-0 after a twopoint win on Saturday at Yale. Sitting in first place is Cornell (40), which visits the Pizzitola on Friday at 7 p.m. The winner of that match up will claim first place in the league. Defending league champion Penn also lost to Yale on Friday, ending a 23-game leaguewinning streak, and now resides in last place in the league. Herald staff writer Josh Troy ’04 covers men’s basketball. He can be reached at jtroy@browndailyherald.com.

bench combined for 45 minutes, and Becker, Salter and Flaherty came up with points at key junctures in the game. Jaime Kilburn ’04 carried the Bears down the stretch, scoring seven points in the closing minutes of regulation and adding seven more in overtime to finish with 26 points. “He’s an undersized center, but he gets his shots off so quickly and he plays with a huge heart,” Miller said. Kilburn scored most of his points in the low-post, using a turn-around jump shot which teammate Powers has called “nearly unblockable.” Mike Martin ’04 played a great all-around game, with 11 points, nine assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. A 3-1 record in the Ivy League after winning a pair of games against Yale University and defeating Penn has the Bears sitting pretty as Cornell and Columbia come to town next weekend.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

Enron continued from page 5 in the corporation, MacAvoy said. The executives at Enron sold and mortgaged company holdings, misreported revenues and neglected to incorporate the financial information of their subsidiaries in their corporate records, he said.

Hockey continued from page 12 ty killers repeatedly failed to clear the puck. Harvard’s power play unit showed skill and finesse. With seconds left in the man-advantage, Harvard’s Brendan Bernakevitch eluded a diving Chris Swon ’05, pivoted at the left point and fed a sharp, low shot through the slot that Harvard freshman Kevin Du redirected through Danis’ leg. “They made a really nice play on that one,” Danis said. Brown came right back, with Brian Ihnacak ’07 and Sean Dersch ’07 driving at Harvard goalie Grumet-Morris and drawing a Harvard penalty. But Brown could not score on the advantage. Brown was able to withstand an excellent Harvard power play twice more before the end of the period. As the teams retired for the first intermission, Brown had withstood the best, if not the end, of Harvard’s attack. Brown tied the game in the second period, with Macri redeeming himself for his three first period penalties. A gutsy effort by the power-play unit led to Macri’s goal at 13:01. Ihnacak fought off Harvard checks to clear the blue line. With the puck in the corner, he joined Les Haggett ’05 and Robinson to fight off two Harvard defensemen for possession. Haggett spun free with the puck, driving at Grumet-Morris until he found Macri, who scored.

Andrew Fastow, former chief financial officer of Enron, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and fraud charges in January and will serve 10 years in prison. Lay and former Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling still maintain their innocence. Herald staff writer Jonathan Herman ’07 can be reached at jherman@browndailyherald.com.

Brown gained the momentum briefly, but Harvard’s skilled offensive play soon resumed and forced Brown’s team defense into uncharacteristic positional errors. Danis stopped a point-blank drive by Kolarik and consecutive shots by Steve Mandes. After Danis’ saves and a stronger Brown effort in the third, the score was even at one after regulation time. During the timeout, Grillo told his skaters to give the extra push and play to win, rather than just attempting to hold on to the tie, Grillo told The Herald. Brown’s overtime attack started immediately, forcing Harvard defenseman Tom Walsh to rush a panic icing. Lined up for Brown for the faceoff in Harvard territory were Ihnacak, the team’s leading scorer, alongside Ringstad and Dersch, two of Brown’s least flashy but best-skating forwards. In textbook fashion, Dersch fired a low shot on goal, forcing a rebound that Ringstad carried to his backhand and then banked for the game winner. “I won the draw to my winger Dersch, and he got a quick shot off. It felt like someone was draped all over me. But I somehow grabbed the puck and put it to my backhand and missed the poke check of the goalie,” Ringstad said after the game. “Coach is giving me the opportunity. I’ve been placed with good centers all year long and just trying to take advantage of that,” Dersch said.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL/LETTERS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 · PAGE 10 S T A F F

E D I T O R I A L

Table slip-up The Sharpe Refectory is the closest thing Brown has to a campus center and, for years, student groups and administrators alike have relied on table-slips as the most effective way to reach a broad segment of the student community. We accept that table-slips, as they were distributed in past semesters, pose a problem to Brown University Dining Services in terms of cleanup. We also accept that table-slips, as previously produced, undermine Brown’s commitment to environmental responsibility. While conducive to wide distribution, the traditional table-slip system also constituted a misuse of University resources. Brown is in need of a new system that preserves the effectiveness of the table-slip and resolves concerns raised by BuDS and by the Brown Environmental Action Network. But the booklets of table-slips compiled daily last week by Brown Student Promotions do neither of these things. The booklets, which could easily have been printed double-sided, make no attempt to preserve any more resources than individual table-slips. And while BSP’s Brown Events Magazine might be easier to dispose of than quarter-page-sized slips, it does little to benefit the groups BSP says it intends to serve, saving advertisers no more than 55 cents per day. In effect, BSP has actually done a disservice to its advertisers by compiling their publicity materials in a magazine few students are likely to read. With only one copy of the booklet on each table, each student is less likely to see it, and while it is one thing to pass slips around a table, it’s another to distance oneself from conversation by opening an coursepack-sized BEM. The collective experience of eating in the Ratty requires reading materials that can be read collectively. We commend BSP for its entrepreneurial spirit and BuDS for its willingness to consider an alternative to outlawing table-slips entirely. But there is still much room for improvement. For a profit-making venture such as BSP, the mechanism for improving the system is competition. We challenge other members of the Brown community to come up with their own solutions: table-slip alternatives that are effective, economical and environmentally sound.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Juliette Wallack, Editor-in-Chief Carla Blumenkranz, Executive Editor Philissa Cramer, Executive Editor Julia Zuckerman, Senior Editor Danielle Cerny, Arts & Culture Editor Meryl Rothstein, Arts & Culture Editor Zachary Barter, Campus Watch Editor Monique Meneses, Features Editor Sara Perkins, Metro Editor Dana Goldstein, RISD News Editor Alex Carnevale, Opinions Editor Ben Yaster, Opinions Editor Christopher Hatfield, Sports Editor

BUSINESS Jack Carrere, General Manager Lawrence Hester, General Manager Anastasia Ali, Executive Manager Zoe Ripple, Executive Manager Elias Roman, Senior Project Manager In Young Park, Project Manager Peter Schermerhorn, Project Manager Laird Bennion, Project Manager Eugene Cho, Project Manager William Louis, Senior Financial Officer Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Rep. Elyse Major, Advertising Rep. Kate Sparaco, Office Manager

PRODUCTION Lisa Mandle, Design Editor George Haws, Copy Desk Chief Eddie Ahn, Graphics Editor Judy He, Photo Editor Nick Neely, Photo Editor

POST- MAGAZINE Ellen Wernecke, Editor-in-Chief Jason Ng, Executive Editor Micah Salkind, Executive Editor Abigail Newman, Theater Editor Josh Cohen, Design Editor Allison Lombardo, Features Editor Jeremy Beck, Film Editor Jessica Weisberg, Film Editor Ray Sylvester, Music Editor

Adam Vinatieri, Night Editor George Haws, Copy Editor Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Zaneta Balantac, Elise Baran, Alexandra Barsk, Zachary Barter, Hannah Bascom, Danielle Cerney, Robbie Corey-Boulet, Ian Cropp, Sam Culver, Jonathan Ellis, Justin Elliott, Amy Hall Goins, Dana Goldstein, Bernard Gordon, Krista Hachey, Chris Hatfield, Jonathan Herman, Miles Hovis, Robby Klaber, Alexis Kunsak, Sarah LaBrie, Hanyen Lee, Julian Leichty, Kira Lesley, Allison Lombardo, Chris Mahr, Lisa Mandle, Jonathan Meachin, Monique Meneses, Kavita Mishra, Sara Perkins, Melissa Perlman, Eric Perlmutter, Sheela Raman, Cassie Ramirez, Meryl Rothstein, Michael Ruderman, Emir Senturk, Jen Sopchockchai, Lela Spielberg, Adam Stern, Stefan Talman, Joshua Troy, Schuyler von Oeyen, Jessica Weisberg, Brett Zarda Accounts Managers Laird Bennion, Eugene Clifton Cha, In Young Park, Jane C. Urban, Sophie Waskow, Justin Wong, Christopher Yu Pagination Staff Peter Henderson, Lisa Mandle, Alex Palmer Photo Staff Gabriella Doob, Benjamin Goddard, Marissa Hauptman, Judy He, Miyako Igari, Allison Lombardo, Elizabeth MacLennan, Nicholas Neely, Michael Neff, Alex Palmer, Yun Shou Tee, Sorleen Trevino Copy Editors Emily Brill, George Haws, Leslie Kaufmann, Katie Lamm, Anne Rabbino, Melanie Wolfgang

SHANE WILKERSON

LETTERS McAuliffe misrepresents Guinier’s lecture To the Editor: Did Chris McAuliffe attend the lecture he commented upon so disparagingly in his column “A reconstruction gone wrong” (Jan. 30)? McAuliffe’s column is rife with misrepresentations of Professor Guinier’s speech. McAuliffe first asserts that Harvard Law professor Guinier depends on the concept of the interaction between race and class for her “intellectual survival.” Or rather, McAuliffe wrongly insists that by “interaction” Guiner meant “correlation.” She did not. The point is an important one: to hold that race is associated with class is a far cry from stating that the two categories are inextricably intertwined, that social forces impacting one inevitably have consequences for both. To treat this principle, which was and still is important to the theory and practice of social reform, as “an unimaginative and uninspiring racial orthodoxy” is both demeaning and purposeless. Demonstrating a further lack of intellectual responsibility, McAuliffe goes on to imply that “feelgood public policy” such as welfare and affirmative action is responsible for the current problems plaguing many African Americans. That McAuliffe chose not to support this contention with facts or rational

Testing measures education and wealth To the Editor: In “A Reconstruction gone wrong” (Jan. 30), Christopher McAuliffe mentions that SATs cannot be construed as anything other than a measure of basic knowledge, and that a $20 book is as effective as any SAT prep course. I beg to differ. Tests are a measure of knowledge, and knowledge (with rare exceptions) is a measure of one’s education, and the quality of one’s education is a measure of wealth. I ask the author this question: instead of coming to a prestigious institution like Brown, couldn’t you just go to the library, check out a lot of books, and

argument indicates a lack of regard both for the needs of his readers and for the principle of evidentiary proof in social investigation. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly in regard to the specific content of Guinier’s talk, McAuliffe misrepresents Guinier’s claims regarding the SATs as an admissions standard. He would have us believe that Guinier has a “distaste for a concrete academic standard.” Guinier did not voice opposition to academic standards — she voiced opposition to the SAT because, as she pointed out, it is a better predictor of parental wealth than of academic performance. I believe Guinier might object to the unilateral and simplistic characterization of her opinion along the lines of “race instead of tests.” She was not trying to do away with standardized tests in order to admit solely based on race. Instead, she was using race as a “diagnostic tool” to investigate broader socio-economic injustices. Her lecture focused more on the need to see race as a symptom of social ills than on race as the only basis for a solution. These misrepresentations are no small matter. The ease with which McAuliffe tosses aside Guinier’s views, and the derogation implicit in this action, is exemplary of an intellectual attitude that should not be tolerated. Sarah Bowman `05 Feb. 1 save yourself all that money? Of course not. Because good coaching and instruction is what makes any education truly exemplary. And, unfortunately, a good education costs more. A lot more. As for Mr. McAuliffe’s subtle blaming of welfare for the disintegration of black families, what he handily overlooks is the number of poor white (and other ethnic) families that are trapped in the same doom-filled cycle. The issue here is poverty. Simply pointing your finger and moralizing to the poor about how they need to “meet standards” (in McAuliffe’s language) will be about as effective as telling teenagers not to have sex. Natalie Smolenski `07 Feb. 1

C O R R E C T I O N S An article in Wednesday’s paper about the Brown Events Magazine incorrectly identified Beri Meric ’06 as a member of the Class of 2004. CORRECTIONS POLICY The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. COMMENTARY POLICY The staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns and letters reflect the opinions of their autho rs only. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. ADVERTISING POLICY The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

OPINIONS MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2004 · PAGE 11

Gimme shelter GUEST COLUMN BY JUSTIN ELLIOTT

One student described it as a “hole in the ground” in the middle of the city. In an alley downtown, past a large “No Loitering” sign and straight down two flights of stairs lies Traveler’s Aid, the biggest homeless shelter in Providence. This is the underbelly of the Renaissance City. About 30 Brown students stayed downtown in Beneficent Church for the last week of winter break investigating issues of poverty around Providence. We volunteered at Traveler’s Aid and witnessed the filthy conditions, the overloaded staff and the homeless flowing out into the hallways. Soon after you make the climb down College Hill and shake the feeling that you’re abroad, you realize a couple of things. First, we live in a beautiful city of vibrant neighborhoods, restaurants, history and much else worth exploring. But we also live in a city of the dispossessed. According to the 2000 census, Providence has the third highest rate of child poverty in the country. At 47 percent, Rhode Island has the nation’s highest rate of Latino children living in poverty. And the total homeless population in Providence and the rest of Rhode Island has been growing. If you talk to even a few homeless men and women, you quickly realize it’s not just winos and bums sleeping in shelters every night. Some homeless people look destitute, but others, besides a pair of well-worn shoes, look like anyone else. During the week that we stayed at Beneficent Church, the merciless cold caused an overflow at overnight shelters, and the church opened its doors to a few families. When they sleep in the same building as you, it’s impossible to ignore the elementary school and junior high kids who wake up after a night in sleeping bags, eat breakfast in an unfamiliar kitchen and set out for school. As a member of the group investigating affordable housing in the city, I learned about a major cause of homelessness. Despite drastic reductions in federal housing programs over the 20 years, the state of Rhode Island has not picked up the slack. The fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Providence is around $697 per month. In order for someone working full-time to spend no more than 30 percent of his or her income on housing, which is generally agreed to be the most one should spend, he or she must make $13.42 an hour to afford this rent. But even that number may be unrealistic: According to the Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, the fair market rent is very much a low-ball estimate of real housing rates, and rents are continuing to rise rapidly as property values shoot up throughout the city. And, as any homeless person will tell you, having a per-

Providence must improve its affordable housing situation. manent address is essential to getting a job. My group visited several Community Development Corporations around the city, organizations devoted to creating affordable housing in individual neighborhoods. The staff we talked to at the CDCs in Olneyville and Elmwood have scored a few victories. In each of those neighborhoods, I saw attractive, affordable CDC-built housing. The CDCs are fighting homelessness by creating affordable housing, but they do not have the resources to address the problem (the Olneyville CDC has a staff of just eight). Every CDC my group visited has waiting lists for housing that are up to hundreds of families and several years long. The efforts of CDCs and other non-profit groups are particularly vital because attempts to coax or legislate private developers into meeting the need for affordable housing have failed. The greatest profit for a developer, one homeless advocate told us, lies in building a large Colonial on a one-acre lot. One illustration of the developers’ motives is the abuse of a 2002 amendment to a Rhode Island housing law. The amendment, intended as an incentive to build affordable housing, proved ineffective. Under this amendment, the state fast-tracks the permit process if developers build at least one affordable housing unit for every four market-rate units. Developers largely built the most expensive affordable housing allowed, and many did not build a single unit more than the law required. But Providence is doing so well. Walk across the street and not 50 feet from Traveler’s Aid is Tazza, a funky cafe — couples drink under dim red lights while a black and white Humphrey Bogart film is projected on the wall. Meanwhile, Traveler’s Aid is moving to the YMCA tower on the outskirts of downtown. The new location means enhanced services for the homeless, but I fear it will only make it easier to ignore Providence’s inequality. Just from the little I learned last week, the shortage of affordable housing and the growing homeless population struck me as shameful. It left me, and many others who stayed at Beneficent, with a desire to go out into Providence and do something about it. Justin Elliott ’07 volunteered at Traveler’s Aid through the Breaks Project at the Swearer Center over winter break.

KATHERINE CUMMINGS

The regular guy The Whoop. The Rant. The Scream. The downhome rodeo-style yee-haw to end all yee-haws. I watched the Iowa caucuses from the technologically primitive comforts of the Colorado Rockies. There was one television, very few cable channels, no computer, no newspaper. I did manage to succeed in determining the results in Iowa, lingered to listen to a smattering of analyses and was about to return to my television-free routine when up popped John Kerry. Not too thrilling, but hey, the man does LOVE Iowa. It was not until my return to city living that I heard anything about Howard Dean’s concession speech and saw the source of such hoopla for myself. I first happened upon a transcript of the speech and, to my surprise, found nothing offensive in the former governor’s words. In fact, I rather enjoyed what he had to say. Call me crazy. Continuing my investigation, I moved to CNN.com where I found several articles on “the yelp” and a video clip of Dean doing his thing. Ah ha. Although the video was a particularly exciting find, I was more intrigued by the musings of one Chris Suellentrop, in his Jan. 23 Slate article “Is He Still Here?” Suellentrop observes, “Dean’s regular-guy status is one of the most appealing things about his candidacy, and it’s one of the most fun things about covering him. He’s willing to let himself be a normal person.” There is a caveat, though. “A presidential candidate, and especially a president, isn’t a regular guy,” Suellentrop continues. “Presidents can’t do or say the things that even senators and governors can.” Enter my anecdote, stage left. My stepmom Syd is, by general standards, a fairly “regular girl.” She is by no means mediocre, but she has simple tastes and is generally low-maintenance. True, Syd is goofy. She is skinny and she is amazingly yet adorably clumsy. She is nervous and sometimes reverts to a long-lost lisp (especially when selling seashells by the seashore with Sally). Syd is not what one might call politically savvy, or even politically involved. She avoids the voting booth in favor of our large green couch and a strange movie on the Independent Film Channel. However, I recently witnessed something of an awakening. I shared

Suellentrop’s opinion about presidents and their distinction from the populace of entirely regular people. In response to this relatively mild attack, she came out of the political closet with — gasp! — an opinion about Dean and his supposed regularity. “No, no, no … if you consider yourself a ‘regular guy,’ if you harbor no illusions of grandeur, kindly withdraw your application for the position of leader of the free world. A president who plays well with others? Preposterous.” My stepmom, victim of countless years of speech therapy, wants a president with a speech impediment. She wants a president who is irregularly unafraid to take off his jacket, roll up his sleeves, and speak in an honest, direct candor. So what if his speech sounds a bit funny? I loved Dean’s concession speech. That spark in the doctor’s eye is what first attracted me to his campaign. He possesses a liveliness that is more indicative of a quick wit than the early signs of an imminent nervous breakdown. Dean’s passion has the potential to simultaneously appeal to that sector of the population that is entirely dedicated to political pursuits and pique the interest of those who don’t play the game, so to speak. Passion is a scary phenomenon, I know. A passionate president — who ever heard of such a thing? My opinion happens to differ from Mr. Suellentrop’s. I want a president who is honest, intelligent, and personable. Real and, therefore, not without fault. Regular. Perhaps even graced with a slight lisp to cross his T’s and round his S’s. I suppose that if this nation truly needs an irregular president — an individual so perfectly stiff and unknown and untouchable — then we already have our man. Why even bother with a national election? Why change horses midstream, right? In theory, I do support that statement. Unless, of course, my stubborn steed makes a few bad judgment calls and gets us caught in a current heading steadily down, down, downstream. Howard, take us ashore.

I want a president with a speech impediment.

Katherine Cummings ’06 is no regular girl.

Down and out in EL 21 GUEST COLUMN BY BEN CARMICHAEL

Something needs to change. Under discussion is EL 21: “Introduction to Medieval and early Modern Literatures and Cultures,” the first class in the core required by the English department for all of its concentrators. It is often the first English course taken by eager freshman determined to study literature. Its title is long and burdensome. The lectures wander, often without substance or argument. Teachers speak to empty seats. The class has a reputation for being a waste of time, effort and money. And no one does anything about it. For one semester I tolerated the worst course I have, without exaggeration, ever taken, because my department instructed me to. But one semester was too much. And I, for one, won’t stand for it. For those who are not English majors, here is the scenario: The English department requires that you take a core consisting of three courses — EL 21, 41 and 61 — surveying the cannon of Western literature. Read in these courses are Shakespeare, Chaucer, Wordsworth, Dryden, Wheatley, Eliot, ad infinitum. These writers’ works are the foundation of our education as students of literature. One would assume that the material alone would motivate the teachers to inspire us. But, no. I leave class discussions of Jonson, Spenser and Donne wondering why the material is taught at all. Why am I here, I ask myself? Where is my education? I am not alone. I have spent many nights with friends distressed over this course. I have asked everyone I know who has taken these core English classes what they think. Their response is, invariably, that the courses were awful. Without exaggeration, no one I have spoken with has found EL 21 to be either interesting or productive. It is a waste, they say, and a shame. Yes, some might say, all students put in their time. I

am here to say that this does not have to be the case. The course surveys the foundations upon which all subsequent literature is taught. As such, it should be required. But it should be taught with care and with vigor. The study of literature is supposed to enhance our understanding of the literary genesis of western culture and, perhaps most importantly, to fortify our passion for the written word. This class fails on both accounts and has, from what I hear, for years. To the freshmen who despair in this course, I say this: This is not what the study of English literature is about. Do not feel as though you have to listen to the professor. Excavate from these texts the permanence of personal meaning. Make them your own. Make them matter. To the English department, I say this: You are right to require us to read these books, but you are wrong to force us to take classes that are chronically pathetic. You have the knowledge, the experience and the power to make these texts come alive, to demonstrate to us that the study of literature is a worthy pursuit. Yet you don’t. We, the English students of Brown University, deserve more. I, for one, am ready to discuss methods of improvement, such as shifting the requirements from a rigid three-part sequence to a more diverse collection of requirements from which a student might choose specific courses. More fundamentally, shifting away from an approach driven by volume toward one that values comprehension would do much for the quality of the teaching and learning. I do not have the space to fully elaborate, but this argument is not mine alone. Ask any English concentrator, and they, too, will tell you what they think: We deserve better. Ben Carmichael ’05.5 is an English concentrator.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SPORTS MONDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2004 · PAGE 12

Men’s icers best Crimson in OT, sweep season series BY MATT LIEBER

Nick Neely / Herald

A raucous crowd stormed the floor after the men’s basketball team defeated the University of Pennsylvania 92-88 in overtime.

Late heroics give men’s basketball win over Penn BY JOSH TROY

Although hosting Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania in a pair of home games was not absolutely a must-win situation, if the men’s basketball team had failed to come away with at least one victory, it would have made the path to an Ivy League title quite treacherous. So following a 15-point loss, 64-49, to the Princeton Tigers on Friday night, the Bears had their backs up against the wall in Saturday’s game versus the Quakers. Using every second in regulation, Bruno (7-10, 3-1 Ivy League) tied the game on Mike Martin’s ’04 jumper from 13 feet, off an offensive rebound from a missed free throw. Then in overtime, Jaime Kilburn ’04 and Jason Forte ’05 combined for all of the team’s 17 points to lead Brown to a 92-88 win. “I thought we were relatively secure when we fouled Forte with nine seconds left,” said Penn coach Fran Dunphy. “It is a hell of a win for them and a very disappointing loss for us.” After failing to hold a lead in the entire contest against Princeton, Brown grabbed a 4-3 edge about a minute into the game. Yet with 11:35 to go in the first half, Penn (7-8, 02) pulled out to a 24-15 lead thanks to threepointers from Tim Begley and Jeff Schiffner. After a timeout, the Bears went on an 8-0 run with baskets from Kilburn and P.J.

S C O R E B O A R D

Friday, January 30 Men’s Basketball Princeton 64, Brown 46 Women’s Basketball Princeton 66, Brown 53 Women’s Ice Hockey Brown 2, Yale 1 Men’s Squash Williams 7, Brown 2 Women’s Squash Brown 6, Williams 3

Saturday, January 31 Men’s Basketball Brown 92, Pennsylvania 88 (OT) Women’s Basketball Pennsylvania 73, Brown 63 Men’s Ice Hockey Brown 2, Harvard 1 (ot) Women’s Ice Hockey Brown 3, Princeton 1 Women’s Swimming Brown 205.5, Columbia 94.5 Brown 244, Cornell 54 Men’s Track Brown -- Second Place at Harvard Women’s Track Brown -- Second Place at Harvard Wrestling Brown 22, Drexel 14 Lehigh 25, Brown 9

Sunday, February 1

Flaherty ’07 and two free throws by Patrick Powers ’04. Later, down two with 11 seconds to play in the half, Martin sank his second shot from beyond the arc, while Powers stole the inbounds pass and passed to Marcus Becker ’07 for a lay-up and a threepoint halftime lead. Less than a minute and a half into the second half, Penn tied the game with another Schiffner three-pointer. Over the next 13plus minutes, Bruno would trail only once, possessing a lead as large as nine before taking a 69-62 lead with 4:44 to play in the game. But for the second time in the half, the Quakers put together a run of 10 or more to make it close again. With Penn down one with 1:23 to play, Begley completed a fourpoint play after a foul by Martin on a made three-point attempt. Adam Chubb then made one of two free throws to give Penn a 73-69 lead with 33 seconds left. After another Kilburn basket and two free throws by Schiffner, Brown still trailed by four with just 15 seconds remaining. “I thought we outplayed Penn but had a three-minute lull that almost cost us the game,” said Head Coach Glen Miller. “Last year, they made plays in crucial situations and we didn’t, and we almost repeated ourselves.” With four seconds left, Powers missed a three-pointer, but Kilburn grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled on his lay-up. Down two with just three seconds to play, Kilburn had no choice but to miss the free throw and hope for an offensive putback. With Miller trying to put his most athletic squad on the floor, Becker attempted to substitute in for Martin, but Martin waved him back to the sidelines and Becker instead came in for Forte. As the packed crowd at the Pizzitola collectively held its breath, Kilburn missed the free throw off of the back of the rim, and Ruscoe tipped the ball to Martin, who swished the game-tying shot. “I was just trying to make a play. I knew in that situation, I wanted to be on the court,” Martin said. After the referees reviewed the timing of the shot, the game headed into overtime and Brown simply refused to lose. To open the extra frame, the teams traded two sets of three-point plays, until Forte’s three-pointer with 3:29 left in overtime gave Brown the lead for good. While the Quakers were just two for six from the charity stripe in overtime, the Bears were five of five, including

See The Herald tomorrow for Sunday scores.

see BASKETBALL, page 8

As the men’s hockey team prepared for a key home matchup with Harvard Saturday, Head Coach Roger Grillo noted that the team was poised for “something special this year.” Indeed, the Bears’ subsequent performance was just so, as the Brown team beat Harvard 2-1 in overtime in front of 2,785 fans at Meehan Auditorium. Nick Ringstad’s ’04 overtime goal electrified the audience, winning the game in dramatic fashion. The Brown men recorded their first season sweep of Harvard hockey in 25 years, after having beat them 3-2 in Cambridge in November. The Bears now hold the conference lead at 12-5-4. In dramatic fashion, they beat a talented and dangerous yet struggling Harvard team, which has been less than the sum of its parts at 8-10-2. The win over Harvard was the first of nine straight conference games for the Bears. Securing home ice in the playoffs looms large for Brown, which has just one home loss all season.

“That was awesome,” Grillo said after the game. “The fact that we had that many people in here — the students came out, the band was here and then we got a big win.” “That was a huge win for us,” said Brown’s star goalie Yann Danis ’04, who was characteristically superb and made a major difference in the game. Danis stopped 37 shots in outplaying his able Harvard counterpart, Dov Grumet-Morris. The happy ending was also a rare comefrom-behind win. “We showed a lot of character,” Danis said. “We bounced back.” The Brown team’s play in the first period was ragged. Skating well and inspired by an energetic home crowd, the Brown players were zealous but ineffective. “The first period, we were a little too emotional,” Grillo said. “We came out and we were trying to hit everybody — we made a bunch of undisciplined plays. We settled down in the second period.” With defenseman Vince Macri ’04 in the penalty box for interference, Brown penalsee HOCKEY, page 9

Alexandra Kaufman / Herald

Nick Ringstad ’04 scored the game-winning goal in overtime as Brown beat Harvard 21 to sweep the season series.

Men’s basketball game notes BY SHAUN MCNAMARA

The men’s basketball team was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde over the weekend, as it played poorly in a 64-49 loss Friday to the Princeton Tigers but rebounded for a thrilling overtime victory over the Quakers from the University of Pennsylvania Saturday. “We just played harder and more together in the Penn game,” said Pat Powers ’04. “We were more mentally prepared and focused on Saturday night.” On Friday night, Princeton dominated, never losing the lead. There were several keys to this loss, among them the lack of offensive firepower of the Bears. The Bears, who employ an offensive system that relies on three-pointers, shot just 1-10 from long range. Sharpshooters Mike Martin ’04 and Powers were held to just five attempts from the outside combined, with neither of them draining a three-pointer. In addition, the Bears got little help from their reserves. The non-starters logged only 23 total minutes and combined for just eight points. Conversely, the Princeton bench totaled 72

minutes and 18 points. “The Princeton system is difficult to grasp, and I just wanted to go with more experienced, older players,” said Head Coach Glen Miller. While Miller focused on his own team’s struggles — he said he did not think Princeton was 15 points better — Princeton guard Will Venable’s play could not be overlooked. He finished with 18 points on 8-9 shooting, grabbing six rebounds and dishing out four assists. He was immense on defense, teaming with Andre Logan to hold Powers to just one point, more than 11 points below his season average. Princeton’s offense, if not glamorous, was efficient. They used their patented back-door cuts to create easy baskets. They also rarely attempted a shot with more than 10 seconds on the shot clock. This tactic forced the Bears to play defense for longer stretches, and with little help coming from the bench, the Bears’ starters see NOTES, page 8