W E D N E S D A Y FEBRUARY 11, 2004
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXIX, No. 11
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Black community ignores homosexuality, AIDS activist says BY JONATHAN HERMAN
AIDS is not a disease of white men, although the black community often pretends it is, said HIV-positive AIDS activist Christopher Michael Bell in a speech Tuesday evening. BLACK HISTORY “We seem to think MONTH • 2004 of AIDS as a disease of white men. So when and where do I enter into their discourse?” Bell said in the lecture, part of Brown’s celebration of Black History Month. Bell discussed his experience as an African American with HIV, as well as the work he does “to combat the diseases, the methods of representation, and who gets represented with AIDS and who does not,” he said. As a graduate student in English at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Bell said he was appalled when his colleagues ignored a doctoral candidate dying from AIDS. “I made a vow that I would find a way to contact him and tell him I supported him. I wasn’t able to, because he died two days later,” Bell said. The death signaled the beginning of Bell’s dedication to AIDS activism. Despite his support for AIDS prevention and safe sex, Bell contracted HIV seven years ago from unprotected sex during a year-and-a-half-long relationship. His partner had kept an ongoing, 10-year relationship with a man dying from AIDS secret from Bell, he said. “He took that choice away from me, and that irritates the hell out of me,” Bell said of his partner. Bell said the University of MissouriColumbia’s student newspaper led with a story on Bell the week he tested positive for HIV. After the story ran, Bell said he received support from avenues he had never expected. “You have balls of steel,” Bell said one stranger told him in a bookstore.
Marissa Hauptman / Herald
Christopher Michael Bell, AIDS activist and expert, talked about his experiences as an African American, HIV-positive man Tuesday evening in a lecture sponsored by the Bethune Black Graduate Student Society.
Modern Culture and Media Adjunct Lecturer Michael Udris, was commissioned for the project. The video emphasizes to future offcampus residents that their neighbors’ perceptions of them will reflect back on Brown, according to Dean for Campus Life Margaret Jablonski. Video testimonials from neighbors and students highlight potential conflicts that may arise and ways they can be avoided. A cameo appearance by Jablonski warns
Scheraga, program director for the Global Change Research Program at the Environmental Protection Agency, strongly urged the cultivation of a new generation of scientists trained to work with environmental policymakers. New global environmental problems can already be seen in weather changes, which affect health, agriculture, forests, water resources and transportation, Scheraga said. The wide impact of these problems requires scientists to take a multidisciplinary approach, he said. Environmental policymakers must take into account a range of issues, from scientific uncertainty to equity to economic tradeoffs, Scheraga said. Though he said the costs of taking preventative action are high, he warned that the costs of inaction are potentially higher. Scheraga spoke strongly against individuals and special-interest groups that question the reality of climate change. There is no doubt the climate is changing, but how we should respond is unclear, he said. “Be skeptical of anyone who tells you that all effects of climate change are bad,” Scheraga said, pointing out that
see VIDEO, page 4
see CLIMATE, page 4
BY MARSHALL AGNEW
Global climate change will be a defining problem for the current generation of students, said Joel Scheraga ’76, M.A. ’79, Ph.D. ’81, who spoke in Sayles Hall Tuesday after receiving the first Horace Mann Distinguished Graduate Alumnus Award. The event marked the end of the Graduate School’s centennial celebration.
see AIDS, page 9
Rental Facilities premieres new off-campus housing video BY PATRICK CLARK
After suffering severe dilapidation, the Office of Rental Facilities informational video on off-campus housing has been thoroughly renovated for its 2004 showing. The old video, which starred former Brown staff and former Providence Mayor Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, has been replaced by a version featuring current Brown employees and Mayor David Cicilline ’83. Amedia Production, owned by Media Facilities Manager David Udris and
Thirty-six juniors named to Phi Beta Kappa
Climate change a global crisis, says EPA program director
Thirty-six members of the Class of 2005 have been elected to Brown’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, one of the nation’s oldest academic honor societies. To be eligible as a junior for Phi Beta Kappa at Brown, a student must have attended the University for five semesters and received 17 A’s during that time. This year, the society elected Omar Khaled Ahmad ’05, Anna Berman ’05, Renee Betancourt ’05, Andrea Carvalho ’05, Amy Carvel ’05, David Cohen ’05, Lisa Colaco ’05, Scott Dixler ’05, Rebecca Dumas ’05, Claire Dunnington ’05, Irena Foygel ’05, Chloe Hill ’05, Maho Imanishi ’05, Lars Johansson ’05, Rahul Kamath ’05, Maria Kasparian ’05, Arta Khakpour ’05 and Michael Krawczynski ’05. Also nominated were Anna Lamut ’05, Kelly Molloy ’05, Aimee Palladino ’05, David Petruccelli ’05, Harrison Quitman ’05, Kingston Reif ’05, Alissa Rothchild ’05, Michael Rozensher ’05, Eric Sedgwick ’05, Zachary Segal ’05, Henry Shapiro ’05, Nathaniel Smilowitz ’05, William St. James Smith ’05, Aaron Stelson ’05, Quyen Truong ’05, Megan Wulff ’05, Herald Opinions Editor Benjamin Yaster ’05 and Beverly Young ’05. Last year, 33 members of the Class of 2004 were elected to Phi Beta Kappa. —Herald staff reports
I N S I D E T U E S D AY, F E B RUA RY 1 0 , 2 0 0 4 Pennsylvania college docks professors’ merit bonuses, blaming grade inflation campus watch, page 3
Emory’s “speech code” controversy could happen at Brown, Chris Hu ’06 writes column, page 11
Arjun Iyengar ’05 says that Pakistan’s nuclear situation might not be so simple column, page 11
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Fencing squad recovers after weekend losses, prepares for next tournament sports, page 12
Men’s track team places third in University of Rhode Island invitational sports, page 12
sunny high 39 low 18