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T U E S D A Y FEBRUARY 15, 2005

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXL, No. 15

www.browndailyherald.com

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

CALLING THE SHOTS Proliferation of liquor licenses on Thayer St. has neighbors feeling unpleasantly buzzed METRO

VEGGIE SALES Hill ’04 and friends roll out the local-produce-lover’s answer to eBay 3

CAMPUS NEWS

STICKER POINT Brian Schmaltzbach ’07 gives the Georgia evolution sticker a second look — and likes what he sees O P I N I O N S 11

TODAY

TOMORROW

showers 51 / 35

showers 50 / 26

UCS voting referendum begins today BY JONATHAN SIDHU STAFF WRITER

Beginning today, all undergraduates may vote in an Undergraduate Council of Students referendum to change the voting procedure for electing executive board members to an instant runoff voting system. The vote to accept or reject the constitutionally mandated referendum will be available on WebCT from Tuesday at noon until noon Friday. The Elections Review Commission, an independent body created last semester to reassess UCS election procedures, endorsed the recommendation. Charley Cummings ’06, vice president of UCS and chair of the ERC, told The Herald that IRV is one of many planned reforms addressing a broad range of election-related topics, including financial and endorsement processes. “In our constitution it calls for a runoff election between the top two candidates,” Cummings said. “In the past four elections, one candidate has not received a majority (in the first round),” he said. In those years, candidates were shown only the percentages that each candidate earned without knowing which candidate had the largest percentage and asked if they accepted the results. “In every year except for last year, the candidates accepted the results as final without knowing which candidate had won,” Cummings said. Last year, the presidential race went to a runoff. According to the statement placed by UCS on the WebCT voting page, “IRV essentially eliminates the need for a runoff election by asking voters to rank the candidates instead of vote for a single one.”

The system would implement a preferential voting system. When voting, students would rank candidates instead of casting one vote for their favorite. At the end of the election, the votes for the student who got the least number of firstchoice votes would be redistributed to other candidates based on those voters’ second choices until one candidate won a majority. “The change will basically be that now

instead of winning by just plurality, people will rank their choices. That way you don’t have to go to through the whole process of a runoff,” said Joel Payne ’05, UCS president. “It sounds more complicated than it actually is.” The referendum comes amidst controversy that last year’s election results were skewed by holding a runoff election with a see UCS, page 9

ence. “We’re very pleased with how smoothly the rollout went,” Birdsall said. “We think it’s going to make a huge difference on campus” in fighting spam. — Ben Leubsdorf

see ROTC, page 4

LOVE IS IN THE CLEAN AIR

Juliana Wu / Herald

Brown Environmental Action Network member Emily Benjamin ’08 asked students passing by the main green to donate $1 in support of clean energy and send a valentine to President Ruth Simmons asking the University to make use of renewable energy sources.

spam quarantine digest this morning, deleting it after “glancing” over the email subject lines within. She said she expects most students to simply delete the digest each day, calling it the “normal reaction” for students who have “figured out” how to deal with spam by experi-

Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3269

BY AIDAN LEVY STAFF WRITER

The Reserve Officers Training Corps, abolished during the Vietnam War throughout most of the Ivy League, is sparking renewed controversy on several campuses over whether to reestablish their programs. But at Brown, the issue only persists through some limited student interest. At Yale University, a Republican student organization hopes to get 2,000 student signatures in support of ROTC, the Yale Daily News reported. Harvard and Columbia groups have also mounted substantial campaigns, with the Columbia newspaper appealing for the reestablishment of ROTC and former defense secretary and Harvard alum Caspar Weinberger getting involved in the push to bring the program back. Buttressed by the Pentagon’s recent recommendation that Ivy League institutions investigate the possibility of reinstating ROTC, student and alumni groups are mobilized to demonstrate the necessity of a change. “If there are groundswells forming (at Brown), we’re not aware of them,” said Carol Cohen, associate dean of the college and coordinator for ROTC. Yet Brian McGuirk ’06 asked about the possibility of reviving ROTC during the question-and-answer session at the Feb. 1 Spring Semester Opening Address two weeks ago. “People at Brown are the type of people who should be filling the military in large numbers,” McGuirk said. “I think the military is an institution we should be dedicated to repair and bring into the 21st century.”

New system blocks 90,000 spam e-mails in first 24 hours Brown University woke up to cleaner inboxes Monday morning. Computing and Information Services rolled out the new anti-spam system Proofpoint Monday. Proofpoint quarantines suspected spam messages and prevents them from reaching e-mail users’ inboxes while sending users a digest of those e-mails. “Overall, it’s going very well,” said Nancy Magers, a manager at CIS. The quarantine mechanism was activated Sunday at noon, and the first round of daily quarantine digests was sent out by midday Monday. In its first 24 hours of operation, Proofpoint stopped 90,000 spam e-mails sent to 8,378 users on campus, for a total of 447 MB of e-mail storage saved, Magers said. CIS had originally intended to roll out Proofpoint March 1 but sped up its efforts in recent weeks to bring it out earlier, The Herald reported last month. “We’ve been getting a lot of great feedback from faculty and staff,” said Stephanie Birdsall, lead communication specialist at CIS. Those users reported a “significant drop” in the number of spam e-mails received, she said. While no students had yet given feedback to CIS, Birdsall said she had noticed a positive discussion of the new system on the Brown Daily Jolt forum. “We like that one,” she said. Yvonne Wang ’07 said she received the

Interest in ROTC minimal at Brown despite debate at other Ivies

Faculty fellows, community directors offer adult presence in dorms BY ERIC BECK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Students may feel as though they are surrounded only by their peers in residential halls, but someone older is usually only steps away. The University’s faculty fellows and community directors programs are designed to integrate adults into student life and ensure that they are available to help students. Through the faculty fellows program, professors living in University-owned properties on campus are available to students for conversation, advice or a break from studying. “We are not trying to give Brown students more to do — we are trying to give them better things to do,” said Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry J. William Suggs, who is the faculty fellow for Keeney

Quadrangle. Suggs said weekly study breaks can feature special topics such as summer internships, visits by representatives of campus resources such as the Chaplain’s Office, guest speakers or simply conversation. In the past, the Hewlett Foundation and the Office of the Dean of the College have funded special faculty fellow programs to promote diversity, such as a trip to the Black Repertory Theater, Suggs said, adding that the Dean of the College continues to fund special events. About seven or eight speakers are being considered for this semester, he said. Suggs said one of the challenges of planning events is balancing the desire to offer something intellectual with students’ desire to relax.

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

“Students are intellectual enough from nine-to-five, so in the evenings they just want to kick back, relax and have fun,” he said. Stephen Foley ’74 P’04 P’07, associate professor of English, said he and his wife Mary Jo ’75 GS’99 P’04 P’07 wanted to be faculty fellows after their experiences as undergraduates. He is the faculty fellow for east campus, encompassing Perkins Hall, Young Orchard and Barbour Hall and Apartments. “As students, we enjoyed that kind of community programming. … It seemed like a good way to get involved in student life, and my wife and I, as alumni, thought it was a natural for us,” Foley said. Foley said his weekly study breaks see DORMS, page 9 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THIS MORNING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 2 Coreacracy Eddie Ahn

WO R L D AT A G L A N C E National missile defense test fails again page 7 Thai farmers worry controls on bird flu threaten livelihoods page 7 Bush decides to make Crawford’s FDA leadership official page 7 Property taxes overwhelm Habitat for Humanity homeowners page 7

TO D AY ’ S E V E N TS WAYLAND COLLEGIUM LECTURE SERIES:“INTRODUCTION TO THE ECONOMICS OF THE JUNGLE” 4-5:30 p.m. (CIT, 115 Waterman St., Lubrano Conf. Rm, 4th floor ) — Speaker: Ariel Rubinstein, Tel Aviv University STUDY ABROAD FAIR 3-5 p.m. (Sayles Hall ) — Gather information and meet Brown students returned from study abroad all around the world.

Jero Matt Vascellaro

PAVING THE WAY FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING: EASTERN THRACE (DOGU TRANKAY) DURING THE BALKAN WARS (1912-1913) 6 p.m. (McKinney Conference Room, Watson Institute) — Seminar with Dr. Eyal Ginio, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Faculty of Humanities,The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Please email Lauren_Faulkner@brown.edu for a copy of the paper, to be read in advance to enliven discussion.

Penguiener Haan Lee

MENU SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH — Squash Pie, Vegan Rice and Jalepenos, Mexican Corn, Vegan Tofu Pups, Waffle Fries, Spinach Pie, Chicken Fajitas, Minestrone Soup, M & M Cookies, Liberty Chocolate Cake

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH — Vegetarian Lentil Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chinese Chicken Wings, Wisconsin Ziti with Four Cheeses, Mandarin Blend Vegetables, M & M Cookies

DINNER — Tomato Quiche, Wild and White Rice Pilaf, Stir Fry Carrots with Lemon and Dill, Brussels Sprouts, Baked Potatoes, Squash Rolls, Tortellini Angelica, Pork Loin with Green Apple Dressing, Yellow Cake with Coconut Frosting

DINNER — Vegetarian Lentil Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Italian Beef Noodle Casserole, Vegan Stir Fry, Vegetables with Tofu, Red Potatoes with Fresh Dill, Sauteed Zucchini with Onions, Carrots in Parsley Sauce, Squash Rolls, White Cake with Coconut Frosting.

Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Explode 6 1966 N.L. batting champ Matty 10 Clarified butter 14 Muse of love poems 15 Complain 16 Diner sign 17 All fired up 18 Bygone Russian despot 19 Exclamations of amazement 20 “The magic word” 22 Arrogant one 24 Peggy or Spike 25 Canine social reformers? 28 Health resort 31 Hindu honorific 32 Start to awake 33 Diner hodgepodge 35 It’s left of “F1” on a PC keyboard 37 Racket 41 Formic collectors of short literary works? 45 Theatrical bad guy 46 Aaron’s club 47 Days in Madrid 48 Corrida yells 51 “The Sweetheart of Sigma __” (1912 song) 53 “No seats,” on B’way 54 Bovine officemates? 59 Onassis, to friends 60 Pinta sister ship 61 The Desert Fox 65 Naked 67 Memo 69 Easy to trick 70 Tabloid couple 71 “The Rube’s Honeymoon” author Zane 72 Wight and Man 73 Tree house 74 Manuscript encl. 75 Fischer’s forte DOWN 1 Pager sound 2 River through Kazakhstan 3 Intense anger

4 Lieu 43 Need 57 Motel 5 Trunks 44 Different posting 6 Play segment 49 “Dallas” clan 58 Tennis shot 7 Cowboy’s gear 50 Northern Mexico 62 __ High City: 8 Asian primates state Denver 9 Force to move 52 Humorously 63 Anticipatory from home sarcastic times 10 Prefix with 54 Humble 64 To a smaller thermal abode extent 11 Non-Hawaiian, in 55 Emulate 66 CPR pro Hawaii Demosthenes 68 It can be winkin’ 12 Former 56 Does electrical or blinkin’, but it anesthetic work doesn’t nod 13 Tricky curves 21 Shore wader ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 23 Sound from a D E C A F P A B S T C A M spring A L O H A A N Y O R O N O 26 TV antenna, N N E C A R D C A T A L O G perhaps 27 R2-D2, notably N O T T O D A Y S T A Y U P 28 Bygone Iranian S A L E R O S E despot C H O C O L A T E L A B 29 Window glass H E R O N D E N I M C D C 30 Hammett hound A L E C S U H O H A R A B 34 Bad thing to H Y E N A G N O M E P O L wreak C A N D Y S T R I P E R 36 Cookout throwaway E E O S C O U R 38 Osiris’ wife H O M E M A D E R U S S I A 39 Headliner F L O W E R C H I L D R N A 40 “Happy motoring” U T T E R H E L I O U G H sloganeer L O O S E O A T E S B A A 42 Parachute 02/15/05 xwordeditor@aol.com material 1

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02/15/05

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

METRO TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 3

Rhode Island college New liquor license applications draw protest students could suffer from Pell cuts BY ROBBIE COREY-BOULET METRO EDITOR

BY ANNE WOOTTON STAFF WRITER

Changes to the federal student financial aid formula will cause some students at Rhode Island public universities to see their Pell Grant awards decreased or even eliminated. About 20,000 students in Rhode Island receive Pell Grants, which range in size from $400 to $4,050, each year. Though individual students are not likely to see decreases of more than $100 in their awards, 90,000 grants will be eliminated nationwide, according to an analysis by the American Council on Education. “It’s problematic, and people need to be aware of it, but I don’t think people should be frightened — it’s not what I would call a huge change,” said James Hanbury, director of financial aid at Rhode Island College, which had 1,844 Pell recipients this year in an undergraduate student body of 6,531. “Pell Grants are an extremely important program for us,” Hanbury said, and the decrease in certain students’ awards is “troublesome — we never want to see Pell Grants reduced. On the other hand, we don’t want people thinking they can’t go to school next year and not even applying.” Students on the margin of eligibility — and at risk of losing their eligibility next year — currently receive minimal grants of $400. For some students, $400 makes a big difference, according to Christina O’Reilly, public relations officer at Community College of Rhode Island. “We are most concerned for our students who are working” because of the additional hours they may be see PELL, page 9

The impending arrival of new restaurants on Thayer Street has increased debate over whether liquor licenses should be granted to more College Hill businesses, highlighting an issue both restaurant owners and community leaders say is central to the character of the district. While community leaders contend that a surplus of liquor licenses cheapens the neighborhood’s residential appeal, several restaurant managers say having a liquor license raises profits and allows them to survive amid Thayer Street’s highly competitive business atmosphere. Ronald Dwight ’66, who serves on the College Hill Neighborhood Association’s Board of Directors, said he believes the sexual assault of a female Brown student Feb. 6 underscores the need for liquor license restrictions, as the presence of alcohol may facilitate such violent crime. The incident occurred outside of the Liquid Lounge at 165 Angell St. But Raul Esteves, restaurant manager of Paragon and Viva at 234 Thayer St., said such incidents “have more to do with the individual person” and little to do with alcohol. A refusal to administer liquor licenses to new restaurants may put them at an economic disadvantage, said Michel Boutros, co-owner of Shanghai, a Chinese restaurant that will replace Café Java at 272 Thayer St. “Everyone has (a license) on the street,” Boutros said. “Why can’t we have one, you know?” Shanghai’s owners have applied for a Class BV liquor license, which would permit them to serve any alcoholic beverage. The license is a step up from a Class BL license, which limits a restaurant to serving just beer and wine. The owners have a Feb. 25 hearing with the Board of Licenses.

There are “about eight” establishments with Class BV liquor licenses near Thayer Street, with five located directly on the street, said License Administrator Richard Aitchison. This number “isn’t really any different from other parts of the city,” he said. “Thayer Street has its share, but there are other parts of the city that have more,” including Federal Hill and the downtown district, he said. In order to obtain a liquor license, restaurant owners must submit an application to the board. A notice is see LIQUOR, page 6

Advocates fighting fuel terminal expansion BY CAMDEN AVERY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Local politicians and environmental advocacy groups are speaking out against the possible upgrade of a liquid natural gas facility at Field’s Point, in Providence. The upgrade would maintain the facility’s current 600,000-barrel capacity and improve the site’s access to Narragansett Bay to allow deliveries from tankers. Critics object to the plant’s potentially negative environmental impacts and say the plant may compromise the safety of surrounding communities. KeySpan Corp., the company that has owned the Field’s Point terminal since 2002, has been planning to expand the facility since April 2004 and is currently awaiting approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said KeySpan spokeswoman Carmen Fields. see FUEL, page 8

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005

ROTC continued from page 1 Currently, only two Brown students are involved in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps program, offered through a consortium with Providence College. During the past five years, approximately 10 others have made the trek across Providence to participate in rigorous weekly training exercises and defense classes. ROTC was abolished at Brown in 1969, when the Faculty Student Committee passed a

motion stipulating that ROTC could remain on campus only if ROTC professors abdicated their faculty status and the classes were stripped of credit. Not willing to operate under these terms, ROTC left campus. Numbers diminished drastically, from an average of approximately 100 Brown students enrolled at any given time during the 1960s to nearly none, said Dean of the College Paul Armstrong. “It’s the incompatibility with the principles of a liberal arts education” that led to the ending of ROTC, Cohen said. The Brown Corporation

raised the issue again in 1981, but negotiations went nowhere, Armstrong said. While discussion has not resumed, the administration is striving to facilitate the ROTC experience. “I think that students who want to go to ROTC, get a commission and get financial benefit should have the opportunity to do so,” Armstrong said. “There has been discussion about spreading awareness, and it’s appropriate that we make students aware of that opportunity.” “I’ve always been a very patriotic American,” said Scott Quigley ’05, Battalion Commander for ROTC at Providence College. “After 9/11, something sparked in me.” Michael McBride ’06 said he is not one of the “9/11 children.” “One of the values instilled in me was giving back to the community,” he said. “Poor people are often forcibly thrust into the army, so I felt that if I have the opportunity to go to college and get a degree, also being an officer in the army suited me nicely.” McBride is a frontrunner for next year’s battalion commander. “The quality of the Brown student is superb,” said Lieutenant Colonel Steven McGonagle, commander of ROTC at Providence College. “I think ROTC brings a great deal of diversity and it brings the sort of values that I think most college institutions would like to embrace.” ROTC enrollment numbers have diminished from 177,000 in 1967 to approximately 30,000. Sept. 11, 2001, and the war in Iraq have stimulated interest in ROTC at universities traditionally known for anti-war sentiment, McGonagle said. Brown is resolute in its stance, unless the military is willing to make concessions, but it appears there are no signs of compromise. “It’s really the antithesis of what Brown’s about,” Quigley

said. “Not to say we want to militarize Brown or get a plethora of students to join. We just want to have the opportunity for one or two.” While Brown does not offer credit for ROTC courses, the university does accept ROTC scholarships. In the case of McGuirk, his Navy ROTC scholarship was useless at Brown, which only offers the option for those interested in joining the army. “I’m planning to go into the navy after college, and I could be going to Brown almost for free,” McGuirk said. Spurred by student protests in the heat of the Vietnam War, the military’s recruiting arm has been severed since the 1960s at every Ivy League University except for Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, which still retain their programs, Armstrong said. Since then, ROTC has returned to Princeton University and Dartmouth College. Based on the almost unani-

W. hoops continued from page 12 8-0 run of their own, but still found themselves down by 10 at the half. A big reason the Bears struggled a little offensively was that they were outrebounded 41-29. The lack of second-shot opportunities was something that really hurt the Bears. “Against Harvard we were able to get a lot of second shots, which helped us a lot, but against Dartmouth we didn’t get any,” Conrad said. “They made a conscious effort to keep us off the offensive glass.” The Bears steadily chipped away at the lead until the Big Green went on an 8-2 run that pushed their lead back to 10 points. “They were very patient on offense. They ran when they got the opportuni-

mously voiced condemnation of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, it will take a concerted effort from students, faculty and alums before ROTC is reinstated, Yale officials told the Yale Daily News. The contentious policy, signed into law by former President Bill Clinton in 1993, discriminates against openly gay and lesbian personnel, but this has not deterred the Yale Republicans. Despite the administration’s hesitance in light of this policy, the group continues to advocate for the opportunity to participate in the military — an institution almost entirely bereft of Americans educated at the country’s elite institutions. “I think anything’s feasible, but the support to bring ROTC back to Brown is not there at this time,” McGonagle said. “It could be generated with the right variables in place, but there would have to be enough students who want to take ROTC and a groundswell of alumni support.” ty, but in the half-court game they were able to find the holes in our defense,” Conrad said. The Bears put together one last surge when Hayes scored six consecutive points, cutting the lead to seven, but the Big Green once again had an answer, going on a 10-2 run that put the game away. The Bears were also outshot at the free-throw line. The Big Green shot 20-of-23 from the foul line while the Bears only shot 5-of-7. The loss drops the Bears to second place in the league while they continue to chase undefeated Dartmouth. The Bears will look to get back in the win column next weekend as they travel to Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania. The Bears will try to sweep the season series against the Tigers and avenge an early season home loss to the Quakers.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

CAMPUS NEWS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 5

U.S. government a ‘corpocracy,’ not true democracy, Derber says BY ARI ROCKLAND-MILLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The United States government places an enormous emphasis on the value of democracy, both on the home front and abroad. However, this self-proclaimed modern exemplar of healthy democracy is in fact a perverse “corpocracy,” according to Charles Derber, professor of sociology at Boston College. Derber strove to answer the question, “Who Rules the World? Global Corpocracy or Global Democracy?” at his Monday lecture in Starr Auditorium. Derber said that today, “It is the corporation, rather than the state, that is the dominant hegemonic force.” He used the term “corpocracy” to refer to the special “marriage” of big business and big government that plagues not only the United States but also global governance bodies such as the World Trade Organization. Derber said that, because U.S. corpocracy is obscured by a veil of superficial democracy, it is hard to come to terms with the fundamental contradictions that lie beneath its surface. “The United States government is a formal democracy, accountable to its people, but it is also serving the interests of a very different agenda,” Derber said. Likewise, the newly established, ostensibly democratic Iraqi government is also a corpocracy, Derber added. Although many Iraqi citizens are voting for the first time, Iraq’s government is driven by international corporate agendas, which sully the purity of its democracy and decrease the power of its citizens’ voices, he said. “I was happy that (Derber) reiterated the fact that just

because the U.S. is implementing procedural elements of democracy abroad, doesn’t mean that they’re actually spreading true democracy,” said audience member Caitie Whelan ’07. Derber ended his lecture on a somewhat optimistic note, saying that inherent weaknesses in the structure of corpocracies could mean their ultimate downfall as a legitimate and accepted mode of governance. “Despite its overwhelming political and ideological seduction, I find this system quite unstable,”

Derber said, pointing to various “cracks” in the corpocracy paradigm. Assistant Professor of International Relations (Research) and event coordinator Simone Pulver said she was unsettled by the persistence of the insidious penetration of corporate power into the structure of the U.S. government. “These issues have such a long, deep history, as the U.S. Constitution was written by people suspicious of corporate power. Today, see DERBER, page 6

Web site improves access to local produce BY ANNA ABRAMSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The creators of the new eBaystyle Web site locallygrownfood.com want you to think before biting into an apple. The apple may have been picked in Holland three weeks prematurely and then packaged, transported and shipped. The aircraft carrying it would have consumed thousands of fossil-fuel miles on its way to the United States. Upon arrival, a multinational agricultural corporation may have sold the produce at wholesale prices to a national chain supermarket. Or, the apple may have been picked yesterday in its ripened state, at a small farm struggling to stay alive in the modern agricultural market, before making the twenty-minute car trip to nearby Brown University. The idea behind locallygrownfood.com, said creator Louella Hill ’04, is that buying locally means food is not only tastier and healthier, but con-

sumers are being more socially, economically and environmentally conscious as well. The aim of the site is to allow for “direct connection between consumer and producer,” Hill said. The Web site uses technology to overcome the problem of increasingly technology-dominated modern agriculture, she said. Membership accounts allow farmers to sign in and then input their products. The consumer — a restaurant, for instance — signs in and browses for local food options. The Web site, run by the nonprofit Sustainable Food Rhode Island, functions similarly to the auction site eBay, although creative technologies specialist Noah Fulmer ’05 noted that it is “actually a reverse eBay” — instead of prices rising in accordance with bids, the consumer may negotiate the price down, he said. see PRODUCE, page 9

b r o w n d a i l y h e r a l d . c o m

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005

Liquor continued from page 3 then sent to any business and property owners within 200 feet of the applicant’s building. Neighbors and any other interested parties can either attend a public hearing to voice their concerns or write a letter of objection. Neighboring property owners have a say relative to the size of their property, Aitchison said. If over half of the neighboring square footage falls under protesting ownership, then the application is rejected automatically. For all other cases, the board exercises discretion in making its final decision. Atchison said those restaurants who receive licenses “seem to do better” than those whose applications are denied. “From a business point of view, (having a license) does make a lot more sense,” said Lokesh Dua, manager of Kabob and Curry at 261 Thayer St. Dua said Kabob and Curry has had a Class BV liquor license for the past two or three years. Esteves said a liquor license improves business “tremendously.” “(It) brings in a whole different type of clientele,” he said. Paragon and Viva have operated under a Class BX license since they opened in 1994. This license allows owners to serve any type of alcoholic beverage and remain open until 2 a.m. on Friday nights, Saturday nights and the eve of a holiday. Neighborhood leaders particularly object to this additional hour of operation, saying the sort of nightlife it attracts com-

Derber continued from page 5 the same constitution no longer protects the average citizen,” she said. At the end of his lecture, Derber opened up the floor to the audience. One audience member noted that even Brown is in part funded by large corporations. Another challenged Derber, asking how he can enjoy the fruits of corporations in his daily life, such as when he flies on major airlines, while simultaneously attacking the corpocracy

promises the neighborhood’s character. Barbara Harris, president of the College Hill Neighborhood Assocation, said she believes Class BX liquor licenses should be restricted to Providence’s downtown district, which is more suited to handle bars and other late-night establishments. “I feel that a midnight close is adequate for any restaurant that’s serving liquor in this neighborhood,” Harris said. “The neighborhood is only zoned for restaurants serving liquor — not for bars. The business for dining, generally, is over by midnight.” Dwight said the high volume of liquor licenses issued negatively impacts the entire College Hill neighborhood — “not just Thayer Street.” He said additional traffic that results from a 2 a.m. closing time disturbs the peace of neighborhood residents. “Often people have these enormous boom boxes in their cars and our houses are shaking,” he said, adding that this noise continues “all night long” and occurs regularly in the summer when motorcycles with “illegally disconnected mufflers” frequent the district. Dwight said he agrees with Harris that bars and other establishments with Class BX licenses do not fit in with Thayer Street’s residential feel and would be more appropriate in the downtown district. The high number of issued liquor licenses on Thayer Street could alienate a significant portion of Providence’s tax base, Dwight said, as wealthy East Side residents may decide to leave the city. But Dwight stopped short of condemning all liquor licenses structure of the modern world. Derber’s lecture was the first in a five-part series entitled, “Corporate Power in Global Governance,” sponsored by the Watson Institute for International Studies and the Center for Environmental Studies with funding from the Brown University Faculty Lectures. Derber’s lecture was a “kickoff,” that opened the series by speaking more generally about corporate power in the world today, according to Pulver. The subsequent four lectures will focus on more specific issues of corporate power and global environmental governance.

in the neighborhood, saying, “There’s a place, of course, for legitimate restaurants with liquor licenses. I have an open mind.” Dwight said he believes the city should handle liquor license applications on a case-by-case basis. Harris said she hopes the city “restricts” incoming applications. Also, she stressed her desire that any approved applications expire when a building’s lease is transferred from its current owner. This clause may allow Thayer Street to include “a more general mix of commercial uses,” such as retail stores and other businesses, she said. Dwight echoed this sentiment, saying the opening of new bars and restaurants is “pushing out other kinds of stores.” While the neighborhood association insists that some restaurants and bars are tolerable, Harris said some establishments, such as Liquid Lounge, blatantly violate city zoning ordinances and should have their liquor licenses revoked. Liquid Lounge operates under a Class BX liquor license. The neighborhood association has been opposing Liquid Lounge “for a year now,” Harris said. Dwight said he believes the bar is an example of rules “not being enforced” on Thayer Street, adding that the neighborhood is not zoned for such entertainment establishments. The bar features advertising and events Dwight said “pander to lust and alcoholism,” thereby detracting from other, more wholesome establishments. “I would not take a small child on Thayer Street at any time,” Dwight said. Harris said she particularly objected to Liquid Lounge fliers advertising disc jockeys, dance floors and “$2.00 shots of Pimp Juice.” “We are hard-pressed to see why their license hasn’t been revoked,” Harris said. Managers at Liquid Lounge declined to comment for this article. Boutros said it is difficult to compare Shanghai and other restaurants to Liquid Lounge, which is “more like a club where people go crazy.” Boutros said he hopes the city grants liquor licenses “only to the restaurants that really need it.” “They don’t need more clubs in Providence,” he said. “They have so many clubs in Providence.” Officer Charles Matracia of the Providence Police Department said the question of liquor licenses “is always going to be an issue.” While liquor licenses may raise public safety concerns, Matracia said the department does not actively oppose them. “I’m not here to deny anyone’s right to do business,” he said. “If it creates problems, it will be addressed.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WORLD & NATION TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 7

National missile defense test fails again BY JOHN HENDREN LOS ANGELES TIMES

WASHINGTON — For the second time in two months, a test of the national missile defense system has failed, Pentagon officials said Monday. Military technicians believe the failure of the $85 million test was due to a problem with ground support equipment, not with the interceptor missile itself. A preliminary assessment indicated that the fault occurred in the concrete underground silo, where a variety of common and widely used sensors perform safety and environmental monitoring. The interceptor, located at the Ronald Reagan Test Site at Kwajalein Atoll in the

central Pacific Ocean, was supposed to target a mock ballistic missile fired from Kodiak Island, Alaska. The target missile went off as scheduled at 9:22 p.m. Alaska time Sunday (1:22 a.m. EST Monday), but the interceptor failed to launch. While the failure marked yet another delay for the program, defense officials expressed relief that the problem did not appear related to the interceptor. No date has been set for another test. “The interceptor itself is fine and will be used for other tests,” Rick Lehner, a spokesman for the Missile Defense Agency, said Monday. “We’ll just keep trying, keep testing and hopefully we’ll be able to do another interceptor test in the

next few months, using the same interceptor.” Yet analysts said each setback diminishes credibility in the program at a time when the Bush administration must deal with the announcement last week by North Korean leader Kim Jung Il that his country has nuclear weapons. Supporters of the system, popularly known as “Star Wars,” have envisioned it as an answer to the threat of a missile attack from North Korea. “It’s certainly embarrassing at a time when the administration has basically decided that its North Korea policy is missee DEFENSE, page 8

Thai farmers worry controls on bird flu threaten livelihoods BY ALAN SIPRESS THE WASHINGTON POST

SUANTAENG, Thailand — Sangwan Klinhom, a former Thai country singer, abandoned the circuit of farmyard weddings and cheap bars for the roving life of a duck herder. But now this barefoot nomad is again singing a plaintive tune. With deep-set brown eyes bloodshot from sun and stress, Sangwan laments that his liberty and meager livelihood could be a thing of the past too if the Thai government prevails in banishing ducks from the country’s broad wetlands. The effort to ban grazing ducks comes as recent studies have shown that waterfowl are a crucial link in the spread of East Asia’s avian influenza epidemic, which has killed 45 people in the region in the past year and threatens to become a human pandemic that could cause millions of deaths worldwide. According to U.N. agriculture and health experts, ducks in particular have become silent killers. A study completed last fall at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., found that the bird flu virus is evolving and that sick ducks are an increasing danger for infecting other animals. Infected ducks do not show symptoms of the disease, unlike chickens. Duck herders, farmers and officials thus have little clue that they must take emergency measures, such as culling flocks, to prevent the birds from spreading the disease to chickens, other livestock and even people. Separate research by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the Thai government found a correlation between roaming ducks and the epidemic in the country’s lucrative chicken industry. The study, released in December, showed that the outbreak of bird flu last year in the Thai chicken population was concentrated in areas where ducks commonly graze. While avian flu has swept poultry in nine Asian countries, the second study noted that the epidemic has been most intense in the wetlands of central Thailand and the Mekong and Red River deltas in Vietnam, all home to roaming ducks. Vietnam announced recently that it had suspended the breeding of all ducks to control the outbreak, which has killed 12 people in the country since early January and spread to more than half its cities and provinces. Thai agriculture officials, meanwhile, said they were beginning to enforce the new requirement that ducks be raised only in sheds. see AVIAN, page 8

Alan Sipress / Washington Post

Sangwan Klinhom, country singer-turned-duck herder, is worried about plans to banish ducks from wetlands.Thailand's effort to ban grazing ducks comes as recent studies have shown that waterfowl are a crucial link in the spread of East Asia's avian influenza epidemic, which has killed 45 people in the region in the past year and threatens to become a human pandemic that could cause millions of deaths worldwide.

Bush decides to make Crawford’s FDA leadership official BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR LOS ANGELES TIMES

WASHINGTON — President Bush, after a lengthy search, on Monday nominated longtime acting commissioner Lester M. Crawford to head the Food and Drug Administration, despite drug-safety problems on Crawford’s watch that have undermined the agency’s reputation and credibility. The appointment of an FDA commissioner had been keenly anticipated by consumer groups and lawmakers, some of whom have criticized the agency for responding too slowly to the discovery that prescription drugs ranging from painkillers to antidepressants and acne medications have been approved even though they were found to have dangerous side effects. By sticking with Crawford, a pharmacologist and veterinarian who has been running the agency for almost a year, Bush disappointed those who had hoped for a blue-ribbon nominee who would bring dramatic reforms. The president essentially sent a signal that he believes nothing is fundamentally wrong at the FDA, although incremental changes may be needed to strengthen the agency’s drug-safety office. “I do not think (Crawford) should be confirmed unless he is able to articulate some strong priorities that will restore confidence in the FDA,” said one critic, Janell Mayo Duncan, a lawyer for Consumers Union and an assistant FDA chief counsel for enforcement from 1996 to 1998. “There has not been a clear message out of the agency that it is playing the safety role that it should,” she said. Consumers Union publishes Consumer Reports magazine. “The administration could have see FDA, page 8

Soaring property taxes overwhelm Habitat for Humanity homeowners BY ANNIE GOWEN THE WASHINGTON POST

Kesha James remembers walking through the freshly painted rooms of her Habitat for Humanity house for the first time, making plans for the leather couch she would buy, and the piano and the canopied bed for her three little girls. The couch remains a dream. The living room is in ruins because of a plumbing leak she can’t afford to fix. She took a second job and works seven days a week but is still afraid she might lose her house. Her modest mortgage isn’t the problem; it’s rising property taxes that keep her up nights. Her little house in Alexandria, Va., has more than doubled in value since it was built in 1999 and is now worth a half-million dollars, forcing her monthly house payment, which includes real estate taxes, up from $515 to $954 in the past 18 months — chiefly because of higher taxes. “It’s not fair. It doesn’t make any sense,” said James sitting at her cheerful kitchen table, her youngest daughter curled in her arms. “Alexandria is

my home. ... I don’t want to leave.” Asked when her last day off was, she can’t remember. Rising property values across the region have put the squeeze on taxpayers, but the bite has been especially acute for owners of Habitat for Humanity homes in Northern Virginia. At least a dozen of the 47 Habitat homeowners in Northern Virginia pay more in property taxes and insurance than they do for their mortgages, according to Karen Cleveland, executive director of the Northern Virginia arm of the international nonprofit group that builds homes with volunteers and sells them to low-income buyers. “The rising property taxes have truly made it almost impossible for them to stay in their homes,” Cleveland said. “We’re saying, ‘Help us to make it appropriate so our homeowners are paying what is fair for them.’” Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia argues Habitat homes shouldn’t be assessed at market rates because deed restrictions prevent their owners from selling the homes for profit or get-

ting home equity loans until the 20year mortgages are paid. If Habitat homeowners sell their homes before 20 years are up, they must sell them back to Habitat for the amount they cost — $80,000 to $120,000 in most cases, Cleveland said. Tax caps and programs such as a five-year tax abatement program for new Habitat owners in the District of Columbia have kept costs from rising as steeply in some areas. In Fairfax County, Va., assessors granted several appeals that resulted in a reduction of up to 50 percent in some cases, Cleveland said. But owners of eight properties in Arlington County, Va., have had values triple in the three years. “To be honest with you, I’m a little concerned,” said Ronnie Watson, who bought a cozy Arlington duplex in 2000 after he and his teenage son spent months in a homeless shelter and a ratinfested apartment. “We are living paycheck to paycheck.” He works overtime as a meter reader see HABITAT, page 8

PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005

Fuel continued from page 3 Specifically, Fields said the plan would involve rebuilding the dock connecting the facility to Narragansett Bay so it can accept LNG deliveries from tankers, increasing the amount of gas distributed through the terminal. She said the structure’s current capacity — about 25 million gallons — would be maintained. The FERC released a draft Environmental Impact Statement at the end of 2004 approving the plans for further review, which is now underway. KeySpan has to wait for the final EIS, which addresses possible environmental impacts, and then wait for approval before it can begin modifying the site. The report is based on the economic viability and environmental impacts of the development. The final EIS is being put together after a period of public response held in December and January, during which time residents were able to voice their concerns about the project. Local politicians, concerned with the site’s security, are opposing the development proposal almost universally. Gov. Don Carcieri ’65, Mayor David Cicilline ’83, and U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Lincoln Chafee ’75 have all voiced their criticism of the project. Reed refuses to support the facility’s development because the FERC report does not include the Coast Guard’s analysis of potential security dangers, according to his press secretary, Greg McCarthy. “The coast guard has to do an evaluation process that takes into account the potential dangers of LNG to a site,” McCarthy said. He also said that despite the fact “the senator had urged FERC to work with the Coast Guard on these concerns about safety,” the FERC report was still being conducted without consideration of the Coast Guard’s recommendations for security. In his Dec. 1 response to KeySpan’s draft EIS, Carcieri said the statement “does not appear to resolve legitimate concerns regarding the safety and security of such a facility.” Like Reed, who issued a letter voicing his stance on the development proposal Jan. 31, Carcieri’s main concern is the safety of the community surrounding the LNG terminal. “While I favor the concept of increasing our supplies of liquefied natural gas,” Carcieri said in his press release, “I cannot support a proposal that could threaten the well-being of Rhode Island residents or the health of Narragansett Bay.” In response to the concern for public safety and the facility’s

Thailand continued from page 7 But duck herders such as Sangwan are resisting the constraints on their freedom and income, underscoring the difficulty officials face in containing the disease in ducks — especially because they show no symptoms. “When the government says roaming ducks carry bird flu, it just makes people panic,’’ said Sangwan, a blue and brown knit cap pulled down over his deeply furrowed brow despite the tropical midday sun. “It’s not true that

security, Fields noted the facility has been in place for 30 years, and has never experienced any problems with security, safety or spills. She added that allowing tankers to fill the terminal would require fewer trips than the current practice, which is to use trucks to haul in LNG — it would take one tanker to offload as much LNG as 200 trucks. At the same time, according to the Providence Journal, increasing the volume of LNG moved through the facility would also demand about 50 tanker trips a year, or 100 annual voyages through Narragansett Bay. Other concerns, such as those voiced by local advocacy group Save The Bay, are based on the development’s possible environmental impacts. A statement from Save The Bay to Carcieri read, “The Providence River channel is a narrow and congested waterway, and the presence of LNG tankers and their security entourage would interfere with other commercial and recreational uses of the Bay.” To a number of publicly voiced environmental concerns, Fields said natural gas “is so environmentally friendly, it doesn’t foul the atmosphere and it is so much more versatile than other fossil fuels. … Burning it is less of a health hazard because it’s not an irritant, and that’s why you see it in municipalities, public schools,” among other places. “It’s a public heath advantage as well,” she said. But natural gas, while it burns cleaner than coal or oil, still pollutes the atmosphere and poses a threat to public health, said Marissa Molinar ’07, an Environmental Studies concentrator. Molinar said that in addition to posing direct problems as air pollution and public health hazards, natural gas and the carbon dioxide it produces are greenhouse gases. Fields also said KeySpan is happy with the “environmental benefits” of their plan, namely that “our group will not require more dredging” of the waterway. She said the groups concerned about environmental damage are “pleased about that.” Additionally, Fields said the site upgrade would be part of an effort to make the Northeast — and Providence in particular — a more significant center for natural gas supply, to give the region a stronger economic energy advantage, decreasing the amount of natural gas distributed from Canada and the Gulf of Mexico. Said Fields, “We feel it is so important to helping better the position New England as a regional supply hub, because as it is, we’re at the end of all the supply lines,” and “that’s in part why energy costs here are so high. … We think it will help soften the sharp price hikes that we’ve witnessed in this region.”

ducks get the flu. For 20 years, I’ve been raising ducks and I’ve never seen one get bird flu.’’ Thai officials have already started restricting the movement of ducks from one village to another in a bid to contain the highly lethal bird flu virus before it develops into a form that is as easy for people to catch as an ordinary flu bug. Now, the government plans to pay herders to kill their roaming flocks and instead start raising ducks on contained farms, according to Nirundorn Aungtragoolsuk, director of disease control in the Thai department of livestock development.

Habitat

FDA

continued from page 7

to pay basic bills, he said. Anything extra — such as his son’s yearbook and high school graduation cap and gown—is a stretch. Watson is praying his house payment, up from $363 to $442 in recent months, won’t top $500. “That’s a whole lot to me,” he said. Kesha James had never known a home until she and her new husband, Ian Roger James, moved into their townhouse in 1999. They had poured more than 500 hours of “sweat equity” into the project alongside Habitat volunteers. They bought the house — then appraised at $190,000 — with a zero-interest mortgage, for $90,000. But 18 months ago her house payments started rising fast, as home values in Northern Virginia exploded. James was working full time for a homeless advocacy group, making $28,000 a year. She added Saturday and Sunday overnight shifts at a homeless shelter. School fell by the wayside. Her husband started saying the house wasn’t such a good idea. After another fight about money, he left last fall. She pays $954 a month in house payment, $493 going to taxes and insurance. Her payment is slated to increase another 30 percent in July. “That’s my house I helped build,” she said. “I put my heart and soul into it, so I’m going to fight.”

brought in somebody with a reputation as a tough-minded reformer whose top priority is public health, but instead they are appointing somebody who has been a bureaucrat in the agency, and who does not have a strong record of calling for needed reforms,” said Michael Jacobson, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which specializes in nutrition. But an administration official said, “I think the FDA has gotten a bum rap, and some people may be trying to transfer that bum rap to Dr. Crawford.” “Les Crawford is very well prepared to be commissioner,” added the official, who asked not to be identified. Crawford served as acting commissioner during much of Bush’s first term. As acting commissioner, Crawford has launched an independent scientific evaluation of the FDA’s drug-safety program and won White House approval for an increase of roughly 20 percent in the budget of the safety office. Nonetheless, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, signaled that his Senate confirmation — considered likely — might not go smoothly. “I want to hear statements that prove he understands why public confidence has been shaken, and a commitment to enacting reforms inside the FDA to keep the agency focused on public health and safety,” Grassley said in a statement. Grassley, who serves as chairman of the influential Finance Committee, held hearings last year on Merck’s decision to recall the arthritis painkiller Vioxx after a study confirmed that taking the FDA-approved drug could lead to

Defense

will not be operational early this year — a Bush campaign pledge. The administration had earlier sought to have a limited version of the system working by the end of last year. “It’s clear that the program is being pushed ahead for political reasons regardless of its capability,” said David Wright, a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “It’s as if Henry Ford started up his automobile production line and began selling cars without ever taking one for a test drive. This interceptor has never been tested in an intercept test. Yet the Pentagon has already put eight of them in silos and is building at least another dozen before even knowing if they work.” The interceptor is intended to be part of a multilayered system meant to protect the United States from missile attack. As envisioned, the system — proposed during the Reagan administration and brought to the forefront by Bush in 2001 — would rely on interceptors based at Vandenburg Air Force Base and Fort Greely, Alaska. The program, by some accounts, has cost $130 billion and is scheduled to require $50 billion more over the next five years. Bush’s recent budget request for the 2006 fiscal year cut about 10 percent from this year’s funding of almost $10 billion.

continued from page 7 sile defense. You don’t get second chances in nuclear combat,” said John Pike, director of Globalsecurity.org, a nonprofit defense analysis group. “I don’t think these problems go to the core questions of do they have the right technology. ... But it does go to the central question of whether the political system is going to trust this thing or is it going to become an object of mirth and merriment.” Defense officials, however, considered Monday’s failure less of a setback than the Dec. 15 launch, when the “kill vehicle” shut down without launching after sensors detected a problem later determined to have been caused by a fault in the interceptor’s software. That test — the first in two years — was the first to use the rocket proposed for the completed system. In investigating that failure, technicians concluded that the software was too sensitive to minor errors in the way data flowed between the missile and a flight computer, and decreased the system’s sensitivity to errors. Delays in testing and implementation have forced the Bush administration to acknowledge that the system

heart attacks and strokes. Grassley faulted the FDA for ignoring one of its own scientists, Dr. David Graham, who had repeatedly warned of Vioxx risks. The senator questioned whether the agency had become “too cozy” with the drug industry. With 10,000 employees, the FDA is charged with ensuring that medicines sold in the United States are “safe and effective.” It also has major responsibilities for the safety and security of the food supply. Two recent debacles have heightened concerns about the agency. In one case, the FDA moved to warn of risks of suicidal behavior for teenagers taking antidepressants only after regulators in other countries acted. And late last year, the agency was overwhelmed by the emergence of heart risks with Vioxx, Celebrex and other painkillers of a class known as Cox-2 inhibitors. Doctors and patients were thrown into confusion by a series of studies, each documenting a new problem. The FDA has scheduled a major conference this week that could lead to stricter warnings about the drugs, or an outright ban. Bush’s selection of Crawford puzzled some pharmaceutical experts. “If he was going to take a person from the inside, one would have thought he would have done it a long time ago,” said Dr. Brian Strom of the University of Pennsylvania. “It just seems funny to leave somebody as interim for such a long time.” Crawford has been serving as acting commissioner since March of last year. He had previously served in several government posts, as well as heading an academic program partly funded by industry. Jacobson, of the nutrition group, said his organization has been able to maintain a good relationship with Crawford, who is often described as low-key and unflappable. “We’ve always found his door open, and he’s always been cordial,” Jacobson said. But “this is an anti-regulatory, pro-business administration, and to expect too much consumer protection from such an administration may just be wishful thinking.”

Gymnastics continued from page 12 for Brown in the event. “We went seven-for-seven on the floor — everyone hit her routine,” Forziat said. Carver-Milne also felt the floor was the best part of the meet for her squad. “(The meet) was positive in the fact that we were able to pick it back up (after beam) and go to floor and have it be our best event,” she said. In the future, the squad looks to keep its focus despite any mishaps that might occur during the competition. “It’s just a matter of confidence. The routines are already in place, we just need to put everything together and perform at the meet,” Forziat said. Brown will host its second home meet Sunday, taking on University of Bridgeport and Yale. This will be the second time Brown meets the tough Yale contingent, as the Bears lost to Bulldogs in their last match-up. Competition will begin at 1 p.m. at the Pizzitola Center.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

UCS continued from page 1 lower voter turnout than the original. Both Cummings and Payne said that UCS, which is independent of the ERC, does not formally endorse the referendum. “We’ve decided to leave it unendorsed,” Payne said. “We want this to be a situation for the student body to make a choice.” Because the referendum is an amendment to the UCS constitution, two-thirds of those who vote must agree with the policy for it to be implemented. Cummings said this is the first referendum to be held in his time working with UCS. If the student body agrees with the referendum, it must be ratified by UCS to go into effect. “If the student body accepts it, we will have to ratify it. That step is pretty much a formality. We will respect what the student body decides,” said Payne.

Web site continued from page 5 Once the Paypal system is installed, money will be automatically transferred from the buyer’s account to the seller’s account, said site designer Ivaylo Piskov ’04.5. This Web site is “the next step” in finding market access for local farmers with fresh produce, Fulmer said. Locallygrownfood.com was one of the recommendations put forth in Hill’s senior thesis, “Localizing the Foodshed.” Hill graduated last spring and now works as Food System Coordinator for Brown Dining. She works closely with the Center for Environmental Studies. With the dominance of large chain supermarkets and multinational food distributors, “farmers have been crowded out of traditional markets,” Hill said. While the use of farmer’s markets to sell local produce locally is one approach, it leaves many problems unsolved, she said. For instance, without much advertising or market access, many local farmers’ produce goes to waste and must be plowed back into the earth. Less than 10 percent of food consumed in New England is food produced in New England, Hill said, putting many farmers on the brink of losing their farms. It is important that farms be “economically viable,” because communities are more likely to preserve spaces that provide economic value, she said. Currently, we are “losing family farms with the blink of an eye,” she said. Use of the Web site is not limited to farmers and restaurants. Individuals signing onto the site can access material including recipes and news about local foods. Information and new sections are currently being added, Fulmer said. Thanks to grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Rhode Island Foundation, Hill was able to hire Piskov, a computer science concentrator, to create the actual software and design the Web site during the fall semeseter. Hill praised his hard work, noting that he eagerly took the job even though it only paid a fraction of the price a Web designer earns per hour. Piskov expressed satisfaction

On the WebCT voting site, students will also be asked to answer optional non-binding poll questions. The topics of these nine questions vary from advising to cable television and will be used by UCS to best assess the student body’s con-

cerns, Payne said. Both Payne and Cummings said they are concerned that students will be confused by IRV, but that IRV itself is an effective election procedure. “The only thing I worry about is the confusion factor, whether

UCS REFERENDUM Included in the UCS referendum will be the following non-binding poll questions: • If the University were able to get free RIPTA passes for all students (currently they are subsidized by half ), how often would you use it? • How high of a priority should it be for the University to build a music concert hall? • Do you believe that your course and academic printing needs are sufficiently met by the $25 PAW Prints Card? • Are you in favor of raising the student activities fee annually to account for inflation and increases in the number of student groups on campus (it is currently $136/year)? • Kegs are currently prohibited on campus. Are you in favor or opposed

with the Web site, noting that the site’s many components can function independently of each other. Because of this, he said, “Problems can be addressed easily and locally.” Fulmer has also been a vital part of the Web site team. In addition to spearheading the creative design of the site, Fulmer has worked on a weblog component at locallygrown.blogspot.com that is full of “musings, opinions and postings.” Another source of funding and support has been Brown Dining Services, Hill said. Peter Rossi, the purchasing assistant director, was an essential player not only for the Web site’s success but also in terms of reaching out to the community through his support and purchasing of local foods. Hill and Fulmer both said that Brown makes an important statement in buying local food. “Because Brown is a huge institu-

Pell continued from page 3 forced to take on, O’Reilly said. “There’s also the concern of whether or not they’re going to have to borrow more money. That’s going to be an issue for a lot of our students — they’re coming out already saddled with debt for their education, and a lot are going to want to go on to four-year colleges and aren’t going to be able to because they’re going to be responsible for paying back those loans, money they wouldn’t have otherwise borrowed,” O’Reilly said. A quarter of CCRI’s 16,000 students receive assistance at some level from Pell Grants, and the college processed $7.9 million this year from the grants, according to O’Reilly. “A small minority of our students stand to benefit from (the changes to Pell Grant eligibility),” O’Reilly said, “but the large majority will suffer.” Angie Bonin, a University of Rhode Island sophomore, said she believes the system already suffers from insufficient resources. “I think they don’t give them to a lot of people who need them,” she said. “I can only say from my own experience, but I could probably use one right now,” she said, adding that her

to this measure? • Would you be in favor of offering an optional winter “j-term” during Brown’s winter break? • If you answered yes to the previous question, what might you be interested in (i.e. intensive courses/seminars on campus, programs abroad, service projects, internships etc.)? • Do you have an advisor? • How many times per year do you see your advisor? • If you do not have an advisor, would you like the University to assign you one? • If it would be possible to replace/add another cable channel to Brown’s cable system, what channel(s) would you like to add? • What would you like to change about Brown?

tional buyer, it can be the anchor for this project,” Fulmer said. Hill added that she hopes to see discussion of this issue occurring at all levels of the university, because the ramifications of these choices extend beyond food. Hill was also able to meet with Rhode Island farmers to discuss the idea. Piskov said that the farmers provided excellent ideas and insights that have since gone into the design of the Web site. All of the collaborators seemed optimistic about the site’s future. “You’ll see it in the dining hall,” Fulmer said, in terms of “a lot of pride and better food.” Hill said she thinks the site is a “really beautiful method of rekindling communities so people connect to people and people connect to the environment.” The site will “only prosper if there are users using it,” Piskov said. “You can go to the marketplace or you can just click.” own request for a Pell Grant was rejected. About 2,300 of URI’s 10,320 students receive a total of $2 million in Pell grants each year, according to URI Director of Communications Linda Acciardo, and of these almost all receive the maximum award of $4,050. “We estimate that 200 URI students will completely lose their grants, which is certainly significant,” she said. Alex Roskowski, also a sophomore at URI, gets $1,000 in Pell Grant awards each semester, but says he is not worried about his award decreasing. “It wouldn’t be devastating to my family, but it would be a hassle,” he said. “I would probably have to get another job.” Though Roskowski does not currently work, he was employed at a deli in East Greenwich for 60 hours a week last summer. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed has vocalized his opposition to the cuts to federal financial aid, pledging to work with lawmakers to restore money to the Pell Grant program. “Everyone keeps talking up education as the engine, especially in a global economy, but when it comes down to the budget, we are squeezing, squeezing, squeezing,” he told the Providence Journal last week. “Frankly, I don’t think that’s sound policy.”

Dorms continued from page 1 are especially important for first-years living in Perkins, because the residential hall lacks common space for students to meet. Suggs and Foley both said the faculty fellows program provides students with the warmth of a home. “There is something about opening up a home to students that creates a different atmosphere. It’s a matter of very simple things like rugs, curtains, non-institutional food, dogs and young children. It’s a break from the more institutional aspects of dormitory life,” Foley said. Foley added that the unique comfort of a home is particularly valuable in times of campus or national anxiety. Faculty fellows say one of the highlights of the program for professors is being able to interact with students from different disciplines. Students likewise benefit from meeting a professor whose class they may never take, they say. “As a chemistry professor, I see a limited range of Brown students. One of the great things about being a faculty fellow is that I can interact with a broader range of students,” Suggs said. Foley said his undergraduate experience at Brown was shaped by regular interaction outside of the classroom with professors, almost of all of whom lived near campus. With most of the faculty now living farther away, the faculty fellows program is an important way to allow the faculty-student interaction to continue outside of an academic setting, he said. Both Foley and Suggs said they regularly host students from their classes for dinner in their homes. The faculty fellows program uniquely integrates a professor’s family life into the college experience. Foley said he raised his children, Nicholas ’04 and Benjamin ’07, while he was a faculty fellow. “They have a keenly developed sense of college fashion and music. They learned early on all the different kinds of things that happen on a college campus besides classes,” he said. Faculty fellows live in University-owned properties without cost, in exchange for hosting weekly study breaks and being available to students, Suggs and Foley both said. The University’s community directors, meanwhile, provide a very different kind of support to students. Community directors, all of whom are Brown graduate students, supervise residential peer leaders, oversee crisis management and ensure the

Track continued from page 12 Heptagonals. While Dissmore was cleared to run the relay, a last minute change put Bernitsky on the track instead. While one meet still stands in the way of the Bears and the Heptagonal Championships, the squad remains focused on

well-being of residents, said Chung Nguyen GS, the community director for upper Keeney Quad. Community directors also act as a liaison between residents and various University departments, including the Office of Student Life, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Facilities Management, Health Services and Psychological Services, Nguyen said. B. Afeni Cobham, assistant dean of student life and residential programs and director of the RPL program, said the program “came about to enhance our first-year residential programs, in particular to give our counselors someone they can go to for support and to help them troubleshoot the many and various issues they deal with as counselors.” Though community directors rarely work directly with residents, they play an important role in supporting RPLs, who include residential counselors, minority peer counselors and women peer counselors in first-year dorms and residential programmers in some upper class dorms, including the Graduate Center, Vartan Gregorian Quadrangle, Wriston Quadrangle, New Pembroke I and II and Barbour, Cobham said. “I think that the added element of contact, to have your supervisors live with you and be there as a constant presence, is a really good support network for our RPLs,” she said. Both Cobham and Nguyen said the program gives parents comfort in the knowledge that an adult is looking after their children. “I think from a parental perspective, it is nice to know that no matter the time of night, there is an adult I can talk to about what is going on with my son or daughter,” Cobham said. For Nguyen, being a community director is a valuable learning opportunity. “I come from another country and another culture. This is the first time that I have lived in an undergraduate dorm in an American university. This is a very new experience for me,” he said, adding that training in crisis management and mediation will also be useful outside of Brown’s residential halls. Nguyen also said a part of the attraction of being a community director is living in a residential hall environment. “I really enjoy living in Keeney. I love living in a place where people are always around. … It is very convenient because I have easy access everywhere on campus,” he said. Each community director is provided a stipend, a rent-free apartment in a residential hall and, in some cases, graduate course credit, Cobham said.

the larger goal. Sunday’s New England Championships will be used primarily as a tune-up for most of the men competing, and many will skip the meet entirely to rest for Heptagonals. “The guys who wanted to perform well this weekend went out and did it,” Golenor said. “We’ve finished our build, and next week is only preparation for the main event. We’re ready to peak for Heps.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL/LETTERS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 10 S T A F F

E D I T O R I A L

Yes on IRV Despite its reluctance to endorse Instant Runoff Voting, it’s obvious the Undergraduate Council of Students doesn’t like runoffs. For years, in the event no candidate for a UCS executive board position — including that of president — captured a majority of all votes cast, UCS officials tried to work around the system. They gathered the candidates behind closed doors and, without indicating who had captured the plurality, asked if they would accept the results as final. That system saved the campus from time-consuming — and occasionally controversial — runoffs a number of times. But it ran counter to the UCS constitution, which states, “a run-off election will be held between those two candidates having the largest plurality for a position in order to establish … a majority.” Just as the national political conventions have moved away from smoky back rooms to a more public method of selecting nominees, UCS is heading in the right direction with the IRV proposal it presents to students today. Under an IRV system, candidates will never be put in the position of choosing between the integrity of the vote and the hassle of ordering a runoff. Students will know the undisputed results of the election sooner. And most importantly, by making it more reasonable for voters to pick the true candidate of their choice, IRV might encourage more students to run for UCS executive positions. We urge students to approve the proposed IRV system. We recognize that voting on voting may not be the most attractive use of time this week. But we encourage students to find the time — a few minutes is all it takes — to participate in the WebCT referendum. The non-binding survey questions provide an additional chance to inform UCS of student opinion. Those who respond will have the opportunity to weigh in on issues that have already appeared in these pages this year, including activities fees, winter J-terms and RIPTA passes. There’s a chance to advocate favorite cable channels and discuss academic advising and kegs on campus. The results of the survey will be far from scientifically precise, but a randomly sampled poll is much more costly. If students are upset about campus life issues, they should use this opportunity to make their collective voices heard, while adding precision to the UCS election process.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Jonathan Ellis, Editor-in-Chief Sara Perkins, Executive Editor Christopher Hatfield, Senior Editor Lisa Mandle, Senior Editor Meryl Rothstein, Arts & Culture Editor Melanie Wolfgang, Arts & Culture Editor Justin Elliott, Campus Watch Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet, Metro Editor Stephanie Clark, Focus Editor Kira Lesley, Focus Editor Te-Ping Chen, Opinions Editor Ari Savitzky, Opinions Editor Chris Mahr, Sports Editor Ben Miller, Sports Editor

PRODUCTION Peter Henderson, Design Editor Katie Lamm, Copy Desk Chief Lela Spielberg, Copy Desk Chief Matt Vascellaro, Graphics Editor Ashley Hess, Photo Editor Juliana Wu, Photo Editor

BUSINESS Ian Halvorsen, General Manager Daniel Goldberg, Executive Manager Mark Goldberg, Senior Financial Officer Lisa Poon, Marketing Manager Abigail Ronck, Senior Accounts Manager Kathleen Timmins, Senior Accounts Manager Laird Bennion, Senior Project Manager Elias Roman, Senior Project Manager Jungdo Yu, Senior Project Manager Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Rep. Susan Dansereau, Office Manager POST- MAGAZINE Fritz Brantley, Editor-in-Chief Adrian Muniz, Executive Editor Sarah Gordon, Calendar Editor Abigail Newman, Theater Editor Josh Cohen, Design Editor Marissa Hauptman, Photo Editor Ruthie Baron, Features Editor Jeremy Beck, Film Editor Paul Levande, Assistant Film Editor Jesse Adams, Music Editor

Rabindranath Tagore, Night Editor Chessy Brady, Copy Editor Senior Staff Writers Camden Avery, Alexandra Barsk, Eric Beck, Mary-Catherine Lader, Ben Leubsdorf, Jane Porter, Stu Woo Staff Writers Marshall Agnew, Zachary Barter, Danielle Cerny, Christopher Chon, Stewart Dearing, Gabriella Doob, Kate Gorman, Jonathan Herman, Leslie Kaufmann, Aidan Levy, Allison Lombardo, Meryl Rothstein, Joel Rozen, Jen Sopchockchai, Jonathan Sidhu, Lela Spielberg, Robin Steele, Stefan Talman, Jane Tanimura, Melanie Wolfgang, Anne Wootton Sports Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Zaneta Balantac, Stephen Colelli, Lexi Costello, Ian Cropp, Justin Goldman, Bernard Gordon, Katie Larkin, Matt Lieber, Shaun MacNamara, Chris Mahr, Ben Miller, Eric Perlmutter, Jilane Rodgers, Marco Santini, Charlie Vallely, Brooke Wolfe Accounts Managers Steven Butschi, Rob McCartney, John Nagler, David Ranken, Joel Rozen, Rukesh Samarasekera, Ryan Shewcraft Project Managers In Young Park, Libbie Fritz Design Staff Deepa Galaiya, Allison Kwong, Jason Lee Photo Staff Marissa Hauptman, Judy He, Matthew Lent, Nick Neely, Bill Pijewski, Kori Schulman, Sorleen Trevino Copy Editors Chessy Brady, Jonathan Corcoran, Eric Demafeliz, Leora Fridman, Allison Kwong, Katie Lamm, Suchi Mathur, Cristina Salvato, Sonia Saraiya, Lela Spielberg, Zachary Townsend, Jenna Young

DANIEL L AWLOR

LETTERS “Anti-racist” action preaches hateful rhetoric To the Editor: While I commend Anne Lewis and Hannah Weitzman for their thorough dissection of those demanding divestment from Israel (“Loaded words whitewash Middle Eastern conflict,” Feb. 14), I fear that in their desire to be conciliatory in tone, they left out some of the strongest arguments against the groups’ underlying rhetoric. No matter how many buzzwords of “anti-racism” and “pluralism” it is framed with, their position is, in the end, anti-Semitic and anti-democratic. The demographic and political fact of the matter is that a “one-state solution” would be a Palestinian state with a Jewish minority — in other words, exactly the sort of entity that the PLO officially endorsed prior to 1988. This reality runs counter to the core desire and need of self-determination for the Jewish people. Dismissing fears about the destruction of the Jewish state as illegitimate and racist sickeningly

demeans the plight of Jews in Israel and around the world, and thus sadly illustrates Lawrence Summers' comments about those whose rhetoric is “antiSemitic in effect, if not in intent.” A one-state solution runs counter to the wishes of Israelis and Palestinians alike, as well as the ongoing efforts at a two-state solution by their democratically elected leaders. That groups claiming “democratic solidarity” would so unabashedly seek to torpedo such a process is condescending towards those most directly affected by the conflict. While facilitating the need for true dialogue and debate about the situation in Israel, we should not hesitate to set informal standards for that process. Snide rhetoric bordering on the hateful (most offensively, in the form of mocking and ill-informed criticism of Brown Hillel as an institution) goes beyond the pale. Even as we try to rise above such simplicity, let’s not be afraid to call a spade a spade. Sean Siperstein '05 Feb. 14

Zionists threaten protestors as U. stands silent To the Editor: We commend your coverage, despite a few mistakes, of the rally on Friday advocating divestment from Israel. Your article and editorial (“Say it, don’t spray it,” Feb. 14) in particular accurately documented that one of the student activists was spat at twice by a Brown student who wished to defend the Zionist cause. A befuddled heckler then yelled, “If you don’t like the United States you should leave and go back where you came from.” Standing with a fellow white male, he yelled this at many people of color. Regardless of what was said, spitting at a person is an act of aggression and is not civilized behavior. Representatives of the administration were present, particularly Dean (Robert) Samuels and the head of campus security, and they did not rebuke the student nor take his information for further action.

After the rally students in Anti-Racist Action told these deans that we will not tolerate arbitrary judicial processes and double standards on this campus. Like Action for Safety last spring, we assert that the Department of Public Safety is not fulfilling its mandate to provide equal protection to all students, and hence we reserve our right to defend ourselves if necessary and provide our own security in the vacuum left by their negligence. Zionists who spit at students and shout racist statements at people of color, and those who claim authority over campus safety and allow them to go free are the true “incendiary” forces on this campus. We are responsible students attempting to do what Ruth Simmons has been unable to do: create an anti-racist and democratic community at Brown. Dara Bayer ’08 and Anthony Rodriguez ’06 Anti-Racist Action and Democratic Solidarity Committee Feb. 14

C O R R E C T I O N S An article published Feb. 14 (“Protest seeks U. divestment from Israel”) claimed that a student spat on another during a Friday protest on the Main Green. The student spat on the ground in front of the protester and there was no physical contact between the two students.

The same article misattributed incorrect information to Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies Harold Ward, the chair of the Advisory Committee for Corporate Responsibility in Investing. The ACCRI has nine members — three students, three elected faculty members and three alums.

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. CO M M E N TA RY P O L I C Y 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, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors 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 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 11

Liberals in Cobb County GUEST COLUMN BY BRIAN SCHMALTZBACH By now, most of the campus has heard of Cobb County, Georgia’s attempt to place stickers stating that “evolution is a theory, not a fact” in its science textbooks. If that were all they said, this would be a short column. But the full text of the sticker reminds me more of what President Simmons might say to an incoming college class than something a Georgia fundamentalist would preach to schoolchildren. The stickers read, “This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered.” This warning puts liberals in a bind. To oppose the sticker is to oppose an open and critical examination of science –– an awkward stance. Shouldn’t “closed-minded liberal” be an oxymoron? A liberal might argue that these stickers insidiously support an interferingly theocratic style of government. But for a true philosophical liberal it wouldn’t matter: the stickers still support the liberal ideal. And to protest these stickers betrays the core liberal principle that each person ought to be able to hold his or her own beliefs without interference from the government, as long as they are not harming others. John Stuart Mill describes the danger of not challenging such orthodoxies as naturalistic evolution: “However unwillingly a person who has a strong opinion may admit the possibility that his opinion may be false, he ought to be moved by the consideration that however true it may be, if it is not fully, frequently, and fearlessly discussed, it will be held as a dead dogma, not a living truth.” Since the successful study of science requires a constant examination and re-examination of evidence, what could be worse than government canonizing the study of evolution? Nevertheless, most liberals won’t change their minds about this issue because they wear two philosophical hats. In general, liberals support equality and freedom of expression. The second hat, which seems to dominate liberalism at Brown, is a barely disguised belief in secular humanism. This perspective on religion believes that faith should be excluded from all matters of government and education. Secular humanism includes nonbelievers from atheists to agnostics and philosophical materialists to skeptics. What unites these people is the strong desire to eliminate demonstrations of faith from the public sphere. It is this belief that arouses such antipathy toward these stickers, which are encouraging students to critically evaluate the theory of evolution, a dogma necessary for secular humanists to explain the world without God. Liberals who wore only the first hat would have no problem with the stickers. They would agree –– even if they believed in evolution –– with Mill that “both teachers and learners go to sleep at their post, as soon as there is no enemy in the field.” By contrast, secular humanist liberals refuse to acknowledge the possibility of religious creationism. Only these kinds of liberals would be so threatened by Cobb County’s stickers to go so far as to support their removal, despite the spirit of liberalism the stickers clearly espouse. In other words, such a person would be willing to use political means to suppress challenges to his or her religious perspective. Doesn’t that sound much more theocratic than anything a little school board in Georgia could devise? Brian Schmalzbach ’07 doesn’t like hats.

DANA GOLDSTEIN

Gender offender? The volume of responses to Harvard President Lawrence Summers' comments last month on the supposed futility of achieving gender equality on his science and mathematics faculty seems to represent a collective exhalation. University campuses are somewhat accustomed to considering questions of gender difference and equality. But in the midst of war, Bush and “Desperate Housewives,” and after another election in which feminist organizations focused solely on abortion rights as a rallying cry, Summers’ remarks have generated public debate over questions and problems we haven’t talked about for quite some time: the glass ceiling, possible genetic differences between men and women and the “second shift” domestic responsibilities of working wives and mothers. If more powerful American men would make speeches about the (lack of) women in their professions, maybe debates like this one would occur more regularly. Women who stand up to speak about such things are, of course, crazed, agenda-driven feminists. In the Atlantic Monthly Online Feb. 8, Stuart Taylor Jr. wrote a piece called, “Why Feminist Careerists Neutered Larry Summers.” Try unpacking that headline — beyond the ridiculous suggestion that feminists are out to castrate the reasonable, articulate men around them, we’ve got “careerist” used as a slur. Ambitious women are so out-of-line! This feminist, for one, would like to thank Larry Summers for pushing the national conversation about women and gender out of the academy and into the papers. In France, for example, lively disagreement surrounds PACS, the civil unions utilized primarily by heterosexual couples, and parity, a legal principle

enacted in some municipalities requiring 50 percent of the candidates fielded by any political party to be women. In some French cities, female representation in city councils has already approached 50 percent thanks to parité. Now the European Union and Canada are discussing parity policies, despite the logistical and political difficulties of enacting them. But in the post-post-feminist United States of 2005, we rarely stop to consider the lack of women serving in government, nor do we wonder out loud whether the institutions of marriage and parenthood really do afford women

We rarely stop to consider the lack of women serving in government. equality, even as our pitiful lack of reliable, affordable, guaranteed childcare programs forces more mothers than fathers to make painful choices about how to split their energy between work and family. Our women’s movement, silenced for decades now by anti-feminist rhetoric, maintains a public presence only to fight for our necessary bodily rights. But with abortion remaining a divisive issue, especially during election years, it seems counterproductive for women’s organizations to limit their agendas, especially when they claim to represent a “feminist majority.” In a Jan. 22 New York Times essay on President Bush’s inaugural address, Orlando Patterson discussed two competing American conceptions of freedom.

The liberal conception sees freedom as encompassing rights such as political participation, free speech and minority group protections, while the model of individual, market-driven freedom conceives of liberty as simply the right to go wherever and do whatever one wants on a day-to-day basis, without being bothered by government interference. In other words, liberal freedom focuses on participation in government, while individual freedom emphasizes the man-as-island theory. The American women’s movement advocates this second type of freedom, but neglects the pressing need for women to exercise the first by breaking through the glass ceiling in government and the professions. National health care, national childcare, income equality for women — aren’t these freedoms that our women’s organizations should be talking about and organizing around? Increasing women’s political representation would help to achieve these goals. Summers threw up his hands, indicating there was no hope for women achieving true parity. This Harvard incident has brought one of the central questions of academic feminism to the public eye. To what extent are women fundamentally different, and to what extent are we fundamentally the same? Who knows the answer? But by dislodging abortion even for a moment as the centerpiece of our national discussion about women’s rights and participation in politics, Summers did Americans a huge favor. Now it’s up to the interested parties –– political organizations, scientists, feminists, women everywhere –– to keep this conversation going. It’s an important one. Dana Goldstein ’06 lives in Hegemania.

Instant runoff voting sets an example GUEST COLUMN BY DAVID SEGAL Because of problems during last year’s Undergraduate Council of Students elections that were in part the consequence of an unwieldy runoff system, the undergraduate student body will soon vote on whether to use Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) in future UCS elections. Students should seize the opportunity to institute this important democratic reform. IRV compresses a traditional series of runoffs into a single vote by allowing voters to rank candidates according to their preferences. If no candidate wins a majority of first-place votes in the first round, the candidate with the lowest number of first-place votes is eliminated, and his or her votes transferred to his or her voters’ next preferred candidates. The process repeats until a single candidate receives a majority. IRV significantly diminishes the socalled “spoiler” problem. We can turn a dynamic similar to Florida in 2000 into a crude example: let’s say George Bush takes 49 percent of first place votes, Al Gore takes 48 percent, and Ralph Nader takes 3 percent. Nader is then eliminated, and his voters’ votes transferred to their second- choice candidates — overwhelmingly Gore, for argument’s sake. Gore, clearly preferred to Bush by a majority of voters, wins Florida, and then the nationwide vote too, even while many voters have formally expressed their support for Nader. Traditional runoffs are the norm in

most functioning democracies. (And yes, it is quite reasonable to question the extent to which plurality-based democracies are truly democratic.) IRV is easier, less time-consuming and cheaper to use than standard runoffs, since voters go to the polls only once. IRV fosters democracy and the exchange of ideas by encouraging electoral participation by third parties and

IRV helps coalition building. independent candidates. It lets people “vote their consciences” without worrying that they should instead vote to help the “lesser of two evils” beat an even more abhorrent candidate. It tends to make campaigns a little less dirty — if you need the second place votes of the supporters of your opponent, you’re less likely to tear into that opponent during the campaign. IRV also creates incentives for coalition-building and cooperation, and leverage for third party candidates that doesn’t exist here today. In Australia, for instance, where IRV is used in parliamentary elections, the Labor Party must approach the Green Party to encourage Greens to point second-place votes in Labor’s direction. That gives the Greens an opportunity to move or solidify Labor’s positions on Iraq, East Timor, the environment and other important issues.

Australia uses IRV more extensively than do other jurisdictions, but it isn’t alone. London uses IRV to elect its mayor. San Francisco uses it for local elections. Berkeley, Calif., Burlington, Vt., and Ferndale, Mich., all approved IRV referenda in 2004. IRV legislation was heard in 23 states in 2003-2004, with Maine closest to actual adoption of the reform. Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Wisconsin and other colleges and universities use IRV for campus elections. The list of politicians who support IRV is increasingly formidable; its ranks include Howard Dean, Dennis Kucinich, Jesse Jackson Jr. and John McCain. A victory for IRV on campus would mean unequivocal legitimacy for victorious UCS candidates. It would also serve as a precedent for local electoral reform advocates — in numbers of voters, Brown’s campus elections are about the size of a race for Providence City Council, or for the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Brown graduates will reach prominence in politics and media in Rhode Island and across the country. If they become familiar and comfortable with IRV during their days on campus, it could help nudge the reform a little further along the path towards widespread use, and help us build a real American democracy. David Segal represents College Hill and Fox Point on the Providence City Council.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SPORTS TUESDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2005 · PAGE 12

W. hoops beat Crimson, fall to Big Green for 6-2 mark in Ivies BY JUSTIN GOLDMAN SPORTS STAFF WRITER

The women’s basketball team split this weekend’s games, starting with an impressive 78-63 win at Harvard on Friday night but losing 63-48 to undefeated Dartmouth on Saturday in Hanover, N.H., as the team’s momentum failed to carry over. The Bears came out strong against Harvard, shooting 54 percent in the first half en route to scoring a season-high 40 first-half points. “We just came out on fire. We made it a point during practice last week that we were going to make all the open shots we got, and we were able to do that,” said Bears co-captain Andrea Conrad ’05. The tone was set early on as Lena McAfee ’07 hit a pair of threes to get the Bears off to a 6-0 lead. Those were only two of the seven threes that the Bears made in the first half, a total that exceeded their season’s average for an entire game. The Crimson were able to keep the game close after the Bears’ initial scoring burst, but the Bears went on a 10-0 run at the end of the first half to stretch their lead to 34-25. During that time, the Bears were able to hold the Crimson without a field goal for 8:38. A point of emphasis for the Bears was stopping Harvard’s leading scorer, Reka Cserny. The Bears were able to do that, holding her to only two points in the first half and 11 for the game, nine below her league average. “It was just a great allaround defensive effort — our team defense and pressure was what was able to shut down Cserny,” Conrad said. The Bears won the battle of the boards 47-33 against the Crimson while holding them to a paltry 30-percent shooting from the field. “We knew if we were able to win the rebounding battle that we would probably win the game,” Conrad said. This was undoubtedly one of the Bears’ best wins of the season, as they played their trademark defense and got very good point distribution offensively. Sarah Hayes ’06 led four Bears in double figures with 19 points while also grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. Hayes was followed by McAfee with 15 points

Gaudette paces m. track at Fast Track Invitational BY JILANE RODGERS SPORTS STAFF WRITER

Ashley Hess / Herald

Jackie Vocell ‘06 had 12 points in Friday’s 78-63 victory over Harvard. She was one of four Bears to score in double figures. on 5-of-6 shooting, just two off of her career high; Jackie Vocell ’06 with 12; and Holly Robertson ’05 with 11. The Bears’ hot shooting did not carry over to Hanover, as they only shot 32 percent from the field against the Big Green. The Bears jumped to a 6-0 lead on the Big Green, who missed their first nine shots from the field, but defensive lapses cost the Bears in the long run. “We came out strong at first, but they were able to take advantage of our defensive breakdowns,” Conrad said. Defensive breakdowns are uncharacteristic for the Bears, who pride themselves on defense and are second in the league in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents to only 37 percent from the field. The Bears kept the game close, but three separate runs by the Big Green proved to be insurmountable. The Big Green scored methodically in the first half, going on a 19-3 spurt that gave them a 19-9 lead. The Bears answered with an see W. HOOPS, page 4

With less than two weeks until the Heptagonal Championships, the men’s track and field team headed north for the two-day Fast Track Invitational hosted by Boston University. No team score was tallied for the weekend, but the Bears were given the chance to compete against some of America’s top athletes, as the meet was not restricted to NCAA competitors. Brown’s highlights came from several athletes who had been missing from action and others improving upon their previous successes. The distance squad remained consistent in its accomplishments and had several standouts for the weekend. Jeff Gaudette ’05 took fifth in the 5,000-meter run, breaking his own school record for the event. He battled until the last minute with Ivy rival Lucas Meyer from Yale, overtaking him in the final quarter of a mile. Gaudette’s time of 14:07.6 places him at the top of the Ivy League standings and earns him a provisional berth to the NCAA Championships. “Our whole focus right now is on the championships,” said Distance Coach John Gregorek. “We’ve set the bar high for Pat (Tarpy ’05) and Jeff by making goals like hitting automatic berths to nationals. We have to be careful not to be disappointed when we are still posting times that lead the league and break or are near school records.” Co-captain Tarpy took fourth in the 3,000-meter distance with a time of 8:12.58. He already led the league prior to this weekend in the mile and 3,000-meter run. Gaudette’s new top mark gives Brown a sweep of the distance events. In the mile run, Eamon Quick ’07 had a breakthrough performance, clocking 4:10.75 — a personal best by over five seconds. The time now grants him entry to the IC4A Championships in a second event, complementing his previous qualification in the 1,000-meter run. More importantly, it also makes him a threat to score at the Heptagonals and adds depth to the Bears’ squad. “It was great to see because he’s been persistent after previously struggling with injuries,” Gregorek said. “We’ve tradition-

Tumblers take second place in home opener BY MADELEINE MARECKI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In its 2005 home opener Sunday, the gymnastics team finished second to Southern Connecticut State University, losing 185.475 to 181.950. However, Brown did earn a win over the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which finished with 176.425 points. The loss was a stunner to the Bears, as they fully expected to win the competition. “We had a really great week in practice, so this was pretty disappointing,” said co-captain Kelly Moran ’05. Brown performed well on the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise. As a team, the Bears captured first for the bars and floor. Yet this was not enough for Bruno to pull out the win. The Bears’ showing on the balance beam was uncharacteristically weak, with most of the gymnasts falling or making mistakes in their routines. Head Coach Sara Carver-Milne attributed her squad’s showing to a loss of focus. “(The poor results) showed them that you can never let your guard down when

you think that you can beat the teams you’re competing against,” Carver-Milne said. “This was a big wake-up call.” In addition to the athletes performing poorly on beam, the injury of Mandi Baughman ’06 deeply affected the team. Baughman sustained a sprained ankle after attempting a vault she never tried before in competition. This led to unanticipated changes in the lineup, as Baughman was expected to compete on the beam and floor as well. “(The injury) put people in the lineup who weren’t originally slated. We were just trying to pull things together when it came to the beam,” said co-captain Melissa Forziat ’05. Despite Brown’s sub-par showing on the beam, many individuals contributed strong routines, including some impressive performances from gymnasts coming back from injury. Amber Smith ’06 continued her remarkable performance this season, taking second in the all-around with a 36.950. Smith won the vault with 9.375, finished third on the floor with 9.675,

took fifth on the bars with 9.100 and came in second for Brown on the beam with 8.800. Sarah Cavett ’06 and Moran both had particularly good routines on the bars, taking first and second, respectively, in the event. Moran said the squad performed “really well today (on the bars). We’ve been struggling in the past two meets (with the bars). We did lots of routines in practice this past week, and that really built our confidence.” Cavett posted a 9.575, and Moran scored 9.425. Sarah Durning ’08 made valuable contributions in the vault and floor, tying for fourth and finishing as the second Bruno competitor in the vault with a 9.250 and then posting a 9.600 on floor. The floor has consistently been a strong point for Brown, and Sunday proved to be no different. Forziat had a remarkable performance on floor, capturing second with a 9.700. Her routine led a second- through fifth-place sweep see GYMNASTICS, page 8

Nick Neely / Herald

With a time of 14:07.6, Jeff Gaudette ‘05 broke his own school record for the 5,000 meter run. ally had success in the longer distances, but now we are getting stronger and deeper in the middle distances as well.” Another threat in the Ivy League, Ikenna Achilihu ’08, will enter his first Heptagonal Championships as a name to watch. Achilihu hit a mark of 49-3.5 in the triple jump to take second at the Fast Track Invite. The personal best now ranks him in the top three of the conference and fourth on Brown’s all-time list. While young faces have the exciting potential for points at the championships, many of the Bears were relieved to see proven talent back on the line for the 4x400 meter relay. “The top three men we look up to in the sprints are Dallas Dissmore (’06), Mike Pruzinsky (’07), and Eldridge Gilbert (’05),” said co-captain Jake Golenor ’06. “When all three of them were injured at one time, it was very demoralizing. It’s a big boost to our spirits to have them coming back in time for Heps.” Dissmore and Pruzinsky rank in the top ten in the Ivies in the 500-meter and 200meter sprints, respectively, though neither has had the opportunity to compete at full strength since very early in the season. The returning Pruzinsky and Gilbert joined Christian Tabib ’07 and Will Bernitsky ’08 to clock a season best for Brown at 3:18.16. The performance was good for qualification to the IC4As and the chance to compete in the seeded heat at see TRACK, page 9 IVY LEAGUE STANDINGS Men’s Basketball Team Ivy Record (Overall) 1. Penn 7-0 (14-7) 2. Cornell 5-3 (10-11) 3. Yale 3-3 (7-12) 3. Harvard 4-4 (9-12) 5. Columbia 3-5 (12-9) 5. Dartmouth 3-5 (6-15) 7. Brown 2-4 (9-11) 8. Princeton 2-5 (11-10) Women’s Basketball Team Ivy Record (Overall) 1. Dartmouth 7-0 (11-8) 2. Brown 6-2 (14-7) 3. Harvard 5-2 (13-7) 3. Penn 5-2 (12-8) 5. Columbia 4-4 (11-10) 6. Princeton 2-5 (10-10) 7. Yale 1-7 (4-17) 8. Cornell 0-8 (2-19)