T U E S D A Y APRIL 12, 2005
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXL, No. 47 MODERATE IN THE MIDDLE Sen. Lincoln Chafee ’75 feeling pressure from Rhode Islanders and the White House on U.N. nominee METRO 3
MILL LITE Dylan Brown ’03: Intellectual diversity push balances debate, challenges stifling atmosphere OPINIONS
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ON TRACK Women bring home first outdoor season win from Conn., ready to play host at Invitational this weekend S P O R T S 12
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Smoking ban exemptions in jeopardy BY ANNE WOOTTON STAFF WRITER
When the statewide smoking ban officially went into effect March 1, many Providence business owners strongly objected to exemptions granted to estabMETRO lishments like the Graduate Center Bar and Wickenden Pub with Class C and Class D liquor licenses. In response to their protests, Superior Court Judge Stephen Fortunato Jr. ruled March 31 that these exemptions are unconstitutional. The House of Representatives passed a bill April 5 prohibiting smoking in those Class C and Class D facilities previously exempted from the ban, and the Senate is expected to pass the legislation tomorrow. The exemptions — which permitted certain facilities to continue to allow smoking until Oct. 1, 2006 — currently apply to all Class C and Class D facilities,
provided that they have fewer than 10 employees and the Class D facilities have “defined memberships,” are “distinctly private” and are run by nonprofit organizations. In the lawsuit, plaintiffs provided evidence that their sales had dropped 10 to 35 percent since the ban took effect. To prove that such exemptions created inherent disadvantages, they hired a private investigator to demonstrate that certain exempted businesses were advertising their advantage with no attempt to maintain the “defined membership” called for in the legislation, according to The Providence Journal. Fortunato issued a temporary order eliminating the exemptions and mandating that smoking in private clubs and bars halt immediately. Rep. Arthur J. Corvese, D-North Providence, played a role in crafting the
exemptions last year and was the only vote in the House against the bill. Attorney General Patrick Lynch ’87 and Associate Professor of Medicine David Gifford, acting Rhode Island Department of Health director, were defendants in the suit. Though his responsibility entails defending the constitutionality of the law, Lynch said he thinks “the judge’s decision is good for public health,” and the House vote was “a good step,” according to an April 6 Journal article. When Fortunato issued his ruling, the health department responded by mailing summaries of his decision to holders of Class C and D liquor licenses, according to Bill Dundulis, environmental health risk assessment toxicologist at the Health Department. If the health department receives a comsee EXEMPTION, page 4
Independent concentrators forge new academic paths BY PHILLIP GARA CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Some Brown students find even the New Curriculum’s existing concentrations too limiting. From trauma studies to rationality and decision making, Brown students are creating independent concentrations to merge academic disciplines in new ways and incorporate their experiences outside the University. With the increase in interdisciplinary concentrations at Brown, the number of students pursuing independent concentrations has decreased slightly in the past few years, according to Associate Dean of the College Linda Dunleavy. Most recent independent concentrations have been centered on issues in biomedical ethics and studies, Dunleavy said. The University stopped accepting declarations in the concentration in biomedical ethics this semester due to a lack of funding and available faculty. Some prospective concentrators said they are now considering creating independent concentrations in biomedical ethics. Heather Daniels ’06 is working to get approval for her independent concentration in holistic health studies. Building on her experiences with Nepalese culture and different concepts of medicine and health during a semester off, Daniels aims to explore different means of viewing the concept of health other than through Western biomedicine. According to Daniels, the holistic perspective she is trying to build upon “takes into account the person and the environment they are interacting with.” Her proposal includes classes from a broad spectrum of departments, see INDEPENDENT, page 6
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Student Union discovers $70,000 in funds Group will sponsor new Fall Weekend BY ARI ROCKLAND-MILLER STAFF WRITER
The Student Union, an umbrella organization of major student groups revitalized this year after a long period of inactivity, recently discovered $70,000 in its account. Ricky Gresh, director of student activities, discovered the money just before spring break, when he was reviewing the accounts of various student groups. Although Gresh said he was unaware of the source of the newly found money, Swathi Bojedla ’07, the interim chair of the Student Union, assumes it is the remainder of a contingency fund established by the Union years ago, before it waned out of existence in the early 1980s. Katherine Husk ’07, the interim secretary of the Student Union, also is not sure where the money came from, although she agrees with Bojedla’s hypothesis. Bojedla believes that the account was originally much smaller, but that it grew exponentially from interest over the course of the last 20 years. “I’m pretty sure there’s no way that (in the early ’80s) they left $70,000 in a bank account, especially considering how much that must have been worth then,” Bojedla said. The Student Union was formed in 1973, and until the early 1980s it served as an umbrella organization that united some of the key student groups on campus, distributed funds garnered from the student activities fee to differ-
Juliana Wu / Herald
The Graduate Center Bar prohibited smoking starting April 1 after its exemption to the state smoking ban was ruled unconstitutional.
see UNION, page 6
Havens ’99 representing Guantanamo detainees BY SHAWN BAN STAFF WRITER
Sarah Havens ’99 has traveled from the Van Wickle Gates to Cairo to Guantanamo Bay. Havens is a secondyear associate at the New York office of British law firm Allen & Overy, which represents 14 of the approximately 550 men being held at the Camp Delta prison. Since January, Havens and three of her colleagues have traveled twice to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to gather information for the habeas corpus petitions that Allen & Overy has filed on behalf of its clients. A third trip is planned for later this month. The firm’s clients are all Yemeni men in their 20s or early 30s who were picked up in and around Afghanistan and Pakistan beginning in January 2002. Havens said visiting the clients and witnessing their conditions was an eyeopening experience. “You grow up in the United States, and you think the government will never do this and be willing to push aside constitution and international law like this,” she said. Havens described the conditions of the Guantanamo detainees as “poor” and “inadequate,” citing unclean tap water,
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solitary confinement, general beatings and abuse as examples. Many of the detainees have kidney stones and inadequate access to medical treatment, according to Havens. Allen & Overy is in the process of detailing instances of religious and sexual abuse faced by its clients. Havens said one of her clients had his hair shaved in the shape of a cross. The shoddy conditions have led to poor morale among the detainees, according to Havens. “Their spirits were
better than I expected, I guess, but overall they are still very down,” she said. She expressed her hope that the presence of neutral observers at Guantanamo Bay has led to an end of some of the worse abuses. “I think with the presence of counsel, the treatment has gotten better, because the government feels obligated to stop some of the worse abuses,” Havens said. The unique nature of the case has cresee HAVENS, page 7
UCS, UFB candidate debate tonight Candidates for the top positions on the Undergraduate Council of Students and the Undergraduate Finance Board will debate their platforms tonight at 7 p.m. in Barus and Holley 166. This year’s candidates include: UCS President: Brian Bidadi ’06, Ben Creo ’07, former Herald columnist Nate Goralnik ’06 Vice President: Sarah Saxton-Frump ’07 Academic and Administrative Affairs
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Chair: Nicholas Monu ’06 Student Activites Chair: Cash McCracken ’08 Campus Life Chair: Deanna Chaukos ’08, Halley Wuertz ’08 Admission and Student Services Chair: Herald Copy Editor Zac Townsend ’08, Anya Rasulova ’08 Treasurer: Will Cunningham ’07 UFB Chair: Swathi Bojedla ’07, Richard Soto ’06 Vice Chair: Andrew DeWitt ’06
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