THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2006
Volume CXLI, No. 32
www.browndailyherald.com
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 NOT ON THE LIST Police Log: DPS officers find two 40-yearold men wandering in the basement of Olney House Thursday night CAMPUS NEWS 5
JAZZ HANDS The Brown Jazz Band supplements jazz classics with a guest appearance from New Orleans-based Johnny Vidacovich ARTS & CULTURE 3
IN NIT TO WIN IT? W. hoops falls to Dartmouth to lose out on NCAA bid, awaits possible shot at Women’s NIT spot SPORTS 12
TODAY
TOMORROW
showers 53 / 46
showers 55 / 30
Downtown Providence of today vastly different from city of early ’90s
Four students robbed at gunpoint near Main Green
Wave of development, taken for granted by many students, is result of revitalization over last decades
BY SIMMI AUJLA SENIOR STAFF WRITER
BY ANNE WOOTTON METRO EDITOR
Though some Brown students may question Providence’s status as a veritable metropolis in comparison to their homes — whether New York, London, Tokyo or Islamabad — they seem to agree about one thing: they like PROVIDENCE it here. In a Herald poll TODAY conducted at the beFirst in a series ginning of the semester, almost 75 percent of students claimed to like or love the city of Providence, compared to just 2.3 percent who said they hate it. Today, downtown Providence is experiencing a flurry of development. A tower of luxury condominiums is under construction on Westminster Street, just down the block from where Rhode Is-
Deanna Chaukos ’08. Other potential changes include adding furniture to the areas outside the Ratty’s entrances and using the rooms off the main dining area for additional dining or meeting space to promote interaction be-
Four male students were robbed within sight of the Main Green on Prospect Street, between Waterman and Angell streets, at approximately 9 p.m. Friday night. One of the male suspects brandished a silver handgun. Stephen Babish ’08, Brandon Dolly ’08, Andrew Potter ’08 and Norman Yang ’08 were walking south on Prospect Street when two males approached them from behind. One of the men displayed a gun and demanded the students place their money on the ground. Babish, Dolly and Potter placed $32 and Potter’s wallet on the ground. The men then directed the students to walk south on Prospect Street, while they took the money and headed north. The students called the Department of Public Safety when they reached Babish’s room in Caswell Hall. DPS alerted the Providence Police Department, and officers from both departments interviewed the victims and searched the area for the suspects later Friday night. The suspect with the gun jogged up behind the students and told them to stop, Potter said. “We just kept walking,” Babish said. “Then he said, ‘Hold the (expletive) up,’ and that’s when we realized we were going to be robbed,” he said. The second suspect stayed about 10 yards behind the students and did not speak at all, according to Dolly. The students were not facing the second suspect throughout the encounter, Dolly said. “We were pretty much focusing on the gun (that the first man was holding),” he said. Dolly was unable to describe the sec-
see RENOVATIONS, page 4
see ROBBERY, page 9
Jacob Melrose / Herald
In recent years, a series of development projects has dramatically increased investment in downtown Providence, resulting in several large-scale construction projects. land School of Design students moved into brand-new residence halls in the fall. Empty space in existing buildings downtown is being converted into lofts, buoyed by economic incentive from a generous tax credit for development in historic buildings. The world headquarters for lottery operator GTECH is being erected in front of the Providence Place Mall — itself a recent addition to the cityscape — and construction is underway for two more condominium towers on the other side of Riverwalk. Construction is also planned for the relocation of Interstate 195, which will open up prime waterfront space in about two years. Many students, living in Providence only as long as they attend the University,
have a hard time imagining the Renaissance City any other way. Indeed, development has been going on in the city for longer than the four years of an undergraduate education. But the city has undergone major changes since the early 1990s, before the days of the mall, when the river was still covered by a four-lane highway and downtown was deserted after dark. “In 1992, it was scary to stand on Westminster Street at 10 p.m. — cars would go by with four or five scary youths,” said Rich Lupo, owner of Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel and director of the Providence Scrabble Club, which for some years held its meetings in the Blue Room at Faunce House. see PROVIDENCE, page 6
Ratty, Faunce renovations planned for summer and winter breaks BY SARAH GELLER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The addition of an elevator to the Sharpe Refectory and more lounge spaces in Faunce House are among changes slated to occur this summer and during next winter break. Renovations to the Ratty will take place this summer, though some changes will not take place until next winter, as they are not yet definite, according to David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services. The cost of changes made in the summer will be “somewhere in the neighborhood of four million dollars,” he said. He added that because some necessary upgrades, including improved accessibility and fire safety, are so expensive they limit other renovation plans. Because details of changes to Faunce are still up in the air, they will also not take place until next winter and their cost has not yet been determined. Greene’s office is mostly responsible for the changes, along with the Brown Corporation Committee on Campus Life and President Ruth Simmons. The Campus Life Committee of the Undergraduate Council of Students makes recommendations regarding campus life improvements.
dents and not have it fully accessible. That to me is just fabulous that we’re getting it done,” he said. Other changes to the Ratty will include new lighting and fire safety improvements. “The sprinkler system is ancient and a fire hazard. That’s a necessary change that they have to do,” said UCS Campus Life Chair
Ratty improvements Greene said he believes the elevator in the Ratty is the most notable of proposed changes. “It’s just been inexcusable to have a building that is central to the lives of stuEditorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3260
Music dept. drawing more applicants Faculty and offerings grow, but department still faces space constraints BY JOSH TOBIAS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
With interests ranging from avant-garde to Christian rock, high school seniors seeking a spot in the class of 2010 sent more than 900 music portfolios with their applications. The number of music portfolios increased by 10 percent over the previous year, according to Dean of Admission Jim Miller ’73. Several music department faculty members, who review the portfolios, said the number and quality of applicants has been slowly increasing over the past couple of years. The rising applicant pool has brought more musically talented firstyears to Brown. “There is more excitement around the department, students are taking a more active role than they have been,” said Matthew McGarrell, senior lecturer in music and the department’s director of bands. Music performance has improved re-
markably over the past two or three years, as more talented first years enter the school, according to several students in the department. “The overall level of playing, at least in the classical music, has increased dramatically,” said Nora Krohn’06, a violist in the Brown Orchestra. Valeria Iavtouhovitsh / Herald The Brown Chorus has The recent increase in the number of music students also gotten better, said applying to Brown has raised awareness of the limited Clara Schumacher ’06, a space available for the music department, which is cursoprano in the Chorus. rently in the Orwig Music Building. “The level of difficulty of the pieces has increased,” she added. said Gerald Shapiro, a professor of music. The department’s reputation has benBrown attracts some serious music efited from expansion in size and pro- students who have conservatory-level grams, according to some faculty. “The skills but want the liberal arts education stature of the music program has grown, it see MUSIC, page 4 has become a more distinguished place,”
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