THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2006
Volume CXLI, No. 47
www.browndailyherald.com
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 SELLING STEM CELLS Rep. Jim Langevin argues in support of federal funding for stem cell research in an appearance at Brown yesterday CAMPUS NEWS 5
GET YOUR KICKS ON ROUTE ... I-195 The relocation of I-195 will free up land that Brown, along with other local interests, is looking to develop METRO 3
CALLING OUT CLINTON Jacque Amoureux GS of Military Families Speak Out argues Hillary Clinton’s policies warrant protest OPINIONS 11
TODAY
TOMORROW
partly cloudy 63 / 41
mostly sunny 62 / 47
City receives Brown’s master plan New home-ownership program for faculty and staff unveiled as part of revised development strategy BY ANNE WOOTTON METRO EDITOR
After receiving a final draft of the University’s Institutional Master Plan last week, the City Plan Commission will hold a public meeting about the plan on April 25 to hear comments from neighborhood residents. Planned construction of Sidney Frank Hall, the Jonathan Nelson Fitness Center and the Walk are all major components of the next five years of development outlined in the plan, in addition to a revised traffic flow system. The plan also provided details of a new program through which eligible Brown faculty and staff can buy unused, University-owned houses on the East Side. The IMP was designed over the past several years, during which the University sought to ensure a higher level of community input than it has in the past. The plan has three main goals: developing a circulation structure on campus that fosters community, consolidating Brown’s core of academic buildings on College Hill and moving beyond College Hill to off-campus projects and real estate ventures. Michael McCormick, director of planning for Facilities Management, said he hopes that, barring any major last-minute changes, the IMP will be ready to go before the City Council in May for a final vote regarding its approval. Parking — or lack thereof — and traffic congestion have been topics of particular concern for community members at pub-
lic meetings held by the University. Brown will lose almost 400 parking spaces in the next few years to new construction, and administrators recently announced plans to move undergraduate student parking entirely off campus to help relax this parking squeeze. The University also commissioned a traffic study to come up with a better system of traffic lights for Waterman and Angell streets. “I think one of the continuing concerns with the College Hill area is parking,” said Ward 2 City Councilwoman Rita Williams. “(Brown) has to continue to have plans that accommodate (the number of cars on College Hill), especially with the increase in faculty that will be coming to this area,” she said, citing the completion of the Life Sciences Building as one catalyst for automobile congestion. “We feel very good about our traffic study and our parking plan. We’ve heard a lot of skepticism, but we feel like it’s the best we can do at this point,” McCormick said. “Traffic and parking, from day one, are always the most difficult issues to deal with — on any campus, but especially here on College Hill,” he said. McCormick went on to predict that most of the public discussion set to continue on the city level this month will revolve around these issues and the University’s request that the city abandon portions of Fones Alley and Olive Street so Brown can absorb the land. see MASTER PLAN, page 9
Austin Freeman / Herald
A Brown Dining Services employee swipes cards at the Sharpe Refectory.
Dining Services may whip up new meal plans next year BY ALISSA CERNY STAFF WRITER
Students dissatisfied with the structure of the University’s current meal plan may be pleased with new options that could be available as early as next semester if administrators accept a proposal designed by the Undergraduate Council of Students in conjunction with Brown University Dining Services. “I can’t tell you how many people feel the meal plans aren’t flexible enough for the average Brown student, mostly because there is no average Brown student,”
Students, U. make voices heard at State House BY BEN LEUBSDORF METRO EDITOR
Isaac Belfer ’08 and Sarah Raab ’08 got their marching orders: their target was Rep. Edwin Pacheco, D-District 47. “He’s the youngest member of the House, he was elected just out of college,” Jennifer Stevens, an organizMETRO er for Marriage Equality RI, told them as they stood in a corner of the Rhode Island House of Representatives chamber on April 5. An undecided vote on the bill that would allow gay marriage in Rhode Island, the 24-year-old Pacheco might open up more to two of Stevens’ youngest lobbyists. So Belfer and Rabb walked across the
Jean Yves Chainon / Herald
Members of the Brown Democrats and University representatives often lobby at the State House.
House chamber to ask Pacheco about his views on the bill. Afterwards, they agreed it had gone well. “I think he liked that we were young,” Raab said. About three to five students from the Brown Democrats walk down College Hill to the State House every Wednesday afternoon. They go there to help MERI gain support from state legislators for a marriage equality bill, a form of which has been introduced every year but one since 1997. “It’s a great thing to do. It’s fun and interesting,” said Belfer, who leads the lobbying program as chair of the Local Politics Committee. But, he added, he doesn’t really consider it lobbying. “It’s nothing Jack Abramoff-style,” he joked, referring to the former lobbyist whose illegal activities have prompted calls to crack down on lobbying in the federal government. But Stevens had told the Brown students and a group of other volunteers before heading into the chamber that they shouldn’t be afraid of the word. “I know this is kind of a scary term, lobbying, but it’s just talking to people,” she said. “They happen to be elected, but they’re still people.” The Dems began their lobbying program in 2003, when the Local Politics Committee was created to focus on marriage equality and environmental issues at the state level, according to Seth Magaziner ’06, former president of the Dems. But since then, Belfer said, the project has focused almost exclusively on marriage equality. “We honestly don’t have the manpow-
Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3260
er to diversify and work with several campaigns at once,” he said. “We have just one issue but we attack it from a number of different angles.” Belfer said the main goal of their lobbying efforts is to gauge support for the bill. “It really is mostly information gathering,” Belfer said. “Based on the information we gather through our lobbying, they can identify individual representatives who can be swayed.” Stevens said she appreciates the work put in by the Brown students. “They’re up here every week. They have done more lobbying than any other group,” she told The Herald. “They’re great.” “Even though they might not be registered to vote here, they talk to East Side legislators, and having a group here every week makes sure (legislators) can’t forget,” she added. Belfer said he gets a lot out of lobbying, especially in a small state like Rhode Island. “You can walk out of your dorm and walk onto the floor of the General Assembly and have representatives listen to you. It could only happen in Rhode Island,” he said. Promoting Brown’s interests But students aren’t the only ones taking advantage of the State House’s proximity to campus to make their voices heard. The University also lobbies there on a regular basis. “What’s important is that the University’s interests are followed and that the University’s interests are heard when the Uni-
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
see LOBBYING, page 6
said Sarah Saxton-Frump ’07, president of UCS. In response to this problem, UCS approached BuDS with a plan to expand the range of meal plan options currently offered. Though the decisions have not been finalized, UCS and BuDS are currently working to create additional plans that substitute FlexPlus Points for meals at each of the current meal plan prices. A student could purchase a plan at the price of 20 meals per week and select to have 14 weekly meal credits and have the see MEAL PLANS, page 7
Software that saves lives Student venture seeks to monitor heart attack recovery BY REBECCA JACOBSON SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Although some students may take EN 90: “Managerial Decision Making” to lighten their course load, the class transformed one former interFEATURE national relations concentrator, Simon Salgado ’07, into a serial entrepreneur. After taking a year off to develop a tech company, Salgado is back at Brown and embarking on a new venture — vests. Salgado is the chief executive officer of DigiTRx, a company designing software that will monitor and interpret the vital signs of patients who have suffered heart attacks. DigiTRx’s software will analyze blood pressure, heart rate and electrocardiogram readings, allowing doctors to monitor patients wearing a medical vest from a remote location. The vest, which monitors over 40 vital signs, has already been developed by a California company, VivoMetrics, but Salgado’s group is tailoring it to patients recovering from heart attacks. The company formed as part of EN 194, Sec. 7: “Entrepreneurship II” this semester and is now one of six semifinalists in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition, even though it is not see SALGADO, page 9 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com