Thursday, February 1, 2007 by The Brown Daily Herald

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD T HURSDAY, F EBR UAR Y 1, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 7

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

DPS surveys campus opinion

Late-night chaos may close Jo’s, Gate earlier BY MICHAEL BECHEK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Problematic late-night student behavior at campus eateries is putting pressure on University ofﬁcials to close Josiah’s and the Gate earlier on certain nights, a group of Dining Services ofﬁcials told the Undergraduate Council of Students at its general body meeting last night. Increasingly poor conduct by intoxicated students, especially on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights and particularly at Jo’s, has become a cause for concern, the group said, urging UCS not to ignore the growing problem. Employees at Jo’s — mostly culinary students at Johnson and Wales University — are getting fed up with the late-night shift, usually the busiest at the eatery, said Gretchen Willis, director of Dining Services. About 40 employees have been “hired and lost” at Jo’s this year, Willis said. “We’ve seen a lot of behavior around alcohol, theft and disrespect to employees,” said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, interim vice president for campus

life and student services. “(It) causes great concern about safety and well-being of student customers in those areas and staff who are working to serve those customers.” Leaving trash on the ground, stomping on ketchup packets and even violence are all commonplace, Willis said. “We’re at the point where we feel we can’t close our operations without the assistance of the police,” she said. Broken glass, vomit and blood create an impossible mess for the staff, said William Bell, retail supervisor at Jo’s. “We are not equipped to handle situations like that,” he said, adding that Emergency Medical Services was called three times to Jo’s this past weekend. “There are students who don’t feel safe going to get food at Jo’s,” said Angela Sherwin ’07, a student general manager for Dining Services. Bell said “eighty to ninety percent” of customers late on certain nights are intoxicated “at a pretty severe level.” The nine guests at the UCS continued on page 9

Eunice Hong / Herald

Employees at Josiah’s suggested a higher number of security guards might offset late-night rambunctious behavior.

BY DEBBIE LEHMANN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

UChicago ofﬁcials said the change is designed to streamline the application process. “I think that an issue with the Uncommon Application is that it’s asking you for routine information — where you went to high school, for example — that isn’t anything new, and so there is no reason that you can’t ask for common information in a common way,” Zimmer said at a student forum, according to the Chicago Maroon, the student newspaper. Behnke agreed with Zimmer’s

The Department of Public Safety is conducting a survey to gauge community opinion and collect feedback about the most effective way to provide services, but if past years are any guide, not many people will take the survey. The 23-question survey, which was supposed to be available last semester, launched Friday and will be available until March 16. University spokeswoman Molly de Ramel wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that DPS delayed the survey in an effort to maximize the number of respondents. Anyone can take the survey, which is intended to determine opinions about the department’s overall performance, competence, attitudes and behaviors toward the community, according to the DPS Web site. The survey also asks about community concerns regarding safety and security on campus. DPS conducts the survey every three years as part of the accreditation process from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, according to de Ramel. She wrote that the survey “is always considered important” because it helps show DPS how it can best serve the community. The survey is available to the public through the DPS Web site, though it is hosted by SurveyMonkey.com. De Ramel wrote that DPS has distributed table slips about the survey and has put an announcement in Morning Mail. DPS will also e-mail a link to the survey directly to all students, de Ramel wrote. Participation in the survey has traditionally been low. Only 4.25 percent of students and 3.09 percent of faculty and staff responded to the survey conducted three years ago, DPS Lt. Bruce Holt told The Herald in November.

continued on page 4

Eunice Hong / Herald Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, interim vice president for campus life and student services (left), and Ann Hoffman, director of administration for Dining Services, were among administrators who met with UCS yesterday to raise concerns about student behavior at Brown’s late-night eateries.

UChicago, seeking prestige, drops Uncommon Application BY BRIANNA BARZOLA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

In an effort to increase the number of applicants and simplify its admission process, the University of Chicago has decided to adopt the Common Application starting with the class of 2012, applying next year. Despite its long-standing, unique rejection of the Common Application and its marketing of an “Uncommon Application,” UChicago followed the lead of its new president, ex-Brown Provost Robert Zimmer, who encouraged the change. Discussions on changing the application began early last summer and continued through the fall, according to Vice President and Dean of College Enrollment Michael Behnke. “We took note of the fact that two of our major competitors, Northwestern and (the University of Pennsylvania), had decided to accept the Common Application. That led us to do a little digging, and we discovered the impressive recent growth of the use of the online Common Application,” wrote Behnke in an e-mail to The Herald.

UChicago was well-known among high school seniors for its Uncommon Application, which some students value especially because of its variation from the norm. The school’s Uncommon Application has unique essay questions that allow “more opportunities to express yourself,” according to UChicago’s admission Web site. Behnke said a supplement to the Common Application will include the school’s quirky essay questions.

CAMPUS WATCH

Annenberg report calls for “Marshall Plan”-scale reforms for NYC middle schools BY MARIELLE SEGARRA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

New York City’s middle schools need signiﬁcant reform to better serve poor and minority students, who are being put on “pathways to failure” by an unequal distribution of educational resources, according to a report released last month by Brown’s Annenberg Institute for School Reform. Low-performing schools in New York — which the report said have mostly poor and minority students — tend to lack many of the resources and opportunities that the city’s generally wealthier, mostly white students receive, including science labs, math and science Regents courses and qualiﬁed teachers, according to the Jan. 16 report. The report was based on research by the New York City Coalition for Educational Justice and written by the Community Involvement Program at the Annenberg Institute.

INSIDE:

postINSIDE

Just 22 percent of students at schools with high poverty rates meet the state’s standard for English language arts, compared to 58 percent of students at low-poverty schools, the report said. Only 18 percent of eighth grade students at high-poverty schools achieved proficiency in math in 2004-2005, compared to 75 percent at low-poverty schools. Almost 80 percent of eighth graders at the high-income schools achieved proficiency in science in 2004-2005, while less than 20 percent at the low-income schools were up to par. The report, citing a “very sizable race and class achievement gap” in “course offerings and instructional resources,” calls for a “Marshall Plan” to reform middle-grade school education — which includes sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students at both middle schools and other schools. Its recommendations include expanding schools’ curriculums, hiring highly qualified teach-

POST- GOES TO WALL ST. Post- presents its thoughts on n the new year year, the latest music and whether or not Brown students can succeed in investment banking

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ers and principals, shrinking class sizes and encouraging strong academic, social and emotional support networks. But Norman Fruchter, director of the Community Involvement Program, said he doubts the city will implement the report’s recommendations. “They’re headed in another direction, and I don’t think middle schools are a priority for them,” he added. Eric Zachary, a CIP senior project director, called implementing the recommendations a “political struggle.” In a written statement from spokeswoman Lindsey Harr ’04, the city’s Department of Education acknowledged that middleschool education is a “critical challenge” but defended its progress in recent years, including adding $40 million a year “to fund academic interventions and improve instruction,” closing failing schools and creating “small learning communities in large middle schools.”

SAY NO TO TRANS FATS A proposed bill in the R.I. General Assembly could force the Ratty and area restaurants to cut trans fats out of their recipes

11 OPINIONS

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

The coalition and the Annenberg Institute chose to examine middle schools as the “weakest link” in the pathway to college because researchers have noticed that many students entering high school are not prepared to cope with the level of work required there, Fruchter said. “Four out of every ﬁve students leave low-performing middle-grade schools without attaining the minimal levels of math and science capacity necessary to meet the demands of high school,” according to the report. That lack of preparation has led to the “ninth-grade bulge,” the inability of middleschool graduates to advance past the ﬁrst year of high school, the report said. The Community Involvement Program, the education policy program that wrote the report, was previously located at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University and in September 2006 merged with the Annenberg Institute.

DPS: DEMANDING MORE Ben Bernstein ’09 explores the Department of Public Safety’s relationship with Brown’s student body — and what a student can do to improve it

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M. BASKETBALL BLUES The men’s basketball team has had a rocky season — losing three players, including star Keenan Jeppesen ’08, who tried to transfer to Penn

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TODAY THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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TODAY

WE A T H E R

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

WBF | Matt Vascellaro TOMORROW

wintry mix 40 / 28

cloudy 37 / 30

MENU SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH — Chicken Fingers, Baked Vegan Nuggets with Dipping Sauces, Hawaiian Pineapple Brown Rice, Zucchini Yianchi, Vegan Tofu Pups, Wafﬂe Fries, Washington Apple Cake

LUNCH — Vegetarian Eggplant Vegetable Soup, Chicken Mulligatawny Soup, Hot Turkey Sandwich, Stuffed Shells with Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Green Peas, Chocolate Chip Cookies

DINNER — Chicken in the Rough, Vegetarian Tamale Pie, Cajun Potatoes, V Sugar Snap Peas, Cauliﬂower in Dill Mustard Sauce, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Pasta with Sauce, Five Grain Bread

DINNER — Roast Loin of Pork, Vegan Paella, Au Gratin Potatoes with Fresh Herbs, French Style Green Beans with Tomatoes, Five Grain Bread, Chocolate Vanilla Pudding Cake

How to Get Down | Nate Saunders

SUDOKU Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. Deo | Daniel Perez

12 Pictures | Wesley Allsbrook

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 With 16-Across, term climax 6 Lies 10 Demo doers 14 __ 2600: early game console 15 Pillage 16 See 1-Across 17 Gas used in highintensity headlights 18 Tolstoy’s Karenina 19 7.65% PR deduction 20 Oklahoma shipping supply? 23 Olympics chant 26 Vacation souvenir 27 Bother 28 Controversial food additive 30 Fill in for 32 Indiana athlete? 34 Jets’ gp. 37 Dedicatee of Beethoven’s “Bagatelle in A Minor” 38 N.Y. neighbor 39 Numerical relationship 41 Bank acct. entry 42 Oregon newcomers? 44 Five-sided home? 46 Tell with confidence 47 Ashen complexion 50 Rocker Adam 51 For each 52 Florida flower? 56 “Voice of Israel” author 57 Not ostensible 58 Flinch, e.g. 62 Big volume 63 Old preposition 64 Lost money on “Jeopardy!” e.g. 65 Toledo titles: Abbr. 66 More than half 67 Copes, slangily DOWN 1 Office machine 2 Social finish

3 Bert Bobbsey’s twin 4 Pop music middle name that can be spelled two ways 5 Printing machine 6 Rant online 7 New York college whose team is the Gaels 8 Former West German capital 9 Speak uncertainly 10 Second drink 11 Outcast 12 Duel units 13 Hurt 21 Angler’s purchase 22 Earthlink rival 23 More than asked 24 Black Panthers cofounder 25 Leaking slowly 29 Bad beginning? 30 “The Playboy of the Western World” dramatist 31 Fountain of jazz 33 Summer month at the Sorbonne 34 Devoured

35 Thread on the Thames 36 Unsuccessful trophy seeker 39 Put back 40 Spots on-screen 42 Tympanic membrane 43 Popular iPod 44 Smooths, in a way 45 Colleague of Boris

47 Yeats and Keats 48 __ Day 49 Woolly beast 50 Give out by share 53 Cab connoisseur’s prefix 54 Loopy 55 Only 59 First name at Notre Dame 60 Toon frame 61 XP preceders

Jellyﬁsh, Jellyﬁsh | Adam Hunter Peck

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Homefries | Yifan Luo

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METRO THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

METRO

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Trans fatty? Soon, perhaps not the Ratty

BRIEF

Brown profs get state grants for research The Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council recently awarded $1.5 million in grants to seven scientific collaborations in the state, including five involving at least one Brown researcher, according to a Jan. 17 news release by the council. Brown professors are principal investigators in three of the projects awarded grants. One uses virtual reality technology “to improve the design of prosthetic limbs,”” another increases understanding of “how radiation therapy causes permanent damage in patients with testicular cancer”” and the third develops “high-tech toys”” to help children with diseases like cerebral palsy in physical therapy, according to the release. Joseph Crisco, principal investigator of the rehabilitative toys project and professor of orthopaedics at Alpert Medical School, said an academic affiliation was required to qualify for the grant, and Crisco said his affiliation with the University helped his project get a $200,000 grant. “Brown is the only one (that) has an orthopedic department in the state,”” he said. “The medical school is critical,”” he said, because there are no other medical schools in Rhode Island. To avoid a conflict of interest, the co-chair of the council, Brown’s ’ ’s Vice President for Research Clyde Briant, did not serve on the selection committee, wrote Melissa Withers of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, which provided funding for the grants, in an e-mail to The Herald. Briant could not be reached for comment. —Simmi Aujla

Rhode Island may see sales tax holiday The General Assembly is considering a sales tax holiday for Rhode Island. If passed, shoppers would not have to pay any sales tax on purchases of items up to $1,000 on one weekend of the year. “Consumers love this idea, and so do retailers,”” said State Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, D-Dist. 33, who introduced the legislation, in a Jan. 18 press release. ““As we have seen from other states that have been offering their residents a sales tax holiday, this has the potential to generate a tremendous amount of business and save consumers a tremendous amount of money.” Massachusetts and Connecticut currently have sales tax holidays. If the bill is passed in its current form, Rhode Island’s ’’s sales tax holiday would take place this year from Aug. 11 to 13. —Simmi Aujla

City goes red for heart disease awareness The American Heart Association will paint the town red in February. To help raise awareness of American Heart Month and the AHA’s ’ ’s “Go Red For Women”” campaign, the lights of the Rhode Island State House, One Financial Plaza and the Bank of America building will shine red for the month. The Providence landmarks join the Empire State Building and Niagara Falls in ““going red” for the month of February, according to a Jan. 31 press release from the AHA. Heart disease is a leading cause of death among Americans. The association is also sponsoring National Wear Red Day For Women this Friday, Feb. 2, to “support the ﬁght against heart disease in women,”” according to the campaign’’s Web site. — Sara Molinaro

BY SARA MOLINARO METRO EDITOR

Many recipes at the Sharpe Refectory may have to change by this summer if proposed legislation is passed by the Rhode Island General Assembly. The bill would ban the use of artificial trans fats by any food service establishment by July 1, following in the steps of a nearly identical bill passed by the New York state legislature in December. Artificial trans fats exist most commonly in cooking oils, shortenings and margarines, which are made with partially hydrogenated plant oils. The fats are often found in restaurants as an ingredient in fried food and baked goods. John O’Shea, executive chef for Brown Dining Services, said some recipes served in campus eateries are made with artificial trans fats. Most baked goods and frosting served on campus are made with shortening that contains partially hydrogenated soy-

Eunice Hong / Herald

A bill introduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly, if passed, would ban the use of artiﬁcial trans fats in restaurants by July 1.

bean oils, a kind of artiﬁcial trans fat, O’Shea said. However, he said all Frialators — a brand of deep-fryers — at campus eateries use an oil called “Tri-Fri,” made of canola, grape

seed and sunﬂower oil, which he called “a lot healthier” and free of trans fats. O’Shea called the proposed ban “the right way to go if continued on page 6

Legislation aims to minimize racial proﬁling BY SIMMI AUJLA METRO EDITOR

A bill intended to restrict Rhode Island police officers’ power to pull over and search drivers was introduced in the House of Representatives Tuesday by Rep. Joe Almeida, D-Dist. 12. Sen. Rhoda Perry P’91, D-Dist. 3, whose district includes Brown’s campus, will soon introduce an identical bill in the state Senate. Perry and Almeida say they hope the legislation will stop officers from pulling over and searching cars based solely on the driver’s skin color. The bill, if passed, would ban officers from using a traffic violation as an excuse to pull over drivers for other reasons and from asking pas-

sengers for identification or proof of citizenship during a stop without suspicion of criminal activity, except when complying with federal law. It also requires officers to record their reasons for searching cars on traffic stops and will restrict their use of juvenile consent searches, in which officers search any minor who has given consent. Almeida and Perry drafted the legislation largely in response to studies conducted by Northeastern University in the summer of 2003 and April 2006, according to Perry. The studies showed Rhode Island police stop non-white drivers at higher rates than they stop white drivers and are twice as likely to search non-white drivers. But the studies revealed that, when searched, white drivers are more

frequently found with contraband such as drugs, alcohol and weapons. Perry said she has always supported legislation expanding protection against racial profiling. “I continued my interests in introducing this legislation,” she said. “Brown has always been helpful to me on these issues.” The bill will not affect the University in any way, said Michael Chapman, vice president for public affairs and University relations, after speaking with the Office of the General Counsel, which handles Brown’s legal affairs. The Department of Public Safety already has “safeguards” that ensure that its ban on racial profiling is obeyed, he continued on page 6

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

DPS surveys campus opinion despite low responses in past continued from page 1 Josh Teitelbaum ’08, a member of the Coalition for Police Accountability and Institutional Transparency, said he took the survey and agrees it is “always a good idea to collect community opinion.” Teitelbaum said he read an article in The Herald about the survey last semester and saw the announcement in Morning Mail, but he doubts the survey will get more respondents than it has in

the past. “Last time it was taken, the population that responded was extremely low, and I don’t see that they’ve done a much better job advertising it this year,” Teitelbaum said. The survey “did not do a good job of being balanced or in-depth,” especially because it reaches so few in the community, Teitelbaum added. “Ultimately, a survey is an interesting tool,” Teitelbaum said. “But

the point is, it doesn’t matter if they gauge the opinion of the community as a whole because it’s obvious that there are certain communities that are dissatisﬁed.” According to de Ramel, the survey is just one of many tools DPS uses to reach out to the Brown community. She wrote that DPS is “involved in many other initiatives to learn and communicate,” including initiatives with the Ofﬁce of Residential Life and the Public Safety Oversight Committee.

UChicago, seeking prestige, drops Uncommon Application continued from page 1 statement. “The only thing that is really ‘uncommon’ about our application is the essay section, and that will remain unchanged in a supplement that will be required of all applicants,” Behnke wrote. “We may even keep the term ‘uncommon’ in some way, but students will now be able to submit truly common information such as name and address, family information and list of activities in a common way.” Although the decision is ﬁnal, some students remain opposed. Behnke said, “There was an outcry in response to language implying that we were replacing our own application with the Common Application. When we reassured people that we would still be requiring our own essays, most expressed understanding.” Luis Lara, a junior at UChicago protesting the change, disagreedwith the decision to adopt the Common Application as well as the administration’s handling of the change. “The university has no intention of allowing students to have their say in the matter. It was done without our input, and there was no public discussion

held,” Lara said. Lara added that the Common Application encourages students to apply to schools they haven’t fully researched. “The Uncommon Application is symbolic for the university, and it is a reason students apply. (The Common Application) is going to make it easy for students to just apply to a school they don’t even know about,” Lara said. “Applicants will apply to the school and treat it as a lottery because they can apply to so many others. Many of them probably won’t know anything about what the school stands for.” Lara started a Facebook group called “Save the Uncommon Application,” which over 1,000 members joined. Because of the high number of members, Lara, along with other students, has decided to start a petition against the change. “So far, we have 1,272 signatures, and we plan to present this to the administration. But so far, university ofﬁcials aren’t responding,” Lara said. Other students acknowledge both positive and negative effects to the change. “Changing to the Common Application will deﬁnitely raise the number of students that apply to the university, and this in turn will

raise the school’s rankings,” said sophomore Steven Leiva. “However, the school has always prided itself on resisting the change that other comparable institutions have followed in accepting the Common Application. I have always believed that this fact helps account for the kinds of students that enroll at (UChicago).” Behnke said the university’s transition to the Common Application was part of an effort to improve UChicago’s ability to compete with other top schools by increasing the number of applicants. “We received 10,340 applicants this year. That is considerably lower than the number received by our peer institutions. We do not expect the same jump in the number of applications as many peers experience,” Behnke said. “We do not try to be all things to all people, and our especially challenging essay questions will continue to make that clear. I do expect, however, that we will be somewhat more selective.” Lara takes issue with changing part of UChicago’s culture in order to bolster its prestige. “I don’t think this is the only way that the University can compete against other top universities and be numbered high in rankings,” he said.

C AMPUS N EWS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Hill ’04 and Fulmer ’05 use grant to bring local food to R.I. public schools Lottery’s “First Pick” competition begins today NEWS

I N

BRIEF

The competition for the best room on campus begins today. Residential Council announced its annual “Win the First Pick in the Lottery” contest on its Web site last night. To enter the contest, students must submit an answer to the question, “Why do you deserve to live in the best room on campus?” in any form they want. The ResCouncil Web site suggests a videotape, audio tape, drawing or written submission. “In starting this, our hope was that people would do great works of sculpture or even community service,” said Justin GlavisBloom ’07, chair of ResCouncil, which began the contest in 2005. Submissions are due Feb. 22 by 5 p.m., and finalists will be posted on the ResCouncil Web site for the entire student body to vote on. The creators of the submission with the most votes will win the first pick in the housing lottery. “It’s a lot of fun, a great opportunity to build community,” Glavis-Bloom said. Last year’s winning entry, submitted by a group of eight sophomores, was a spoof of R. Kelly’s, “Trapped in the Closet.” Last year, the campaign for votes heated up. During the competition, “there were incidents where some students felt pressured to vote for a particular group and got in touch with ResCouncil and asked that their vote not be counted,” Glavis-Bloom said. This year, he said, ResCouncil will be “making it very clear to the (finalists) that they are encouraged to campaign but not coerce.” — Kristina Kelleher

BY CHRISTIAN MARTELL STAFF WRITER

The Wednesday farmers market outside the Sharpe Refectory is familiar to most students, but its origins may not be as well known. The event, which is weekly during warm weather months, was the ﬁrst stage in Louella Hill’s ’04 mission to bring locally grown produce to Brown — a project she still helps oversee through Farm Fresh Rhode Island, which received its third consecutive grant from the Rhode Island Foundation last month. Farm Fresh RI, which was initiated by and maintains connections with the University’s Department of Environmental Studies, will use the $35,000 grant to jump-start the Farm-to-School project, which will connect local farmers with school districts. Since Hill and Noah Fulmer ’05 co-founded Farm Fresh RI in 2004, the organization has connected local farmers with food buyers to encourage production and consumption of locally grown foods. The Farm-to-School project will be the organization’s largest effort to bring healthier foods to Rhode Island schoolchildren. The project is in coordination with Kids First, a Rhode Island organization that seeks to “guide communities to improve the nutritional and physical well-being of children,” according to its Web site. For two years, Kids First has run a pilot program, Food-toSchools, that brings locally grown food to children in Pawtucket, and the recent grant will allow them to expand it to school districts statewide in partnership with Farm Fresh RI. “Basically, we are getting rid of the middleman so that the food in cafeterias is fresher,” Fulmer, executive director of Farm Fresh RI, said. Fulmer and Hill brought local food to Brown in the same way. In her senior year, Hill lobbied President Ruth Simmons to commit the University to buying local food, and set up a weekly farmer’s market, organized the annual corn shuck-off and helped start the Ratty’s Roots and Shoots line. Because Brown Dining Services selects its own food suppliers, with help from

Eunice Hong / Herald

Jack Sullivan ’09 (left), Herald editorial cartoonist Alexander Gard-Murray ’09 (middle) and Jessica Marquardt ’07 (right) participated in the corn-shucking contest sponsored by the farmers market last fall.

Hill the University’s eateries quickly began offering local vegetables, fruits, eggs, meat and milk. Hill is currently abroad on a “cheese sabbatical,” Fulmer said. Fulmer’s involvement with Farm Fresh RI began when he designed the organization’s Web site, FarmFreshRI.org, which allows users to order fresh produce online and stay informed about upcoming farmer’s markets and the organization’s other initiatives. “I was looking for a place to create social change and food was a good place to start,” Fulmer said. “I knew Louella from school and decided to get involved with the project.” Farm Fresh RI is part of a larger trend of organizations, some connected to colleges, that support locally produced food. According to

the Community Food Service Coalition, which also promotes locally grown food, Yale University spent the most money on locally grown produce and meat in 2005 among all North American universities surveyed — $1.5 million out of its $4 million food services budget. Farm Fresh RI’s efforts have already expanded beyond Brown — it is currently trying to preserve the 858 Rhode Island farms that remain of the 3,000 farms operating in the state in the 1930’s, according to the Brown Alumni Magazine — and Fulmer is optimistic that the organization will continue to grow. “I see promise in (Farm Fresh) to go forward,” Fulmer said. “Some Rhode Island school districts are already starting with our programs.”

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R.I. General Assembly seeks to ban trans fats continued from page 3 it’s healthier for you” and said Dining Services wants to “be ahead of the curve” in terms of healthy eating. Dining Services is looking to begin using shortenings free of trans fats in the near future, but O’Shea said switching over would be a “long process.” He said Dining Services has a “huge” recipe ﬁle, and recipes would need to be tested to see how they would be affected by a new kind of shortening. “We need to be comparing apples to apples as far as product consistency is concerned,” O’Shea said. In numerous scientiﬁc studies, trans fats have been linked with coronary heart disease. Trans fats increase levels of low-density lipoprotein, commonly known as bad cholesterol, and decrease levels of highdensity lipoprotein, often called good cholesterol. This shift in cholesterol levels contributes to coronary heart disease. Rep. Eileen Naughton, DDist. 21, introduced the bill into the House of Representatives with Rep. Joseph McNamara, D-Dist. 19. Naughton told The Herald she believes legislators

should always be “working on ways to promote wellness” and that good nutrition is an important element of wellness. Naughton said a ban on trans fats is the most effective way to ensure good nutrition. She cited New York’s unsuccessful public education campaign, which aimed to teach consumers about the dangers of trans fats and encourage restaurants to voluntarily rid their food of the fats. “The FDA tried labels (on packaged foods), but restaurants don’t put labels on their food,” Naughton said. There are consequences to poor public health, and people consuming trans fats are “suffering consequences needlessly,” Naughton said. “We can change that,” she said. “Alternative products are readily available.” After the New York ban on trans fats was passed, many large restaurant chains such as McDonald’s, Wendy’s and KFC said they would eliminate trans fats nationwide. Naughton said she hopes Rhode Island can take advantage of the demand for food free of trans fats created by the New York ban. “It’s time for the market to shift,” she said.

Thayer Street restaurants, cafes and coffee shops would also be required to eliminate trans fats from their menus. Kathleen Barlow, a supervisor at Johnny Rockets, said she was aware of the proposed legislation but didn’t think it would affect the restaurant. “Our oil is soy vegetable,” she said. Barlow said she knew of the ban that had been passed in New York, but she said she wasn’t aware of any Johnny Rockets restaurants that had to change ingredients. “I think we would have heard about it,” she said. Kabob and Curry Manager Zahiri Thinoon also said he was familiar with the proposed legislation and that the restaurant had already begun creating dishes without trans fats. Thinoon said the restaurant hoped to eliminate the use of artiﬁcial trans fats altogether soon. Baked goods at the Starbucks on Thayer Street are already completely free of trans fats, according to nutritional information on the company’s Web site. Baked goods at Dunkin’ Donuts and Au Bon Pain do contain artiﬁcial trans fats, with the highest levels in pastries such as doughnuts, danishes and croissants.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

Bill targets racial profiling continued from page 3 said. ““These safeguards include training, supervision, complaint mechanisms, collection of stop data and analysis of possible trends that are conducted by DPS leadership and the Public Safety Oversight Committee,” he said. But Perry said a September incident of alleged police brutality against a black graduate student at the University contributed to the decision to introduce the legislation. “It was a marginal concern, but marginal concerns add up to major concerns,” she said. Other “marginal concerns” include an incident on July 11 when officials stopped a van for failing to signal a lane change, resulting in the detainment and transportation to immigration headquarters of 14 Guatemalans who were inside the van, Perry said. The alleged incident of police brutality against a Brown student “is certainly an example that racial profiling seems to permeate law enforcement in a variety of situations,” said Stephen Brown, the executive director of the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. In lobbying for the legislation, Brown said he and other supporters of the bill might remind Providence

legislators of the incident to convince them to support the bill. Several reports released by the ACLU in the past will also provide impetus for supporting the legislation, Brown said. The latest report, released last month, said racial profiling by Rhode Island police has not changed significantly since the ACLU first analyzed data from a traffic stop study in March 2005. Almeida, a retired Providence police officer cer, did not return calls for comment. But at a Jan. 16 news conference, he said, “A look at the news lately will tell you that, despite the laws we’ve already passed, racial profiling is still happening in Rhode Island,” according to the press release. In 2004, the General Assembly passed a racial profiling act — also sponsored by Perry and Almeida — that banned “consent” searches and detention of drivers without probable cause and required the continued collection of data on traffic stops. But Perry said the most recent Northeastern study “revealed that police departments had not made any substantial efforts or substantial changes that would address the finding of the data (from previous studies).” Major Steven O’Donnell, a spokesman for the Rhode Island State Police, did not return calls for comment.

www.browndailyherald.com

W ORLD & N ATION THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

WO R L D

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I N

BRIEF

Panel convicts former justice minister JERUSALEM (Los Angeles Times) —The kiss lasted a few seconds. The morality play it inspired lasted more than six months, riveting Israelis and their legal system on a single question: Did she or didn’t she want it? The drama ended Wednesday when the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court ruled that the plaintiff, a 21-year-old female army first lieutenant,“did not flirt with the accused, did not initiate the kiss and did not consent to it.’” With that, a three-judge panel convicted Haim Ramon, a founder of the prime minister’s Kadima party and an architect of his ruling coalition, of violating Israel’s sexual harassment law by committing an “indecent act’” while he was justice minister. The unanimous verdict, which could send the 56-year-old divorced man to prison for up to three years, jolted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s scandal-plagued government. Olmert had been confident enough in an acquittal that he was holding the justice post open for Ramon, who had resigned last August to face trial. But the effect of the ruling went beyond politics. Some legal experts called it an advance for women’s advocates in Israel battling to redefine the boundaries between powerful men and the young women who work around them.

White House to share surveillance with Congress WASHINGTON (Los Angeles Times) — A two-week standoff over documents in the White House domestic spying program ended Wednesday when Attorney General Alberto Gonzales agreed to turn over to Congress classiﬁed material about secret eavesdropping. The Bush administration last month said it would put its surveillance of potential terrorist activities under supervision of a federal court but did not disclose details of its new eavesdropping program. A key Senate panel, newly controlled by Democrats, demanded access to the records to gauge whether the administration was going too far or breaking any laws in tracking terror suspects. The decision to share information with Congress was the latest concession by the Bush administration, which has argued that it has the right to conduct its “war on terror” as it deems necessary and that secrecy is vital to national security. The documents, which include applications for electronic wiretaps and orders from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court, will be made available to congressional committees only and not released to the public.

German court issues warrants for 13 CIA operatives BERLIN (Los Angeles Times)— A Munich court has ordered the arrest of 13 U.S. intelligence operatives in connection with the kidnapping and beating of a German citizen who was interrogated for five months at a secret prison in Afghanistan, prosecutors announced Wednesday. The suspects belong to a CIAsponsored team that allegedly flew Khaled Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, from Macedonia to Afghanistan in January 2004. Each of the accused, all but one of whom were identified only by aliases, were charged with kidnapping and causing serious bodily harm. Police found a “strong suspicion” that the operatives were involved in Masri’s disappearance, said a statement released by the Munich prosecutor’s office. “According to the information we have, the suspects listed in the arrest warrants are believed to be so-called code names of CIA agents. The investigation will now focus on learning the actual names of the suspects.” Legal experts said it was unlikely the accused, including four pilots, a medic and members of an operations unit, would appear before a German court. CIA and U.S. State Department officials have refused to comment in detail about the Masri case, but the Bush administration has said anti-terror laws allow for such covert operations, known as “extraordinar y renditions.” U.S. officials have denied allegations of torture.

“As far as I know, the German court has never issued an arrest warrant against 13 CIA officials all at once,” said Hans-Christian Stroeble, a member of a parliamentary committee investigating the Masri case, whose Greens Party has criticized the renditions program as a violation of human rights. “This is a great success.” The intelligence operatives, most of whom are believed to be Americans, are alleged to have been involved in a mission that loaded a bound and drugged Masri onto a Boeing 737 that flew him from Skopje, Macedonia, to Afghanistan in the early morning of Jan. 24, 2004. Masri had been detained weeks earlier by Macedonian security officials when he attempted to cross the Serbian-Macedonian border. He said while in Macedonian custody he was beaten and photographed naked. German prosecutors initially were skeptical of Masri’s tale: that he disappeared into a hidden dimension in the fight against terrorism and was held for interrogation and abuse before he was released in the mountains of Albania in May 2004. But German authorities said they concluded that the car salesman and father of four was telling the truth. German officials believe Masri was the victim of mistaken identity: a man with the same name as a suspected terrorist linked to al-Qaida. Former Interior Minister Otto Shilly has told a German government committee that U.S. officials privately apologized for

the abduction. U.S. authorities never charged Masri with a crime, and German prosecutors have criticized Washington for not cooperating with their investigation. German ofﬁcials allege that the operatives, many of whom live in North Carolina, work for Aero Contractors, which has been linked by news reports and German investigators to the CIA. The company is connected to Premier Executive Transport Services Inc., which held the registration for the Boeing that transported Masri, according to European aviation documents. The case also has led to questions within the German government. The parliamentary committee is investigating whether German agents were involved in the abduction and why Foreign Minster Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who then oversaw intelligence agencies for the chancellery, did not immediately disclose his knowledge of the affair. The case, at times, has agitated the improving relationship between Berlin and Washington. In 2005, following a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was pleased the Bush administration “admitted this man (Masri) had been erroneously taken.” But a senior U.S. ofﬁcial quickly denied such a characterization, saying that Masri was released because Washington “no longer had evidence or intelligence to justify” his detention.

tenants

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

The State of Red Sox Nation continued from page 12 six-year, $52-million contract. In essence, Boston is dishing out (to be read a la Dr. Evil) $100 million for a hurler who has never thrown a Major League pitch. What are they getting in return? Daisuke (nickname: The Monster) is a legend, one of the best Japanese pitchers ever. He brings some impressive career numbers over to the States — in eight seasons, he has gone 108-60 with a 2.95 ERA, 8.70 strikeouts per nine innings and 72 complete games. Are you wondering if he can handle MLB-quality hitters? In his first encounter with superstar Ichiro Suzuki, who at the time played in Japan but now plays for the Seattle Mariners, DiceK struck out Ichiro in his first three at-bats. He brings a repertoire of six to eight pitches that are deceptively thrown with identical arm positions. Among these pitches is the mysterious gyroball, a pitch that few have seen. It supposedly spirals like a football, has the velocity of a fastball and drops like a sinker. But bigger mysteries remain. How will Matsuzaka fare against the bigger hitters and brighter spotlights of the U.S.? Has Boston made a brilliant move, or will D-Mat’s success in Japan get lost in translation? No one knows for sure, but I predict that The Monster’s experience, poise on the big stage and brilliant array of pitches will make him an immediate Cy Young award contender. High-risk, high-reward Boston General Manager Theo Epstein must be feeling lucky. After rolling the $100 million Dice, Epstein gambled once again. After weeks of muddled and drawnout contract talks, the Sox locked up right-fielder J.D. Drew for five years and $70 million. Drew’s record is inconsistent, to say the least. He has been on the disabled list seven times in eight seasons. His average number of games played per season, out of the 162 total games, is a pathetic 118. And yet I still venture to say that the Sox made a smart move. Why? Two main reasons. First, those drawn-out contract talks were not just for fun. The Sox added a crucial clause to the contract allowing them to release Drew after three years if his right shoulder remains problematic. This move saves the Sox from potentially paying their right fielder to warm the bench in a sling. Second, J.D. Drew’s potential is just too hard to ignore. In 2001, Drew hit .323 with 27 home runs in only 109 games — that projects to 40 HRs over a full season. In 2004 with the Atlanta Braves, he hit .305 with 31 HRs in 145 games. J.D. Drew was the best available outfielder for the Sox, and they love the extraordinary patience and power that Drew provides. If Drew can stay healthy — and that’s a big if — the heart of Boston’s lineup (Manny Ramirez — David Ortiz — J.D. Drew) becomes one of the most fearsome in the Major Leagues. Will the Sox take the AL East crown and stun the Yankees? Well, judging from their risky offseason moves, many question marks loom. If all the stars align, the Sox may make a coup d’etat … but unlike GM Epstein, I’m not a betting man.

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Late-night chaos may cause Jo’s, Gate to close early, ofﬁcials say continued from page 1 meeting employed a tone of cooperation, saying they hoped to work with UCS on a solution without having to reduce the hours of operation at the two late-night eateries, which are now open until 2 a.m. But Carey said he would not rule out closing the eateries earlier, possibly at 1 a.m. UCS President John Gillis ’07 told The Herald after the meeting that he would likely plan a campaign to raise awareness of how students’ intoxicated behavior can affect Jo’s employees, adding that this was not the ﬁrst time he was made aware of the concern. “I don’t think it’s part of the student (consciousness) that it is a problem,” he said at the meeting. Many UCS members expressed concern that reducing the hours of operation at Jo’s and the Gate would be punishing everyone for the actions of a few, though most agreed that the current situation was problematic. “It’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Evan Wright ’10, an at-large representative. He said the Gate was probably less chaotic be-

cause it “feels cozier” that Jo’s. Several UCS members raised the possibility of doing something to make Jo’s feel less like a space that was acceptable to abuse, such as by putting art on the walls. Kelly Walton ’09, a class representative, said the shame or embarrassment people feel “might be a lot worse depending on how the surrounding atmosphere is.” The Gate, while not nearly as problematic as Jo’s, would be closed at the same time as Jo’s so that trafﬁc would not simply relocate and cause trouble there, Bell said. Willis said Jo’s serves about 2,200 customers during its operating hours, between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., with about 40 percent of customers coming between 10:30 p.m. and 2 a.m. Kyle Turner, a Johnson and Wales student working at Jo’s late last night, said most of the trouble comes on Wednesday nights, “after Fish Co.” Fish Co Bar and Grill, on South Water Street, hosts “Brown Night” on Wednesdays and typically draws a signiﬁcant crowd from campus.

“I’ve had fries thrown at me,” Turner said. “People just get inconsiderate when they get drunk.” But he added, “Officials from Brown over-exaggerate. They’ll send the managers over to (the UCS) meeting, but no one is actually here to see it except for us. I don’t think it’s horrible at all.” “For the most part, it keeps things exciting,” he said. Ronald Gordils, another Johnson and Wales student working at Jo’s last night, related the story of a fight that broke out one night. “It sounded like people were having a good time,” he said. “They were chanting and they were singing. And then when I went out to see, there was this one guy, and blood was pouring out of his nose, all over the floor. The only good thing about the fight was that the guy who had punched the other guy had to apologize to us.” But he echoed Turner in saying that everything wasn’t so terrible. “Coming from another school, Brown students are polite,” he said. “They’re not that bad.” Gordils said he has definitely

seen theft, though. “What bothers me most is when people eat their food before they pay for it,” he said. He said he once saw someone stuff a bag of chips into his pants and run away. Patrick Frawley, a floor manager working at Jo’s last night who said he had worked there for almost two years, said Dining Services should close Jo’s at midnight. “We’ve had to lock the loading door because people try to steal food from the pantry,” he said. Last year, a light fixture crashed down during a fight, he said. “It’s only a couple of times when people get actually angry,” Turner said, “like when we close the grill.” Also at last night’s meeting, Justin Glavis-Bloom ’07 was elected to the Undergraduate Finance Board, and Rakim Brooks ’09, Moses Riner ’08 and Christina Kim ’07 were elected to UCS. Representative Tara Gonsalves ’08 was elected UCS secretary. — With additional reporting by Eunice Hong

E DITORIAL & L ETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

STAF F EDITORIAL

Sur veying the protest Now that it’s too cold to protest on the Main Green, Co-PAIT members should consider voicing their frustrations with the Department of Public Safety comfortably behind a computer screen. Last week, DPS made available to the entire Brown community the public opinion survey it’s required to conduct every few years for re-accreditation. Though the department apparently delayed launching the site to increase survey participation, the late debut and poor publicity effort surrounding it do nothing to remedy DPS’ reputation for shoddy community outreach. If DPS ofﬁcials seek to ratchet up the response rate this time around — three years ago, just 4 percent of students and 3 percent of faculty and staff completed the survey — they should seek to convince students that this survey matters to DPS. Students may not have deliberately tracked down the survey, but once they’re aware of it, they should make an effort to complete it. Co-PAIT member Josh Teitelbaum ’08 suggests that the survey will not reﬂect the complaints of “certain communities” that have voiced concern about DPS. But the impact that last semester’s very public activism had on students should not be underestimated. Repeated protests, however small, broadened the scope of these issues and brought them to the attention of all Brown students. As a column on today’s Opinions page demonstrates, apprehension about DPS is not limited to “certain communities.” It matters to all students who care about Brown. If some students feel strongly enough about police conduct to protest on the Main Green, they can take 15 minutes to complete the 23question survey. Speaking your mind doesn’t require a megaphone. It’s okay to do it through a Web site. We know Co-PAIT members have dismissed formal meetings with administrators, but we hope they will see the survey as a potential tool for further expressing their criticisms. Responding to an institutional request for feedback doesn’t make you any less an activist.

JASON LI

LETTERS

The Fish Co effect

Darfur conference yielded real results

It’s common knowledge that drunken students tumble into Jo’s and the Gate late at night and irk the eateries’ employees, but administrators’ testimony at last night’s UCS meeting clearly indicates that the Fish Co effect has grown serious. Food services staff, who had to call EMS three times last weekend alone, should not have to double as a ﬁrst-response unit when intoxicated undergrads burst in around 1 a.m. Late-night antics like stomping on ketchup packets, spraying water bottles and, well, vomiting, may seem funny to student observers who can escape out the door to the comfort of a dorm room. But employees stuck behind counters and cashiers until the 2 a.m. closing time have no alternative but to stay and clean up. Though we support efforts to make late night shifts at Jo’s and the Gate less unpleasant and halt the 40-person turnover fueled by drunken heckling, there are real reasons to keep Jo’s open until 2 a.m. Students maintain odd hours, and late night venues are essential to a vibrant campus life. Enthusiasm surrounding the Friedman Study Center aptly demonstrates the importance of public spaces open after midnight. The Fish Co effect is unfortunate and should be addressed, but campus life ofﬁcials should not rush to revert to an earlier closing time. Hiring more security guards and closing Jo’s earlier on Fridays, Saturdays or even Wednesdays, are potential remedies, but returning to the policy of two years ago is not a nuanced solution.

To the Editor:

T HE B ROWN D AILY H ERALD Editors-in-Chief Eric Beck Mary-Catherine Lader

Executive Editors Allison Kwong Ben Leubsdorf

Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Features Editor Metro Editor Metro Editor News Editor Opinions Editor Opinions Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor

PHOTO Eunice Hong Christopher Bennett Jacob Melrose

Photo Editor Photo Editor Sports Photo Editor

American politicians to take concrete steps to end the atrocities. In the coming weeks we will introduce campaigns centered around the 2008 Olympics in China and the 2008 presidential elections. We welcome all students interested in ending the genocide, like Chougule, to attend our meetings on Sundays at 8:00 PM in Wilson 101. The Brown Darfur Action Network Eliza Sweren-Becker ‘09 Max Schoening ‘09 Scott Warren ‘09 Benjamin Rome ‘10 Karen Kovalevich ‘10 Megan Loucks ‘08 Kaitlyn Scott ‘10 Anjali Rao ‘10 Natalia Nazarewicz ‘10 David Wishnick ‘07 Anna Hidalgo ‘09 Jan. 30

Senior Editors Stephen Colelli Sonia Saraiya BUSINESS

EDITORIAL Lydia Gidwitz Lindsey Meyers Stephanie Bernhard Stu Woo Simmi Aujla Sara Molinaro Ross Frazier Jacob Schuman Michal Zapendowski Peter Cipparone Justin Goldman Sarah Demers Erin Frauenhofer Madeleine Marecki

In his Jan. 30 letter to the editor, Pratik Chougule ’08 criticized Brown Darfur activists for hosting “[a] feelgood regional conference and Ivy League art exhibits.” If Chougule attended the weekend’s events, he would have known that it was driven by a dedication to action, and that Darfur activists viewed it as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Tangible results of the conference include an endorsement from Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank Caprio of a bill mandating that Rhode Island divest from companies facilitating genocide in Sudan, the generating of over a hundred letters to national and local legislators demanding more action in Darfur — including divestment and support for a U.N. force — and prominent local and national press coverage surrounding the issue of genocide in Sudan. In order to effectively advocate for speciﬁc military and political solutions to the genocide, it is imperative to generate the political will to implement these solutions. This semester the Darfur Action Network will continue to build the requisite political will to convince

General Manager Mandeep Gill General Manager Ally Ouh Executive Manager Darren Ball Executive Manager Dan DeNorch Laurie-Ann Paliotti Sr. Advertising Manager Ofﬁce Manager Susan Dansereau PRODUCTION Design Editor Steve DeLucia Copy Desk Chief Chris Gang Graphics Editor Mark Brinker Graphics Editor Roxanne Palmer Web Editor Luke Harris POST- MAGAZINE Hillary Dixler Melanie Duch Taryn Martinez Rajiv Jayadevan Mindy Smith

Managing Editor Managing Editor Managing Editor Features Editor Features Editor

CORRECTION A photograph that accompanied an article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Skiing improves ranking after bumpy N.H. trip,” Jan. 31) was incorrectly attributed to Bil Talbot. The photographer was Gil Talbot.

Steve DeLucia, Designer Chris Gang, Lauren Levitz, Copy Editors Senior Staff Writers Rachel Arndt, Michael Bechek, Oliver Bowers, Zachary Chapman, Chaz Firestone, Kristina Kelleher, Debbie Lehmann, Scott Lowenstein, James Shapiro, Michael Skocpol Staff Writers Susana Aho, Taylor Barnes, Evan Boggs, Alissa Cerny, Irene Chen, Stewart Dearing, Nicole Dungca, Hannah Furst, Sarah Geller, Thi Ho, Rebecca Jacobson, Tsvetina Kamenova, Hannah Levintova, Christian Martell, Taryn Martinez, Zachary McCune, Jennifer Park, Nathalie Pierrepont, James Shapiro, Kam Sripada, Robin Steele, Spencer Trice, Sara Walter, Allissa Wickham, Max Winograd Sports Staff Writers Amy Ehrhart, Kaitlyn Laabs, Eliza Lane, Kathleen Loughlin, Megan McCahill, Marco Santini, Tom Trudeau, Steele West Account Administrators Emilie Aries, Alexander Hughes Design Staff Aurora Durfee, Christian Martell Photo Staff Stuart Duncan-Smith, Austin Freeman, Tai Ho Shin Copy Editors Ayelet Brinn, Catherine Cullen, Erin Cummings, Karen Evans, Jacob Frank, Lauren Levitz

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. COMMENTAR Y POLICY 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. ADVER TISING POLICY The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

O PINIONS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

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Police under ﬁre BEN BERNSTEIN CAMPUS ISSUES COLUMNIST

A faculty member subjected me to a joke last week. “Pete and Repeat were on a boat and Pete fell off. Who was left?” It’s a bad joke, but forgive longtime members of the Brown community if the past year has provoked feelings of deja vu. Specifically, the Department of Public Safety has faced the same accusations numerous times in the last five years. DPS — known to most students as the people who broke up your party freshman year — is Brown’s police force, and another round of profiling and abuse accusations raise some important questions. Most importantly: What can be done to improve the way Brown handles student safety? Incidents of alleged racial profiling last fall sparked large protests on the Main Green and the formation of the Coalition for Police Accountability and Institutional Transparency, the latest in a series of such student groups. Josh Teitelbaum ‘07, a leading member of Co-PAIT, said the group’s efforts have been aimed at raising awareness of “incidents of abuse of power by police, especially in cases of profiling” as well as students’ awareness of their own rights. Such allegations of abuse are not new. In 2004, a similar group, Action for Safety, was formed in response to alleged profiling of two Hispanic students by DPS. Before that, in 2002, a student was arrested because — according to the arresting officer — he “looked like a Hope High School student.” Admittedly, DPS has to tread a fine line between maintaining security and respecting students’ rights. According to its mission statement, DPS aims to foster “a stable environment in which security is balanced with freedom of movement, and individual rights are balanced with community needs.” As anyone who has lived at Brown for more than a week can attest, the laws that

apply to most citizens of Providence do not apply to Brown students on campus. The most obvious of these is the (lack of) consequences for being caught with drugs. A sophomore male who spoke to me on the condition of anonymity said, “When they caught me with drugs, they called me a delinquent, told my friend he was overweight because of drugs and then I got a slap on the wrist from a dean. They told us I should be glad the real police didn’t catch me.” DPS’s goal is clearly not to strictly enforce the law. Its true goal could be described as either student safety or, more cynically, the insulation of students from forces outside the

the very epitome of justice, but the fact that a group that is meant to impartially judge cases of police abuse is governed by the most visible police officer at Brown strikes me as a conflict of interest. Krishika Acharya ’07, a student member of PSOC, told me that it can be difficult for the students on the committee to influence decisions because of their small number. To make things worse, the current system allows UCS to appoint student members instead of letting the student body elect those who would best defend student interests. We should increase the number of students on the committee through student elections.

Incidents of proﬁling are inevitable in a police force that routinely acts as though their goal is the insulation of the Brown community from the Providence neighborhoods that surround it. Brown community — be they Providence criminals or Providence police. If the aim is to make Brown look and feel safe, then anyone who looks out of place can be targeted, regardless of whether they merely “look like a Hope High School student” or pose a real threat. DPS’ mission of insulation provides peace of mind to the majority of students, but at a high cost to those who don’t ﬁt a non-threatening stereotype. The best way for students to curtail the negative consequences of this philosophy is to increase student participation in DPS oversight. Currently three undergraduate students sit on a 20-member committee called the Public Safety Oversight Committee, which meets two to four times per semester for two hours. Leading the committee is not an impartial observer but instead Chief of Police Mark Porter. Porter could be

However, there is only so much student action can accomplish. The administration must also take steps to improve DPS. The last time the University evaluated DPS was in 2002 when President Ruth Simmons commissioned the Bratton Group, led by former NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton, to “review policy and procedures in the area of campus safety.” The resulting report famously recommended arming DPS, which Brown has since done. In addition, Bratton recommended improving ofﬁcer oversight — by, for example, discontinuing the practice of automatically dismissing studentbrought cases in which the complainant is unavailable. In a particularly revealing section of the report, police respond to accusations of racial proﬁling and abuse of power by claiming that “there is not a trace of racism in the or-

ganization.” Such a radically positive report is hard to believe — it is hard to believe that any group of people can be completely free from racism. What is clear, however, is that Bratton concluded that there is no room for improvement. Bratton himself is currently head of the LAPD and was involved with the taser incident at University of California, Los Angeles — which achieved its infamy from a truly shocking video posted on YouTube — in which a student studying in the library is repeatedly tasered for failing to show identification. Bratton also presided over the NYPD during the explosive Diallo incident in which officers shot a black man 41 times for holding a wallet they thought (or assumed) was a gun. And yet, Brown hired this specific officer to review campus security policy and took his word when he reported that “there is not a trace of racism” among Providence police. I don’t believe the Brown police are racist or that they systematically profile minority students. However, incidents of profiling are inevitable in a police force that routinely acts as though its goal is the insulation of the Brown community from the Providence neighborhoods that surround it. The way to address this problem is to accept the possibility of improvement and commission a new evaluation of the department by an unbiased consulting group, not one led by a renowned proponent of aggressive policing. In addition, the administration must provide students with a bigger part in the supervision of the police so the Brown community can be confident in the impartiality of oversight proceedings. We cannot wait for more incidents of profiling and abuse. The sooner UCS and the administration take action, the sooner Brown students can enjoy a campus that is not only safe but also just.

If you believe there is an issue on campus that should be brought to the attention of Ben Bernstein ’09, contact Benjamin_Bernstein@brown.edu.

Democrats, Republicans and the Jews BENJAMIN BRIGHT OPINIONS COLUMNIST

As long as anyone can remember, American Jews have dutifully lined up in support of the Democratic Party. That may soon change. Currently number six on the New York Times bestseller list, Jimmy Carter’s “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” is the newest invective against Israel. But the former president is no rogue Democrat: Across the party, support for Israel is waning. It is no great assumption that for many Americans — Jews, Muslims, Arabs, evangelicals, leftists — policies towards Israel determine how they vote. As such, the changing policies of the Republican and Democratic parties will radically alter the political alignment of these populations. Moreover, there is the problem of tackling the issue of conﬂating anti-Zionism and antiSemitism. The line between the two can often be difﬁcult to discern. But I will suggest that members of the Democratic Party and the liberal movement in general often cross that line. A few statistics will demonstrate the new Democratic apathy, and even antipathy, toward the state of Israel. Juxtapose Republican and Democratic support for Israel during the war last summer with Hezbollah. A Los Angeles Times poll found that, overall, 59 percent

of Americans believe Israel’s actions were justiﬁed. Only 49 percent of Democrats think so. Republicans on the other hand, believe Israel’s actions were justiﬁed by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1. In the same poll, 50 percent of those asked said the United States should continue to align with Israel, with 44 percent backing a neutral position. However, Democrats support neutrality by a margin of 54 to 39 percent, while Republicans support aligning with Israel 64 to 29 percent. A recent Gallup poll found that 72 percent of Democrats and 47 percent of Republicans express more sympathy for the Palestinians than they do for Israelis. Indeed, conservative Republicans are more likely than liberal Democrats to be sympathetic to Israel by a ratio of 5-to-1. The party alignments weren’t always like this. After the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, the Democrats emphasized the spiritual bonds that linked the interests of Israel and the United States. Indeed, not too long ago it was possible to be both communist and radically pro-Israel, and that includes members of my own family. The Republicans were cooler and more realistic, seeing Israel as a weak state and a liability during the Cold War. After Israel’s victory during the 1967 war, Republicans became more enthusiastic about the little state that could. In 1985, Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes concluded that “liberals and conservatives support Israel versus the Arabs in similar proportions.” However, since the end of the Cold War,

Democratic sympathies have increasingly swung to the Palestinian Arab cause, characterized by outbursts against both Israel and the Jews by Democratic Party luminaries. For example, Jesse Jackson referred to New York as “Hymietown” in a 1984 interview and said he was “sick and tired of hearing about the Holocaust.” Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, D-Ga., ran a stridently antiSemitic campaign in 2002, blaming the Jews for her eventual defeat. Rep. James Moran, D-Va., made clear in a 2003 speech that the Jewish community sent America into Iraq for the beneﬁt of Israel. Rep. Earl Hilliard’s, DAla., campaign slogan against opponent Artur Davis was “Davis and the Jews, bad for the black belt.” Of course, the Democratic Party is neither fundamentally anti-Zionist nor anti-Semitic. Nevertheless, there is a growing trend of lefty hatred and vitriol towards Israel and the Jews, the most extreme examples of which can be found on the liberal blogosphere and sometimes even university campuses. Many decried the blatant anti-Semitism directed at Joseph Lieberman by Ned Lamont’s supporters this summer, including former special White House counsel to President Clinton Lanny Davis in an op-ed to the Wall Street Journal. Conversely, spurred on by the rise of the Christian right and its 70 million evangelicals, the Republican Party has never been more welcoming to the Jews nor supportive of Israel. Indeed, many Christian Republicans are more Zionist than their counterparts in the American Jewish community.

Take this gem from Sen. James Inhofe, ROka., delivered from the Senate floor in December 2001: “The Bible says that (Abraham) removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron. … It is at this place where God appeared to Abram and said, ‘I am giving you this land’ … This is not a political battle at all. It is a contest over whether or not the word of God is true.” Don’t get me wrong, I find this kind of God-speak absurd. But I will gladly accept this man’s support rather than defend the party of a former president who erroneously believes that “apartheid” describes the conditions in the West Bank and that Palestinian suicide bombing is therefore justified (see page 213 of “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”). While I would not say that Carter is an anti-Semite, the former president has revealed his true colors: A naive leftist who is quick to internalize anti-Semitic myths (e.g., the Jewish lobby controls everything). As a person who strongly associates Jewish interests with Israel’s, supporting the Democratic Party is becoming more and more difficult. Though I may have been raised in a strongly liberal household, vot voting Republican might not be nearly as distressing as voting for a candidate either opposed to the state of Israel or perhaps even anti-Semitic. Jewish fealty to the Democratic Party is no longer appreciated or reciprocated. As such, the time has come to consider a move to the other side of the aisle.

Benjamin Bright ’07 lives on a tropical aisle.

S PORTS T HURSDAY THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2007

The State of Red Sox Nation

Jeppesen ’08, former m. hoops frontman, attempted Penn transfer

BY ELLIS ROCHELSON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

BY ZACHARY CHAPMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Last week I analyzed the Yankees’ powerful and successful off-season. While New York improved significantly, its Beantown rivals were not sitELLIS’ MLB Exclusive ting on their hands. After a disappointing 33-43 second half in 2006, including a dismal 9-21 in October, the Red Sox are hungry to return to playoff form. Here’s a recap of Boston’s moves this off-season and why the Sox may keep Yankees fans on their toes in 2007.

After an impressive early-season victory over cross-town rival Providence College, it seemed the men’s basketball season was off to a promising start. That victory, however, has been one of the lone bright spots in what has been a challenging season both on and off the court for ﬁrst-year Head Coach Craig Robinson. “The season has been even tougher than our record indicates,” Robinson said. The Bears, who stand at 6-13 overall and 1-3 in the Ivy League, have had to contend with the departure of guard and key contributor Keenan Jeppesen ’08, who left the team in early December, citing personal reasons. Jeppesen had a breakout season in 2006, averaging 16.6 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per game. Both were team highs. The team was also without forward Mark MacDonald ’08 for a three-week stretch in January. MacDonald said he took a leave of absence from the team to focus on a personal matter back home. He has since rejoined the team and collected one point and three rebounds in 16 minutes of action in last Friday’s loss at Dartmouth. Most recently, forward Nathan Eads ’07 was declared academically ineligible for the second semester. Eads said last semester was a difﬁcult time for him personally and that he was only able to pass one of the four classes that he was taking. Robinson said he could not comment on the Eads situation other than to say that he remains with the team but was not playing in any games. “It did catch me a little bit by surprise,” Eads said of the news that he was academically ineligible. Eads said he is applying to the NCAA for reinstatement and will know in a few weeks whether he will be al-

Kapler hangs up his yarmulke This Hot Stove brings tidings of a sad loss for the Red Sox and all of baseball: after seven MLB seasons, four with Boston, 31-year-old outfielder Gabe Kapler has retired. This leaves Shawn Green (Mets), David Newhan (Mets), Scott Schoeneweis (Mets), Brad Ausmus (Astros), Mike Lieberthal (Dodgers), Jason Marquis (Cubs) and Kevin Youkilis (Red Sox) as the only significant Jewish players in the Major Leagues. The Mets deserve credit for having three Jews on their active roster — possibly an all-time record — but the rest of the league needs to catch up following Kapler’s retirement. Pointless “Tims” Right at the onset of the Hot Stove, the Red Sox made two strange and unhelpful moves. On Oct. 30, they signed starting pitcher Tim Wakefield and reliever Mike Timlin to oneyear deals. Wakefield’s knuckleball has been a welcome idiosyncrasy in the Boston rotation since 1995, but the 40-year-old no longer fits on a team with five stronger starting pitchers. The Red Sox’s 2007 rotation should consist of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, Jon Papelbon and Jon Lester (assuming he recovers from lymphoma). Besides, Wakefield owns a career 9-13 record and 4.60 ERA against the hated Yankees — in essence, he’s a waste of money and roster space. While signing fan-favorite Wakefield at least has sentimental value, the Timlin signing is just silly. The 41-year-old strikes out few hitters and lets tons of runners on base. After letting these two geezers back on the team, the Sox had nowhere to go but up this offseason. Konichiwa, monsutaa! (Hello, Monster!) Next, the signing everyone — at least in Japan — is talking about. The BoSox, after posting a $51.1 million bid simply to talk to the Seibu Lions, signed World Baseball Classic MVP Daisuke Matsuzaka to a continued on page 9

PAGE 12

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

lowed to rejoin the team. Eads was averaging 5.6 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. Robinson acknowledged that Jeppesen’s departure, as well as the situations of MacDonald and Eads, have had an effect on his team’s performance, but he said that overall, the “team is still right there.” “I think it is a great testament to the guys that are here that we have been able to put together some solid performances while being shorthanded,” he said. “Any time you lose a player it’s difficult, but I have been pleased with how the guys have bounced back.” Jeppesen played in seven games this season and was averaging 10.4 points per game at the time of his departure. Jeppesen had tried to follow former Brown Head Coach Glen Miller to the University of Pennsylvania last spring, but Penn’s admission office refused to consider his application. Penn Dean of Admission Lee Stetson told the Daily Pennsylvanian July 8 that Penn would not entertain Jeppesen’s application because “we feel badly about taking students from Brown, a member of our league. Also, it was late in the process — we just didn’t feel it was appropriate.” Jeppesen said, to his knowledge, many transfer applications from athletes are considered past the regular transfer admission deadline and are submitted through coaching staffs. Jeppesen also said he did not fully understand why his application was not considered and that he could only speculate as to what behind-thescenes issues may have influenced his application status. “I think it was handled a little irresponsibly and a little unprofessionally just in the fact that so much of it came out through the media,” Jeppensen said. “But it’s not something I am focused on right now and it’s water under the bridge at

Juliana Wu / Herald File Photo

Keenan Jeppesen ’08, the basketball team’s leading scorer and rebounder last season, left the team in early December.

this point.” Robinson said there was no residual animosity between himself and Jeppesen over Jeppesen’s pursuit of a transfer to Penn. “I didn’t want anyone to be here who didn’t want to be here, but I approached the season with the attitude that I was going to give everyone a blank slate,” Robinson said. Jeppesen said his decision to leave the team was not based on any issues with Robinson, who he said has been “very supportive” throughout this difﬁcult time. Jeppesen said he was initially nervous about the changes that a new coach might make, but he said that he adjusted well in the Princeton offense that Robinson installed. “Coach Robinson has been great. That wasn’t at all a factor in my decision to leave,” he said. “It was just a situation where I needed to take some time to sort some things out.” Jeppesen admits being away from the team has been challenging. “I miss basketball and I miss being around the guys on the team, but it was a decision I felt like had to be made, and I stand by the decision I made,” he said. An economics concentrator, Jeppesen said he has been focus-

ing on his academic work in his absence from Brown basketball. He said he is still working out, with an eye on trying out for the Canadian National University Team in the summer. A native of Hamilton, Ontario, Jeppesen has been involved in Canada Basketball since high school. A Jan. 6 article in the Hamilton Spectator said Jeppesen was considering transferring to a Canadian university so he could play basketball closer to home, but Jeppesen told The Herald he feels “blessed” to be at Brown right now and does not intend to leave. Robinson said he remains in touch with Jeppesen. He said he spoke at length with Jeppesen’s father in California when Brown played the University of CaliforniaDavis on Jan. 2. A former student-athlete himself — Robinson was two-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Princeton — Robinson said he understands that it is difﬁcult for athletes to balance their commitment to both sports and academics. “Even without playing a sport, Brown can be a demanding place, so in that sense I can relate to some of the difﬁculties players can encounter,” Robinson said.

Jeff Dietz ’08 earns a top preseason accolade, has high hopes for 2007 BY MEGAN MCCAHILL SPORTS STAFF WRITER

Jeff Dietz ’08 has always been a baseball player. Growing up in Orlando, Fla., he ﬁrst started playing the game when he was four. Ever since, baseball has been the only sport he wanted to play. “I made the (junior varsity) basketball team in high school, but I quit the next day. It wasn’t for me,” Dietz said, “My whole life has been about baseball.” Sticking to baseball turned out to be a good decision. In the most recent issue of Collegiate Baseball,

he was selected as the Ivy League preseason pitcher of the year. Dietz was 3-1 with a 2.73 earned-run average in Ivy League play last season. His 31 strikeouts were the second most in the conference, and he allowed just ﬁve walks. “In my mind, Jeff is very worthy of the award,” said Head Coach Marek Drabinski. Drabinski pointed out that Dietz was selected over some tough competition, including Shawn Haviland of Harvard, the returning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year. “What makes Jeff stand out from most pitchers is his unique

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo

On top of being a standout pitcher, Jeff Dietz ’08 is also one of Brown’s best hitters. Last season, he drove in 33 runs while hitting .264 in Ivy League play.

pitching style,” Drabinski said. Dietz, a right-handed pitcher, throws side-armed and from three different arm angles. Drabinski compared Dietz to former Red Sox pitcher and current San Diego Padres reliever Cla Meredith, whose .170 batting average against led the National League last season. The only thing about Dietz that stands out more than his sidearmed throwing motion is his passion for the game. “I just love baseball. I love spending all day at the field. Like on a Saturday or a Sunday, when you have games and you’re just at the field all day, getting ready to play,” he said. It is hard to keep Dietz off the field. When he is not on the mound, he plays first base. He is also one of Brown’s best hitters. Last season he was second on the team in batting average, hitting .364 while driving in 33 runs. He also scored 20 runs himself. “I don’t really have a preference between first base and pitching,” Dietz said. “I like them both. I just want to play, no matter what position it is.” This season Dietz will have plenty of opportunities to play both

positions, including games against some of the top teams in the country. The Bears will again have a difﬁcult non-league schedule, including games against South Carolina, which ﬁnished last season ranked No. 13 nationally and was one game away from playing in the college world series. “I’m really excited to play South Carolina,” Dietz said. “Playing those types of teams gives you a good gauge of where you stand as a player. And as a team I think we’re good enough to play with those guys. This year’s team is the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here.” Dietz and Drabinski both have high expectations for the Bears this season. Both said that the team’s goal is to win the Ivy League championship. Drabinski pointed out that the Bears are returning what he considers to be the deepest pitching staff he’s ever had. “This year we’ve just got a great pitching staff. And the thing about baseball is that if the guy on the mound gets going, a lot of times that’s all you need to win,” he said. This season Dietz could be that guy on the mound for the Bears.