Wednesday, February 7, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBR UAR Y 7, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 11

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

Banner launch pushes ahead amid mounting student criticism

K E E P I N G C A M P U S WA R M

BY CHAZ FIRESTONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Eunice Hong / Herald

Lieutenant Kevin Andrews handed out coffee in the Friedman Study Center last night as part of a DPS outreach program.

Faculty unanimously approves shorter Orientation

BY ROSS FRAZIER NEWS EDITOR

After an initial round of skepticism, members of the faculty unanimously approved a change in next year’s academic calendar by voice vote on Tuesday, paving the way for an overhaul of Orientation programming.

Orientation will now begin on Sunday, Sept. 2, and classes will begin Wednesday, Sept. 5.

Incoming first-years will move in over Labor Day weekend in preparation for three days of programming.

Before the vote, faculty articulated concerns and asked questions of Dean of the College

Katherine Bergeron, who presented the motion.

Associate Professor of Sociology Ann Dill, chair of the Faculty Executive Committee, expressed concern that a shortened Orientation would not allow students enough time to acclimate themselves to a new home, buy essentials at the mall and meet friends.

“This is especially important for international students, who not only have to get used to a new home, but a new culture,” Dill said.

University officials and members of the review committee who proposed the change have said the new Orientation sched-

ule will strengthen first-year advising by ensuring faculty are on campus to meet with their freshmen advisees.

In previous years, advisers have been asked to return to campus immediately following the Labor Day weekend, resulting in faculty absences that have left nearly 100 first-years with proxy advisors for their first advising meetings, Bergeron said in the meeting.

According to one professor, some professors were on vacation, but others were away at professional conferences.

Administrators have also said continued on page 8

Students trek down the Hill for class, research

BY NANDINI JAYAKRISHNA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

An increasing number of undergraduate students are now traveling down College Hill to attend classes and conduct research in the public health building at 121 South Main St. Some are even making the one-and-a-half mile trek to the Laboratories for Molecular Medicine at 70 Ship St. But despite the distance, most students say they don’t mind the hike.

According to the Office of the Registrar, 415 students currently attend classes at 121 South Main St., including 96 undergraduates. There were 17 undergraduates doing research at labs at the Ship Street building last semester, according to Joan Fullerton, the office coordinator in the Bio Med medical education depart-

INSIDE:

3 CAMPUS WATCH

www.browndailyherald.com

continued on page 8

431 U. employees take on Shape Up R.I. challenge

BY ISABEL GOTTLIEB CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Many Americans want to lose weight, but few actually achieve their goal. This year, though, many Rhode Islanders are taking steps toward getting healthy — and they’re counting them with pedometers.

Shape Up R.I., a nonprofit initiative in which citizens of the Ocean State will compete to lose weight, began this year’s competition Jan. 29 with over 6,700 participants, including hundreds of University employees, according to Rajiv Kumar ’05 MD’09, the program’s founder.

The University is paying the $15 participation fee for each participating employee, covering expenses for materials such as pedometers and wristbands. That support has led to an increase in participation — last year there were 12 teams made up of about 100 Brown employees total, far less than this year’s 431 employees participating,

ment.

Though there are no undergraduate-specific classes offered at 121 South Main St., many undergraduates are enrolling in graduate courses there, said Fox Wetle, associate dean of medicine for public health and public policy and professor of community health. “(It) was never intended to be an undergraduate facility,” she said, noting that the building hosts mostly graduate classes for the public health program.

Wetle teaches BC 244, Sec. 1: “Qualitative Methods in Health Research” at 121 South Main St. She said, though the facility is off campus, it is still conveniently located for students. Anyone who may think otherwise faces a “psychological barrier as opcontinued on page 4

STUDENT LOANS Congress is looking to slash the interest rates on student loans and might raise the amount awarded in Federal Pell grants in the near future

Banner continues to move toward full implementation on schedule and on budget, University officials say, but a recent flood of student criticism has spread through the campus.

The new software, which will integrate information from 11 different University offices into a single database, has already gone live for the admission and financial aid offices. The Banner project first started in 2002, and administrators originally intended to fully launch the program in spring 2005.

But the effort was plagued by delays and cost overruns, and in November 2005 officials halted the project to revamp its management, set a new timeline and boost its original $10 million budget to $23 million. The project resumed in March 2006 with Associate Provost Nancy Dunbar at its helm.

“Banner is going to vastly improve the way Brown handles information,” Dunbar said. “And since we restarted this program in March, we have missed zero deadlines — we’ve made every milestone we have set.”

Online course registration, the most visible and highly anticipated component of Banner, is set to launch this April — two years later than originally planned.

But a highly critical group of about 750 students has focused neither on deadlines nor budgets.

Brown Against Banner — a Facebook group that includes nearly 15 percent of Brown undergrads despite having been formed just last Thursday — prominently displays a list of concerns about Banner’s online registration component.

The group criticizes University officials for leaving students in the dark about their intentions for the Banner project.

“Brown Against Banner advocates the sharing of information from administrators to students, which simply hasn’t been done,” said Alexandra Hellquist ’08, creator and sole administrator of the group. “Students have a right to provide input, or at least to know what is going on.”

The Facebook group’s Web page lists a series of potential Banner features that would be problematic, including binding pre-registration, priority given to seniors and concentrators, strict enrollment caps and mandatory prerequisites.

But Dunbar said all issues raised by Brown Against Banner are flexible and at the discretion of the faculty members.

“Banner will allow professors to conveniently enforce restrictions such as limited enrollment and prerequisites,” she said. “But if a faculty member wants to change the restrictions, they can.”

Dunbar stressed that registration policies under Banner will be no different than current policies because faculty will be able to override any course restriction other than scheduling conflicts.

“Banner will feel different,” she said. “But there is nothing about our curriculum and our courses that Banner will change.”

To improve communication about Banner, the University launched a Web site for the project in October, though Dunbar acknowledged that the administration had not been actively promoting Banner until recently.

5 CAMPUS NEWS

MED SCHOOL CHANGES The Alpert Medical School has implemneted a new curriculum for first-years and extended the academic year

Courtesy of Shape Up R.I. Shape Up R.I. Chairman Rajiv Kumar ‘05 MD’09, center, with the Eden Park Elementary School Muffin Tops, one of the teams in this year’s competition.

some of whom are members of the 38 official Brown teams.

In December, Kumar and the program’s chief advisor, Ray Rickman, made a presentation to the Health Promotion Committee suggesting the University cover the

11 OPINIONS

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

LIBRARIES LACKING Joey Borson ’07 laments the evolution of libraries as places of learning into social centers — a la the Friedman Study Center

fees in exchange for some information on how well their employees do in the competition.

“Shape Up R.I. will provide Brown with general information continued on page 4

12 SPORTS

GRAPPLERS GORE TIGERS After dropping two meets on Friday, the wrestling team blasted Princeton 47-0 for its biggest victory of the season

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

TODAY THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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WE A

T H E R

TODAY

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

WBF | Matt Vascellaro TOMORROW

partly cloudy 28 / 12

partly cloudy 24 / 13

MEN SHARPE REFECTORY

U VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH — Polynesian Chicken Wings, Vegan Stir Fry Vegetables with Tofu, V Stir Fried Rice, Green Peas, Vegetable Egg Rolls with Duck Sauce, Chocolate Frosted Eclairs, Apple Turnovers

LUNCH — Vegetarian Cream of Tomato, Egg Drop and Chicken Soup, Italian Sausage and Peppers Sandwich, Vegetable Strudel, Mini Eclairs

DINNER — Salmon Provençal, Mushroom Risotto, Greek-style Asparagus, Cheese Quesadillas, Mushroom Risotto, Grilled Cheese, Lime Jello, Whipped Cream Peach Cake

SU

How to Get Down | Nate Saunders

DINNER — Vegetarian Cream of Tomato, Egg Drop and Chicken Soup, Swiss Steak, Vegan Ratatouille, Mashed Red Potatoes with Garlic, Mashed Butternut Squash with Honey, Whipped Cream Peach Cake

D O K U

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

CR ACROSS 1 Cohen on skates 6 Biscayne Bay city 11 Cribbage piece 14 One with an unsettling look 15 Repeatedly 16 Sound detector 17 Western meeting place?

19 Chi-omega connection 20 Second Amendment word 21 Classical lead-in 22 Former German coal center 24 1940s-’50s pitcher Maglie 25 Charity symbol 28 Undivided 30 Reliable kind of guy 31 Correspond 33 Gets out in the open 35 Cinnabar et al.

39 Traveler’s option, and a hint to the theme found in the first words of 17-, 25-, 48-, and 61-Across 42 “That’s gonna __ you” 43 Help out on a job 44 Choir group 45 Old Sinclair rival 47 Chrysler Bldg. site 48 Rolled-up do 54 Hula Hoop spinner 57 Like a bubble bath 58 Actress Alicia 59 Member of a hockey team with a plane on its logo 60 Part of TNT 61 Banquet emcee 65 Clumsy sort 66 “Openings in the Old Trail” author 67 Daredevil’s feat 68 Thickness 69 Diglyceride, e.g.

70 Anticipatory feelings

O S S W O R D

DOWN 1 Parlor pieces 2 Old public square 3 Some inner city property owners 4 His partner 5 Curve 6 Basic customs 7 Words before an alternative 8 Bolted down 9 Île surrounder 10 Six-legged critter 11 Cola wars contender 12 Studio item 13 Reduce to dust 18 Yoko born in Tokyo 23 __ pie: molassesladen dessert 25 Hammer part used to strengthen metal 26 Long-necked wader 27 Santa __: Sonoma County seat 29 Tidies up 31 Phone button letters 32 ’90s General Motors brand

33 Monk keyman 34 Vexation 36 Increase by degrees 37 Anka’s “__ Beso” 38 PO listings 40 Quick run 41 “Categorical imperative” philosopher 46 Grain cutter 48 Lens setting 49 Countrified

50 Morally instruct 51 Fritter away 52 Entomb 53 Tycoon Walton with a club 55 Peace goddess 56 Cruise stops 59 Regarding 62 W. Hemisphere alliance 63 Craftsmanship 64 Hearth-burn result

Jellyfish, Jellyfish | Adam Hunter Peck

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Homefries | Yifan Luo

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CAMPUS WATCH ATCH WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

Many black college students are immigrants, study finds

BY ALLISON EHRICH BERNSTEIN STAFF WRITER

More than a quarter — and in some cases nearly half — of black students at selective American colleges and universities are first- or second-generation immigrants, according to a new study appearing in the Februar y issue of the American Journal of Education. Some sociologists say the data throw into question the criteria and purpose behind many education-related affirmative action programs as well as the way diversity is often presented at American universities.

Camille Charles, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and an associate director of the school’s Center for Africana Studies; Douglas Massey, professor of sociology at Princeton; and Margarita Mooney and Kimberly C. Torres, postdoctoral fellows at Princeton’s Office of Population Research, authored the study, titled “Black Immigrants and Black Natives Attending Selective Colleges and Universities in the United States.”

“If you’re a purist, then you’ll think that (this discover y) is not in the spirit of affirmative action.

But if you’re a diversity purist, and your idea is to expose ever ybody to as many different kinds of people as possible, then you’ll think this is great,” Charles told the Chronicle of Higher Education in an article appearing this week.

The report is based on data from a larger project, the National Longitudinal Sur vey of Freshmen, which is sponsored by the Mellon Foundation and led by researchers at Princeton.

The sur vey looked at 1,051 black freshmen enrolled at 28 selective colleges in 1999. Of those, 27 percent were first- or secondgeneration immigrants, largely from the Caribbean or Ghana — more than twice the national average of 13 percent for all black Americans aged 18 to 19.

The number climbed sharply when the schools in question were narrowed to the most se-

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lective. At the four Ivy League schools included in the survey (Penn, Princeton, Yale and Columbia), 41 percent of black students were first- or second-generation immigrants.

The study’s authors noted that once immigrant black students are enrolled in college, their performances do not differ from those whose families have a longer histor y in the United States. They did, however, find that immigrant blacks have distinct advantages over non-immigrants in gaining acceptance to selective colleges and universities, including statistically higher SAT scores, higher attendance of private schools and a better likelihood that one or both parents graduated from college. “Immigrants (also) generally are going to have a heightened concern for upward mobility,” Charles told the Chronicle.

Professor of Education Kenneth Wong said the difference in parents’ college attendance is of particular significance. “If you have generations and generations without educational access, such as the descendents of slaves, then they are put at a severe disadvantage. Their whole social support networks are going to be ver y different,” he said. “If their parents are college graduates, it’s likely the parents want their children to exceed expectations. They can have that higher education and create opportunities,” he said.

Wong said the clearest implications of the report lie in the public policy arena, and he recommended reforming primar y education to create advantageous environments from which non-immigrant blacks can have far better access to college.

“We usually just look at African Americans as a category of student … We just check the box as African-American or black,” Wong said. “The same applies to other racial or ethnic groups — Asian, we just check the box. Latino, we just check the box. Only in recent years have we begun to differentiate the increasing diversity of broader society and the college population.”

Cut in student loan interest rates goes to Senate

BY JAMES SHAPIRO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 5, the College Student Relief Act of 2007, on Jan. 17. The bill, now before the Senate, would gradually reduce the interest rate on subsidized federal Stafford loans by 50 percent — from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent — over the next five years. The newly Democratic-controlled Congress intends to transfer the costs of the bill to lending companies by reducing their benefits and increasing lending fees.

H.R. 5 will not reduce rates for current undergraduates, as it only applies to loans for which the first disbursement is made after July 1.

The federal government awards subsidized Stafford loans to lowincome families and students and pays the interest while borrowers are enrolled in college. This year, 1,690 Brown students borrowed subsidized Stafford loans, according to James Tilton, director of financial aid.

Depending on a student’s class year, the maximum subsidized

Stafford loan ranges from $3,500 to $5,500.

“If we’re looking at lower interest rates, we’re certainly able to speak to students about the cost of education being different,” Tilton said.

Critics argue the bill is ineffective or counterproductive. “As you increase aid, you tend to see college tuition increase as well. It winds up undercutting the original purpose (of the aid), and it costs taxpayers,” said Kate Matus, press secretary for Rep. Paul Ryan, RWis., an opponent of the bill, which passed the House 356-71.

Matus also said the new 3.4-percent rate will only benefit students in the class of 2011 who apply for subsidized Stafford loans. “When lenders face growing costs and little return, they’re going to cut services and pass on the expenses to other students in the form of higher fees,” she said.

Tilton said certain lending industry subsidies should be carefully scrutinized, but he acknowledged the need for a nuanced plan to cover costs. “It’s just so easy to say, ‘Let’s cut the lender’s profit.’

Instead we really need to seriously look at what kinds of services might be affected if these changes were made,” Tilton said.

The final legislation may differ from the bill passed in the House.

“It’s very rare in the beginning of a legislative session for both chambers to pass the identical version of a bill,” said Wendy Schiller, associate professor of political science and public policy.

Schiller said H.R. 5 might encounter more resistance in the Senate. “(Banking interests) traditionally have done well in the Senate because they span congressional districts. If you’re one congressperson, you can probably afford to ignore Citibank or ignore Bank of America,” she said. “If you’re a Senator from one of these states — especially a state like South Dakota, where there is a lot of credit card business and big banking business — and they threaten to leave your state if you don’t support them in opposing the bill ... that’s going to hurt.”

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., introduced the Student Debt Recontinued on page 6

Stanford humanities faculty to receive $5,000

BY KARA APLAND CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Stanford University is launching a five-year pilot program that will provide $5,000 in discretionary funding annually to each of its 220 tenured and tenure-track faculty in the humanities. Stanford President John Hennessy announced the plan at the school’s Nov. 30 Faculty Senate meeting.

The plan was inspired by dialogue between Hennessy and various faculty groups at the university, said Maria Riasanovsky, academic program associate for the humanities. “He asked what (the faculty’s) chief need was, and they kept pressing for funding and research support,” she said.

Stanford’s humanities faculty could previously apply for $1,000 in discretionary funding a year. Riasanovsky said the step up to $5,000 will “make a huge difference.”

Riasanovsky estimated the total cost to be approximately $500,000 to $600,000. However, if each of

Stanford’s 220 humanities faculty are awarded the grants, costs would add up to $1.1 million.

Stanford’s funding program stands out among other universities’ research support for the humanities. The program has received significant media attention since its announcement not only because of its size, but also because funding is automatically granted every year. Riasanovsky said she is not aware of any other program that provides such a high level of funding to all humanities faculty annually without requiring an application. “There’s nothing else like it,” she said.

In a similar program that has been in place for several years, Columbia provides $1,750 annually in automatic funding to its humanities faculty and $2,000 to junior faculty.

Riasonovsky acknowledged that Stanford’s automatic grants are in part designed to raise the stature of humanities programs at a university principally known for

its strength in the sciences.

Along with the yearly $5,000 in discretionary funding, Stanford is launching a $1.1 million fund for collaborative research in the humanities. The two plans complement each other because they provide support for both individual, small-scale projects as well as interdisciplinary, large-scale projects. “The hope is that this plan will inspire projects that cross disciplines and pull together all four corners of the university,” Riasanovsky said.

The automatic grants for humanities faculty are in addition to a program that gives assistant professors a $5,000 grant the year they are hired, a $5,000 grant when they are reappointed and an additional $10,000 if awarded tenure.

Competition in funding faculty Funding humanities faculty, who garner significantly less external money than those in the scicontinued on page 6

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 4

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

Students don’t mind trek to buildings off the Hill continued from page 1 posed to a physical one,” she said.

Helen Lamphere ’08 is enrolled in BC 244 and said she would prefer taking classes on campus but does not mind going to off-campus buildings.

“I think we’re spoiled compared to other college campuses in terms of how easy and fast it is to get from class to class,” she said.

Lamphere said it takes her about 15 to 20 minutes to walk to 121 South Main St. Kim Gans, associate professor of community health, said she likes the South Main Street facility because it “puts all the public health people together who were earlier spread all over.” She said it is a necessary step on the way to establishing a School of Public Health, which would be “a boon to Brown” and is slated to be es-

tablished by 2010.

“Brown’s campus is expanding anyway, and there’s no place for the public health department on the main campus,” Gans said.

Gans said commuting to and from the building on South Main Street might be “somewhat of a hassle” for students, but she said “the pros outweigh the cons.”

Tamara Del Rosso ’08 and Jana Loeb ’08, both of whom are taking BC 168, Sec. 12: “Tobacco, Smoking and Evil Empire,” said they do not mind walking down College Hill to South Main Street.

Del Rosso, who has a class on Pembroke campus just before BC 168, said her professor doesn’t mind if she is a few minutes late to class.

The labs at 70 Ship St. also attract a significant number of undergraduate students who work as research assistants or conduct independent research there.

Wolfgang Peti, assistant pro-

fessor of medical science, has four undergraduates currently working in his lab at the Ship Street facility. Peti said the building allows undergraduate researchers the chance to “focus more” and “not get as distracted” as they would on the main campus.

Students working in labs at 70 Ship St. have a variety of ways to commute, including walking, biking or taking the free safeRIDE BrownMed/Downcity Express shuttle.

Peti said the fact that safeRIDE does not run during academic breaks, such as during the summer when some students work in his lab, raises “a bit of a security concern.” But he added that most undergraduates are able to get rides from graduate or post-graduate students, which makes the lab environment “more collegial.”

Rene Kessler ’07.5, who worked in the Peti lab during

the summer and fall of 2006, said he liked “getting off College Hill ever y day.” Kessler said it took him only 10 minutes to bike there, compared to 15 minutes if she took the shuttle, including time spent waiting for it to show up.

Some students find taking the shuttle more trouble than it is worth. “Sometimes the shuttles get off schedule and become a little inconvenient,” wrote Ojus Doshi ’08 in an e-mail to The Herald. Since November 2005, Doshi has worked in Assistant Professor of Biology Rebecca Page’s lab, he wrote.

“The trip back to campus is pretty tiresome by the time you walk back up the hill, but it’s probably good exercise. A bike makes the trip much faster, but I’ve only gotten halfway up the hill on the return trip before I needed to walk the bike up to the top,” he added.

431 U. employees take on Shape Up R.I. challenge continued from page 1 — no individual results — on employees’ well-being and how much employees are participating. We hope we can positively impact everybody’s health and wellness,” said Drew Murphy, director of benefits in Human Resources.

Murphy, who is taking part in the general fitness and the pedometer step competitions of the program, said the Health Promotion Committee then recommended the University finance employee participation in the Shape Up program. He attributed the increase in participation by Brown employees to greater publicity for the program, not just the University’s financial assistance.

Grouped in teams of 5 to 11 members, participants support each other while trying to win competitions in weight loss, total exercise hours and pedometer steps taken. In the program’s debut last year, 205 teams lost a total of 5,911 pounds and logged 69,132 hours of exercise.

The program’s team-building spirit is popular among competitors like Cynthia Yearwood, coordinator of learning, professional development and employee programs in the University’s human resources department. “There is a fun competitiveness. We’re all striving to reach our goals of losing weight, increasing exercise and being more aware of health, but there’s a competitiveness to it too, of saying, ‘We’re going to win,’ ” she said.

Rickman credited this year’s high participation in part to what he described as a greatly improved Web site. Its features include easier registration, a private weight tracker and an image of a person that moves across the screen to track progress. Participants also receive e-mail newsletters with health tips and are encouraged to attend healthy cooking demonstrations across the state.

Kumar has ambitious goals for Shape Up R.I. “I’d love 15,000 people in the program next year. We’ll keep expanding as long as people are excited,” he said. He said there are plans to create a Shape Up R.I. for youth, which is currently being tested at several high schools and middle schools across the state that will promote healthy eating and physical activity for children.

Kumar is also eager to see the fruits of his labor.

“I can’t wait to see the day when we can see the impact in the health statistics,” he said. “When obesity is decreasing, we’ll feel like we’ve succeeded, and we can see that in a place the size of Rhode Island.”

In the meantime, he has to rely on anecdotal evidence to measure the program’s success, but he said he’s not lacking for inspirational stories.

“People who have never exercised in their lives now exercise four to five times per week. They have never been more excited, never been healthier, never looked forward to waking up in the morning like now,” Kumar said. “One woman was able to opt out of gallbladder surgery because she lost weight.

Diabetics decreased their numbers of medications due to losing weight. That’s what really keeps us going — bringing the program to as many people as possible.”

CAMPUS N EWS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

Med School changes curriculum and calendar

S PA M S C A M

BY KRISTINA KELLEHER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Christopher Bennett / Herald Drawing from his recently published book “A Culture of Corruption”, Assistant Professor of Anthropology Daniel Smith discussed Nigerian e-mail scams Tuesday afternoon as part of the Illicit Flows Speaker Series.

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Simmons to receive Women of Power award President Ruth Simmons will be honored tonight at the Women of Power Legacy Awards, a ceremony held by Black Enterprise to recognize African-American women that the business and media group considers trailblazers in their respective fields.

The award ceremony is a kickoff to the company’s second annual Women of Power Summit, a leadership conference for women of color being held in Phoenix this week.

Also receiving awards are entertainment executive Suzanne de Passe, dancer and choreographer Judith Jamison and Faye Wattleton, the president of the Center for the Advancement of Women.

Black Enterprise created the award ceremony in 2006 to “recognize women whose power, influence and achievements have left a legacy of success for women of color in every career field,” a company press release stated.

Black Enterprise prints a magazine of the same name, produces radio and television programming and serves as a “source of information for and about African-American business markets and leaders,” according to the press release.

— Michael Skocpol

The Alpert Medical School’s new name isn’t the only major change the school has undergone this year — medical students in the class of 2010 are the first to experience an entirely redesigned first-year curriculum, and they are now subject to a new academic year that has been extended by more than a month.

The curriculum change is part of an attempt to better prepare Brown med students for step one of the National Board of Medical Examiners Licensing Exam. The office of Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Eli Adashi designed the new curriculum in collaboration with faculty and students with consideration to the coverage of basic science material on the board exam in the Med School’s existing first- and second-year curriculum.

“There was some overlap, redundancy and some holes,” said Agnes Kane, professor of medical science.

Previously, first years took several courses, such as biochemistry, pathology, neuroscience, immunology and microbiology, scheduled in much the same way as the undergraduate course load, said Philip Gruppuso, associate dean of medicine for medical education.

Last semester, the class of 2010 took only one course in addition to the doctoring program, BI 364: “Integrated Medical Sciences I.” The course integrated the basic science curriculum with anatomy, histology and general pathology, adapting the systems-based approach already in place in the second-year Med School curriculum. The course met three hours per day from

Monday to Friday, with labs most afternoons, and students had six integrated exams throughout the semester instead of a traditional final examination schedule, said Kartik Venkatesh ’06 MD’10. The IMS course continues with BI 365: “Integrated Medical Sciences II” in the spring semester, covering brain science, endocrine science and microbiology and infectious diseases.

Under the doctoring program, which was introduced with the class of 2009, first- and second-year students visit local family practitioners every week to gain practical experience in clinical medicine. For the class of 2010, the curriculum for the doctoring program has been aligned with the schedule for the IMS course. For example, the brain science unit of IMS II is complemented by a lesson in the doctoring program on how to do a basic neurological exam, Venkatesh said.

Each unit of IMS — for example, a six-day immunology unit — is either taught by a variety of professors or is team-taught by multiple instructors.

Professors include College Hill-based faculty as well as those who are usually located in hospitals or labs, Venkatesh said.

As a result of the curriculum change, most of the basic sciences are now completed in the first semester instead of the first year, Gruppuso said. The Med School re-organized the curriculum to ensure that all material required for step one of the national board exam, taken after the second year of medical school, is covered logically and without overlap, Kane said.

She noted that the new curriculum should give students time at the end of their second year to study for the

exam and begin their clinical clerkships earlier.

“There was a lot of buy-in from faculty,” Gruppuso said of the changes.

“I would call it curricular evolution,” Kane said. “Some classes were radically changed and re-organized.”

Because the anatomy course, which involves dissection of a cadaver, must be completed in one year, the administration designed the rest of the curriculum around the anatomy schedule.

The anatomy component was already well-regarded by students and faculty and was not changed much in the reorganization, Gruppuso said. “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” he said.

Also this year, the Med School academic year deviated from the undergraduate calendar for the first time.

Last fall, classes began Aug. 24, and the spring semester will end on June 8, allowing med students a much shorter summer break. Winter break was also shortened, with classes beginning on Jan. 7.

Gruppuso said more changes lie ahead for the Med School curriculum.

“We’re ultimately going to redesign all four years,” he said. “We’re having the changes march forward with the class of 2010.”

“Medical education has been evolving in this country since the end of the 19th century,” Kane said. “Brown is a relatively young medical school. It’s still very much evolving, and the faculty is relatively young.”

Most students like the integration, according to Venkatesh. The changes to the curriculum are “not new from a national standpoint,” but rather, they are “in line with what other medical schools have been doing for 20 years,” Venkatesh said. “We’re playing catch-up.”

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PAGE 6

M. and w. squash squished

by Dartmouth, Williams continued from page 12 “Despite the loss, the team is only getting stronger. We have a young team this year, and one of our juniors, Ed Cerullo (’08), was abroad first semester and is getting better with ever y match,” Petrie said.

“These types of weekends, although it’s never fun to lose, are good for the younger guys and help us grow as a team.”

This optimism has the Bears raring to go for their match tonight against No. 6 Tufts University. The 7:30 p.m. match at the Pizzitola Center will be the team’s second-to-last home match of the season.

The able play by the women’s squad yielded much closer matches but similar disappointing results against Williams and Dartmouth. The four-and-a-half hour contest against Williams was a heartbreaker — almost ever y match could have gone either way.

However, tri-captain Katie Lew ’07 said she was pleased with the team’s performance and acknowledged that Williams was a formidable foe.

“Our Williams match was a great collegiate match,” she said. “Our teams are ver y even, and most of the matches went into fourth and fifth games. Ever yone on the team fought hard for ever y point in her match and did a great job of motivating and supporting each other.”

At the No. 8 position, Lew won an intense five-game match that included a 10-8 tiebreak in

for details visit

the deciding fifth game. Charlotte Steel ’09 also triumphed at the fifth position in a drawn-out five game match, rallying back from a deficit. The other wins came from Megan Cerullo ’08 at No. 2 and Zarah Rahman ’07 at No. 6. The deciding match came down to the No. 4 spot, in which Breck Haynes ’09 dropped the last three games after jumping ahead 2-0.

“Breck has improved from playing six on the ladder to four,” said tri-captain Erin Andrews ’07. “Although she didn’t pull it out in the end, she handled the pressure of being the determining match ver y well.

Improvements are not always defined in wins.”

Dartmouth was a similar stor y. Cerullo and Steel produced wins once again, and Kali Schellenberg ’10 contributed a victor y in the No. 9 slot.

However, the Bears failed to secure any additional wins.

The women will also host Tufts today at the Pitz at 6 p.m. and will face crucial weekend match-ups at Yale and Cornell this weekend. Andrews and Lew both pointed to the Cornell contest as particularly important due to the implications it has for the upcoming Howe Cup tournament.

Despite the recent disappointing results, spirits are high in the Brown camp as the squads look for ward to this weekend, the Howe Cup in two weeks and perhaps a rematch with the schools that — barely — got the better of the Bears this weekend.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

Stanford humanities faculty to receive $5,000 for research continued from page 3 ences, is quickly becoming another facet of the intense competition among universities. Riasanovsky added that the humanities are in special need of internal funding support because “there simply aren’t that many funding sources available.”

“Research grants in the humanities are relatively scarce — not entirely non-existent, however, and Brown faculty have done quite well in securing grants from the (National Endowment for the Humanities) and the Mellon Foundation — and so it becomes critical that universities commit their own funds,” Brown Dean of the Faculty Rajiv Vohra P’07

wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.

Stanford’s program was probably “prompted by a sense that the existing level of support for research in the humanities is not adequate,” he added.

At Brown, humanities and social sciences faculty may apply to the Office of the Vice President for Research for up to $2,000 per year of funding to support their work. Typically, about half the faculty who apply receive an award, according to the office’s Web site.

“We also have a faculty travel fund, open to faculty in all disciplines, which provides up to $1,000 per year in travel funds,” Vohra said.

The Cogut Center for the Humanities also awards eight semes-

ter-long fellowships each year, providing support for faculty to take a semester away from teaching to focus on research. Vohra wrote that “while individual research funds are very useful, it is also essential to provide institutional and infrastructural support for nurturing research in the humanities.”

Vohra said the University is aware of increased competition in funding humanities research.

“Our recent progress in supporting research, generally … could be characterized as an attempt to catch up with our peers,” he wrote. “There is absolutely no cause for complacency. We will continue to look for ways to enhance faculty research and to remain competitive.”

Congress looks to slash student loan interest rate continued from page 3 lief Act in the Senate. In addition to halving the subsidized Stafford loan interest rate, the Senate bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant from $4,050 to $5,100 and provide more opportunities for student loan forgiveness.

Proposals to increase Pell Grant awards have been politically popular this winter. The White House and both chambers of Congress are poised to propose the first increase in the maximum Pell

Grant award in five years. A Jan. 31 House spending bill recommended an increase from the current $4,050 to $4,310, and last Friday President Bush announced his 2008 budget will propose raising the maximum Pell Grant award to $4,600 next year and $5,400 five years from now.

Tilton said he considers Pell Grants particularly important.

Raising the maximum grant sends “a stronger message to families and to students than (does) decreasing the loan interest rates,”

Tilton said. “A lot of students and families see the Pell Grant as a gauge for being able to determine whether they can afford to even think about college.”

Schiller said she doesn’t expect a presidential veto of the Stafford loan interest rates cut if it passes the Senate. “I don’t think (Bush) cares enough to veto this bill,” she said. “He would be philosophically opposed for the same reason Republicans in the Senate would be, but he doesn’t need any more bad press.”

Tivo, Amazon are set for groundbreaking partnership

BY DAWN CHMIELEWSKI LOS ANGELES T IMES

Through a deal with TiVo Inc., Amazon.com Inc. is trying to bridge the river-wide gap between the PC

and television.

The two companies plan Wednesday to announce an alliance that lets some TiVo Inc. customers watch, on their TVs, movies and television shows purchased through Amazon’s nascent onlinevideo store, Unbox.

The service addresses one of the greatest impediments to the growth of Internet video — viewers can’t watch it on their living room TVs. “There’s a ton of content flowing over broadband — premium content, meaning the best in movies and television shows,” TiVo Chief Executive Tom Rogers said.

“The issue for many people is, it’s not TV until it’s on the TV.” Starting Wednesday, a limited group of TiVo subscribers will be able to rent or buy videos on Unbox

and download them directly to a set-top box, then watch them like any other recorded program.

The new Unbox feature service will be limited to the 1.5 million subscribers whose Series 2 or Series 3 TiVo boxes can be connected to a high-speed Internet connection. But analysts say the partnership is an interesting proof of concept and an opportunity to fine-tune the Internet video-ondemand experience before digital delivery of content to the living room goes mainstream.

“There are lots of people that have PCs,” American Technology Research analyst Rob Sanderson said. “But people downloading and buying movies on their PCs — that’s a small number. This is a good way to learn a lot about home media distribution.”

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U.S. doesn’t sign treaty prohibiting secret detentions PARIS (Washington Post) — Representatives from 57 countries on Tuesday signed a long-negotiated treaty prohibiting governments from holding people in secret detention. The United States declined to endorse the document, saying its text did not meet U.S. expectations.

Louise Arbour, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said the treaty was “a message to all modern-day authorities committed to the fight against terrorism” that some practices are “not acceptable.”

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined comment except to say that the United States helped draft the treaty but that the final wording “did not meet our expectations.”

The Associated Press reported that McCormack declined comment on whether the U.S. stance was influenced by the Bush administration’s policy of sending terrorism suspects to CIA-run prisons overseas, which President Bush acknowledged in September.

House Dems may take lead on war resolution front WASHINGTON (Los Angeles Times) — House Democrats threatened Tuesday to take up a resolution next week to oppose President Bush’s controversial troop buildup in Iraq, cranking up the pressure on Republicans who have blocked a vote on the measure in the Senate.

The move would shift the focus of the debate over the four-yearold war to the House, where Democrats have enough votes to pass a measure over Republican opposition. It also may further isolate the White House and its allies in the Senate, who are bucking public opinion that has turned sharply against the Iraq war and the president’s plans to expand it.

When congressional Democrats began their campaign to challenge Bush over the unpopular war last month, House leaders decided to defer to the Senate to pass a resolution first.

But on Monday GOP senators derailed consideration of a nonbinding, bipartisan resolution that criticizes the Bush plan by preventing Democrats from getting the 60 votes needed to bring up the measure.

On Tuesday, with few signs that the impasse would end soon in the Senate, House leaders said they might move first on an issue that Americans say is the most pressing one facing the nation.

Lebanese president decries U.S. support for Israel BEIRUT, Lebanon (Los Angeles Times) — Badgered by Hezbollah and jeered as a puppet of the U.S. government, Lebanon’s embattled prime minister on Tuesday blamed U.S. support of Israel for an increasingly violent political crisis that has shredded this country’s stability.

His voice rising in frustration during an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Fouad Siniora said the troubles in his country would subside if U.S. officials were to press Israel to withdraw its soldiers from Shebaa Farms, a small patch of disputed turf that the United Nations has said was part of Syria.

With Shiite Muslim Hezbollah and its allies mounting a hard push for a bigger share of power in Lebanon, many people here believe that the international community should force Hezbollah’s hand by depriving the party of any excuse for keeping an armed militia. The lingering occupation of the land has long been cited by Hezbollah as a justification for its armed guerrilla fighters on Israel’s border.

Apparent love triangle embarrasses NASA (Los Angeles Times) — A female NASA astronaut was arrested in Florida early Monday and accused of attacking a woman who was her rival in a love triangle with another astronaut, Orlando police said.

Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak, who flew last summer on a shuttle mission to the International Space Station, drove nearly 1,000 miles from her home in Houston to intercept the woman, who was just arriving at Orlando International Airport, police said.

Nowak, 43, accosted 30-year-old Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman in a parking lot and sprayed her with pepper spray in an attempt to kidnap her, according to a police affidavit.

The arrest, first reported by the Orlando Sentinel, was an embarrassment for America’s space agency, which for nearly five decades has obsessively portrayed its astronauts as paragons of personal integrity.

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Iran says U.S. is behind diplomat kidnapping

BY TINA SUSMAN LOS ANGELES T IMES

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iran accused the United States on Tuesday of being behind the abduction of an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad, but U.S. officials refused even to confirm a kidnapping had taken place as the two countries’ campaign of finger-pointing was brought up another notch.

Iranian officials said Jalal Sharafi, their embassy’s second secretary, had not been seen since gunmen dressed in Iraqi military uniforms intercepted his car Sunday as he left a branch of a stateowned Iranian bank.

“They acted under U.S. supervision,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Hosseini said in a statement released in Tehran. He described the incident as a “terrorist attack.”

The Bush administration has accused Iran of fueling the sectarian warfare in Iraq by providing Shiite Muslim extremists with weapons and explosives being used against U.S. troops and Sunni Arab targets.

U.S. officials have been holding five Iranians seized last month in a raid in the northern city of Irbil and accused of planning attacks on Americans.

The seizure Sunday was another example of U.S. heavy-handedness, an official at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad said. “They should release our colleague as soon as possible,” he said angrily.

Neither U.S. government nor military officials in Baghdad would confirm the incident had occurred, much less been orchestrated by American forces.

“We have no record of any

event that looks remotely like the described abduction,” said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, the U.S. military spokesman. The U.S. Embassy said it was “aware of the reports” and looking into them.

Kidnappings are common in Baghdad, where everyone from high-ranking officials to regular merchants fall prey to gangs looking to get rich by ransoming hostages. Iranian officials, however, refused to consider that Sharafi ’s abduction was anything but another attempt by the United States to put the squeeze on Iran. They cited the detention of the Iranians in Irbil as evidence.

“This is not the first time such a thing has happened,” the Iranian Embassy official said of Sharafi ’s abduction. “Normally, the United States is responsible.”

As Iraq’s violence has escalated, so too has the tension between the United States and Iran, whose leaders deny bolstering Shiite militias at work in Iraq. The diplomatic snarling has put Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in an awkward position as he tries to cultivate close relations with Iran, while also convincing American officials that he is serious about quelling violence.

A new joint U.S.-Iraqi security plan announced last month has yet to produce tangible results, at least in the view of Iraqis living under constant threat of car bombs, mortar attacks, stray gunfire, and street crime.

The bodies of at least 19 men, all shot to death and most showing signs of torture, were found in Baghdad on Tuesday, police and morgue officials said. In addition, at least five people died when a car bomb exploded in the

eastern Baghdad neighborhood of Mashtal.

In the city of Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, a roadside bomb targeting a passing U.S. military convoy instead blew up under a civilian minivan, killing a woman.

The U.S. military announced the death of a Marine in Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad, bringing the number of U.S. troops killed since the March 2003 invasion to at least 3,102, according to icasualties.org, which tracks casualty figures from the war.

In the Shiite neighborhoods of Ur and Shaab, in northern Baghdad, residents said U.S. and Iraqi forces set up checkpoints in the area Tuesday morning, snarling traffic for hours but doing little to reassure people of the new security plan’s effectiveness. Majid Abdullah, 42, who owns an auto parts shop in Shaab, said most checkpoints had been dismantled by afternoon and that those remaining were manned by Iraqis, with U.S. troops only passing by occasionally.

A resident of Ur said about 10 Strykers, hulking U.S. armored vehicles, had snaked through her neighborhood but had become stuck on a narrow street. Unable to turn around, she said the first Stryker rammed down the walls of a school and drove through it, followed by the rest of the convoy.

Al-Maliki acknowledged delays in implementing the security plan he announced early last month and, after meeting with Iraqi military commanders, urged them to disprove skeptics who he said were doubting their ability or determination to stabilize Iraq.

Libby’s recorded grand jury testimony played in court

BY GREG MILLER LOS ANGELES T IMES

WASHINGTON — Former White House official I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby told a grand jury in 2004 that Vice President Dick Cheney was upset by an ambassador’s public questioning of the Iraq war and that President Bush, Cheney and Libby were involved in a plan -— kept secret from other senior White House officials -- to leak previously classified intelligence to reporters to counter the criticism.

Libby’s audiotape testimony, played for jurors in federal court here, offered new details about how the White House orchestrated a campaign to discredit the Iraq war critic, Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. Wilson’s wife, undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame, was subsequently exposed in the media, triggering a criminal investigation.

As Libby sat silently in the courtroom, jurors heard his disembodied voice describe how he was instructed to leak intelligence secrets to select reporters, even as other White House officials were expressing concern over the leaks and debating whether the administration should formally declassify intelligence reports on Iraq to combat criticism of the case for war.

At one point, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald can be

heard on the tapes expressing disbelief that Libby would take part in those meetings without disclosing that the president had effectively already declassified key portions of one of the main prewar pieces of intelligence on Iraq, a national intelligence estimate on the nation’s alleged banned weapons programs.

“Was that unusual for you to have the national security adviser, the director of central intelligence, the White House chief of staff, among others, in the dark as to something that you had done regarding declassification?” Fitzgerald asked.

“It is not unusual for the vice president to tell me something which I am not allowed to share with others,” Libby replied.

Libby’s remarks came during a day in court devoted entirely to playing audiotapes of the former Cheney aide’s grand jury testimony, allowing jurors to listen to the defendant’s voice as he made a series of statements that prosecutors have labeled lies.

Libby faces five felony counts alleging perjury, making false statements and obstruction of justice for what he told investigators about his role in the campaign to discredit Wilson.

The tapes offer an intriguing window into the reaction within the White House to mounting criticism of its case for war with Iraq,

as well as a chance to witness Fitzgerald’s method as he sparred with Libby during eight hours of grand jury testimony.

Libby can be heard describing how Cheney was “upset” when Wilson went public with allegations that the White House had twisted intelligence to make the case for war. In an op-ed article, Wilson said he had been sent to investigate a key claim — that Iraq was seeking uranium from the African nation of Niger — and found it untrue months before President Bush included the allegation in his 2003 State of the Union speech.

“It was a serious accusation,” Libby said. “It was a very serious attack.” It also quickly became a “topic that was discussed on a daily basis” in the White House.

Libby said that Cheney “thought we should get some of these facts out to the press. He then undertook to get permission from the president to talk about this” to reporters.

Libby said that Cheney’s lawyer, David Addington, had advised him that merely getting such permission from the president rendered the intelligence declassified. President Bush has publicly acknowledged doing so.

Libby’s subsequent conversations with reporters and other White House officials are now at continued on page 8

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

Student anxiety increases as Banner implementation continues continued from page 1 But Hellquist said the available information was insufficient to address student concerns. “The Web site talked about integrating systems, but not what it would mean for students,” she said.

Discretionary faculty overrides have been part of the University’s plan for Banner for years. A document released by the College Curriculum Council in May 2005 refers to a presentation by University Registrar Michael Pesta, who stated that faculty would be able to override all course restrictions except scheduling conflicts. Computing and Information Services also launched Web tutorials in January

demonstrating faculty overrides and presenting Banner’s user interface.

But student concern extends beyond course restrictions and the timely dissemination of information.

Brown Against Banner’s main page on Facebook featured a message sure to capture the attention of the campus: “This spells the end of shopping period as we know it, and (is) a violation of the spirit of our Open Curriculum — the ability to find classes that we truly love.”

Pesta denied the group’s claim.

“The spirit of the New Curriculum will certainly remain intact, includ-

ing the add/drop period,” he said.

“Banner will simply allow us to implement the structures of registration which have been in place all along: prerequisites, caps, et cetera.”

Moreover, Pesta said students have actually indicated a preference for enforced prerequisites, which they described as “too ambiguous.”

“Sometimes students are unaware if prereqs are truly meant,” he said. “Banner will get rid of this ambiguity, and sort out which classes are required and which are simply recommended.”

One faculty member who said he would take advantage of the ability to enforce prerequisites is Steven Sloman, professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences.

“As a faculty member, I think I’ll be given a little more control

over the process than I had before, which obviously appeals to me,” he said. “From what I’ve seen, the administration is implementing this carefully and will do a good job in the end.”

Both the Undergraduate Council of Students and Dunbar released statements yesterday addressing student concerns. The UCS response provided a brief overview of the Banner project and announced two public forums scheduled for next week. Dunbar’s response specifically named Brown Against Banner and individually addressed the points made on its Facebook Web site.

“Shopping period will remain,” she wrote in her statement, which was posted on the Banner Web site (www.brown.edu/banner). “It is defined in our faculty rules as the first two weeks of the term. Stu-

dents will be able to add and drop courses throughout that period.”

Hellquist said most of the original information posted on her group’s page was a collection of rumors and was written during a time of personal anger toward UCS and the administration — the two bodies responsible for disseminating information about the project. Since speaking to University officials, Hellquist has edited nearly every paragraph of the group’s Web page.

“After the initial rush of outrage, I’ve been trying to be careful about finding out what is going on,” she said.

Dunbar said demonstrations of Banner and mock registrations will begin later this month as online course registration moves closer to full implementation in April.

Orientation calendar change approved by faculty continued from page 1 even though Orientation will officially be three days, much of the programming will be moved to the first weekend after classes start. “Orientation, in a way, will still be a week, but it will be subdivided by the articulation of classes,” Bergeron said.

Professor of Mathematics Thomas Banchoff said the new schedule, which moves the beginning of the academic year from a Tuesday to a Wednesday, leaves students shopping classes that meet on Tuesday and Thursday with fewer opportunities to make a decision about a course. “I’m really worried about the effect on shopping period and freshman acclimatization,” he said.

Kathryn Spoehr, professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences, questioned whether shifting the academic calendar ahead — which pushes the last day of finals forward one day — might place an undue cost burden on students, who will now have to fly home even closer to the Christmas holiday, when airlines often blackout lower fares.

Other faculty said they were concerned about the effect of the change on student activities, shopping period and freshman advising.

Professors’ concerns aside, the faculty voted unanimously for

the change. Even after the vote, it remains unclear whether or not students support the reforms.

Bergeron said the committee’s recommendations “received an interesting vetting,” because they were brought to the University Resources Committee, Meiklejohn leadership, members of the Orientation and Welcoming Committee and peer counselor leadership. Members of the Undergraduate Council of Students also told The Herald they have been following the committee’s work.

Three undergraduates were included on the Orientation review committee.

Dill said not a single undergrad was in favor of the changes during a straw poll she conducted in her class SO 109: “Theories of Organizational Dynamics and Decision Making.”

Also at yesterday’s meeting, Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98, who chairs the budget-setting University Resources Committee, hinted that the URC will recommend a moderate tuition increase to President Ruth Simmons and the Corporation for approval later this month.

Kertzer also said the URC will recommend a higher payout from the endowment, which is currently approximately $2.3 billion, citing strong investment growth and fundraising that have bolstered the University’s coffers by nearly

$1 billion in the last six years.

Additionally, the University is now searching for 75 new professors. Some of these searches are a result of normal attrition, but in total the searches will result in a net gain of 15 to 25 new professors as part of plans to continue expanding the faculty under the Plan for Academic Enrichment, Kertzer said.

However, the University is feeling pressure in funding graduate students and will seek to cut costs by admitting fewer students, Kertzer said. The Graduate School has increased stipends by $5,700 per student in recent years and now offers a five-year funding guarantee to doctoral students.

“We’ve made major investments in the Grad School, but we’re now feeling a certain crunch in metabolizing those changes,” he added.

In her monthly report to the faculty, President Ruth Simmons said she will publicly respond to recommendations from the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice after briefing the Corporation at their meeting later this month.

Simmons said she will endorse some of the committee’s recommendations regarding commemoration, academic initiatives and community work and will offer her own recommendations that were not mentioned in the Slavery and Justice report.

Libby’s recorded grand jury testimony played in court continued from page 7 the center of the perjury trial. Prosecutors have produced a series of witnesses over the past week, including former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, to say that they learned of Plame’s identity from Libby.

Libby has testified that he learned about Plame from Cheney in June 2003, but then forgot that detail and didn’t share it with others until he heard it from NBC News reporter Tim Russert in a

phone call on July 10 or 11.

Recounting that conversation, Libby said in taped testimony that Russert asked him “ ‘Did you know that Ambassador Wilson’s wife works at the CIA?’ and I was a little taken aback by that ... And I said ‘No, I don’t know that’ intentionally because I didn’t want him to take anything I was saying as in any way confirming what he had said.”

Russert, who is expected to testify this week, has said he did not tell Libby about Plame.

Libby’s testimony also puts him

at odds with other former White House officials. At one point, Fitzgerald asks if he recalled sharing Plame’s name with Fleischer, as the former press secretary testified last week.

“Isn’t it a fact, sir, that you told Mr. Fleischer over lunch that this was hush-hush or on the Q.T.?,” Fitzgerald asked.

“I don’t recall that,” Libby replied.

Prosecutors are expected to continue playing remaining portions of Libby’s taped testimony Wednesday.

www.browndailyherald.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

Wrestling pounds Princeton 47-0 continued from page 12 Savino ’08 strung together consecutive wins to give Brown a 14-9 edge.

Unfortunately, the Bears were unable to hold onto the lead and lost the final four matches of the dual. Brown has now dropped its last three duals to Drexel.

“These two duals showed that a lot of the problems we face are not as much technical as emotional,” Burch said. “I attribute this to … the youthfulness of the team, and the absence of key seniors who would have raised the level of intensity in the practice rooms.”

After a disappointing opening to the weekend, Brown had a complete turnaround on Saturday against Princeton, winning every match.

Princeton is a much weaker opponent, but the coaching staff was still satisfied to see the team exhibit more aggressiveness and tenacity on the mats. Of the nine who competed, seven Brown wreslers earned bonus points, and Schell scored six points as a result of a forfeit. Classmates Greg Einfrank ’10 at 125 pounds, Bryan Tracy ’10 at 149 pounds and Bran Crudden ’10 at 165 pounds all picked up six points with pins. At 141 pounds, Savino had a major decision with a 10-2 victory, as did Gevelinger at 184 and Mock at heavyweight.

“We should dominate Princeton, which we did,” Burch said. “Hopefully, this will give the team the momentum for upcoming duals.”

The team will travel to Boston next weekend to square off against Harvard and Boston University.

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Trudeau: Semi-Super Bowl Diary continued from page 12 curate throw all the way downfield.

I guess it helps to be 6-foot-5, ‘bout 235 pounds … lay-zer, rocket arm.

6:50 — As the Bears and Colts exchange fumbles on back-to-back plays, I’m bracing for the obligatory “Who does the rain favor?” conversation that Simms and Nantz will inevitably say favors the Bears.

Obbbvi. Because, you know, the wet field is bad for receivers trying to make their cuts (it doesn’t affect the defensive backs) but is good for running backs who similarly need traction and are at a much greater risk of fumbling the ball, given how much more often they carry it. I’m no expert, but this notion that rain clearly favors the running game needs to be re-examined, along with the “almost intercepted” thing.

6:54 — Bears wideout Muhsin Muhammad catches a touchdown to give the Bears a 14-6 lead. He’ll always be a Panther to me.

6:59 — Don’t ever consume twice as much Domino’s as you want to eat before trying to write something, especially if you are trying to entertain people. I feel dizzy and lethargic, and my friends have taken to yelling, “Can pizza make you feel high?” and “He got jacked up!” (thank you, Michael Irvin and Tom Jackson) every time someone gets tackled.

7:04 — Cedric Benson got JACKED UP as he loses the football. Raise your hand if you think his day is over (raises hand).

7:15 — Anyone else curious how GoDaddy.com can afford an ad during the Super Bowl?

7:23 — Personally, when I think of beer, I think about cute dogs. Dogs, beer and football-playing horses are practically synonymous. Keep up the good work, Budweiser.

7:24 — A navigation system just spoofed the “Power Rangers” show from the early 1990s. What’s worse, that they chose to do that, or that I recognized it as a “Power Rangers” spoof? But I think I’m off the hook because I was seven when I watched it and still only 17 when I bought the DVDs. 7:34 — Rhodes rumbles into the end zone to give the Colts a 16-14 lead, and I think it’s becoming increasingly clear who the superior team is.

7:50 – Another string of backto-back fumbles, one courtesy of Grossman. You can hide your QB when you’re playing against NFC teams, but this is the Super Bowl.

He has got to make a play, or at the very least, not do something stupid.

8:15 — Prince is one of those guys I’ve heard about for years but never listened to. Now I know why.

Good call by the NFL to clean up the halftime act by getting the one guy who would use a big pillowything to create a phallic image behind it.

8:33 — I think someone forgot to tell the Bears that players lined up in the backfield are allowed to catch passes. Manning is killing them underneath, and Addai looks like a stud.

8:50 — Has CBS ever heard of a towel? All their camera lenses are covered by rain.

9:12 — Do you think maybe

Dunkin’ Donuts should re-think the decision to have John Goodman as their spokesperson? Have you seen that guy lately?

9:15 — Grossman’s pass is picked off and returned for a touchdown to make it 29-17. The Bears should just implement a policy that if Grossman throws to either sideline, the offensive linemen are obligated to sprint over in the direction of the throw in anticipation of an interception.

9:19 — As Steve Tasker reports, the question begs, do you remember any special teams players from 15 years ago? That guy is classic.

Punt — Block — Master — Flex...

9:27 — Who was the genius at Budweiser who just had to get Don Shula and Jay-Z into the same commercial playing some weird form of virtual football? Ohhh, it was Roger Federer. Just kidding, I love tennis.

It is a challenging and entertaining sport. Best sport ever? Probably.

9:30 — Rex Grossman, ladies and gentlemen. Berrian actually had his man beat on the Bob Sanders interception, and that could have been the one jump ball completion, but the throw was a good 10 yards short. Put it in the books. Now excuse me while I congratulate my mom, a true Hoosier. Hi, Mom! 10:40 — I had to come back and comment on the fact that Dominic Rhodes just pulled a Zoolander thinking he had won the MVP.

Tom Trudeau ’09 has one message for Peyton Manning: Cut that meat!

M. track cruises at Geigengack Invitational continued from page 12 run, earning third place with a 14:29.60 finish by Stephen Chaloner ’09. Chaloner completed the event ahead of Christian Escareno ’10, Brian Schmidt ’09 and Ryan Graddy ’08, who placed fi fth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

“The men’s distance squad is running phenomenally well,” Lake said.

Brown earned two more second-place finishes in the field events. David Howard ’09 recorded a throw of 54 feet, 3 1/4inches in the weight throw and a 51-foot 6 1/2-inch throw in the shot put to place second in both events. Bryan Powlen ’10 also competed in the shot put, throwing 48-6 3/4 for fi fth place.

In the pole vault, Grant Bowen ’07 jumped 15 feet 3 inches to finish fourth. In the triple jump, Andrew Chapin ’10 and Reginald Cole ’10 took fi fth place and seventh place with respective jumps of 46 feet 1 1/4 inches and 45-2 1/4.

The Bears will next head to Boston University to compete at the St. Valentine’s Invitational on Feb. 9-10.

“We need to keep improving on individual performances,” Lake said. “We’re looking toward the Ivy League Championships.”

E DITORIAL & L ETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

STAF F EDITORIAL

Calm down about Banner Even though the integrated software system has been in the works for nearly a half-decade, campus discussion about Banner has become frantic in the last week. For years, students have complained that Brown is one of the few top universities stuck in the stone age of course registration. But now, about 15 percent of the undergraduate student body has joined a new anti-Banner Facebook group — created just under a week ago — that is serving as a sounding board for students’ speculative panic.

The widespread student interest in the anti-Banner Facebook group speaks loudly. To her credit, Associate Provost Nancy Dunbar, whose “Banner project owner” title bestows a level of responsibility that surely keeps her up at night, was quick to respond to the surge in student trepidation. Yesterday, Dunbar posted a lengthy response to student concerns on the Banner project’s Web site, and her letter was quickly linked to on the Brown Against Banner online message board. Dunbar’s three-page memo carefully unpacks many of the concerns raised on the Facebook forum. Some of what she says is comforting (students will be able to add courses without a professor’s signature during the first week of class) and some is troubling (seniors get to pick their courses first, meaning juniors will get the dregs of upperclassmen seminars). But we appreciate her openness and willingness to engage students.

Even though some of the anti-Banner fears are baseless, administrators must not underestimate the seriousness of logistical concerns. University officials say the introduction of Banner won’t bring any new registration policies because professors will be able to login to the system to override virtually any restrictions, such as prerequisites and caps on class size. But administrators must be absolutely certain that every one of the University’s 658 professors knows how to use the system. If creating guest accounts and uploading class readings on MyCourses is any indication, that won’t be an easy task.

Some of the Facebook activists behind Brown Against Banner upped the level of anxiety by invoking an argument sure to cause a rise in almost any Brown student — Banner is a covert attempt to bring down the New Curriculum. Even if you don’t believe Dunbar’s reassurance that “Banner is not a project to change the Brown curriculum,” suggesting that Banner is designed to destroy the open curriculum is irrational or paranoid.

Banner is not going away, and new technology infrastructure is necessary for 21st century Brown. But as April pre-registration approaches, University officials need to boost their efforts to educate students and faculty about how to use Banner. Conspiratorial administrators won’t cause Banner to alter our curriculum. But logistical nightmares could.

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

Executive Editors Allison Kwong Ben Leubsdorf

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

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Steve DeLucia, Designer Ayelet Brinn, Chris Gang, 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, 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

A L E X A N D E R G A R D - M U R R AY

LETTERS New Grad School policy is poorly thought-out To the Editor: As graduate students in the history department, we are deeply concerned with the policy changes being enacted by the Graduate School, along with the recent statements by Dean of the Graduate School Sheila Bonde in Tuesday’s Herald (“Change in Grad School policy won’t alter TA numbers, officials say,” Feb. 6).

Though we cannot speak for other departments, we can tell you how these policy changes will affect the history department — home to one of the most popular concentrations at Brown.

The Grad School made substantial changes to funding policies two years ago. Having adjusted to these changes, the history graduate students were shocked when the Grad School decided to inform the graduate student community late this fall that the policies governing funding would be completely overhauled, effective immediately. We had neither notice of these changes nor any input in the decision making, and the result is a poorly thought-out funding policy.

Though the average history Ph.D. across American universities takes upwards of eight years, most of the graduate students in the history separtment have been operating on a six-year trajectory. Usually, we hold teaching assistantships in the second, third and fi fth years, we travel for an essential year of research in the fourth year, and we use a fellowship in the sixth year to complete our dissertation. Within this framework — a framework now eradicated by the Grad School — history graduate students have worked prodigiously to provide the best learning experience for undergraduates we can, while researching and writing the kind of

high-quality dissertations we hope will bring recognition to the University and further our careers as historians.

The policy changes recently mandated by the Grad School create a five-year paradigm of funding even for departments where this is not viable. This will, without doubt, degrade the ability of history graduate students to produce strong dissertations, and consequently undermine the quality of the program, ironically in the midst of the Plan for Academic Enrichment.

But perhaps even more relevant to the Brown community as a whole — undergraduates, professors, workers, alumni, parents — the rashness of this decision by the Grad School will substantially diminish the undergraduate experience in history classes. Forcing a long and arduous process into merely five years would leave even less time for teaching assistants to devote their attentions to their undergraduate sections. Furthermore, despite Bonde’s disingenuous assertion that the procedural change in how grad students are funded shouldn’t affect the number of teaching assistants, the 2007-2008 school year will be marked by a drastic shortage of teaching assistants in the history department. Because of the policy changes and research necessities, next year’s fourth, fi fth, and sixth year Ph.D. students will be removed from the eligible pool of teaching assistants, leaving only second and third year Ph.D. students — fewer than 15 students overall — to teach discussion sections for some of the most popular courses here at Brown.

There has been recent discussion in the history department about measures necessary to deal with a short-

age of TAs, including course enrollment caps, drastically increasing the size of discussion sections, or even eliminating them altogether.

One of the great advantages of the University has always been its small class sizes and the ability of undergraduates to forge meaningful relationships with teaching assistants and professors. These policy changes, being forced through by deans with only fiscal concerns in mind, will cause irreparable harm to those relationships — to your undergraduate experience. So if you have the time, if you’ve ever had a TA who has been critical to your undergraduate experience, drop a line to The Herald or Dean Bonde in the Grad School to let them know that these changes are antithetical to the meaning and purpose of the University.

Kevin Hoskins MA‘05 GS, Erik Anderson MA‘04 GS, Chris Barthel MA‘05 GS, Caroline Boswell MA‘01 GS, Christopher Brick MA‘04 GS, Will Brucher GS, Thomas Devaney MA‘06 GS, Matthew Dunne MA‘03 GS, Natalina Earls MA‘03 GS, Nicole Eaton MA‘05 GS, Heather Ellis GS, Sara Fingal GS, Katherine Flynn MA‘05 GS, Jessica Foley MA‘05 GS, Elisa Gollub MA‘01 GS, Jonathan Hagel MA‘01 GS, Sheyda Jahanbani MA‘01 GS, C. Cryn Johannsen MA‘06 GS, Christopher Jones MA‘03 GS, James Kabala MA‘03 GS, Paige Meltzer GS, Kelly Ricciardi GS, Mark Robbins MA‘04 GS, Gabriel Rosenberg MA‘04 GS, Erica Ryan MA‘02 GS, Derek Seidman MA‘05 GS, Stacie Taranto MA‘05 GS, Adam Webster MA‘05 GS, Stephen Wicken GS, Jennifer Wilz MA‘03 GS Feb. 6

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O PINIONS WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Empty spaces and empty libraries

BY JOEY BORSON OPINIONS COLUMNIST

Two weeks ago, I went to the opening of the Sciences Library’s new Friedman Study Center — nominally to attend the celebration of Brown’s technology and resources, but really to get some low-quality pizza and a free backpack and because I had already seen the “Futurama” episode playing on Cartoon Network that evening.

What I found was an impressive space, full of mostly working computers, clean desks, oddly-shaped but comfortable chairs and a pleasant, well-lit work area. What I didn’t find was a library.

Let me first say that I am deeply indebted to Susan and Richard Friedman for their generous donation, and I honestly believe it is a great service to the Brown community. But the Study Center, or, as it was once known, the SciLi Basement, is ultimately a social place — no different, except in scale, from the CIT, Faunce or any other 24-hour space on campus. With the exception of the small reference section, buried in a far corner, there is no indication that the SciLi basement, is indeed in the Sciences Library — no books, no journals, only the sounds of conversations, printers and photocopiers.

Libraries, ultimately, are repositories of information, a proud tradition of collecting and organizing knowledge dating back to Alexandria in Egypt that forms the heart of scholarship. On this point, Brown has done an admirable job, and its extensive print collections range from the infamous human flesh folios to the far more mundane but potentially more useful — to students of government, or students with insomnia — collection of the proceedings of

spoken with, has too much wasted space and too few tables and carrels, especially compared to its older permutation. While it’s a great space if you can find a place to sit or type — if you can’t, you’re out of luck.

I fear that during midterms and finals, too many people will be out of luck.

The transition of libraries from sites of research to sites of socialization is not new, nor is it unique to Brown. Last month, a library in New Jersey decided to close dur-

By divorcing itself in design and in construction from the books and resources of the library system, it forgets the one true function of the building: to store the knowledge of humanity in a way accessible to all. the Canadian Parliament in the early 20th century. Furthermore, Brown has an excellent and expanding collection of electronic journals and databases, the current medium of choice for much of the sciences, social sciences and humanities. The new SciLi basement incorporates none of this.

Instead it is now only a work area, and one which, in the opinions of many I’ve

ing after-school hours, because students had become unacceptably loud and disruptive to others. While this decision was reversed after a spate of negative publicity, it illustrates a new function of libraries as de facto community centers. I spent part of winter break working in my local public library, and while many people checked out books or movies, many others browsed the Internet or dropped their kids off by

the children’s literature section, assuming the reference staff also served as babysitters. I don’t doubt that libraries have uses beyond gathering information, but when they become socializing areas, they lose their essential function.

And that is my problem with the new SciLi basement. By divorcing itself in design and in construction from the books and resources of the library system, it forgets the one true function of the building: to store the knowledge of humanity in a way accessible to all. Before, it was impossible to go into a library without working amidst the pieces of the Brown collection, realizing its power and learning, if only by osmosis or trial-and-error, how to research, how to be a student and hopefully, how to be a scholar. But now, it is only a large concrete room, with nothing but a sign to indicate that it is even in a library.

I don’t dispute that the Friedman Study Center will be a useful though imperfect addition to Brown. But I hope it does not reflect the University’s future plans and that the administration remembers that when it comes down to it, libraries are ultimately about books, research and scholarship, not about egg-shaped chairs, inefficient computer desks or oddly-shaped plastic dividers.

Joey Borson ’07 freely admits he’s a bit of a library nerd.

Hollywood-sanctioned racism perpetuates prejudice “Dreamgirls” joins the ranks of Mel Gibson and Michael Richards

BY JESSE ADAMS OPINIONS COLUMNIST With Mel Gibson’s drunken ramblings about Jews and Michael Richards’ racial tirade at a California comedy club, 2006 will surely be remembered as a year of high-profile Hollywood racism. Both cases elicited universal condemnation, some of it appropriate but much, unfortunately, self-serving. As Americans gawked at such distasteful violations of decorum, many so-called civil rights leaders — including Abraham Foxman of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League, Jesse Jackson and the Rev. Al Sharpton — shamelessly exploited the media circus for extravagantly sanctimonious self-promotion.

But where were these high priests of tolerance and multiculturalism when another instance of Hollywood hate brought ignorant, racially-based stereotypes to millions of viewers around the world? The critically heralded movie musical “Dreamgirls” peddled a form of racism far more dangerous and insidious than either of Gibson and Richards’ recent rants — because its strain of prejudice has become virtually invisible in today’s cloudy dialogue about race.

As we know from scholars in Ethnic and Africana Studies, unexamined stereotypes can assume an air of legitimacy if they are normalized over time — even when people strive to be conscientious. How many of us really take notice when Asian men are disproportionately cast as asexual computer nerds or Italians as greasy mobsters? And who among us takes the time to rigorously interrogate common stereotypes about the broader category of “white people?”

There are two offending moments in “Dreamgirls”, both of which target whites in a manner almost unthinkable if the racial roles were reversed. In one scene, the Dreamettes’ (black) main songwriter is asked if he’s heard the song “Hound Dog.” “Elvis Presley?” he asks, to which his black

associate smirks knowingly and replies, “Big Mama Thornton.” From the context and subsequent dialogue, it’s clear the film suggests that The King was more thief than pioneer — a specious charge made some years back on one of rapper Mos Def’s more insufferable recordings. This is a hostile and inaccurate distortion of the historical record. Thornton’s version of “Hound Dog” is a blues song with a distinctly different arrangement and sound compared to the more famous recording. In fact, Presley likely had never heard the Thornton rendition when he recorded the song, as his was inspired by a Las Vegas lounge act named Freddie Bell. Elvis Presley’s music actually helped introduce black styles and artists to a largely oblivious white audience, and he was frequently criticized for violating racial taboos.

— attract criticism and controversy — perhaps some right here on our lovely campus.

The second instance of “Dreamgirls”’ racial insensitivity is more obviously damaging. White performers demonstrate the co-optation of black music with a look, sound and color more palatable to white radio programmers and parents — an all-too-common circumstance during this period. The scene cuts from Jimmy Early and the Dreamettes’ fervent, soulful take of the song “Cadillac Car” to a ludicrously sanitized version by a squeaky-clean white singer and two white models in cheerleading uniforms in an actual Cadillac on the set of ““American Bandstand.”

The rendition is over the top, but not quite in a way that screams “racial stereotype.” As the camera pulls back, however, we see that the

A multicultural society that condemns some forms of discrimination while tacitly approving others will inevitably — and rightly — invite accusations of hypocrisy.

Indeed, rock ’n’ roll is fundamentally rooted in transracial cultural fusion — the marriage of white country music and black blues — the great Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene,” sometimes considered the birth of rock ’n’ roll, was an amped-up interpretation of country standard “Ida Red.” If African-American characters’ casually race-infused misrepresentation of Elvis is acceptable, we should not feel differently if another film — this with a white-dominated cast — were to sympathetically portray a group of struggling white musicians dismissing Chuck Berry as an inauthentic knockoff stealing ideas from the Carter Family. Yet such a scene would undoubtedly — and justifiably

studio is packed with sorry-looking white teenagers who awkwardly lurch about in absurdly lame clothing.

Next to the cool, confident and authentic black protagonists, these poor whites are clownish squares, so straitlaced that they need what the movie ambiguously calls black “soul” to become reasonable. Not only is this generalization historically inaccurate — plenty of white kids danced perfectly well on ““American Bandstand” — but it props up the tired old stereotype of the uptight white nerd, hopelessly incapable of the grit and authenticity effortlessly generated by other hues. Due to constant repetition in commercials, movies and comedy acts, this de-

meaning white stereotype has become largely normalized in our society. How would we feel if the racial positions were switched, and a film about sympathetic white musicians cut from their enjoyable performance to a raucous scene on the chitlin circuit? What if it mockingly presented hyper-sexualized black bodies undulating wildly and sporting shabby clothing? Such a film would have even less chance of being an Oscar contender than Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., now seems to have for the U.S. presidency.

However inappropriate both the Gibson and Richards incidents were, they were at least the products of extenuating circumstances. Given the intensity of many Jewish groups’ attacks on ““The Passion of the Christ” and Israel’s widely criticized summer bombing of Lebanon, a very intoxicated Gibson’s comment that “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world” can be put into context, though it surely cannot be excused. Michael Richards’ fame is based on his unparalleled ability to channel spastic and wildly inappropriate impulses as Kramer on “Seinfeld.” In a moment of blind rage sparked by rude audience members’ disruption of his struggling stand-up act, it is hardly surprising — though certainly unseemly — that Richards might exhibit a less entertaining variant of the same basic behavior.

“Dreamgirls”, on the other hand, had been staged since 1981 and spent years in development as a film project. Its content — including the racial stereotypes — is entirely deliberate and deserves to be judged as such.

A multicultural society that condemns some forms of discrimination while tacitly approving others will inevitably — and rightly — invite accusations of hypocrisy. Those concerned with racial harmony and justice should take care that no demeaning ethnic stereotype becomes acceptable, regardless of the races involved.

The inability of Jesse Adams ’07 to jump has nothing to do with his race, ethnicity, creed, sexual orientation or national origin.

S PORTS W EDNESDAY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

M. track cruises at Geigengack Invitational

Semi-Super Bowl Diary I’m (Joseph) Addai-ing to get going, so here we go…

5:55 — Interesting pre-game show. Cirque du Soleil? More like Circus du Suck.

6:15 — I’m no music guru, but I’m positive Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Billy Joel just got owned by the note on “see” (as in, “Oh, say can you see”).

Tom Trudeau 6:20 — Okay, Tru Story I’m watching the players huddling together on the sidelines, and I’m trying to read their lips. So far I’ve picked up, “No one comes into our house and doesn’t bring a Diet Pepsi! No one.”

Strange.

6:26 — As Devin Hester scampers into the end zone off the opening kickoff, I’m tempted to brag about how my friends and I predicted it would happen, but after watching Indy’s special teams against New England two weeks ago, who didn’t?

Side note: I’ve watched the Bears play five times this season (against the Giants, Jets, Pats, Seahawks and Saints), so I can say with confidence that they are a mediocre team that relies on Hester and Nate Vasher doing at least two incredible things on special teams, randomly forcing six fumbles per quarter and successfully completing one Rex Grossman jump ball to wideout Bernard Berrian.

6:30 — As Jim Nantz declares Peyton Manning “almost intercepted” by Brian Urlacher (he got a few fingers on the ball), it makes me wonder if it’s time to reassess that statement.

As it stands, any time a defense player’s body (foot included) touches the ball, it was “almost intercepted.”

6:31 — I wonder if the Colts are going to live and Addai by the pass.

Speaking of Addai, I wonder if he wears Nike or Addaidas.

6:32 — Another “almost intercepted” claim. This one bounced off the defender’s body. I think Nantz is influenced too much by Madden ’99, where the ball would vacuum into the hands of the player no matter where on his virtual body it first touched.

6:34 — Peyton is picked off on 3rd-and-12 right after Jim Nantz told us Manning specifically said the Colts needed to avoid that exact down and yardage. This might be the first time where the “what some guy told me before the game” crap was actually interesting. Don’t worry Peyton, they aren’t saying boo, they’re saying mooo—vers.

6:38 — Grossman lets fly his first jump ball, which really is almost intercepted. What a surprise, the Bears go three-and-out on their first drive.

6:46 — As Reggie Wayne gallops into the end zone off a blown coverage, I can’t help but marvel at what Manning just did. He had a 300pounder named Tank wrapping him up, and he still gets off a strong, accontinued on page 9

SPORTS SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY, DAY FEB. 7 DAY, W. HOCKEY: vs. Connecticut, 7 p.m., Meehan Auditorium M. SQUASH: vs. Tufts, 7:30 p.m., Pizzitola Center W. SQUASH: vs. Tufts, 6:00 p.m., Pizzitola Center

BY ERIN FRAUENHOFER ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

“It seems that some of the guys are getting (nervous) and afraid to make mistakes, so they don’t do anything to score points in their matches, and they can’t win,” Mock wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “As the sole captain left competing, I feel that setting an example out on the mat is important.”

Brown mounted a quick turnaround, facing Drexel immediately after the match with Penn.

Burch said the Bears learned from their mistakes against Penn and brought more competitiveness and intensity against the Dragons.

In the opening match, Matt Gevelinger ’09 earned four points for the team with a 19-9 major decision at 184 pounds. After the Bears lost in the 197-pound weight class, Zach Zdrada ’09, Schell and Mark

Even with a key sprinter sidelined for the rest of the season, the men’s track and field team refused to slow down at Yale’s Geigengack Invitational. Instead, the Bears took home several top-three finishes from the unscored weekend event.

Participating schools included Ivy League rivals Yale, Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.

“We were struggling,” said Craig Lake, director of track and field. “Michael Pruzinsky (’07), who’s a huge part of our team, just got diagnosed with a kidney infection. He’ll be out for the rest of the season.”

Pruzinsky was one of the Bears’ top sprinters last year, finishing third in the 400-meter run at the indoor Heptagonal Championships.

He also helped the 4x400-meter relay team to a second place finish.

With Pruzinsky ailing, the other runners filled the void. Jamil McClintock ’08 highlighted the Bears’ performances, earning Brown’s only first-place finish of the day.

McClintock won the 60-meter hurdles in 8.14 seconds, .04 seconds ahead of Georgetown University’s Terrell Gissendanner.

“Jamil McClintock has been running really well,” Lake said.

In the 1,000-meter run, Sean O’Brien ’09 took second place with a time of 2:27.23, less than two seconds behind the University of Vermont’s Sean Steinhagen.

The Bears also performed impressively in the 5,000-meter

continued on page 9

continued on page 9

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo Matt Gevelinger ’09 scored major decisions against Drexel and Princeton this weekend. Brown lost to Drexel and Penn on Friday but crushed Princeton 47-0 on Saturday.

Grapplers pound Princeton 47-0, fall to Penn and Drexel on road swing

BY HAN CUI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The wrestling team faced Ivy League opponents for the first time this season over the weekend and emerged with mixed decisions. On Friday, the Bears suffered a 33-4 loss to No. 14 University of Pennsylvania, then lost 22-14 to non-conference opponent Drexel University the same day.

However, the Bears bounced back in a big way the next day, dominating their dual meet against Princeton and posting a nearly perfect score of 47-0. The team currently holds a record of 2-5 in the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, and 2-9 overall.

Brown faced a difficult task when it opened its weekend at Penn. The Quakers boast five nationally ranked wrestlers, all of whom lived up to their hype. Matt

Valenti, ranked No. 2 in the nation in the 133-pound weight class, beat Jeff Schell ’08 in a major decision, 14-4. The rest of the team followed Valenti’s lead as the Quakers recorded five major decisions on the day.

“We know we were outgunned (by Penn) at this point, but it almost seemed like the wrestlers were not bothered by losing,” said Assistant Coach Mike Burch.

“Even if you lose, you should give everything you have, wrestle with good strategies and spirit … but there wasn’t the effort to execute against Penn.”

Co-captain Levon Mock ’08 gave the team’s best performance against Penn when he won with a major decision of 12-1 in the heavyweight class. The four points he earned for the win were the only points Bears managed to record against the Quakers.

Both m. and w. squash teams squished by Dartmouth, Williams

BY JASON HARRIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Despite gritty play, both the men and women’s squash teams fell in matches against Williams College and Dartmouth this past weekend. The men lost 8-1 to the Ephs on Friday night and fell to the Big Green by an identical score on Sunday. The women’s team just barely missed out on victories, losing 5-4 against Williams and 6-3 against Dartmouth.

The weekend’s play leaves the men’s team with a 1-7 record and the women’s squad with a 3-6 mark.

While the results were lopsided for the men, a number of individual matches could have gone in Brown’s favor.

“Both Williams and Dartmouth were tough, and some of our guys played well,” said co-captain Dan Petrie ’07, citing strong play from fellow cocaptain Pat Haynes ’07 at the five spot and Jacob Winkler ’09 at No. 7.

Mark Goldberg ’07 also

looked strong, Petrie said, despite being outlasted by Billy Nix of Dartmouth in a fivegame marathon, 9-2, 7-9, 39, 9-6, 9-7. Though Goldberg pulled out a five-game thriller last week against Bowdoin College, he was unable to repeat the feat against a tough Dartmouth opponent.

Head Coach Stuart LeGassick also pointed to a valiant effort in the Dartmouth match

by Pat Davis ’10. Though Davis lost three straight games in the sixth position, he pushed the first two to tiebreakers, eventually losing both 10-8.

The lone victor y in both matches for the men came from Petrie, who has been solid in the No. 1 position of the Bears’ lineup all season. Petrie has won his last four matches, including a five-game, 75minute match against his Williams opponent. Even with the team’s less-than-impressive results, Petrie is optimistic about the squad’s future. continued on page 6

Austin Freeman / Herald File Photo

Tri-captain Katie Lew ’07 won her match 10-9 in the fifth and deciding game against Williams, but the Bears dropped a 5-4 decision to the Ephs on Saturday.