Thursday, February 15, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD T HURSDAY, F EBR UAR Y 15, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 17

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

Let love rain down: Icy V-Day still sweet

EMS manager resigned, U. officials say

BY SCOTT LOWENSTEIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

sociate director of housing and residential life.

“In general terms, these outages, as much as possible, are scheduled to have minimal impact in terms of occupants,” he said. “If we have to do one, we do it over the Thanksgiving break, where there’s a minimal number of people, or during win-

Richard Lapierre, manager of Emergency Medical Services, resigned from his position Feb. 7, Margaret Klawunn, associate vice president for campus life and dean of student life, told Health Services staff Wednesday. Before the announcement, University officials had said Lapierre was “on vacation,” causing confusion and concern among EMS staff and student volunteers.

Lapierre’s last day at the University was Jan. 25. Since then, his absence led many at EMS to question whether he was still employed by the University, but no official word of his resignation was given to EMS staff until Wednesday.

A student EMT, who requested anonymity to avoid a potential conflict with University officials, told The Herald that Lapierre’s departure was sudden.

On Jan. 25 — Lapierre’s last day at the University — Lapierre met with administrators and later told EMTs that their shifts had been cancelled and that they should go home, the student EMT said. That was the last time that anyone at EMS spoke to Lapierre in a professional capacity, she said.

“We knew something was wrong simply by his absence,” said Brenda Rubenstein ’07, a student EMT. “He did everything for EMS … from scheduling to paying people to dealing with paperwork.”

“His absence was definitely felt,” she said.

After the Jan. 25 incident, University officials repeatedly responded to questions about Lapierre by saying that he was “on vacation,” according to a student EMT who spoke to administrators about Lapierre on Feb. 2.

But three student EMTs suggested that Lapierre might have been fired.

continued on page 4

continued on page 4

BY ZACHARY CHAPMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“Ruth, will you be our valentine?”

A series of posters bearing this message lay facedown in the snow outside University Hall Wednesday — the remnants of a lighthearted effort by a group of anonymous students to obtain some Valentine’s Day companionship from the University’s highest officer. The posters showed that love was in the air yesterday, despite almost being drowned out by pounding rain, flooded walkways and a miserable mix of wind, snow, sleet and rain.

Seeking shelter from the storm in the cozy confines of Tealuxe, Tasha Haverty ’08 and Charles Hickox ’07.5 exchanged coy glances and nuzzled affectionately over sandwiches and tea.

The couple said they had been quarreling only 30 minutes before, but apparently their fight could not withstand the combined forces of tea, Valentine’s Day and a communal trip to the bathroom, as they often became too distracted with one another to answer interview questions.

The Ursa Minors, one of Brown’s all-female a cappella groups, trekked continued on page 9

Chris Bennett / Herald A heart adorns the doors to University Hall. See the full valentine to President Ruth Simmons on pages 6 and 7.

Power outages lie ahead for campus as electrical system is upgraded

BY FRANKLIN KANIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Students may notice numerous power outages across campus over the next six months as Facilities Management upgrades the University’s medium voltage electrical distribution system.

There will be between 20 and 40 scheduled power outages, occurring at a rate of about three a

month, said Courtney McCracken, project manager for Facilities Management. If the number of outages reaches the upper estimate of 40, the work could take more than six months to complete, he said.

“Typically … we tr y to do them scheduled around people’s work schedules and so on. We do a lot of … Saturdays,” McCracken said.

There have been about 10 power outages so far, McCracken said, in dorms including Caswell, Hegeman, Littlefield and Slater halls and Hope College.

Facilities Management usually informs the Office of Residential Life of impending outages about three weeks in advance, McCracken said. ResLife then notifies students through e-mail, said Tom Forsberg, as-

Movie studios, RIAA and CIS target student pirates

BY NICOLE DUNGCA STAFF WRITER

Students may want to watch out the next time they try to illegally download the newest blockbuster movie or hit song — the University may notice.

On behalf of copyright owners such as music or film companies, Computing and Information Services sends notices to students caught pirating files. Toward the end of last semester, the number of notices increased dramatically — the fourth quarter of last semester saw about 77 notices sent a month, compared to about 12 a month in the third

INSIDE:

postINSIDE

quarter, according to Connie Sadler, director of information technology security at CIS. Movie studios are becoming more adamant about stopping illegal downloads, Sadler said. Last semester, 48 percent of the notices sent by CIS were from Universal Studios.

The music industry is also a major part of the crusade against illegal downloading. The Recording Industry Association of America was responsible for about 35 percent of notices last semester, according to Sadler.

Sadler said there have not been continued on page 4

A BACKSTAGE PASS The Herald’s weekly arts and culture magazine goes behind the scenes at Lupo’s and desperately tries to forget Valentine’s Day

www.browndailyherald.com

3 METRO

Sustainable Food Initiative works to launch on-campus farm

BY OLIVIA HOFFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Brown students might soon be able to get hands-on farming experience — last semester, the Sustainable Food Initiative devised a plan that will integrate local food and sustainable agriculture into student life by creating an on-campus, student-run farm.

“The idea of this farm is not a new one,” said David Schwartz ’09, one of the farm’s organizers.

Inspiration for the idea came from previous sustainable food projects, recent senior theses and an on-campus farm at Yale that serves as a model for this type of project, according to members of the initiative who founded the stuGETTING OFF THE HILL The Herald’s poll suggests that most students get off the Hill at least once a week to take advantage of all that Providence has to offer

11 OPINIONS

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

dent farm project.

The project gained administrative support last fall when Zak Stone ’09 mentioned the idea to President Ruth Simmons at a barbecue held at her home. Simmons loved the idea, initiative members said, and passed it on to Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, interim vice president for campus life and student services.

Carey negotiated with student coordinators and Facilities Management administrators to determine a plot of land that would suit the needs of both the project and the University.

Toward the end of last semester, the project began to focus on a 4,000-square-foot plot on Waterman Street that would lie along STEREOTYPING STARBUCKS Courtney Jenkins ‘07 mulls preconceived notions and the increasing prevalence of judging people based on the beverage they drink in public

the Walk, the planned pathway that will link Lincoln Field with the Pembroke campus.

Carey said the site is still “tentative” and that project coordinators are continuing to finalize plans.

“They’re now working directly with the grounds superintendent and really trying to put a greater level of detail around the funding and resource needs, and I think that will happen over the next several weeks,” Carey said.

“At this point, it seems like everyone wants this to happen,” Schwartz said. “It’s just a matter of coordinating between the various administrative offices and fundraising.”

12 SPORTS

continued on page 6 PING-PONG VICTORY The table tennis team advances to the national championships after drubbing the rest of New England in this weekend’s tournament

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

TODAY THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 2

WE A

T H E R

TODAY

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

WBF | Matt Vascellaro TOMORROW

partly cloudy / wind 29 /18

sunny / wind 24 / 11

MEN SHARPE REFECTORY

U VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH — Hot Turkey Sandwich with Sauce, Sugar Snap Peas, Pancakes, Tater Tots, Kielbasa, Gingerbread with Whipped Cream, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

LUNCH — Vegetarian Mexican Bean Soup, Lobster Bisque, Pulled Pork Sandwich, Shoepeg Corn Casserole, Cauliflower, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

DINNER — Braised Beef Tips, Rice Pilaf with Zucchini, Sunny Sprouts, Summer Squash, Sourdough Bread, Tapioca, Chocolate Sundae Cake

DINNER — Roast Turkey with Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Butternut Squash with Shallots and Sage, Sourdough Bread, Chocolate Sundae Cake

SU

How to Get Down | Nate Saunders

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

Edited byC Rich Joyce R Norris O S and S W ONichols R D Lewis

ACROSS 1 Vent, perhaps 5 “Shall we?” response 9 Root out 14 Stroller’s venue 15 He played Emile in “South Pacific” 16 Russian prince known as “Moneybag” 17 Ulysses Jackson, in a 1997 film title 18 Actress Gershon 19 Another name for flint 20 Pete moving here and there?

23 Recherché 24 Bag toter 28 Asia’s first female president 31 Warning sign 33 Bus. takeover 34 Howard moving quickly?

36 H-L fillers 37 Like swampland 38 Golf broadcaster Baker-Finch 39 “That’s __ haven’t heard” 40 Grazed 41 Leontyne moving up the scale?

45 Calendario entry 46 __’acte 47 Picks 48 “It’s about time!”

50 Disagreeable obligation 51 Sharon moving along?

57 Clinton investigator 60 Classy entrance 61 Vessel for Aquarius 62 Turning point 63 Site of the volcano Haleakala 64 Cuzco builder 65 Loopholes, for the most part 66 17-Across’s charge 67 Invites

DOWN 1 Stud poker?

2 __ land: unreality 3 Agendum 4 Tar’s domain 5 Prisoner’s restraint 6 Cyberissue 7 Sound when a shop door opens, perhaps 8 Tower 9 Minority opinion 10 Like some hallowed walls 11 Friday, maybe 12 Le Monde article 13 Nabe showings 21 Wool: Pref.

22 Metal sources 25 Treatment center 26 Hangdog 27 Cans or jugs 28 Fleet commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia 29 “Enough!”

30 Imaginary 31 “__ New Mexico”: state song

32 “Buddenbrooks” author 35 General picture 39 Aeschylus trilogy 41 Turns (to) in desperation 42 IOC part: Abbr.

43 __ Khan 44 Grade elevator 49 Ancient catapult missile

50 Timely way to enter 52 Little bighorn 53 Requiem word 54 Comes clean, with “up” 55 Head turner 56 Periods worth remembering 57 Baking letters?

58 Up to, briefly 59 An ex of Frank

Jellyfish, Jellyfish | Adam Hunter Peck

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Homefries | Yifan Luo

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2/15/07

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once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. POSTMASTER please send corrections to

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By John Underwood (c)2007 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

2/15/07

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown demic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2007 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

METRO THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

Hundreds rally at State House for marriage equality legislation

BY SARA MOLINARO METRO EDITOR

About 200 students, state legislators, community members and activists supporting marriage equality legislation gathered at the State House Wednesday afternoon at a rally sponsored by Marriage Equality R.I. Speakers urged members of the Rhode Island General Assembly to legalize same-sex marriages and pass a legislative package that would give same-sex partners next-of-kin rights.

The rally occurred while both chambers of the General Assembly were scheduled to be in session, but the legislative sessions were cancelled due to Wednesday’s storm. The rally still took place.

Supporters at the rally held signs with messages such as “Separate Is Not Equal,” “Have a Heart: Pass Marriage Equality” and “Let our marriage license fees help balance the state budget.”

Wendy Becker ’83 and Mary Norton, who were married last year in Massachusetts, spoke at the rally. Accompanied by their two young daughters, Becker criticized the General Assembly for not having passed a marriage equality law. “You should be ashamed to legislate in a state where people have to leave for equality,” she said.

Becker told The Herald the push for marriage equality is based on the ideal of treating people equally under the law. “Denial of marriage rights is a denial of humanity,” she said.

Marriage equality legislation has been introduced in the General Assembly every year since 1997, according to the Marriage Equality R.I. Web site. But the proposed legislation has never been put up for a vote on the floor of the House.

Becker said the legislation has been blocked in past years because the “current leadership is not supportive” of marriage equality and they have “used muscle to prevent a vote.” Nonetheless, she said that support for the cause increases each year.

The Rev. Gene Dyszlewski, a member of the Rhode Island Re-

PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

ligious Coalition for Marriage Equality, emphasized at the rally that God embraces all of humanity and that “same-sex marriage is God’s will.”

This year, no “Defense of Marriage Act” — proposed in the past to limit marriage to one man and one woman — has been introduced in the General Assembly.

Jenn Steinfeld, co-chair of Marriage Equality R.I., said that fact marks a success for the cause of marriage equality. Steinfeld also urged those at the rally to oppose legislation proposing civil unions, which she called “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” and “a step backwards for Rhode Island law.”

Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Dist. 3, attended the event alongside Rep. David Segal, D-Dist. 2, and Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts ’78. Ajello, who is co-sponsoring the marriage equality legislation in the House, told The Herald that she believes that, at the very least the portion of the legislation giving same sex partners next-of-kin rights for estate distribution and healthcare matters has a good chance of passing this year.

Ajello said one of the reasons why the legislation hasn’t passed previously is that some assembly members do not understand that legalizing same-sex marriage would not have an impact on the religious ceremony of marriage.

She also said “so-called ‘family-values people’ feel very threatened” by the idea of same-sex marriage.

Ajello said the bill currently has about 20 sponsors, which she said is more than marriage equality legislation has had before.

The Brown Democrats encouraged students to attend the rally.

Herald Contributing Writer Allison Ehrich Bernstein ’09, the elections and advocacy chair of the Brown Dems, said the group has been working with Marriage Equality R.I. for several years and that marriage equality is “something that a lot of us believe strongly in.”

The Brown Dems sends students to the State House every week to lobby for marriage equality. Though they have yet to be successful, Bernstein said, “It’s my impression that every year we get a little bit closer, and that persistence is key.”

Providence shopping, volunteerism attract students

BY JESSICA ROTONDI STAFF WRITER

Despite the steep trek back to campus and a seeming scarcity of street signs, the Renaissance City still seems to appeal to Brown students — most undergraduates leave College Hill to dine, shop, work or travel in the rest of Providence at least once a week, according to a recent Herald poll.

A third of undergraduates polled said they leave the Hill once a week, while 20 percent said they go several times a week. Another 31 percent said they venture away from campus a few times a month, and 15 percent of respondents said they go just a couple of times a semester.

The poll, conducted Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, had a margin of error of 4.7 percent with 95 percent confidence.

City leaders and business owners credited the city’s stores and restaurants for drawing students away from campus.

Bethany Costello, director of public relations at the Providence Chamber of Commerce, said she was not surprised by the results of the poll. “I think it’s pretty clear we have a lot going on in the downtown area, a lot of places to see and visit,” she said. “We have worked really hard to rebuild Providence — not only its businesses, but its retail section as well.”

Costello said attractions like WaterFire, the Bank of America skating rink and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center — with its college basketball games and concerts — draw

students downtown. She also noted the “variety of great restaurants that are affordable for students.”

Going to a restaurant downtown “makes it more of an occasion than just going to Thayer Street,” said Jason Chen ’07. “There are a lot of restaurants out there I want to try out.”

Local businesses appreciate the student traffic.

“We’re pleasantly surprised by these figures,” wrote Joelle Crane, project manager at the Providence Foundation, in an e-mail to The Herald.

THE HERALD POLL “Students clearly boost business downtown,” Crane wrote. “When they return to school for the fall and spring semesters, merchants usually notice increased sales and foot traffic. They add so much vibrancy to the city, and their presence has certainly been a significant factor for many businesses who’ve located here.”

The opening of the Providence Place Mall in 1999 was an added convenience for students.

Donald Eversley ’80, now the president of the Providence Economic Development Partnership, remembers having to take a bus to Warwick to go to a mall when he was a Brown student. Though he called the downtown mall a “net improvement,” he said, “We would love to direct students to locally owned businesses and individual retailers.”

But for many students, the Prov-

idence Place Mall remains the biggest draw in town.

“Stores are all in one location” at the mall, said Laura Snizek ’07. “It just makes life easier if you are looking for something in particular.”

Jeanne Johnson, a manager at J. Crew Providence Place, said 12 to 15 percent of her monthly sales are to college students. The store gives a discount of 10 percent to college students when they show an ID card, Johnson said.

It is cheaper for stores to operate off the Hill. “Rents on Thayer Street are astronomical,” Eversley said.

“It’s become very difficult to make it, but there are people who are prepared to pay a premium.”

“We have a great location, a location with tons of foot traffic,” said Hope Van Sciver, a buyer for Berk’s Shoes at 278 Thayer St. She said she doesn’t consider downtown retailers serious competition. “If you have a product that people want, (going out of business) is not going to happen. Keep it fresh and young, and that’s it.”

“We definitely cater to students,” Van Sciver said. “We try to do things like special nights for students, 20 percent off and we close the store for them. I think you have to do stuff like that if you are going to be in a college area.”

But there’s more to Providence than shops and restaurants.

“There is a huge difference between students going downtown to shop once a month and those that continued on page 8

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

Uncertainty at EMS follows manager’s departure continued from page 1 “(Administrators) told us not to talk to or about Lapierre, to prevent rumors from being spread,” a student EMT said. “Why would they tell us not to talk to him if he had resigned?”

Lapierre declined to comment for this article.

University officials have denied that Lapierre had been fired. They first cited his vacation as the reason for his absence, and on Wednesday they said he had resigned.

Klawunn told The Herald that Lapierre “absolutely … has not been fired. He has resigned.” She said he made a “personal decision” to leave and declined to comment further.

Lapierre “had scheduled vacation from the seventh to the 20th (of February), and before he left we received a letter of resignation,” Klawunn said. University officials decided to wait to announce his resignation until closer to the end of his vacation at the advice of Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Roberta Gordon.

Uncertainty about Lapierre’s unexplained absence has disrupted a sense of normalcy at EMS, according to several student EMTs. “EMS is not just like any student organization. We are like a family, and when you take away an important member, it causes some conflict,” one source said, adding that Lapierre’s departure — on the second day of the semester — came at a crucial time for planning and organizing the student EMT program.

“Our short-term plan is that we have been covering the shifts with the personnel in EMS. Because he scheduled vacation, there had been some arrangements in place already to cover his vacation,” Klawunn said, adding that an interim director may be appointed if the need arises before a new director can be hired.

“We plan to advertise that job pretty quickly,” she said.

Lapierre’s duties have mostly been covered by other EMS employees and per diem supervisors, who are trained EMTs paid by the shift.

Edward Wheeler, director of

Health Services, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that no new per diem staffers have been hired since Lapierre’s departure and that “it is not unusual for us to use per diem supervisors when full time supervisors are out or on vacation (as Mr. Lapierre was this week).”

But some student EMTs say the number of unfamiliar supervisors has risen drastically since Lapierre’s departure.

“Every shift I have been on this semester has been with someone I don’t know,” said a student EMT, adding that last semester she rarely worked with unfamiliar EMS supervisors.

Despite Lapierre’s sudden departure, Klawunn said the student EMT program will continue to be supported by the University.

“We value the student EMT program, and we are actually having conversations with the emergency medicine department (of the Alpert Medical School) … about ways that we could partner with them and do more for student education and opportunities around EMS,” Klawunn said.

Upgrades to campus electrical power network continue continued from page 1 ter recess, perhaps during spring break, things of that nature.”

Facilities Management also usually posts signs in all the affected residence halls, McCracken said.

But the outages so far have taken some students by surprise.

Christian Tookes ’09 said he woke up in Slater one day to find the power out. He called the Department of Public Safety, which told him that Facilities Management had turned off the power to work.

Facilities Management “posted stuff all over the dorm or whatever, that they were going to

have one, but no one knew. Because I didn’t know, and I come into the dorm ever y day — it obviously wasn’t somewhere you could see,” Tookes said.

The power outages are part of a project to upgrade different components of the medium voltage electrical distribution system in order to improve its reliability and effectiveness. The system provides electrical power for most buildings on campus, excluding some smaller buildings that get power from the city’s grid.

“The overall objective is pretty straightfor ward ... we got a bunch of older equipment we want to replace with more reliable, new equipment,” McCracken said,

“We’re increasing the capacity of the system to handle new loads as we build new buildings.”

The power outages are necessar y for the safety of workers who are replacing old components with newer ones. Before taking out a component, McCracken said, it is important to shut the power off in the building so that it will be safe to work.

Then, after the new component is in place, the power would be turned back on. Each power outage should take generally somewhere between four and eight hours.

The entire project will cost between $7 million and $10 million, McCracken said.

Movie studios, RIAA target illegal student downloaders continued from page 1 any additional subpoenas for Brown students over illegal file-sharing since the RIAA filed six lawsuits against students, reported by The Herald in July 2005.

University officials do not know how the lawsuits were settled, since the University’s only responsibility with the subpoenas involved notifying the students, said Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel. “Since we are not parties to the action, we do not know anything about the resolution of it,” Ledbetter said.

When companies notify CIS that files have been illegally downloaded, they tell the University which files the student must delete from their hard drive and what program the student used to obtain them.

CIS then bans the student’s computer from the Brown network until the student contacts CIS and confirms they have deleted the offending files. CIS then restores their access to the Internet. If students are caught a second time, they must attend a disciplinary hearing with a dean, but Sadler said repeat offenses are rare.

“Occasionally we get a secondtime offender, but very seldom do

we get a third,” Sadler said.

The RIAA believes the program of lawsuits and formal complaints has been effective. ““Although a significant online problem clearly persists, particularly on college campuses and with hardcore frequent peer-to-peer users, absent action by the industry, the illegal downloading world would be exponentially worse. The industry’s anti-piracy efforts have deterred a sizeable number of largely casual would-be illegal downloaders,” wrote Jenni Engebretsen, director of communications at the RIAA, in an e-mail to The Herald.

Some students say they think notices and lawsuits work to stop individual users but do not effectively deter the general population.

“It’s effective to an extent because it scares individual people, but it’s just not a long-term solution,” said Jay Mattis ’09, who was caught illegally downloading software last semester.

Ike Sriskandarajah ’08 received a notice from CIS after downloading a copy of “Jurassic Park” using BitTorrent, an increasingly popular file-sharing protocol that allows users to download a large file by depending on many users, rather than just one distributor. Protocols

using BitTorrent seem to be the most popular among students who have been caught, Sadler said.

Legal programs have been offered on campus as an alternative to illegal file sharing, but their effectiveness remains to be seen.

Last year, the University offered Napster, which was used by about 2,400 students, according to Katherine Wolford, project director of campus life and student services.

Ruckus, another program, replaced Napster last semester. About 2,010 people have signed up for the program since its release in the fall — about 34 percent of the students on campus, according to Wolford.

The University is also looking into how to make movies more available on campus. Members of the Undergraduate Council of Students are looking into offering DVD rentals on campus, according to Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, vice president for campus life and student services.

But the notices continue to be sent as students download at their own risk.

“It appears to me that our students look at this kind of like jaywalking. They think, ‘There’s a law against it, but what’s the chance I’m going to get caught?’ ” Sadler said.

www.browndailyherald.com

CAMPUS N EWS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

NEWS IN BRIEF Wireless expansion in dorms back on track Computing and Information Services will now resume its expansion of the wireless network. Expansion was suspended last month due to a budget shortfall that has since been addressed.

CIS originally anticipated spending 50 percent of its total $740,000 wireless budget on residence halls, but it decided to put the project on hold after realizing it had already spent 60 percent of the total budget on dorms.

After the project was halted, CIS administrators and the IT Project Review Committee, which comprises six top University officials, reworked the budget and decided to complete the wireless expansion in residence halls.

Though expanding wireless to all dorms is currently a high priority for CIS, administrators would also like to expand wireless in libraries and popular outdoor locations as well, said Alan Usas, assistant vice president for academic and network systems and services for CIS. Usas specifically mentioned the bottom floor of the Rockefeller Library, the John Hay Library, the Main Green, Lincoln Field and Pembroke Field.

“The good news is the service is high-quality, and it’s being heavily used,” Usas said. “The challenge has been to continue to spread it and to maintain that quality.”

The biggest and most expensive challenge of the wireless project is expanding service to the Graduate Center and Sciences Library because of the design of those buildings, Usas said. Launching wireless in Grad Center is a high priority because it is a residence hall, but the middle floors of the SciLi will not get wireless in the near future, Usas said.

Students seem supportive of the project. “Its great, because then when it’s warm out, we can do work outside,” said James Witkin ’10.

“But they should make sure current wireless works — I still can’t get it in my Keeney dorm room.”

— Patrick Corey

Facilities Management advertises clean-up services The Undergraduate Council of Students and Facilities Management have teamed up to publicize the custodial and maintenance services offered by Facilities Management through informative posters in residence hall bathrooms.

“It’s definitely very unsanitary to have body fluids in the bathroom for a long period of time,” said Jane Zhang ’10, a member of the UCS admissions and student services committee. Zhang said she came up with the idea for the posters after seeing the sorry state of the bathrooms in her dorm on weekends.

The posters display a phone number for Facilities Management and encourage students to call if they see problems like bodily fluids in residence hall bathrooms or broken fixtures.

Cleaning services are offered 24 hours a day — even on the weekends and other times when custodial staff don’t usually work in the dorms. All Custodial Services employees are trained to deal with cleaning hazardous substances and bodily fluids such as vomit or blood.

The problem is one of awareness, said Donna Butler, director of custodial services.

“We already respond to any type of emergency,” she said. “I got the impression that people didn’t know what number to call, and this is really an effort to change that.”

“By students making that call, a lot of the time it will prevent a small problem from becoming big and so will save a lot of time and money,” said John Guglielmetti, manager of custodial services.

The posters also include phone numbers for the Department of Public Safety and Psychological Services.

Facilities Management has printed 300 signs and will post them in residence hall bathrooms around campus within the next two weeks. “We’re looking forward to it. We hope the message gets out and is helpful to students,” Butler said.

— Meha Verghese

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Program for local retirees may split from U.

BY NANDINI JAYAKRISHNA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Brown Community for Learning in Retirement may seek to become fully independent of the University due to a growing scarcity of classroom space on campus and worries that University officials may seek more oversight of the group.

The program — to which Brown has lent its name and classroom space for 23 years — promotes “collaborative learning” through “strictly peer-developed and peer-led seminars,” said Harry Switzer, the group’s vice president.

The group comprises about 140 members who take non-credit, discussion-based seminars on art, music, literature, history, science, economics and other subjects for a fee of $130 per course, according to the group’s Web site.

The seminars used to be held in Alumnae Hall, but in 2002 a space crunch forced the group to begin meeting at Josiah’s.

“It is more difficult to get classroom space as the number of courses and faculty increase. When the University made a commitment

Min Wu / Herald

Dean of Summer and Continuing Studies Karen Sibley

to (the group), it didn’t need that space, but now our needs are different,” said Karen Sibley, dean of summer and continuing studies.

Sibley said the ideal situation would be to give the retirees classrooms in a fixed location with easy access to parking and a place to socialize.

“One goal of the program is socialization, but the question is, can the University cater to those socialization goals? We don’t want them

to be inconvenienced, but being in a leadership position at Brown, my priority is serving undergraduates and faculty who are engaged in research,” she added.

“It is a tremendous struggle to come up with space, and we know the space issue is going to get worse, not better,” Switzer said. “Maybe we’re better off looking for a space with better parking, off campus.” continued on page 7

Local activists work to end R.I. human trafficking

BY SUSANA AHO STAFF WRITER

Human trafficking isn’t just a problem for the developing world — it’s an issue gaining attention here in Rhode Island. As local interest in anti-trafficking activism grows, two coalitions are now fighting to raise awareness and lobby for legislation — the recently formed Rhode Island Coalition Against Human Trafficking and Brown’s chapter of Campus Coalition Against Trafficking.

According to its Web site, the Rhode Island Coalition comprises about 30 people representing organizations that include the office of Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83, Progresso Latino, Rhode Island National Organization of Women and Polaris Project Rhode Island.

The federal government has passed anti-trafficking legislation in the past six years, but a September report by the Department of

Justice recommended that states adopt their own anti-trafficking laws. Members of the Rhode Island Coalition have taken the issue to heart.

“We’re just a group of concerned people dealing with human trafficking,” said Herald Opinions Columnist Zachary Townsend ’08, co-chair of the Rhode Island coalition and one of its few student members. “We want to get legislation passed … and we also want to educate Rhode Islanders.”

Polaris, one of the groups represented in the Rhode Island Coalition, was founded in 2002 by Katherine Chon ’02 and Derek Ellerman ’02 and is an international organization that opposes human trafficking.

The group drafted anti-trafficking legislation that is now being introduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly, said Ruth Wartenberg, a social worker and the Rhode Island Coalition’s public education committee chair.

Courtesy of RI Coalition Against Human Trafficking

The Rhode Island Coalition Against Human Trafficking seeks to raise awareness about human trafficking.

In collaboration with FAIR Fund, which connects young women with civic activism, Polaris launched CCAT to encourage college students nationwide to help fight trafficking. Olga Koshevaya ’08, who worked for Polaris Project in Washington, D.C., last summer, started a continued on page 7

New program brings activism to the classroom

BY JONAH FABRICANT CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A new class offered this semester gives students the opportunity to explore issues surrounding social change. ET 107: “Ethnic Studies Practicum: Strategy, Tactics and Tools for Social Change” integrates the pilot Activist-in-Residence program with a classroom setting to tackle questions in the field of activism.

The Activist-in-Residence program is run jointly by the Swearer Center for Public Service, the Urban Studies Program and the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America and is supported by a grant from the Office of the President.

The purpose of the Activistin-Residence program is to bring activists to campus for more than just a lecture, said Alan Flam P’05, senior fellow at the Swearer Center and senior associate University

chaplain. Activists meet with small groups of students, hold lunches and informal meetings and attend classes such as ET 107 relevant to their current work, Flam said.

The course is co-taught by Flam and Professor of History Evelyn Hu-DeHart, director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America.

“We are trying to expose students not only to the theoretical ideas of community organizing for social change, but also to expose students to individuals who are doing that work in a variety of settings — to talk about the practice of organizing for change, not just the theories behind it,” Flam said.

The course came out of the growing impulse to connect academic work to community-based movements, individuals and organizations, Flam said, noting that the ethnic studies discipline and the Swearer Center emphasize experiential learning.

Planned topics for the course this semester include urban education, socially responsible giving, activism and the arts and issues of race- and faith-based organizing on issues of peace and justice. Hu-DeHart and Flam have invited activists working in each of these areas to share their insights with the students in the class.

Last weekend, students in the class were required to attend an open panel about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Greensboro, N.C. The commission, which released its final report last year, spent two years examining the context, causes and consequences of a racially charged 1979 massacre that left five people dead.

The Activist-in-Residence program brought four people involved in establishing the Greensboro commission to serve on the panel. continued on page 7

PAGE 6

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

TO RUTH,

President Ruth Simmons has secret admirers who left a building-sized Valentine’s Day greeting on University Hall early Wednesday morning.

Students try to launch farm on campus continued from page 1 Schwartz said he hopes to have the site ready by the end of the semester, but he noted there is some flexibility in the project timeline since the bulk of the harvest won’t be until the fall.

The farm will be run entirely by student volunteers whose level of involvement will likely vary. “The point is to get as many students involved as possible,” said Michael Glassman ’09.

Founders of the project envision that the farm will have significant effects. Schwartz said the project will change the campus culture and the way Brown students think about food and where it comes from.

Ben Mandelkern ’09 emphasized the importance of the project’s educational component and said organizers hope to incorporate the farm into academic life through independent study projects and existing courses that deal with relevant subject matter.

“Grounding theoretical concepts on Brown’s campus will teach students that it is feasible to apply course content to help improve the community in which they live,” the farm proposal states.

The project has gained the support of several faculty members, and its coordinators have already begun to discuss possibilities for collaboration.

The idea for an on-campus farm has also received an enthusiastic response from students. In a recent MyCourses poll conducted by the Undergraduate Council of Students last semester and cited in the students’ proposal, 81 percent of students surveyed supported the establishment of a campus farm, and 24 percent expressed an interest in becoming personally involved in its operation.

Glassman said he was amazed at the results of the poll. “It shows that there’s enormous demand for this.”

The project is consistent with many of the priorities of the University and the local community, Carey said, but the most important factor in determining its outcome will be the students. “Its success and staying power will depend largely on continued student interest,” he said.

In the coming months, project coordinators will work to confirm a location, finalize a budget, secure funds and gather additional support.

“It’s going to happen, and we’re committed to it happening — the question is how soon and on what scale,” Glassman said.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

W I T H LO V E

Jacob Melrose / Herald

Retiree program may go independent Feb. 27 continued from page 5 Many group members enjoy being on Brown’s campus, said Tom Rooney, chair of the group’s communication committee. But, he added, if the program became fully independent, it would be better able to control when and where classes meet.

Sibley said if the organization remains affiliated with Brown, the University would want greater influence over the academic aspects of the program.

“We want to be more involved in what courses are being offered and how they are being offered. If you have Brown’s name, then you need to be involved in quality assurance,” she said.

But she emphasized that the University doesn’t want to take control of the program away from its current leaders. Sibley said she wants to have faculty members evaluate the “quality components” of specific courses, give advice and

recommend appropriate books.

Lecture series by interested faculty, visitors and graduate students could be arranged, she added.

Switzer said he thinks such a working relationship with faculty would be “wonderful” but could cause problems if “schedules don’t match.”

In addition, “the (courses) are fairly rigorous right now, and if they’re made more rigorous, it could be detrimental to the program,” he said. Such a change could affect the group’s dynamic, he added.

“For us the cohesion of the group — learning from one another — is important and could be lost,” he said.

Susan Belles, one of the program’s participants, said she enjoys both the classes and being on campus. “I like the feeling of vitality and energy on campus. It is very stimulating. I wish we had more interaction with the faculty and students,” she said.

“I’ll be taking a course in which we’ll study four plays of Shakespeare that we read a long time ago. I look forward to learning and analyzing them without having to worry about Cliff’s Notes,” she added.

Peter Ciccariello, a member of the group’s curriculum committee, described the program as “very critical for the senior citizens of Rhode Island.”

Sibley said she is sympathetic to the group’s wariness.

“They want to be sure things they enjoy most about the program don’t get harmed. Changes are happening, and they feel less valued than they would like to feel. I’m sympathetic — wouldn’t we all mind being valued less?” she said.

Group members have had two meetings with Sibley to discuss the fate of the program. A group convocation on Feb. 27 will include a vote on whether the group should become fully independent.

Activism class aims to teach through experience continued from page 5 Three of those commission members held office hours on campus, met with graduate and undergraduate students in the ethnic studies department and helped conduct a session of ET 107.

The visiting activists discussed the impact of reports such as the one the commission issued and the University’s recent report on slavery and justice.

“We worked with them to figure out what you do after you come up with the ideas to make a change, how you go about executing them,” said Chelsea Miro ’10, a student in the class. “They were able to help me better understand working within the limits of being an activist and being happy with the results.”

“One of the other questions we are talking to the class about

is how we can engage the Brown community with the slavery and justice report,” Flam said. “One of the assignments for the class is coming up with a plan for provoking more intentional conversations about the report.”

Seung Hwa Baek ’09 said he was skeptical when he enrolled in the course because he thought activism was about being active, not sitting in a classroom. “The class showed me I can actually go out (in the world), and there are a lot of role models out there that I can talk to, read about and follow,” he said. “My parents (would say) if you keep complaining about the system you’re not going to go anywhere. ET 107 showed me the light, that I can do something.”

The instructors say they hope students who take the course are engaged in their own community-

based work. “We’re asking students to think about the work that they’re already doing. We’re going to ask them to develop a proposal for a public awareness campaign, to write an op-ed article about their issue that would raise community awareness and to develop a strategic plan to engage more members in the work that they’re doing,” Flam said.

The course also encourages students to consider the difficulties involved in working for social change.

“By allowing students to meet these people over lunch or breakfast, it opens up different types of conversations,” Flam said. “How does a person create a balanced life while working on something that you feel so much passion about? How do these activists sustain themselves and deal with discouragement and despair?”

Rhode Island coalition targets human trafficking continued from page 5 chapter of Polaris Project’s campus coalition last semester at Brown.

CCAT wants to raise awareness but also wants students to be engaged in fighting trafficking. “We don’t want (students) to think this is just another issue and there’s nothing they can do to help,” Koshevaya said.

“We’re collaborating with (the Vietnamese Student Association) and Amnesty (International), and we’re sharing members,” Koshevaya added. “CCAT is … recruiting constantly and trying to spread the word because we need students for a grassroots effort.”

There is also a Rhode Island chapter of Polaris Project, led by co-coordinators Townsend and Carrie Lutjens ’08. The group focuses on legislation and policy work and is represented at CCAT meetings

by Townsend, Koshevaya said.

Koshevaya said she wants the group to host speakers and collaborate with the Rhode Island Coalition.

Currently, the Rhode Island Coalition is focusing on lobbying for the passage of new anti-trafficking legislation. Sen. Rhoda Perry P’91, D-Dist. 3, and Rep. Joanne Giannini, D-Dist. 7, have introduced the bill in the General Assembly. Giannini introduced an anti-trafficking bill last year in the House, where it was passed but did not make it through the Senate. The new bill is much

more comprehensive than last year’s and “addresses a lot of individual concerns,” Townsend said.

The bill includes legal protection for victims of human traffickers and the formation of a state task force to help enforce the legislation and to conduct research on the issue, Wartenberg said.

Prostitution is currently legal indoors in Rhode Island due to a legal loophole, but most women in brothels are not working under their own free will and are victims of trafficking, she said, adding that these women are often shuttled around the East Coast, work in very crowded conditions and are threatened or beaten. When brothels are raided, these women sometimes “don’t even know what city they’re in,” Wartenberg said.

But the coalition’s fight against human trafficking doesn’t just focus on sex workers or individuals who are forcefully transferred around the country.

“Trafficking is a misnomer — you don’t have to transfer someone,” Wartenberg said. “Anyone who profits from exploiting people” is trafficking, she added.

Wartenberg stressed that spreading awareness of human trafficking is just as important as passing new legislation.

“It’s possible that the legislation could pass no problem. But what we really want to do is to create a moral outcry,” Wartenberg said.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 8

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

Gymnastics team struggles against competition, ski team finishes third continued from page 12 last season. But the feat might not be as easy as last year, as the team is very small due to the departure of six seniors who graduated and the decision of several members to not return for this season. There are no seniors, and the four freshmen make up almost half of the 10 person team. Durning noted that a priority this season is to keep every athlete healthy.

The team hopes to not only gain a tally in the win column this weekend, but to also use it as valuable practice time for its main focus, the Ivy League Championship on Feb. 25 and ECAC Championship at the end of March.

“We’re definitely doing this meet to get ready for Ivies,” Durning said.

“We have people putting new skills into their routines.”

The meet will take place in the Pizzitola Center at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Ski team surpasses Plymouth State, finishes 3rd in division After an impressive performance this weekend at the Boston College Carnival on Mt. Ascutney, Vt., the ski team is back.

Not that it was ever missing. The Bears have been coming on strong as of late, notably last weekend’s

fourth-place showing in the slalom and second-place finish in the giant slalom at the Brown and Massachusetts Institute of Technology carnivals, respectively.

Yet Brown has struggled to hit its stride and regain the form it showed in last year’s campaign when the team finished fi fth in the nation. But Bruno’s third-place performance this past Saturday and Sunday show that the Bears are shaping up to be national caliber competitors however right when it counts the most.

Captain Kelly O’Hear ’07 had a stellar weekend, claiming victory on both days. In Saturday’s GS, she clocked in at 41.90 on her first run and 42.40 on her second to win by .05 seconds, defeating a field of 67 skiers. On Sunday, which was also a GS race, O’Hear dominated the competition by over a second, finishing with a total time of 1:28.13. The closest opponent in the field of 62 was Ashley La Cavalla of Boston College, who checked in at 1:29.57.

For O’Hear, her performances marked a time of both excitement and relief.

“I definitely think I was struggling at the beginning of the season,” she said. “I was not feeling like my old self. I was frustrated with my skiing. Having the season underway a bit more, though, I’ve gotten a lot faster and I’m so excited.”

O’Hear now sits in sixth place in the MacConnell Division individual standings.

While O’Hear’s efforts led the Brown cause, the rest of the skiers were equally impressive on the course, which featured a short hill, tough terrain and coarse snow. On Saturday, Anna Bengtson ’09 continued her breakout season, finishing eighth overall with a total time of 1:27. Three other Bears finished in the top 20, with Elisa Handbury ’10 at 15th in 1:28.03, Sophie Elgort ’08 at 17th in 1:28.20 and Mallory Taub ’08 at 20th in 1:28.62. Brown defeated chief rival Plymouth State University by one place, earning a place on the podium. Boston College took gold while Colby Sawyer College took silver.

Bruno was strong on Sunday as well. After O’Hear, the next Bear in was Handbury, who finished in 12th place with a time of 1:32.86. Taub rounded out the scoring with her 15th place performance, clocking in at 1:33.35. O’Hear noted that Handbury and Taub’s contributions were particularly impressive.

“Eliza and Mallory really stepped up,” she said. “Mallory’s second run (timed at 45.81 seconds) was awesome. We’re hoping she can continue to contribute.”

Elgort and Janet Marley-Mauzy ’07 finished just outside of the top 20,

placing 21st and 22nd, respectively.

The order of the team race was the same as the day before. As a result, Brown moved past Plymouth State into third place in the overall conference rankings. Bengtson said the team is peaking at the right time.

“Everyone is looking really fit,” she said. “We’re building up slowly and we’re starting to show our potential.”

This marks the end of the regular season for the Bears. Since it finished in the top five in the division, the team has qualified for the ECSC Regionals in Waterville Valley, N.H., on Feb. 24 and 25. Since the Bears can bring only five skiers to compete at Regionals, only a select portion of the team will compete in the post-season events. “(This weekend) was both happy and sad,” O’Hear said. “It was our last regular season race and now our team is cut down. It’s hard not to have (everyone) around, but we’re also excited to move on. We can’t wait for Nationals.”

The Bears will aim for a top-five finish at Regionals, which will qualify them for Nationals.

“We’re closing the gap on the top teams,” O’Hear said. “Our team is having such a great time together and we’re all really clicking. (Our success) is a byproduct of the great personalities on this team.”

Students venture off the Hill continued from page 3 go downtown to get really engaged in the community,” said Roger Nozaki MAT’89, director of the Swearer Center for Public Service and an associate dean of the College. “The Swearer Center is focused on finding out how students can integrate community work into their intellectual and academic development at Brown.”

Nozaki estimated that 600 to 650 students are involved in the Providence community each semester through Swearer Center programs. Other students volunteer in Providence through athletic teams, Greek houses and student groups such as Habitat for Humanity and Oxfam, he said.

“In my view, one of the best ways to really achieve (the) basic goals of the Brown curriculum is to engage in the community,” Nozaki said.

In January, for example, Brown students divided into groups to work on issues like affordable housing, homelessness and voter registration in Providence, said Emma Tai ’07.5, who coordinated the project.

For some students, the project was “their first time quote-unquote ‘leaving the Hill,’” Tai said.

“You don’t want to just take and take from what Providence has to offer,” Tai said. “It’s really important to enter Providence with the goal of developing a mutualistic, long-term relationship that is going to be enriching for everyone involved.”

join the herald.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Fantasy baseball insider: Top breakout candidates for 2007 he needs a hot spring to take over the hot corner — but Kansas City would be stupid not to give the 23year-old a chance. Hardly anyone comes to Royals’ games now, but people would show up to see Gordon hit. In the minors, the lefty slugger hit .324 with a whopping 29 HR in 130 games. Widely considered to be the top prospect in baseball, Gordon could get his first taste of the Majors in ’07 and bring his outstanding skills to your fantasy roster. Watch his progress carefully during spring training and pray that he lands a starting job.

baseball history, right next to Urban Shocker, Al Kaline, Coco Crisp and Chili Davis. Say it out loud and you’ll understand: Terrmel Sledge.

Awesome.

Despite his fantastic name, Sledge has yet to realize his full potential in the major leagues. He’s shown great power in the minors while maintaining a healthy .310 batting average. 2007 will be the year he brings those skills to the majors: He’ll hit leadoff in a strong Padres lineup, he’s injury-free and he’ll even give you double-digit steals. Your league mates will ignore Terrmel Sledge — but don’t make the same mistake.

list, as he’s an established starter and is 28 years old. However, I guarantee that Sheets will be very undervalued in your fantasy draft due to his lost 2006. Despite a string of freak injuries — you can’t blame the guy for vertigo — Sheets posted an unbelievable 10.55 strikeout-to-walk ratio last year. His pinpoint control, blazing fastball and huge potential make Sheets a bargain on draft day. If he falls to the fi fth round, go ahead and get him — he’ll be your ace.

Spring training is just getting started, so make sure to follow these sleepers.

Outfield: Terrmel Sledge, San Diego Padres Terrmel Sledge has one of the best names ever. It will go down in

Starting pitcher: Ben Sheets, Milwaukee Brewers Sheets is not quite in the same category as the other players on this

Ellis Rochelson ’09 downloads episodes of “24” and watches them at his computer while eating Ratty takeout.

continued from page 12

Fencing struggles in first Ivy League competition continued from page 12 ing two nationally ranked teams, No. 4 Columbia, which defeated Bruno 26-1, and No. 10 Princeton, which downed the Bears 21-6. The Bears also lost a 21-6 decision to Yale. Dan Mahoney ’07 led the team with a 6-3 record in the saber, but no other fencer won more than two bouts.

Mahoney said he could not explain the results.

“We could have done a lot better,” he said. “For some reason, it just seemed like everyone was having a bad day on the same day.”

“But,” he added, “things can only go up for next time.”

The Bears have turned their attention to the second half of the Ivy League Championship, to be held at Harvard on Feb. 25. The women will face Harvard, Penn and Cornell, while the men will face Harvard and Penn. The team will use the bye weekend to train hard.

“We’re going to do a little bit more physical conditioning to get us stronger and hope that the rest falls into place,” Mahoney said.

The added time off should help Bruno refocus. “We’ll go back to the basics to focus on the technical

aspect,” Tass said.

The women will try to improve upon their performance at last year’s Ivy League Championship, when they beat only one other school, Princeton. 2006 was Brown’s initial season competing in the Ivy League. This year, the women have three matches to beat that mark.

“We’re really looking forward to increasing that,” Hausmann said. “I think our really solid performance this past weekend gives the team confidence for the next competition at Harvard, where we have a good chance.”

Weather can’t spoil lovers’ delight on V-day continued from page 1 through the slush to serenade unsuspecting undergraduates. The group sold songs in the mailroom last week for $10 to students who wanted to provide a friend or romantic interest with a musical surprise.

“The weather was miserable, but it was pretty fun,” said Emily Shapiro ’09, assistant musical director of the group. “Some kids get really embarrassed, and you can tell they want us to stop, but a lot of people seemed to enjoy it.”

Shapiro estimated that the group performed over 20 times yesterday, waking up one student in his dorm room and interrupting a class to sing to one lucky female student.

Shapiro told The Herald that the most popular song requests were “You Are My Sunshine” — a fitting choice given yesterday’s storm — and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On.” At the post office, neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor any abominable mixture thereof managed to stop a few hardy Brown students from reveling in the day’s festivities.

Sporting red-tinted heart-shaped sunglasses and a matching miniskirt, Olivia Rhoades ’09 detailed the list of Valentine’s Day-related activities she had accomplished.

“I made cookies at the Ratty, and I gave out Valentine’s Day cards to all of my friends,” she said. A selfdescribed lover of all holidays, Rhoades said she refuses to let the commercialization of Valentine’s Day detract from her experience.

“Every holiday has become commercialized, but you can’t let that get you down,” she said.

Sam Ewenczyk ’10 disagreed, la-

menting the social implications of the day.

“I don’t like that Valentine’s Day makes you feel like there is something wrong with you if you are single,” he said. “You are made to believe that the purpose of this day is to express your love and get closer to people when that’s really not what Valentine’s Day is about in our culture.”

For students in long-distance relationships, the trip to the mailroom provided a welcome respite from the lonely atmosphere of the day.

Julia Shapira ’08 cradled a bouquet of roses sent from her boyfriend, who lives in New York City.

Jen Wang ’10 clutched a package from a former high school interest, wondering what could be inside as her friends teased her.

While some student groups at the mailroom used the occasion to sell baked goods to raise money for their organizations, Sophia Tintori ’09 and her friends Claire Caleshu ’07 and Sara Perl Egendorf ’07 featured “negative-space” rice krispie treats and pumpkin whoopie pies at their table, hoping to raise money to buy Tintori’s boyfriend a plane ticket so he could visit her next weekend.

“My boyfriend is an electrician in New Orleans, and he has been working very hard to repair his house and focusing his time on that, so he can’t really afford to buy a ticket to come visit me,” she said. Tintori said her boyfriend’s house was flooded during Hurricane Katrina.

Tintori said she traveled to New Orleans to help out after Hurricane Katrina and quickly became enamored with the city. She said she has been together with her boyfriend for a year and a half and told him of her bake-sale efforts.

“I think he thinks its pretty funny,” she said. “The last time I saw

him was at the end of Christmas break, but I’m hoping he will make it up here soon,” she said. Tintori said she hoped to raise $240, the cost of the cheapest plane ticket from New Orleans to Providence.

Tintori and her friends said they had no qualms about raising money for a personal endeavor.

“What better cause is there than love?” Tintori asked.

Passers-by also seemed eager to contribute after hearing Tintori’s story. Tintori’s table was attracting many more students than that of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which had set up a table across the corridor selling — of all things — brownies, among other baked goods.

Other students’ Valentine’s Day efforts weren’t as creative as Tintori’s, but they were no less heartfelt.

Cassidy Boesch ’09 said she and her boyfriend were getting massages followed by dinner in Providence.

Monica Botelho ’08 said she and her boyfriend usually avoid getting caught up in the hoopla of Valentine’s Day and that their celebration of the day consisted of a simple exchange of cards.

While not every student was enthused about the day, bitter singles remained few and far between, perhaps avoiding the weather in their dorm rooms or devoting their energy to frustrated pleas for companionship on the Daily Jolt.

As for President Ruth Simmons, she told The Herald through her assistant, Sara Tortora, that she managed to catch a glimpse of the Valentine’s Day request before the weather knocked it down.

Tortora said Simmons was “humbled and excited” by the prank, adding with a chuckle that Simmons told her, “I love valentines.”

PAGE 9

E DITORIAL & L ETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

PAGE 10

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

STAF F EDITORIAL

Breaking the bubble Whether WaterFire on a warm Saturday night, activism at the State House while the General Assembly is in session or simply some shopping and a movie at the Providence Place Mall on an otherwise quiet evening, there are plenty of reasons for students to venture off the Hill. It’s no surprise, then, that over the half the students recently polled by The Herald said they leave College Hill to dine, shop, work or travel in the rest of Providence at least once a week. Yet too often, some students seem to find themselves in a Brown bubble and don’t think to consider all the opportunities that exist mere blocks away. As meaningful as its vibrant campus life is, the University doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Interacting with the city can enrich the Brown student experience, and Brown students have much to offer Providence.

For many, descending College Hill typically means hitting up Bed, Bath and Beyond at Providence Place Mall to grab dorm supplies, catching a WBRU concert at Lupo’s or stocking up on weekend supplies at Standard. But beyond those off-campus staples exist an array of shops and restaurants that students should keep in mind when Thayer Street gets old. Dinner at a restaurant on historic Federal Hill is a perfect substitute for those nights when you just can’t stand the thought of roast pork loin calypso at the Ratty and Paragon no longer seems novel. And now that it finally feels like winter, moonlit ice-skating at the Bank of America rink downtown could make for a nice change from IMPROVidence, a cappella concerts and frat parties.

Shopping and dining aren’t the only reasons to leave the Hill.

The University undoubtedly has a major impact on the city, and not just because it’s a major property owner, employer and — with the recent acquisition of several buildings in the Jewelry District — landlord. One of the most significant influences Brown has on Providence is the work of students who venture beyond the Van Wickle Gates to engage in politics or public service. As Roger Nozaki MAT’89, the director of the Swearer Center for Public Service, told The Herald, “There is a huge difference between students going downtown to shop once a month and those that go downtown to get really engaged in the community.”

Many Brown students, often without specific direction or support from the University, have made an immeasurable impact on life in Providence. Brown students lobby local and state politicians, run for public office, mentor refugees, tutor at local schools and help the homeless. The more we interact with the community that surrounds us, the more we ground our educational experience. And because the University is located in a small — but certainly not sleepy — city, Brown students can leave their mark on Providence. Volunteer projects through the Swearer Center, tutoring at Hope High School, lobbying for marriage equality or advocating divestment from companies doing business in Darfur show that when Brown students descend College Hill, they can make a real difference.

It can be easy to get caught up in life on campus — classes, sports, activities, extracurriculars and parties. But when students break the Brown bubble, everyone benefits.

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

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

PHOTO Eunice Hong Christopher Bennett Jacob Melrose

Photo Editor Photo Editor Sports Photo Editor

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

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JASON LI

LETTERS Herald’s look at animal testing furthered PETA’s goals To the Editor: A recent article about the University’s animal testing (“A look at the University’s animal testing,” Feb. 12) sounded like it had an agenda to further the radical goals of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Obviously a university with a biomedical center will be testing on animals, and they are doing so in a responsible manner. The article cited no violations of guidelines established by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. The article served only to increase the risk to staff involved in animal research, give credibility to PETA (who would have us all be-

come vegans and live with debilitating diseases) and take away attention from issues where human beings are being harmed.

My father is a neuroscientist who works with monkeys and has colleagues who have received death threats from people sympathetic to PETA’s goals.

Leave hardworking scientists alone and stick to reporting, not raising issues where there are none.

Nathanael Horton ‘08 Feb. 12

Animal testing requires strictest scrutiny To the Editor: I applaud The Herald for bringing to light the University’s animal research programs and the important ethical questions associated with them (“A look at the University’s animal testing,” Feb. 12). We have a responsibility to keep a critical eye on animal testing at Brown and to demand that the University be as open as possible about these activities. Satisfying or even surpassing animal welfare standards does not necessarily ensure ethical practices, especially when the standards come from the very organizations with an interest in the experiments. For example, the U.S. Animal Welfare Act was largely designed to appease animal sympathizers while including sufficient loopholes so as to allow most animal tests to continue unhindered. The act explicitly excludes anything that happens during an actual experiment and leaves out the most commonly vivisected animals, such as mice and rats.

Experimentation on animals can only be justified if

we have good reason to believe that the research will ultimately relieve more suffering than it causes. Researchers should ask themselves whether they would be prepared to perform the same experiment on humans with an equivalent capacity to suffer, were that the only way to achieve their ends. If not, then the experiment is probably unnecessary.

I do not ask for the absolute abolition of animal experimentation, at Brown or anywhere else. But I am confident that only a small percentage of current tests are ethically justifiable. We should listen carefully when an organization like the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals raises doubts about our practices, for unlike Brown researchers, they are the ones whose chief concern is the animals, not the benefits they might bring us.

Adam Hoffman ‘10 Feb. 12

CORRECTION

Sarah Raifman, Steve DeLucia, Designers Catherine Cullen, Lauren Levitz, Copy Editors

An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Yale sees drop in apps,” Feb. 14) incorrectly quoted Yale University freshman Elizabeth Rodrick saying “I kind of feel that (the Hashemi controversy) would make a difference for people who are genuinely interested in Yale and informed in their college decision-making.” She said the controversy “would not make a difference.”

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, Abe Lubetkin, 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 Brianna Barzola, Aurora Durfee, Sophie Elsner, Christian Martell, Matthew McCabe, Ezra Miller, Sarah Raifman Photo Staff Stuart Duncan-Smith, Austin Freeman, Tai Ho Shin Copy Editors Ayelet Brinn, Catherine Cullen, Erin Cummings, Karen Evans, Jacob Frank, Ted Lamm, Lauren Levitz, Cici Matheny, Alex Mazerov, Ezra Miller, Joy Neumeyer, Madeleine Rosenberg, Lucy Stark, Meha Verghese

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O PINIONS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

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You are what you drink: coffee, tea and me COURTNEY JENKINS OPINIONS COLUMNIST It was a balmy fall afternoon in Providence when I had my first face-to-face encounter with my own unconscious corporate leanings and the peril of becoming what I drink.

Trotting down Thayer Street in an outfit that could best be described as “straight out of Martha’s Vineyard” and clutching my venti iced coffee, I thought I was miles away from the stereotypical Starbucks drinker — whom I pictured either decked out in a pinstriped power suit with Stuart Weitzman pumps, typing manically on a Blackberry, or in all black, wearing a beret and reading Friedrich Nietzsche.

To my credit, I was only rocking one collar that day, but that didn’t exactly seem to win me points from the local high schoolers congregating outside of Store 24, to whom I probably looked like the color-blind offspring of a country clubber and 1970s golf caddy, which is only halfway true — my mother hates golf. As I walked by them, I heard one of the girls lean over and whisper to her friend, “Oh my god, she is SO Starbucks!” I stopped dead in my Ralph Laurenclad tracks while her friend giggled in obvious agreement. Initially I was somewhat perplexed that, in the same way “to Facebook” has become a verb, “Starbucks” was suddenly an adjective. Would I downgrade to looking “so Olive Garden” the next week?

The rest of the afternoon, I couldn’t get it off my mind — did my coffee say more about me than my clothes and my behavior?

There are a lot of things you can say about a person on first glance, most of which are derived from simple superficial impressions. I wouldn’t have been so surprised to hear the kids thought my shirt was ugly, I walk a little knock-kneed or I was another preppy dumb blonde on a Razr phone. But to hear myself described as a brand? As a walking, talking representation of all that Starbucks represents? I wasn’t sure whether I should be merely bemused or deeply hurt by the fact that I was suddenly associated with a coffee empire found on every street-corner in most

es “Golden Girls,” plays Tetris, has vanilla as her lame drink.” My roommates didn’t dispute my characterization of the latte drinker, only stopping to add that it’s better than being one of those people who orders a halfcaf-double-shot-extra-hot-bone-dry cappuccino with a shot of cinnamon dolce syrup.

This person, they envisioned, would likely be (a) excessively fussy, (b) a total yuppie or (c) overly fond of hearing the sound of their own voice while simultaneously giving the barista a seizure.

While I sincerely doubted that my choice

Will we read personals in 10 years which say, “Male, age 25, skinny build, loves rock climbing and Coffee Exchange, looking for a lovely lady, must not smoke or drink Starbucks”? of the industrialized world.

In fact, I was reminded of the two yuppies in “Best in Show” who recall how they met at different Starbucks across the street from each other, with Parker Posey’s character remarking that her future beau was drinking a grande espresso — and she thought it was really sexy. While on the one hand it’s an endearing cinematic moment, I have to admit I felt slightly concerned that my skim vanilla latte screamed some obvious factoid about me — I worried I was sipping on a flashing neon sign that blared: “watch-

of an iced beverage over, say, a caramel macchiato would really deter future relationships, I did know one thing. Regardless of what I had ordered that fateful day, those girls didn’t care — all they saw was me trotting down Thayer, clutching a cup with the recognizable circular green, black and white logo that is perhaps just as ubiquitous as the curvy yellow McDonald’s “M.” They didn’t say “Can you believe how Dunkin she is?”

— and if they did, what would it have meant?

Starbucks obviously meant something far more than “fond of today’s Sumatra blend,”

just as I think being “so Coffee Exchange” would mean more than “lives close to Wickenden, enjoys wooden creaky chairs.” I had to find out.

Being the poll-friendly — albeit apparently boring — person I am, I started asking around: is preferred coffee establishment the new “x factor” in friendships? Will we read personals in 10 years which say “Male, age 25, skinny build, loves rock climbing and Coffee Exchange, looking for a lovely lady, must not smoke or drink Starbucks”? It doesn’t seem so far off. With certain exceptions to the rule, mostly due to variables like location, taste preference, purpose of visit and time of day (thank God Dunkin Donuts is open until 2 a.m.), it seems that where you drink does say something about you, especially within a university world where coffee seems to be an essential food group of its own.

At the end of the day, no matter how you grint it, coffee’s just a bean, but where you drink seems to be a personal statement. Naturally, then, we tend to migrate toward establishments where we feel comfortable and where people look, act and order just like us.

This doesn’t mean it’s treasonous to change it up or that a yuppie Wall Streeter wouldn’t have a wonderful experience sitting at Coffee Exchange.

For most of us, coffee has evolved beyond beverage status — for better or for worse, it has become a societal measuring stick and cultural phenomenon. Would you like your milk extra frothy with sprinkles of cinnamon on top? Think twice. I will.

Courtney Jenkins ’07 is dressed in all black, clutching Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” trolling Massachusetts in search of an authentic Peet’s latte.

Prevent genocide in Iraq: the case for staying put BENJAMIN BRIGHT OPINIONS COLUMNIST

After four years of war in Iraq, the anti-war movement is finally starting to gain traction. In 2002, I was out in the streets with the rest of the world protesting U.S. militarism, though it was so long ago now I can hardly remember my motivations. As we all know, it never made any difference: The president had made his decision.

When the Democrats swept into Congress in November, we were no longer throwing rocks at the building — we were in the building. So it’s no surprise that Congressional Democrats should start agitating for withdrawal. Indeed, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Pa., have introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act, which would withdraw all American troops by Mar. 31, 2008.

Four years ago, I would have been happy to bring our troops home. But to do so now would be far worse than a tactical mistake — it would be grossly inhuman. Allow me to make a brief historical analogy: In 1982, when Israel invaded Lebanon to root out the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Israeli Defense Forces armed and trained Phalangist militias comprised mostly of Maronite Christians to do the fighting for them. Israeli Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon and Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan invited these militias to enter the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in order to clean out the camps of the remaining PLO militants.

The Phalangists proceeded to massacre

and torture hundreds of Palestinian men, women and children, while the Israeli army guarded the exits to the camps, turning back every civilian who tried to escape. It is a stinking affair in the history of Israel.

In the next few days, there were massive protests against Israeli aggression in Lebanon, including one in downtown Tel Aviv with 300,000 people, at the time about 14 percent of the country’s population. Since the 1980s, Sabra and Shatila has become the rallying cry for cruelty and inhumanity of the Israe-

would only be a matter of time before Iraq’s Sabra and Shatila would take place, although given the massacres that happen every day, the scale of murder would be inconceivable.

There is certainly an important historical difference between the IDF training militias, allowing them to enter refugee camps and then permitting the massacres they carry out, and the U.S. military pulling out of a conflicted region, thus allowing ethnic cleansing. Nevertheless, there is still an important comparison to be made: in terms of

Forget the original selling points for going to war — WMDs, oil, democracy, etc. The U.S. military is the only thing standing in the way of genocide and ethnic cleansing. li Defense Forces. And in many ways, these condemnations are correct: There is little moral difference between pulling the trigger and letting someone else do it for you.

So let’s now imagine what would happen if American troops were to pull out of Baghdad. The level of sectarian hatred in Lebanon during the 1980s is in many ways the same as the vitriol between Sunni and Shia today. Indeed, most of the fighting and killing is no longer between Americans and Iraqis — hundreds of Iraqi civilians die every day from car bombs, torture and kidnappings gone wrong. To put it bluntly, were American troops to abandon Baghdad, it

a moral imperative, both tacitly approve of genocide.

Even with the presence of the U.S. military, we are unable to contain the civil war and sectarian hatred that is ravaging Iraq.

In February 2004, the self-appointed leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, wrote a letter to Osama bin Laden in which he claimed the Shia majority is “the insurmountable obstacle, the lurking snake, the crafty and malicious scorpion, the spying enemy ...

The danger from the Shia ... is greater ... than the Americans ... I come back and again say that the only solution is for us to strike the religious, military and other cadres among the

Shia with blow after blow until they bend to the Sunnis.”

Forget the original selling points for going to war — WMDs, oil, democracy, etc. The U.S. military is the only thing standing in the way of genocide and ethnic cleansing. We most certainly broke the (admittedly oppressive) system of ethnic reconciliation that Saddam Hussein had constructed. To withdraw now would not merely be negligent. It would be tantamount to war crime.

Article 27 of the Geneva Conventions states that “protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honor, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof.”

How curious it is that a growing sentiment to withdraw from Iraq coincides with a massive movement calling for humanitarian intervention in Darfur, Sudan. While it would be a generalization to say these movements comprise the same people, realize the massive hypocrisy of advocating both at the same time: At this point, there is little difference between Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur or Iraq in terms of the humanitarian crisis that is taking place.

There is no question in my mind that the war in Iraq is one of the worst foreign policy blunders in American history, in strategy, timing and the despicable way in which it was sold. Nevertheless, now that we’re in Iraq, we have a duty under international law to prevent the next Sabra and Shatila. To withdraw now would condemn thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians to death at the hands of ethnic cleansing.

Benjamin Bright ’07 doesn’t “do” deadlines,

S PORTS T HURSDAY THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2007

Fantasy baseball insider: Top breakout candidates for 2007 Do you get excited when you hear the phrase “contract year”? Do you stay up until 2 a.m. to check the stats from Dodgers games? Have you memorized Coco Crisp’s onbase percentage but can’t remember your mother’s name? Then you’re like me — obsessed with fantasy baseball. You probably also love watching “24” on Fox, and who Ellis Rochelson Ellis’ MLB Exclusive doesn’t? The show is exciting, dramatic and suspenseful. Seriously, what an awesome show.

What follows is an imaginary lineup of breakout candidates. One of the keys to a successful fantasy team is finding these hidden gems.

These are the players whom you draft in the late rounds while your league mates choose David Dellucci and Bob Wickman. It’s nice to brag that you found the “next big thing,” so let’s get started.

Catcher: Gerald Laird, Texas Rangers Now that Rod Barajas is out of town, Laird has the catching job all to himself. Last year in a platoon role, he hit .296 with seven home runs in only 243 at-bats. With the security of a starting job and the pleasure of hitting in homerfriendly Ameriquest Field, Laird should approach 20 home runs in ’07. Laird turns 28 this year — the magical age of breakout seasons — and can be found in the last round of most fantasy drafts. He may have one of the ugliest names in baseball — second only to Dan Uggla — but the guy can hit.

First base: Conor Jackson, Arizona Diamondbacks Arizona’s first-round pick in 2003 hit .354 at triple-A and has since earned a starting job for the D-Backs. In 2006, his first full sea-

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son, he had pretty mediocre numbers for a first baseman — .291 with only 15 HRs. However, all signs point to an imminent breakout season. He finished ’06 strong, boding well for ’07. Look for a .300plus average, 25 HRs and 90 RBI — not bad for a late-round flyer.

Remember, first base is a stacked position. Why pay a premium for Todd Helton when you can get similar production much later?

Second base: Howie Kendrick, Anaheim Angels First of all, I know the official name is the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim,” but I refuse to accept that. This new team name is impossible to say and it has no personality. So I’m sticking with Anaheim Angels. Anyway, back to Kendrick. If you haven’t heard of him yet, you will soon. The 23year-old hit a whopping .361 in the minor leagues with a lovely .405 OBP. He’s an excellent base-stealer and should crack 15-plus HRs with his new job as the Angels’ starting second baseman.

Shortstop: Stephen Drew, Arizona Diamondbacks.

If you haven’t heard of him, Stephen Drew is the brother of Red Sox’s new right fielder J.D. Drew.

Lil’ brudder Stephen, at age 23, is set to become the starting shortstop for the D-Backs and play his first full major league season.

Drew has a mature power swing that continues to improve, and he hit an impressive .316 in his callup last year. Stephen has the cockiness and attitude of his big brother with even more potential. Expect a .270 average with 20 HRs, making him a steal at shortstop.

Third base: Alex Gordon, Kansas City Royals Gordon doesn’t have a guaranteed spot on the Royals’ roster — continued on page 9

Sports in brief: Skiing finishes 3rd

BY MADELEINE MARECKI ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Gymnastics team struggles against competition The gymnastics team faced top-level competition this Saturday and finished last in a quad meet held at the University of New Hampshire, with no individual Bears cracking into the top three in any event. No. 18 Michigan State University won the meet with 194.000 points, followed

by No. 23 University of New Hampshire with 193.925, No. 24 West Virginia University with 193.075 and Brown with 184.500.

The Bears entered the meet with a focus on performing well on the individual level, according to co-captain Sarah Durning ’08.

“Our main goal was to have personal bests,” Durning said. Several Bears produced season highs, including Alanna Kwoka ’10 and Whitney Diederich ’09 on the floor exercise. Kwoka scored a 9.625 while Diederich posted a 9.425.

Courtesy of Gil Talbot Mallory Taub ’08 finished 20th out of 67 competitors on Saturday in the giant slalom.

On Sunday, she finished 15th out of 62 in the same event.

Several other gymnasts contributed solid individual performances, notably Alicia Sacramone ’10, who led the team in three events. She recorded a 9.700 on the vault, which was good for sixth place, a 9.775 on the floor exercise and a 9.725 on the uneven bars. Sacramone and Jennifer Sobuta ’09 were the Bears’ top finishers in the all-around, scoring a total 37.475 points. Sobuta was Brown’s top performer on the balance beam, posting a 9.75.

The floor exercise was the team’s strongest event, as the team total

was 47.85 points and all six participants scored no lower than 9.275.

Yet, with powerhouses like Michigan State turning in three 9.8 routines on the floor exercise or a perfect 10.0 (by Rochelle Robinson) on the vault, Brown was unable to be competitive.

Next weekend’s competition should be a different story, however. The Bears will play host to the University of Bridgeport, a team Brown defeated at every meeting continued on page 8

Fencing struggles in first Ivy League competition

BY ANDREW BRACA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Led by the saber squad’s 9-0 performance, the women’s fencing team defeated Yale 16-11 on Sunday at the first half of the Ivy League Championship, held at the University of Pennsylvania. But the tournament’s other results were not as positive, with the women losing their two other matches while the men dropped all three.

Still, Head Coach Atilio Tass expressed optimism.

“The results themselves are showing the strengths of the opponents,” he said. “The team did well, even if the results don’t reflect that.”

The women’s saber squad, which posted a 15-12 mark for the day, was the only squad to finish over .500 for the Bears. Randy Alevi ’10 and Deborah Gorth ’09.5 led the way with five wins apiece, while Charlotte Gartenberg ’08 followed with four wins.

The epee squad came through in the clutch with a 6-3 record against Yale. Jennifer Hausmann ’07, Christine Livoti ’08 and Christina Salvatore ’09 each contributed three wins in epee. Foilist Kirsten Lynch ’10 also won three bouts.

“I was really happy with how the women’s team fenced,” Hausmann said. “We knew it was hard competition, but we went in strong and really fought for it, which (showed)

when we beat Yale. The women knew they could do it and then went out and made it happen.”

The women fell both to Columbia, ranked No. 2 in the country, and Princeton by the same 18-9 score that the Bears lost to the Tigers at the Feb. 4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Brandeis Invitational.

“I think we could have fenced better against Princeton, but we fought hard, and I think next year we should be able to take Princeton down,” Hausmann said.

The men’s side was a different story. The Bears bowed to extremely strong competition, includcontinued on page 9

Table tennis takes New England, travels to nationals

BY PETER CIPPARONE SPORTS EDITOR

For most Brown students, PingPong is way to relieve the stress of schoolwork. But for a select few on College Hill, table tennis is much more important.

The table tennis team clinched a spot Saturday in the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association championship competition. It achieved this feat by beating Harvard, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst to complete an undefeated season.

“Saturday was really exciting,” said team member Seth Izen ’08.

“It’s been an incredible run and it’s a great opportunity to be able to go to nationals … It’s just all come up so quickly.”

On Mar. 28, the team will travel to the Ohio State University to com-

SPORTS SCHEDULE THURSDAY FEB. 15 THURSDAY, M. SQUASH: vs. MIT MIT, Varsity Squash Courts, 6:30 p.m.

W SWIMMING: at Ivy League Championships W. (Princeton, N.J.)

pete in a round-robin tournament to face teams from across the country. The trip will be Brown’s first appearance in the national tournament. Despite their flawless performance during the regular season, team members seemed shocked at the seasons’ results.

“We didn’t have any idea we’d have this kind of success,” Izen said.

“We never thought that we’d be going to nationals. We don’t even have team uniforms because it’s been so informal until now.”

On Saturday, the team displayed the strength of its squad despite its inexperience on the big stage. The team first played BU in the foursingles, one-doubles match format.

In the opening match, top seeded Bruno Bianchi GS took out the Terriers’ number one player with ease, winning the best-of-five game match 3-0. Next, number two Sunny Ahuja ’09 took down his opponent 2-1, and Brown finished off BU when Bianchi and Ahuja teamed up to take the doubles point.

“The funny thing is that we don’t practice doubles at all,” Izen said.

“Other teams have signals and stuff … but Bruno and Sunny just go out

there and play.”

The teams’ biggest match of the day came against the Crimson. Brown entered the day with an impeccable 12-0 record but was only one game ahead of Harvard in the NCTTA New England division standings.

Bianchi once again got the Bears off to a hot start by pounding Harvard’s No. 1 player with heavy topspin loops. But Ahuja and No. 4 Bibek Karki ’08 lost in succession to put Brown in a 2-1 hole. With the match riding on the performance of Austin Ranz ’08, Ranz used a defensive strategy to pull out an 11-4 victory in the deciding game.

Ranz’s win set the stage for Bianchi and Ahuja in doubles, and the proven team came through in the clutch. The team cruised to a straight-game victory to win the Harvard match. Only a little later, the Bears crushed UMass to clinch Brown’s first New England division championship.

“It was really the match everyone was waiting for,” Izen said of the Harvard match. “A lot of people lined up, and all the organizers were playing close attention too.”

Courtesy of Seth Izen The table tennis team clinched a spot Saturday in the National Collegiate TTable Tennis Association Championship.

One contributor to the teams’ sudden success was the influx of talent that joined the team before the season. Bianchi is a visiting graduate student from Italy, and both Karki and Izen transferred to Brown in the fall. Captain Steven Chan ’07 said the new players provided not only talent but enthusiasm as well.

“They were huge boosts for us,” Chan said. “All three of them were really excited about the club.

They’ve made some great friends here and we’ve been really happy to have them.”

The Bears anticipate facing stiff

competition at nationals. Texas Wesleyan, the No. 1 team in the country, gives scholarships to its table tennis team and has Olympians on its roster, according to Izen. Brown will also be hurt by the absence of Bianchi, New England’s top player. Bianchi’s student visa expires in March and he will have to return home and miss the competition.

But whatever the result, the team feels reaching nationals is a big step in the right direction.

“It’ll be a great experience, especially for Sunny, Bibek, Austin and Seth, who’ll all be around next year,”