THE BROWN DAILY HERALD T HURSDAY
Volume CXLII, No. 44
5, 2007
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Venezuelan ambassador puts Chavez presidency into context BY CHAZ FIRESTONE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Bernando Alvarez Herrera, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States, told a packed MacMillan 117 last night that the rise of President Hugo Chavez — widely seen as a firebrand in the United States — must be understood in the context of the instability that preceded his 1998 election. “People have heard a lot about Hugo Chavez and Venezuela, and the chance to hear about the situation from an insider is very valuable,” said James Green, associate professor of history and director of the Center for Latin American
Rahul Keerthi / Herald The 16 cameras in the Sciences Library can be monitored at the guard’s desk and by Department of Public Safety personnel.
16 recently installed security cameras now monitor SciLi BY JESSICA ROTONDI STAFF WRITER
Approximately 185 security cameras now quietly observe locations on Brown’s campus, including Faunce House, the Power Street parking garage and — the newest addition — the 24-hour Friedman Study Center in the Sciences Library. “The logic behind installing the cameras was to enhance public safety. As we began to think through the implications of the Friedman Center’s extended hours of operation, we wanted to make sure that we provided adequate safety measures,” wrote University Librarian Harriette Hemmasi in an e-mail to The Herald. There are 16 cameras in the SciLi, according to Hemmasi. Cameras were installed during the construction of the study center, which opened at the beginning of this semester, according to Barbara Schulz, head of facilities and business services at the University Library. As an additional security measure, guards are present in the building from midnight to 8:30
Med School ‘Match Day’ sees primary care boost
a.m., Hemmasi added. Schulz said Mac Systems, which installed the SciLi cameras, furnishes most security camera installations on campus. There were 180 cameras on campus in November 2005, The Herald reported at the time — a sizeable increase from the 60 on campus in 2000. Given the center’s location off Thayer Street, “it’s easy to see the need for adequate safety considerations,” wrote David Cardoza, technical and support systems manager for the Department of Public Safety, in an e-mail to The Herald. “Cameras are not there to spy on people. They are there to provide a sense of what’s happening with this building,” Hemmasi said. There is one camera on B level of the SciLi, six on A level, eight on the ground level and one on the mezzanine, she wrote, while others are located outside the building to monitor entrances and exits. Hemmasi said the cameras help determine the cause of alarms, frequently set off by
cy programs for next year. Each March, the National Resident Matching Program — managed by the American Association of Medical Colleges — assigns graduating medical students to specialty-specific residency programs using a computer algorithm that considers ranked preferences of both applicants and residency
BY KRISTINA KELLEHER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Breaking a downward local and national trend, 45 fourth-year medical students will go on to residencies in primary-care specialties next year. In all, 88 Alpert Medical School seniors were among the 15,000 medical and osteopathic school seniors nationwide to be “matched” March 15 into residen-
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Former Sen. Santorum to speak on traditional values tonight BY MICHAEL SKOCPOL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Courtesy of Congress.gov Former Sen. Rick Santorum will deliver a lecture at 7 p.m. titled “The Dawn of an American Renaissance.”
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Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a vocal advocate for moral values, will speak tonight on the decline of traditional American values. The lecture, titled “The Dawn of an American Renaissance,” is sponsored by the Brown Lecture Board and will take place at 7 p.m. in Salomon 101. Santorum “will chronicle his battles for the dignity of all human life, his effort to protect traditional marriage and his struggle to reverse the media’s onslaught against virtue,” according to the Lecture Board. Santorum served two terms as
POST- SUPERSIZES In its extra-large issue, postexamines the relationship between Brown and Pixar, talks with Fall Out Boy and lives free ... or dies
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5 FEATURE
a Republican senator from Pennsylvania, gaining a reputation as an outspoken social conservative with firm stances against gay marriage and abortion. Since losing his 2006 re-election bid to Democrat Bob Casey Jr., Santorum has returned to private law practice and serves as a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, described on its Web site as “dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy.” “No matter if you agree or disagree with his speech or his values, I guarantee it will be a good speech,” said Lecture Board CoPresident Daniel Fombonne ’07, MAKE $ ON THE INTERNET Aaron Luryi ’07 is his own Internet startup — after designing software that logs AIM chats, he sells it on his Web site for $25 a pop
who explained that the Lecture Board felt bringing a speaker from the conservative side of the political spectrum would help balance the more liberal speakers Brown usually attracts. “A liberal way of thinking is very prevalent here,” said Sam Culver ’07, the Lecture Board’s vice president for media relations. “He is a good person to bring to challenge our audience and challenge the students here.” Tickets for the speech were distributed Wednesday and will also be available today free of charge to anyone with a Brown ID from 12 to 2 p.m. in Lower Faunce House.
11 OPINIONS
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
SDS AND ITS CRITICS Students ffor a Democratic Society and guest columnist Jeff Wardyga ‘08 offer different views on the group’s protests of defense contractors
Studies, who moderated the lecture. “Students are fascinated by Chavez’s critiques of Washington policy.” Herrera spent much of his halfhour speech talking about the history of Venezuela and the problems it faced before Chavez was elected in 1998. Herrera pointed to a series of protests in the late 1980s and early 1990s as signs of a country in turmoil, despite being portrayed in foreign media as a stable nation. “There was an illusion of harmony in Venezuela,” Herrera said. “The riots were the starting points continued on page 8
A year after travel ban is lifted, students study in Israel BY RACHEL ARNDT SENIOR STAFF WRITER
A year after Brown lifted its ban on studying abroad in Israel, the University has five students studying in the country this spring and plans to send six more next fall. The ban on travel to Israel was part of the University’s more general ban — also lifted a year ago — against travel to countries on the State Department’s travel warnings list. After Brown Students for Israel collected over 2,000 signatures on a petition to allow study abroad in Israel, the University began permitting study in Israel in March 2006. The petition showed “the administration there were people who cared,” said Sam Zuckerman ’08, a member of Brown Students for Israel. When the ban was in place, some students determined to get to Israel temporarily withdrew from the University to do so. “People who want to go to Israel are going to go to Israel,” Zuckerman said. After students went on personal leave and returned to Brown, they were “often applying for retroactive credit,” said Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs and associate dean of the College. Brostuen said the BSI petition against the ban was “strongly supported by the University population.” Still, he said, studying in a country on the State Department warning list is a “decision (that) needs to rest with the student.” Students must fill out waivers acknowledging that they “understand the inherent risk,” Brostuen said. He also encouraged students to “monitor the situation” while they are abroad in hot spots like Israel and said the University provides students with the State Department’s written warning for continued on page 4
12 SPORTS
COVERING THE BASES Sports columnists Ellis Rochelson ’09 rehashes baseball’s opening day and Tom Trudeau ’09 considers the merits of a closing pitcher
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