The Brown Daily Herald F riday, F ebr uar y 29, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 26
Emergency alert system loudly makes its debut
Bill Clinton rallies for wife at Bryant U.
7,000 text messages accompany siren test
By Nandini Jayakrishna Senior Staf f Writer
SMITHFIELD — Hillary Clinton, “a world-class change-maker,” is the presidential candidate who can best serve the needs of future generations, her husband, former President Bill Clinton, told about 2,600 supporters at Br yant University’s Chace Athletic Center Thursday afternoon. As the state’s primar y on March 4 draws closer, presidential candidates are vying for Rhode Islanders’ support like never before. Last Sunday, Hillar y Clinton, the Democratic senator from New York, attended a rally with more than 4,100 people at Rhode Island College. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Michelle Obama, wife of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., also attended rallies in War wick this month. Clinton began his address by thanking Rhode Island, which many Democrats have lately referred to as “Clinton Countr y,” for its long-standing support of the family. “No state in America has been better to me and to our family,” he said. The former president emphasized that he is campaigning for Hillary Clinton not because she is his wife, but because he believes she is best prepared to be the country’s next president.
At noon yesterday, as a knot of professors climbed the Faunce House steps for lunch and a few straggling students rushed to class in Sayles and Wilson halls, a high, clear tone rose over the Main Green, hung in the air for about fifteen seconds, and stopped. Students, for the most part, con-
Laura Buckman / Herald
Former President Bill Clinton spoke Thursday to about 2,600 supporters at Bryant University. “I do love her, but I also love my country,” he said. Clinton said his wife’s experiences working for the Children’s Defense Fund in Massachusetts and spearheading school reform programs in Arkansas show her commitment to bettering the lives of the less privileged, the neglected and the abused. Speaking to a crowd of mostly college students, Clinton said his wife has the “right ideas for your future.” Unlike Hillar y Clinton, who criticized Obama a few times in her speech at RIC last week, Clinton praised Obama for “inspiring people” and raising money suc-
By Matthew Varley Staff Writer
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ARTS & CULTURE
cessfully over the Internet. But Clinton said it is important for the next president to realize that today’s economy is very different from that of the 1990s — a fact, he said, “the other campaign” does not recognize. “Here’s the problem with the American economy: 90 percent of the benefits in this decade have gone to the top 10 percent of owners,” he said. Clinton said the number of new jobs has fallen significantly in the past decade, as nearly five million people have been forced out of the middle class into poverty. continued on page 4
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For Ivy admission, athletes face a different standard The Academic Index keeps the bar high
to each student in the eight-school athletics conference, whether he or she is an athlete or not, based on a formula that factors in standardized test scores and high school class rank or grade-point average. The standard is higher than normal NCAA Division I eligibility requirements. Ever y Ivy League school has an average AI for its student body. For varsity athletes, that average must remain within one standard deviation of each school’s overall average. In addition, each athlete must have a minimum AI to be admitted
By Jason Harris Spor ts Editor
The Office of Admission is busy these days, processing applications and selecting the best students for the class of 2012. The office is also sorting through the files of prospective varsity athletes, but for them, the office must consider one more thing. The Academic Index system governs Ivy League institutions when it comes to accepting recruited athletes. The AI is a number assigned
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SPOTLIGHT
In R.I., a new fight for same-sex rights
Local rights group seeks more protection By Rachel Ardnt Metro Editor
Quinn Savit / Herald
Dean Cycon, who owns an organic coffee company, spoke on fair trade.
noisseur,” said Herrmann, who used the words “smooth” and “smoky” in describing the different brews. “I do love coffee, but I drink it more for the taste. I don’t need the caffeine.” As the tasting began to pick up steam, a separate event in Macmillan 117 concluded and throngs of attendees followed their noses to the savory aromas. Dean Cycon, the owner of Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee, raised his voice above the caffeine-fueled conversations to announce the start
fRENCH Film festival You don’t need cable or a car to check out French films new and old
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tinued on their way. Some eating outside stopped talking to gaze in the direction of the sound. Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron, crossing the Green with a colleague, paused briefly and continued into Faunce. Campus officials hope to not have a campus emergency that would necessitate the use of the tone, broadcast by sirens atop three University buildings. Luckily, as a voice message following the sound made clear, yesterday’s alert was only a test.
By Sam Byker Senior Staff Writer
Students educate palates and minds at coffee event Students and community members sipped exotic beverages from paper cups in the lobby of Macmillan Hall Thursday evening, debating the relative merits of each variety. The atmosphere suggested a wine tasting, but they were sampling fine coffees from around the developing world. Six thermoses of fair-trade coffee from Nicaragua, Colombia, Guatemala, Sumatra, Ethiopia and Papa New Guinea lined a table in the front of the lobby beside a bowl of dark chocolate-coated java beans, all brought to Brown by the owner of an organic coffee company who spoke after the tasting. Becca Coleman ’10 tasted the Papa New Guinea blend. She said she had “never really noticed the difference in coffee” varieties before the night’s tasting, but identified the Guatemala brew as “less bitter” and better tasting. Nick Herrmann ’09, who tried four coffees, said the Sumatra was his favorite. “I wouldn’t consider myself a con-
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CAMPUS NEWS
When Susan Heroux was diagnosed with congestive hear t failure last Februar y, she and her partner, Stacey, had to worry about more than her health. The couple had to consider whether it would be worth it for Stacey to take time off work and risk losing her job if Susan’s condition worsened. The two married in Massachusetts last year but live in Rhode Island, where same-sex married couples lack most of the rights granted to heterosexual married couples — including the right to take a leave of absence to care for an ailing spouse. “Right now, domestic partners have a limited set of rights,” says Jenn Steinfeld, director of Marriage Equality RI, a group that supports equal marriage rights for same-sex couples, including the legalization of same-sex marriage. “Many of those (rights) have
Kal Penn for OBAMA At Blue State Coffee, the “White Castle” star stumps for his boy
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OPINIONS
Steve DeLucia / Herald
been contested in court,” Steinfeld says. She adds that even individuals who formally allow their same-sex partners to make health care decisions for them have been denied their rights and haven’t been able to make medical decisions for their partners. The ability to take time off from work to be with a loved one who is sick is “something most people take for granted,” Heroux says. “It’s about fairness.”
mpc applications Matt Aks ’11 says the Minority Peer Counselor program doesn’t have to accept white students
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
The right to divorce The Herouxs and couples like them have publicized their situations and garnered media attention for an issue that is increasingly on the public radar. But a new marriage rights issue has recently come to the fore. Last December, Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston, a Rhode Island couple continued on page 4
tomorrow’s weather Rain and snow in the morning, part of a balanced breakfast for your weekend
snow, 41 / 23 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com