Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Brown Daily Herald T uesday, M arch 18, 2008

Volume CXLIII, No. 38

After attack, officer posted outside Hillel

THE HERALD POLL

Aid money, advising split student opinion

By Nandini Jayakrishna Senior Staf f Writer

Students favor more aid spending over building a new dorm

Two days after improvised firebombs were thrown at the of fcampus house of Brown/RISD Hillel employee Yossi Knafo, the University is enhancing security and preparing an open forum to discuss what the attack means for the Brown community.

Though the perpetrator or perpetrators and the motivation behind the attack are still unknown, an armed Department of Public Safety officer has been placed outside the Glenn and Darcy Wiener Center on Brown Street, which houses Hillel, said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, interim vice president for Campus Life and Student Services. The building’s main door has been locked and those wishing to enter must ring the doorbell or be let in by the officer.

By Isabel Gottlieb and Franklin Kanin News Editors

Min Wu / Herald

continued on page 6

Yesterday, a Department of Public Safety officer stood outside the Glenn and Darcy Wiener Center on Brown Street, which houses Brown/RISD Hillel.

U. answers study abroad subpoena

By Joanna Wohlmuth Senior Staff Writer

Brown has submitted the financial and enrollment data from its study abroad programs that were subpoenaed in January by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who also requested information from 14 other schools. None of the information on the University’s programs for the last three years shows any ethical breaches or improper practices, said Beverly Ledbetter, vice president and general counsel for the University.

“Brown has a very robust study abroad program because we believe it is valuable for students. ... (Some other schools) don’t so they have very small programs,” Ledbetter, the University’s top lawyer, said. “My belief is they picked schools with

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

large programs” to subpoena.

Cuomo began an investigation in August after a New York Times article revealed objectionable practices at some colleges. The article found that universities’ study abroad officials often have exclusive relationships with providers and steer students toward these programs in exchange for cash incentives or perks, such as travel benefits or seats on the advisory boards of those providers.

Ledbetter said that there exists little potential for improper practices because the University approves specific study abroad programs and not providers — which may offer a number of programs in different countries — and does not have students concentrated in a small group of programs.

She explained that because some

schools approve all programs run by specific providers and offer fewer options to students there is an incentive to form agreements that does not exist at the University.

Brown students are offered about 120 different study abroad programs through OIP. Very few of the programs have more than 12 University students studying with them at any given time, Ledbetter said, and many have only four or five.

In addition to programs run by the University and pre-approved outside programs, students can petition to have any other program approved.

“Our students can go on any program as long as it meets academic and safety standards,” Ledbetter said.

The over whelming majority of undergraduates support the University’s new financial aid policy, a recent Herald poll found.

92.7 percent of undergrads approve of the new financial aid plan.

When asked about the University’s decision to ease the financial burden on students from lowerand middle-income families, 71.7 percent said they strongly approve of the new policy, and another 21.0 percent said they somewhat approve.

The Herald poll was conducted from March 12 to 14 and has a 3.6 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. A total of 643 Brown undergraduates completed the poll, which was administered as a written questionnaire to students in the University Post Of-

fice at Faunce House and in the Sciences Library.

Students were more evenly divided on the question of whether to expand financial aid to include more students or increase aid to those already receiving it. 49.1 percent thought the University should offer aid to more students, while 37.2 percent thought it is more impor tant for Brown to increase aid to students already receiving it.

Another possible investment, a new dormitory, proved less popular with undergrads than financial aid spending. 72.2 percent said they thought the University should spend its money on financial aid, while 19.1 percent preferred the option of a new dorm.

In the 2008 presidential campaign, Sen. Barack Obama’s support on campus among undergrads jumped significantly since continued on page 4 See full Herald poll results on page 4

Do you think the University should focus on expanding financial aid to include more students or on increasing financial aid to those who already receive it?

Poll of 643 Brown students conducted between March 10 and March 12. There is a ±3.6 percent margin of error.

continued on page 8

Dancers stepping on toes for space

By Melissa Shube Staff Writer

Min Wu / Herald

The dance group Fusion may no longer perform in the Ashamu Dance Studio.

3

CAMPUS NEWS

on air again Brown Television, which has been off air for the past few semesters, may soon be broadcasting

www.browndailyherald.com

11

OPINIONS

It is the end of an era for Fusion, which announced at its spring show last week that it will no longer be performing in the Ashamu Dance Studio, its home for the past 25 years.

“There’s a lot of memories and performances in there and it’s hard to give it up,” said Ashley Kim ’11, a member of the eclectic dance group.

“Its been a great place to practice in, and to hold shows in, and it’s hard to think of not being in there anymore.”

Associate Professor of Theatre, Speech and Dance Rebecca Sch-

deadly sins 2.0 Adam Cambier ’09 reviews the Catholic Church’s latest attempts at hipster-dom

12 SPORTS

neider, chair of the department, wrote in an e-mail that the department needed the space for its own programs.

“We are committed to supporting the extra-curricular dance program when it does not interfere with faculty and student needs in the Department,” Schneider wrote.

Fusion will still be able to use Ashamu for rehearsal space if the department is not using it, but the time in which Fusion has held their performances in the past will no longer be available for the group’s use, said Christina Boursiquot ’08, co-director of Fusion and director of Body and Sole, an umbrella orga-

OUR PREDICTIONS Herald sports editors weigh in on the winners of the Big Dance. Hint: It’s not Cornell.

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

rain, 45 / 41

nization that governs dance groups and independent dancers. Body and Sole also liaises between the Theatre, Speech and Dance department and student groups.

Schneider added that “the issue of space for students has not changed for any students (except) for Fusion, and then not in terms of rehearsal space. This group is now on the same footing with other student groups.”But student groups said it is often a struggle for them to find a place to practice and perform.

“At the moment there is a major lack of space,” Boursiquot said. continued on page 6

tomorrow’s weather The Herald poll shows students will like tomorrow’s rain as much as they like Ralph Nader

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

T oday Page 2

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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But Seriously | Charlie Custer and Stephen Barlow

Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Popcorn Chicken with Dipping Sauces, Vivizone, Tempeh Fajitas with Pico de Gallo

Lunch — Jamie’s Spiced Chicken Wings, Corn and Broccoli Casserole, White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Mediterranean Bar

Dinner — Orange Turkey, Au Gratin Potatoes with Fresh Herbs, Acorn Squash with Curried Rice and Chickpeas

Dinner — Pot Roast Jardiniere, Stuffed Spinach Squash, Butterscotch Layer Cake

Opus Hominis | Miguel Llorente

Sudoku Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

Enigma Twist | Dustin Foley

© Puzzles by Pappocom

RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Los Angeles Times Puzzle C r o sDaily s w oCrossword rd Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

ACROSS 1 Meat with mint jelly 5 Rapper Shakur 10 Suspicious 14 Only country whose capital starts with “Q”: Abbr.

15 Durance of “Smallville” 16 Woe word 17 Emerald Isle 18 Musical quaver 20 Big Bull of the 1990s 22 Playful aquatic mammal 23 Director Kazan 25 Post- opposite 26 Big Mac relatives 34 Radii neighbors 35 Spills the beans 36 Wimbledon call 37 Off-roaders’ rides, briefly 38 Long-necked wader 39 22nd-century date 40 __ Lanka 41 Throat thing 42 Frere’s sibling 43 NFL broadcast interludes 46 Crude discovery 47 Leg-puller’s tale 48 1804 duel loser 53 Vegas strategy 57 Sandwich option 59 Wee bit 60 Yesteryear 61 Insect stage 62 Nana 63 Put the pedal to the metal 64 Dock rope material 65 River where baby Moses was found DOWN 1 Actor Cobb 2 Height: Pref.

3 Sierra Club founder 4 Antonio who played Zorro 5 Adjective for a yellow bikini, in a 1960 #1 hit

6 Sch. with a Providence campus 7 Oinkers 8 Pine (for) 9 Grenade hurler 10 Police poster word 11 Hardly hardly 12 Do a critic’s job 13 River of Flanders 19 Traffic jam “symphony” 21 Der __: Adenauer 24 Sketcher’s eraser 26 Keep from spreading, as a rumor 27 Extremist 28 Smith’s hammering block 29 Hostess Mesta 30 Chicago Fire Mrs. 31 First name in glue 32 Edit out more scenes 33 Uses a swizzle stick 38 Identical antagonist in some fiction

39 Lunar symbol affecting personality, in astrology 41 Of practical value 42 Full of vim and vigor 44 Thwarted, as a villain 45 Singer Sheena 48 I-15 and I-40, e.g.

Trust Zombie Ben | Ben Leubsdorf

49 One bounce, in baseball 50 Additional 51 “Wow!” 52 Country singer McCoy 54 Spelling of “Beverly Hills, 90210” 55 Abbreviated catchall 56 Broadway auntie 58 Before now

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Vagina Dentata | Soojean Kim

xwordeditor@aol.com

3/18/08

Free Variation | Jeremy Kuhn

T he B rown D aily H erald

By Dan Naddor (c)2008 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

3/18/08

If you do one thing on College Hill today: Check out Brown Lecture Board’s presentation of Vincent “Buddy” Cianci, Salomon 101, 8 p.m.

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372

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C ampus n ews Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Ne

w s

Page 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

i n

B

BTV re-equips, plans a comeback

r i e f

Revived BTV would have more student content than movies

By Brian Mastroianni Senior Staf f Writer

Min Wu / Herald

Alex Toyoshima ‘11 looks at a student’s piece in List Art Center.

Accepted and rejected works all make it to List The 28th annual juried Student Exhibition opened Sunday evening at the David Winton Bell Gallery in List Art Center. Co-sponsored by the Department of Visual Art and the Bell Gallery, this exciting and expertly curated show features some 40 student artists working in a variety of media.

At about half the size of the juried exhibition, the Reject Show 2008, which presents works turned down by the juried exhibition, is also running nearby in List Art Center’s lobby and second-floor gallery. This is the second year a formal reject show has taken place.

According to a department press release, the jurors for the Student Exhibition were Murray McMillan and Anne Tait, both artists and professors at Roger Williams University. They awarded the Minnie Helen Hicks Prizes in Art to Women Students to Jesse Cohn ’10, Alice Malone ’08, Megan Billman ’09 and Mary MacGill ’10. The Gilbert Stuart Prizes in Art went to David Lloyd ’08, John Szymanski ’09 and Alex Rosenbaum ’08.

Cohn’s untitled installation, a deceptively complex construction of translucent wires suspended in shimmering Cartesian grids through the air, is itself reason enough to visit the exhibition.

Aside from the prize-winning works, standouts include David Watson Sobel‘s ’08 two eerily unpopulated photographs, Katrina Lencek-Inagaki’s ’08 multimedia work “Sonic Hunt” and Victoria Roth’s ’08 stunning double portrait, “Mr. and Mrs. Mathijsen.”

The Reject Show feels a little slight but provides an intriguing counterpoint to its partner show and, at times, a welcome intimacy. The focus is on drawn and painted works, many of which unquestionably hold their own in comparison to the juried pieces. Viewed together, the Student Exhibition and Reject Show represent well the vibrancy and diversity of student art currently being created at Brown.

Both shows run until March 30.

— Ben Hyman

‘Early to rise’ not always ideal, prof. says Undergraduates trying to remember how they woke up at the crack of dawn during high school aren’t alone. Adjunct Professor of Psychology Mary Carskadon’s research into high school students’ level of sleep deprivation shows their learning ability is suffering from too little time under the covers.

Carskadon, who presented her findings at the National Sleep Foundation’s March 4 conference on “The Role of Sleep in Memory and Learning,” said high school students’ biological processes are incompatible with their schedules, and that society should change to accommodate their natural sleep habits.

“The most powerful conclusion is that a full night of sleep will enhance learning,” she said of her research. She warned that sleep deficiency among high school students was a “big, huge” problem.

Though high school students need an average of nine hours of sleep per night, most are getting less than seven and “are losing an opportunity for sleep to be brain food,” Carskadon said.

According to a 2006 National Sleep Foundation poll, a lack of sleep causes 28 percent of high school students to sleep in class at least once a week. This poor integration of sleep in their lives is strongly associated with depressed moods, Carskadon said.

Carskadon said high schools’ response to the research has been mixed. In Minneapolis, many high school districts have begun starting later and are very happy with the ensuing higher graduation rate, she said.

In Minneapolis and one of its suburbs, school districts started high school classes up to an hour later, according to the University of Minnesota’s Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement. That led to lower dropout rates, higher grades and fewer cases of depression.

“You can’t throw sleep around,” Carskadon said. “I think that, as a society, we need to be doing a better job of making sleep a priority.”

During adolescence, two major biological processes push teen’s natural clock later — “then comes high school, which starts earlier,” Carskadon said.

“As a consequence, sleep is squeezed out.”

The first of these processes is the circadian rhythms — the body clock — which during adolescence is pushed “for a later timing, including sleep,” she said. The other process is the sleep pressure system, which has the highest pressure when a person is awake. More mature children show a slower buildup of this pressure throughout the day, she said.

“Students who do sleep find their lives better,” Carskadon said. “Somehow, they have more time because they can use their time more effectively.”

Of course, she said, the problem also extends to college students, who need an average of 8.4 hours a night, since many “still have adolescent processes.” To counter this, Carskadon has a simple suggestion: “Make sleep a priority.”

“It’s not the thing you do when you can’t stay awake,” she said.

The National Sleep Foundation suggests daily exposure to sun, regular exercise and avoidance of naps to promote healthy sleep.

“She’s basically saying that sleep is important,” said Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Christine Acebo. “I don’t see how you can argue with that.”

— Alexandra Ulmer

Brown Television may have gone dark the past few semesters, but students currently involved with the station say that BTV will not be gone for long.

After inheriting a station that had remained mostly dormant throughout the 2006-07 school year, a group of students say they are tr ying to build a solid foundation on which BTV can grow.

“We are currently working on gathering content to broadcast,” Elizabeth Backup ’08 said. Backup and other BTV managers Jad Joseph ’10, David Notis ’10 and Kevin Volk ’08 have been trying to figure out what programming Brown students would want to see, devise a scheduling system and reorganize the group’s third-floor office in Faunce House, she said.

“Right now, we aren’t working on anything glamorous,” Backup

said. “It is important to take the time to build the station’s infrastructure in order to make a sustainable community to get people together to make their dreams come true.”

Founded in 1987 by Doug Liman ’88, now a Hollywood director, BTV was “big and ground-breaking, with lots of programming,” Backup said.

Since Liman’s involvement, the channel has gone through many incarnations. Recently, the station has focused on showing commercial films, but managers plan to discontinue that content.

“We will no longer be showing commercial movies — once we get off the ground again — which will result in a much lower cost structure,” Volk said.

When the four current managers took over the station, they inherited an organization that was in “hibernation with only two seniors as managers,” Backup said.

Since BTV didn’t focus on new programming, but rather showed commercial movies and reruns of old programs, it suffered from a lack of student interest and involvement.

“There was no BTV community

Stuart Duncan-Smith / Herald File Photo

BTV has been off air all semester, but programming may soon return. to keep track of organizing the station,” Backup said.

With the gears in motion to reorganize BTV, the station managers are looking ahead at how to make the station more accessible to student filmmakers.

“We really want to show content that we already have, in addition to showing new student content.

Hopefully, we can get some more equipment to give student directors access to proper editing technology,” Volk said.

While working with outdated continued on page 6

Budding beekeepers abuzz over classes

By Scott Lowenstein Metro Editor

LINCOLN — In a small auditorium in a corner of Davies Career & Technical High School, a diverse crowd of about 60 watched enthralled as two queens battled to the death, workers in tow. Amid the eerie screams of the fighting queens, Betty Mencucci reminded the audience of the reason for the spectacle.

“Remember, when the queen gets too old and stops producing enough eggs, the workers will create a special egg case for a new queen,” she said, summarizing sections of the movie “Honey Harvest” that she edited out of her weekly lecture on beekeeping.

The large audience — a mix of 20-somethings, elderly couples and a few children — represents a trend in Rhode Island beekeeping that has the apiculture community buzzing with excitement. More and more people who’ve never dabbled in bee-

keeping before are excited about starting their own apiaries.

Mencucci, a former technology instructor who has been teaching her class on bees for 17 years, said she has seen an unprecedented level of interest in beekeeping in recent years.

FEATURE “For many years, beekeeping was in a decline as mostly older people did it and as they aged or died there was no younger people taking it up,” Mencucci said. “In the last five years, the popularity has increased and my class has grown larger and larger.”

Mencucci said her class had about 20 to 30 students until about 2003, when interest started growing. Class sizes jumped to about 50 in 2005, and last year drew over 80 participants. This year, interest was so high — more than 110 people have registered — that another sec-

tion was started at the University of Rhode Island.

The classes, which meet on Wednesdays and run until the beginning of April, teach beekeepers old and new the basics of maintaining bees, either for collecting honey or for the medicinal benefits that bee enthusiasts say comes from bee venom. “Honey Harvest” includes a close-up shot of a honeybee’s barbed stinger pulsing venom into the arm of a beekeeper, as the narrator touts the venom’s purported curative effects for diseases like multiple sclerosis and arthritis.

The popularity of beekeeping classes comes at a convenient time for North America’s bees. Colony Collapse Disorder, a largely mysterious phenomenon whereby bees inexplicably vacate their hives, has afflicted colonies in as many as 35 states. Though no cases have been reported in Rhode Island as of June continued on page 8

C oming to blows

Min Wu / Herald

An Evening of Jazz concert at Grant Recital Hall celebrated Paul Mason, a drummer who taught jazz at Brown for 20 years.

From left to right, Bruce Abbott on flute, Aidan Levy ’08 on baritone saxophone and Jeff Martin ’10 on trumpet.

Page 4

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Gymnastics peaking for Students still love Ruth, remain tepid on UCS contest at season’s end continued from page 1

continued from page 12 these performances, Head Coach Sara Car ver-Milne is optimistic about upcoming postseason meets.

Chelsey Binkley ’11, Vida Rivera ’11 and Victoria Zanelli ’11 have been improving and putting up impressive numbers for the team.

Coming back from two weeks rest after an ankle injury, Jen Sobuta ’09 paced the Bears, scoring first in the all-around (38.20) and the beam (9.75). Zanelli also finished the meet with a personal best in the all-around, placing third (37.825).

“Our goal is to get everyone on the same page on the same day,” Carver-Milne said.

The team began on the vault, on which Sobuta, Brown’s top finisher, came in fifth place (9.55).

Binkley was second-best for the team, coming in ninth (9.425). But Stephanie Albert ’10 injured her ankle in the event and could not compete in the rest of the meet.

On the bars, Sobuta narrowly finished second (9.625), behind URI’s Emily Rinaldo (9.65). Zanelli was the next-best finisher for the Bears (9.475).

Sobuta rose above her competition once again, finishing first (9.75) on the beam, while her nearest competitor scored 9.65.

Izzy Kirkham-Lewitt ’10 recorded a personal best for the second week in a row, finishing in fifth place (9.50). Zanelli continued to improve her point total in the allaround with a solid finish (9.375) on the beam.

“At practice I can hit ever ything,” Zanelli said. “I lack confidence in myself sometimes. I stepped it up a notch this weekend proving that all of my hard work

up to now has not been wasted.”

In the final event, Zanelli represented the Bears as an elite all-around performer, finishing off the meet with a fifth-place finish (9.625) on the floor exercise, setting another personal best on the day. Binkley tied Zanelli on the floor for fifth and Whitney Diederich ’09 (9.475) and Hannah Goldstein ’08 (9.425) were the next-best finishers for the Bears.

“It was incredible having Vicki hit 4-for-4,” Car ver-Milne said.

“She’s an incredibly talented kid.

It was awesome for her to put a (complete) meet together.”

Because of injuries and recovery, the lineup has changed periodically throughout the season.

But despite the inconsistency, new leaders have emerged and it seems as if anyone can be counted upon at any given meet. The Bears are peaking as they head into the postseason.

“We have great timing for ECAC’s and all of us are stepping up,” Sobuta said. “The freshmen are starting to realize that (they) have an important role on the team. Right now, everyone is feeling comfortable out there, and we’re all willing to push through the pain.”

Brown has had a rough season filled with injuries. Kirkham-Lewitt wasn’t even working on beam three months ago, but earned the ECAC Coaches Choice Award last week after an excellent beam performance. Sobuta returned this week after a short rest period and will save herself for the ECAC Championships, forgoing the matchup with Yale on Friday night. This is the last home meet of the season and will take place at the Pizzitola Center at 6 p.m.

last semester, from 37.5 percent last November, according to a Herald poll conducted then, to 63.8 percent now. Sen. Hillary Clinton’s support changed little — last November, 18.4 percent of students supported her in the presidential race, while this semester’s poll found 17.3 percent of students backing her for president.

Sen. John McCain, who has effectively captured the Republican nomination, garnered 7.2 percent of the student body’s support, up from 1 percent last semester.

The number of students who said they volunteered for a presidential campaign has almost doubled, though it still remains small — 10.9 percent this semester as opposed to 5.6 from the last.

The plurality of students who filled out the poll reported that they attend class quite often. 44.0 percent said they did not skip class

at all the week before the poll, and another 30.9 percent said they had only missed one class that week.

18.8 percent said they missed class two to three times the previous week.

Academic advising proved to be a polarizing issue, with the student body split almost evenly on its satisfaction with advising at Brown.

49.2 percent of respondents said they were satisfied and 48.8 percent said they were dissatisfied with academic advising, with exactly the same percentages of students — 37.8 percent — saying they were somewhat satisfied and somewhat dissatisfied.

More than half of the respondents said they do not use the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center more than once a month.

33.4 percent said they never use it, and 19.6 percent responded that they generally go less than once per month. But another 34.4 percent of respondents said they use the

OMAC at least once a week.

Though President Ruth Simmons remains popular among students, her approval rating dropped slightly — 81.2 percent of students said they approve of the way she has been handling her job as president, versus 84.9 percent who approved in the Herald poll taken last November.

3.3 percent of students said they somewhat disapproved and 1.1 percent strongly disapproved, while another 14.3 percent had no opinion.

Support for the Undergraduate Council of Students remained fairly constant, barely changing from 39.3 percent last semester who said they approved to 39.6 percent this semester.

But the percentage of students who said they didn’t know or had no opinion of how UCS is handling its job increased, from 31.6 percent last semester to 35.1 percent now.

h e rald poll r e sults 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ruth Simmons is handling her job as president of Brown University?

Strongly Approve 40.1 percent Somewhat Approve 41.1 percent Somewhat Disapprove 3.3 percent Strongly Disapprove 1.1 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 14.5 percent

6. If the 2008 presidential election were held today, which candidate would you vote for?

Hillary Clinton 17.3 percent John McCain 7.2 percent Ralph Nader 0.9 percent Barack Obama 63.8 percent Other 2.6 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 8.2 percent

2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the Undergraduate Council of Students (UCS) is handling its job?

Strongly Approve 4.8 percent Somewhat Approve 34.8 percent Somewhat Disapprove 18.8 percent Strongly Disapprove 6.4 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 35.1 percent

7. At any point, have you worked for the campaign of one of the candidates for the 2008 presidential election?

Yes 10.9 percent No 88.0 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 1.1 percent

3. Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with academic advising at Brown?

Very Satisfied 11.4 percent Somewhat Satisfied 37.8 percent Somewhat Dissatisfied 37.8 percent Very Dissatisfied 11.0 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 2.0 percent 4. How many times did you skip class last week?

None 44.0 percent Once 30.9 percent 2-3 times 18.8 percent 4 times 2.3 percent 5 times or more 3.4 percent I did not go to class last week 0.2 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 0.3 percent

8. On average, how often do you use the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center (OMAC)?

Never 33.4 percent Fewer than once per month 19.6 percent 1-3 times per month 12.6 percent Once a week 10.3 percent 2-4 times per week 14.9 percent 5 or more times a week 8.6 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 0.6 percent The University recently approved the use of $11 million to improve its financial aid offerings next year, increasing the total budget for financial aid by about 20 percent. Beginning in the fall, students whose families make less than $100,000 a year will not have to take out loans, and most

students whose families make less than $60,000 will not have to make any financial contribution. All those currently receiving financial aid will have smaller loans than they have now.

9. Do you approve or disapprove of the University’s decision?

Strongly Approve 71.7 percent Somewhat Approve 21.0 percent Somewhat Disapprove 3.0 percent Strongly Disapprove 1.2 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 3.1 percent 10. Do you think the University should focus on expanding financial aid to include more students or on increasing financial aid to those who already receive it?

Include more students 49.1 percent Increase aid to those already receiving it 37.2 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 13.8 percent 11. In the future, do you think the University should prioritize increased financial aid or the construction of a new dorm?

Increased financial aid 72.2 percent Construction of a new dorm 19.1 percent Don’t Know/No Answer 8.7 percent

methodology Written questionnaires were administered to 643 undergraduates from March 12 to 14 at the University Post Office in Faunce House in the morning and afternoon and at the Sciences Library at night. To ensure random sampling, pollsters approached every third person and asked if he or she would like to complete a poll. The poll has a 3.6 percent margin of error with 95 percent confidence. On March 13, lines for Spring Weekend tickets went through the Post Office. Pollsters stood in one place and included

students in line who passed them when counting out every third passerby.

The sample polled was demographically similar to the Brown undergraduate population as a whole. The sample was 47.6 percent male and 52.4 percent female.

Freshmen made up 29.7 percent of the sample, 30 percent were sophomores, 15.2 percent were juniors and 24.9 percent were seniors. 64.7 percent of respondents identified themselves as white, 6.5 percent identified as black or African-American, 8.7 per-

www.browndailyherald.com

cent Hispanic, 19 percent Asian, 1.0 percent American Indian or Alaska Native, 0.9 percent Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.4 percent identified with a racial group or ethnicity not listed and 2 percent chose not to answer. The sum of the percentages add up to more than 100 percent because of respondents who identified with multiple ethnic or racial groups.

News Editors Isabel Gottlieb ’10 and Franklin Kanin ’10 coordinated the poll. Herald section editors, senior staff writers and staff writers administered the poll.

W orld & n ation Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Page 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

New N.Y. governor woos legislators at inauguration

By James Madore Newsday

Susan Biddle / Washington Post

Ninth-grader Stephen Sabia, 16, who has Down syndrome, studies with his mother, Ricki Sabia. She credits the No Child Left Behind law for giving him access to mainstream schoolwork.

Law opens opportunies for the disabled

By Maria Glod Washington Post

WASHINGTON — As ninth-grader Stephen Sabia reads “Romeo and Juliet” and studies the Holocaust and World War II for honors history and English, his mother credits an important ally in her years-long drive to secure the best education possible for her son with Down syndrome: the federal No Child Left Behind law.

The six-year-old law’s requirement to raise student achievement across the board has forced schools to pay attention as never before to special-needs children who too often had been written off as incapable of handling the same lessons as peers in mainstream classrooms. Students with disabilities have made some strides in math and reading on state and national tests in recent years, although experts debate whether the law is responsible.

Ricki Sabia, mother of the Montgomery County, Md., student, said the law “really pushed the envelope for expectations for Stephen. There is no more question of whether he should be learning the same material as other kids. He’s been exposed to literature and other academics at a level I don’t think he would have without No Child Left Behind.”

With such success stories, many

parents of disabled students offer compelling testimony for the landmark education law amid signs that Congress could soon revive stalled efforts to renew it.

Under the law, public schools must advance every year toward the goal of proficiency for all students in reading and math by 2014.

Schools must make gains on tests given in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school, and so must subsets of students, including ethnic minorities, those from poor families and those with disabilities. If any group falls short, schools face potential sanctions.

The mandate to raise the achievement of special-needs students — a broad spectrum that includes children with learning disabilities, autism and the most severe cognitive impairments — has opened more access to grade-level lessons for such students, many advocates say.

Some educators complain that the law is too rigid and that schools with dedicated teachers can be unfairly punished when even a handful of students with disabilities fall short on tests. Some parents worry that children with significant disabilities are ill-served if they are pushed into grade-level classes too far above their abilities, reflecting persistent debate over “mainstreaming” for

special-needs students. There are also perennial questions about containing the high cost of special education.

Fairfax County, Va., School Superintendent Jack Dale said the law has led to more focus on students with disabilities, English-language learners and others previously “lost in the averages.” With better training and technology to help specialneeds students learn, he said, teams of teachers routinely work together to customize education.

As a result, Dale said, many special-needs students have made significant gains.

But Dale said that the goal of proficiency for all students is unrealistic and that the government should take more steps to recognize that some may not be capable of grade-level work even though they make progress.

“I’m not worried about us pushing kids as far as we can push them,” he said. “I’m worried we’ll become too obsessed about the tests instead of a child’s needs.”

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and an architect of the 2002 law, has said he plans to introduce a bill this spring continued on page 7

Democrats in Florida say no to revote

By Shailagh Murray Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Florida Democrats reversed course Monday and declared dead their plans to hold a do-over primary election to settle the dispute over seating their delegation to the national convention in Denver.

Karen Thurman, the state’s Democratic Party chairman, said that thousands of people had responded negatively to her proposal for a vote-by-mail primary in early June.

“We spent the weekend reviewing your messages, and while your reasons vary widely, the consensus is clear: Florida doesn’t want to vote again,” she wrote. “So we won’t. A party-run primar y or caucus has been ruled out, and it’s simply not

possible for the state to hold another election, even if the Party were to pay for it.”

That leaves the fate of the state’s delegation in the hands of the Democratic National Committee. Its rules and bylaws committee stripped Florida of all its convention delegates after the state defied the DNC and moved up its primary. The committee is scheduled to meet next month, Thurman noted.

A similar penalty was assessed to Michigan for its moved-up primar y, and efforts by that state’s legislature to approve a revote have stalled. Legislators are awaiting advance approval by the two presidential campaigns.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York won both primaries. Sen. Barack Obama Illinois campaigned in neither state and was not on the

Michigan ballot.

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer expressed disappointment with Florida’s decision, saying it “brings us no closer to counting the votes of the nearly 1.7 million people who voted in January.”

Obama campaign officials have not yet said whether they approve of the Michigan plan. Clinton aides attempted to pressure their opponent by saying in a statement, “If Barack Obama’s campaign stands in the way of a new vote, he will be putting his own political interests ahead of the people of Michigan.”

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said, “We received a ver y complex proposal for Michigan revote legislation today and are reviewing it to make sure that any solution for Michigan is fair and practical.”

ALBANY, N.Y. — David Paterson, minutes after being sworn in as New York’s 55th governor, sought Monday to woo lawmakers with humor, inspiring words about public service and a call for compromise in the face of a potential economic meltdown.

It was a stark contrast to his predecessor, Eliot Spitzer, who warred with lawmakers for much of his 14 1/2-month tenure. The audience seemed relieved and thrilled that a man they had perceived as a selfrighteous bully had been replaced by one of their own.

While the 40-minute ceremony lacked the pomp and music of Spitzer’s inauguration, the crowd of several thousand relished witnessing history as Paterson became the state’s first black governor and only the nation’s second legally blind governor.

“There’s been tension here for months and confrontation,” said Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, Spitzer’s nemesis. “So I think there’s relief ... it’s a new day and the sun is shining.”

Paterson briefly acknowledged the events leading to Spitzer’s downfall but didn’t mention him by name. Instead, Paterson signaled he would pursue elements of Spitzer’s ambitious agenda but add his own initiatives Echoing his predecessor, Paterson vowed to boost the upstate economy, build affordable housing and reduce property taxes. He then added, “I have a vision for New York. It’s a New York where achievement is developed only from hard work, where doors are always open and where anyone can achieve no matter where they live.”

Paterson’s oath of office, administered by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, was interrupted by applause. And later, lawmakers jumped to their feet, some chanting “David, David,” when he declared, “Let me reintroduce myself. I am David Paterson and I am the governor of New York

State!”

About half of Paterson’s 26-minute speech was devoted to heaping praise on 22 notables in the audience, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former Gov. George Pataki and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Paterson reserved his kindest words for the four legislative leaders with whom he must negotiate a budget

by April 1.

Paterson joked that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, an observant Jew, stopped him from accidentally breaking a water glass in January when pounding the gavel to start Spitzer’s second State of the State speech. “The speaker at the last second grabbed the gavel away from me and he told me in his own inimitable way, `I will not allow you to turn the State of the State into a Jewish wedding,’ “ said Paterson, mimicking Silver’s voice. The chamber broke out in laughter.

Barely an hour after Paterson’s plea for unity, however, Silver and Bruno were criticizing their respective budget proposals as unworkable.

Still, veteran politicians predicted Paterson, 53, would succeed, in part because state leaders want to demonstrate that Albany works.

“He’s going to have the longest honeymoon that any governor’s ever had,” former New York Mayor Edward Koch said.

Clinton added, “The way he connected his own personal story with the challenges that confront the families of New York I think said volumes about what his priorities are going to be.”

Her presence at Paterson’s swearing-in was tribute to his steadfast support of her presidential aspirations — but also provided an awkward moment. As Silver introduced her, someone shouted “Go, Hillary” and then another shouted support for Clinton’s rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, which was met with loud boos. ­—Staff writer Keith Herbert contributed to this report.

Page 6

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Fusion will find another Open forum on attack to be held today place for its performances continued from page 1

continued from page 1 Annie Rose London ’11, an Amira bellydancer, said she tried to organize a dance workshop but had trouble finding a space to use.

Luckily, she said, Ashamu was available.

“We certainly hear that students are looking for space beyond what is currently available,” said Ricky Gresh, director of student activities.

“The reality is that there continues to be student organizations recognized, and we don’t have available facilities,” he said. “Just because UCS recognizes another group doesn’t mean a new building pops up.”

An adequate dance space includes a studio with a sprung floor and mirrors, Boursiquot said. Ashamu and a space in TF Green Hall are the only spaces with appropriate floors, she said. Sprung floors mean that the floor is built with a small space between the floorboards and the ground, so the floor has a little give, she said.

“Any real dance space has a sprung floor so you can jump and dance and keep your limbs safe,” Boursiquot said. She said performers get injured when they have to practice without a sprung floor.

“People break toes, people get shin splits and it’s bad for your knees.”

Fusion Musical Director Jake Ricciardi ’09 said mirrors are necessary for dancers to improve.

“It’s like telling an orchestra to play and not letting them hear themselves play. We need the mirrors in order to hone our techniques, in order to see ourselves dance,” he said. “What you’re feeling (while dancing) is not exactly the way it’s supposed to look because dance is a very visual art.”

London, who is enrolled in two classes in the theatre, speech and dance department, said she agrees that mirrors help dancers improve but wonders if having a specific space is actually necessary.

“Our generation of dances is coming from a place where we all have our own studios and our own spaces, and we think we need a dance studio to dance,” London said. “We can dance anywhere. We can dance outside. We don’t need to mirrors to dance.”

But she added that it the lack

of space was frustrating: “It really isn’t asking too much to have space or to have a real dance studio. At an institution like Brown, we really (shouldn’t) have to be doing that.”

London also said she felt that the organization of the dance spaces was problematic, saying that whenever Amira practiced in TF Green, people would wander in, saying they had the space during that time.

“There’s always lots of confusion. We have to figure out who actually has the right to be in the space,” she said. “It’s(getting) kind of claustrophobic. We’re all stepping on each others toes all the time.”

Ricciardi said there is a dance studio in the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center, which is not currently open to student dance groups.

Ricciardi has founded the Brown Dance Initiative, which, among others things, is trying to lobby the University for more space and to open the OMAC studio to dance groups.

An addition to the stage in Alumnae Hall may help alleviate the problem of finding a performance space, Boursiquot said. The stage, which is too small for most performances, is being renovated after an initiative led by Brown opera groups.

If dance groups can raise $1,000, the stage can be made large enough for dance performances, Boursiquot said.

But a renovated stage is not the hall’s only problem. The entire electrical system has to be redone, and dance groups are looking to find a donor to help them raise the $275,000 necessary to set up Alumnae Hall for performances.

“If we can find a donor, it will be a snap,” Boursiquot said.

With the Brown Dance Initiative, students hope to bring attention to the dance programs and get groups the space they want. A petition is circling the campus, and Fusion has asked concert-goers and supporters to sign it.

“We’re trying to move forward with it, and to unite all the dance groups so all the groups can grow together,” Ricciardi said. “If we can get the dance community, which we gauge as over 500 students at Brown ... then we feel like we can really make some noise here and get things done.”

Hillel has also partnered with organizations outside of Brown to offer a $10,000 reward for anyone who finds information on the perpetrators. Hillel, the Anti-Defamation League and the Rhode Island Federation have offered the reward, said Jonathan Kappel, the ADL’s interim New England regional director. ADL Eastern States Civil Rights Counsel Robert Trestan will be working with the community and the police on the ongoing investigation, Kappel added.

The measures come after two Molotov cocktails — glass bottles filled with gasoline, stuffed with rags and then lighted — were hurled at Knafo’s apar tment at 122 Camp St. early Saturday morning. One burned the outside of his house, while the other landed in his bedroom but did not explode.

Knafo, who was in the kitchen with a friend at the time, was uninjured and has been moved to an undisclosed location.

Knafo is an emissary from the Jewish Agency for Israel and has been working at the Hillel since September.

An open forum will be held today to give Brown community members an opportunity to “express their outrage and fear” and to discuss other safety concerns raised by the incident, said Margaret Klawunn, associate vice president of campus life and dean for student life.

In an e-mail sent to Brown community members yesterday evening, Carey wrote that the forum will be held at 5:30 p.m. in Alumnae Hall’s Crystal Room.

University officials said it’s too soon to comment on whether the attack was a hate crime. Both the Providence Police Department and the FBI are currently investigating the incident.

University Chaplain Janet Cooper Nelson said Knafo is being “ver y well cared for” right now, but declined to comment further.

It isn’t clear if Knafo returned to work on Monday.

She added that in her 18 years at Brown, she has always seen a “converging” of people of different faiths in the face of “sad moments” like this one.

“Any time anyone is in harm’s way at Brown, I’m troubled,” Nelson said.

She described Knafo as a “warm, constructive, positive (and) resilient” person who is “an honored and respected member of the Brown family.”

Several students and a professor interviewed for this article said they were shocked to hear that the attack involved a Brown affiliate.

Professor of Political Science Alan Zuckerman said the incident was “clearly upsetting” and gives ever yone a reason to be concerned.

But Zuckerman said it is “difficult to identify if (the incident) is isolated or part of a pattern.”

Herald Graphics Editor Adam Robbins ’09, who went to Israel with Knafo over winter break as part of Hillel’s Taglit-Birthright trip, a free 10-day trip to Israel for Jewish students, said he is “not used to intolerance” in an “accepting environment” such as Brown’s.

Carly Edelstein ’08, a member of Hillel’s programming board, said she was at first relieved that Knafo, who is both her “working partner and friend,” wasn’t injured.

But she said she later had an “emotional response” to the incident because she had never thought that “safety was a challenge” around Brown’s campus.

Edelstein said she sent Knafo an e-mail soon after she heard about the attack and hugged him when she saw him on Monday.

“He’s loved by everyone here” at Hillel, she said.

Edelstein said the incident is “less of a concern” for Knafo than it is for the rest of the community.

“He has probably dealt with a lot more intense issues than this,” she said, referring to Knafo’s experiences in his native Israel and his service in the Israeli army.

But Rachel Cohn ’10, another

student at Hillel, said that even if Knafo is used to violence because of his background, nothing justifies the attack.

Jon Mitchell ’09, vice president for cultural arts on Hillel’s student executive board, said when he first heard about the incident he felt “shock and concern for Yossi.” But Mitchell also “hoped to God” that a Brown or RISD student was not behind the attack.

Mitchell said he didn’t want Brown to be another school involved in the “wave of anti-Semitic acts” that has recently swept across college campuses.

Last month, four students at Philadelphia’s Temple University were arrested after allegedly yelling anti-Semitic remarks and assaulting a student, a local television station reported.

But Mitchell said it is more important to realize that “violence is being used to make a statement.”

He realizes that locking Hillel’s main entrance is an important safety measure, but Mitchell said doing so is still “not an ideal situation,” because Hillel is “a space for ever yone, all Brown students to come, to enjoy and be safe.”

Though several students declined to comment on whether they see the incident as a hate crime, one student said he thought the attack was “blown out of proportion.”

It was probably “some drunken college a—holes celebrating St. Patrick’s Day,” Kelley Cox ’10 said.

But Cox said if the act was “more than that,” then it was “reprehensible,” adding that he would like to know what the investigation reveals.

Aliza Rosenstein ’09 said she doesn’t find the campus or its surrounding areas less safe after the incident. But placing an armed security official outside Hillel and locking the main door were good “efforts to make the users of Hillel more safe and secure,” she said.

—With additional reporting by Franklin Kanin

More student content envisioned for a new BTV continued from page 3 equipment, some of which had dated back to BTV’s founding, the station managers are satisfied with new computers that they have received from Ed Huff, multimedia instructional coordinator, Volk said.

The new technology will make it easier for the station managers to update their scheduling system and work on the actual student broadcast, Volk added.

Volk is confident that with the right amount of funding, BTV will return to its original prominence on campus.

“We canceled our contracts with our content provider and got $12,500 back from the company. As a Categor y III club, we hope the (Undergraduate Finance Board) will be cognizant and helpful as we try to grow,” Volk said.

So far BTV has not made any funding requests to UFB, said UFB Chair Ryan Mott ’09.

“The current members have worked really hard this year, and we would all really like to see the station get back to where it was,” Mott said.

In April, student groups will either submit their budgets and fill in a template or seek supple-

mental funding from UFB, Mott added. This funding is allocated to the various student groups on campus, including the 150 Categor y III groups, of which BTV is one, Mott said.

“We would definitely be willing to help them get more equipment, but may not grant them their old contract due to the group’s past history,” he said.

In terms of making a proposal for funds to UFB, BTV is still trying to get a better sense of what it needs, Joseph said. “We haven’t made up a proposal yet,” he said.

“We are really interested in producing comedic programming as well as dramatic productions and coverage of student events. BTV is important because in a digital age, it seems silly that media technology is not readily available to non-MCM concentrators at Brown,” Joseph said.

BTV has a high level “of interest on campus in student productions from academic projects to a variety of student interests, and BTV is working to develop collaborations to better support these interests,” Ricky Gresh, director of student activities, wrote in an e-mail.

“This has definitely been a rebuilding year, and I am optimistic

that a restructured BTV will be a better resource for students and others interested in production and will support the transmission of student-generated content and performances to a wider campus audience, rather than just being a channel to watch movies,” Gresh wrote.

“BTV will be a great medium for Brown students to express themselves and provide a great way for people to watch campus events,” Volk said. “I was on the other side as a viewer in the past — I decided to get involved instead of complain about the station.”

“Hopefully we can begin some productions this year,” Joseph said.

“But we’ll definitely be operational in the fall.”

For some freshmen who are not familiar with BTV, the concept of a University television program is appealing.

“They should accept any student-made film and give an outlet for creative student work to be out there,” said Francis Gonzales ’11.

“It’d be fun for students to do, and I feel that, like the Brown Student Radio, it would create an interesting community for those interested in media production,” Lucy Sedgwick ’11 said.

Page 7

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Editors’ pick: UCLA wins it continued from page 12 dominant big man in the middle in Roy Hibbert.

South: Pittsburgh The Panthers have gotten hot, winning the Big East tournament with a victory over Georgetown. The return of point guard Levance Fields was crucial, though Pitt lost its first few games after his return. Pitt poses a matchup nightmare for Memphis, the No. 1 seed in the region that loves to speed up the game and use its athleticism, while Jamie Dixon’s Panthers like to grind it out with suffocating defense. In the other half of the region, Texas is the strongest team, with impressive wins against Tennessee, UCLA and Kansas, as well as a down-to-the-wire loss to the Jayhawks in the Big 12 final. The Longhorns rely a little too much on DJ Augustin and AJ Abrams on the outside, leaving them susceptible to Pitt’s DeJuan Blair banging down low.

West: UCLA This region has an interesting mix of perennial contenders in UCLA, Duke and Connecticut, mixed in with highly seeded mid-majors like Xavier and Drake. But the Dukies fire up way too many three-balls to make a Final Four run and the X-Men have a plethora of upperclassmen with experience who should be able to handle the tournament pressure. It will not be enough to beat UCLA, though, since the Bruins are complete and experienced. They get fantastic guard play from Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook, while Kevin Love is a monster down low. The team, as always, plays great defense, having allowed just one opponent to score more than 80 points.

Cinderella: Western Kentucky The Hilltoppers are a No. 12 matched up against mid-major Drake in the ever-dangerous No. 5-No. 12 matchup. Drake lost three of its last six regular season games and is very perimeter-oriented. Meanwhile, Western Kentucky flew under the radar because conference-mate South Alabama has gotten all the attention.

But it was Western Kentucky which won the conference tourney, and the Hilltoppers are led by a pair of senior guards. Courtney Lee is a potential NBA draft pick in June, and his team is deadly from three-point range, which has been the calling card of many upset specials. Not only could the Hilltoppers take down Drake, but a second-round matchup with Connecticut appears favorable. They should be able to head into the second weekend, when they are likely to fall to UCLA. Champion: UCLA The Bruins just have everything.

Inside and outside, offense and defense, UCLA can do everything. Love is better than Pitt’s Blair and Georgetown’s Hibbert, and Love is on the level of Hansbrough, even as a freshman. The team suffered a number of injuries throughout the season, but key players like Collison are back and the bench is better for the injuries. They even have glue guys like Lorenzo Mata-Real who do the dirty work. While North Carolina has close to UCLA’s balance, the Heels tend to excel on the run. Their half-court offense is predicated on Hansbrough post-ups and Lawson penetration.

Against a tough defensive team like Pitt or UCLA, which can neutralize individual players even as good as those two, North Carolina will need more structure in the half-court game to bring home the title.

—Jason Harris

Community shudders after Bear Stearns

By Keith Richburg and Alejandro Lazo Washington Post

NEW YORK — The bagpipes’ notes filling the air y atrium of Bear Stearns’ midtown Manhattan headquarters Monday had all the solemnity of a funeral dirge.

But the pipers in their tartan kilts and caps were there to celebrate the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade starting a block away, and were just using the venerable firm’s lobby to warm up.

That odd juxtaposition, along with school children in Irish dancing dresses crowded into their lobby, was par t of the surreal atmosphere for Bear Stearns’s 14,000 employees, who came to work seeing their bank sold, their options packages gone, their job security unclear.

Despite the worr y that Bear Stearns’ collapse could presage a bigger financial crisis and ensnare other wobbly investment banks, Wall Street managed to avoid the wholesale sell-off many were initially expecting. After an early morning dive, followed by a volatile day of trading, the blue chip Dow Jones industrial average rallied in the final minutes of trading to close up 21.16 points, or 0.18 percent, to 11,972.25.

On Friday, Bear Stearns’ stock was worth $30 a share. Over the weekend, rival bank J.P. Morgan Chase reached a deal to buy the troubled firm for the fire sale price of $236 million, or just $2 a share. Employees coming to work Monday morning found a $2 bill symbolically, and mischievously, taped to one of the firm’s revolving doors.

They gathered in the lobby of Bear Stearns’ skyscraper headquarters to trade gossip and talk

‘No Child’ opened new doors for disabled continued from page 5 to reauthorize it, with adjustments.

Many disability-rights advocates are urging action before President Bush leaves office. They want Congress to revamp the law Bush pushed to enact, but keep it strong. They fear the next president, no matter the political party, will shove reauthorization to the back burner.

“We’ve got people in place in leadership right now who, I think, are committed to reauthorization and to making it stronger,” said Andrew Imparato, president and chief executive of the Washington D.C.-based American Association of People with Disabilities. “It’s easy to bad-mouth NCLB. People feel it’s federal government over-asserting itself. ... If we don’t get it done this year, I don’t think we can count on it bubbling up in the next administration.”

There are about 6.7 million special-needs children in schools nationwide, about 14 percent of all students, according to federal officials. Nearly half have learning disabilities, including dyslexia. The second-largest group has speech and language impairments. Others have mental retardation, emotional problems or other disabilities.

“The vast majority of these kids are capable of learning in schools what other kids are learning,” said Thomas Hehir, a Harvard education professor who oversaw special education programs in the Clinton administration.

Students with disabilities have

shown promising gains recently on national math and reading exams, particularly in elementary school, but researchers say it’s unclear whether credit should go to the law, according to a January report by the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency. More disabled students are earning a high school diploma or certificate, the researchers found, but many also drop out.

Kennedy said the law has given special-needs children “the chance to learn alongside other students and reach their full potential.” A spokeswoman said aides on both sides of the aisle are trying to hammer out proposed changes.

That achievement trends are even being studied is itself a victory, said Katy Beh Neas, vice president of government relations for Easter Seals, a nonprofit group that provides support to people with disabilities. In the past, such students often were excluded from testing. “We would never be talking about the academic progress of students with disabilities if it wasn’t for NCLB,” she said.

Disability-rights advocates are pushing for better alternative state tests for special-needs students. They also want more training and support for teachers. Many support “growth models,” which give credit for individual student gains. But their primary goal is to keep special-needs children in the accountability system.

Under the current law, about 10 percent of special-needs students, those with the most severe cognitive disabilities, can be given credit

for simplified math and reading assessments. Certain other students can take alternative tests. But many disability-rights advocates say other provisions in the law give schools too much wiggle room, and they worry that Congress could widen exemptions.

“The biggest message from the advocate community is don’t go backwards,” said Gary Huggins, director of the Commission on No Child Left Behind, a bipartisan independent effort of the Aspen Institute.

Stephen Sabia, 16, a ninth-grader in Burtonsville, Md., is in a special-ed math class but takes honors history and English and four other general education classes with modified lessons and the help of an aide. Last year, he went to Capitol Hill to tell Kennedy and other senators how the law has helped him.

In elementary and middle school, Stephen scored below proficient on the regular math and reading tests the federal law requires, his mother said, but not by much. “It blew people out of the water that he was even close,” said Ricki Sabia, who is associate director of the National Down Syndrome Society’s National Policy Center. One recent evening, Stephen acted out “Romeo and Juliet” and studied cue cards with facts about World War II. “Challenging classes have taught him to work with people who have higher academic abilities, yet find his comfort level,” Ricki Sabia said. “He has moved from being a kid with a disability to being a learner.”

on cellphones, or to step outside for a smoke and to catch the bagpipers and high school marching bands practicing before the big parade. Nobody had any real news — who would be laid off, who would keep their jobs. There were mostly just a lot of stunned faces.

“I’m here for the funeral,” said one young man in a colorful striped shirt, who, like most of the Bear employees, did not want to talk to the press and spoke on condition of anonymity. “No luck of the Irish.”

“Would you believe I’ve been here five days?” he said, between drags on his cigarette, while the Sword of Light Pipe Band tuned up on the street. “Do you know where I came from? J.P. Morgan.”

He questioned how long the deal had been in the works, saying, “Two dollars a share doesn’t happen that quick.”

He added, “It’s not a pretty picture,” before disappearing back inside.

As he spoke, burly blue-shirted security men exited Bear’s glass doors carrying away several large gray metal containers wrapped in plastic and seals. Someone speculated it was the failed firm’s cash going to J.P. Morgan’s headquar-

ters around the corner. Some employees were seen earlier carting out their personal belongings in boxes.

On Wall Street, Bear Stearns had a reputation as a hard-nosed and aggressive maverick prone to taking risks. But the rapid and stunning fall of a firm that had been around for 85 years caused a jolt of nervousness among bankers and traders who openly wondered where the financial fallout might strike next.

“It’s just the beginning. These are terrible times, ever ybody is anxious,” said Steven Rosenberg, 37, a vice president of a financial institution — he declined to say which one — who was having an end-of-the-day beer at Harry’s Cafe near Wall Street. “I see locusts, black skies. It’s very bad.”

“It’s Monday. Ever ything bad happens Monday,” said his colleague, a strategic business manager at the same firm. “We were surprised only one institute stepped up to buy Bear Stearns.

Life goes on in ebbs and flows, you keep doubling down until there is no more money.”

“I’m just pessimistic,” said John Hatfield, 28, who trades mutual funds. “I think there is a lot of uncertainty for everybody.”

Page 8

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

After close loss to Hofstra, w. lax ready for Ivy opener continued from page 12

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo

Melissa King ’08 made seven saves in the Bear’s game against Hofstra over the weekend, with six coming in the first period alone.

the second time in the game.

But goals from Kara Kelly ’10 and Kr ystina Deluca ’09 knotted the game at six.

Hofstra, which plays more of a sagging defense as opposed to Brown’s more aggressive style, shut down Brown’s final attempts to take back the game with a more conservative strategy.

The Pride called a timeout following Deluca’s goal, and it helped the team regroup.

A Brown turnover with 12:25 left in the game gave Hofstra a golden opportunity, allowing Jones to score what proved to be the game-winning goal.

The Bears’ attack-style defense provided them with many opportunities to score toward the end of the contest, with Bruno taking shots until the last six seconds.

“Our defense played outstanding,” Anderson said.

“They set our attack up for an opportunity to score at the end of the game and you can’t ask for anything more.”

Brown is looking forward to a “new” season when it opens up Ivy League play at Harvard this coming weekend.

“It’s like a second season in the season,” MacDonald said.

“We’re fired up for those games and we’ve worked a lot out in our first non-league games.”

Beekeeping brings locals special delights continued from page 3 2007, the phenomenon has cropped up in Massachusetts and Connecticut, according to an Aug. 14, 2007 report commissioned by Congress.

But even without CCD, Mencucci said keeping bees alive during the winter — when bees hole up in their hives — is challenging because of mites and disease.

“It is much harder to keep bees than before because of the all the mite problems,” Mencucci wrote in an e-mail. “Without beekeeper intervention, hives die. Some people get frustrated over these losses and give it up. Others become determined and try harder.”

And tr y harder they do. John Gardner, a contractor who attends Mencucci’s lectures, said the loss of bees to CCD and mites is a large reason he pursues beekeeping.

“Without bees, you are not going to have pollinators to produce food,” Gardner said. The congressional report estimates that honey bees

contribute about $15 billion to the U.S. economy as commercial pollinators for crops as diverse as alfalfa, broccoli and cantaloupe.

“As a contractor, I can appreciate the importance of what bees do,” he said.

And then there’s the sweetest reason for the popularity of apiculture: the honey. All the students interviewed for this story cited the liquid candy as one of the class’s strongest draws.

“Honey’s expensive and (beekeeping is) a good hobby,” said John Martin, a student at Community College of Rhode Island at Warwick, who drove 45 minutes to attend Mencucci’s lecture. “I can use my tax refund for something useful, instead of for beer or whatever.”

Despite the noble or culinar y ambitions of the participants, the class mostly focuses on the day-today work of raising bees.

Amid technical talk of “swarming,” “deep-frame bodies” and “drifting,” Mencucci gave students

practical advice about where to place their hives and which bees to purchase.

“Keep the front of the hive facing the sun in winter, so the bees can get out and go to the bathroom,” Mencucci said.

The class also serves as a networking opportunity for bee buyers and sellers, who take two long trips to the south each year to purchase hundreds of caged “packets” of bees and bring them to New England.

Mencucci also touched on the delicate subject of bee diplomacy.

“Bees like to drink from swimming pools,” she said. “This is a problem if all of your neighbors have pools. You should provide your bees with an alternative water source.” She also suggested painting hives green, so that neighbors expecting to see white hives will be fooled.

“Or you can always give them honey,” Mencucci added. “That seems to always make things better.”

U. answers subpoena with study abroad data continued from page 1 Harvard, Cornell, Columbia and American universities were also among the 15 schools that received subpoenas from Cuomo. Connecticut’s attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, took similar steps shortly after Cuomo’s subpoenas were delivered, sending letters that asked for records on the study abroad programs of 10 schools in his state, including Yale. A lawyer in Cuomo’s office told the Times in January that the schools subpoenaed by the New York attorney general were selected because of concern that some had “affiliation agreements” with study abroad providers.

Some of the providers had already received subpoenas from Cuomo, including four that currently offer their services through Brown, The Herald reported Nov. 29.

Brown submitted information on the number of students studying abroad and the programs they participated in for the last three years sometime around March 1, Ledbetter said. Because of the large volume of information being submitted, Ledbetter does not expect a response for two or three months.

This inquiry is similar to the one made by Cuomo’s office last year into agreements between colleges

Rahul Keerthi / Herald File Photo

Brown’s top lawyer said the University’s programs committed no ethical breaches.

and student loan providers, Ledbetter said.

Out of that investigation, a code of conduct was developed for these relationships. A goal of the current investigation is to create similar guidelines, John Milgrim, a spokesman for Cuomo, told the Chronicle of Higher Education earlier this year.

The Office of International Programs does not directly address the subpoena on its Web site, but it does

state that “Brown has never received discounts or commissions from, nor has it ever entered into exclusivity contracts with approved program providers. ... Brown has never participated in, supported, or promoted the practice of offering special pricing or incentives to increase enrollments with program providers.”

OIP Director and Associate Dean of the College Kendall Brostuen declined to comment for this article.

O pinions E xtra Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Page 9

What the United States can learn from a French Marxist Jacob Schuman Opinions Columnist In his celebrated 1970 essay, “Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses,” French Marxist Louis Althusser explores the ways in which social institutions shape individual consciousness in order to propagate the existing social system. The work was intended as a Structural Marxist critique of both capitalist and Soviet oppression — a guide for revolutionaries to better identify and overthrow the subtle and dispersed chains that theoretically bound them.

Yet Althusser’s ideas are not only useful for Thayer Street-Marxists and oblivious Modern Culture and Media students. Even those who support, more or less, a liberal democratic society should take heed of his analysis. A failure to appreciate the concepts engaged by Althusser’s critique will mean, just as Althusser predicted, the downfall of liberal democracy.

Althusser’s analysis of ideological state apparatus is both crucial to understanding the dynamics of social systems and, for our purposes, relatively simple to understand.

Roughly, Althusser asserts that no political, economic or cultural system can survive without instilling its members with the belief that it is the best and most natural system that should be practiced and maintained. Citizens receive this belief from ideological apparatus with investments in the current system — the mainstream capitalist media, the state-run education system, religious authorities and parents who have been similarly educated by the system’s ideology.

This is not a simple matter of sinister brainwashing, but rather a primary law of societal development. A society that did not make its members believe that it should be preserved would inevitably be changed by future generations. The relatively stable societies that have grown out of millennia of social upheaval

would thus naturally be the ones that did the best job of passing on widespread belief in their merits.

This is a fundamental evolutionary principle applied to human societies. No living species could long endure which did not pass on its genes to its young. In the same way, citizens of liberal democracies receive the “genes” for believing in and passing on this system through ideological apparatuses. Liberal democratic institutions perpetuate the ideology of liberal democracy, so that they can persevere through the coming generations and eventually pass

priorities, the banal and evil capitalist ideology that Althusser observed. Whether or not one holds to that assertion, it is impossible to deny that these values do not bode well for either a liberal democratic or a Marxist future.

Instead, future generations ignorant not only of political and economic theory, history and civics, but ignorant of their own ignorance, will likely pursue a more irresponsible, cynical and dangerous form of capitalism, governed by apathetic pseudo-democracy. This is a frightening future we are perhaps already beginning to see in our own time.

If the United States wants to avert a dystopic scenario, it must appreciate the importance of ideological state apparatuses in shaping the consciousness of coming generations. this same ideology along to new children.

Yet despite the elemental importance of Althusser’s observations, the United States seems to have lost interest in passing on its ideology to the next generation. Children receive educations in conspicuous consumption (Paris Hilton), in racism (Don Imus) and in corruption (the U.S. government), among other destructive values. Meanwhile, the essentials of liberal democracy — engaged citizenship, social responsibility to justice, an understanding of the operations of our political and economic systems — are ignored in both schools and the public sphere.

Some may argue that this phenomenon in fact reflects the true propagation of American

If the United States wants to avert this dystopic scenario, it must appreciate the importance of ideological state apparatuses in shaping the consciousness of coming generations.

This means, above all, that our government must finally take seriously the public education system, which is undergoing a shameful and disastrous national systemic failure.

Yet this imperative does not mean merely raising abysmal graduation rates and producing inspired students invested in the system.

The United States must also reintroduce the teaching of civics — the instruction on the mechanics, philosophy and importance of engaged liberal democratic citizenship — to public schools. During this year’s unusually

extended Democratic primary season, how many of us have been surprised to learn how little we actually knew about the American democratic system — the variety of primary voting systems, the “Texas Two-Step ” or those pesky superdelegates?

Naturally, civics classes should not be exclusively laudatory — liberal democracy requires the instruction, in fact the celebration, of critical social, political and economic analyses.

Devoted Marxists may reject these initiatives as simply more bourgeois indoctrination. Yet they should recognize that the absence of civics instruction is merely another form of brainwashing — one in which students are denied knowledge of our social system while the established elites pull the strings from the shadows. A more educated and engaged populace should be an improvement, indeed an imperative, in the eyes of both liberal democrats and Structural Marxists. The only people who benefit from public ignorance are those who control and exploit knowledge. Reflect for a moment: how many elected officials enroll their children in public schools?

Of course, I recognize the contradiction of this argument — my own desire for liberal democracy may in fact just be an effect of the ideology I absorbed over my life. Yet even recognizing this possibility does not mitigate this imperative. Whether one subscribes to liberal democracy, Structural Marxism, Islamism, anarcho-syndicalism or most any other political program, all honest ideologues should desire an engaged and educated citizenry.

The only perspectives that profit from the current system are those that benefit from ignorance. The United States must reinvest seriously in public education, with a renewed inclusion of civics, in order to pass on the ideological genes of liberal democracy to the next generation. To neglect this necessity is to sacrifice the essential component of any successful system, and to fail as a society.

Jacob Schuman ’08 once heard someone say the word “positionality” in MCM class. He has not been the same since.

Cigarettes are good

BY Sam Loomis Guest Columnist Bear with me, this is going somewhere. In the last 50 years or so, cigarettes have gotten a pretty bad rap. Before then, no one outside of the tobacco industry really understood the negative health effects of smoking. I guess no one noticed that they were dying of lung cancer at age 70 because they had already died of tuberculosis when they were 35. It was a different time, and all the cool kids and their 10-year-old sisters were lighting up outside the log cabin, guilt-free. Ayn Rand, famous author and philanthropist, glorified smoking in her really giant book “Atlas Shrugged”: “I like to think of fire held in a man’s hand.

Fire, dangerous force, tamed at his fingertips.

I often wonder about the hours when a man sits alone, watching the smoke of a cigarette, thinking. I wonder what great things have come from such hours. When a man thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his mind — and it is proper that he should have the burning point of a cigarette as his one expression.”

Smoking was an assertion of our willful manipulation of the forces of nature and a metaphor for the very process of thought. Indeed, many great thinkers were also smokers, from Jean-Paul Sartre to James Dean. Even J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved Harry

Potter books, was a smoker until she quit and became a Nicorette chewing gum addict (that is actually true).

Despite this, much of society has turned against tobacco products. Smoking has been tied to cardiovascular disease, stroke, birth defects, bronchitis, cataracts, basically every form of cancer and, most frighteningly, of im-

of freshman year. You are walking around alone like a schmuck, looking for the Sharpe Refectory, pretending like you know what you’re doing. Some self-assured looking New Yorker in vintage converse, dark blue jeans and a black T-shirt comes up to you asking for a light. Suddenly you have a new friend, and he might even be rich. Meanwhile, the non-

It would be ridiculous to let a lifetime of addiction and an early death come between you and a chance at a night of uncomfortable sex (and months and months of bragging to your roommate). potence. I’m not going to argue that smoking doesn’t cause lung cancer (that will be my next column), but I still think that despite these minor drawbacks, smoking is good for humanity.

Cigarettes undeniably bring people together. For example, think back to the beginning

smoker is doomed to an awkward conversation with some kid from the Perkins sub-free hall about the Brown Christian Fellowship.

Or, you’re standing outside of a frat party, trying to escape the smell of beer, sweat and chauvinism, and a pretty girl next to you lights up. If you didn’t smoke before, you better

start now. Attractive women are hard to come by on campus, and it would be ridiculous to let a lifetime of addiction and an early death come between you and a chance at a night of uncomfortable sex (and months and months of bragging to your roommate). That is such a good argument that I could probably just stop now, but I’ve got more.

Smoking isn’t just good for smokers, it is also great for non-smokers. If you are reading this article on an elliptical in the Bear’s Lair, scoffing at my ignorance, know two things: 1) Cigarettes have benefited you far more than anyone who actually smokes them. 2) I can see you from my room in Grad Center (also actually true). There is no greater feeling of moral superiority than that felt by a non-smoker.

Every time you watch a homeless man with a hack-cough trying to bum a cigarette on Thayer Street, your heart fills with joy. “Look at that poor fool, killing himself slowly and not even realizing it.” If it weren’t for smokers, you wouldn’t know that you’re better than everyone else. And doesn’t it feel good? I will take the liberty of answering my own rhetorical question: Yes, yes it does. Therefore, cigarettes make you feel good, in the deepest and most significant way.

I will leave you with this: Barack Obama smoked cigarettes.

Sam Loomis ‘10 is smoking out his window and watching you on the elliptical

E ditorial & L etters Page 10

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Staf f Editorial

Reacting responsibly As the weekly crime log printed in this paper can attest, crime isn’t a rare occurrence in Providence, even in our comparatively protected neighborhood of College Hill. But an incident this weekend, in which two perpetrators threw primitive explosives at the home of an Israeli national working at Brown/RISD Hillel, stood out from the rest, and not just because it was a bit more serious than a laptop theft.

The facts are still being gathered. No one knows why Yossi Knafo was attacked, or even that this wasn’t just a random act of vandalism.

The FBI has said that they are investigating the incident, but this could go on for weeks or even months. Because of the nature of the late-night incident, with few witnesses and few ways of tracking a culprit down, there may not be much to conclude even after the full investigation.

But still, it’s hard to look at the basic facts and not assume that this incident is a hate crime.

To apply a label prematurely, though, would preclude any other explanation from coming to light. In this regard, the Brown community — from President Simmons to students active at Hillel — is commendably resisting the urge to oversimplify by applying the label “hate crime.”

There were no discriminatory symbols, warnings or remarks associated with the event, after all. And though it seems odd that someone would have randomly, perhaps drunkenly, decided to throw Molotov cocktails into a second-floor window, it’s certainly imaginable; in addition, no one should rule out the possibility that Knafo was targeted for reasons other than his religious beliefs or nationality.

All the same, this kind of incident is certainly frightening. Someone could have been injured or killed if the building had caught fire, which seems to have been the attackers’ goal. The sheer malice underlying such a motivation seems completely unfathomable in our community. If a few facts of the situation had been different — if Knafo were asleep and the assailants had better aim, for example — instead of urging restraint here, we’d be mourning a great tragedy. The thought that this sort of hatred could have come from within the Brown community is — to echo Simmons — something we don’t even want to speculate about.

The University’s response, though not particularly prompt this weekend, has been altogether well-executed. The administration has treated the incident seriously without jumping to conclusions. Those students closer to the situation than most of us have reacted commendably, too.

As long as the University makes an effort to keep students informed and involved, we’ll emerge from this incident with a keener ability to address violence in our midst without jumping to conclusions.

For the time being, speculation about the attack’s motive can’t help.

Hate crime or not, this incident is a sad, despicable act. We’re all lucky that the perpetrators weren’t any more successful.

T he B rown D aily H erald Editors-in-Chief Simmi Aujla Ross Frazier editorial Robin Steele Arts & Culture Editor Andrea Savdie Asst. Arts & Culture Editor Debbie Lehmann Higher Ed Editor Chaz Firestone Features Editor Olivia Hoffman Asst. Features Editor Rachel Arndt Metro Editor Scott Lowenstein Metro Editor Mike Bechek News Editor Isabel Gottlieb News Editor Franklin Kanin News Editor Michael Skocpol News Editor Karla Bertrand Opinions Editor James Shapiro Opinions Editor Whitney Clark Sports Editor Amy Ehrhart Sports Editor Jason Harris Sports Editor Benjy Asher Asst. Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Megan McCahill Asst. Sports Editor

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jon guyer

L e tt e r s Hillel student board responds to firebombing attack To the Editor: We, the student executive board of Brown-RISD Hillel, are horrified by the act of violence committed against Yossi Knafo, our emissary from Israel. Yossi has been a valuable asset to our community, presenting a strong Israeli voice at Hillel and on campus as a whole.

Moreover, he has been instrumental in building bridges between members of the Hillel community and other groups on campus. While we do not know the motivations for this attack, it nevertheless raises our sensitivity to hate crimes and actions inspired by intolerance.

We are proud to be part of a community that has so

strongly united in the wake of this incident, and we applaud the actions of Brown University throughout the course of events so far. Even in this period of emotional turmoil, we know that we will overcome this incident to retain and strengthen the spirit of open discussion that is the cornerstone of our education.

Eytan Kurshan ‘08 Jacob Baskin ‘08 Josh Tobias ‘08 Danielle Levine ‘09 Jonathan Isaac Mitchell ‘09 March 17

Balkin’ at the Balkans To the Editor: As we perused the table slips at the Ratty, we couldn’t help but notice the advertisements for the party hosted

by Buxton International House, the Bulgarian Club, and the Hellenistic Students Association. These featured suggestive images of women and the tagline “The Exotic East meets the Hot South at ECLECTIKA,” as well as a note informing the reader that donations would go to “battling human trafficking.”

While we applaud the groups’ effort to raise funds for a worthwhile cause and collaborate with one another, we are disappointed by their advertising techniques. For groups and individuals trying to foster international understanding by working to dispel stereotypes, it seems that this advertising campaign is undermining their efforts. For example, one of the women on the table slips is cupping her naked breast, mouth seductively open. These women are overly sexualized and objectified, just like the victims

of human trafficking that the event is supporting.

Women comprise 80 percent of trafficking victims and are particularly at risk to become involved in sex trafficking. We understand that sex sells and that Brown students are no exception to this axiom of advertising.

However, we would hope that these groups feel they can sell their event based on the issue, not the sexual appeal of so-called “exotic” women.

Besides, from the standpoint of advertising, Buxton already has a reputation of having great parties. Having sexy women on their table slips is unlikely to have any effect on the success of their event.

Since they are engaging in a heavy print campaign, we suggest that the sponsoring groups use this opportunity to educate the campus about human trafficking.

Amy Tan ’09 Janine Kwoh ’09 March 14

Corrections Because of an editing error, a Herald article (“Three years after Katrina, NOLA schools see apps rise,” March 12) reported that the University of New Orleans has recently seen an 85-percent increase in graduate applications. In fact, graduate applications only increased by 82.3 percent over last year.

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O pinions Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Page 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Coming up with some really original sins adam cambier Opinions Columnist Let’s face it. The Catholic Church has a bit of an image problem these days. Catholicism is undoubtedly the Western world’s most established and influential religion. With a history dating back nearly 2,000 years, it counts a full sixth of the world’s population among its membership.

Theologians and sociologists have highlighted how its effect on Protestantism led to the development of capitalism and how its anthropocentricity spurred the formation of Western scientific and technological worldviews as we know them today. All in all, the Catholic Church is pretty badass, but these days everyone just seems to dismiss it as a bunch of stodgy old men too heavily invested in outdated modes of thought to actually connect with someone living in the modern secular world.

This characterization is largely unfair. Sure, the who’s who of Catholicism reads like an international membership list of the AARP, and the Church’s love of pomp and circumstance doesn’t do it any favors in making it appear modern and flexible. Still, I can think of no religion with a greater capacity for mystery, murder and intrigue — all you have to do is spend an hour curled up with a Dan Brown book to get a glimpse of how awesome Catholicism can be.

In an effort to throw off their reputation as a bunch of fuddy-duddies, the elders of the Church have recently issued a few edicts to try to punch up their image and make them hip

and relevant yet again. Last year, the Vatican issued a list of the Ten Commandments for Drivers, an enumeration of ways in which one can honor God by honoring traffic laws.

They include a declaration that roads shall be a means of communion with other drivers, an admonition of those who use cars as an expression of power and domination and an exhortation to keep people who are too old or too young from hitting the road.

This list of commandments was an ad-

The late, great prophet Aaliyah once said, “If at first you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again,” and the Catholic leadership has decided to follow her advice and take another stab at modern relevancy. On March 9, the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published a list of seven new deadly sins to complement the seven oldies but goodies. Joining the pantheon of lust, gluttony, sloth, greed, wrath, envy and pride are the newcomers environmental

In an effort to throw off their reputation as a bunch of fuddy-duddies, the elders of the Church have recently issued a few edicts to try to punch up their image and make them hip and relevant yet again. mirable effort, but the final result was too touchy-feely and full of compassion for one’s fellow man to really make Catholicism seem cool again. If the Church really wanted to get people on their side, they could have issued prohibitions on driving 30 miles per hour in a 45-miles-per-hour zone, refusing to take a left turn even when nobody is coming from the opposite direction or plastering obnoxious bumper stickers all over the back of one’s car.

pollution, genetic manipulation, accumulation of excessive wealth, infliction of poverty upon others, drug trafficking and consumption, conduction of morally debatable experiments and violation of fundamental rights of human nature.

At the very least, these new deadly sins are an improvement over the driving commandments. It appears that Pope Benedict XVI has joined the rest of the world in jumping on the Al Gore bandwagon, and it’s a long-

standing tradition to resent those who make more money than us. It’s not a stretch to get everyone to hate on the Josef Mengeles, Joseph Stalins and Kenneth Lays of the world.

Unfortunately, a few of the new sins are pretty clear misses. Although genetic manipulation can be a little sketchy, it’s hard to argue against the supremely awesome creation of a menagerie of glow-in-the-dark animals. And as for the one forbidding drug consumption?

If that’s really a deadly sin, then I figure that half of Brown’s population can expect to find Gwyneth Paltrow’s head in a box on their doorsteps sooner rather than later.

They say the third time is the charm.

Clearly, the Church’s next attempt to make itself relevant is going to succeed. I’m no soothsayer, so I can’t definitively say what edicts the Church is going to have to issue for this to be the case, but I firmly believe that the Pope ought to stack the deck with new mortal sins that are so clearly universally reviled that the new edicts would have to be popular.

Whether these include a ban on the further use of the annoying talking oven mitt in Arby’s commercials or a prohibition on the Dallas Cowboys ever making the playoffs again is not for me to say, as only God can determine this for certain. A new list like this would be win-win for everyone. The Catholic Church would enjoy a resurgence in the public eye, and we would enjoy the divine renunciation of things we hate. We can’t affect the process directly, but the Pope is alleged to have a direct line of communication with God. Thus, all we can do to help everyone out is to get down on our knees and pray.

Ernest Hemingway once wrote, “The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.” Adam Cambier ’09 agrees with the second part.

Less money, mo’ problems

BY Sarah rosenthal Opinions Columnist On Friday, March 14, President Bush gave a speech to the Economic Club of New York about the state of the economy. Despite hard times, he said, “In the long run, I’m confident that our economy will continue to grow, because the foundation is solid.”

Well, that’s nice to know. Ever y day, more and more bad news streams in from the world of finance: Bear Stearns’ troubles cause stocks to plummet, the dollar falls to new lows and a new wave of foreclosures is imminent. Thank God we know what’s really important, like the contents of Eliot Spitzer’s prostitute’s MySpace page. But one day, it all might just catch up with us, and, as with any statement the Bush administration puts forward, it’s important not to take this one at face value.

Here is how the campaigning President Bush explained economics in 2004 to a reporter he attempted to brush off at the Nothin’ Fancy Café in Roswell, N.M.: “You get paid a lot of money, you ought to be buying some food here. It’s part of how the economy grows.

You’ve got plenty of money in your pocket, and when you spend it, it drives the economy forward. So what would you like to eat?” Although the President’s dismissal of the reporter’s legitimate inquiries about national security by insisting that he was there to order ribs, not answer questions, was disturbing, his definition of the economy made basic sense.

However, it was predicated on certain as-

sumptions that don’t necessarily hold true, especially not in 2008: “You get paid a lot of money.” There was a time in this country when Fordism reigned, when people’s wages were intentionally kept high enough to buy cars, houses, food, clothes and gas, and still have a little bit left over to save, invest and pass along to the next generation. That time has become somewhat of a nostalgic dream. Outsourcing, illegal immigration, prohibitively high healthcare costs;

tive savings rate, spending 0.5 percent more than we earn. Credit card debt has nearly doubled in the last seven years and is now at $12.8 trillion. I don’t know if we as a nation simply have a congenital inability to say “no” to overspending, or if, despite the rising number of two-income households, money doesn’t go as far as it used to. It’s probably a mixture of both. And reckless spending doesn’t stop with the consumer — a cursory look at bloated executive pay or either political party’s refusal

No one has to tell Americans to buy things.

For the first time since the Great Depression, we have a negative savings rate, spending 0.5 percent more than we earn. all have contributed to job elimination and wage stagnation or depression. Not only that, but the costs of higher education, childcare, healthcare and the other traditional hallmarks of an American middle class existence are far outpacing inflation. In any case, most people are no longer getting paid “a lot of money” by any stretch of the imagination. Which brings us to the next point: “You ought to be buying.” No one has to tell Americans to buy things. For the first time since the Great Depression, we have a nega-

to stop the pork can tell you that. In any case, when people have no money, urging them to buy more is probably unwise. Unfortunately, there isn’t much choice: “When you spend [money], it drives the economy forward.” I take no issue with this as a basic statement of fact. However, it doesn’t take into account that investing money also drives the economy forward, a truth that the President’s party has long touted. In order to make an investment that will yield significant returns, you have to have the money to invest

in the first place, and as we’ve already established, huge numbers of Americans are too busy trying to hold on to their middle-class status to be able to consider investing. To add to those woes, it seems that the dollar reaches new lows every day, and although its weakness increases exports, it also creates an unfavorable investment climate domestically and pushes up the cost of foreign commodities that are priced in dollars.

Apparently, even more has changed than I thought. I will leave you with one more quote from the President’s Friday’s speech: “The purpose of government ought to be to help the individuals.” This from the folks who brought you trickle-down economics and a Corporations-R-Us tax policy that allows companies to hoard cash while laying off workers by the thousands. This from a man who said he “hadn’t heard” any predictions of $4-agallon gas, even as that price appears at gas stations in California and Hawaii, shrinking the earnings from stagnant wages. (People with SUVs could potentially spend their entire government rebate checks from the stimulus package over three or four stops at the gas pump.) That’s certainly a different tune.

The American economy is still dynamic, and it’s bounced back before. But “the individuals” have been losing faith and feeling real pain for years, even when the numbers said that all was going well. When things are so obviously going badly, all that sunny optimism strains credulity. You don’t have to be an economics genius to realize that.

Sarah Rosenthal ’11 is here to order ribs, not write columns about the economy

S ports T uesday Page 12

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Close loss prepares w. lax for Ivy League opener

By Whitney Clark Spor ts Editor

Despite losing to Hofstra in a close 7-6 game Saturday afternoon, the women’s lacrosse team said they felt good about their play.

“It’s disapBrown 6 pointing to lose, Hofstra 7 but I think it was a competitive game for us,” said Hillar y Anderson ’08.

The team felt they played a solid 60 minutes of lacrosse, something they have been struggling with this season. This newfound confidence, coupled with the beginning of a “second season” in the Ivy League, provides hope for the Bears as they prepare for their Ivy opener this Saturday at Har vard.

After the weekend’s loss in Hempstead, N.Y., Brown’s record dropped to 2-4, while Hofstra ended a three-game losing streak and improved its record to 3-3.

“We’re really confident despite our record,” said Lauren Vitkus ’09, who scored a teamhigh three goals in the game.

“We have learned a lot and we’re improving,” The game opened with an unassisted goal from Vitkus at the 23:10 mark. Despite a sevenminute scoreless stretch from both teams at the beginning of the half, there were goals on each side of the scoreboard nine minutes into the game. The Pride quickly reacted to Brown’s opening goal and tallied their own within 1:30.

There was another scoreless patch for the next 10 minutes of the game, but Molly McCarthy ’10 halted it with 11:02 remain-

ing with her second goal of the season.

But Hofstra responded and tied the game at two just less than a minute later, gaining the momentum it needed to start its run.

Of f two free-position shots within one minute of each other, the Pride scored at the 7:11 and 6:14 mark, respectively, to gain a two-goal advantage. Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00 immediately called a time out.

The goals “were off free-position shots, so part of it was unlucky,” Vitkus said. The timeout allowed the Bears to refocus.

MacDonald said that the team was playing hard, but it “just needed to put the ball in the back of the net.”

And that’s just what Brown did. With 3:53 left in the half, Vitkus scored her second goal of the game and ninth goal of the season. But it didn’t stop there.

With her third and final goal of the game, Vitkus scored with just six seconds left in the half to tie the score at four.

“Going in 4-4 at halftime was great,” Vitkus said. “The coaches said to keep doing what we’re doing and to just clean up some things.”

The second period of the game played out much like the first.

Possession was fairly even, but despite grossly outshooting the Pride 12-4 in the second half, the Bears couldn’t find the back of the net.

Hofstra started the scoring with a goal by Ashley Jones at the 24:25 mark. Another goal by the Pride sent them ahead by two for continued on page 8

1 North Carolina (32-2)

The Big Dance: Editors’ picks Herald sports editors share their NCAA Tournament predictions The Final Four: East: UNC North Carolina appears to have the easiest road to the Final Four of any top seed. Though Indiana could be a tough matchup in the second round, no other team in the region is complete. Washington State relies on Derrick Low for all its offense, while Tennessee needs to get three-pointers from its guards in the transition game to be effective. No. 3-seed Louisville has question marks in the backcourt.

Meanwhile, the Tar Heels have a balanced offense with lightning-quick Ty Lawson back from injury, along with sharpshooter Wayne Ellington on the perimeter and National Player of the Year favorite Tyler Hansbrough with his Energizer Bunny-like motor on the inside.

Connecticut State (186.375) and Bridgeport (178.025).

Three Bears finished the day with personal bests, and after

Midwest: Georgetown This region seems to be the most wide open, with intriguing matchups all over the place. The first-round contest between Kansas State’s Michael Beasley and Southern California’s OJ Mayo is a must-watch, though remember that one player alone rarely carries a team to the Final Four. Kansas is a solid team, but it lacks a go-to scorer in crunch time. Look for a redhot Clemson team that took North Carolina to overtime twice to take out the Jayhawks with its high-intensity pressure. Though Georgetown has looked shaky in some close wins, it is the team most suited to make it to San Antonio. The Hoyas play solid defense, have a balanced scoring attack inside and outside and have a

continued on page 4

continued on page 7

Ashley Hess / Herald

Jennifer Sobuta ’09 finished in first place in the balance beam at Brown’s meet at the Pizzitola Center on Friday.

Gymnasts beaming after strong finish

By Katie Wood Spor ts Staf f Writer

The gymnastics team took second place (186.55) at its four-team meet on Friday at the Pizzitola Center. With many strong contributors, the Bears recorded their second best team total of the season. Bruno finished behind the University of Rhode Island (189.12) and ahead of Southern

URI Brown Southern Conn.

Bridgeport

189.12 186.55 186.375 178.025

1 Memphis (33-1)

2008

NCAA Tournament

BRACKET

16 Mt. St. Mary’s or Coppin State 8 Indiana (25-7) 9 Arkansas (22-11) 5 Notre Dame (24-7) 12 George Mason (23-10) 4 Washington State (24-8) 13 Winthrop (22-11)

East

6 Oklahoma (22-11)

8 Mississippi State (22-10) 9 Oregon (18-13) 5 Michigan State (25-8) 12 Temple (21-12) 4 Pittsburgh (26-9)

South Houston

Charlotte

11 Saint Joseph’s (21-12)

16 Texas-Arlington (21-11)

13 Oral Roberts (24-8) 6 Marquette (24-9) 11 Kentucky (18-12)

3 Louisville (24-8)

3 Stanford (26-7)

14 Boise State (25-8)

14 Cornell (22-5)

7 Butler (29-3)

7 Miami (22-10)

10 South Alabama (26-6)

10 Saint Mary’s (25-6)

2 Tennessee (29-4)

2 Texas (28-6)

15 American (21-11)

First round March 20-21 1 Kansas (31-3)

Second round March 22-23

Sweet 16 March 27-28

Elite Eight March 29-30

15 Austin Peay (24-10)

CHAMPION Final four

Final four

April 5

April 5

Elite Eight

Sweet 16

March 29-30

March 27-28

San Antonio

16 Portland State (23-9)

12 Western Kentucky (27-6)

4 Vanderbilt (26-7)

3 Wisconsin (29-4) 14 Cal State Fullerton (24-8) 7 Gonzaga (25-7) 10 Davidson (26-6) 2 Georgetown (27-5) 15 UMBC (24-8)

1 UCLA (31-3)

5 Drake (28-4)

12 Villanova (20-12)

11 Kansas State (20-11)

March 20-21

9 Texas A & M (24-10)

5 Clemson (24-9)

6 USC (21-11)

First round

8 BYU (27-7)

9 Kent State (28-6)

13 Siena (22-10)

March 22-23

16 Mississippi Valley State (17-15)

April 5

8 UNLV (26-7)

Second round

4 Connecticut (24-8)

Midwest Detroit

West Phoenix

13 San Diego (21-13) 6 Purdue (24-8) 11 Baylor (21-10) 3 Xavier (27-6) 14 Georgia (17-16) 7 West Virginia (24-10) 10 Arizona (19-14) 2 Duke (27-5) 15 Belmont (25-8)