The Brown Daily Herald T hursday, M arch 20, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 40
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Cuomo goes after U. on credit cards
Some housing to go genderneutral
By Chaz Kelsh Senior Staf f Writer
Andrew Cuomo, New York’s attorney general, has subpoenaed Brown for information on its alumni association’s credit card, the University confirmed in a statement Tuesday. Colleges and alumni associations often have partnerships with credit card providers. Cuomo and other critics have questioned whether this practice will lead universities to favor these providers when recommending lenders to students looking for loans, according to a Feb. 29 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. “The Of fice of the General Counsel has supplied some initial information to Mr. Cuomo and is currently in the process of completing the University’s response to the subpoena,” Vice President for Public Affairs and University Relations Michael Chapman said in the statement. He declined to comment further. Cuomo has been investigating universities’ relationships with busi-
Students can pick rooms from a third of lottery doubles By Emmy Liss Senior Staf f Writer
and white-water rafting has been more popular, she added. Brown may not be alone in this trend; most American college students do not visit the “kinds of places documented in the ‘Girls Gone Wild’ series,” according to a March 14 article on Inside Higher
In time for this year’s housing lottery, the Office of Residential Life is starting a pilot program that will designate about a third of non-freshman double rooms gender-neutral. Previously only available in upper-class suites and apartments, the gender-neutral policy has been expanded in response to student requests and the research of various advisory committees. The greatest demand for genderneutral options has come from rising sophomores, said Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, interim vice president for campus life and student services. Because the majority of Brown’s housing is composed of traditional doubles, the small number of suites and apartments is usually taken by the time rising sophomores can choose in the lottery. Most of the class is blocked out from mixed-gender room combinations, he said. In the new pilot program, double rooms in Marcy House, Goddard House, Harkness House, Caswell Hall, New Pembroke #1 and New Pembroke #2 will have the option of being gender-neutral. Carey said the specific buildings were chosen because they are
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Courtesy of Mike Da Cruz
Members of Students for a Democratic Society marched downtown yesterday to protest the war in Iraq.
Protests mark five years of war in Iraq Riskier ‘direct action’ planned for today By Isabel Gottlieb News Editor
Protesting the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, students from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Students for a Democratic Society marched through down-
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town Providence yesterday in a demonstration of between 150 and 200 people. OIF and Providence SDS, which is composed of SDS groups from Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design and local high schools, organized a “Week of Action” from March 17 to March 20. The week includes a movie screening, a “Funk the War!” dance party and a “direct action” event today
at noon. Direct action is “direct engagement with the system ... rather than lobbying or protesting,” SDS organizer Mike Da Cruz ’09 said. It is “civil disobedience, an attempt to put ourselves in direct opposition, directly confront the person with the power to change things,” he added. continued on page 4
Students will fill breaks with travels, theses, jobs By Alex Seitz-Wald Contributing Writer
Spring break on MTV is often a tequila-fueled, bikini-clad beach party. While some on College Hill may opt for this kind of a trip next week, many will choose more sober options, such as visiting friends and family, relaxing or finishing
a thesis. Instead of going to the beach, David Fedman ’08 will dance if he wants to at his sister’s University of Michigan Law School prom. “I don’t think it will be much like high school prom,” Fedman said. His sister has outfitted him with a tux and a blind date, he added. As for international travel, stu-
dents don’t seem to be purchasing many spring break travel packages this year, said Erin Bodnar, a travel adviser for STA Travel on Thayer Street. STA offers all-you-can-drinkand-eat packages to classic spring break locales like Cancun and Jamaica, she said. But for the past few years, a package to Costa Rica that includes volcano hiking, zip-lining
Spitzer’s downfall a windfall for three alums By Stu Woo Senior Editor
“Client 9” may have never patronized AmieStreet.com. But he may have drawn hundreds of thousands of dollars to this small, online music store founded by three young Brown alums. Last Wednesday, the New York Times identified Ashley Alexandra Dupre as the call girl hired by “Client 9,” or former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. Soon thereafter, Dupre uploaded her music to the site, and Amie Street was bombarded by users wanting to listen to the music of the woman who helped fell the former bane of Wall Street. Dupre is an ar tist on Amie Street, where she exclusively sells her music, said co-founder Josh Boltuch ’06. As of yesterday, Dupre’s two tracks, “What We Want” and “Move Ya Body,” were the music store’s top two sellers for the month, outselling songs by established artists during that
Joanna Wohlmuth Senior Staff Writer
Courtesy of Amiestreet.com
Ashley Alexandra Dupre’s songs have sold quickly on music service Amie Street.
period. Silicon Alley Insider reported Monday that according to Hitwise, an online measurement company, Amie Street’s traffic jumped 650 percent from March 12 to March
POSTTakes time to sit down with John Krasinski ’02 of NBC’s “The Office” www.browndailyherald.com
Spagfest to be limited to members, alum, friends
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CAMPUS NEWS
13, the day after Dupre’s name came out in the press. Boltuch and Elliott Breece ’06, another founder, said they didn’t have exact numcontinued on page 4
girl power The number of women peer counselor applicants nearly doubled this year
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OPINIONS
Drunken food fights will not be on the agenda of many students this Spring Weekend. Spagfest, Zeta Delta Xi’s annual pasta and wine party held on the Friday afternoon of Spring Weekend, will only be open to members of the fraternity, Zete alums and a limited number of brothers’ invited friends. The event will be held in the Marcy House lounge, with attendance limited to between 100 and 120 people, in order to “save the tradition” after the “mayhem” of past years’ festivities drew concern from the University and Zete members, said Amy Robinson ’08, who planned last year’s festival. “It has been terribly, terribly popular,” said Assistant Director of Student Activities Philip O’Hara. “It just got out of control in terms of the number of students, degree of intoxi-
love on the left William Martin ‘10 favors gay marriage, but not if it helps the Right this November
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
cation and the throwing of food.” The University will work with the event planners to try to keep uninvited students from entering this year’s Spagfest in the hope that the “treasured event” will continue in years to come, O’Hara said. “We are very much committed to helping them resume control.” For this year, Spagfest will “not turn into a food fight, but more of a gourmet dinner,” Robinson said. After the 2006 Spagfest required police intervention to get the party under control when too many guests were admitted, Zete president Dan Rosenberg ‘09 said that changes were made to try to ensure that the event would not get out of hand again. A large tent was rented, outside security was hired and drinks were no longer included in the ticket price. “Last year was our chance to continued on page 4
tomorrow’s weather Windy without a chance of meatballs — no more Spagfest
windy, 44 / 27 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com