Friday, October 30, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 96 | Friday, October 30, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Prostitution ban passes, but college taxes falter

E y es I n D isguise

tion bill in May and June respectively, but were unable to reach a compromise before the General The Rhode Island Senate Thursday Assembly adjourned this summer. night passed a compromise version The House version of the bill carof a bill banning indoor prostitu- ried harsher sentences for prostition, which now awaits Gov. Donald tutes than did the Senate version, Carcieri’s ’65 signature. which did not mandate criminal The legislature also passed sev- penalties until a third offense. eral other bills, including The compromise verone that would strip the sion of the bill, which Metro had passed the House governor’s authority to fill vacant United States Senate seats Wednesday, makes prostitution — by appointment. whether indoors or outdoors — a Notably absent was any action misdemeanor carrying a minimum on two bills to tax private colleges fine of $250 and up to six months and universities — the bills, which in prison for a first offense. Clients would have extracted millions from can receive up to a year in prison the University and other Ocean for a first offense. State nonprofits, were not on the Penalties are much stiffer for agenda, meaning that their propo- the operators of brothels, who will nents will need to start at square receive a minimum sentence of one one when the legislature recon- year for a first offense. venes in January. Outside of part of Nevada, the The House and Senate passed continued on page 2 their own versions of the prostituBy Ben Schreckinger Senior Staf f Writer

Alum dishes on his X-rated career By Rachel Arndt Senior Editor

What is porn? For Sam Benjamin Stern ’99, it was the possibility of pursuing art while making money. It was also a way out of the pot-smoking grind of his first post-college job as an organic farmer in California.

FEATURE

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

The Ladd Observatory is decked out for Halloween this week, glowing mummies and all. See News, page 2

New URI president makes overtures to Brown By Alex Bell Staf f Writer

Just four months into his presidency at the University of Rhode Island, David Dooley has big plans for his school — plans he hopes will include Brown. Dooley’s vision includes increasing collaboration on research opportunities — sharing research sites and equipment, for instance — and academic coop-

eration, including possibilities for cross-registration between the two schools. “When I came in, it looked to me like Brown and the University of Rhode Island could do a lot more together,” Dooley said. But “nothing specific is being explored at this time,” President Ruth Simmons wrote in an e-mail to The Herald, adding that administrators have not had talks on campus about cross-registration

or other initiatives. Dooley, who said he left his position as provost of Montana State University with a mission to bolster URI’s reputation for research, wasted no time in approaching Brown administrators with his proposals. “We had a ver y, ver y productive meeting that involved me, President Simmons and members of our senior leadership teams, where we discussed what we saw

as opportunities for us to work together, and what the potential might be,” Dooley said. According to Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98, the meeting at Simmons’ house, which took place a few weeks ago, was a dinner in honor of Dooley’s arrival to URI and not specifically a session to strategize about collaboration. continued on page 3

A spirited tour of the East Side’s major haunts By Talia Kagan Staf f Writer

During the Revolutionar y War, University Hall was temporarily converted to an army hospital. While the building’s administrative offices bear little evidence of this gruesome past in which soldiers received painful surgeries such as leg amputations, on the right night a passerby might see a contorted soldier’s face staring out a second-floor window — according to the Providence Ghost Tour, one of the walking tours that explore the city’s various “haunted” locations. In fact, Rhode Island’s capital

is filled with ghosts in unexpected nooks and crannies, according to the guides who use their supernatural knowledge of Providence’s paranormal to lead visitors and locals alike through the city’s haunted side. Drawing on archival research and local history, both the Providence Ghost Tour and the Providence Ghost Walk divulge College Hill’s spooky secrets to give customers a taste of Providence’s otherworldly thrills.

SPOTLIGHT

inside

Claire Huang / Herald

News.....1-5 Sports.....6-7 Ar ts.........8 Editorial..10 Opinion...11 Today........12

www.browndailyherald.com

Tomatoes, porn and now a book

Quoth the Raven The eerie tales of Edgar Allan continued on page 4

Last but not least, it was a way into publishing: His self-published first book, “Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer,” was released this May. Benjamin, who used his last name, Stern, while at Brown but now goes by just his first and middle names, “Sam Benjamin,” chronicles in the memoir his journey in and out of the porn industry — from directing videos to starring in them. The book is told from the point of view of a “highly educated Jewish kid from North Carolina,” wrote Benjamin’s publicist, Shane Mahoney, in an e-mail to The Herald. The book is for the “postmodern, jaded, Gen-X crowd,” he added. Indeed, Benjamin writes his story with no lack of self-consciousness, calling his decision to choose filming sex over harvesting tomatoes the “fantasy shared by every uppermiddle-class, semi-hipster, slightly awkward Jew who’s ever done time in a college classroom.” From 2000 to 2005, Benjamin made about 10 independent pornographic films and filmed hundreds of scenes for professional companies. His interest in pornography goes back at least as far as his years at Brown. A concentrator in art-semiotics, he toyed around with editing existing porn films. He also drew a comic strip for The Herald called “Anxiety Comix.” “I was super passionate about being a working artist,” he said, but “I wasn’t really talented.” Benjamin wanted to bring an uncharted level of artistic thought to porn, pairing postmodernist thoughts — and even a bit of humanity — with eroticism. He tried his hand at it on and off from 2000 to 2005. “Porno was this land of undiscovcontinued on page 5

News, 3

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

beyond borders Former European leaders discussed the future of the European Union

Ground down Zach Tronti ’11 has iced recent foes late, but Penn will be a tough new test

Early Exclusion Jared Lafer ’11 wants past discrimination against Jews by elite colleges examined

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS crossword

Friday, October 30, 2009

“We’re going to cover Wriston with gravestones plus a few surprises.” — Troy Shapiro ’10, an AEPi brother, on the Wriston Rising party Saturday

Spooky slate of events in store By Emily Kirkland Contributing Writer

Editor’s note: Due to a corrupted file, The Herald’s daily crossword puzzle was illegible on Monday. Above is the puzzle as it should have appeared. Have at it! (Today’s crossword puzzle is on the back page, as usual.) The Herald regrets messing up your Monday.

sudoku

A haunted house, an organ concert, a decoration-bedecked observatory and a screening of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Not to mention frat parties, house parties and standup comedy. It’s all in the cards for this weekend — evidence that, for many Brown students, Halloween is serious business. “I’ve been planning my costume for a month,” said Nic Mooney ’11, head of publicity for the Special Events Committee, which plans free campus-wide events. “I don’t even want to think about how much I’ve spent on it.” This year, he said, he’ll be dressing as “a skanky sun,” using supplies purchased at the Garment District, a store in Boston. Mooney will showcase the outfit trick-or-treating on College Hill. “It’s fun,” he said, “especially when you’re all decked out.” Chio Yokose ’10 and Kenji Morimoto ’11, co-presidents of the Japanese Cultural Association, said creating this year’s haunted house, in the basement of Sayles Hall, was a “huge time commitment.” After much deliberation, the group settled on a hospital theme with “plenty of blood,” they said, but specific decorations and elements will be a secret until the event is unveiled on Friday night. In his role in the Special Events Committee, Mooney said he was also busy organizing Thursday’s Live on Lincoln event, which in-

Daily Herald

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260 Stephen DeLucia, President Michael Bechek, Vice President

Jonathan Spector, Treasurer Alexander Hughes, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each members of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

cluded student performances, a costume contest and free food. “We’ve been planning since the beginning of the year,” he said. And a lot went into planning Alpha Epsilon Pi’s Wriston Rising party, which will take place Saturday night. “This is our biggest party of the semester,” Troy Shapiro ’10, an AEPi brother said, adding that the frat had been organizing the party for “over a month.” All that planning has paid off, he said: This year, the party will

be held in a tent, allowing AEPi to admit 300 people at a time. Last year, a 250-person capacity meant they had to turn away dozens of partygoers. The party’s $5,000 budget includes a DJ, a dance floor, lights, an open bar and decorations. “We’re going to cover Wriston (Quadrangle) with gravestones,” Shapiro said, “plus a few surprises.” His costume, on the other hand, will be anything but spooky. “I’m going as a teddy bear,” he said.

U. dodges tax bullet, for now continued from page 1

the Brown

Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald

A makeshift dungeon in the Ladd Observatory for the holiday.

Ocean State is the only jurisdiction in the United States where indoor prostitution is currently legal. Over the summer, Attorney General Patrick Lynch ’87, State Police Superintendent Brendan Doherty and Carcieri expressed opposition to what they considered excessive lenience in the Senate version of the bill. But local human rights organizations asserted that burdening prostitutes with a criminal record would serve only to diminish their prospects for legitimate employment. An amendment to the bill that was finally passed allows courts to expunge convictions for prostitutes — but not for clients or brothel operators — after a year, at judges’ discretion. State Sen. Rhoda Perr y P’91, D-Dist. 3, whose district includes College Hill, told The Herald in July

that criminal penalties for prostitutes would place “an unfair and heavy burden on the victim.” She was one of only two dissenters in last night’s vote, according to the Providence Journal. The Democrat-controlled legislature’s move to strip the governor’s office — currently occupied by Carcieri, a Republican — of the power

METRO to fill Senate vacancies comes on the heels of the Massachusetts legislature’s decision to reverse a similar measure. The Massachusetts law, passed by a Democratic legislature during Republican Mitt Romney’s governorship, was amended to allow Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, to quickly appoint a successor to Edward Kennedy, who died this summer. The Rhode Island bill, which passed by a veto-proof majority Thursday, will be sent to Carcieri’s

desk. Also on its way to Carcieri is a bill banning reading or sending text messages while driving, passed by the assembly yesterday. The General Assembly also passed a bill that would allow University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and Community College of Rhode Island students to apply Advanced Placement and other credits towards an accelerated three-year bachelor’s program. The bill aims to ease the financial burden of higher education for students at Rhode Island’s public colleges. Bills that would allow cities to slap large nonprofits — including Brown — with partial property taxes and levy a $150 tax on outof-state students at private colleges did not come up during the special session. The bills would need to be re-introduced at the beginning of the next session in Januar y to remain active.

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Friday, October 30, 2009

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Page 3

“Language in the European Union is an instrument of power.” — Romano Prodi, former Italian Prime Minister

Researchers question prevailing HIV wisdom By Kristina Klara Contributing Writer

Claire Huang / Herald

Romano Prodi, former Italian prime minister, spoke about the European Union’s future at panel this week.

Former E.U. leaders discuss way forward By Monique Vernon Staff Writer

The relevance and future of the European Union were the focus of two former European leaders on campus this week. In four panels, former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and former Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer identified ways to make the economic and political group of 27 countries more effective. The two-day event entitled, “The European Union in a Moment of Crisis,” hosted by the Watson Institute for International Studies. Thursday evening’s panel, “What Is the EU’s Future?,” served as a “culmination of a pretty serious and extensive conversation about the European Union,” said Michael Kennedy, director of the Watson Institute. The approximately 90-minute panel centered on the idea that the European Union must be revamped for it to be a more effective governing body. Prodi, a professor-at-large at the Watson Institute for International Relations and a former president of the European Commission, and Gusenbauer identified the problems with

the current state of the union and alternatives that should be adopted to help the union move forward. The institution must focus on achieving unanimity and on obtaining more stable sources of funding, the panelists said. Gusenbauer said EU members must agree to “abolish the system of intergovernmental financing” by taxing European citizens directly, not relying on member governments to supply funds. The panelists also said that having English as a common language would serve to unify and strengthen the union. “Language in the European Union is an instrument of power,” Prodi said. A common language would lead to a more level playing field, Gusenbauer agreed. The EU has 23 official languages — a number that is likely to increase as more countries join the union, according to the European Commission’s Web site. In the past, EU leaders have called for requiring citizens of an EU member country to speak at least two foreign languages besides their mother tongues. Professor of Political Science

Mark Blyth, who also spoke at the event, framed the discussion of the EU’s future by saying that the EU risks stagnating if it does not evolve. “What the European Union has done in the past has defined what it can do,” he said. “It has exhausted its future possibilities.” Audience members asked the leaders questions that touched on, among other topics, whether Ukraine would ever enter the union and the EU’s politicization. Those who attended the event said they enjoyed listening to the informative and engaging speakers. “Very distinguished panelists,” said Rich Maher GS. They were “able to provide an interesting and excellent analysis.” The two-day event served as “a point of contact between practitioners, students and academics,” Blyth told The Herald after the panel. “I hope it will serve as a model for other events that the Watson Institute holds,” he added. Though the panels only lasted two days, “the commitment to understand the European Union” will continue in the future, Kennedy told Thursday night’s audience.

Brown, URI look for common ground continued from page 1 The gathering was “a nice thing Ruth did to welcome a colleague,” he said. The basis of the proposals for increased collaboration, Dooley said, is to expand the already high level of research cooperation between the universities. Faculty members from both universities have already worked together not only on research projects but also on proposals for federal funding that have benefited both institutions, he said. Research collaboration so far “has been very successful and very productive,” Dooley said. Kertzer said transforming the Jewelry District into a “knowledge district” to house research and health institutions is appealing to both Brown and URI because such a research park would contribute positively to Providence and Rhode Island. In an inter view with the Providence Business News last week,

Dooley said URI’s plans to build its own research park near its Kingston campus had to be put on hold because of the economic downturn and a dispute over the proposed location. Dooley told The Herald he would also like Brown and URI students to benefit from joint curricular programs. “I don’t know if that’s something that can work or not, but I think it’s worth exploring,” he said. Brown already has joint curricular programs with a few other schools, including the BrownRhode Island School of Design five-year dual degree program and the Brown/Wheaton Faculty Fellows Program that sends Brown graduate students to teach at Wheaton College, where they are mentored by Wheaton staff. Students who wish to take languages not offered at Brown can also register at other schools under certain circumstances. “Recently, Brown has been collaborating more and more with

other universities,” Kertzer said. According to Ker tzer, URI of fers courses in areas such as pharmacology, marine research and nursing that Brown students might be interested in taking. But because of the distance between Brown’s campus and URI’s campuses around the state, Kertzer said joint curricular programs might make more sense for graduate students than for undergraduates. The next meeting for administrators from both universities to discuss collaboration will probably be in Januar y, though a date has not yet been set, Kertzer said. “As the two research universities in Rhode Island — as close as we are together — we might find ways to par tner that would benefit both institutions,” Dooley said. “We have programs here that are ver y strong that complement the programs at Brown, and Brown obviously has a set of programs that is complementar y to what we’re doing here at URI.”

Current beliefs about the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa may be unfounded, according to a paper published recently by two Brown researchers. Assistant Professor of Community Health and Medicine Mark Lurie and Samantha Rosenthal GS, a masters student in public health, found that there is insufficient scientific evidence to prove that concurrency — the practice of having multiple sexual relationships at the same time — is the main driving force behind the HIV epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa. “We’ve challenged an otherwise unchallenged assumption about the impact that overlapping sexual partners has,” Rosenthal said. The prevailing assumption that concurrency is driving the epidemic, Lurie said, is “a great big leap of faith.” About one year ago, Lurie read an article by Harvard public health researchers Timothy Mah and Daniel Halperin that presented the evidence supporting the central role of concurrency in HIV transmission. “I did not feel like there was strong evidence at all,” Lurie said. “A lot of problems or shortcomings (of the concurrency theory) were not mentioned or identified,” Rosenthal said. “The evidence at best is mixed.” Lurie and Rosenthal concluded that the cause of the HIV epidemic could not be traced back to one factor. Though Lurie and Rosenthal do not deny that concurrent sexual relationships can play a role in propa-

gating HIV, poverty, migration, lack of circumcision and lack of access to health care and education also affect the epidemic, they said. “We are not saying that (concurrency) is not important or … is not happening,” Lurie said, “but the hypothesis that’s out there that people are taking as fact is flawed in many ways .” The United States Agency for International Development has recently spent millions of dollars on mass media campaigns to discourage concurrent sexual networks in sub-Saharan Africa, the researchers said. Rosenthal and Lurie are wary of pulling money from tried and true methods of preventing the spread of HIV — like condom use and circumcision — to funnel into discouraging concurrency. “Money may well have been spent better elsewhere on an intervention that we already know is efficacious,” Lurie said. Both Lurie and Rosenthal said they wanted to force people to think a little more carefully about how HIV spreads and not jump to conclusions. “There are still a lot of question marks,” Lurie said. The pair wants to discourage non-profit organizations and policy makers from rushing to tackle concurrency until they have more evidence. “We want to encourage better study and research, agree upon consistent definitions of concurrency and then do research and multiple studies to show that this is going on,” Rosenthal said. “We need to ask, ‘What do we know?’ and realize that we need to do more work.”

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F eatures

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Friday, October 30, 2009

“I’ve actually seen a full torso’s apparition.” — Howard Hewitt, amateur archaeologist, on encountering spirits

Ghost walk shows city’s spooky side continued from page 1 Poe are always popular during the Halloween season, but Providence residents may not know that Poe once roamed the streets of College Hill with his fiancee, local poet Sarah Helen Whitman. They conducted much of their courtship in the Providence Athenaeum on Benefit Street, and Poe even wrote her a poem, one of the two he titled “To Helen.” “They fell in love in that Gothic, cosmic kind of way only the Victorians could,” said Rory Raven on one of his Providence Ghost Walks last week. Tragically, Poe’s alcoholic habits proved to be a deal-breaker for Whitman’s family, and she ended their engagement, said Raven, author of “Haunted Providence,” a collection of local legends about ghosts and strange happenings. This is Raven’s tenth year running the Providence Ghost Walk, but he isn’t the only one who knows his repertoire of stories by heart. Some attendees keep coming back — it “keeps the stories fresh in my mind,” said Jocelyn Smyth, who attended Raven’s tour for the fourth time Saturday afternoon. Attired in a long black jacket, a vest and a top hat, Raven focuses his tour on stories from the 19th century, based on historical accounts from local archives. The walk travels mostly along Benefit Street, once a back alley in which city residents buried family members, Raven said. The many graves have since been reinterred in another cemetery, though some bones may still remain on College Hill, he said. The Ghost Walk’s other stops include a cemeter y, the haunted site where a sanitorium once stood

and the yellow colonial house described in horror writer H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Shunned House.” Raven said visitors often react to his creepiest stories with “nervous laughter.” A guest once fainted, he said — because she hadn’t eaten breakfast. “It wasn’t anything spooky, just low blood sugar,” he said. Raven works full-time as a practitioner of mentalism — stage magic that presents the illusion of clairvoyance — and gives lectures on occult topics such as seances and telepathy. But when asked whether he actually believes in the supernatural tales he spins, the self-described “mindbender” was evasive. “I pass them on as stories,” he said. Invisible histories Courtney Edge, who co-founded Providence Ghost Tour, freely admits to personal experience with the paranormal. There was “a tremendous amount of paranormal activity” in her childhood home, including unexplained footsteps and sounds, she said. Edge and Mike Gertrudes, the tour’s other founder, often went ghost hunting in local cemeteries, a shared interest that led to the creation of the Providence Ghost Tour four years ago. Business has been booming since its founding — Edge and Gertrudes now employ nine tour guides, and last Saturday over 100 people showed up for the tour in the pouring rain, Gertrudes said. The tour starts at Prospect Terrace Park around dusk on Friday and Saturday nights. Guides hold lanterns as they recount tales of haunted dormitories and lead attendees through the Brown and

Rhode Island School of Design campuses. The tour’s stops include a haunted admissions office, the Brown Faculty Club and a former funeral parlor that has been turned into an art studio — where artists now wash their paintbrushes in sinks previously used for embalming, said Kelly McCabe, who has worked as one of the tour’s guides for two years. Like Raven, Gertrudes and Edge turned to local history for material. Gertrudes spent so much time researching in the Rhode Island Historical Society archives that he was even offered a job as an independent researcher, he said. Early on in the walk, McCabe offers a quick primer on the spiritual manifestations that she encourages her tours’ attendees to photograph. She outlines their various forms, which include “orbs,” “apparitions” and “poltergeists.” Pictures of orbs, or “balls of energy” without explained light sources, are the most common, she said. Howard Hewitt, an amateur archaeologist with a self-described “passion” for the paranormal, took Monday’s tour with a camera in hand and high hopes for encountering some ghostly activity. Hewitt, who has studied “parapsychology” for years, said he had encountered spirits in the past, though never before in Providence. “I’ve actually seen a full torso’s apparition,” he said. During the tour, Hewitt filled his entire roll of film with shots of windows and dark corners. He even sensed the presence of a Revolutionary War soldier on the steps of University Hall, he said. But not all guests had Hewitt’s level of belief. “I wanted to, but I didn’t,” said

Frederic Lu / Herald

Kelly McCabe, pictured in front of the Annmary Brown Memorial, gives tours of “haunted” Providence locales for Providence Ghost Tours.

first-time guest Shayla Fortin. Though some skepticism of paranormal phenomena is necessary, doubting visitors can affect the tour experience, McCabe said. “Sometimes you get tours where people are so closed off that it just drains the energy,” she said. Gertrudes expects a large crowd this weekend — which could be a boon to ghost hunters, according to McCabe. Larger crowds often attract a greater spiritual presence, she said. Of course, the haunted holiday

season also means more discernible supernatural activity, McCabe said. “There’s a reason that Halloween is when it is.” The Providence Ghost Walk is offered Saturdays and Sundays until the end of October at 3 p.m. Tours leave from the Providence Athenaeum, and tickets cost $7. Providence Ghost Tours are offered Friday and Saturday nights through November 14 at 7 p.m. Tours leave from Prospect Terrace Park, and tickets cost $12.

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F EATURES

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Friday, October 30, 2009

“It was a failure. But it was a funny failure.” — Sam Benjamin Stern ’99, on his porn career

From organic farm to L.A. porn scene, alum avoided beaten path continued from page 1 ered opportunity,” he said. “I just knew I could do something better with it.” Humble beginnings After graduating from Brown, Benjamin left rainy Providence for California’s sun, taking a job at an organic tomato farm. The sun and home-grown marijuana took their toll, though, and Benjamin moved on. “Brown, like most American liberal arts institutions operating in the latter part of the 20th century, had adopted the post-modern way of thought as a virtual religion,” Benjamin writes in the book. That “splendidly pretentious lexicon” taught him to play “the Creativity game, and play it to win.” He decided he could make art to make money — “I could use my brain to make a buck,” he writes. Benjamin wanted to make “porn with soul,” according to Mahoney. So, while working at a juice bar, he struck up conversations about porn with anyone who would listen. “I’m really surprised I didn’t get fired,” he said. The start to his new career came in the form of a porn-loving 45-yearold named Dennis, whom he met at the juice bar. Dennis offered to be in Benjamin’s first video at no cost. (“I’ll never forget him, because he was my first,” Benjamin said.) But Benjamin “had to troll the Internet” to find Dennis’ counterpart. Eventually, he found a “supersmart, super-interesting” dominatrix named Janay, star of the “Debbie Does Whip-Ass” series. Besides actors, Benjamin also needed a camera. He spent $1,000 on a “one-chip digital camera,” he said, after asking the salesman if he could return it after, which he did. Benjamin’s first movie, “We Always Want,” was “hardly even a porno,” he says, but it was “the best film I ever made.” The film featured interviews with the actors to put “their personalities into the film” — something that most porn movies lack, he said. He tried to sell copies of the video on eBay for $5.99 each. But success was hard to come by. He sold only five of his home-mastered VHS tapes. “Hardly anyone’s ever seen it,” Benjamin says of the movie. “It’s my masterpiece.” The porn industry, writ large After nine months of hawking his homemade creation and working at his dream of independent eroticfilm producing, Benjamin decided to move on to bigger things. So he moved from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles, where he pushed his way into the industry with “chutzpah.” Meanwhile, he had to make money and took odd jobs to make ends meet — including a stint as a go-go dancer in a gay bar. His entrance into the “high-profile porn industry” came when an In-

Courtesy of Shane Mahoney

Sam Benjamin Stern’s ’99 self-published “Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer” was released in May.

ternet company needed a producer and director for low-budget erotic films. Benjamin “lucked into the job,” he said, and kept it for about a year and a half. “I was running the show — I was hiring people, I was getting paid good money,” he said. But “it was the opposite of what I had come into porn to do.” Business slowed down, and the work Benjamin was doing for the softcore company Wett Channel fizzled. Benjamin was broke. Soon he was stuck riding a bike in L.A., after his car broke and he had no cash to get it fixed. Benjamin didn’t want out, though, and he got his next chance, he said, “sooner than I expected.” A sex-shop salesperson he’d met a year before in San Francisco called Benjamin with a request. She was directing a movie for the porn company Good Vibrations — her first — and she wanted Benjamin. But he wasn’t going to be behind the camera, she said. Instead, he’d be one of the actors. Benjamin’s role in “Slide Bi Me” was fairly straightforward, he writes in the memoir. “My dreadlocked lover kissed me on the head, then pushed me towards a pink blanket.

Lysette penetrated me from behind, and I rode the wave of her desire.” Benjamin’s on-screen debut motivated him to stay in the industry. He continued working in L.A. — behind the camera once more — and even told his father what he’d been up to since college. Then, the ubiquitous sex began to drag. Instead of changing things as he had intended, he was “doing exactly the same thing.” “Burnt out” from the work, he said, “I didn’t feel like being around people having sex that much.” Pulling out To sort himself out, Benjamin traveled to Asia, where he meditated and fasted. Then he applied to the California Institute of the Arts, where he graduated in 2005 with a master’s degree in critical studies and integrated media. But that wasn’t the end of making porn for Benjamin. While pursuing his degree, he also pursued the gay porn industry. The switch from heterosexual to homosexual porn was “refreshing,” he said. “For some reason, in mainstream porn there’s an agenda,” he says. Women in straight porn are in the

movies to be “degraded,” he said, but in gay porn, the men are not imposed upon to have sex. Now, with a book “far cheaper than actual porn, and only 50 percent as shameful,” according to Benjamin’s Web site, his goal of successfully mixing sex, money and art may be about to reach its climax. Translating flesh to text Benjamin wrote the bulk of “Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer” in six months in 2006, moving “forward in fits and starts,” he said. Now, while publicizing the book, he’s also at work on another volume. “The whole project of writing this book is my artistic redemption,” he said. He went into porn hoping to do something new with the genre, but he found the medium to be static. Porn is the same — “besides the aesthetic differences,” he said — again and again. The tale features his stories of Viagra use — “penises get scared, too,” Benjamin writes — and theoretical examinations of a “world where women existed only as props.” The chapters are separated by photo-comics dealing with post-

modern art, “Small-town freaks on a leash” and alternate careers he might have pursued, among other explicit and artistic explorations. Though Benjamin is self-publishing the book for now, he hopes to find a publisher and is working to drum up interest through social media sites, he said. Benjamin has a literary agent in New York, according to Mahoney, and his goal is to find a publisher by mid-next year. “Several hundred copies of the book” have been sold, Mahoney said, since it was released for the Amazon Kindle last May and as a paperback last August. What’s more, Mahoney wrote, the book is already profitable, since “our margins on digital products are so low.” Though Benjamin calls himself a “hack” — and admits he’ll always be one — he cites a “creative force” as the impetus behind his continued pursuit of artistry. “It was a failure,” Benjamin said of his porn career. “But it was a funny failure.” And, when it comes to Benjamin’s artistic redemption, the book may provide a happy ending.

SportsWeekend The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, October 30, 2009 | Page 6

Ivy’s top offense, defense to battle By Dan Alexander Senior Staff Writer

Running back Zach Tronti ’11 probably won’t get many carries in the first three quarters of the BrownPenn game Saturday. And that’s OK with him. “Everyone’s attitude is, let’s just do what we have to do to win games,” Tronti said. “If that means me blocking the first three quarters and then trying to run the clock out at the end, I’m fine with that.” Tronti is used to being a running back in a passing offense. His high school team was known for its spread offense. It was also known for a quarterback who graduated a year ahead of Tronti — Florida’s 2007 Heisman Trophy Winner, Tim Tebow. Tronti got many of his high school carries when his team was ahead in the fourth quarter and he had to help run out the clock. That’s exactly what he has done for Brown the last two weeks. He had only four rushes in the first half of Bruno’s win over Cornell last Saturday. The previous week, another victory, 14 of his 29 rushes came in the fourth quarter. Lately, the final quarter has been

his. With a 27-17 lead over Princeton two weeks ago, the Bears ran a 19-play drive that chewed up 11:08 in the fourth quarter. Tronti ran 14 times on the drive, including a threeyard touchdown to cap it off. In the fourth quarter against Cornell last Saturday, Tronti ran 10 times on a 12-play touchdown drive that took 7:12 off the clock. “That’s how any team would love to write it up — to get ahead and then try to burn the clock running the ball in the fourth quarter,” Tronti said. But it probably won’t be that easy this weekend. The matchup Tronti and the rest of the Bear offense will go up against the Quakers this weekend, a team that ranks third in the nation in rushing yards and total yards against. “They’re very strong up front,” said Brown Head Coach Phil Estes of the Penn defense. “They can beat you with the four-man rush, and they put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. Their secondary is outstanding. They really come to play week in and week out.” The Quakers gave up only 25 rushing yards in their 9-0 win over

Jesse Morgan / Herald File Photo

Running back Zachary Tronti ’11 has sealed victories in the Bears’ last two games. Brown will face Penn at home this Saturday, hoping to improve its 2-1 Ivy League record.

Yale last weekend. The previous week, Columbia managed negative-20 yards on the ground against them. Penn’s pass defense has given up only 149.7 yards per game, making it the best in the Ivy League. But the Bears’ offense leads the league in scoring and yards. “On paper, you’re facing a very, very explosive offense against a pretty good, sound defense,” said

Penn Head Coach Al Bagnoli. “Obviously, something’s going to have to give.” The Bears are averaging 290 passing yards per game, and it is likely they will stick with what has worked so far on Saturday. “Our strength is Kyle NewhallCaballero (’11) at quarterback and then our receivers,” Estes said. But if the Bears need to run out the clock at the end of the game, Tronti will likely be called on again to grind it out. “What he has been able to do the last couple of weeks in the fourth quarter has been tremendous,” Estes said. “We have a lot more confidence in our run game.” But not as much as Penn. The Quakers focus their offense around the run. Last week, Penn gained 177 yards on the ground and only 94 through the air.

“They’re basically going to try to run it down our throats,” said safety Chris Perkins ’10. “They’ll run it right at you.” Penn has started three quarterbacks in the last three games. In two of Penn’s last four games, the team has managed fewer than 100 yards passing. But with a defense that has held its opponents to just 12.3 points per game, Penn has not needed high offensive production to win. Both teams will come into the game on a four-game winning streak and with identical 4-2 records. Brown has yet to lose at home. “Everybody is playing with a real confidence, a real swagger that winning teams need to have,” said wide receiver Bobby Sewall ’10. “We go out on the field, whether it’s home or away — and especially at home — and say, ‘No one is going to come in here and beat us.’ ”

Page 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports W eekend

Friday, October 30, 2009

“We’re going to be in your face, we’re going to be physical.” — Men’s Hockey Coach Brendan Whittet ’94

Coach Whittet ’94 awaits excitement on ice, in stands

By Dan Alexander Senior Staf f Writer

New men’s hockey Head Coach Brendan Whittet ’94 remembers when Meehan Auditorium was filled ever y Friday and Saturday night the hockey team played at home. He remembers students singing the national anthem, Bruno the mascot running around the stands, the Brown band playing on the ice. And he wants it back. Whittet will get his first chance to refill Meehan Saturday night, when the Bears take on the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in an exhibition game. The game will be the Bears’ second in an opening weekend that will begin in Princeton, N.J. Friday afternoon. The Bears will take on the Tigers in the Ivy Showdown — a game that will count toward the teams’ overall records but not the ECAC standings. Whittet remembers Meehan from his years as a Brown defenseman. His team won an Ivy League title in 1992, went to the ECAC Fi-

nal Four Championship in 1993 and 1994 and got an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in 1993. For the last 11 years, Whittet has seen the rink from behind the visitors’ bench, as an assistant coach with the Dar tmouth Big Green. “I was shocked when I would come in here and see the lack of attendance, the lack of support,” he said. In order to bring more people into the stands, Whittet slashed season ticket prices for the community in half and hosted 60 local children for a skate with Brown players, he said. While these ef for ts will get people to the rink, Whittet said, he hopes the hockey will keep them there. “We’ve got to bring an exciting brand of hockey, and we will,” Whittet said. “We’re going to be ver y much up-tempo, we’re going to be in your face, we’re going to be physical, we’re going to try and generate offense, and I think that’s a good brand of hockey to play.” Last season’s brand of hockey

didn’t fill the stands, and it didn’t win games. Brown went 5-23-5 overall and 3-15-4 in ECAC play under Head Coach Roger Grillo. The Bears finished with the league’s worst record, fewest goals per game and most goals against per game. But Whittet said he doesn’t want to dwell on last season. This season, the Bears will be without Matt Vokes ’09, who led the team in goals (10) and assists (17) a year ago, but they hope to get more ice time from another potent offensive threat. Captain Devin Timberlake ’10 — who was sidelined with injuries for much of last year — will return after a season in which he had four goals and four assists in just ten games. Still, the goal-scoring this year will have to come by committee, Whittet said. Assistant captain Aaron Volpatti ’10, who had the second-most goals on the team last year with six, said that committee must be led by the three captains who play forward — Timberlake, Volpatti and Jordan Pietrus ’10.

Brown’s fourth captain, Jeremy Russell ’11, will lead the Bears’ defense. Whittet said he plans to play an aggressive style of defense, attacking at the blue line and overloading in the corners. “I want there to be some semblance of guys that are physical and tough and nasty and guys that, you know what, if somebody comes in their corner and they have a puck — that’s fine. But you’re not going to possess it for the next two minutes,” Whittet said. “We’re going to knock you through the wall, take the puck, and go the other way.” Who will stand behind Brown’s defense still remains somewhat of a mystery. Although goalie Mike Clemente ’12 will start against Princeton, Whittet said he doesn’t know whether Clemente, Dan Rosen ’10 or Anthony Borelli ’13 will eventually become the No. 1 goalie. “They’re all ver y good goaltenders,” Whittet said. “Unfortunately, only one can play. There’s only one net.” Rosen was the star ter at the beginning of last season, but Cle-

mente eventually replaced him. “It’s a clean slate,” Whittet said. “I don’t really care what happened last year.” Volpatti said the competition for ice time has been intense this preseason. “Ever yone has a new opportunity,” he said. “It’s just a new breath of life.” Volpatti also said Whittet’s arrival has caused a buzz around Brown hockey that he hasn’t seen in his time at Brown. “It’s a little bit of a culture change,” said forward Jarred Smith ’12. “It’s a little more upbeat and energetic.” The Bears will get their first chance to show their new upbeat, energetic style of play this afternoon in Princeton at 4 p.m. The puck will drop in Meehan for the first time since Whittet took over the program at 7 p.m. tomorrow against UOIT. “It’s sort of a new era, I guess, in Brown hockey,” Volpatti said. “And we want to pack that building like it was when ... Coach Whittet was here.”

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Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, October 30, 2009 | Page 8

Want to know R.I.? Read the ‘fine print’ Mediocre performances dim ‘Shooting Star’ By Anita Mathews Contributing Writer

Criticized by the locals and pitied by its neighbors, Rhode Island is frequently written off as too small to combat the titanic issues it faces. But despite the state’s soaring unemployment and economic stagnation, one Ocean State native is getting the word out about what can be done to bolster a struggling state. Tom Sgouros, editor of the Rhode Island Policy Reporter, a newsletter on governmental goings-on, recently published an incisive volume entitled “10 Things You Don’t Know About Rhode Island.” The book, whose tagline reads, “A skeptical look at government, economics and recent history in one lively little state,” tackles both the political quagmire and the attitudes impeding recovery, ending with advice for both policymakers and Rhode Island citizens about how to improve the state of the state. Sgouros, who has done statistical research for various groups over the last 20 years, said he took an interest in subjects “nerdy and obscure, but central to all our lives,” after he realized that public policy was seldom reported clearly because of a general lack of technical expertise with numbers and their meanings. Frustrated

with a chasm between legislative details and public awareness, Sgouros said he decided to use his statistical knowledge to relay commonly missed subtleties that affect individuals’ daily lives. “So often, a line of some subparagraph B-96 turns out to be the fulcrum around which some of the most important issues revolve,” Sgouros said. From the first page of his book, he contends that Rhode Island’s problems are more complex than the common critic is willing to acknowledge. Sgouros said too many people buy into what he calls the “conventional tale” of villainous labor unions and politicians as the sole cause of the state’s troubles. “The world craves a story that explains what’s going on,” said Sgouros. As a result, “the facts don’t really speak for themselves — they speak within a story.” Sgouros said he finds that this “master narrative” leads to an incorrect interpretation of facts, and that he is seeking to correct a questionable diagnosis of Rhode Island’s afflictions. He points out that blaming labor unions, for example, may be convenient, but says that this argument falls apart when one considers

the fact that unions have lost on many important legislative issues. Instead, he urges Rhode Island’s inhabitants to consider their own contributions to what hurts the state most. “A lot of what I write is about how what’s bankrupting us are basically popular choices, things that have popular consent,” he said, pointing to costly enforcement of “draconian” drug policy as an example. “What’s sort of funny is that people want to deny (that their contribution) matters at all.” Sgouros also challenges the notion that Rhode Island is worse off than nearly every other state in the nation. He takes a closer look at statistics that are frequently cited in this argument — and just as frequently misused. He gives the example of public fire protection: Rhode Island spends twice as much money per capita on its fire departments as any other state. At first, this seems alarming and has given critics fodder for accusations of financial mismanagement. But upon closer inspection, Sgouros found that, unlike most states, Rhode Island classifies ambulance personnel as part of the fire department. So while Rhode Island ranks first in fire protection spending, it also ranks near the very bottom in ambulance spending. Though it is a detail few people care to notice, Sgouros said the example illustrates how looking into the fine print can make a big difference. “What I continue to be surprised at is how every rock I encounter rewards being turned over,” Sgouros said. Another lens through which Sgouros examines public policy is that of economic incentives. He said the recently controversial “student tax” on those enrolled in private universities is an effort, albeit a “dumb” one, for the city to capture the monetary advantage of having a university within its limits. “The way that Brown contributes to the city is pumping up the income and sales tax, which are state taxes,” said Sgouros said. “The state then turns around and stiffs the city. It has less to do with Brown than with the broken relationship between city and state.”

By Kristina Fazzalaro Contributing Writer

“I drink to excess, smoke a lot of dope, but I still can’t forget anything. It’s horrible.” The female lead of “Shooting Star,” now running at Trinity Repertory Theatre, isn’t the only one feeling horrible after sitting through Steven Dietz’s intelligently scripted but poorly executed romantic comedy. This two-person, 80-minute production offers up an interesting concept: Reed McAllister and Elena Carson, former college sweethearts, run into each other 25 years later at a snowed-in airport with nothing but time to kill and the knowledge that they probably won’t see each other ever again. How will they react — ask the questions they never did? Hash out old problems? Ignore each other completely? Well, Reed and Elena definitely do not ignore each other. Reed (played by Kurt Rhoads) is a typical businessman running off to close the biggest deal of the year while his family is left to wonder if they’ll ever get that kind of attention. Elena (Nance Williamson) has retained her hippie persona from when she and Reed dated, walking around the airport with a rainstick and yoga mat in tow. It’s red versus blue in this tale of boy meets girl — again. Throughout the play, Reed and Elena share stories long into the early hours of the morning. Reed admits his shortcomings as a father and a husband. Elena bares all as she reveals her past jealousies and fears to Reed. The two help each other see life in a different light and reconnect through the joyful pain that comes with opening old wounds. The script itself is sharp and entertaining, with some hilarious one-liners and interesting layers. It also builds well off traditional malefemale dynamics, making audience members recall fights they may have had with a partner.

While Reed is the calm, puttogether man, Elena is all over the place, spouting advice and using the airport — and Reed’s abused cell phone — like her personal playground, always seeking out some form of entertainment. For example, upon first seeing his ex-flame, Reed tries his best to hide, dispassionately telling the audience that Elena “really let herself go.” Meanwhile, Elena is prancing about the stage, attempting to appear profound and beautiful by practicing yoga in the middle of the airport, trying to get Reed’s attention without his knowing. At times, though, this trope can be a bit overbearing. We all have sat through films or plays or read books about the archetypal “taming of the shrew.” When one of these is crafted in such black-and-white terms, the story gets old very fast. This problem is not helped by Williamson’s tendency to overact her already flamboyant character, making her seem more like a personality than a person. Conversely, McAllister’s deadpanning of the script with little emotion leaves his character flat and onedimensional. The best moments in the drama unfold when the couple speak directly to the audience. In these moments, the emotion really does come through, and viewers get a chance to connect with the couple. “Shooting Star” is about the coincidences and near misses that make life worthwhile and about the fear of trusting someone else completely. Deitz’s conception could have been fun and entertaining, but, like the drug-addled Elena who “still can’t forget anything,” viewers may find themselves wishing they could wipe the nauseating performances from their memory. But as Reed says, “Those little plastic bottles do come in handy.” “Shooting Star” runs at Trinity Rep (201 Washington St.) through Nov. 22.

World & Nation The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, October 30, 2009 | Page 9

Shootings shake up L.A. synagogue By Andrew Blankstein, Robert Faturechi and Richard Winton Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — When the sound of gunfire shattered the peace of morning prayer Thursday at a North Hollywood synagogue, the shock waves traveled fast and far. Was it an anti-Semitic hate crime? An act of terrorism? An isolated incident or part of a wider plot? These were all real fears in a city where, 10 years ago, a white supremacist gunman had terrorized a Jewish preschool and murdered a postal carrier, and where police have been on alert for acts of terror since Sept. 11, 2001. By day’s end, authorities had come to believe that the shooting, in which two men were injured, was probably a far more mundane crime with no implications for national security. “There is abolutely no evidence to support any connection to terrorism or a hate crime,” said Mike Downing, Deputy Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Counter Terrorism and Intelligence Bureau. The gunman, whose image was captured by video cameras, remained at large, with the investigation being

led by local North Hollywood detectives, not Downing’s elite anti-terror squad. For a few hours, though, the shooting in the synagogue garage set nerves on edge throughout the city. Word traveled fast from temple goers to police to city leaders to members of a joint regional terrorism taskforce. The LAPD responded in force. Calls and email alerts spun out to temples and Jewish organization across the city. Word was relayed by news agencies and television channels nationwide. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rushed to the scene, as did two of the three candidates to succeed Police Chief Richard Bratton as the next head of the LAPD. And then, gradually, investigators began ramping down the excitement. According to police, the shooting occured at 6:19 a.m., after the victims had parked their cars in the underground garage of Adat Yeshurun Valley Sephardic Synagogue, a small congegation on a quiet residential street. Morning services were under way. A young gunman, dark-skinned and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt, approached one man near a stairwell and attempted to shoot, police said, but his gun jammed. The second con-

gregant noticed the commotion and approached the gunman, who then shot both men in their legs. The gunman did not speak, according to LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Moore. The shooter fled, and witnesses called 911. The victims, Maor Ben-Nissan, 37, and Allen Lasry, believed to be in his 40s, were taken to hospitals, where they were listed in good condition. Detectives were working with them to understand what happened, Moore said. They do not believe the motive was robbery, according to LAPD sources, who spoke to the Los Angeles Times on the condition they not be named because the investigation was open. Rabbi Amran Gabay described both men as regulars at the temple. He said one works in home improvement and the other in tile sales. The rabbi said he knew of no reason why either would be targeted. “They’re regular people,” he said. A 17-year-old who was detained for questioning shortly after the shooting was released hours later, and police backed away from initial claims that the attack was motivated by religious hate. Although the shooter was first described as a black man, a police

Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Zvika Brenner, center, a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician for the community rescue team, is assisted by a Los Angeles Police Department officer as police continued their search for a suspect and a motive in the shooting of two men Thursday morning in North Hollywood.

source later said detectives were not certain of the suspect’s race. “This investigation is wide open,” said LAPD Capt. Sharyn Buck, who oversees the North Hollywood Division. Several law enforcement sources told the Times that investigators were looking at whether the shootings were related to a business or personal dispute. The sources said detectives believe one of the victims was the target, and that the second

victim may have been shot because he witnessed the attack. Speaking to reporters outside the taped-off synagogue, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called the incident “a senseless act of violence.” But the mayor was careful to temper worries that the shooting was a hate crime. “None of us should presume or speculate more about this other than it was a random act of violence,” he said.

House Democrats unveil health bill By Shailagh Murray and Lori Montgomery The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — After six months of dealmaking, Democratic leaders introduced Thursday a health care reform bill that would expand coverage to almost all Americans and overhaul the insurance industry, while asking the wealthiest taxpayers to pay much of the tab. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California announced the 10-year $894 billion package on the Capitol steps, surrounded by Democrats from all factions of her diverse caucus. “Leaders of all political parties starting over a century ago with President Theodore Roosevelt, have called and fought for health-care reform and health insurance reform,” Pelosi said. “Today we are about to deliver on the promise.” The House bill is similar to its Senate counterpart, although a handful of key differences could make for protracted negotiations later this year. For example, the House’s surtax on those earning more than $500,000 per year is a nonstarter in the Senate. Yet House Democrats oppose the Senate’s main revenue measure, an excise tax on high-value, or “Cadillac,” health-insurance plans. And while both bills include a government insurance plan, the Senate version would allow states to opt out of participating. Under the House bill, 36 million uninsured Americans without access to affordable health benefits at work would become eligible for coverage. About 15 million of the

poorest children and adults would enroll in Medicaid. Another 21 million would purchase coverage on a new national insurance exchange, where private plans would compete with a “public option” backed by the federal government. An analysis of the House bill released late Thursday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that just 6 million people would choose a public plan, making it a relatively small player, despite the issue’s outsize role in the healthcare debate. The House bill would require most individuals to purchase insurance and would require employers to provide health coverage to their workers or face a penalty, although firms with payrolls below $500,000 annually would be exempt. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, mocked the bill’s 1,990 pages as 620 pages longer than President Bill Clinton’s failed reform plan 15 years ago. The conservative Republican Study Committee warned of “higher taxes, job-killing employer mandates, choice-restricting individual mandates, government-run insurance, budget-busting entitlement expansions, and countless provisions that set Washington bureaucrats firmly between you and your doctor.” For weeks, House Democratic leaders have huddled behind closed doors, seeking to stitch together a 218-vote majority from disparate Democratic blocs. Up to 40 conservative Democrats remain unhappy with abortion-related provisions, and are still threatening to vote no. But

with a debate on the House floor expected to begin late next week, most major differences appear to have been bridged. Before the official unveiling, House Democrats gathered in the basement of the Capitol for a final briefing with Pelosi and other leaders, where they agreed that the time for compromise had arrived. Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., a prominent fiscal hawk, stood up to announce that he would support the measure, drawing a round of applause loud enough to be audible outside the room. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to pass something,” said Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass. The House measure would pare $104 billion from projected budget deficits over the next decade, according to the CBO, and would “slightly reduce” projected deficits in the following decade. The CBO’s forecast for the House bill is less rosy than for the bill that passed the Senate Finance Committee earlier this month, but it is significantly more favorable than the analysis of the original House package, which predicted that costs would exceed revenues after 2019. In addition to expanding coverage, the House bill would impose strict new rules on insurance companies, including a ban on denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions. The legislation would end a federal antitrust exemption that has long protected the industry from investigations into price-fixing and other practices, and would institute a review process into premium increases.

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Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Friday, October 30, 2009

J ulia S treuli

e d i to r i a l

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t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d Editor-in-Chief Steve DeLucia

Managing Editors Michael Bechek Chaz Firestone

Deputy Managing Editors Nandini Jayakrishna Franklin Kanin Michael Skocpol

editorial Arts & Culture Editor Ben Hyman Features Editor Sophia Li Metro Editor George Miller Metro Editor Joanna Wohlmuth News Editor Seth Motel News Editor Jenna Stark Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Han Cui Asst. Sports Editor Alex Mazerov Asst. Sports Editor Katie Wood Graphics & Photos Chris Jesu Lee Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Graphics Editor Photo Editor Kim Perley Max Monn Asst. Photo Editor Jesse Morgan Sports Photo Editor production Ayelet Brinn Copy Desk Chief Rachel Isaacs Copy Desk Chief Marlee Bruning Design Editor Jessica Calihan Design Editor Asst. Design Editor Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Julien Ouellet Neal Poole Web Editor Post- magazine Arthur Matuszewski Editor-in-Chief Kelly McKowen Editor-in-Chief

Senior Editors Rachel Arndt Isabel Gottlieb Scott Lowenstein

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Alexander Hughes Jonathan Spector Directors Sales Ellen DaSilva Sales Claire Kiely Finance Katie Koh Asst. Finance Jilyn Chao Alumni Relations Christiana Stephenson Managers Local Sales Kelly Wess National Sales Kathy Bui University Sales Alex Carrere Credit and Collections Matt Burrows Opinions Alyssa Ratledge Sarah Rosenthal

Opinions Editor Opinions Editor

Editorial Page Board James Shapiro Editorial Page Editor Matt Aks Board member Nick Bakshi Board member Zack Beauchamp Board member Debbie Lehmann Board member William Martin Board member

The Green Light On Oct. 19, the Justice Department circulated a memorandum to federal prosecutors in Rhode Island and the other 13 medical marijuana states, instructing them not to prosecute individuals using medical marijuana or those involved in dispensary operations that are “in clear and unambiguous compliance” with state laws. The move was hailed by medical marijuana advocates such as Stephen Gutwillig, California state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, who called it “an extremely welcome rhetorical de-escalation of the federal government’s long-standing war on medical marijuana patients.” We generally approve of ending wars but, as Americans have learned recently, winning the peace can be just as important. In this context, that would be Rhode Island taking advantage of the unprecedented window of opportunity created by the Justice memo to develop a superior medical marijuana distribution system. We should first be clear that the new federal guidelines do not forbid all prosecution. Dispensaries and patients that are in violation of state laws can be still raided by local authorities. Additionally, not all federal prosecution has been taken off the table. The two most important loopholes allow federal prosecutors to go after dispensaries otherwise in compliance with state laws if they either believe the dispensaries are selling marijuana for profit (as opposed to the standard non-profit model) or if a prosecution would further “important federal interests,” presumably meaning the arrest of drug traffickers. One might wonder whether, given such broad exceptions, the new memo really is good news for Rhode Island. San Francisco’s crusading federal attorney, Joseph Russoniello, has gone after San Francisco dispensaries on the grounds that they make a profit since

August. Is there anything to prevent the same thing from happening in Rhode Island? Yes: More transparency. The more open Rhode Island makes the operations of its proposed dispensaries, the less pretext federal prosecutors will have to raid them on trumped-up charges. More transparent operations will significantly decrease the incentives for players in the illegal drug trade to get involved with dispensaries, as it will make them more vulnerable to prosecution. Significant transparency is possible in the status quo. According to the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, the amendment allowing for dispensaries contains provisions requiring “good oversight and recordkeeping procedures.” Once Rhode Island officials have cleared that hurdle, possibilities for innovation abound. As we’ve noted before, there are a number of flaws in the dispensary systems used by California. Now that Rhode Island knows exactly what the federal government expects from it (at least during President Obama’s term), it has a chance to develop policies that improve on the current model. Rhode Island should consult with law enforcement and patient advocacy groups such as RIPAC as to what these new guidelines might permit in terms of policies the state might not have implemented in a climate of uncertainty about federal action. Such consultation would help the state to develop procedures that could benefit local patients and governments and, by serving as a model, patients and state governments nationwide. If so, the Justice memo will mark a huge step forward in the United States’ twisted history with drug policy. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

correction

Anna Migliaccio, Nick Sinnott-Armstrong, Katie Wilson, Designers Nick Boucher, Brendan Burke, Joe Milner, Copy Editors Dan Alexander, Nikki Friedman, Ben Hyman, George Miller, Hannah Moser, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Dan Alexander, Mitra Anoushiravani, Ellen Cushing, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Nicole Friedman, Brigitta Greene, Sarah Husk, Brian Mastroianni, Hannah Moser, Ben Schreckinger, Anne Simons, Anne Speyer, Sara Sunshine, Alex Ulmer, Suzannah Weiss, Kyla Wilkes Staff Writers Shara Azad, Emma Berry, Alicia Chen, Zunaira Choudhary, Alicia Dang, Juliana Friend, Anish Gonchigar, Sarah Julian, Matt Klebanoff, Etienne Ma, Christian Martell, Heeyoung Min, Jyotsna Mullur, Lauren Pischel, Kevin Pratt, Leslie Primack, Luisa Robledo, Dana Teppert, Gaurie Tilak, Caitlin Trujillo, Monique Vernon, Senior Business Associates Max Barrows, Jackie Goldman, Margaret Watson, Ben Xiong Business Associates Stassia Chyzhykova, Marco deLeon, Katherine Galvin, Bonnie Kim, Cathy Li, Allen McGonagill, Liana Nisimova, Thanases Plestis, Corey Schwartz, William Schweitzer, Kenneth So, Evan Sumortin, Haydar Taygun, Webber Xu, Lyndse Yess Design Staff Gili Kliger, Jessica Kirschner, Nicholas Sinnott-Armstrong, Kate Wilson Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit Copy Editors Jenny Bloom, Brendan Burke, Sara Chimene-Weiss, Miranda Forman, Sarah Forman, Casey Gaham, Anna Jouravleva, Geoffrey Kyi, Jordan Mainzer, Joe Milner, Claire Peracchio, Lindor Qunaj, Madeleine Rosenberg, William Tomasko

An article in Tuesday’s Herald (“Officials detail carbon cuts, education outreach at BUCC,” Oct. 27.) incorrectly reported that $10 million of a loan for energy efficiency has been approved. In fact, $20 million has been approved and $10 million has been allocated. C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. C ommentary P O L I C Y The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. L etters to the E ditor P olicy Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. advertising P olicy The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Friday, October 30, 2009 | Page 11

A history of discrimination against Jews Jared Lafer Opinions Columnist

In 2005, the New Yorker published an article by Malcolm Gladwell called “Getting In,” which discussed admissions at elite universities. It cited Jerome Karabel’s book “The Chosen,” which argues that discrimination against Jews in the early 20th century gave rise to modern day admissions practices. I believe Karabel is correct, and a greater effort to acknowledge this unjust past is in order. According to Gladwell by way of Karabel, the current era of admissions can be traced back to 1905, when Harvard “adopted the College Entrance Examination Board tests as the principal basis for admission, which meant that virtually any academically gifted high-school senior who could afford a private college had a straightforward shot at attending.” Other schools that would later form the Ivy League followed. With a bit of pride I can say that this gave rise to a major increase in the Jewish population at Harvard — and presumably other future Ivy League schools — over the next 20 years. In 1908, Jews composed 8 percent of Harvard’s student body; by 1922, that number rose to over 20 percent. (This proportion was determined by searching through admissions records and rating students on their likelihood of being Jewish.) Gladwell says, “The administration and alumni were up in arms. Jews were thought to be sickly and grasping, grade-grubbing

and insular. They displaced the sons of wealthy WASP alumni, which did not bode well for fund-raising.” Gladwell reports that measures were taken by Harvard to remedy the situation, including a 15 percent Jew quota, a decrease in scholarship funds available for Jews and a large effort to recruit students from public schools in the West, where there were fewer Jews. But these were collectively unsuccessful. This led to the realization among Ivy League universities “that if a definition of merit based on academic prowess was leading to the wrong kind of student, the solution

should all sound familiar. Indeed, this application construction is still used today. Thus when we apply to college, we are participating in the very process originally intended to weed out Jews. Now, I’m not going to evaluate the admissions system at Ivy League schools. Its ability to determine the best candidates for admission is beside the point. But I feel it is important to acknowledge and investigate the relationship between anti-Jewish discrimination and modern-day admissions practices. In fact, I believe it is even more important to acknowledge and investigate the relation-

It is important to acknowledge and investigate the relationship between Jewish discrimination and modern day admissions practices. was to change the definition of merit.” And so admissions underwent a major shift. The emphasis on academic prowess was supplanted, at least in large part, by an emphasis on personal character. According to Gladwell by way of Karabel, applicants were mandated to provide letters of recommendation, personal essays and a list of extracurricular activities, and asked to submit to an interview and supply personal information like “Race and Color,” “Religious Preference,” “Birthplace of Father,” etc. To top it off, Harvard suggested that applicants send a photograph. By 1933, “the percentage of Jews at Harvard was back down to 15 percent.” To experienced college applicants, this

ship between anti-Jewish discrimination and higher education at large. I believe this for two reasons: 1) It will be historically valuable. No significant effort has been taken by Ivy League schools to examine their historical relationship with Jewish students. Outsiders like Karabel have certainly taken the initiative, but only in the narrow scope of admissions. Furthermore, internal reviews would undoubtedly bring a fuller light to the story. 2) We owe it to the victims and ourselves to learn from the past and never let this happen again. Jews are still susceptible to discrimination today and so this effort will be a vehicle for self-reflection and edification. So what can we do? First, I concede that I

haven’t done the necessary research to know whether Brown particularly discriminated. Perhaps it was the exception — a distinct possibility in light of the liberal philosophies on which it was founded. Nevertheless, given that Brown was an elite institution, competing with and conforming to the standards of peer institutions (e.g., uniform admissions practices), and the fact that anti-Jewish sentiment was pervasive at the time, we likewise cannot deny the contrary possibility. Either way, I believe uncertainty about our connection with such an injustice alone should be enough to motivate us to do something. Second, while I may not know for sure whether Brown discriminated, other elite schools sure did. So whatever is done should be done intramurally. With regards to what exactly to do, we should look to precedent. In 2003, President Ruth Simmons appointed the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. According to the Steering Committee Web site, it “was charged to investigate and to prepare a report about the University’s historical relationship to slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.” A lot of good came from the Steering Committee’s investigation, and I think the formation of a similar committee is warranted in the present context. To spell it out: the Ivy League should form an intramural committee to investigate its ties with anti-Jewish discrimination. Let us wash away the injustice through enlightenment.

Jared Lafer ’11 is a philosophy concentrator from Manhattan. He can be reached at jared_lafer@brown.edu

Brown is more than just Facs, Man Mike Johnson Opinions Columnist While reading The Herald the other day, I read an interesting article about an apparent “oversight” on the part of Facilities Management in approving a T-Mobile cell tower on the roof of Barus and Holley (“Profs to FacMan: Can you hear us now?” Oct. 19). My initial response was laughter. I can think of numerous occasions in the recent past when Facilities Management, or FacMan, seemed alarmingly out of touch with University needs. In 2007, FacMan, as part of renovations to Gardner House, decided it was a good idea to break out the jackhammers at 7 a.m. every day directly outside of Littlefield Hall, a freshman dormitory. Initial complaints received a curt response, claiming that the contract day started before the students would like, urging the alleged crybaby freshmen to stop complaining. It was only after a grassroots movement of flooding FacMan with phone calls that the jackhammers started at a more reasonable — but still ridiculously early for students — time of 9 a.m. Just this month, the University was informed via e-mail that Faunce Arch was to be closed to pedestrians until the opening of the spring semester. This closure was dated for Oct. 19, conspicuously after Family Weekend — probably meant to avoid in-

conveniencing parents and alumni visiting campus. FacMan was obviously aware of the ramifications of closing one of the most-used pedestrian paths on campus. Yet they remained steadfast in their self-importance, and needless barriers loom on the horizon. In a recent Herald exclusive, FacMan was said to have “recognized that the closing of the arch would be a significant inconvenience for students and faculty” (“In boon for pedestrians, Faunce Arch to stay open,” Oct. 22). This recognition seems a little

ber the incident, and would surely have politely reminded FacMan ... if they had been consulted. However, FacMan needs no consultation. Like a circular tyrant gobbling up dots, FacMan plods along, approving projects and handing down edicts on sleep schedules and pedestrian paths, and now even important academic research. It seems blatantly obvious to me that FacMan should consult with the people who work in the building that’s about to have a giant tower on its roof to beam radio waves into its hallowed halls.

Like a circular tyrant gobbling up dots, FacMan plods along, approving projects and handing down edicts on sleep schedules and pedestrian paths, and now even important academic research.

late, based on the details; sounds to me like enough people complained. But this most recent “oversight” of the fact that FacMan provides support for actual people, not just buildings immune to the effects of screaming, early-morning jackhammers, is clearly the worst. Why? It’s happened before. Just 19 years ago, a radio transmitter on the Sciences Library shut down equipment in Barus and Holley. There are still professors here who remem-

FacMan’s apology for the oversight left a little to be desired as well — they said that they “did miss” the fact that Barus and Holley was a research facility. Inexcusable. FacMan is a part of this University, and needs to become more aware of the impact of its actions. How, despite being a vital cog in the educational machine, is it even possible for FacMan to forget that Barus and Holley is a research facility, complete with real research equipment? That’s

like forgetting that University Hall is where President Ruth Simmons works. Now I’m not trying to be the one to throw a ladder up against the side of 295 Lloyd Ave. Nor am I proposing student involvement in decisions regarding construction projects or their timetables. I’m by no means advocating an overthrow of the despotic FacMan. I’m merely pointing out that FacMan has no clothes. It’s quite clear that people are not among FacMan’s top priorities, despite its nice employees who come to fix our heaters at all hours of the night. But FacMan as an entity, FacMan as the keeper of the keys, needs to realize that people use its playthings, the buildings. People walk these sidewalks; they aren’t just for show. Instead, I propose a sobering, drastic change in FacMan policy — communication. Maybe if FacMan had actually talked to Barus and Holley researchers, they’d have known about sensitive equipment that might be affected by a giant cell tower spewing out radiation. Little oversights like this won’t have to be commonplace anymore. Instead of blindly going about business as usual, perhaps FacMan should reflect on its communication policy and whether it needs to expand upon what’s there. It’s clear that when discussing transformative building projects, FacMan needs to take a small step back, look at the big picture and pay attention to the little people.

Mike Johnson ’11 has the high score on the lesser-known Ms. FacMan.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

t h e n e w s i n i m ag e s

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Football prepares for Penn faceoff

‘Shooting Star’ at Trinity Rep

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to day

to m o r r o w

59 / 49

70 / 50

Friday, October 30, 2009

Page 12

d i a m o n d s a n d c oa l A cubic zirconium to activist students participating in a “climate action” rally and promoting the number 350 as the maximum sustainable level of atmospheric carbon dioxide. We love your passion, but we’re concerned that you think 350 is also a sustainable number of days per year on which to protest. A diamond to the state’s Department of Elderly Affairs, which created a support system for abused elders. That’s a much better idea than that other DEA had (spraying abused elders with pesticide).

2

Coal to the swine-inspired art exhibit “Contagious,” which featured artists’ interpretations of the deadly flu. We’re still mad you rejected our found-art submission, “Pile of Tissues and Trash Can Full of Vomit.”

c a l e n da r Today, october 30

A diamond to ex-pornographer Sam Benjamin Stern ’99, the alum whose post-Brown trajector y truly embodies school spirit. Organic tomato farming, being disillusioned, dabbling in softcore “art,” being disillusioned again — bravo, sir.

saturday, october 31

3 pm — Edible Car Competition, Manning Walk

9 PM — “Chest Fest,” Grad Center Lounge

4 pm — “The Virtuosity of Structure,” Ashamu Dance Studio

11:55 PM — Halloween Midnight Organ Recital, Sayles Hall

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Barbecue Beef Sandwich, Swiss Corn Bake, Lobster Bisque, Worms in Mud

Lunch — Chicken Fingers, Vegan Nuggets, Sticky Rice, Halloween Cookies and Cupcakes

Dinner — Baked Stuffed Pollock, Noodle Kugel, Zucchini and Summer Squash, Birthday Cake

Dinner — Cajun Baked Fish, Grilled Chicken, Golden Corn and Rice Caserole, Halloween Candy

A pair of diamond-studded earrings and a backless velvet gown to the vice president at allmale Morehouse College for defending a controversial new policy banning “clothing normally associated with women’s garb” on campus. Even grouchy administrators deser ve to feel fabulous sometimes. A cubic zirconium to Rhode Island judge and Obama nominee to the federal bench Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson ’73, who received lukewarm ratings of “satisfactor y” from most members of the American Bar Association’s advisor y committee. In an S/NC world, your credentials have never been in doubt. The real question is how you pronounce “Rogeriee.” Coal to the malicious, PDF-corrupting demons of the Internet tubes for thrice ruining the Herald’s crossword this month. We’ll get you yet, you qjcerpa)r wmxbw*=_2 Last but not least, a pumpkin full of diamonds to anyone who resists the temptation to dress as swine flu, Michael Jackson or balloon boy tomorrow. Instead, may we suggest an ecologically friendly (and much more original) alternative that makes for a clever re-use for your favorite campus daily: Cover yourself in old Heralds, splattered with organic ketchup. Bam! You’re the demise of print journalism.

crossword

comics Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

Hippomaniac | Mat Becker

Classic Deep-Fried Kittens | Cara FitzGibbon