Thursday, September 9, 2010

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vol. cxlv, no. 66 | Thursday, September 9, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891

New initiative looks to pedestrian safety Registration By Shara Azad Contributing Writer

Max Monn / Herald

A crosswalk near Soldier’s Arch on Thayer St. is one of about 40 that are new or have been updated on campus.

With all of the striking physical changes to Brown’s campus greeting returning students this fall, it’s possible many missed additions that were right under their feet: dozens of new crosswalks. Following two incidents last winter — the death of Avi Schaefer ’13 on Thayer Street and the hitand-run of alums Erinn Phelan ’09 and Alma Guerrero ’09 MD’13 in Brooklyn — Senior Vice President for Corporation Affairs and Governance Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 announced the creation of a pedestrian safety review committee at a March faculty meeting. Last week, Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn sent an e-mail to the Brown community regarding enhancements on campus including “implementation of a pedestrian safety initiative on and around our campus including

more visible crosswalks.” This pedestrian safety initiative is a direct result of the committee spearheaded by Klawunn and Carey. According to Carey, the committee of students, faculty and staff learned that in the past three years, there have been 14 accidents on campus involving pedestrians, motor vehicles and bicyclists, though most did not entail “serious injuries.” Since this finding, the fast-tracked initiative has been launched, focusing on three components — education, awareness and on-campus enforcement — intended not only for pedestrians, but also bicyclists and drivers. To boost enforcement, the Department of Public Safety has been working in close collaboration with the Providence Police Department to regulate intersections during high-traffic times for students, such as the 10 minutes continued on page 2

Tours move Pauly D back home in R.I., briefly to Welcome Center By Brigitta Greene Metro Editor

By Warren Jin Contributing Writer

Beginning this semester, campus tours leave from the Welcome Center — one of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center’s new features. The tours, which used to start in the admission office, have been incorporated into the center, said Eleanor Brennan, associate director of admission. The move reflects a nationwide trend among colleges and universities of building dedicated welcome centers that are separate from the admission office, she said. The larger size of the Welcome Center will make visiting campus more enjoyable for prospective students and their families, she added. “The (admission) office is too small,” Brennan said. “There were days when we were getting hundreds and hundreds of people. It was not a great experience for our visitors.” The new tour is also in a “much easier location for people to find,” said Christiana Stephenson ’11, campus tour co-coordinator and The Herald’s alumni relations director. “It starts at the hub of student life,” she said, giving prospective students and their families a better opportunity to understand Brown.

inside

continued on page 4

News.....1–4 Metro.......5–6 Sports.....7–9 Editorial....10 Opinion.....11 Today........12

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DJ Pauly D is back in town for two days only, making a brief stop home before leaving for Los Angeles on Friday, said his agent. The “Jersey Shore” cast member, whose real name is Paul DelVecchio, was seen cruising through campus Wednesday afternoon. The cast of MTV’s hit show

“Jersey Shore” finished filming the show’s third season Wednesday, and DelVecchio was driving back home to Johnston from Seaside Heights, N.J., said his agent, Michael Schweiger. “He loves coming home,” Schweiger said. “His mom is there. All of his toys are there. … His motorbike, everything is there.” Before his stint on MTV, DelVecchio had performed regularly at local bars such as the Red

More than a vacation: 3 undergrad summers

Room and the Fish Company. Though Pauly D was not booked to perform at Fish Co. Wednesday night, bar tender Tony Pirri said he called the DJ that afternoon to request that he stop by the bar’s weekly Brown night. DelVecchio will make an appearance at MTV’s Video Music Awards on Sept. 12 and will be continued on page 5

extended for Mon. classes By Alexandra Ulmer Senior Staff Writer

Registration period for Monday afternoon seminars, which meet for the first time next week, has been extended from Sept. 14 to Sept. 20 to allow more time for students to add these classes. Monday afternoon seminars did not hold class the first half-week of school, which began on a Wednesday, and were then canceled this week due to Labor Day. “We have extended the add deadline just for those classes until the following Monday,” said University Registrar Robert Fitzgerald. But students who wish to add a Monday seminar to their schedule after Sept. 14 must enroll at the Office of the Registrar in J. Walter Wilson, as online registration will be closed after that date. During the extended period, they will not be fined the standard $15 fee for late registration. Professors of Monday afternoon seminars brought the issue to the attention of the registrar’s office, which subsequently made the decision to extend the registration deadline in conjunction with the Dean of the College, Fitzgerald added. “It just seems like an unfortunate happenstance,” Professor of English Forrest Gander, who teaches LITR 1230K: “Latin American Death Trip,” wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “I don’t expect my class size to suffer at all.” Students have until Tuesday at 5 p.m. to add other courses without incurring a fee.

mone y f or hone y

BY Anna Andreeva Staff Writer

Whether interning or researching, spending their time in the U.S. or abroad, many Brown stu-

FEATURE dents took their passion out of the classroom and into the world this summer. The Herald took a look at the summers of three different undergrads –– each a part of the continued on page 3

Max Monn / Herald

The Wriston Quadrangle farmers’ market opened for the season Wednesday. The market will be held Wednesdays from 11–2 on Wriston.

Metro, 5

Sports, 7

Opinions, 11

margarita madness After resolving its liquor license issues, Chipotle will offer margaritas and beer

women’s win A mostly first-year women’s soccer team wins weekend tournament

new-er curriculum? Kurt Walters ’11: Is it time we revise the curriculum to better challenge students?

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

herald@browndailyherald.com

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

“People can be aggressive drivers.” — Margaret Klawunn, VP for campus life and student services

Emission reductions RISD will not close public service office halfway to 2020 goals By Rebecca Ballhaus Senior Staff Writer

By Mark Raymond Senior Staff Writer

The University has reached a halfway point in its efforts to cut campus emissions of greenhouse gases, according to Director of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Initiatives Chris Powell. The goal is to reduce emissions to 42 percent below 2007 levels by 2020. Emissions are now 21 percent below 2007 levels — ­ an improvement of 3 percent from last fall — a drop that is largely the result of Facilties Management’s decision to use alternate fuels in campus buildings, Powell said. “We wanted to make some quick reductions by switching fuel sources, but future projects will require more funds and planning,” Powell said. Facilities plans to expand its efforts using a $20 million loan, Powell said. Thus far, most cuts have been made using funds already appropriated to Facilities. “We spent a few million dollars the first several years, but that paid for itself in savings,” Powell said. Upon making many immediate changes to reduce emissions, the emphasis within Facilities moved toward working on more complex and oftentimes more expensive projects on campus, many of which are the result of collaboration between students and faculty. “Facilities is working on a number of large-scale projects, including new lighting fixtures

and boiler replacements,” said Ben Howard ’11, an intern working with Facilities on sustainability projects. “My role is to act as a conduit between student projects and the funding available to the University.” Energy and Environmental Programs Coordinator Ginger Gritzo reiterated the role students now play in making sustainability projects a reality on campus. “I think that the coordination between Facilities and students has gotten a lot better,” Gritzo said. “Before I was in this role, there wasn’t coordination between what Facilities wanted to do and what students wanted to do.” Powell stated that there are many projects currently being considered to continue the University’s efforts to cut emissions, and he thinks the goals for 2020 are within reach. “I think we can at least see projects that would get us there, and we just need to get them approved and implemented,” Powell said. He also emphasized that sustainability projects are in the process of expanding, and that the University will see cost savings in the future. “Now we’re spending faster than the savings are coming in because we’re doing more capitalintensive projects,” Powell said. “But we project that by the end of fiscal year 2011, our annual savings as a result of these projects will be around $1.5 million.” continued on page 4

sudoku

The Rhode Island School of Design will not close its Office of Public Engagement as it had originally proposed, President John Maeda announced in May. The office, the design school’s equivalent of the Swearer Center for Public Service, organizes the school’s public outreach program. When RISD proposed cutting the office last spring, students objected vehemently to the choice through letters, meetings with the administration and, of course, Facebook. On one Facebook page, “Questioning RISD’s commitment: Community Engagement and Diversity,” students protested what they perceived as the school’s resistance to establishing a sense of community. “We believe the current state of discourse at RISD disengages us from each other; the proposed elimination of the Office of Public Engagement disengages us from our community; and the marginalization of issues concerning diversity overall disengages us from our world,” the Facebook page reads. Sarah Kern, who graduated from RISD in the spring and worked in the office, was “heavily

involved” in the fight to keep the office open, she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. She said that her choice to work in the office in the first place was due to her sense that “community engagement was discouraged by RISD’s intensive studio practice.” She added, “This feeling was made a reality … when the administration attempted to close the office at the end of the school year.” RISD’s administration “doesn’t see the physical office and programming as necessar y, and (thinks it) can exist as an add-on to various other offices,” she wrote. “However, without a comprehensive and centralized program in public work, I do not see how students can be effectively supported in their work to engage the public and work hand-in-hand with the city of Providence.” The students’ outcry provoked the Rhode Island Foundation to provide some funding for the office for the 2010–11 school year. The foundation’s grant was then matched by the design school’s board of trustees, according to Assistant Provost for Academic Affairs David Bogen. “It is my hope that through strategic planning we will find a sustainable and integrated model to bring public engagement … to our

core,” Maeda said in a statement released in May. “Of course I’m absolutely delighted that RISD has made the decision and enabled the continuation of the office,” said Peter Hocking, the office’s interim director. “I think that this is a really important program for RISD, which is why I’ve been doing this work for the last three years.” The design school faced financial challenges last year as the recession battered its endowment. But spokeswoman Jaime Marland wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that the school is “solidly positioned for this coming year,” a result of budget cuts made last year and the gradual recover y of the school’s endowment. RISD has also raised its tuition by 4.5 percent this year, giving the school a slightly larger budget to work with. “I think that the support from the Rhode Island Foundation, as well as the support from our trustees, for public engagement generally is a very positive thing,” Bogen said. “RISD is now involved in a process of strategic planning and we look forward to the emergence of a full understanding and vision of the future of public engagement through that process.”

Brown addresses pedestrian safety continued from page 1 in between classes. Lt. John Ryan, PPD commander for District 9, said he felt such a measure was “necessar y for both operators of motor vehicles and pedestrians.” “Although you have the right of way, you should use caution when you walk,” he said, addressing pedestrians. Approximately 40 crosswalks were also updated to a standard system or were newly created, according to Carey. For example, a crosswalk for pedestrians now exists at the intersection of Brook and Charlesfield streets, and Thayer Street crosswalks were standardized to avoid confusion. Other changes include improved road signs, marked loading zones for trucks and signals for drivers to slow down at busy crosswalks, such as the Brook Street crossing

at Manning Walk. All changes were “coordinated closely with the city of Providence,” Carey said. Klawunn said she is closely involved with the education and awareness components of the initiative. The former includes an orientation program that aimed to provide the class of 2014 with information about pedestrian safety. Fliers have been posted around campus with slogans such as “Brown is not a closed campus” and “Make eye contact,” referring to the need for communication with drivers at crosswalks. Bicyclists are a particular concern. “People can be aggressive drivers, so bikers should err on the side of caution,” Klawunn said. She also mentioned that Rhode Island traffic laws for bicyclists are available online. Looking ahead, the pedestrian

safety initiative will require “ongoing assessment,” Carey said. For some students, however, the effects are already palpable. “I’ve seen DPS wearing nylon green vests late at night,” said Fatima Aqeel ’12, a former Herald opinions columnist. “It makes me feel … quite secure.” Hannah Riskin-Jones ’13 said she had noticed the new crosswalk painted across Thayer Street near the Soldier’s Arch construction site. “I don’t think anyone bothers to look,” she added. “You can tell that someone is from Los Angeles or New York or a big city based on if they look at the crosswalk.” It remains to be seen whether or not the initiative will influence student behavior. Referring to the new crosswalks, Ylan Vo ’12 said, “I haven’t really noticed.”

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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 member 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 2010 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

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“That was a big awakening.” —Christine Zaleski ’11, on summer in Gambia

Students encounter life-changing experiences during summer continued from page 1 wide spectrum of experiences of student summers. An awakening Christine Zaleski ’11, an environmental studies concentrator, spent over two months this summer working for a non-governmental organization promoting sustainable fisheries management in Gambia. The Gambia-Senegal Sustainable Fisheries Project, known locally as Ba Nafaa, is a five-year, $2.5 million project that has been ongoing since 2009, Zaleski said. The project is carried out in conjunction with the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center and the World Wide Fund West Africa Marine EcoRegional Program, according to the center’s website. Ba Nafaa’s goal is to “promote sustainable fisheries management including the shared marine and coastal resources between the Gambia and Senegal,” according to the URI Coastal Resources Center website. The project works with 500 “oyster women,” female immigrants from Guinea Bissau whose livelihood relies on harvesting oysters in protected wetlands. As Christian women in a male-dominated, predominantly Muslim society, the oyster women are “the most disenfranchised group of people,” Zaleski said. To that end, Ba Nafaa also engages in providing the women alternative sources of income during the season when oyster harvesting is closed, including creating tie-dyed handicrafts for sale to tourists, beekeeping and other activities with low environmental impact. Zaleski’s trip was funded by a grant awarded by the Center for Environmental Studies, a large part of which went toward covering the cost of flight to and from Gambia. The trip was also an opportunity for Zaleski to do research for her senior thesis, which deals with community management resources. She plans to spend a good part of her year working on her thesis. Zaleski said she is potentially interested in comparing the issues facing oyster fisheries in Rhode Island and Gam-

Courtesy of Julia Olszewski

Julia Olszewski ’12 enjoyed canoeing, kayaking and snorkeling during her summer internship at the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience.

bia. For Zaleski, the people she met were a positive part of the experience. “I was really lucky to work with the people that I worked with,” she said. As the only foreign undergraduate student working on the project, Zaleski had the opportunity to meet local families and grow close with her coworkers. “They completely incorporated me into their culture. They let me help where I could be of help and let me watch where I couldn’t,” she said. The most challenging part of Zaleski’s summer was adjusting to life in Gambia as a white, Christian foreigner in a predominantly black, Muslim country, she said. “With every person you meet, you have to first break through that barrier, the visual ostracization,” Zaleski said. “It was my first experience as a real minority.” “I realized how much I had to learn, not only about developing countries but my own country — how much we have to give and how much they still need. That was a big

awakening,” Zaleski said. A taste of grad school Julia Olszewski ’12, a marine biology concentrator, completed an eleven-week summer research training program at the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in St. Augustine, Florida. Olszewski was the recipient of a Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant funded by the National Science Foundation. During her summer, she worked with Professor James Liao of the Whitney Laboratory researching zebra fish larvae. Their work centered on deciphering how the fish use the information picked up from hairs along their body, or neuromasts, to swim. The program also incorporated a number of field trips that included canoeing, kayaking snorkeling on the Florida Keys and visiting the main University of Florida campus to speak to representatives from graduate schools. For Olszewski, the training was

a great preview of what a graduate program in marine biology could offer her. She said she spent an average of 10 hours per day in the lab. “It was like tr ying out grad school, at least the research part — which is the part we’re not familiar with,” Olszewski said. Networking with professors and researchers in the field was another major plus for Olszewski. “We are the only undergrads they interact with year-round,” she said. Olszewski is still in touch with her mentor from the Whitney Lab and is currently working on publishing her findings from the summer. Around the world in three months Jose Rodriguez ’12, a commerce, organizations and entrepreneurship concentrator, split the summer between an internship with Infosys Technologies in Bangalore, India and research in the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez secured the Infosys internship after undergoing a double interview process. First he applied for the COE program’s Internship in

India program, and later had to apply directly for a position at Infosys. During his internship, Rodriguez worked on extending and improving the company’s alumni online network. He also participated in an internal business competition, where his group won third place for suggesting an informational platform for microfinance institutions. Rodriguez also took the opportunity to visit other cities in the area, including Mumbai, New Delhi, Agra, Goa and Mysore. “I’ve never traveled so much in my life,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez especially enjoyed meeting individuals from all over the world at Infosys, as well as having the chance to network and receive professional feedback. “There is so much talent there,” he said. “I built such a strong relationship with my group.” After completing his work at Infosys, Rodriguez continued on to the Dominican Republic to complete the second phase of a ten-week research fellowship that he had begun during the previous winter break. The project aims to identify the extent to which the U.S. financial crisis affected a particular neighborhood in the Dominican Republic. The Brown International Scholar Program provided funding for his research. Rodriguez conducted interviews and a pilot study to determine the types of surveys that could be administered to local households and businesses in order to maximize the quality of information for the study. Previously, the Dominican Republic had been no more than a summer vacation destination for Rodriguez. By returning as a researcher, he was able to use his unique perspective as both an insider and outsider in the country to meet people and get to know the neighborhood, he said. “For the first time, I was there to do something to bring more light to an issue that I felt was not adequately explored,” Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said he hopes to return to the Dominican Republic for further research to “evaluate my methods, my approaches and better them.”

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

“Sanskrit is becoming established and recognized.” — Peter Scharf, senior lecturer in Sanskrit

Tours to depart from revamped Faunce continued from page 1

Campus tours also play an important role in allowing visitors to interact with students, said Christopher Belcher ’11, president of the Bruin Club, which organizes tours and other admission events such as A Day On College Hill. Visitors can “stop a student in the Blue Room, ask them how they’re doing, why they applied,” he said. “That kind of personal connection is great.” The tour will continue to evolve

in the future, especially with the expected completion of the Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts near the end of this semester, Stephenson said. “We are hoping to use the creative arts center to bring the tours to Pembroke,” she said. The goal of the tours is to tell visitors “stuff you can’t get off the Internet,” said Robert Taj Moore ’11, a campus tour co-coordinator. “Most tour guides have their own stories and narratives to share.”

Campus emissions down 21 percent since 2007 continued from page 2 Howard also said he had high hopes for the University’s ability to meet its 2020 goals. “I think it’s amazing that we have access to so much funding,” Howard said. “It’s just a matter of

getting Brown’s brainpower behind projects.” Later this month, Facilities will be submitting its 2010 Sustainability Report, which will contain further details regarding campus environmental progress.

Max Monn / Herald

Professor of Classics James Fitzgerald is helping run the new Ph.D. program in Asian Religious Traditions.

Sanskrit, Eastern religions now Ph.D. degrees By Alicia Dang Staff Writer

Students interested in Sanskrit or Asian religions now have the chance to undertake doctoral research at Brown. Beginning last year, the University started to accept applications to two newly added doctoral programs in Sanskrit Language and Literature and Asian Religious Traditions. Two students have been accepted into the Sanskrit program out of a pool of nine or 10 applicants, according to James Fitzgerald, professor of classics and faculty affiliate and chair of the Department of Religious Studies. Fitzgerald is also one of the core faculty members who worked together to design the Asian Religious Traditions program. The proposals for these programs were submitted and later approved in winter 2009 by the Graduate School. The program currently has one student who transferred from another doctoral program in the same department. She was admitted out of four or five applicants, Fitzgerald said. Asian Religious Traditions is the third graduate program in the Department of Religious Studies,

in addition to Religion and Critical Thought and Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean. The classics department has added six Sanskrit courses on various topics including ancient Indian literature, philosophy and Sanskrit linguistic traditions to accommodate the new doctoral candidates. These courses, together with other individualized research guidance, are run by Fitzgerald and Peter Scharf, acting chair of the South Asian Studies Faculty Group and senior lecturer in Sanskrit. The six new Sanskrit courses are also available to the students in the South Asian Religions doctoral track, which requires applicants to have had at least two years of either Sanskrit or Hindi-Urdu. In addition to the new Sanskrit graduate program, four undergraduate concentration tracks in Sanskrit are in the process of being approved by the Dean of the College, with the goal of making Sanskrit study more comparable to Greek and Latin, he added. “Sanskrit is becoming established and recognized as a program of studies at equal level with other ancient languages,” Scharf said. “Sanskrit literature forms the

largest body of texts prior to the invention of the printing press in the world,” he said. “Their literature is composed in every discipline: mathematics, anthropology, medicine, philosophy. A lot of scientific knowledge in the Sanskrit text has yet to be communicated to the contemporary community of scholars.” “Hopefully, with this graduate program, we’ll be able to integrate more with other departments,” Scharf said. Fitzgerald linked the development of these new programs to University administrators’ growing interest in directing internationalization efforts towards Asia, as evidenced by the 2009-10 Year of India. “The University administration wants us to think globally and they have been offering a more global perspective in all the departments,” said Professor of Religious Studies Susan Harvey. “For many decades, doctoral work in religious studies at Brown has been dominated by the Western religious traditions,” she added. “We are very glad and absolutely thrilled that we now have a program focused specifically on Asian religious traditions. … We have wanted it for a long time.”

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Metro The Brown Daily Herald

“There are people to whom having a beer or margarita with their burrito rounds up their experience.” — Chris Arnold, Chipotle PR director Thursday, September 9, 2010 | Page 5

DJ Pauly D returns home after ‘Jersey Shore’ wrap continued from page 1

on the road for the rest of the year, Schweiger said. On Dec. 3, the star will appear at a sweet 16 celebration in Providence, one of only three private appearances he will make this year. “He is committed to doing (the sweet 16) because it’s a local girl,” Schweiger said. “He figures he owes it to the Providence kids.”

But DJ Pauly D is not giving away favors. The cost of an appearance is “bigger than the breadbox. … It’s got a few zeros in there,” Schweiger said, though he declined to give the exact figure. As of Feb. 1 this year, the minimum booking fee for the star for one night stood at $10,000. — With additional repor ting by Julien Ouellet

Block Island wind farm closer to construction By Bradley Silverman Staff Writer

Only months ago, Rhode Island’s bid to build the nation’s first offshore wind farm seemed dead in the water. The state’s Public Utilities Commission this spring rejected a proposed pricing agreement between Deepwater Wind — the project’s developer — and a power distributor, in part due to lobbying by the Energy Council of Rhode Island, whose membership includes Brown. Despite continuing legal obstacles, the project moved one step closer to fruition. Since the commission ruled against the project in April, both houses of the General Assembly — with the support of Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 — have passed legislation to put the project before the commission for a second review. Many legislators argued that the project would put Rhode Island on a path to energy independence and prove a long-term financial boon to the state. Some, however, expressed concern that the legislation would place an onerous burden on taxpayers to the benefit of a single entity — Deepwater Wind. Last month, the commission voted 2–1 to approve the project, paving the way for the construction of an eight-turbine wind farm off the coast of Block Island. The project could eventually be expanded to include 106 additional turbines. One factor in the proposal’s rejection last spring was opposition from the Energy Council of Rhode Island, a lobbying consortium representing 30 of the state’s largest energy users, including the University. Chris Powell, Brown’s director of sustainable

energy and environmental initiatives, is a member of the group’s board. Powell described the University’s position on the Deepwater Wind project as “officially neutral,” stressing that although the energy consortium represents Brown, it does not necessarily reflect the University’s thinking on the matter. “We’re one member,” Powell said. “We can make our comments known, but at the end of the day, it is a democratic organization.” Powell added that his council membership has not influenced Brown’s thinking on the matter. The proposal was initially rejected because the pricing agreement between National Grid — a power distributor — and Deepwater Wind would have charged more for wind power than the prevailing rate for other sources. The proposal included an initial price of 24.4 cents per kilowatthour, with a 3.5 percent increase over each year of the 20-year agreement. The average wholesale price paid for other sources of energy, meanwhile, is 7.8 cents per kilowatt-hour. Total additional costs to consumers could eventually rise to $500 million. According to Amy Kempe, the governor’s press secretary, the legislature made changes to the proposal to make it more palatable to the commission. The revised proposal allows any future energy savings from the project to be returned to consumers as rate decreases, she said. In addition, the recently approved deal emphasizes what she called the “economic development and environmental” benefits of the proposal. She added that the governor would continued on page 6

Katie Wilson / Herald file photo

A banner announced Chipotle’s imminent arrival to the Thayer scene.

Chipotle clears licensing hurdle By Leonardo Moauro Staff Writer

The soon-to-be Chipotle location on Thayer is set to open after concerns regarding the terms of its liquor license were resolved. The Mexican-style eatery had originally requested a full liquor license from the city Board of Licenses, said Allison Spooner, president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association. Such a license would have allowed the restaurant to sell hard alcohol and beer and to stay open until 2 a.m., much like other bars on Thayer Street. Instead, the restaurant will serve only beer and margaritas, and only until 10 p.m. The neighborhood association filed an official complaint at the hearing for the license on Aug. 11. “We opposed the full liquor license” as well as “the 2 a.m. closing,” Spooner said. “With Chipotle, none of their (other) restaurants are open past eleven o’clock,” she added. “We didn’t see why they needed to make an exception for Thayer Street.” Brown also opposed the initial

liquor license terms, said Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations. “We sent a letter of objection when we heard that it was a 2 a.m. closing and a full liquor license,” she said. “It was really a combination of those two things.” But the restaurant’s intentions are not to serve as another Thayer Street bar location, said Chris Arnold, public relations director for the company. The interior “won’t even have a bar,” he said. Arnold indicated that the city can grant two types of liquor license: a full one, and a lesser one that would permit them to serve only beer and wine. “We applied for the full liquor license because that’s what we need to serve margaritas, but we’re not a bar,” he said. “There are people to whom having a beer or margarita with their burrito rounds up their experience, which is why we do it,” Arnold added. Chipotle locations in general — as well as this Chipotle — stay open no later than 10 p.m., Arnold said, so the 2 a.m. closing time permit-

ted by the license would make no difference. Chipotle specified its intentions to the Providence Board of Licenses “about a week and a half after the hearing,” Spooner said. The Board then granted Chipotle a restricted liquor license — permitting the sale of beer and margaritas only — after the University withdrew its objection. “People’s opposition is understandable when they see a liquor license filing without understanding the nature of the business,” Arnold said. “It seems like a kind of restaurant that many students would like,” Quinn said. “It adds to the diversity of the establishments on Thayer Street.” The restaurant would have opened regardless of whether it had obtained a liquor license, Arnold said. “Alcohol amounts to between 1 and 2 percent of our sales, so in many cases it’s not profitable,” he said. As for the opening date, “it is too far off to have a date but some time in the fourth quarter” of the year, Arnold said.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, September 9, 2010

“You start negotiations by talking.” — David Gannon, chief executor of the Unfiltered Lens

Local collegiate newspaper avoids office eviction Wind farm still faces roadblocks

By Caitlin Trujillo Senior Staff Writer

A local college’s newspaper is back in its office this month after clashing with the president of the student body and finding itself locked out of its publication room. The Unfiltered Lens, the Community College of Rhode Island’s student-run newspaper, lost access to its publication room in the Knight Campus student union building in late July. David Gannon, the paper’s chief executor, said the path to regaining its headquarters proved rocky amid negotiation failures and allegations that student government president Manna Muhuri solicited a bribe in the form of favorable coverage for the return of office privileges. Muhuri — who did not respond to multiple requests for comment — has denied the allegations of bribery, according to media reports. Gannon said the debacle came after Muhuri dismissed him as vice president of student government — along with the rest of his cabinet — in June, and Gannon filed a complaint alleging that the move violated the student government’s constitution. The controversy began in late July, Gannon said, when notes were posted on the Student Union office doors saying new locks would be installed on August 6. Several days prior to the stated date, the staff found itself locked out. Gannon said the security office mistakenly changed the locks early because they did not have access to any of the clubs’ schedules. The lock change request came

continued from page 5

Courtesy of Catherine Plante

The Unfiltered Lens’s publication room was recently under threat.

from CCRI Associate Vice President for Student Services Ronald Schertz, who said the step was taken as a security measure because several sets of keys to the old locks were missing. Other student groups were affected by the lock change as well. Gannon submitted a form to obtain new keys for himself and the other editorial board members, he said. But soon after turning the form in to Schertz’s secretary, Gannon was called into the vice president’s office and told that Muhuri objected to the request. According to Schertz and Gannon, Muhuri initially framed the problem as one of space allocation. “Space in student areas — not just on this campus but on the other campuses, too — is very limited,” Schertz said. Rarely do clubs want the administration to allo-

cate that space, he added, so the job often falls to the student government. Gannon agreed to meet with Schertz and Muhuri to discuss the matter, but said Muhuri later approached him and offered to relent on the issue if the paper gave him positive press. “Obviously that’s quid pro quo right there,” Gannon said. He added that if the issue was over space allocation, Muhuri failed to make that clear to the Unfiltered Lens from the beginning. “You start negotiations by talking,” Gannon said. “You don’t start by taking action first.” Schertz set up a meeting with Muhuri, Gannon and the paper’s adviser Steve Forleo to further discuss the matter. Gannon said Muhuri expressed concern that locating the

Unfiltered Lens’ publication office — they also have a separate editorial office outside of the student union — near the student government’s headquarters would promote eavesdropping by reporters. Gannon said Muhuri then shut down suggestions to relocate the paper’s office, and the meeting reached a stalemate with Gannon walking out. At a later meeting, Muhuri relented and said the paper could keep its office. But, Gannon alleged, Muhuri still requested that the paper not report negatively on him. Gannon said he offered Muhuri no promises. Gannon said the Unfiltered Lens, which is three years old, has reported minimally on the student government in the past. The president before Muhuri, Jim Brady, is also the paper’s interim editor-in-chief. Brady wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that he gave up his writing duties when elected last year. For now, the paper is back in its publication office. New security policy only allows one person to have key access to the room.

continue to support the project for several reasons, including its economic development potential, positive environmental impact and his desire to reduce Rhode Island’s dependence on foreign and nonrenewable sources of energy. Although the proposal has moved forward, it still stands on shaky ground. Several legal obstacles still stand in the project’s way — Attorney General Patrick Lynch ’87 has appealed the commission’s ruling to the state Supreme Court, calling it “outrageously bad.” The Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental group, has filed a separate appeal to block the project. Toray Plastics America and Polytop Corp. — two large consumers of electricity concerned with the cost of wind energy — filed a third appeal jointly. In a press release, Lynch blasted the proposal as a “sweetheart deal” for Deepwater Wind that will “force (Rhode Islanders) to buy overpriced electricity for the next 20 years in order to subsidize one company” without creating jobs. Lynch also said that the deal would benefit Deepwater Wind “at the expense of hardworking Rhode Islanders, our state’s business community and sustainable economic development.” Kempe said that Lynch’s opposition to the Deepwater Wind deal was political in nature, but that she could not understand why the Conservation Law Foundation would challenge the project, given what she described as the deal’s environmental advantages. “It’s disappointing,” she said.

SportsThursday The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, September 9, 2010 | Page 7

W. Soccer

Squad wins Dartmouth tournament in opening weekend

By Madeleine Wenstrup Contributing Writer

The graduation of eight former players did not faze the women’s soccer team during the opening weekend of the season. After a onegoal loss to Northeastern (3-2) on Friday, the Bears (1-1) came back to dominate Colgate (1-4) on Sunday and took the Dartmouth Nike Classic Title. In the points-based tournament in Hanover, N.H., the team earned enough to secure the tournament title. The win was particularly important in light of the changing team dynamic. Ten freshmen joined the squad, making over half the team underclassmen. “The two games gave us a chance to learn about and play with each other,” said Gina Walker ’11. Northeastern 1, Brown 0 On Friday, Eliza Marshall ’13 helped her team come out strong in the first half, recording Bruno’s first three shots. But a goal by Northeastern’s Veronica Napoli in the middle of the first half would determine the game.

Despite the Huskies’ goal, Brown continued to attack, firing off five shots in the last 17 minutes of the first period, none of which found the back of the net. In the second half, Bruno again out-shot Northeastern, 6-4, but could not find a way past the Huskies’ goalkeeper Michelle Sopko, who kept Friday’s final score at 1-0. In the first game of the season, seven freshmen made their debuts in collegiate soccer, including goalkeepers MC Barrett ’13 and Amber Bledsoe ’13, who together blocked four of the Huskies’ shots on goal. Working with new players and new strategies, Friday’s game was a time for “getting all the kinks out,” said for ward Erika Lum ’11. Brown 3, Colgate 0 The kinks were certainly gone by Sunday afternoon, as Lum scored just minutes into the game for the first Brown goal of the year. In the second half, Mar ybeth Lesbirel ’12 assisted on Bruno’s second and third goals, setting up Lum and Walker, respectively. As a team, the Bears excelled offensively, with 12 shots on goal

compared to Colgate’s five. On defense, the team prevented any shots on goal in the entire second half. In the tour nament-winning game, Head Coach Phil Pincince played all 22 members of the traveling team and said he was excited that the freshmen had “gotten their feet wet.” The tournament win was “pretty rewarding for the new members,” Pincince said. In addition to the team’s title, individual players were fur ther honored. Lum, Walker and Allison Kagawa ’12 were named to the AllTournament Team and Lum was also named offensive MVP. Players said the newly constructed team played well together. “The progress we made this weekend was a great starting point for the season,” Walker said. “I believe we have a lot of potential this year.” The Bears continued to test their new team dynamic Wednesday night, as they faced No. 5 Boston College in an away game. Bruno returns to Providence to host its first home game on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Monmouth.

Jesse Morgan / Herald file photo

Sylvia Stone ’11, who was tied for third place on the team last year in points, is one of the returners to this year’s team.

Page 8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

S ports T hursday

Thursday, September 9, 2010

“Our conference is as deep as it has ever been.” — Felix Mercado, men’s water polo head coach

M. Water Polo

After successful invite, Bruno looks ahead to tough schedule BY Garret Johnson Contributing Writer

The men’s water polo team still has plenty more games to play, but it is confident following two wins at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Invitational on Saturday. Led by Svetozar Stefanovic ’13, who returns after a standout freshman year, the Bears (2-0) handed Cal Lutheran (04) an 11-6 defeat and beat the Boston Metro Elite club team 11-7. Head Coach Felix Mercado said he was pleased to begin the season undefeated, but the team is “nowhere

near where we need to be.” Mercado said the team’s conditioning is its major weakness thus far. “Some of the guys are not in 100 percent shape,” Mercado said. He said his expectations were not too high for the first games of the year, but he was pleased that the team was “tactically solid.” Stefanovic, in an e-mail to The Herald, echoed the feelings of his coach, noting that the team “played well” but is “not in shape yet.” Stefanovic scored six goals at the MIT tournament but was still not completely satisfied with the results, writing that Bruno

“should have won by more goals.” The Bears come away from MIT with a vital momentum that will play a role in the difficult remaining schedule, Mercado said. “Week in and week out, we are going to be playing tough competition,” he said. “Our conference is as deep as it has ever been.” The coach mentioned the “usual suspects” as contenders in the Collegiate Water Polo Association East Region: Princeton, Navy and Johns Hopkins. But the looming giant may be St. Francis College, ranked No. 1 in the CWPA Northern Division,

whom the Bears will face on Sept. 25. If Brown defeats St. Francis and other premier squads, it will have to be with the help of underclassmen. Over half of Mercado’s players are freshmen or sophomores. But Mercado said youth was a bigger obstacle last year, as the sophomores have now played a full season together. And the upperclassmen on the team are “setting a good example” for the newest members, Mercado said. Stefanovic wrote that he is pleased with his freshman teammates thus far. “At MIT they showed that they

Field Hockey

Team drops two in season-opening tournament The field hockey team (0-2) traveled to the University of Iowa early this week for a pair of hard-fought games. The Bears were edged 1-0 by Miami (Ohio) (5-0) and fell to No. 19 Iowa 5-0.

that game.” Kessler’s seven-save per formance highlighted a strong defensive effort for the Bears, who continue to sharpen their skills for Ivy League competition. “It was a battle, and both teams were racing hard to every ball and laying everything out,” Zysk said.

Miami (Ohio) 1, Brown 0 In the first game, the Bears scrapped and clawed their way through a tough defensive battle, but they were nicked by a single goal in their ef for t against the Miami (Ohio) Redhawks. Captain Tacy Zysk ’11 was quick to cite goalie Lauren Kessler ’12 as an integral part of the Bears’ ability to keep the game close. “She saved everything a (Division I) goalie ought to, and then some,” Zysk wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “She was the MVP of

University of Iowa 5, Brown 0 In the second game, the Bears faced a tough challenge against the nationally ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. The matchup was made even more difficult by multiple Bear injuries. Starting midfielder Kelley Harrison ’13 suffered an ankle sprain in warmups and players such as last year’s leading scorer, Leslie Springmeyer ’12, played limited minutes due to injury. But the team refused to use the injuries as justification for the poor result.

BY Sam Sheehan Contributing Writer

Jonathan Bateman / Herald

Tacy Zysk ’11 and the field hockey team fell short in last weekend’s visit to the University of Iowa.

“No team is built around any single player, and we won’t acquiesce to the excuse ‘we had injured starters’ because our team is the deepest it’s been in years,” Zysk wrote. “We are going to watch video, figure out

what broke down, and fix it.” The Bears will face Monmouth on Saturday in the last game of their opening road trip. Bruno then takes on Columbia in its home opener on Sept. 18.

have great potential and that they are an important part of the team,” he wrote. Both Stefanovic and Mercado cited the promise of James McNamara ’14, a member of the USA Junior Olympic team. Mercado said he expects McNamara and other freshmen to “make an impact.” The Bears continue on to the Bucknell Invitational, which begins Friday evening. They will face Diablo Valley College, the University of Toronto, Bucknell, Penn State at Behrend and Navy in a jam-packed weekend.

s p o rt s i n b r i e f

Runners on their mark for season The men’s and women’s cross country teams are eagerly preparing for a new year starting on Saturday, according to Director of Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Michelle Eisenreich. “The enthusiasm is amazing,” Eisenreich said. “Everybody is working hard at this point in the season, and may be even ready to step it up a notch.” Eisenreich, the longtime throwing coach, replaced former Head Coach Craig Lake after last season. The men hope to improve on last season’s results, when they placed fifth at the Ivy League Championships. NCAA Championships qualifier Christian Escareno ’11 is expected to lead the team, along with co-captains Matt Duffy ’12 and Chris Collins ’11. Co-captains Lauren Pischel ’11 and Caitlin Clark ’11 will lead the women’s squad. Past standouts Ari Garber ’12 and Megan Fitzpatrick ’11 are also returning. While only a few runners will travel to the Boston College Invitational this Saturday, the rest of the team will continue to prepare for the Iona Meet of Champions in New York a week later. Bruno will face its first big test of the year there, with hopes that its preseason work pays off. Brown hopes to find a new men’s distance coach this month, Eisenreich said, after Kevin Myles left the program to become Head Men’s Track Coach at Providence College. — James Blum, with additional reporting by Ben Noble

World & Nation The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, September 9, 2010 | Page 9

Researchers try to translate HIV treatment to humans Facebook By Rachel Bernstein Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Clad in a yellow gown, blue foot covers, hair net, face mask and latex gloves, Paula Cannon pushed open the door to the animal room. “I hate this smell,” she said, wrinkling her nose. The stink came from scores of little white mice scurrying about in cages. Some of the cages were marked with red biohazard signs, indicating mice that had been injected with HIV. Yet, in some of the animals — ones with a small genetic change — the virus never took hold. Like mouse, like man? Maybe so. In early 2007, a patient in Berlin needed a bone marrow transplant to treat his leukemia. He was also HIVpositive, and his doctor had an idea: Why not use the marrow from one of the rare individuals who are naturally resistant to HIV and try to eradicate both diseases at once? It worked. Sixty-one days after the patient’s transplant, his virus levels were undetectable, and they’ve stayed that way. Since news of the man’s cure broke, HIV patients have been telephoning doctors to ask for bone marrow transplants. But it’s not that simple. The treatment is too risky and impractical for widespread use. “A bone marrow transplant — it’s a horrible process you would not wish on your worst enemy unless they needed one to save their life,” said Cannon, a biology professor at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. There are grueling treatments to prepare a patient for transplant; the danger of rejecting the marrow; and the risk of graft-versus-host disease, wherein the marrow attacks the patient. And that’s assuming the patient can find a matching donor — a dif-

Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

A researcher inspects a mouse that will be infected with HIV for study at a medical research lab at the USC Medical School.

ficult proposition in itself — with the right HIV-resistant genetic constitution, which is present in only about 1 percent of the Caucasian population. But there could be another way. Instead of sifting through the sands for a rare donor and then subjecting a patient to the dangers of a bone marrow transplant, Cannon and her colleague Philip Gregory, chief scientific officer at the Richmond, Calif.-based biotech company Sangamo BioSciences, began to think: They could use gene therapy instead, to tweak a patient’s own cells to resistance — and recovery. The mouse “cure,” they say, suggests they’re on the right track. Cannon and other HIV researchers insist that, despite cancers and deaths associated with past gene therapy trials, it’s the right way to target the disease. They cite recent successes, including treatments that cured children with the “bubble boy” syndrome and helped blind children regain their vision.

“I don’t think anyone would want to do gene therapy if there were an alternative,” said California Institute of Technology biologist David Baltimore, one of the many L.A.-based researchers pursuing gene therapy strategies to prevent or cure HIV. “I think it’s absolutely necessary. Nothing else will work.” Since AIDS emerged in the early 1980s, development of anti-HIV medications has turned the disease from a virtual death sentence into a chronic, manageable condition. But the clamor for a cure hasn’t quieted. Vaccine trials have failed; drugresistant strains are on the rise; and the meds, which can have uncomfortable side effects such as fatigue, nausea and redistribution of body fat that creates a so-called buffalo hump, cost about $20,000 a year. A bone marrow transplant is about five times as expensive, but it would have to be done only once. The question was, could research-

ers create bone marrow stem cells that — just like the marrow the Berlin patient received — lack the crucial gene, CCR5, that normally lets HIV into the key immune cells it destroys? In 2006, Gregory asked Cannon if she was interested in testing whether a tool his company developed, called a zinc finger nuclease, could do the trick. Zinc finger nucleases are genetic scissors, cutting DNA at a specific site — say, in the middle of the CCR5 gene. When the cell glues the gene back together, it usually makes a mistake, resulting in a gene that no longer works. “It just jumped out at me as, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s actually something that could work,’ ” Cannon said. The team spent about a year optimizing the procedure for treating delicate stem cells with the CCR5 snippers. They tested the method using so-called humanized mice — ones engineered to have a human immune system — because HIV doesn’t infect normal mice. When stem cells were treated with the molecular scissors before being injected into mice, the resulting immune system lacked CCR5, exactly as the scientists had hoped. These mice acted just like the Berlin patient — they fought off the virus. Ready to make the leap from mouse to man, Gregory found a third leg for the team: researchers at City of Hope, who had extensive bone marrow transplant expertise. “They brought Paula’s data to us and we said, ‘Wow, this looks fantastic,’ “ said Dr. John Zaia, City of Hope’s deputy director for clinical research. Researchers there are now working toward clinical trials, optimizing every element of the treatment for safety, effectiveness and reproducibility.

California student sues over sorority hazing By Lisa M. Krieger San Jose Mercury News

SAN JOSE, Calif. — When honor student Courtney Howard pledged to join a sorority on San Jose State University, she sought the support of close-knit sisters in the school’s small African-American community. Instead, what she got was ritualized hazing that included a nearly month-long string of beatings, punching, kicking and paddling, according to a lawsuit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court this week — an episode that experts say is far too common among African-American Greek organizations. Howard, 20, has sued eight students, the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and the university, saying it failed to investigate and protect her from retaliation by sorority members after reporting the 2008 incident. She has since withdrawn from SJSU and transferred to the University of Southern California, saying she didn’t feel safe.

Four of the SJSU students — Princess Odom, Monique Hughes, Nicole Remble and Joslyn Beard — have already been convicted of misdemeanor hazing in criminal court, sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years’ probation. “There was physical violence,” said Howard’s attorney, Angela Reddock of Los Angeles. Howard is seeking unspecified damages. “Any number of steps could have been taken by the university to change her living situation and provide security, but that did not happen.” SJSU spokesman Larry Carr would not comment on the lawsuit, but he did say the university has suspended Sigma Gamma Rho until at least 2016 after concluding the chapter had violated anti-hazing regulations. The 87-year-old sorority was also suspended seven years ago following another hazing incident. Another African American sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, is suspended from SJSU. “We enforce a very strict no-

hazing policy. We do proper investigations and take complaints very seriously,” said Carr. “We want to make sure our students feel that San Jose State is a safe place to be.” Pledging is an important ritual for young people seeking to join Greek life. In identical outfits, learning poems and history, students pledge for a number of weeks and those who stick with it “cross over” into membership. Many make life-long friends and create strong bonds to their new organization. But during the process, there can be a dark side, called “hazing”: physical and emotional challenges that may result in injury, even death. To reduce risk, Greek organizations and universities have shortened the pledge period and banned hazing. On that late September week in 2008, the SJSU hazing resembled a gang initiation rite. Howard — a B-plus student, athlete and YMCA counselor — said that when she was invited to join the sorority, she was told that the sorority

did not haze its pledges. Sorority sisters threatened Howard that “snitches get stitches,” borrowing a gangster phrase, Howard alleges. During one “pledge meeting,” they warned Howard not to drop out, saying she would be “jumped out” with a beating, like being “jumped into” a gang. In one instance, Howard said she and two other pledges were blindfolded and taken to Odom’s San Jose backyard, where they were sprayed with a hose. In another, they were hit on their hands and knuckles with a wooden spoon. Later they were slammed into walls, hit with a kitchen pot and punched in the stomach. Howard alleges that the repeated assaults in up to 16 pledge meetings caused welts, large bruises and a knee injury, forcing her to seek medical care. Another pledge, Jade Atkins, was knocked unconscious when she fell and hit her head on a wooden floor — but was simply taken to the shower to awaken, according to the complaint.

juror gets homework By Christina Hall Detroit Free Press

DETROIT — A Warren, Mich., juror was fined $250 and ordered to write a five-page essay on the Sixth Amendment after a Macomb County judge found her in contempt of court for declaring a defendant guilty on Facebook before the trial ended. Hadley Jons, 20, has to pay the fine and write the essay on a defendant’s right to a jury trial by Oct. 1, Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski ordered Thursday. If Jons complies, the civil contempt will be purged. Jons told the judge she was “very sorry.” She did not comment after the hearing. “I think it’s an appropriate resolution,” said her attorney, John C. Giancotti. The case has some in the legal world thinking that judges, in general, need to specify social media sites to jurors when giving jury instructions in this ever-changing tech world. “(Jurors) need to be told so clearly, so adamantly so it hits home and creates a picture. Maybe the penalty that occurred in this case and the public exposure will be helpful,” said Bay County Circuit Judge Bill Caprathe, chairman of the State Bar of Michigan’s criminal jury instruction committee. Saleema Goodman Sheikh, who represented the defendant in the resisting arrest trial in which Jons was a juror, said that she is satisfied with Druzinski’s decision, but “would have liked to have seen some jail time.” Before the prosecution finished its case last month, Jons wrote on her Facebook page that it was “gonna be fun to tell the defendant they’re GUILTY.” Goodman Sheikh’s 17-yearold son, Jaxon Goodman, who is clerking for his mother, discovered the post during a court break. Druzinski had Jons removed. “Who would think to have a predetermined verdict,” Goodman said after Jons’ hearing Thursday. Goodman Sheikh said that two of the 12 jurors had Facebook pages and that the other juror had not logged on since the trial began. She said that she hopes the Jons’ case will “make a difference to other jurors.” Although she said that Druzinski specifically mentioned Facebook, MySpace and Google to the jury, Goodman Sheikh agrees that jury instructions in general may have to explicitly mention social media sites. The Michigan Supreme Court adopted a rule that took effect in 2009 that states courts are to instruct jurors not to discuss the case or read or listen to news reports about the case. Jurors also are not to use computers, cell phones or other electronic devices with communication capabilities at the trial or in deliberations or to use these devices to “obtain or disclose information about the case when they are not in court.”

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Thursday, September 9, 2010

l e t t e r to t h e e d i to r

Column skews sweatshop position To the Editor: Hunter Fast’s ’12 column (“Sweatshops and you: a practical analysis,” Sept. 7) misrepresents the position advocated by the global anti-sweatshop movement, of which the Brown Student Labor Alliance is a part. Workers in factories throughout the “developing” world are organizing and fighting for fairer treatment from corporations. As anti-sweatshop activists, our goal is to stand with them in their fight. Brown SLA has never advocated contract cuts from companies that engage in unfair labor practices solely to distance our University from these practices, but rather as a tool to hold corporations accountable for global abuses. This targeted and strategic leveraging of university apparel contracts has led to tangible victories in the past two years. When Russell Athletic illegally shuttered two garment factories in Honduras in response to unionization there, a campaign of contract cuts at U.S. universities forced the company to reopen those factories and respect workers’ rights to organize. When Nike refused to pay 1,700 displaced Honduran garment workers their legally-mandated severance pay, Brown’s contract cut, along with Cornell’s and the University of Wisconsin’s, motivated Nike to settle with the workers’ union. Nike conceded

wholly to the workers’ demands in an unprecedented recognition of responsibility for labor rights abuses in its global supply chain. These examples show that, despite Fast’s claims, alternatives to labor abuses do exist, and an alliance between students and workers globally has power to enact those alternatives. Furthermore, we fundamentally take issue with the assertion that sweatshops are beneficial to “developing” countries in general. Contrary to the false binary guiding this column, the existing debate is not between sweatshop jobs and no jobs, but between sweatshop jobs and jobs at which human rights are respected. Such jobs do exist, such as at the new Knights Alta Gracia unionized garment factory in the Dominican Republic, where workers are paid a living wage. Providing University business for such factories can uplift labor standards globally. These examples show that students acting in solidarity with workers organizing globally can transform current sweatshop jobs. Our goal is not to close sweatshops, but rather to ensure that workers there have a right to organize and fight for better conditions. Kate Hadley ’12.5, Haley Kossek ’13, Julian Park ’12, Ian Trupin ’13, Becca Rast ’13 Sept. 7

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

Managing Editor Chaz Kelsh

George Miller

Deputy Managing Editors Emmy Liss Joanna Wohlmuth

editorial Anne Speyer Suzannah Weiss Sara Luxenberg Brian Mastroianni Brigitta Greene Ben Schreckinger Sydney Ember Zack Bahr Tony Bakshi Ashley McDonnell Erika Mueller

Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Features Editor Metro Editor Metro Editor News Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor

Graphics & Photos Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Graphics Editor Alex Yuly Photo Editor Stephanie London Photo Editor Max Monn Photo Editor Hilary Rosenthal Sports Photo Editor Jonathan Bateman Asst. Sports Photo Editor Jesse Morgan Production Copy Desk Chief Kelly Mallahan Design Editor Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Gili Kliger Asst. Design Editor Katie Wilson Web Editor Neal Poole Post- magazine Editor-in-Chief Sam Carter Editor-in-Chief Kate Doyle Editor-in-Chief Marshall Katheder

Senior Editors Ben Hyman Seth Motel

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Claire Kiely Katie Koh Directors Sales Kelly Wess Finance Matthew Burrows Client Relations Margaret Watson Alumni Relations Christiana Stephenson Managers Local Sales Arjun Vaidya National Sales Marco deLeon University Sales Aditi Bhatia University Sales Jared Davis Recruiter Sales Trenten Nelson-Rivers Maximilian Barrows Business Operations Business Analytics Jilyn Chao Credit and Collections Danielle Marshak Special Projects Alexander Carrere Staff Kathy Bui Opinions Opinions Editor Michael Fitzpatrick Opinions Editor Alyssa Ratledge Editorial Page Board Matt Aks Editorial Page Editor Anita Mathews Board member Tyler Rosenbaum Board member Melissa Shube Board member Gaurie Tilak Board member

Julien Ouellet, Katie Wilson, Designers Tiffany Hsu, Carmen Shulman, Dan Towne, Copy Editors Ana Alvarez, Kristina Fazzalaro, Sara Luxenberg, Ben Schreckinger, Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Ana Alvarez, Ashley Aydin, Rebecca Ballhaus, Alexander Bell, Nicole Boucher, Fei Cai, Alicia Chen, Kristina Fazzalaro, Sarah Mancone, Claire Peracchio, Lindor Qunaj, Mark Raymond, Luisa Robledo, Caitlin Trujillo, Alexander Ulmer Staff Writers Anna Andreeva, Anne Artley, Shara Azad, Casey Bleho, Sofia Castello, Amy Chen, Sarah Forman, Miriam Furst, Max Godnick, Thomas Jarus, Sarah Julian, Julia Kim, Emily Rosen, Bradley Silverman, Qian Yin Senior Sales Executives Katie Galvin, Liana Nisimova, Isha Gulati, Samantha Wong Sales Associates Roshni Assomull, Brady Caspar, Anna Cook, Siena deLisser, Begum Ersan, Tommy Fink, Ryan Fleming, Evan Gill, Rajiv Iyengar, Debbie Lai, Jason Lee, Katie Lynch, Sean Maroongroge, Zahra Merchant, Edjola Ruci, Webber Xu Senior Finance Associates Jason Beckman, Lauren Bosso, Mae Cadao, Margot Grinberg, Sajjad Hasan, Adam Fern Finance Associates Lisa Berlin, Mahima Chawla, Mark Hu, Jason Lee, Nicholas Robbins, Daniel Slutsky, Emily Zheng Design Staff Caleigh Forbes, Jessica Kirschner, Leor Shtull-Leber Web Staff Andrew Chen, Warren Jin, Claire Kwong, Michael Marttila, Ethan Richman, Adam Zethraeus Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit Copy Editors Nicole Boucher, Zoe Chaves, Greg Conyers, Claire Gianotti, Aida Haile-Mariam, Victoria Hartman, Tiffany Hsu, Christine Joyce, Mrinal Kapoor, Abby Kerson, Matthew Lim, Sara Luxenberg, Alexandra McFarlane, Joe Milner, Rajan Mittal, Lindor Qunaj, Kate-Lyn Scott, Carmen Shulman, Rebecca Specking, Dan Towne, Carolina Veltri

A le x Y uly

e d i to r i a l

The private network We’ve all been warned countless times: Everything we post on Facebook can and will be used against us. Internet privacy is almost an oxymoron these days, as companies track our online purchases and distant acquaintances browse our pictures. Most people seem to feel that the responsibility to keep a respectable and private Facebook profile lies entirely with users. Brown Computer Information Services even has a webpage which advises, “That embarrassing photo from last weekend’s bash or list of crudely-stated interests could tarnish your reputation with a promising love interest, your professor or alum/future employer.” However, lawmakers in Germany are questioning the notion that all online content is fundamentally public information. A proposed law would make it illegal for companies to use Facebook in evaluating job applicants. This provision is part of a broader workplace privacy bill that would also forbid secret video sur veillance of employees and set conditions for employers who want to eavesdrop on workers’ e-mails and phone calls. Under the proposed legislation, employers could still consider publicly accessible information from search engines or career networking sites. But firms will not be permitted to base hiring decisions on content from websites that are used exclusively for social networking. If the bill becomes law, the result will be that job applicants are no longer entirely responsible for an inappropriate wall post or a failure to untag an embarrassing photo. As many have pointed out, the online privacy aspect of the proposed law seems difficult to enforce, as employers may simply not mention that they check Facebook. But it’s not totally unheard of for an act of explicit Facebook-stalking to impact

peoples’ careers. According to a recent New York Times Magazine article, a 25-year-old aspiring teacher named Stacy Snyder was denied her degree from the Millersville School of Education because a picture on her Facebook profile appeared to promote drinking. Snyder’s difficulties began when a super visor at the public high school where she was training looked up her profile. While some would probably say Snyder should have monitored the content of her Facebook page a little more carefully, we think the possibility of an online sphere of privacy must be considered. That’s why we find the proposed German law so intriguing. It begins to push back against the idea that one’s Facebook or MySpace profile is an inherently public venue. While much of the responsibility to safeguard information still lies with site users, we hope society begins to recognize that an instance of lacking online discretion shouldn’t ruin people’s lives. Right now, policymakers in the United States are rightfully more concerned with putting people back to work than protecting a worker’s right to post drunken photos online. But as social networking becomes more and more integrated into our lives, many of the privacy issues it raises must be addressed. Since sites like Facebook are still relatively new, we fear that many controversies are still yet to be unearthed. Members of our generation are pioneers in the digital age, and it’s up to us to approach these important questions realistically and fairly.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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

Thursday, September 9, 2010 | Page 11

David Bowie loves Brown BY MIKE JOHNSON Opinions Columnist As the class of 2014 walked through the Van Wickle Gates, tanned on the Main Green and emerged convocated, the rest of us settled into our dorm rooms and picked out the classes we’ll take. But this isn’t last semester’s Brown — widespread changes are already taking hold. The new Campus Center in Faunce is exciting, overly modern and ready to provide an alternative to the Ratty lunches I for one missed so much during the summer vacation. Metcalf Chemistry Laboratory is undergoing a massive change, as construction workers rip it apart so it can emerge later a beautiful, grant-attracting butterfly. Traffic on Thayer Street notwithstanding, this is a long time coming, though I do feel that the repaired steps that were put in last semester seem a superfluous expense, in retrospect. There was also a more subtle — and more insidious — change to every campus eatery and event from now until politics change again: no more bottled water. That’s right. No longer can the elitists buy Fiji; no more can the shallow-pocketed buy Crystal Geyser; the end has come even for the questionably named “Brown water” that made an appearance at many campus events in the past. The “Beyond the Bottle” campaign has made significant headway against the culture of single-use plastic in our beverage

selection, and the administration at Brown agrees — bottled water is bad. The plastic will give you cancer, the water usually just comes from the tap (oh no!) and everyone just throws empty bottles into the trash can rather than recycling them. Therefore, bottled water will slowly be replaced. This has already begun, as the Gate has eschewed bottled water in favor of a “Water Station” located near where they hide the napkins. To me, “Water Station” is just a fancy name for “water fountain” and

teeth. Even the not-so-lazy ones who buy a reusable bottle could be lazy enough not to wash it for a week or two, and could cook up some crazy bacteria like staph or strep that could infect themselves and others. Proponents claim that “Beyond the Bottle” will help Brown to become truly sustainable. This is particularly important in the case of siege or nuclear fallout, since we’ll be entirely cut off from the vestiges of civilization and would have to fend for ourselves — though ironically, in the worst-case scenario,

Proponents claim that “Beyond the Bottle” will help Brown to become truly sustainable. This is particularly important in the case of siege or nuclear fallout. is a fairly flimsy attempt to take a technology everyone knows and make it sound cutting-edge and new wave. Might I instead suggest “Hydration Station”? It sounds like something Major Tom would use, while the melodic rhyme satisfies those of us with sensitive ears. In all seriousness, though, what will this actually change? Lazy college students will simply buy other items that come in plastic bottles, such as energy drinks, juice or soda, slowly fattening themselves on high sugar content and going into debt to pay dentists to care for rotting

necessitating true sustainability, the water tables would be polluted and all we would be able to drink would be bottled water. In the long run, reducing our dependency on bottled products is better for the environment. Exhaust from delivery trucks, garbage from thrown-away bottles and the pollution from factories manufacturing them all take a toll on our increasingly fragile environment. I suppose my relationship with bottled water could deal with a drawdown in forces, despite my determination to recycle every bottle I use. But I don’t see how this could improve

sustainability overall, as it makes Brown an island of “Hydration Stations” in a sea of bottled water culture. Brown is not a closed system; every day there is some sort of event on campus, and some (including Commencement every May) draw thousands of visitors to College Hill. It would be ludicrous to assume that every one of these visitors is going to have a reusable bottle. So they encounter the “Hydration Station,” and what do they do with it? It would be like thousands of Ancyent Marineres wandering around Riming. That would just be silly, some may say — Brown would supply cups for them to use with the “Hydration Station.” But what kind of cups? Paper? Plastic? Gasp — Styrofoam? Of course these visitors wouldn’t be expected to carry their cups, on which they’ve written their names, around for the duration of their stays at Brown — they’d throw them away and get more whenever they were thirsty. Change is a huge buzzword right now, and everyone is trying to hop on the transformation bandwagon — even if it’s just change for change’s sake. Brown will be damned if it gets left behind. But it seems to me that we haven’t thought this through. Creating a bottled water-free utopia is shortsighted and infeasible, not to mention a dystopia for Brown visitors. While the intentions are admirable, perhaps Brown shouldn’t be so hasty to go “Beyond the Bottle.”

Mike Johnson ’11 gives a shoutout to “Sammy T” Coleridge.

The A/B/(N)Cs of Brown grading BY KURT WALTERS Opinions Columnist Is it just me, or does something seem stale at Brown? That fundamental Brunonian institution, the New Curriculum, turned forty years old last year and yet, even solidly into middle age, it has never had a systematic reevaluation. Most students have a vague allegiance to the system, mainly revolving around not having required classes and being able to take classes S/NC. We accept it as a part of Brown’s identity and assume that the original proposals from 1969 still have our best interests at heart. It’s ironic, then, that students passively accept the same New Curriculum that encourages them to be the active architects of their own educations. With A’s increasing to account for over fifty percent of grades in 2008, it is reasonable to take another look at our grading system. Next to our lack of requirements, Brown’s grading is probably its most distinctive feature, spawning the ever-annoying winter break question of “Oh, Brown? So you, like, don’t have grades, right?” Actually, that question might not be so far off base. The original GISP proposal for the New Curriculum recommended doing away with grades altogether, but worries about how graduate schools would react prompted them to keep grades — with several tweaks to them. Thus we have the option to take any class Satisfactory/No Credit. Even the more traditional A/B/C/NC option is not entirely conventional, setting itself apart by eschewing

pluses and minuses and not registering NC’s or dropped classes. Thus the only grades showing on our official transcripts are A’s, B’s, C’s or S’s. We are definitely different from other schools, but is this system still in our best interest? This grading system was a natural addition to the New Curriculum’s lack of distribution requirements, encouraging academic exploration and a broad course of study. The S/NC option permits students to stretch

getting a C? These are the perverse incentives this system unwittingly created. A student can elect to take a course S/NC if they know they are unlikely to receive an A in the class, hiding the grade from their transcript and their (unofficially calculated) GPA. If the student takes a class for a grade and is looking at a C going into the home stretch, many will counsel them to just drop the class or even throw the exam — better to pass only three classes than have a big ugly C on one’s

When passing a class and getting a C is considered worse than failing the course, we know there is a problem.

themselves into unfamiliar academic territory without worrying about how they will do. Similarly, I know I’m not the only person who has benefited from being able to take an extra class, knowing that I could always drop it without consequence if it became too much of a burden. Still, how many times have you heard a friend say, “Ugh, I got a B in that class. I knew I should have just taken it pass/fail,” or known of a friend who — realizing that an NC would not show up on her transcript — just dropped her chemistry class to avoid

transcript. This leaves us in an unreasonable new environment in which A’s are the only “good” grade and anything else represents a failure on some level. When passing a class and getting a C is considered worse than failing the course, we know there is a problem. While the Brown grading system was created to further academic exploration, it’s hard to deny that it now encourages laxity and perfectionism. Even if we like the system as it is, we should acknowledge its real outcomes today, rather than solely clinging to 40-year-

old rhetoric. I feel a few simple reforms could bring our grading system back down to earth. A requirement to complete at least the student portion of the course performance report (CPR) reflecting on one’s work in S/NC classes could help prevent the classes from being “slacker options.” We could also institute a deadline for the unrecorded drop, perhaps two-thirds of the way through the semester, allowing one time to know if an extra class is too much, but preventing the worst abuse. Last, either NC’s could be recorded or D’s could be added as a passing grade to make B’s and C’s more acceptable results. Most of all, we should recognize that sometimes it isn’t so bad to get our butt kicked by a class. The papers and classes in which I’ve gotten hammered have taught me far more than any “easy A” has. While being mindful of grad schools and future employment, I encourage students to view the occasional poor grade not as a sign of failure, but as a badge of pride for pushing themselves to their limits. Maybe a transcript full of A’s is less a mark of a “perfect student” and more that of a student who has played it safe, missing the ultimate Brunonian goals of pushing into truly unfamiliar territory and up to the limits of one’s capacities.

Kurt Walters ’11 is a philosophy, politics and economics concentrator from Charlottesville, Va. He may be contacted at kurt_ walters@brown.edu.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

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Wind farm in R.I. gains initial approval

Men’s Water Polo beats MIT twice

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to day

to m o r r o w

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Thursday, September 9, 2010

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

Today in Post- Magazine

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Post- gets down in PVD, slides all wet down Wriston, and walks in on you doing the dirty. post.browndailyherald.com

c a l e n da r Today, september 9

tomorrow, september 10

4:30 p.m. — Dealing With the Worst: Emerging lessons on adapting to climate change, MacMillan 115

4 P.M. — Friday Chemistry Colloquial, MacMillan 115

7 p.m. — Male Sexuality Workshop (MSex) Info Session, Wilson 103

5:30 p.m. — Opening Reception: “Pictures from the Hay: Celebrating the John Hay at 100” List

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch — Chicken and Lo Mein Noodle Stir Fry, Baked Vegan Nuggets, Hot Turkey Sandwich

Lunch — BBQ Beef Sandwich, Pasta Primavera, Zucchini & Summer Squash

Dinner — Creamy Parmesan Primavera, Chinese Fried Rice, Italian Vegetable Sautee

Dinner — Cajun Pasta Chicken, Vegan Paella, Baked Sweet Potatoes

comics Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

a c r o s s to b e a r ACROSS This Is Spinal Tap! by Natan Last `12 1 “Happiness ___ Warm Gun” 4 Card game with slapping 8 Hearty brews 14 Moon, Silver, and Mortar, in Pokémon: Abbr. 15 “I was the shadow of the waxwing slain / By the false azure in the window ___”: “Pale Fire” 16 Commotion 17 Fictional barbershop quartet on “The Simpsons” that breaks up when Barney starts dating a Japanese conceptual artist 19 Nitrogen and carbon dioxide 20 ___ mater 21 “Big up yaself” speaker 23 Turkish muck-amuck 24 Mrs. Huxtable, on “The Cosby Show” 26 Paul ___, onetime pseudonym of Paul McCartney (and the inspiration for Joey, 57 “Puppy Love” singer 8 Yoda said of him, 39 Ridiculous 2004 Johnny, and Dee “A true Knight, [he] Paul movie about an Dee’s band name) is. Forever on his intense phone call 28 Dobby or Galadriel 58 Dessert that means own quest” “frozen” in Italian 40 “Risk” armistice 30 Dorothy Gale’s 60 Fictional techno-pop 9 It merged with The 41 Like Shaft birthplace: Abbr. WB to form The band in “The Big 45 “Yeah, right!” 31 Treebeard, for one CW Lebowski” 46 Mario : coin :: 33 Johnston-to10 A Koch 63 Aleve alternative Donkey Kong : Providence dir. Snowflake’s is 64 Timmy or Jimmy, in a ___ 34 Kind of fighter, in finite, despite an 47 Comic book South Park episode “Star Wars” infinite perimeter about gangs asylum once 35 Med. diagnostic scan 11 “Nevermind” harboring the 36 “Desperate courage 65 Sister of Bob and 12 Subzero’s involved Anna in “Mom Joker, Poison Ivy, makes one a ___”: ripping out his and Dad Are the Riddler, and Andrew Jackson opponent’s spine Palindromes” Two-Face 38 Fictional cover band 13 ‘11ers 66 “I’m the king of a 48 Owner of Tweety on “The Office” house! And, what’s 18 Greeting for a Bird in “Looney that performed lolcat more, beyond that Tunes” “Roxanne” at 22 “That is to say...” 51 Make into law / I’m the king of a Phyllis’s wedding blueberry bush and a 25 A standard game 53 Key above Caps 41 It may be with or of beer pong cat!” speaker Lock without usually allows two 55 Agreement 67 “The ___,” Ryan’s 42 Cookie Monster 27 Some former nickname on “The 58 “You know how sound liberals, for short Office” I know you’re 43 Rose in the music 29 Palin portrayer, on 68 Adams of ___? You like business “S.N.L.” “Enchanted” Coldplay”: Paul 44 Alma mater for Drew 32 Soul singer Rudd Carey and members DOWN rhymed with Al 59 “Don’t Stop ___ of Devo 1 Noted line from Capone in The You Get Enough” 45 The Crossed Arnold in “Terminator Fugees’ “Ready or 61 NBA All-Star Harpoons, in 3” Not” Duncan “Moby-Dick,” or The 2 Noted line from 35 “Arrested 62 “Who’s down with Admiral Benbow, in Marlon in “A Development” ___? (Every last “Treasure Island” Streetcar Named episode about homie)” (Naughty 46 Suffix with d or flea Desire” spies by Nature lyric) 49 Broadband choice 3 Dude preferring the A 36 Mafia 50 Command to an of T&A 37 Word before click Solutions and attack dog 4 Health resort or shot, in drum 52 Lucky ___, Isaac archive online at 5 Golfer’s goal lingo Asimov hero 6 Not totally blogdailyherald.com 54 Athlete’s protection 7 Death ray inventor 38 Noted portion of Contact: “Mulholland Drive” 56 ___ sana in corpore played by Bowie in brownpuzzles or “Y Tu Mamá sano “The Prestige” @gmail.com También

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra & Brendan Hainline

The Adventures of Team Vag | Wendy Kwartin

Bat & Gaz | Sofia Ortiz