Thursday, March 17, 2011

Daily

Herald

the Brown

vol. cxlvi, no. 35

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Since 1891

After quake, At crossroads, reform Japan study rests in governor’s hands abroad in question

By Claire Peracchio City & State Editor

By Nicole Boucher News Editor

The unstable condition of nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant — about 160 miles outside Tokyo — could prevent six Brown students from attending programs at Keio, Sophia and Waseda Universities this semester.

“Several Tokyo universities have begun sending students and faculty home or telling students not to come to campus until the situation becomes clearer,” wrote Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron in an e-mail to The Herald. But the situation is still in flux, she wrote.

Keio University already announced its study abroad program will be postponed for about two weeks, said Jack Boeglin ’12, one of the students enrolled in the Keio program for the semester.

“If you are currently outside of Japan, please remain there,” Keio University program coordinators wrote in an e-mail to students yesterday. “If the situation in Japan does not improve, it will not be necessary for you to come to Japan right away.”

Boeglin said orientation originally scheduled for March 24 has continued on page 2

Sara Bohnsack MAT’11 leads a game of word jeopardy in a fifth-grade classroom at the Paul Cuffee School in Providence. “If I told you that you’d never have to do homework again, some of you might respond by doing this,” she reads from a clue.

Some of the students act out the correct vocabulary word — “cheer” — which a boy in the front row spells out loud.

The students wear navy and khaki uniforms befitting the school’s namesake, a black sea captain. They face a whiteboard, above which triangular college flags — Brown’s in-

e d u c at i o n i n c r i s i s

cluded — are posted as reminders of a college-bound future. Paul Cuffee’s student population is 89 percent minority and 77 percent below the poverty line. And when compared to neighboring Providence schools,

Putting Rhode Island’s public schools to the test Fifth in a five-part series the proportion of its students scoring proficient on standardized tests in math and reading is nearly 30 percent higher.

Only 2 percent of Rhode Island continued on page 7

Claire Peracchio / Herald

Roughly 50 percent of students at Central Falls High School graduate.

U. expands off-campus holdings BCA names

By Katherine Long Staff Writer

The University purchased another building downtown Monday for roughly $6 million, according to Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning. The property, which will house the Office of Continuing Education, is near the Medical Education Building and other University-owned buildings in the Jewelry District.

The search for a new building for the Office of Continuing Education started six months ago, when the department’s staff began to exceed its

available work space in the Graduate Center.

“Deciding to buy the building was an explorative process,” Spies said. “We were actively looking for a building, and the owner at the time was probing potential buyers. ... We met in the middle.”

The 41,000 square-foot building sits on more than two acres near land to be freed up by the relocation of I-195, which will conclude in 2012. University administrators expressed interest in acquiring some of the parcels formerly occupied by the highway in 2009, but butted heads with city officials over issues

of taxation.

The recently purchased property — at 198 Dyer St. — will be under non-educational use, and will function as a taxable commercial property.

The building’s acquisition was part of the University’s plan to grow into the city, Spies said. “We’ve had this ‘expand off College Hill’ goal now for a couple years, mainly for reasons of space,” he said. “The purchase of this building is part of an evolution of the campus, which hopefully will please everybody.”

Protestors aimed to “symbolically” open the gate, though no one would actually cross it.

But as Epstein marched, she heard gunshots. In her “American mindset,” she said she assumed they were warning shots before she realized demonstrators were being shot.

The blood was that of an Israeli boy, among the first to be injured. He had just finished serving his mandatory three years in the army.

Epstein visited the Palestinian West Bank four more times after that trip. She has also attempted to go to Gaza four times, though she has not yet been successful. Her parents were anti-Zionists, and though she said she did not fully understand the term as a child, she decided she was one too. She remembered being the only Jewish child in her neighborhood not continued on page 3

continued on page 6

continued on page 2

inside

news...................2-6 CITY & State.....7-9 editorial.............10 Opinions.............11

Whiskey Wednesday A new bar opens at former Fish Co. location. campus news, 6

Post-

takes a birthday shot, gets lucky for St. Pat’s post-, inside

weather

Stephanie London / Herald

Hedy Epstein (above), a Holocaust survivor, advocated for “equal rights” for both Israelis and Palestinians in a lecture last night during Israeli Apartheid Week.

Hedy Epstein had never seen so much blood.

“It was like when you turn your faucet on fully,” she said to an audience of about 60 last night in SmithBuonanno Hall.

Epstein, a Holocaust survivor and advocate for Palestine, discussed her experiences during the Holocaust and her visits to Palestine in a onehour speech followed by a heated question-and-answer session.

The blood Epstein described was the product of a demonstration she participated in during her first visit to Palestine. A group of demonstrators — which Epstein said consisted of “Palestinians, peace-loving Israelis and internationals” — were protesting a fence that blocked Palestinian farmers from reaching the fields.

By Miriam Furst Staff Writer

Das Racist, Lee Fields and the Expressions and Rebirth Brass Band will support headliners TV on the Radio and Diddy–Dirty Money at the 51st Spring Weekend.

Das Racist — a rap trio based in Brooklyn — will open for TV on the Radio Friday, bringing their “style and energy” to the Main Green, according to the Brown Concert Agency’s press release.

“Das Racist has been gaining a lot of popularity since last year,” said Serin Seckin ’11, BCA’s administrative chair. “MTV said they were one of the best new bands in the world.”

Lee Fields and the Expressions will “help get everyone in the mood” for Saturday’s shows, opening for Rebirth Brass Band and headliner Diddy-Dirty Money. A New Orleans “brass funk band,” Rebirth Brass Band will bring jazz music and “its rich mix of brass instruments and sound,” according to the press release.

But following the announcement, student reaction to the BCA’s choices varied.

“I’ve never heard of any of the supporting acts,” said Caroline Katzman ’13. “How does a soul artist and a jazz band get you in the mood for a rapper like Did-

Holocaust survivor calls for support of Palestine

By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer

full Spring Weekend lineup

t o d ay

tomorrow

59 / 44

63 / 36

2 Campus News calendar TodaY

March 17

4 P.m.

ToMORROW

March 18

7 p.m.

John Hay Centennial with Vartan

“The Famished,”

Gregorian, Sayles Hall

Granoff Center Studio 1

9 p.m.

8 p.m.

Brown Stand Up Comics,

Brown University Jazz Band

Macmillan 117

Concert, Grant Hall

menu SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEy-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH

Chicken Milanese, Spicy Collard Greens with Bacon, Vegan Tacos, Frost-Your-Own Cupcake

Buffalo Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese, Wisconsin Ziti with Four Cheeses, Frost-Your-Own-Cupcake

DINNER Grilled Rotisserie Chicken, Corned Beef Brisket, Colcannon Potatoes, Irish Soda Bread, Shamrock Cookies

Corned Beef Brisket, Vegetable Turnover with Cheese, Irish Soda Bread, Shamrock Cookies

Sudoku

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

UCS talks ROTC, hydration at meeting

By David Chung Senior Staff Writer

Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron spoke on behalf of the committee on the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at the Undergraduate Council of Students’ general body meeting last night.

The ROTC committee is seeking student opinions regarding the possible reinstatement of the program on campus before it approaches the faculty, Bergeron said. The committee has met with various special-interest groups on campus to discuss the is-

sue and recently sent out a survey to alums in an online newsletter. UCS will host a luncheon in the Faculty Club March 22 to facilitate dialogue among students, and a faculty forum on ROTC will be held April 13.

The Brown community has expressed strong opinions about the program, Bergeron said. Many students oppose its possible violation of the University’s non-discrimination policy, while others believe Brown should offer students the chance to serve in the military. Though “there isn’t a movement toward one outcome or the other,” the committee

hopes to reach “some form of closure” by May, she said.

Bergeron recently attended the Ivy Plus conference, during which deans from Ivy League universities, Stanford, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago discussed the status of ROTC programs on their respective campuses. MIT, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn and Princeton never eliminated their ROTC programs but are currently reviewing the terms on which they were established. Harcontinued on page 3

U. office moves into downtown building continued from page 1 It is the 15th University-owned building not located on College Hill, according to the University’s website.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to be sharing part of the knowledge district and to be contributing to the brightness of the city of Providence,” said Karen Sibley, dean of summer and continuing studies.

The building’s lone current tenant — the City of Providence — leases approximately 12,500 square feet in the building for its Department of Licensing and Standards, according

to yesterday’s Providence Journal.

But the city is planning on vacating the property as part of its own development plans, Spies said.

Though the University has no existing plans to lease the space to another tenant, “the question is on the table,” he said. “The Office of Continuing Education doesn’t need the entire building. … We’re still figuring it out.”

All 55 members of the Office of Continuing Education are expected to move into the building as soon as renovations finish next fall, according to Sibley.

Spies said the purchase has both

short- and long-term benefits. “The Office of Continuing Education needed more space, and it worked out that we were able to buy this building at a reasonable cost rather than renting another building. …

There’s also a substantive amount of parking, which provides revenue,” he said. It comes with 130 parking spaces, and increasing property values in the district provided another incentive.

The University purchased the property from Extell Providence LLC, a subsidiary of New York City-based Extell Development Corporation.

Tokyo study abroad status unclear

Crossword

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been moved to April 4. Students may also defer their study abroad plans until next semester.

“My hope is still to go, but, at the same time, I’m going to monitor the situation as closely as possible,” Boeglin said. “My study abroad experience is nowhere near as important as the health of the Japanese people,” he said.

The universities are closed until March 22, partly due to planned power outages in the city, according to postings on the colleges’ websites.

Fears of a reactor meltdown — a result of last Friday’s earthquake and tsunami — increased as radiation levels rose yesterday and workers left the plant. Officials are now working to install a new power line that would facilitate cooling of the reactors.

If the schools in Tokyo resume classes soon, the programs would likely end later in the summer to adjust for the later start date, Bergeron wrote. The University will also consider contingency plans if the schools do not open this semester.

“In other crisis situations, we have worked to identify alternative study abroad options for students or other ways to complete the semester,” she wrote.

Three students are currently studying abroad in Kyoto, which was not affected by the earthquake or tsunami. Their program does not have plans to close at this time, Bergeron wrote.

Campus News 3

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

Holocaust speaker calls for equal rights in Middle East continued from page 1 to belong to the local Zionist youth group because it was something her parents would not allow.

Epstein came to the United States in 1948, the year that Israel became a state. She recalled having “mixed feelings” about the state’s creation, but it stayed in the back of her mind until 1982. The Israeli invasion of Lebanon at that time served as a “wake-up call” for her. As Epstein learned more about the Israel-Palestine conflict, she said she grew “increasingly disturbed” about the Israeli government’s policies toward Palestine. In 2003, she made her first trip to Palestine.

Though Epstein acknowledged that violence has come from both sides of the conflict, she said Israel has inflicted more damage.

“I don’t like to deal with numbers because each number is a human being,” she said. “But the number of Palestinian people who have been hurt far exceeds the number of Israelis.”

Epstein ended her speech by calling for “equal rights” for both Israelis and Palestinians, saying she supports democracy for the people of both Israel and Palestine.

After her speech, she opened the floor to a question-and-answer session. One Israeli-American audience member criticized Epstein for telling a “one-sided” story by not also focusing on violence toward Israelis.

When Epstein said she had not been to Israel and therefore could not discuss it with as much depth, he asked her to do herself “a favor” by going.

Epstein also spoke about her

experiences in Nazi Germany. Her parents often talked about leaving Germany, though she said going to Israel was never an option.

She recalled experiences with her math teacher from school — a member of the SS who came to class every day wearing his uniform. He always kept a revolver with him, which he would finger or even point at her when she answered questions, she said. And no matter how she answered a question — whether she was right or wrong — he always ridiculed her.

In 1938, E ­ pstein was kicked out of school, with her principal saying, “Get out, you dirty Jew.” She came home to find her father had been arrested — he was sent to a concentration camp. When he returned four weeks later, she said he was an “old, broken, very sick man.”

The next year, Epstein’s parents sent her on a children’s transport to England. In 1940, her family was deported to Vichy, France and they were sent to Auschwitz two years later. She never heard from them again.

Epstein compared the persecution of Jews in the Holocaust to what Palestinians currently experience, though she said the degree is not as great today.

Epstein has spoken across the country and made 2,000 presentations since 1970, according to her website. Her 2004 presentation at Stanford was met with anger from the university’s Hillel organization, which criticized comparisons of the Holocaust to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

UCS hears opinions on ROTC continued from page 2 vard has announced its intention to reinstate the program, and Yale, Columbia and Stanford are moving in a similar direction, Bergeron said. Sixty percent of students at Columbia and 70 percent of students at Yale have expressed support for the program.

If the University decides to keep ROTC off campus, it will most likely be the only Ivy League institution not to offer the program. Students have been allowed to enroll in the ROTC program at Providence College since 1951, but Brown does not offer course credit for participation.

The University of Chicago, which has not offered a ROTC program since 1931, also does not have plans for reintroduction, she said.

UCS also passed a resolution urging the University to establish permanent Brown e-mail addresses for alums.

Campus Life Chair David Rattner ’13 introduced a resolution recommending alternative water sources in the campus center. Rattner said Brown Dining Services and the Beyond the Bottle Campaign have not provided adequate water alternatives since the Brown University Community Council banned bottled water in November 2009. The lack of signs directing toward hydration centers and the high volume of visitors in the center merit an increased effort to provide water, he said.

4 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

Summer UTRAs hold steady despite recommendation to increase

By Claire Schlessinger Contributing Writer

Around 200 students received Undergraduate Teaching and Re-

search Awards to support summer research, according to Besenia Rodriguez, associate dean of the College for undergraduate research, about the same number offered in

previous years. The 330 applicants were notified Tuesday.

Though a report released September 2008 by the Task Force on Undergraduate Education recommended the University increase the number of UTRAs by 20 percent each year for the next four years, the number of summer awards offered has continued to hover around 200.

In previous years, Rodriguez said additional UTRAs were offered after some students declined to accept the award or additional funds became available. The number of awards also fluctuates from year to year, Rodriguez said, because the money for UTRAs comes from donors and alums who vary their donations to the fund each year.

Though the awards differ in content and goals, Rodriguez said she hopes to increase the number of humanities and social science applications because there are far fewer applicants and little funding

in these fields. UTRAs are one of the few avenues for students in those areas to do research, she said. Applications in these fields increased 4 percent last year, according to a March 19 Herald article.

UTRAs can either be for a collaborative research project with a professor or work involving course design or revision of an existing class.

Alex Salter ’12, who received an UTRA for this summer, will be working in a biology lab with Laurent Brossay, associate professor of medical science. Salter will study type II natural killer T cells, which may play a role in determining the immune system’s response to a viral infection, he said. Salter said applying for an UTRA seemed like a “logical step in the process” because he started working in Brossay’s lab last fall. He said he was glad the University offers such a meaningful research opportunity to undergraduates.

Enoma Okunbor ’11 did an International UTRA last summer evaluating the cost-effectiveness of antiretroviral therapy in rural South Africa. Her interest stemmed from a class she took her sophomore year on international health. As a community health concentrator interested in the prevalence of HIV, Okunbor looked for professors on Brown’s International Health Institute website who had similar interests and found Mark Lurie, assistant professor of medical science. Okunbor and Lurie agreed to work together on the project, which was part of a larger study funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Okunbor said the UTRA gave her a “rare opportunity” to get a realistic view of health care outside the U.S. Though it challenged her “romantic view of what international medicine is,” Okunbor said she is still committed to global health. The experience offered a “suitable alternative” to studying abroad during the semester, and being in South Africa during the World Cup made for an overall “amazing” experience, she said.

Rodriguez said with “so many competitive applications,” the best ones demonstrate collaboration between the student and faculty member. Both parties must have “investment” in the project and must be able to contribute, she said.

Campus News 5

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

U.’s reverse-auction utility buying still bringing savings

By Ashley Aydin Senior Staff Writer

The University will save $15 million by 2014 on utilities costs by asking suppliers to compete for an energy contract, according to Christopher Powell, director of sustainable energy and environmental initiatives. Though price fluctuations are common for oil and natural gas, the University avoids paying high energy costs by asking suppliers to participate in a reverse auction every two years to secure a contract.

About 92 percent of the current utilities budget — roughly $19 million for the current fiscal year — is locked into contracts, according to Powell. “The pricing for all that energy that we purchase and use has already been hedged,” he said.

The University cannot see fluctuations in these cost until contracts are renegotiated.

Already, 84 percent of the utilities budgets for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012 and the one beginning July 2013 are locked in to contracts.

The University anticipated the reverse auction system would save $15 million over five years, The Herald reported Feb. 27, 2009.

The University “basically locked up (the utilities budget) for that five-year period,” Powell said. “We know we’re going to achieve those savings. In essence, we are probably

ahead of the $15 million for those five years.”

Within this year’s $19 million utilities budget, Powell said roughly about $7 million is used for heating, $10 million goes toward electricity and the remainder pays for water, sewage and interest on a $20 million loan from the University to spend on increasing efficiency.

minutes, everyone starts bidding,” he said. “The companies can’t see who is making the bid. They’re bidding to get the lowest price and deciding how far to go.”

Alternatives to the auction

Getting green

In 2008, the University set a goal of reducing its carbon footprint to 42 percent below 2007 levels by 2020. Prior to the introduction of reverse auctions, the biggest source of emissions came from the University’s heating.

The central heating plant used Number 6 fuel oil, which is “a heavy, gooey kind of oil that is low-cost” for its buildings during the winter, Powell said. Number 6 oil has a higher energy content than traditional heating oil because of its density.

“We decided to stop using that Number 6 oil and use natural gas instead,” he said. “This helped us drop our emissions in a major way.”

Although natural gas is more expensive than the Number 6 oil, the University had negotiated a natural gas contract before oil prices rose in recent years so it did not have to pay such high prices, he said.

‘Everyone starts bidding’

Powell brought the idea of a

Freddy Lu / Herald

The practice of buying energy in reverse auctions will save the U. $15 million.

reverse auction to the University from his previous job with United Technologies Corp, he said. “It just took some time to convince the administration that this was a good methodology for Brown.”

Before the use of reverse auctions, the University’s electricity and other utilities were supplied by local utility companies, he said.

“That’s actually riskier, because those prices can change, as opposed to locking in the prices,” he added.

The reverse auctions start online. The University posts its terms and energy consumption profile, telling pre-qualified bidders what it wants to buy “on a daily basis,” though “that amount can vary by,

say, 20 percent,” he said.

The pre-qualification ensures that the bidder can continue its supply in future years and also stay in business. The University’s prequalification standards specifically limit carbon emissions.

“The guy that has the high carbon footprint wouldn’t be able to bid in the system if he didn’t meet the requirement,” Powell said.

The University holds a reverse auction every two years to negotiate either a heating or electricity contract that will take effect two years after the auction, Powell said.

On the selected day, bidding opens for an hour.

“When it gets to that last five

The University has also evaluated the feasibility of providing its own electricity to reduce its utilities spending.

But Powell said regulatory rules in the state have made that path a difficult one to pursue, adding that the decision comes down to where the University could make its own energy.

“Because we’re in a city, we’re limited in terms of putting solar panels,” he said. “What we can do is make our buildings much more efficient. I have another $20 million to spend on efficiency.”

According to Powell, heating and electricity costs are expected to drop by 20 percent when that $20 million is spent.

The University will continue to use the reverse auction process to buy utilities in the future. “It is so efficient and so transparent. It gets you to the point where you have the least possible costs,” Powell said.

Powell said he cannot predict how much money the reverse auction buying will save the University in the next five years until auctions for an electricity contract beginning in July 2014 and July 2015 take place in mid- to late April.

6 Campus News

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

New bar may offer ‘classier’ ’Co. Students skeptical of

By Miriam Furst Staff Writer

The Whiskey Republic — a new bar replacing the popular Fish Company at 515 South Water St. — will host its first-ever “Brown Night” March 23.

The bar hosted an invitationonly private reception with a performance by the Dropkick Murphys March 14. The following night, the Whiskey Republic had its grand opening with a fundraiser to benefit the Claddagh Fund, a charity founded by Ken Casey, one of the Whiskey Republic co-owners and bassist for the Dropkick Murphys.

Though the bar will not boast Fish Co.’s famed dance floor poles or fish sign outside, Blaine Grinna ’11 said he plans to bring students back to the former waterfront hot spot.

Grinna organized Brown Nights at Fish Co., and since the bar’s closing, he has planned similar nights at Olives on North Main St. The owners of the Whiskey Republic renovated the interior drastically — there is now a dance floor where the pool table used to be located, Grinna said. Owners also renovated the stage to accommodate live entertainment, extended the bar and installed 20 high-definition televisions, according to a press release from the Regan Communications Group, the public relations firm representing the owners.

The owners — who could not be reached for comment — consist of a group of restaurant proprietors and investors, according to Dan Gouthro, senior account manager at the Regan Group. The owners

also manage two popular bars in Boston — Revolution Rock Bar and McGreevy’s 3rd Base Saloon, Gouthro said.

“Revolution Rock Bar is one of the best bars in Boston, which definitely gives the owners some credibility,” Grinna said.

Students visiting the Whiskey Republic March 23 will be surprised, Grinna said, adding that the bar has a very different feel from that of Fish Co. Despite the venue’s significant changes, “the location is the best for a bar in Providence. It’s on the river and close to campus. It has so much potential,” he said.

Though other bars and clubs have tried to step in as the new Wednesday night destination for Brown students, they have not achieved the same reputation and character that Fish Co. once claimed. “Olives and Colosseum are fun and all that, but it’s not the same as Fish Co.,” said Beau Martino ’13.

Without Fish Co.’s signature pool table, poles and “Fish Piss shots,” some students are skeptical of the Whiskey Republic’s potential. “I don’t think it can replace Fish Co. It seems like it serves a classier demographic than drunk college students,” said Harry Samuels ’13, who noticed the new bar while running in the area. He added, “from the looks of it on the outside, it doesn’t look like a venue that’s very conducive to DFMOs: dance floor makeouts.”

Spring Weekend lineup continued from page 1 dy?”

Others related to Katzman’s frustration. “I’m not outraged but just sort of unenthused,” said Daniel Stern ’13, who has heard of Das Racist but was unfamiliar with the group’s songs.

“I’m excited for Das Racist. I think that’s going to be fun,” said Noah Rose ’12. “Ultimately, they’re a pretty good rap band.” When it comes to the other groups, Rose said he is “reserving judgement” until he sees them and is “optimistic.” Rose said he is excited for the spectrum of bands. Das Racist is a more “bloggy” internet-based band, whereas Rebirth Brass Band plays “live music for live music’s sake,” he said. “They are both sort of fun in their own way.”

“Spring Weekend is mainly fun because of my friends. But it’d be nice if I knew (the) bands, which I don’t,” said Maia Chao ’13.

“Lee Fields and the Expressions

and Rebirth Brass Band are both awesome live, and a lot of people on the board have seen them,” Seckin said, in response to student disappointment. “Lee Fields especially has been becoming more popular in the underground music world. Rebirth has been popular for many years and we wanted to appeal to the folk genre.”

“Spring Weekend should be fun no matter who is playing,” said Dave Rosen ’14, who has never heard of the supporting acts.

“One of the things you realize over the years is that there’s no single act that’s going to please and excite everyone,” wrote Abby Schreiber ’11, BCA’s booking chair, in an e-mail to The Herald. “Instead, we try to bring a variety of acts that represent different genres and will hopefully, as a whole, appeal to a wide range of students.”

— With additional reporting

by Natalie Villacorta

Follow the Herald on Twitter twitter.com/the_herald

City & State 7

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

Poor R.I. student performance spurs wide-reaching reform continued from page 1 students attend charter schools like Paul Cuffee, where 973 students entered a lottery this spring in hopes of being selected for one of 39 open spots. The vast majority of students in Rhode Island attend public schools, where student achievement differs dramatically across the state’s 36 districts. For every high-achieving district like Barrington and East Greenwich, there is another like Providence, in which under half the district’s 26,000 students were proficient in reading, and only one-third demonstrated proficiency in math.

Rhode Island has trailed neighboring New England states in student performance in recent decades.

But the arrival of Education Commissioner Deborah Gist in July 2009 brought a new sense of urgency to the push for reform. With Gist at the helm, the state won $75 million in federal education aid last August, taking fifth place in President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top program.

Last June, the state adopted an education funding formula, which, beginning July 1, will apportion aid based on student enrollment and the number of students in poverty.

And two weeks ago, the state’s top governing body on education voted to adopt tougher high school graduation requirements effective in 2014.

The biggest question, according to Warren Simmons, executive di-

rector of Brown’s Annenberg Institute for School Reform, is whether the momentum will continue under Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14.

Chafee, elected last fall with support from the state’s two largest teachers unions, was the only gubernatorial candidate who did not express full support for Gist’s reforms. “I think the question will be pace of the change and tone, particularly when there are hard decisions to be made given the continuing effect of the economy on state and local budgets,” Simmons said.

‘A sense of accountability’

Just 15 minutes away from Paul Cuffee is Central Falls High School, which became a flashpoint in the national education reform debate almost a year ago. After the district’s teachers union rejected Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo’s demands to transform the failing school, Gallo fired all of the school’s teachers Feb. 12, 2010. Nearly three months later, they were all rehired — but only after agreeing to work a longer school day, eat lunch with students, provide extra tutoring and attend weekly 90-minute professional development sessions.

During the stand-off last March, Obama weighed in. “If a school continues to fail year after year after year and doesn’t show sign of improvements, then there has got to be a sense of accountability. That happened in Rhode Island,” he said

in a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Central Falls is Rhode Island’s smallest and poorest city, with nearly 19,000 people living within 1.29 square miles. Roughly four in 10 children there live in poverty.

Also mired in debt, Central Falls was forced into state receivership last July.

About 50 percent of the students at Central Falls High graduate.

“I believe we’re making headway,” Gallo said of the school. Since the firings, the school has audited its curriculum, reevaluated its teachers, adopted a strategic plan and agreed to have its transformation process overseen by outside evaluators.

But problems remain. On average, 14 teachers on a staff of 89 call in absent each day, Gallo said.

Deloris Grant, an English and drama teacher who has taught at Central Falls High for 14 years, said she thinks the climate at the school has improved since the firings. But high staff turnover is still a big problem, she said, as are demographics.

“The actual reality is that we service kids that are not similar to the kids in Lincoln, the kids in Cumberland, in Barrington and all the high-performing schools,” Grant said. “For anyone to believe that a child who lives in poverty is going to learn the same as another child who goes home every day to a hot meal and is sent off with warm clothing — it’s ridiculous.”

Report cards and requirements

According to the Nation’s Report Card, a national assessment of student performance in multiple subjects administered every two years, Rhode Island consistently lags behind other New England states. In fourth grade reading, it placed 23rd out of 50 states, while four other New England states ranked in the top five. Rhode Island placed 34th in eighth grade science and 38th in eighth grade mathematics, according to 2009 test results.

“In Rhode Island, we’ve had wonderful assessment systems, but we haven’t had the funding levels required to support and invigorate reform,” Simmons said. “Massachusetts not only adopted high standards — they invested heavily in education reform over the last decade.”

The fact that Rhode Island funds its schools disproportionately through property taxes — which generate more money for schools in areas with higher property values — exacerbates inequality across districts, Simmons said.

Another reason for Massachusetts’ success is tougher graduation requirements, according to Gist. Under Rhode Island’s newly approved requirements, which Gist strongly supported, high school juniors must score at least partially proficient on the New England Common Assessment Program or improve on the test their senior year to graduate.

During the most recent round of testing last October, 38 percent of the state’s juniors received scores indicating they lack fundamental math skills.

The focus on standardized testing, Gist said, is a matter of accountability.

Testing allows education officials to “set an expectation statewide for what performance is and what kind of skills and knowledge we want students to have when they graduate,” she said. “Right now, the reality is that what is considered to be algebra in Woonsocket may not be the same as the algebra in Westerly.”

Sticking to the plan

The state’s ambitious strategic plan — which goes hand-in-hand with its Race to the Top application — lays out objectives for all schools to meet state performance targets by 2015 and for 85 percent of students to graduate and proceed to higher education, vocational training or employment by the same year. Last January, Gist announced six persistently under-performing schools in Central Falls and Providence that would be required to undergo statesupervised transformation, a move that set the stage for the dramatic firings in Central Falls. Gist said she plans to name five additional low-achieving schools in the coming weeks. continued on page 9

8 City & State

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

City’s emergency funds dramatically depleted under Cicilline ’83 continued from page 12 Republican National Committee to start pouring money into the campaign immediately, she added.

For the moment, it’s difficult to

know if Loughlin would garner that kind of national support, Cicione said, adding that the national committee generally decides its funding priorities in the last two to three months leading up to the election.

Other names being floated as potential challengers in the 2012 race are Col. Brendan Doherty, former superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, and John Robitaille, last fall’s Republican candidate for governor.

Though no Democratic challengers are immediately apparent, Profughi said he “wouldn’t write it off as a possibility.” Cicione agreed, adding that Democrats “want to defend the seat as best they can,” with or without Cicilline.

According to Schiller, challengers will only split the anti-Cicilline vote.

More challengers mean a greater likelihood that Cicilline will win, she said.

Still, both Schiller and Profughi agree that Loughlin would be the candidate best positioned to mount a successful challenge. The six-point margin between Loughlin and Cicilline was closer than most expected, Schiller said.

But Providence’s mayoral history shows voters might not hold a grudge. Former Mayor Buddy Cianci resigned during his first term after pleading guilty to assaulting a contractor, whom he suspected of having

an affair with his wife. He was later re-elected mayor.

“It’s all a scale of what the voter’s willing to accept,” Schiller said.

“Anybody who woke up and thought, ‘Well, we should have had perfectly clean government and perfectly transparent government in the city of Providence’ hasn’t lived in the city of Providence.”

Towns to integrate municipal services continued from page 12 Weekly salaries for police and fire officials are significantly higher in Pawtucket than in Central Falls — police patrolmen in Pawtucket receive $882, as opposed to $658 in Central Falls, according to a Feb. 28 article in the Providence Journal.

Grebien told the Journal that shared services would allow Pawtucket to see savings and that the shared forces would eliminate the need for hiring.

Flanders said he doubted Pawtucket would lay off any employees in the process, pointing to Pawtucket’s self-insurance policy, which stipulates that the city has to pay twothirds of compensation to any employee it lays off. The city would have to lay off three people to get one unit of savings, he said. “This would devastate social services when scaled.”

“The greatest difficulty will likely lie in convincing the police and fire forces from the two communities that it is in their interest to integrate their ranks and make do with resulting smaller overall budgets,” BaumSnow wrote.

City & State 9

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

Ed. reformers end teacher seniority system, adopt new funding plan continued from page 7 The strategic plan also focuses on teacher performance. Under the plan, 75 percent of educators will be evaluated using an assessment system that takes into account student achievement by 2012.

The state currently lacks a comprehensive evaluation system for identifying ineffective teachers, according to Maryellen Butke, executive director of R.I. Campaign for Achievement Now, an education reform policy and advocacy organization started in December. In most districts, teachers are hired and fired based on a seniority system codified in union contracts, whereby new teachers are first to be fired and last to be rehired after layoffs.

“How do we make sure that just because you’ve recently graduated and you’re the first in, that you won’t be the first out if you’re getting amazing results?” Butke said.

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Rhode Island’s Race to the Top application calls for teachers to be hired and assigned to schools based on credentials set by education officials rather than seniority by August 2013. Gist has directed education officials to demand the change in new collective bargaining agreements with teachers unions, most of which are slated to be renegotiated this year.

‘A voice at the table’

When U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke at the National Education Conference in Denver Feb. 16, he singled out the relationship between Providence Superintendent Tom Brady and Providence Teachers Union President Steve Smith as a model of collaboration between labor and management. Under Smith’s leadership, the Providence Teachers Union was the first union to sign on to Rhode

Island’s Race to the Top proposal.

Labor cooperation was among the criteria for successful Race to the Top applications.

Exactly one week after Duncan’s speech, Mayor Angel Taveras fired all 1,926 Providence teachers, citing the dire state of the city’s finances and strict seniority rules that would limit the city’s ability to retain the best teachers, regardless of tenure.

Smith called the move a “back-door Wisconsin” at a Feb. 24 Providence School Board meeting.

“There are tremendous financial constraints, but that doesn’t alter the fact that next year Providence is going to have 20,000 kids that need and deserve an education,” said Frank Flynn, a 34-year veteran Cranston teacher and the president of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, the state’s second-largest teachers union.

“The teachers need to have a voice at the table,” he said, adding that reformers must take into account the perspectives of the teachers who work in classrooms every day.

Flynn pointed to the $5 million Investing in Innovation federal stimulus grant the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers received to develop new teacher evaluation standards in six cities as an example of how unions and administrators can work together. Another example is in Providence, where Brady and the Providence Teachers Union have spent two years working on a plan for transforming failing schools, he said.

While Flynn is not completely opposed to eliminating seniority, he said it must be replaced by an evaluation system that protects teachers’ rights. Hiring and firing decisions must be “defensible and quantifiable,” he said.

But the current system just isn’t

Claire Peracchio / Herald

Central Falls Superintendent Frances Gallo fired all of the district’s teachers last year.

working, according to Gallo. “When the contract becomes so convoluted that due process takes a few years before you can move a teacher who is absolutely ineffective, then something’s wrong with the picture,” she said.

With seniority under attack due to state budget crunches and recently-elected Republican governors determined to take on public employee unions, the president of the national union affiliated with the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, Randi Weingarten, proposed a plan Feb. 24 to change the system. Weingarten called for giving teachers deemed ineffective by administrators one academic year to improve. If teachers do not improve, they can be fired within 100 days, according to Weingarten’s proposal.

Setting the pace

Though a new player in Rhode Island’s education policy, the gov-

ernor is the most important in determining the pace and tone of future reform. Chafee was elected with strong support from the state’s major teachers unions, which put their organizing muscle behind the independent’s campaign, helping him win a 36 percent plurality in the four-way race.

During his gubernatorial bid, Chafee said he does not support all the reforms called for under the state’s Race to the Top plan. Education Secretary Duncan has said Race to the Top funds might not be granted if states fail to honor their plans.

“The very idea that this governor wants to materially slow down or reverse school reform couldn’t be further from the truth,” said Mike Trainor, Chafee’s communications director. “He just has his own sense of how and how fast education reform should appropriately proceed.”

Trainor pointed out that the state’s teachers unions supported Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, in Chafee’s 2006 Senate re-election campaign and have never endorsed Chafee prior to the recent election.

In a budget address March 8, Chafee announced his intention to fully fund the state’s new education funding formula, which allocates more money to schools than was apportioned through the old system. Rhode Island had been the only state without such a formula.

Chafee has also voiced a desire to observe a “thoughtful pause” on charter schools — which are largely non-unionized — in order to assess their effectiveness. Last March, the General Assembly almost doubled the state’s cap on charter schools

in order to better position Rhode Island to win Race to the Top funds.

Chafee also made new appointments to the Rhode Island Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education by removing four strong supporters of Gist’s reforms and placing George Caruolo, a politically savvy former Rhode Island House majority leader, as its chair.

Caruolo has questioned the recent pace of reform. “It’s not as important to get all of this work done in the next 15 minutes,” he said in a March 1 Providence Journal article, “as it is to get it done correctly.”

There was media speculation about whether Chafee would remove Gist, who has stated publicly that she will stay in Rhode Island as long as she is wanted and feels she can proceed with reform efforts. In January, RI-CAN sent Chafee a letter signed by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Joel Klein, former chancellor of the New York City Department of Education, urging him to keep Gist.

Trainor said Chafee will honor Gist’s contract, but would not comment on whether the governor will renew it when it expires in June 2013. As for charter schools, the governor wants to see additional data on their performance before proceeding with new schools and is concerned that additional charters might detract from the state’s focus on public education.

“This governor is first, last and always a proponent of the public school system in the state,” Trainor said, adding that local schools should not be “force-fed decrees from either the state or the federal level.”

comics Cloud Buddies! | David Emanuel

Dot Comic | Eshan Mitra and Brendan Hainline

BB & Z | Cole Pruitt, Andrew Seiden, Valerie Hsiung and Dan Ricker

10 Editorial & Letter Editorial

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

Editorial comic

b y a l e x y u ly

Keeping sight of Haiti We, like the rest of the international community, are horrified by the destruction in Japan. Search and rescue teams continue to work around the clock to find missing people while the country deals with emergencies at its nuclear power plants. Just yesterday, the chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission called radiation levels “extremely high.” Meanwhile, Japan’s citizens must try to pick up the pieces after losing their homes and loved ones.

We know that, however painfully, Japan will rebuild from this horrible tragedy. But that such wreckage can happen in such a rich country is appalling and still somehow shocking. As the international community sends its prayers and turns its attention to the people of Japan, we wanted to readdress the aftermath of a disaster in a country whose economy, political institutions and infrastructure are far more vulnerable: Haiti.

Over a year has gone by since an earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, and the nation remains in shambles. While Japan ranks third in the world in gross domestic product, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, exacerbating an already difficult situation.

Over one million people in Haiti are still displaced and live under tents as their only means of shelter. While aid from the international community was vital in the initial relief period, Haiti has yet to make significant inroads in its long-term recovery. Last October, the country experienced an outbreak of cholera, likely caused by problems in hygienic infrastructure and water supply. Further, allegations of fraud and vote-tampering marred December’s presidential elections. Protests around the country against the elections turned violent and produced many casualties.

The University responded promptly and decisively to the destruction in Haiti. Just a week after the earthquake, it formed the Brown Haiti Crisis Response Committee that encouraged donations — including a union with Partners in Health — scholarly lectures and disaster relief.

Last March, student groups on campus raised $25,000 for Haiti relief.

This past fall, Brown committed to increasing “educational partnerships” with groups in Haiti and started the Brown-Haiti Medical Exchange and the Brown Haitian Studies Initiatives.

With another crisis now present, and with all of the commitments the University has made, it is natural to pat ourselves on the back and direct our gaze elsewhere. But Haiti was poor even before the earthquake. We urge University officials to continue to sustain and increase our partnership with the agencies and people of Haiti.

Japan, just like Haiti, will need a long-term recovery plan after the initial relief. Just two weeks after the Haitian earthquake, CNN reported that donations had decreased over 50 percent, and recovery workers noted that “after the initial response, care from outside Haiti has markedly decreased.” It will take an extremely long time to rebuild infrastructure in both Haiti and Japan, and thus our community must make a long-term commitment to both.

Ultimately, Brown students continue to devote their energy, time and money to the many international disasters that have occurred in the past decade. The Brown Disaster Relief Group has organized a spring break service trip to Tennessee to work in the aftermath of the storm and flood there last year. Countless Brown students have worked with Habitat for Humanity and other groups to help the Gulf Coast years after Hurricane Katrina. We hope that as the Brown community looks East and offers support to Japan and its people, it will still remember that there is much, much more to be done in Haiti as well.

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

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letter to the editor Gay marriage an issue not only of love To the Editor: I was distraught as I read the beginning of Tanya Nguyen’s ’13 column (“Skepticism of marriage equality,” March 16) this morning because its opening paragraphs sounded eerily like she was on the cusp of proposing something similar to the “separate but equal” ruling of the United States Supreme Court, which was perhaps one of the most insincere and disastrous rulings in the history of the country. After finishing the column, I breathed a sigh of relief because Nguyen’s views are actually quite well grounded in a desire for sexual orientation equality. Her opinion, however, is that emphasis on marriage equality should be downplayed.

I strongly disagree, as I believe that marriage equality is an essential stepping stone towards our common future goal of a world without discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Nguyen’s claim that marriage is not a legal issue is of paramount importance to her central thesis. However, I maintain that marriage has traditionally been, and remains to be, based in an economic and legal framework. I’m not saying that everyone marries to solidify political allegiances or to assure financial stability, but even in our post-Jane Austen world, marriage remains tied to a host of legal and semi-legal constructs such as taxes, visas and health care. The last in this list may become an even larger issue as our country moves towards nationalized health care. While love is an obvious part of marriage in our society, the presence of love in marriage has not been enough to depoliticize marriage.

Nguyen mentions after her article that she is by no means an expert on family law or queer activism. I agree with this part of her column.

Tim Eisen ’11

Corrections An article in Tuesday’s Herald (“Former TA recounts Bahraini protests,” March 15) incorrectly stated that Maryam Al-Khawaja, a prominent Bahraini human rights activist, was forced to leave the country after receiving death threats from the royal family on Twitter. Though Al-Khawaja did receive death threats on Twitter, the tweets she received from the royal family were harassing but did not contain death threats. The Herald regrets the error.

An article in yesterday’s Herald (“Kennedy appointed visiting fellow,” March 16) incorrectly quoted Edward Wing, dean of medicine and biological sciences, as saying that Patrick Kennedy “is committed to research and care for people with medical illnesses.” In fact, Wing said that Kennedy “is committed to research and care for people with mental illnesses.” The Herald regrets the error.

quote of the day

“It doesn’t look like a venue that’s very conducive

”

to DFMOs: dance floor makeouts.

— Harry Samuels ’13, referring to The Whiskey Republic See bar on page 6.

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Opinions 11

The Brown Daily Herald Thursday, March 17, 2011

Linking to remember

By Hector Najera Opinions Columnist I find myself in a constant struggle against forgetting — haunted by Marcus Aurelius’ observation that time is like a torrent that sweeps away all that is born. Insights, faces, actions, definitions — anything that sprouts a root in my memory is immediately threatened by the currents of this river. I will venture to say that you, reader, struggle with this as well. Yet it is an essential effort because the things that survive, however fragmented, are stitched together to constitute our identity.

When I was seven, I got my first job working for a mechanic. But I was clumsy and slow in learning the names of the tools.

Spilling my boss’ hot chocolate was the last straw, and I was fired. But before my firing, there was my first paycheck. Upon receiving it, I walked next to the highway toward home. Along the way, I counted over and over the money in my hands — not a smart move in a city with plenty of robbers.

In some ways, it is a crucial memory, as it can help to organize other experiences. For example, the thrill of first being paid for one’s labor anchors future experiences of competence and agency over one’s property. But we all have these golden nuggets of memory — these discrete instances of identity. I intend to suggest that we bring all of these to bear in our academic and personal pursuits — that we embrace Jorge Luis Borges’ assumption

that “everything touches everything.” That when we think about fundamental rules of physics, we remember that it is a Platonic ideal. That we inform our exploration of biology with insights from literature. That we force the authors we read to converse with one another within us. In short, that we link everything.

Although inspired by a writer, this principle is given flesh to me by the biologist Edward Wilson. In his book “Consilience,” Wilson holds that any undergraduate should

The fact is, most of today will be swept away by the time tomorrow comes around.

Our challenge is to identify the things that matter and hold on to them. This is an ambitious undertaking prone to relativistic arguments. Still, proper perspective emerges from the remembered context. By linking everything, we begin to discover those links that are most important to us. Over time, this will reveal connections that are enduring. Perhaps even ones we can call first principles.

I admit that it is true — when we write something down, we assume we have thought about it sufficiently and thus abandon the subject. How many papers have we written that we never return to? be able to explain the link between the social sciences and the natural sciences. Witnessing the facility with which he employed history and philosophy in his discussion of biology, I was inspired.

Other examples include another biologist, Jared Diamond. After being asked by a New Guinea native about the sources of European wealth, he was motivated to develop the theory that underlies “Guns, Germs and Steel” — namely that European advancement was largely a function of accidental factors, like geography. These biologists were undaunted by disciplinary barriers.

Whatever the criticisms of their work, the connections they have made are incredible.

To be clear, linking everything refers to intradisciplinary links, interdisciplinary links and personal links. Although this is something we already tend to do as Brown students, I suggest a rigorous questioning that aims to powerfully link disciplines and deepen meaning for ourselves. As I have suggested before, our choice in taking varied classes already connects these courses.

Our job is to investigate these connections to their limit. The reason, again, is that in this way we can find connections that transcend the obvious and give sincere meaning to what we are doing here.

There is a reason Socrates refused to write anything down — nothing rivals the

act of thinking on the spot. Of thinking over and over again about those topics that matter most to us as people, among them truth and ethics. In exploring the issue of orality, George Steiner goes even further — “Writing arrests, immobilizes discourse. … The written word does not listen to its reader. It takes no account of his questions and objections.” I admit that it is true — when we write something down, we assume we have thought about it sufficiently and thus abandon the subject. How many papers have we written that we never return to? For many reasons, we allow this torrent of time to sweep them away.

Maybe there is something to pure orality.

We should be able to recall verbally what we have learned. But written words can help. I find that writing helps me untangle the alphabet soup in my head. Perhaps it might help you as well — to write down the links you make.

One of my favorite shows is “House,” the one with the jerk doctor who deals with afflictions that on the surface appear to be witchcraft. There was a recent episode in which House indirectly gets relationship advice from two kids. The episode is hilarious, but as a fan, my judgment is biased. Nevertheless, the lesson I distilled is that adults can easily learn from kids — so-called experts from so-called commoners. So long as we pay attention, searching for those links, there is evidence that “everything touches everything” through us.

Hector Najera GS is a graduate student focusing in education.

A sinking ship metaphor

By Ian Trupin Opinions Columnist Providence is in pretty deep. With deficit estimates hovering around $180 million over the next two years, this cannot be denied.

From firing all Providence teachers and closing four schools to giving Mayor Taveras a 10 percent pay cut, our city leaders are making tough decisions.

Amidst the budgetary equivalent of Armageddon, a familiar old devil named “Tax Brown” has returned to terrorize us.

Every couple years, it seems, a bill is introduced to tax the University in some way, and every time, we protest wildly until the measure is withdrawn. This is by no means a new phenomenon — in fact, this struggle is as old as Brown itself. In the original charter of 1764, our founders asserted that, like colleges and universities elsewhere in the world, Brown’s property and the University community — including the president, students and faculty — should be “freed and exempted from all taxes.”

Ever since, these claims have been contested. As early as 1774, prominent voices in Providence were calling on Brown to pay town taxes. During the Civil War, Providence residents, who were frustrated about having to pay high taxes while wealthy professors and administrators continued to enjoy their exemption, spoke out again. This time the University agreed to taxes on all professors with property worth more than $10,000.

This is how things have remained ever since. Students, faculty, staff and administrators pay taxes on their earnings, their purchases and the properties they own as individuals. But the University’s land holdings remain essentially tax-free.

To put forward an argument about whether or not the University should pay taxes, it is important to fully examine the context of the Charter’s assertion of tax exemption. In the same passage, the Charter also says that given their particular status as men of intellect, students, faculty and administrators should

To be fair, the opponents of taxes on Brown probably do not subscribe to all the beliefs of the founders either. Generally, they argue that the Brown community already contributes to the city as a source of employment, business and bright, young service-oriented students. Though other taxed organizations in the city also provide employment and business — as does the city government to which the taxes go — and the contribution of Brown volunteerism is debated, these arguments have prevailed in the past.

Brown clearly uses its tax-exempt status to its advantage in pursuing profits, even if its resources ultimately go towards the common good.

be exempted from jury duty, military service and “menial services.”

Reading the document, it is immediately apparent that these assumptions and this language came from men who did not question inequality, even if they may have professed to hold Enlightenment values. As a community of men devoted to the higher calling of scholarship, the intent of the authors was clearly for the University to exist as a community apart from the lowly business of the city.

Do we still believe this? I hope not.

The basic logic of exempting certain institutions from taxation makes sense given the assumption that, as non-profits, the income saved from taxation is used to serve the common good beyond the efforts of the government. Tax-exempt institutions do not gain an unfair privilege over taxed ones because they operate on this different model.

In the case of the University and many — if not all — of its peers, these assumptions are flawed. Brown profits from renting out its tax-free properties to private businesses like Hemenway’s Restaurant. Furthermore,

several branches of the University operate on profit-based models, including the Office of Continuing Education and the Investment Office — the latter admits considering social responsibility as an afterthought to the strategies it believes will maximize profit. Brown clearly uses its tax-exempt status to its advantage in pursuing profits, even if its resources ultimately go toward the common good.

Regardless of whether or not one accepts these arguments as reasons to question the University’s tax-exemption, it is important for all of us to realize the current desperate reality of our city. The last time the Brown community was faced with the prospect of a tax was 2009, when then-Mayor and current Rep. David Cicilline ’83, D-RI, proposed a student head tax of $300 a year on the grounds that out-of-state students at private colleges and universities in Providence enjoy city services without paying for them.

At the time, the city was faced with a budget deficit of a mere $17 million.

What we are looking at now is about 10 times that amount. Accordingly, a bill in the state legislature is now calling for a property tax on non-profit organizations including hospitals and private colleges and universities.

While tax-exempt institutions clearly have a place in our society, there are certainly reasons to debate Brown’s traditional place among them. To invoke an appropriate metaphor for the Ocean State — on a sinking ship, everyone picks up a bucket.

Ian Trupin ’13 is a prospective COE and Africana Studies concentrator who believes strongly in building coalitions.

Daily Herald City & State the Brown

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Providence celebrates history of creativity

By CLAIRE gianotti Staff Writer

This year marks the 375th anniversary of Roger Williams’ founding of Providence, and the city is looking to its residents to make the celebration special. The celebration aims to “recapture a sense of pride in this city and not dwell in the negative,” said Jennifer Smith, site manager for Roger Williams National Park.

Due to Providence’s $110 million budget deficit, Smith said there are no city funds allocated to the celebration. Unlike the 350th anniversary — for which organizers created a host of events including performances by Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra — this celebration will take advantage of already planned events.

Organizers will work to incorporate existing events that fall under the celebrations’ theme and market them as part of the festivities. Events will be part of a “branded marketing effort to build pride in the capital city,” said Lynne McCormack, director of art, culture and tourism for the city.

The celebration will be led by a coalition of city officials, the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Roger Williams National Memorial, Providence Monthly and the CW television network.

Andy Cutler, an entrepreneur and self-described “Providence immigrant” involved with the coalition, spearheaded the initial plan-

By Clare de boer Staff Writer

By the 2012 elections, Schiller said she expects Providence’s finances to be in better condition. At that point, voters are more likely to view Cicilline as the candidate fighting a Republican majority than be concerned with allegations of mismanaging the city’s finances.

Given the enormity of the budget deficit, the GOP chair said he thinks the city will still be struggling in 2012. “Even if Angel Taveras was on his A-game every day for the next 500 days, I don’t see how he can get Providence out of this,” Cicione said.

As for Cicilline’s reelection chances, though, “two years is a political eternity,” he said.

But Profughi said he thinks Cicilline will not be able to outrun allegations against his mayoral record so easily.

“Two years is not a long time to offset negativism that goes back to his days as mayor,” he added. “He’s got a long way to go and a short time to do it.”

Former state Rep. John Loughlin, who lost to Cicilline last fall, could seek a rematch. Much will depend on whether he can match Cicilline’s fundraising prowess, Schiller said.

To have a chance at unseating Cicilline, Loughlin would need the

Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien has proposed sharing certain municipal services with the city of Central Falls to cut costs and generate revenue for both cities. The city of Pawtucket, which has a deficit of $9 million in its current budget, would benefit from providing services to the smaller Central Falls, said Central Falls’ appointed receiver Robert Flanders Jr. ’71. Central Falls has been under state control since May 2010, and expects a $5 million budget shortfall next year.

Grebien submitted the proposal — called Pawtucket Central Services Inc. — to the state Department of Revenue. Under the terms of the proposal, Central Falls would pay to receive services from Pawtucket, such as zoning and coding enforcement and animal control. The two cities would share police and fire forces, Flanders said.

“It’s the notion that if we can pay for services or share them with another municipality, we can potentially save money and reduce expenses,” he said.

Regionalization of local services such as police and fire protection has become a common way for smaller local communities to cut the cost of service provision, wrote Nathaniel Baum-Snow, assistant professor of economics, in an e-mail to The Herald.

“This is not unique to Central Falls and Pawtucket. We are all scrambling to try and figure out what might be some ways to get out of this financial trouble,” Flanders said.

Sharing services would begin on a low-risk level, such as library services. “We are already drawing up proposals for the ‘low-hanging fruit’ … to see how some of these work without being as high stakes as would police and fire,” said Doug Hadden, spokesperson for Grebien.

The sharing of police and fire departments would be complicated by collective bargaining agreements, which cover municipal employees through 2012, Hadden said.

Central Falls Police Chief Joseph Moran III was not familiar with the details of the proposal. “We haven’t really sat down. It’s all behind the scenes,” he said.

Officials predict that Pawtucket and Central Falls will begin sharing other services — besides police and fire departments — in the near future. “It could happen within a matter of weeks,” Flanders said.

Hadden and Flanders stressed that the standard of services would not be compromised by the proposal. “I don’t expect any change to be felt by the residents, except for potential savings,” Flanders said.

“In terms of police and fire, we cannot jeopardize the level of those services,” Hadden said.

continued on page 8

continued on page 8

Herald file photo June 3, 1916: 1,500 Rhode Island schoolchildren arrange themselves in the form of an American flag.

ning for the celebration and helped to come up with its four key themes — freedom, hope, ingenuity and roots. Providence is remarkable for its ability to do “the most with the least,” he said.

During one of the events planned for the celebration — a Roger Williams-themed canoeing event hosted by the Rhode Island Blueways Alliance — participants can trace Williams’ journey into Providence.

Providence Monthly will publish an official guidebook for the celebration in its June issue that will include historical and contemporary essays, said John Taraborelli, special projects manager for the magazine.

Students will also be involved in

planning events. A public art class at the Rhode Island School of Design will hold an installation at the Roger Williams Memorial in the spring. The Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, located in Brown’s Manning Hall, will hold an exhibit about Roger Williams this fall and students in AMCV 1550: “Methods in Public Humanities” will conduct semester-long projects geared toward the fall celebration, Smith said.

The memorial is also offering four $2,500 grants for groups to host arts and culture events in the months from May to October as part of the celebration. The memorial is targeting smaller-scale groups that have operating budgets of less

than $75,000 per year.

Organizers hope these grants, which were made possible by the Rhode Island Foundation, will allow the celebration to incorporate more arts events and include organizations that promote diversity.

Kaitlynne Ward GS, an intern at the memorial, urged student groups to get involved with the celebration. “It is an opportunity to turn outward and engage in local history and engage the community more broadly,” she said.

The celebration is “intended to be a morale booster,” Smith added.

“There are a lot of things to be celebrated, with a little pride and a lot of fun.”

Cicilline ’83 challenged over city’s finances

By Amy Rasmussen Senior Staff Writer

As Providence begins to battle what Mayor Angel Taveras called a “category five” financial crisis, allegations have emerged that former mayor and current Rep. David Cicilline ’83, D-RI, failed to paint an accurate picture of the city’s financial health.

Since 2008, Providence’s rainy day fund — a reserve for fiscal emergencies — dipped dramatically from a high of $22.36 million to $220,816, according to a March 14 Providence Journal article.

Former Internal Auditor James Lombardi, now the city treasurer, alerted the City Council in October that Cicilline raided the rainy day fund without the council’s approval, a violation of the city’s charter. At the time, Cicilline denied the charges, saying that $30 million remained in the reserves. Five city council members sided with Cicilline in the dispute.

Immediately after an independent audit commissioned by Taveras confirmed Lombardi’s findings, Cicilline refused to take questions from reporters, instead issuing a statement explaining that budget decisions were made “as a result of a $40 million reduction in state aid, the loss of federal education stimulus funds, the loss of revenues due to the troubled economy and a large pension liability.” In a March 7 in-

Pawtucket, Central Falls to share services

terview with the Providence Journal, Cicilline defended his decisions on issues ranging from pension reform to the use of the reserve as necessary to balance the budget.

Cicilline’s office did not return phone calls for comment.

The recent assertions serve as “a reminder that the city of Providence has been driven into the ground by Democratic mayors,” said Giovanni Cicione, chairman of the Rhode Island Republican Party. “They have an approach to governance that’s destructive, and people are suffering because of what they’ve done.”

Citing the city’s looming budget deficit, Taveras ordered the termination of all 1,926 Providence public school teachers Feb. 23 and announced the closing of four of the city’s elementary schools Monday.

‘A savvy politician’

Reactions to Cicilline’s handling of the allegations have been mixed.

“This is not something that is going to go away and be forgotten,” said Victor Profughi, professor emeritus of political science at Rhode Island College and CEO and research director of the polling firm Quest Research.

In recent interviews, Cicilline has said he faced a decision between dipping into the reserves, and cutting services and raising taxes.

“He’s handled it like a savvy politician,” Cicione said. “He’s dodged it

to the extent he can and passed the buck and hopes he comes out clean.”

Though Cicilline’s mayoral record is mixed, no one could reasonably blame him for all the city’s fiscal problems, said Wendy Schiller, associate professor of political science and public policy.

“It’s easy to blame the guy who’s gone,” she said, referencing President Barack Obama’s public statements faulting former President George W. Bush for the poor state of the economy.

Cicilline has handled recent media coverage to the best of his ability, Schiller said.

“In his eyes, he was mayor — that record is over,” she added. “There’s no incentive for him, personally or politically, to discuss his record.”

While Schiller said she does not think the accusations will have any long-term impact on Cicilline’s future political prospects, others are not so sure.

The allegations may cause voters to view the 2010 campaign as a “partial deception” because they believe Cicilline was dishonest about the city’s finances, Profughi said.

“That puts him in a whole different category than the typical freshman congressman.”

Still, Cicilline is moving quickly to repair his image. According to Profughi, he is already working to increase his visibility in the district and to produce legislative accomplish-

ments that he can burnish in 2012.

Road to re-election