Daily
THE BROWN
vol. cxlviii, no. 22
INSIDE
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U(CS) and me
Examining the council a year after a controversial move
Weird theater Chilean dance-inspired show embraces the bizarre Page 7
Pot pragmatism Moffat ’13 argues for a new approach to cannabis today
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tomorrow
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since 1891
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013
Financial summit confronts debt crisis The summit focused on student questions about party cooperation and Rhode Island’s economy By EMILY BONEY
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Herald
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Common Sense Action held Rhode Island’s first statewide convention about the national debt and potential solutions in Alumnae Hall Saturday. President Christina Paxson, economist Steven Rattner ’74 P’10 P’13 P’15, Providence Chamber of Commerce President Laurie White, Mayor of Cranston Allan Fung, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives Robert Weygand and local journalist Ted Nesi were all in attendance. The event centered on two questions, framed by Andrew Kaplan ’15 during his introductory remarks:
“How do both parties work together?” and “What lessons can we learn from Rhode Island’s fiscal struggle?” The goals of Common Sense Action, which was founded by Kaplan, a Democrat, Sam Gilman ’15, an Independent, and Heath Mayo ’13, a Republican, last semester, are to increase student involvement in politics and “create leaders who can engage in their communities,” Kaplan said. “It’s not about what we think, it’s about what the community thinks,” he said. Paxson spoke next, introducing the topics to be addressed and identifying her hopes for the summit. “There are many ways to balance the budget,” Paxson said. “The trick isn’t to balance it — it’s to do it right.” She said she hoped those gathered at the summit would think about “creating policy for growth.” Students from Brown, the Rhode / / Summit page 3 Island School
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COURTESY OF CHENOWYTH PINTER
New Weird America by Ari Rodriguez ’13, the first production of theater collective Folk Mantra, emphasizes movement in storytelling. See page 4.
Alum’s documentary recounts American women’s stories Clean water The film, produced by Betsy West ’76, profiles women who have shaped recent American history By MARI LEGAGNOUX CONTRIBUTING WRITER
While students learn about the United States’ founding fathers in history courses across the country, Betsy West ’73 set out to investigate the women who shaped the nation in a new documentary, “MAKERS: Women Who Make America,” which will premiere Tuesday at 8 p.m. on PBS. The film features interviews with 100 influential women — including former President Ruth Simmons — and tells the story of women’s advancement in America over the past 50 years. “They’re very brave women who stood up for their rights,” she said.
ARTS & CULTURE
“These are amazing stories that nobody knew.” West added that she is “surprised that no one had done a definitive story on the women’s movement.” West and Dyllan McGee, two of the documentary’s executive producers, worked together to convene a scholarly board to determine criteria for which “makers” would be interviewed for the film. Sara Wolitzky ’04, co-producer for Kunhardt McGee Productions, a company behind the film, said narrowing the field of candidates was “torturing because there really are so many women” from whom to choose. They searched for groundbreakers, activists and role models who had personal stories that could be
captured well on film, Wolitzky said. Some famous faces such as Hillary Clinton and Oprah Winfrey make appearances in the documentary, but West said she also enjoyed learning the stories of the lesser-known women. The documentary opens with one of West’s favorite “makers,” Kathrine Switzer, who ran in the Boston marathon when women were still excluded from the race. “There were all kinds of laws in place that restricted the opportunities for women under the guise of protecting them,” West said. West also interviewed Lynn Povich, who, along with several other female journalists, sued her boss for gender discrimination in 1970. Having earned a job at ABC News in the wake of Povich’s victory, West said, “I felt like I personally owed her a debt of gratitude, and so I think that was
very thrilling.” The MAKERS project, which includes the documentary and an online video archive component found at makers.com, has been in development for eight years, West said. The site launched last year, and videos of new “makers” are added each week. These videos also include interviews with a set of younger women who comprise the next generation of “makers,” Wolitzky said. These women “are making their mark now or are acting on the opportunities that the women we had been interviewing sort of opened up for them,” she added. “Because it’s a PBS project, there will be a huge educational outreach,” West said. “Part of doing the video archive was to make these stories accessible to anybody. And that’s part of the legacy.” / / Makers page 5
Undergrad figure skaters host inaugural show After securing rink time, the new student group will hold practices and performances By EMILY PASSARELLI CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The sound of the Zamboni greeted spectators who arrived early to the ice rink Saturday night. Sipping hot chocolate while awaiting the skaters’ entrance, the members of the crowd at Meehan Auditorium chattered in anticipation of the inaugural performance of Figure Skating at Brown, titled “Paradise on Ice.” Though the club’s co-founders — Jenna Ditto ’15, Lauren Suiter ’15 and Irene Rojas-Carroll ’15 — received approval for the club in November, the struggle to secure ice time for practices prevented the group from having an
FEATURE
organized performance until this semester. Before January, members held unofficial practices during free-skate hours, Ditto said. “We worked really hard to get approved and even to get show time,” Suiter said before the show. “It will be nice to see it all come together.” Once the Zamboni finished clearing the ice, five of the club’s 30 skaters took the ice. As they warmed up, they skated in graceful circles, transfixing the early arrivals with the sound of their skates gliding on the glassy ice. While the club is composed mostly of students who have skating experience, some joined despite never having skated before. At 8:30 p.m. and with about 50 spectators in the stands, Ditto and Suiter, along with club members Betsy Turnbull ’14, Gillie Johnson ’15 and Anastasia Lasunina ’16 opened the show skating to Coldplay’s “Paradise.” The skaters / / Skate page 3 chose a variety
COURTESY OF LENA PARKER-DUN CAN
Five of the 30 members of Figure Skating at Brown gave the group’s first performance, entitled “Paradise on Ice,” Saturday night.
group seeks nonprofit status Rainwater for Humanity works to bring fresh water to an under-served rural Indian community By STEPHEN ARK CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Rainwater for Humanity, a student group that makes clean water available to a highly polluted area in southwestern India, will present its plans to become a nonprofit organization at a conference at Yale in April. Group leaders are attending the conference “to see what we need to do to go from a student group to an official nonprofit,” said Sam Lee ’15, the group’s president. “Also, it would be nice to win.” The conference includes a competition to receive recognition for the group that delivers the best presentation of its idea, Ballard said. Rainwater for Humanity was launched in 2009 by a group of Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students. Members develop low-cost rainharvesting mechanisms in conjunction with a team at Mahatma Gandhi University, located in the state of Kerala. Rainwater currently has 14 tanks supplying water to about 60 families in Achinakom, a village in the Kuttanad region of Kerala, said Zachary Ballard ’13, the group’s former president. “Although (the area is) densely populated, it’s very rural, and the government doesn’t have the means of providing adequate water to everyone,” he said. Rainwater for Humanity hopes to expand to / / Nonprofit page 2