Thursday, October 2, 2014

THE

BROWN DAILY HERALD vol. cxlix, no. 80

since 1891

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

Endowment reaches record high Report shows 2013 rise U. posts 16.1 percent return on investment, double its average yield over past decade

in campus crime stats

Brown’s endowment return this year increased from last year’s return of 12.6 percent. Among the Ivies, Cornell and Princeton have not yet released this year’s numbers.

By LINDSAY GANTZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The University’s endowment saw a 16.1 percent return on investments for the fiscal year that ended in June, landing at a record high of $3.2 billion, the administration announced Wednesday.

Brown’s endowment returns are consistent with a period of recent growth, said Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dowling. “Our 10-year average return for the endowment is 8.3 percent,” roughly half of this year’s endowment return, he said.

The 16.1 percent return places Brown toward the bottom of the six Ivies that have announced fiscal year 2014 results so far, though all experienced fairly similar trends.

Yale currently leads the way with an annual endowment return of 20.2 percent, according to the Yale Daily News.

Dartmouth followed with a return of 19.2 percent, the Dartmouth reported.

Penn and Columbia had identical returns of 17.5 percent, according to reports from the Daily Pennsylvanian and the Columbia Daily Spectator.

Harvard is currently the only Ivy with a lower endowment return than Brown

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Burglary reports spike year to year, while forcible sex offenses rise slightly from 2012

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This article was written by Sabrina Imbler, Maxine Joselow, Sarah Perelman and Molly Schulson.

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Brown

Dartmouth Penn Columbia Harvard

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Source: Bloomberg News, New York Times, Harvard Crimson EMMA JERZYK / HERALD

last year — its endowment grew 15.4 percent, according to the Harvard Crimson.

Cornell and Princeton have not yet released their 2014 returns.

“We’ve made more money in the last two years than the endowment had in its entirety until 1996,” Dowling said, citing the approximately $780 million in investment gains, or profits, made during

Christina Paxson’s presidency.

“The endowment’s full recovery from the financial crisis and its uninterrupted support for essential programs in the intervening years is evidence of the University’s strength and resilience,” said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration, in the » See ENDOWMENT, page 2

The number of burglaries reported to the Department of Public Safety in 2013 nearly tripled from 2012, and the number of forcible sex offenses reported saw a slight rise, according to DPS’s annual security report, released Tuesday night.

There were 63 reported burglaries in 2013, up from 23 in 2012 and 40 in 2011. All but five of them occurred on campus.

DPS attributes this spike to an increased number of students leaving their dorm rooms unlocked and unsecured, Chief of Police Mark Porter told The Herald. Whether burglars are “strangers piggybacking off the street or other students who live in the dorm,” students should always lock their doors, Porter said.

All 21 of the forcible sex offenses reported in 2013 took place on campus.

In 2012, 16 reported cases occurred on campus while one case took place on public property.

Both years constitute a significant jump from the seven reported incidents in 2011. But Porter attributed the rise not to an increase in offenses but an increase in reporting. “When the numbers go up, we look at it as maybe we’re putting more education out there and more victims are willing to come forward,” Porter said. “This is my top priority.”

“Critical evidence and timely investigations are missed when students don’t report,” Porter said, adding that victims are entirely in control and may come to the police and choose not to file criminal charges.

Per the reauthorization of the 2013 Violence Against Women Act, the categories of domestic violence, dating violence and stalking were added to the report this year, increasing the number of categories of reported criminal offenses to twelve. There were two incidents of domestic violence and one incident each of dating violence and stalking reported in 2013.

In past years these incidents may have been included under other categories, so the 2013 numbers do not necessarily indicate an increase in actual offenses, Porter said. Since domestic violence and dating violence incidents may have formerly been included as forcible sex offenses, that overall category’s » See CLERY, page 2

Development aims to revitalize West End Changing neighborhood brings mixed bag of new school, higher rents but persistent crime problem

By EMMA JERZYK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

PLO envoy urges nonviolence in Israeli-Palestinian conflict Areikat calls for end to military aggression, details Palestinian goals for peace negotiations

United States, discussed how an “end to all historical claims in the region” can be achieved through a two-state solution.

Organized by J Street U and cosponsored by the Watson Institute for International Studies, the Middle East Studies Initiative and Brown/RISD Hillel, Areikat’s talk was part of the Prospects for Peace after Gaza lecture series.

“The only way Israel can guarantee its safety is through peace with Palestine.

Forget about (the Islamic State), forget » See PLO, page 3

By EBEN BLAKE STAFF WRITER

inside

Speaking to a packed Metcalf Auditorium Wednesday, Maen Areikat, chief representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s delegation to the

METRO

Metro

ORLANDO LUIS PARDO LAZO / HERALD

Julian’s Restaurant is one of many restaurants on the west side of Providence, where critics have called recent changes gentrification. more criminal reports than any other municipality.

The median household income for the West End was $33,612 in 2014 — 32 percent lower than the rest of Providence, which has a median household income of $49,571 this year, according to the National Association of Realtors’ website. Only 43 percent of adults living in the West End graduated from high school and only 13 percent received a

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ZEIN KHLEIF / HERALD

Maen Areikat, chief representative of the PLO to the United States, said Wednesday that the recent Gaza conflict didn’t improve Israel’s safety.

When Jay Davani first moved to Rhode Island, she considered living in Providence’s West End neighborhood. She put a bid on a condo, but after visiting and finding a used needle on the sidewalk outside the building, she withdrew her offer.

She moved to Pawtuxet Village instead.

Ten years later, Davani now lives in the West End and owns a vintage clothing boutique on Broadway Street called MINT. Her move was motivated by the “young, creative, entrepreneurial, artistic people” in the area, she said.

Historically, Providence’s West End neighborhood has been home to some of the worst crime rates and lowest income and education levels in the city.

The neighborhood had more crime reports — 349 — filed than any other neighborhood in Providence in 2012, including 71 assaults, over 200 burglaries, 16 sexual assaults and one of the 13 homicides reported in the city that year, GoLocalProv reported. This was 105

bachelor’s degree, according to 2014 census data provided by NAR. This is 15 percent lower than the rest of the Providence metropolitan area.

But developments in the neighborhood have started to transform the atmosphere.

Davani said there is “a really great camaraderie” between small business owners in the neighborhood. “This is » See WEST END, page 3 t o d ay

tomorrow

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2 university news » CLERY, from page 1 year-to-year rise could be steeper than reflected in the report.

The number of reported off-campus robberies — defined as theft “by force or threat of force” while a victim is present — dropped from 16 in 2012 to 9 in 2013, while the number of reported robberies overall dipped from 17 to 12 over the same time period.

“We had a tough year in 2012,” Porter said, citing a higher crime rate in the city as a primary reason for the spike in 2012. Porter said the drop last year is partly due to the new safety measures enacted last fall by President Christina Paxson’s campus safety task force.

A motor vehicle theft was also reported last year for the first time since 2011.

No Brown community members were arrested for weapons violations, liquor law violations or drug violations in 2013, though the number of disciplinary referrals for all three categories increased last year.

Drug violation referrals have risen over the last three years, tallying 20 in 2011, 21 in 2012 and 28 in 2013.

There were also 67 referrals for liquor law violations in 2013, up from 39 in 2012 and 59 in 2011. But DPS reports show that one incident involved 25 students and a second incident involved 12 students, possibly accounting for the rise, Porter said.

There were no reported hate crimes

in 2013. DPS has added gender identity as a subcategory of classifying hate crimes to reflect new mandates by the VAWA, Porter said.

When examining affiliated hospitals, the report noted that crime has been highest at Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island for the last three years.

Crime there appears to be on the rise, including 10 aggravated assaults and 11 instances of sexual assault reported in 2013. The number of aggravated assaults there nearly doubled from 2012 and constitutes a significant spike from one reported incident in 2011.

To ensure the safety of the campus community amidst these crimes, the report also notes that DPS has unveiled several new initiatives.

A mobile app called Brown Guardian allows users to make emergency calls or send emergency tips to DPS. The app also features a safety timer that a user can set before starting a trip and that will notify DPS if the user does not deactivate it. And a new media program called Bear Tips provides videos that spotlight safety resources available on campus. Porter also holds office hours once a month in the Sciences Library.

Under a federal law entitled the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, colleges and universities are required to disclose “timely and annual information about campus crime and security policies,” according to the report.

» ENDOWMENT, from page 1 University’s statement.

The Investment Office must consider what is in the best interest for the University, Dowling said. “Our goal is to balance preservation of the endowment with growth of the endowment,” Dowling said. “I would argue that we had an incredibly successful year in that respect.”

“In FY 2013, the financial markets were overall positive, … so it is not a surprise that returns for Brown are positive,” wrote Ken Redd, director of research and policy analysis for the National Association for College and University Business Officers, in an email to The Herald. “We won’t know the full range of endowment returns until sometime next month, but my guess is that returns will be highly positive for many schools.”

The endowment supports about 17 percent of the current operating budget, Dowling said. Every year, 5 percent of the endowment is paid out to the University for operating purposes, he added. The University has relied on endowment funds to support need-blind admission, financial aid, professorships and programs, according to the press release.

This year’s endowment returns mark the second straight year that the endowment has surpassed its pre-recession levels. The endowment stood at $2.86 billion at the end of FY 2013, which also exceeded FY 2008’s endowment of approximately $2.75 billion, as reported by NACUBO at the time.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

Areikat: ‘Still committed to a two-state solution’ PLO ambassador to U.S. emphasizes desire to achieve lasting ceasefire, border agreement

By EBEN BLAKE STAFF WRITER

Maen Areikat, chief representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s delegation to the United States, delivered a lecture about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on campus Wednesday.

He sat down with The Herald to discuss the need for a two-state solution and the difficulties of current negotiations.

Herald: What do you think would be the ideal path and structure for Palestinian nationhood?

Areikat: We are still committed to a two-state solution, despite the fact that what the Israelis are doing on the ground is making the realization of a two-state solution impossible. And we have repeatedly said that what we want to do is develop and establish a sovereign, independent and viable Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, which will include Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state. That constitutes 22 percent of what used to be historic Palestine, and of course we want a state that can survive side by side in peace with Israel. We also said that we would be willing to make minor, reciprocal land swaps. And we don’t envision a state with offensive military capabilities. What we need is a state with enough defensive capabilities to defend its citizens and its borders and for the rule of law to protect all the population.

Herald: Following the war in Gaza this summer, it seemed that neither side could maintain truces, as though Gaza and Israel each had completely different interpretations of what it entailed. Do you think this inability to communicate suggests a move away from the viability of actual peace talks?

Areikat: Right now the focus of all parties, including the Israeli leadership, is to consolidate the existing ceasefire between the Israelis and the Palestinians in Gaza. There is going to be a conference for donors next month in Cairo to provide support and assistance — both material and financial — for the reconstruction of Gaza. There is an issue of the continued illegal military occupation of the Palestinian people.

In order to provide security for Israel, the Palestinians must enjoy their

www.browndailyherald.com

freedom and their independence.

Herald: What’s your opinion on the viability of the 2014 Fatah-Hamas agreement and the consolidation of Palestinian authority? Do you think it’s going to ultimately benefit the PLO in negotiating with the Israelis and the United States, or will the association make it difficult for other countries to take the PLO’s push for peace seriously?

Areikat: Anytime a people are divided, it’s a sign of weakness. Be it the Palestinians, the Americans, the British, anybody. So if the Palestinians agree to unite their ranks, this is a good sign. Yes, there are different political views in the Palestinian society, but the PLO has reached peace agreements with Israel in the past and wants a political resolution to the conflict, while there are other groups that still believe in the arms struggle. But this is a process that will take time to bring factions to accept that the only way out is a political, not a military solution. I think the Palestinian national reconciliation is a positive step. I think it is important in order to provide support to provide Gaza a government that speaks for all of the Palestinians.

Herald: It seems that both Hamas and Israel have benefited from the struggle politically — in terms of Israel saying, ‘Look at these rockets coming into our airspace,’ and then Hamas pointing to the suffering of the people in Gaza. Do you think there is going to be an increasingly radicalized population in both countries that will make it hard for leadership to ever actually make peace?

Areikat: Anytime people resort to guns and violence to resolve their political conflict, their endgame would be strengthening the forces of radicalism and extremism. It’s not unusual to see that both Israelis and Palestinians are drifting more to the extremes because of the recent confrontation. Two thousand two hundred Palestinians were killed. The vast majority were civilians — including almost 500 children — and that definitely is hardening the feelings on part of the Palestinians.

The same for the Israelis, they also feel attacked and their civilian population was threatened, but that’s why the Israeli leadership should come to the conclusion that there is no military solution to this conflict. The only way out is a political solution.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

university news 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

» WEST END, from page 1 the first time I’ve felt that I live in a connected neighborhood,” she said. “I felt like I moved into a family.”

The West Broadway Neighborhood Association, which operates out of a former gas station on Westminster Street, has been working to make the West Side, which encompasses the Federal Hill and West End neighborhoods, a more dynamic place to live, said Kari Lang, WBNA’s executive director. The organization’s mission is to make the West Side “a vibrant and sustainable place to be SWELL” ­— shop, work, eat, live and learn locally — according to the organization’s website.

WBNA’s crime watch program has been one of its most successful projects, Lang said. The program consists of a monthly meeting and an online forum for reporting crimes in the area. Alyssa Deandrade, the police commander for District 4, and representatives from the Office of the Attorney General attend the monthly meetings.

Davani said that while the neighborhood feels safer now than it did to her 10 years ago, her car was broken into just two days ago. After voicing her concerns about the theft and vandalism on social

» PLO, from page 1 about Iran. … It can only come through the people committed to this two-state solution, living side by side in peace and security,” Areikat said.

Areikat has held his current role since 2008. Before his position in Washington, he had worked in the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department since 1998, where he served in peace talks. Areikat received a Bachelor of Science in finance from Arizona State University and a MBA from Western International University, as well as diplomatic training at the Ministry of External Affairs in Ottawa and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Shelby Centofanti ’15.5, president of Brown’s J Street U, began the talk by describing J Street U as a pro-Israel, protwo state solution and pro-peace organization. She urged the crowd to “truly engage” with Areikat, as someone “who engages in the conflict every day.”

Richard Locke, director of the Watson Institute, then introduced Areikat and again asked for the crowd’s consideration of the issues at hand, labeling the talk a “high-valence” event with the possibility for high emotional stakes.

Areikat’s speech focused on reaffirming the PLO’s commitment to a peaceful solution, with a two-state solution based on 1967 borders. He also called on Israeli leaders to allow Palestinians to pursue political sovereignty peacefully.

Israeli security will come quickest through doing “away with past history and to not try to control me by force against my will,” he said. “We want to be a strong neighbor to Israel like Canada is” to the United States, he added.

Areikat also described his initial dismissal of Israeli security concerns over an independent Palestine but explained that over the course of time, he realized how Israel’s “painful history” leads to justified and legitimate fears.

“We want a non-militarized state, with no offensive military,” only with enough to “protect our border and people, and keep peaceful control over our nation,” he said, adding that Palestinians are currently surrounded by countries with “far greater militaries” than they could ever form.

Areikat cited the 1988 Palestinian

media, many of her friends from the neighborhood shared similar stories about apartments and vehicles getting broken into in broad daylight, she said.

Other people relayed accounts of “getting jumped” on their way home from work, which in some cases has resulted in hospitalizations, Davani added.

Despite these reported crimes, Davani said she feels comfortable walking around on Broadway by herself. But she added that when she takes other streets, she tries to walk in a group. “It’s part of city living and it’s part of taking a chance on an up-and-coming area.”

As the neighborhood grows, a new school, the West Broadway Middle School on Bainbridge Avenue, just opened this fall.

“We’ve been advocating for a long time to have strong public schools that our children can walk to,” Lang said.

“We have a whole bunch of great, historic school buildings,” she added.

The West Broadway Elementary School, which occupied the building where the West Broadway Middle School is now, closed seven years ago.

“We yelled and screamed, and we didn’t feel like we were being listened to,” by city officials Lang said, adding that officials “closed it anyway.”

Declaration of Independence, which he described as “the Historic Compromise” to accept a dissolution of historic Palestine in order to achieve peace.

“We are still waiting for Israel to accept the solution,” he said, suggesting a split capital with East Jerusalem in Palestine and West Jerusalem in Israel, along with minor reciprocal land swaps to secure borders.

On the refugee crisis, he called for Israel to “acknowledge” the “780,000 refugees that fled their homes in 1948,” without needing to fully solve the “diaspora of the Palestinians.”

The bulk of his talk focused on the need to demilitarize the conflict, as Israel “will never solve the problem using military means.” Referring to the recent Gaza War this summer, he described the “scenes of destruction” which only “led to a hardening of feelings from both parties.”

“Today Israel is not safer than in 1989, nor four years ago. Ten years ago, we did not see these external actors and players threatening to destabilize the region” like today, he said. “We will not continue to allow Israel to treat the Palestinian people the way they have been treated. … We will take whatever peaceful venues we can to form a two-state solution.”

Before the question-and-answer session, a student organizer who helped moderate said questions must first be formulated alongside a moderator to be asked, and anyone making overtly aggressive or threatening questions would be asked to leave.

The questions for Areikat focused on U.S. approaches to solving the crisis and the reconciliation process between the PLO and Hamas, an organization which currently controls the Gaza Strip.

When asked about anti-Semitism among people in Palestine, he described the conflict as the source of tension and proposed removing religion from what should be a purely political discussion.

Areikat also acknowledged the distinction between sentiments that are antiIsraeli occupation and those that are anti-Semitic.

“You don’t have to be anti-Israel,” he said, “to be pro-Palestine.”

The Prospects for Peace after Gaza series investigates courses of action to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through peaceful means and the political process.

But along with the positive reactions to the development, there have also been accusations that the projects are going to drive out longtime residents, Lang said. “We do our best to do all the good of gentrification and decrease the bad.”

Gentrification results in changing income, racial and educational compositions and typically refers to a dynamic where more white, high-income, highly educated residents move into a specific neighborhood that was previously lessdesired or struggling, said Nathaniel Baum-Snow, associate professor of economics and urban studies.

Housing costs and rent subsequently increase, which prompts many lowerincome residents to leave, Baum-Snow said.

Home values in the West End neighborhood have gone up by almost 11 percent in the past year, in comparison to the 3.3 percent increase of property values in Providence, according to Yahoo-Zillow Real Estate Network, an online database for real estate prices.

It is in the interest of property owners to encourage gentrification, BaumSnow said, because it increases their property values. But this hurts renters because it makes their housing more expensive, he added.

Property values in the West End West End home values have increased by 10.8 percent in the past year, while Providence home values have only increased by 3.3 percent.

150 thousand dollars

Providence West End

120

90 April 2012

September 2014

Source: Yahoo-Zillow Real Estate Network EMMA JERZYK / HERALD

Lang said both property owners and renters in the West Side are welcome to join the WBNA, and that the association tries to represent the economic and ethnic diversity of the West Side in its leadership.

Davani, who rents her apartment on the West End, said prices are “still pretty affordable, but it’s starting to not be.”

Davani added that she doesn’t think the development in the West End should be considered gentrification, because many of the buildings that are being refurbished were previously vacant.

And while she acknowledges that further development could increase the

cost of living, Davani said, “If it does, then it does. I hope that it doesn’t. But that’s a risk in any neighborhood.”

Lang noted that the farmers’ market in the West End currently draws more people using Women Infant and Children’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits than any other farmers’ market in the city. She also pointed to an affordable apartment finished in 2005 on Westminster as an example of encouraging economic diversity in the neighborhood.

“We try to do as many things as possible to make it affordable,” Lang said of the West Side.

4 university news Klawunn, Mandel outline goals at UCS New dean of the College discusses focus on engaged scholarship, academic advising, learning center

Elections Roundup

BY KATE KIERNAN, METRO EDITOR

Testy TV ads

By CAROLINE KELLY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Dean of the College Maud Mandel and Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn discussed the initiatives they intend to pursue in the coming year at the Undergraduate Council of Students general body meeting Wednesday evening.

Appearing before the council for the first time as dean, Mandel said, “Once I took on the position, I really stopped working directly with Brown students.”

But UCS, she added, “is one of the forums where I can still really talk to Brown students.”

Mandel named three main areas where she intends to focus her attention.

The first issue addressed was the Engaged Scholars Initiative, a program run out of the Swearer Center for Public Service that integrates classwork with community service in order to connect outside work “more deeply to things that you’re doing in the classroom,” Mandel said. Though these unique tracks are currently available in only four concentrations, “ideally the goal is every department” having access to them, she said.

Mandel’s second topic was advising.

“Advising at Brown is like the Middle East peace for every American president,” she said, joking that many deans promise to fix it “and then go limping out of office.” Though she said Brown first-years were happier with advising in past years than those at other universities, Mandel expressed her desire to enhance the program based on the premise that advising and the open curriculum go together in a unique way.

“Instead of being the president who does nothing for Middle East peace, I’d rather be the one who focuses on certain pieces of it,” she said.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

RILEY RYAN-WOOD / HERALD

Undergraduate Council of Students members asked administrators Wednesday about faculty diversity and plans for improving advising.

Lastly, Mandel described the general project of “how to enhance the process of how students learn at Brown,” especially through the creation of a learning center where students could more creatively link classroom education with certain learning skills. Looking forward, the project could potentially “over time revolutionize how we think about learning skills at Brown,” she added.

Klawunn also started her remarks by emphasizing the importance of UCS as a source of student input to administrative “decision-making, and even ways that we decide priorities.”

“Dean Mandel supports your learning inside the classroom, and I’m responsible for your experience outside the classroom,” she added.

Klawunn addressed her role in continuing to focus on campus issues from last year that still affect students. “As a campus, we didn’t do the best job we could do last year about different topics like race, privilege, class and gender identities,” she said.

“We had a spring where sexual assault was a roiling issue, we also had a summer that saw Ferguson, Missouri, and Gaza literally explode,” she said. Those varied issues made administrators question,

“‘How do we provide a lot of opportunities for conversations on topics like that?’” she said, referencing the administration’s new Transformative Conversations@ Brown Project.

After discussing their agendas, Mandel and Klawunn answered questions from council members. General body member John Brewer ’17 asked about opportunities for students to work with administrators on advising. Mandel responded that the main body currently addressing the issue was a “working group of DOC staff” that plan on holding open discussions such as “UCS lunches or something where you could talk to the committee about your experiences.”

General body member Sam Karlin ’16 said certain departments had shown themselves to be particularly good at advising, citing departments that allowed students to choose their own concentration advisers.

A couple of general body members also spoke about increasing the number of faculty members of color. Timothy Ittner ’18 asked about hiring faculty members “to mirror the student body.”

Mandel responded that since potential candidates need “to be in certain positions already, of a certain caliber,” the University often looks to its rising-star graduate students of color for potential faculty positions. “After (post-doctoral students) have been here for two or three years, they can be a target for hiring,” she said. “I think a lot of departments will take advantage of that.”

General body member Justice Gaines ’16 asked about compensation and recognition for “faculty of color (who) bear a really heavy burden of talking to students of color, because they’re really the only ones for them to talk to.”

“I would like to say that students of color would feel comfortable getting advising from a broad range of faculty, but … that’s not how things are,” Mandel said. “The best way I think is to reward the work” of existing faculty members, she continued.

Mandel and Klawunn also both described pending plans to renovate the Sharpe Refectory. Since data has shown the Ratty to be a central hub for student life, “we don’t need to do a renovation that fixes the building but doesn’t give you the food that you want to eat,” Klawunn said.

After discussing ideas of a temporary tent serving food on Benevolent Street while construction went on, administrators decided they would favor making permanent improvements to other eateries such as the Verney-Woolley Dining Hall and Josiah’s to make them more accessible and attractive during the Ratty’s renovation.

General Treasurer Gina Raimondo, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, and Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, the Republican nominee, challenged the quality and character of each other’s televised campaign advertisements this week.

Fung’s campaign alleges that a new ad for U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., which features Raimondo and airs clips from previous commercials she has run, violates state campaign finance law by using federal funds allotted to Reed’s campaign to help Raimondo’s candidacy, the local NBC 10 affiliate reported.

The Rhode Island Democratic Party, which sponsored the ad, responded that it was an ad “that includes express advocacy for a federal candidate” and is therefore in compliance with the finance laws.

No local news affiliates have pulled the ad, though Fung campaign attorneys sent a “cease and desist” letter to Rhode Island television stations Sept. 30.

The Fung campaign released a new ad this week attacking Raimondo for her support for repaying bond investors in the failed 38 Studios investment, the local ABC 6 affiliate reported. Raimondo has said she did not support the state’s original deal with the bankrupt video game company but that repaying the loan will be better for “Rhode Island’s credibility in the bond markets over the long term,” ABC 6 reported.

Polls and politics

A new poll from national polling firm Rasmussen Reports showed Raimondo ahead of Fung by 5 percentage points, Rhode Island Public Radio reported. Fung had 37 percent of the vote among a survey of 750 likely Rhode Island voters, while Raimondo took 42 percent. About 11 percent of respondents indicated support for other candidates. Another 11 percent of those surveyed were undecided.

The latest WPRI and Providence Journal poll had former Providence mayor and independent candidate Vincent “Buddy” Cianci up by 6 percentage points over Democratic nominee and former Housing Court Judge Jorge Elorza, who had 32 percent of support among likely Rhode Island voters surveyed. Republican candidate Daniel Harrop ’76 MD’79 was in third place in the race with 6 percent of the vote. The poll also reported that 21 percent of voters surveyed had yet to decide which candidate they would support.

Cannabis and campaigns

Write-in gubernatorial candidate Anne Armstrong — running as a Compassion Party candidate — released a campaign ad on her YouTube page Sept. 5 in which she inhales marijuana to illustrate her support for its legalization, which generated attention from local and national media outlets this week.

Armstrong is an outside contender for the seat from a third party that describes itself as “a political and social movement designed to promote a more compassionate and considerate society.” In the video, Armstrong says she smokes marijuana every day to help her focus and that people have “been lied to for a long time” by the government on the dangers of marijuana.

Her campaign centers on the legalization of marijuana for medical and recreational use. This appears to be the first time that a candidate in a gubernatorial race has smoked marijuana in an ad.

Neither of the major-party candidates — Raimondo and Fung — support legalizing marijuana at the moment.

Unions backing Cianci

The Providence Teachers’ Union announced its endorsement Sunday for Cianci in the mayoral race. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3, the union representing the police officers, and the firefighters’ union Local 799 have also endorsed Cianci.

RIPR reported that support for Cianci from these public safety officers’ unions is notable, given that they are backing a twiceconvicted felon over Elorza, a former judge. Cianci received the support of most of the city’s public employee unions in his last “comeback bid” in 1990, WPRI reported. The union endorsements allow the union political action campaigns to donate directly to Cianci and distribute promotional material on his behalf.

Elorza has received endorsements from two unions: the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 328 and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 23, according to an Elorza campaign press release.

Split City Council

Four of the 15 members of the all-Democratic Providence City Council have yet to endorse a candidate for the mayoral race.

Six of the councilmembers — Seth Yurdin, Ward 1; Sam Zurier, Ward 2; Nick Narducci, Ward 4; Michael Solomon, Ward 5; Bryan Principe, Ward 13; and Sabina Matos, Ward 15 — have announced their support for Elorza.

Kevin Jackson, Ward 3; Michael Correia, Ward 6; John Igliozzi, Ward 7; Davian Sanchez, Ward 11; and Terry Hasset, Ward 12, have announced they will back Cianci, WPRI reported.

The remaining four councilmembers — Wilbur Jennings, Ward 8; Carmen Castillo, Ward 9; Luis Aponte, Ward 10; and David Salvatore, Ward 14 — have yet to announce endorsements.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

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ALEXIA DELHOUME / HERALD

Students participate in the “Wear Yellow for Hong Kong on October 1st” campaign to raise awareness about demonstrations in Hong Kong. More than 40 other schools participated across the country Wednesday.

comics Comic Sans | Neille-Ann Tan ’18

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P-Branes and Bosons | Ricky Oliver ’17

calendar TODAY

TOMORROW

12 P.M. NUDE PHOTO SCANDALS AND PRIVACY RIGHTS

12 P.M. ANTHROPOLOGY TALK

The Philosophy Departmental Undergraduate Group hosts a discussion that will tackle the issue of celebrity nude photo scandals and the privacy rights violated by leaking these photos. J. Walter Wilson 501

Jessica Cerezo-Román, visiting faculty member at Harvard, gives a talk titled “Transformation by Fire: Personhood and Funerary Customs Among the Hohokam of Southern Arizona.” Giddings House 212

5:30 P.M. A READING AND Q&A WITH TRAVEL WRITER

6 P.M. YOM KIPPUR SERVICES

AND POET CHRISTOPHER BAKKEN

Sections of “Honey, Olives, Octopus: Exploring Elements of the Greek Table” are read by author Christopher Bakken.

Maddock Alumni Center, Brian Room 8 P.M. UNHEARD KICKOFF FEATURED ARTIST NIGHT

The spotlight is on talented student musicians at the first featured artist night of the current semester. Faunce House steps

Pre-fast meal is held at 4:30 p.m. followed by Reform, Conservative and Orthodox Yom Kippur services at 6 p.m. and a Yom Kippur conversation at 8 p.m.

Brown/RISD Hillel 8 P.M. HYPNOTIST SHOW

Professional hypnotist Frank Santos Jr. performs in this comic hypnotist show, and audience members will be able to participate in skits and dances throughout it.

Kasper Multipurpose Room

6 commentary

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

EDITORIAL

Preserve baseball With the start of the professional and college football seasons, many people may have already moved on from baseball. But last night’s American League wild-card game between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics was a reminder of baseball’s integral role and positioning within the American cultural landscape. Though often criticized for a lengthy season and long lulls (by the Wall Street Journal’s estimation, a ball is in play for just 18 minutes of a three-hour game), the current model utilized

by Major League Baseball is unique in its construction and harkens back to a long tradition of simplicity relative to other American professional sports leagues. There is significant value in the underlying structure of the MLB, and we sincerely hope that despite prevailing criticism, the sport maintains its current structure and integrity.

In recent years, the MLB has received criticism as many grow concerned that the league is losing favor among sports fans. Of the past nine World Series, eight received the lowest television ratings on record. These shifts in ratings may be associated with shifting demographics — 50 percent of baseball viewers are older than 55 — as well as lengthier games, the historic presence of performance-enhancing drugs, and a drop in scoring from an average of 5.14 runs per game in 2000 to 4.17 in 2013.

But despite concern regarding the decline in national ratings and World Series viewership, local ratings are actually up. As of July 24, the Nielsen Company reported that of the 29 American teams, 12 held the number-one spot for prime-time viewership at that point in the season, and 19 were in the top three spots. This suggests that fans are still deeply devoted to their teams, though they may not be as willing to watch other teams compete. While committed football fans splurge on cable packages to watch 16 games every week, baseball fans are less likely to watch a game if their team is not playing. There are already 162 games to watch each season, and only the most devoted need more than 500 hours of baseball.

Moreover, with football and hockey underway in October, fans are not in desperate search of sports on TV and are even less likely to pay attention to the baseball postseason.

There are problems with baseball, including performance-enhancing drugs and exorbitant salaries, and it is unlikely baseball will surpass football in popularity in the near future. But it is still America’s second-favorite sport, with 14 percent of respondents to a January Harris poll calling baseball their favorite. More importantly, though, it is America’s pastime.

It needs to be cleaned up and sped up, but it should not be redesigned to attract a wider fanbase at the expense of those who like it the way it is. Baseball can be improved, but it does not need drastic reforms that would dilute its traditional undergirding.

K I M B E R LY S A LT Z

CORRECTIONS An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Deficit rises 58 percent, doubles 2014 projection,” Oct. 1) incorrectly stated that the University had a $8.7 million operating budget deficit for the current academic year. In fact, the $8.7 million operating budget deficit was in fiscal year 2014. The Herald regrets the error.

An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“Tax receipts show Egyptians kept traditions under Roman rule,” Oct. 1) misstated the name of the department holding a research colloquium Tuesday. It is the Department of Egyptology and Assyriology, not the Department of Egyptology and Ancient Western Asian Studies. The Herald regrets the error.

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commentary 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

Being honest about the Islamic State WALKER MILLS opinions columnist

A recent Herald column by David Katzevich ’16 (“The Islamic State: conceived by American hubris,” Sept. 19) claims that the Islamic State was essentially an American creation. This assertion is patently false and also dangerous. Blaming all the world’s troubles on the United States and then using those arguments as a basis for isolationist policy is a terrible path to take our country down. Let’s set the record straight.

Katzevich describes the First Gulf War as pretty much an allAmerican affair. It was not. Military action in the Gulf was sanctioned

by United Nations resolutions and backed by a global coalition of over 30 members, including many from the Middle East. Every continent except Antarctica was represented.

It was the largest military coalition assembled since the Allied powers worked to defeat Hitler’s Germany 50 years prior.

Katzevich also fails to mention the Iran-Iraq War in his column, an error of omission if there ever was one. The war lasted considerably longer than the First Gulf War

and cost Iraq many times more casualties and battle deaths. It was an eight-year slugfest, with widespread use of chemical weapons, bombing of civilian targets and trench warfare. That war and its associated debts had already broken the Iraqi economy before the First Gulf War. If there was a war where “the fathers and grandfathers of those now waving the black flag of the Islamic State” were killed, it was the IranIraq War, not the First Gulf War.

Iraq in 2003, they renamed, swore allegiance to al-Qaeda and fought against U.S. and coalition forces. It was during the current civil war in Syria that the group took its current form and expanded rapidly, eventually seizing territory in both Iraq and Syria.

The ideology of the Islamic State is a branch of radical Wahhabist Islam. This same ideology was professed by multiple proto-caliphates that popped up in the 19th centu-

river of blood” initiated by George H.W. Bush, as Katzevich writes, but in the minds of radical Wahhabist thinkers and clerics in the 19th century, and then was melded into its current form in the chaos of the Iraqi insurgency and the crucible of the Syrian civil war. I’ll concede that the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 certainly destabilized the country in a way that made it easier for radical groups to grow and operate, but it would be a dubious claim that the

Blaming all the world’s troubles on the United States and then using those arguments as a basis for isolationist policy is a terrible path to take our country down.

Now we can look at what actually spawned the Islamic State. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi originally founded the group in 1999 under the name Jama-at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad.

That’s four years earlier than the Second Gulf War, which Katzevich claims led to “the creation of what would later become the Islamic State.” This was a group in Jordan whose members had cut their teeth fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan. After the U.S. invasion of

ry and had to be quashed by major world powers. The phenomenon of the Islamic State is not some new breed of enemy created by “American hubris.” The Islamic State is the modern manifestation of the same religious radical movements that happened across the Middle East and Caucasus region in the 19th century.

It’s clear that the United States did not spawn the Islamic State. The Islamic State was conceived not in “a

invasion was a direct cause.

Now that we’ve established the true roots of the Islamic State, why are alternate explanations dangerous? Because they are often used as a pillar of anti-interventionist rhetoric. America cannot sit idly by while this new form of evil spreads across the Middle East. If it was not clear before, the Islamic State is a global threat. Just days ago, Australian counter-terrorism officers foiled a plot to kidnap strangers in

Sydney and behead them on camera.

As I claimed in my last column (“Cut out the cuts,” Sept. 17), we must step in because no one else is willing or able. We do not have to shoulder the whole burden ourselves, and I think the coalition that President Obama is building to combat the Islamic State threat is essential to our success.

We must act carefully — we cannot repeat our misadventure in Iraq, and if nothing else, the last decade at war has taught us that the Middle East is a place that is intensely complicated and at the edge of our ability to control. Obama is reluctant to commit forces to the Middle East, which I applaud — but he is also resolute in his commitment to combat global terrorism wherever it appears. As a nation, we should follow his lead and steel ourselves for coming conflict, think critically about our actions and make sure we know what we’re talking about.

Walker Mills ’15 is a senior concentrating in history and archaeology. He is planning on commissioning as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps after graduation. He can be reached at walker_mills@brown.edu.

A man’s right to choose DANA SCHWARTZ opinions columnist

Let me begin by saying this is not a column about abortion. I am writing this column with the understanding that the highest court in the land has granted women the right to choose and that that right should be respected. The decision to become a parent should be just that — a decision, and not a punishment for poor judgment. From my own limited experience sitting on airplanes near crying infants, I imagine calling parenthood “a tremendous undertaking” would be a bit like calling the French Revolution “a bit of a tiff.” Every woman should have complete control over her own body and the decision whether to become a mother. That said, I think it’s worth addressing where the father figures into the picture of reproductive rights in this country.

In making the difficult decisions of how to handle an unplanned pregnancy, a woman can consider her lifestyle, her finances and her plans for the future. If one truly believes women and men should be treated equally under the law, and a woman’s right to an abortion should always be respected, there’s a nagging hypocrisy when it comes to how the nation perceives pregnancy. After conception, the father has no control over the fate of the fetus, but depending on the mother’s decision, he might be responsible for 18 years of child support. Why should a man have to pay child support for a child he doesn’t want?

Initially, this question seems a retrogressive appeal for men’s rights, a terrifying and obviously poorly considered thought exercise. But

upon closer examination, granting a man equal rights to choose a parental “opt-out” option might be the key to a cultural paradigm shift that would protect abortion and reinforce a female’s right to control her own body.

In 1973, the Supreme Court made the landmark decision to rule in favor of Jane Roe, determining that the “right of privacy … is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy,” effectively offering constitutional protection to abortions. Though Roe v. Wade still retains challengers today, every woman in the United States has the constitutionally protected right

able for free under President Obama’s health insurance plan. In an ideal world, every pregnancy brought to term would be a choice made by the woman.

Imagine a scenario in which a man wanted to keep a baby and the woman did not. Even if the man opposed abortion on religious grounds, if the woman did not feel financially or emotionally ready for motherhood, the father would not be able to force her to carry the fetus to term. A woman is in full control of the decision to have an abortion, a right protected by the Supreme Court, and justifiably: A parasite is growing in her uterus for nine months. Biologically, preg-

If you’re outraged by my proposal so far, you should be.

to choose whether to have a child. While the decision marked a major victory for feminism in the United States, the status quo of child support legislation continues to surreptitiously undermine sexual equality by reinforcing conceptions of female dependence and asymmetric parental responsibility.

From the perspective of the medical technology available, a woman has the primary control over whether she’ll get pregnant after the sexual encounter occurs. She can take an emergency contraceptive pill, or “morning-after pill,” or make the decision to proceed with an abortion. Additionally, a wide variety of female-targeted birth control options exist, including hormone-secreting vaginal rings and a daily birth control pill, with the generic avail-

nancy is a burden on the mother. But after the baby is born, the father holds equal responsibility for the baby’s finances, even if he would have made the decision to terminate the pregnancy.

Abortions don’t require both chromosome donors present to give permission to proceed, but the 18 years of child-rearing require responsibility from both parties.

Though the exact legal details of my fictitious legislation need to be adequately addressed, a man should be able to present “optout” papers to the woman within the first trimester, while abortion is still a viable option. In doing so, he would formally acknowledge that (a) he would choose to terminate the pregnancy, (b) he would be willing to pay for half of the abortion procedure and (c) he relinquishes all

parental rights.

If you’re outraged by my proposal so far, you should be. You should already be drafting your comment about how most women today still don’t have access to adequate birth control options and states continue to encroach on a woman’s constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. Many states are passing legislation in a backhanded attempt to prevent legal abortions from occurring without explicitly defying the Supreme Court’s ruling. Why should men be given an “out” when women still don’t have full control over their bodies?

These impedimentary procedures represent a disturbing trend of states enforcing de facto anti-abortion policies. If abortion and birth control are not realistic and readily available options for women, then the “opt-out” for men loses all its meaning.

In a law that permits men to escape child support through a metaphorical “paperwork abortion,” medical abortion would need to be simultaneously safeguarded. The fact that a woman doesn’t require permission from the fetus’s father indicates that the United States has already established that a woman is in control of a pregnancy in legal terms. Reducing the number of unwanted infants will ultimately promote social mobility and quality child support for the babies that do come to term. A woman should have complete control over the tremendous decision to become a mother, but both genders will benefit if we imagine that maybe, men can have a right to choose, too.

Dana Schwartz ’15 realizes she’s just asking for a good argument. Email dana_schwartz@brown.edu or tweet @DanaJSchwartz7.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2014

THE

metro

BROWN DAILY HERALD

New voter ID requirements spur complaints of disenfranchisement RIACLU criticizes ID rules’ impact on voters, but officials claim law’s implementation has run smoothly

By SHAVON BELL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is leading a drive to educate eligible voters on the state’s new voter ID law in time for the general election, after errors made in the law’s implementation during the Sept.

9 primary led to voter disenfranchisement, said Hillary Davis, RIACLU policy associate.

As of Jan. 1, 2014, the voter ID law requires people to show photo identification in order to vote. In the past, state requirements had called for either photo ID, bank statements or governmentissued documents. Voters who do not have a valid photo ID can either cast a provisional ballot or obtain a free voter ID upon request. Votes submitted using these provisional ballots are counted

only after signatures are matched with voter registration records.

RIACLU poll watchers positioned at various polling sites throughout the state on primary day noted cases in which poll workers mistakenly dismissed voters due to misunderstandings about the new policy, Davis said.

Poll watchers witnessed voters being sent away for lack of photo ID without being offered a provisional ballot or told by precinct officials that the information on their ID did not match Rhode Island Board of Elections records, Davis said. These implementation errors were also present in 2012 statewide elections — when the new voting law was first implemented, but with its less restrictive requirements ­­— but were absent prior to the passage of the voter ID law, she added.

Robert Kando, executive director of

the Board of Elections, said the RIACLU is the only organization to formally issue complaints to the Board of Elections regarding ID legislation. During the primary, 228 people submitted provisional ballots out of the 158,000 who voted.

Ten of those provisional ballots were disqualified, he added. “That is as close to perfect as you’re going to get,” given that this election cycle is the board’s first time operating under the more stringent requirements, Kando said.

Though the RIACLU has attempted to form substantive partnerships with the state government, officials at the Board of Elections and the Secretary of State’s office have not been responsive, Davis said. In response, the RIACLU’s goals to improve the training of poll workers and freeze the voter ID law at non-photo ID status have so far been unattainable, Davis said.

The Board of Elections is executing its own methods of resolving these issues of disenfrancisement, such as

asking machine technicians to check in with polling site supervisors and reiterating provisional ballot policies, Kando said.

The RIACLU wrote to the Board of Elections highlighting the voter ID law’s implementation issues during the primary election, Kando said, adding that the board answered the RIACLU’s communication but received no followup response.

Supporters of the law claim that the new requirements are valuable in ensuring fair elections in the state.

Voter ID laws are necessary in preventing voter fraud, said John Carlevale, Republican nominee for secretary of state, the local ABC affiliate reported.

But Kando said he has not witnessed voter fraud as a significant threat to the integrity of Rhode Island elections. “The board has received very few complaints of voter fraud in the nine years that I’ve been here,” he said.

The RIACLU has turned largely to

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voter education programs to mitigate voter disenfranchisement caused by the ID legislation, Davis said.

Voter education is necessary because of general public unawareness of the law and of how to obtain a free voter ID, Davis said, adding that the free voter ID service assumes that individuals have the resources and time to access the Office of the Secretary of State, which coordinates the distribution of such IDs. “You have these groups that are already marginalized, who have now lost their ability to go to the polls and add their voice, and it means the government is not representative of them,” Davis said.

The RIACLU has published brochures detailing voting rights and ID requirements under the new law, Davis said. The group has also reignited its initiative to repeal the voter ID law.

“You should not need an ID to cast your constitutional right to vote, or to preface your constitutional right to vote,” she added.