Tuesday, March 1, 2005

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BY SHAWN BAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER The Corporation approved a new Master’s Degree in Public Humanities in the Department of American Civilization on Saturday. The program, providing training for careers in museums and other historical preservation organizations, will be offered beginning Fall 2005. Steven Lubar, professor of American civi- lization and director of the John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization, will oversee the new program. The Master’s in Public Humanities expands and replaces the existing Master’s in Museum Studies, adding topics that go beyond the scope of museum studies. The program will include study of historic preservation, digitization, public memorials and journalism on art, history and culture. The new program will require four semesters and two practicums for comple- tion. The practicums will be crucial to the new curriculum, Lubar said. Under each practicum, students will intern at local museums and cultural organizations and complete individual projects. The projects will expose the students to the real work of public humanities and will be supervised by professionals in the field. Some of the possible institutions being considered for practicums are Brown’s Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, the Rhode Island Historical Society and the Smithsonian Institution. According to Lubar, the idea for the Master’s in Public Humanities had been dis- cussed for a long time. “It’s been talked about for five years or so. There was a sense that it would be good to expand the (muse- um studies) program to include bigger issues of how to present the humanities. We wanted to incorporate things like state humanities commissions, theater and dance, and historic presentation in the pro- gram,” he said. In the proposal approved by the faculty on Feb. 1 and the Corporation last weekend, the Department of American Civilization notes “no other university, to our knowl- edge, offers an M.A. in public humanities,” although around 20 universities grant degrees in museum studies. Lubar said new courses would be intro- duced for the program, but there were no plans to bring in new faculty. “There will be several new courses that aren’t offered now, including an introductory course to public humanities and a course on methods and techniques of public humanities. But the program is very multi-disciplinary, and a lot of courses are taught in other departments, such as history and anthropology. We hope to have some visiting professors, and a lot of talks by guest speakers,” he said. The program also seeks to take advan- tage of Brown’s relationship with RISD to offer opportunities for collaboration between the two institutions. Planners hope to work with RISD’s Urban Design Institute and Landscape Architecture program. “One of the strengths of the program is that it includes all these related fields, and we hope to bring RISD into the mix. We could have RISD students working in this area together with our students from Brown,” Lubar said. He cited a current exhi- bition created by students in AC 190, Sec. 3: “Theory and Methods of Oral History,” cur- rently on display at Carriage House, as an example of the type of collaboration that could be done with RISD. Brown and RISD students worked together to create the exhibit about artists and institution builders in the Providence arts community. Lubar said in addition to broadening the scope of the Master’s in Museum Studies program, the Master’s in Public Humanities will also have the resources to attract more students. “Right now we’ve usually had two or three students each year, but we hope to have 10 students each year in the new pro- gram. We’re in the process of accepting admissions for next year, and we’d love to have Brown students apply for admission this fall,” he said. One student noted that the program has begun to receive some publicity among American civilization concentrators. “It’s just started to get a buzz, and people have started to talk about the new program in the past couple of weeks. It’s definitely worth consideration. I’m not aware of any other similar graduate programs in the U.S., and it could be very interesting,” said Heather Velez ’05. THE BROWN D AILY HERALD MARCH 1, 2005 www.browndailyherald.com TUESDAY 195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3269 News tips: [email protected] TODAY TOMORROW snow 36 / 25 snow 35 / 15 Volume CXL, No. 23 An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 Gabriella Doob / Herald Newly arriving Chinese restaurant Shanghai faces objections by several community leaders as it applies for a liquor license. AmCiv to offer Master’s in Public Humanities University conditionally OKs Shanghai liquor license BY ROBBIE COREY-BOULET METRO EDITOR Several community leaders, including Ward 2 City Councilwoman Rita Williams, formally objected to a liquor license application from new Thayer Street restaurant Shanghai at a hearing before the Board of Licenses Friday. During the proceedings, Shanghai own- ers Michel Boutros and Ray Hugh sug- gested a series of voluntary restrictions that are intended to ease the concerns of community leaders and University administrators. The owners have applied for a Class BV liquor license, which would permit them to serve any alcoholic beverage. Shanghai, a Chinese restaurant, will fill the space previously occupied by Café Java at 272 Thayer St. The board has taken the restaurant’s license applica- tion under advisement and said it will reach a decision by Monday. Darrell Brown, director of state and community relations, represented the University at the hearing. University administrators have recorded a formal objection, but the adoption of the own- ers’ proposed restrictions would render the objection moot, Brown said. The owners agreed to surrender the liquor license should Shanghai cease to operate as a restaurant or if they are found in violation of any restrictions. These stipulations address concerns voiced by University administrators and community leaders regarding the potential transfer of the liquor license if Shanghai were to go out of business. In particular, administrators fear the license could be used to open a new bar, according to Michael Chapman, vice BY TARYN MARTINEZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER Imagine not having to rouse yourself from a nap and run out the door still in your pajamas to make it to section on time. Imagine not having to walk back to your dorm in the dark when your section ends at 9:30 p.m. Sound too good to be true? Some professors and students are tak- ing the matter into their own hands and making sections a little closer to home — by communicating from the comfort of their rooms. The answer lies in using Internet technology, specifically blogs and “virtual sections.” Student blogs can be personal or available for public comment. Virtual sections are discussion boards where anyone can start a new topic or com- ment on a topic, or “thread,” already present. Using blogs and virtual sections in place of traditional sections is still rel- atively new on the University’s cam- pus. “Others have used it in a supple- mental way,” said Stephanie Birdsall, lead communication specialist for Computing and Information Services. “But Ross Cheit is the first person that’s (used a blog in place of section) so far.” The first class to utilize both blogs and virtual sections is PS 105: “Ethics and Public Policy.” Associate Professor of Political Science Ross Cheit uses both mediums as a substitute for sec- tions, and though this is his first semester using them, he already sees “some really good indications.” The option of not answering to a post right away allows students to mull over and research their responses. “What’s happening here would never happen in a one-hour section,” he said. “People are really thinking.” Cheit first became involved with blogs and virtual sections in Technology and Resources for Enhanced Education, a program that teaches professors how to bring tech- nology into the classroom. After learning how to use the two formats on WebCT, Cheit allowed his students to choose the one they pre- ferred. He ended up with about 30 stu- dents using blogs and the rest partici- pating in virtual sections, some large and some small. Cheit is “still assessing” the system, but said “they both have real potential to create something that doesn’t other- wise happen. On a blog … you can be creative.” Though Cheit said that most stu- dents have responded well to the new mediums, he acknowledged that while they make “some people more com- fortable,” others “would prefer tradi- tional sections.” Melissa Riess ’06 is involved with one of Cheit’s virtual sections, which she chose over blogging because “that’s what’s most interesting — talk- ing to other people about their ideas.” Her experience with the virtual sec- tion has been positive. “It allows peo- ple to have more detailed responses to questions, without having people interrupt,” she said. Classes make virtual leap into blogosphere TECHNOLOGY in the classroom see BLOGS, page 5 see LIQUOR, page 4 CONTINUING CORPORATION COVERAGE TODAY: Master’s Degree in Public Humanities. TOMORROW: 24-hour student study center in the SciLi. SMOKE OUT Statewide smoking ban in effect today; students and business owners react METRO 3 KICK THE KEG Nick Mark ’06 and Matt Lawrence ’06: UCS proposal overlooks keg safety and environmental concerns OPINIONS 7 PICKY, PICKY Adam Nelson ’06: Improvements now would make daily life better — and future donations bigger OPINIONS 7

description

The March 1, 2005 issue of the Brown Daily Herald

Transcript of Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Page 1: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

BY SHAWN BANCONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Corporation approved a new Master’sDegree in Public Humanities in theDepartment of American Civilization onSaturday. The program, providing trainingfor careers in museums and other historicalpreservation organizations, will be offeredbeginning Fall 2005.

Steven Lubar, professor of American civi-lization and director of the John NicholasBrown Center for the Study of AmericanCivilization, will oversee the new program.

The Master’s in Public Humanitiesexpands and replaces the existing Master’sin Museum Studies, adding topics that gobeyond the scope of museum studies. Theprogram will include study of historicpreservation, digitization, public memorialsand journalism on art, history and culture.

The new program will require foursemesters and two practicums for comple-tion.

The practicums will be crucial to the newcurriculum, Lubar said. Under eachpracticum, students will intern at localmuseums and cultural organizations andcomplete individual projects. The projectswill expose the students to the real work ofpublic humanities and will be supervised byprofessionals in the field.

Some of the possible institutions beingconsidered for practicums are Brown’sHaffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, theNew Bedford Whaling Museum, the RhodeIsland School of Design Museum, the RhodeIsland Historical Society and theSmithsonian Institution.

According to Lubar, the idea for theMaster’s in Public Humanities had been dis-cussed for a long time. “It’s been talkedabout for five years or so. There was a sensethat it would be good to expand the (muse-um studies) program to include biggerissues of how to present the humanities. Wewanted to incorporate things like statehumanities commissions, theater anddance, and historic presentation in the pro-gram,” he said.

In the proposal approved by the facultyon Feb. 1 and the Corporation last weekend,the Department of American Civilizationnotes “no other university, to our knowl-edge, offers an M.A. in public humanities,”although around 20 universities grantdegrees in museum studies.

Lubar said new courses would be intro-duced for the program, but there were noplans to bring in new faculty. “There will beseveral new courses that aren’t offered now,including an introductory course to publichumanities and a course on methods andtechniques of public humanities. But theprogram is very multi-disciplinary, and a lotof courses are taught in other departments,such as history and anthropology. We hopeto have some visiting professors, and a lot oftalks by guest speakers,” he said.

The program also seeks to take advan-tage of Brown’s relationship with RISD tooffer opportunities for collaborationbetween the two institutions. Planners hopeto work with RISD’s Urban Design Instituteand Landscape Architecture program.

“One of the strengths of the program isthat it includes all these related fields, andwe hope to bring RISD into the mix. Wecould have RISD students working in thisarea together with our students fromBrown,” Lubar said. He cited a current exhi-bition created by students in AC 190, Sec. 3:“Theory and Methods of Oral History,” cur-rently on display at Carriage House, as anexample of the type of collaboration thatcould be done with RISD. Brown and RISDstudents worked together to create theexhibit about artists and institution buildersin the Providence arts community.

Lubar said in addition to broadening thescope of the Master’s in Museum Studiesprogram, the Master’s in Public Humanitieswill also have the resources to attract morestudents. “Right now we’ve usually had twoor three students each year, but we hope to

have 10 students each year in the new pro-gram. We’re in the process of acceptingadmissions for next year, and we’d love tohave Brown students apply for admissionthis fall,” he said.

One student noted that the program hasbegun to receive some publicity amongAmerican civilization concentrators. “It’sjust started to get a buzz, and people havestarted to talk about the new program in thepast couple of weeks. It’s definitely worthconsideration. I’m not aware of any othersimilar graduate programs in the U.S., and itcould be very interesting,” said HeatherVelez ’05.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALDM A R C H 1 , 2 0 0 5

www.browndailyherald.com

T U E S D A Y

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode IslandEditorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3269 News tips: [email protected]

TODAY TOMORROW

snow36 / 25

snow35 / 15

Volume CXL, No. 23 An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

Gabriella Doob / Herald

Newly arriving Chinese restaurant Shanghai faces objections by several communityleaders as it applies for a liquor license.

AmCiv to offer Master’sin PublicHumanities

UniversityconditionallyOKs Shanghailiquor licenseBY ROBBIE COREY-BOULETMETRO EDITOR

Several community leaders, includingWard 2 City Councilwoman RitaWilliams, formally objected to a liquorlicense application from new ThayerStreet restaurant Shanghai at a hearingbefore the Board of Licenses Friday.During the proceedings, Shanghai own-ers Michel Boutros and Ray Hugh sug-gested a series of voluntary restrictionsthat are intended to ease the concernsof community leaders and Universityadministrators.

The owners have applied for a ClassBV liquor license, which would permitthem to serve any alcoholic beverage.Shanghai, a Chinese restaurant, will fillthe space previously occupied by CaféJava at 272 Thayer St. The board hastaken the restaurant’s license applica-tion under advisement and said it willreach a decision by Monday.

Darrell Brown, director of state andcommunity relations, represented theUniversity at the hearing. Universityadministrators have recorded a formalobjection, but the adoption of the own-ers’ proposed restrictions would renderthe objection moot, Brown said.

The owners agreed to surrender theliquor license should Shanghai cease tooperate as a restaurant or if they arefound in violation of any restrictions.

These stipulations address concernsvoiced by University administrators andcommunity leaders regarding thepotential transfer of the liquor license ifShanghai were to go out of business. Inparticular, administrators fear thelicense could be used to open a new bar,according to Michael Chapman, vice

BY TARYN MARTINEZCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Imagine not having to rouse yourselffrom a nap and run out the door still inyour pajamas to make it to section ontime. Imagine not having to walk backto your dorm in the dark when your

section ends at9:30 p.m.

Sound too goodto be true?

Some professors and students are tak-ing the matter into their own hands andmaking sections a little closer to home —by communicating from the comfort oftheir rooms. The answer lies in usingInternet technology, specifically blogsand “virtual sections.”

Student blogs can be personal oravailable for public comment. Virtualsections are discussion boards whereanyone can start a new topic or com-ment on a topic, or “thread,” alreadypresent.

Using blogs and virtual sections inplace of traditional sections is still rel-atively new on the University’s cam-pus.

“Others have used it in a supple-mental way,” said Stephanie Birdsall,lead communication specialist forComputing and Information Services.“But Ross Cheit is the first person that’s(used a blog in place of section) so far.”

The first class to utilize both blogsand virtual sections is PS 105: “Ethicsand Public Policy.” Associate Professorof Political Science Ross Cheit usesboth mediums as a substitute for sec-tions, and though this is his firstsemester using them, he already sees“some really good indications.”

The option of not answering to apost right away allows students to mullover and research their responses.“What’s happening here would neverhappen in a one-hour section,” hesaid. “People are really thinking.”

Cheit first became involved withblogs and virtual sections inTechnology and Resources forEnhanced Education, a program thatteaches professors how to bring tech-nology into the classroom.

After learning how to use the twoformats on WebCT, Cheit allowed his

students to choose the one they pre-ferred. He ended up with about 30 stu-dents using blogs and the rest partici-pating in virtual sections, some largeand some small.

Cheit is “still assessing” the system,but said “they both have real potentialto create something that doesn’t other-wise happen. On a blog … you can becreative.”

Though Cheit said that most stu-dents have responded well to the newmediums, he acknowledged that whilethey make “some people more com-fortable,” others “would prefer tradi-tional sections.”

Melissa Riess ’06 is involved withone of Cheit’s virtual sections, whichshe chose over blogging because“that’s what’s most interesting — talk-ing to other people about their ideas.”

Her experience with the virtual sec-tion has been positive. “It allows peo-ple to have more detailed responses toquestions, without having peopleinterrupt,” she said.

Classes make virtual leap into blogosphere

TECHNOLOGYin the classroom

see BLOGS, page 5

see LIQUOR, page 4

CONTINUING CORPORATION COVERAGETODAY: Master’s Degree in Public Humanities.

TOMORROW: 24-hour student study center in the SciLi.

SMOKE OUTStatewide smoking ban in effecttoday; students and businessowners react

M E T R O 3

KICK THE KEGNick Mark ’06 and Matt Lawrence’06: UCS proposal overlooks kegsafety and environmental concerns

O P I N I O N S 7

PICKY, PICKYAdam Nelson ’06: Improvementsnow would make daily life better —and future donations bigger

O P I N I O N S 7

Page 2: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD, INC.

C R O S S W O R D

THIS MORNINGTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2005 · PAGE 2

How to Get Down Nate Saunders

Jero Matt Vascellaro

Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker

Coreacracy Eddie Ahn

Homebodies Mirele Davis

Raw Prawn Kea Johnston

ACROSS1 Inquires5 Nearly a majority9 Normand of the

silents14 ERA or RBI15 Irish Rose’s

admirer16 Take to the

soapbox17 Irene of “Fame”

fame18 Spot for a plant19 Infuriates20 Like a long

shot’s win23 Lorry fuel24 Sinking ship’s

signal25 Ward of the

screen28 Mad Hatter

vessel33 Crystalline stone37 Part of QED39 __ avis40 Court adversary43 Preserve

denizen44 Glum45 Ominous loop46 Governing

group48 Nursery

packagecontents

50 Sutton whocaptained the2004 US RyderCup team

52 “We’re off!”57 Skid protection62 Sharp weapon63 Ill-advised move64 Halloween buy65 Wavy dos66 Sprout67 Bluesy James68 Take as one’s

own69 Does

crewelwork, say70 Dealer in

futures?

DOWN 1 Music creators’

org.2 Performer’s

place

3 Gold standard4 Part of a flight5 Inconvenience6 Slightly7 Reader’s Digest

cofounderWallace

8 Cuts down9 Gloomy10 Very dry11 Like Telly

Savalas12 Seasons on the

Seine13 Guitarist Paul21 Small victory

margins22 Powerball or

Euromillions26 He frequently

filled in forJohnny Carson

27 100-eyedwatchman

29 Pisa’s river30 Texas’s El __31 Tram loads32 Chaucer

offering33 Ares and Eros34 Fencing sword35 Store sign

36 Picasso subject__ Maar

38 Field unit41 Perfect42 Less than47 Desert traveler’s

symptom49 Muscles

(through), as acrowd

51 Yearns53 Makes docile

54 Glider on the ice55 “Beau __”56 Heroic

Schindler57 Wasn’t original58 Despot with a

fiddle59 Pack down60 Apple center61 Be in the loop62 Place to be

pampered

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21 22

23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35 36 37 38 39

40 41 42

43 44 45

46 47 48 49

50 51 52 53 54 55 56

57 58 59 60 61

62 63 64

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68 69 70

E N D U P Z A P S Q I DC E A S E P E D R O U S EH O R S E T R A D E R A T AO N T R I A L S T A Y O N

H E A D Y S T I RS A V A G E S H O E T R E EE L A T E L I O N S A N DR E D S P A D R E P L U GA R E B O N E T C A P R AC O R A L S E A B O T H E R

N U T S A L D E NJ E T S E T O T O E A H AA N Y F I R S T G R A D E RW O K I M P L Y E X E R TS S E N E M O D E R B Y

By Joy C. Frank(c)2005 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

03/01/05

03/01/05

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

[email protected]

W O R L D I N B R I E F

Syrian-backed prime minister dismantles govt.

T O D A Y ’ S E V E N T STHE ROLE OF ILLICIT DRUGS IN OURECONOMY: Econ DUG lunch with spe-cial guest12:00 p.m. (Robison Hall 301) —Join the Economics DUG for lunch and atalk by noted CNN producer and authorMartin Torgoff, who recently published abook titled “Can’t Find My Way Home:America in the Great Stoned Age.”

SUSTAINABLE FOOD INITIATIVE8:30 p.m. (Urban Environmental Lab,135 Angel St.) —Share your ideas about why you think itis important for Brown to support localagriculture. Once organized, group willmeet with Louella Hill ’04 and VirginiaDunleavy about how to best bring morelocal foods to campus.

M E N USHARPE REFECTORY

LUNCH — Mexican Salad Bar, SquashPie, Vegan Rice and Jalepeños, MexicanCorn, Minestrone Soup, VegetarianRoasted Butternut Soup with Apples,Spinach Pie, Kielbasa, Liberty ChocolateCake.

DINNER — Garden Patch Salad Bar,Tomato Quiche, Brussels Sprouts, SquashRolls, Tostitos, Tortellini Angelica, PorkLoin with Green Apple Dressing, YellowCake with Coconut Frosting.

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALLLUNCH — Vegetarian Lentil Soup,Chicken Noodle Soup, Chinese ChickenWings, Wisconsin Ziti with Four Cheeses,Mandarin Blend Vegetables, M&MCookies.

DINNER — Vegetarian Lentil Soup,Chicken Noodle Soup, Italian BeefNoodle Casserole, Vegan Stir FryVegetables wth Tofu, Red Potatoes withFresh Dill, Sauteed Zucchini withOnions, Carrots in Parsley Sauce, SquashRolls, White Cake with Coconut Frosting.

LOS ANGELES TIMES

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The Syrian-backedgovernment of Lebanon stepped downMonday, collapsing under a groundswellof street protests, candlelight vigils andinternational pressure to end Damascus'domination of its neighbor.

While thousands of demonstratorsthronged in the streets, Prime MinisterOmar Karami, an ally of Syria, stood beforeparliament and announced that he wouldquit his job and dismantle his Cabinet.

The decision was apparently sponta-neous. Pro-Syrian lawmakers appearedstunned and members of the oppositionrose to their feet in a standing ovation.

The resignation was a triumph for aswelling Lebanese opposition, which hasbeen calling for Syria to withdraw its sol-diers and disentangle its intelligence serv-ices from Lebanon's institutions.Tensionshad been mounting since the Feb. 14assassination of former Lebanese PrimeMinister Rafik Hariri, which many blamedon Syria.

Page 3: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

METROTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2005 · PAGE 3

BY ANNE WOOTTONSTAFF WRITER

Jennifer McDaniel has worked atSnooker’s and The Green Roomsix days a week for the last nineyears. “There’s just dudes in here,”she said of the pool hall, bar andsometime concert venue’s clien-tele. “They’re drinking coffee,they’re smoking cigarettes, they’replaying pool. That’s what you do.”

McDaniel smokes, as do mostemployees at Snooker’s and TheGreen Room. They weren’t partic-ularly worried about the second-hand smoke they will soon begranted respite from by the PublicHealth and Workplace Safety Act,signed into law by Gov. DonaldCarcieri ’65 last June and effectivethis morning at 12 a.m.

But “all the ashtrays are going”in accordance with the new regu-lations, McDaniel said. RhodeIsland is the seventh state to enactsuch a ban.

The bill was framed largely as aprotective measure for employees— the Department of Health esti-mates that working an eight-hourshift in a smoky bar is equivalentto smoking 16 cigarettes.

“Not in this place,” McDanielsaid of health concerns atSnooker’s and The Green Room.

“There was no one from hereon that panel,” she said, in refer-ence to the bill’s advocates. “It’s apool hall.”

In light of the ban, which pre-vents smoking in almost all work-places including restaurants andbars, she said “a few (employees)have quit (smoking), and a fewmore — including myself — aretrying to quit. I had a meetingwith my staff to find out what theyare going to do, and half of themwant to quit — (the ban) is kind ofpushing them into it, although Ithink it’s hard to say ‘I’m not goingto smoke’ when you smoke a packa day.”

McDaniel said she isn’t tooworried about losing customersbecause of the ban. “Sure, somepeople aren’t going to come herefor a little while,” she said, “butmy question is, where else are yougoing to go? You can’t go to NewYork, you can’t go to Boston — it’s

going to leave people saying, ‘Let’sjust go downtown.’”

There are a few small bars andprivate clubs that will be exemptfrom implementation until Oct. 1,2006. Establishments with class Cor class D liquor licenses and 10or fewer employees are exemptfrom the law until this date. Theexemption for Class D liquorlicenses is limited to “distinctlyprivate” locations, including“nonprofit or charitable organiza-tions with defined membership,”according to a document distrib-uted by the Rhode IslandDepartment of Health.

“We don’t want to attract a cer-tain kind of people (because we’llbe one of the only places thatallows smoking), but it’s a smallroom, so we won’t even have toworry about that,” said Ken, a bar-tender at Wickenden Pub, whichhas a class C liquor license andmeets the exemption require-ments. He said he would probablyput a walkway to a backyardsmoking area when he is eventu-ally forced to comply with the law.

Some restaurant and bar own-ers are less than happy about theapplication of the new law. AtParagon and Viva at 243 ThayerSt., smoking used to be allowedeverywhere after 10:30 p.m.

“It’s idiotic that some peoplecan (continue to smoke) andsome people can’t,” said managerArmando Dias. “Our clientele —especially Viva’s clientele —smokes. That’s life. They’re enti-tled to do so. Some customersaren’t coming back.”

Dias takes particular issue withthe permanent exemption grant-ed to the state’s two gambling par-lors, Newport Grand and LincolnPark. Rhode Island will take in anestimated $255 million from thetwo casinos this year, and datafrom Delaware showed that casi-nos there lost significant amountsof money during the first year ofthat state’s smoking ban, accord-ing to the Providence Journal.

“If the two casinos can do it —if the law was designed to help theworkforce, which was how they

Business owners, studentsprepare for smoking ban to take effect today

Providence businesses worry about new smoking ban enforcementBY ROBBIE COREY-BOULET METRO EDITOR

Members of the Providencebusiness community claim theyare ill equipped to enforce thestatewide smoking ban given itslanguage and several adminis-trative ambiguities.

About 40 Providence busi-ness owners raised their con-cerns in a heated question-and-answer session at a BusinessRoundtable panel Monday thatfeatured presentations fromlocal politicians and the RhodeIsland Department of Health.

The ban is part of the PublicHealth and Workplace SafetyAct, signed into law by Gov.Donald Carcieri ’65 last Juneand effective this morning at 12a.m.

The language of the ban rais-es complications regarding itsenforcement, according to J.D.Leedham, who works for Ultrathe Night Club in Providenceand owns ComprehensiveSecurity Concepts, a securityconsulting firm.

While the ban legislatesagainst smoking, it fails to crim-inalize the act itself, Leedhamtold The Herald. Instead, theimpetus to enforce the ban fallson business owners, who facedisciplinary measures shouldtheir patrons fail to comply.

“The ban makes it illegal toallow smoke in the workplace,but the act itself is not illegal,”Leedham said. “That needs tobe changed.”

While panel members admit-ted some aspects of the banmight lead to misinterpreta-tions, they cited the success ofsimilar ordinances in othercities as evidence that many ofthe predicted complicationsmay not materialize duringimplementation.

In his opening remarks,Providence Mayor DavidCicilline ’83 addressed concernsregarding the ban’s potentiallynegative impact on economicperformance, stressing its abili-ty to promote business inter-ests. He cited sales increases inBoston following implementa-tion of an anti-smoking law, aswell as negligible effects on

business performance in NewYork City after it passed a similarordinance.

John Lombardi, president ofthe Providence City Council,called on business owners towork with municipal officials to“make this transition go assmoothly as possible.”

After praising the leadershipof local politicians who advo-cated for the ban, Lombardiappealed to the business com-munity to consider its publichealth benefits.

“This is everyone’s concern,”he said. “We are on the forefrontof public health reform.”

Much of the panel was devot-ed to a presentation from BillDundulis, a toxicologist at theDepartment of Health RiskAssessment, who outlinedenforcement and disciplinaryprocedures and attempted toexplain the scope of the ban’sapplication and any potentialexemptions.

While Dundulis called theban’s exemptions “very limited,”several of them have recentlydrawn criticism from local busi-ness owners. The most contro-versial include those granted toLincoln Park and NewportGrand casinos, as well as estab-lishments with Class C and Dliquor licenses that employ 10workers or fewer.

Dundulis also attempted todescribe enforcement proce-dures, though several businessowners said they wondered howthey would be safeguarded fromfalse complaints.

Ruth Trigg, director of humanresources for Walco Electric Co.in Providence, expressed con-cerns about complaints fromdisgruntled employees, thoughshe added she “was not expect-ing this from our people.”

According to Dundulis’ pres-entation, initial complaintsmade to the Department ofHealth via an e-mail message ora phone call will be met with aninformal response, while signedresponses will undergo formalinvestigation. This distinctionwill not apply for second com-plaints, which will be forwardedautomatically to the city or town

solicitor in charge of enforce-ment.

“If we get a complaint, wehave to issue a notice,”Dundulis said. “We don’t haveany real discretion to do alengthy investigation,” he said,citing the department’s limitedresources.

Dundulis told The Heraldcomplaints in other states havenot been as rampant as busi-ness owners originally feared.Delaware, for example, receivedonly 40 complaints during itsfirst year under a similar anti-smoking ban, despite initialconcerns that the healthdepartment would be over-whelmed with reported viola-tions.

The fact that municipalitieswill receive half of all fines col-lected should bolster solicitors’incentive to enforce the ban,Dundulis said.

When Leedham, the night-club owner, questioned the abil-ity of restaurant owners toenforce a ban, Dundulis admit-ted he “didn’t have a goodanswer.”

But he assured Leedham thatbusiness owners would “have achance to come in and pleadyour side of (any reported viola-tion).”

After the presentation, sever-al audience members said theywere not convinced that thepresentation had adequatelyprepared them to begin imple-mentation.

Trigg told The Herald she wasalso concerned with unclearenforcement procedures,though she said she was expect-ing compliance with the ban.

“(The ban) is a good thing,”she said.

While Dundulis said he ishoping for voluntary compli-ance with the specifics of theban, he said the health depart-ment is “prepared for all eventu-alities.”

But he said many businessowners and restaurant patronswould recognize the publichealth benefits of the ban.

“For the most part, peopleare going to want to do the rightthing,” he said.see SMOKING, page 4

Page 4: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

president for public affairs andUniversity relations.

Chapman said administratorsquestion whether they wouldreceive adequate notice shouldthe owners apply for such atransfer, thereby hindering theUniversity’s ability to object.

“The licensing procedures inRhode Island can be a challengeto follow,” Chapman said.

The University chose to voicethese concerns to the owners’attorneys after receiving word oftheir application, Chapman said.This decision reflects theUniversity’s larger commitmentto public safety interests onCollege Hill as well as the desireto promote a diverse businessenvironment, he said.

The voluntary restrictions rep-resent a satisfactory effort onbehalf of the owners to ensurethe license could not later have adetrimental impact on CollegeHill by allowing the space tobecome a bar, he said.

Though the University hasclosely monitored the number ofliquor licenses on Thayer Streetin the past, Chapman said hebelieves that this may be the firsttime that administrators haveexpressed concerns to businessowners’ attorneys.

If these voluntary restrictions

were not included in the con-tract, Boutros and Hugh couldsell the license to a new owner,License Administrator RichardAitchison said. However, such atransfer would undergo an evalu-ation process similar to theprocess for granting an originallicense, and any new ownerwould need to receive approvalfrom the board, he said.

“It’s not something they canjust do arbitrarily,” he said.

While administrators want toprevent a net increase in thenumber of bars and establish-ments serving only liquor, theydo not plan to oppose all liquorlicense applications submittedby restaurants, Chapman said.Instead, the University will evalu-ate these applications with an eyetoward potential public safetyconcerns and the desire to pro-mote a balanced mix of restau-rants and retail businesses.

“We don’t want to restraintrade on Thayer Street,” he said.“That’s not our business.”

Barbara Harris, president ofthe College Hill NeighborhoodAssociation, called the hearing “avery positive thing” and said “it’sabout time” the University took amore active role in the liquorlicense evaluation process.

Ronald Dwight ’66, who serveson the CHNA’s Board ofDirectors, also supported theUniversity’s intervention.

“Brown is most responsible forwhat happens on Thayer Street,

so they should be very engaged,”Dwight said.

But the voluntary restrictionssubmitted by Shanghai’s ownersdid not fully appease Harris andother community members, whoformally lodged objections at thehearing.

Harris, an attorney, objectedon behalf of the CHNA and clientGrant Dulgarian, a Thayer Streetproperty owner. Dulgarian seeksto reduce the license from ClassBV to Class BL, thus allowing therestaurant to only serve beer andwine.

Board members also heardobjections from Williams and theThayer Street Businessmen’sAssociation.

Objectors at the hearingvoiced the common belief that“there’re just too many liquorlicenses in the area,” Aitchisonsaid.

“I don’t think they were object-ing to the business itself,” he said.

Harris said she was pleasedwith Williams’ decision to speakat the hearing, saying the coun-cilwoman “eloquently” articulat-ed residents’ concerns regarding“the effect of having Thayer Streettotally saturated by restaurantswith liquor licenses.”

Aitchison said the board heardfrom people who both objectedand supported Shanghai’srequest for a license. Harris saidshe only remembers hearing oneletter in support of the restau-rant’s application.

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2005

Liquorcontinued from page 1

sold the law — are we less con-cerned with their employees’health?” Dias asked. “Health ishealth. Apparently (the state)doesn’t want to lose (its profitsfrom the casinos). Neither dowe,” he said. “They love to talkabout millions of dollars inhealth benefits that this lawguarantees, but they’re stillallowing people (to smoke).”

Other states that have enact-ed smoking bans have not typi-cally seen a decline in restau-rants’ economic performance.

“All we can do is trust the sta-tistics that say that the numbersbounce back,” Dias said. “That’sthe only bright side. Of coursewe’re worried.”

A manager of Andrea’s, whowished to remain anonymous,was optimistic that economicperformance in Rhode Islandwould not suffer as a result of theban.

“There is a model. Otherstates have done it successfully,”the manager said.

Andrea’s, located at 268Thayer St., used to permit smok-ing only at its bar. “If (the banwas for) a certain city or type ofestablishment, there would bemore concern about hurting

business,” he said. “Since it’s astatewide thing … in the long-term I don’t think business willbe hurt.”

Andrea’s was displaying “nosmoking” signs a day before thelaw took effect, in preparationfor the law’s mandate that busi-ness owners post signs indicat-ing that it is illegal to smoke intheir establishment.

“Is it fair? No. I don’t thinkexemptions should be made. Tobe passed into law it shouldaffect everyone,” said the man-ager. “I don’t agree (with theexemptions),” he said.

Joe Magno, manager of Z Bar& Grille at 244 Wickenden St.,said he isn’t worried about curb-ing what little smoking does takeplace at the bar.

“This is more of an upscaleplace,” he said. “If you can’t getthrough a meal without a ciga-rette — that’s kind of ridiculous.We’ll see how it goes.”

Nick Kennedy ’08 smokesabout a pack of cigarettes eachday and isn’t sure yet how thesmoking ban will influence hisclub-going.

“Because I’m from New York,I’m already used to this ban, butit was really nice to be able tosmoke inside. That was one ofmy favorite parts of going tothose places, having a social cig-arette with friends, taking abreak from the dance floor, evenon the dance floor,” he said.

Many of Kennedy’s friends aresmokers, and he said that someof them celebrated their lastnight of legal indoor smoking bygoing to Paragon and lighting upuntil midnight.

“At places like Lupo’s whereyou have a lot of people smoking… it’ll be harder to light up,” saidEric Kelmenson ’08, who says heis “not a serious smoker” but isstill disappointed about the ban.“We were going to go see BobWeir and Ratdog on 4/20 there,”he added with a smirk, “…butnow I’m not so sure.”

Smokingcontinued from page 3

Page 5: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

around the track, encouragingthe crowd to cheer with him.

“It was hard because there isa certain momentum to trackmeets,” Washburn said.“Because things weren’t work-ing out in the other distanceraces, I knew I would needsome help.” Though it was hisfirst relay in three years, hecame from behind to overtakethe leaders and take control ofthe emotional race in the finallaps to split 4:10 for the mile, asBruno won with a time of10:02.66.

Feeding off the energy fromthe distance medley, the4x400-meter team turned in asurprise third-place finish asDissmore, Pruzinsky, WillBernitsky ’08 and ChristianTabib ’07 crossed in 3:18.52.

“We saw men rise to theoccasion, and we also saw theagony of defeat with thingsbeyond anyone’s control,”Rothenberg said.

Some men will see toughcompetition again next week-end as they head into the IC4AChampionships. For others,the Heptagonals marked theend of the indoor season.

“It’s time to go back to workand focus on the outdoor sea-son,” Rothenberg said.

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 5

She said the format mightnot work for all classes, but inthis case, where the classmaterial is controversial, it hasallowed all the students to saywhat they want, even whentime is limited.

“In terms of teaching exper-iments, it’s a step forward,”Riess said.

Graduate students have alsodiscovered the academic ben-efits of blogs. JonathanIchikawa, a graduate studentin the philosophy department,said that using “Fake BarnCountry” — started by four

grad students who already hadpersonal blogs — has helpedhim immensely in his studies.

“It’s been a really greatopportunity to get feedback onideas that I’m working on,” hesaid. “I’ll write a post there andpeople from around the worldget involved and give me feed-back.”

Some philosophy grad stu-dents have even publishedpapers based on discussionsfrom “Fake Barn Country,”Ichikawa said.

Ichikawa plans to use blogsin a class he will teach nextsemester.

“They’re cool, a lot of funand (using them) is a reallyneat way to get early ideasstarted,” he said.

Blogscontinued from page 1

M. trackcontinued from page 8

Bruno’s 59 points.Meanwhile, hurdler Kitton

placed third in the 60-meter hur-dles, setting a personal record andqualifying for the ECAC meet witha time of 8.84 seconds. On thefield, seasoned thrower and co-captain Jill Lynch ’05 placed sec-ond in the shot put, while JenniferDonahue ’05 placed third in theweight throw.

Mikie Monaghan ’07, who hasbeen improving consistently, fin-ished sixth in the 5,000-meterswith a personal best of 17:12.89.

“We had a lot of events that did-n’t go as planned, but we also hadsome unexpected points withMikie scoring — that’s the natureof competition,” said Wall.

Brooke Wolfe ’07 placed fifth inthe pentathlon. Her performancewas highlighted by her secondplace finish in the 800-meterswith a time of 2:20.69.

Overall, the women fell short oftheir goal of cracking the topthree.

“We were not happy withfourth. When (Ferjan) got trippedthat was ten points down the tube,that brought us from second tothird and I could accept that. Wefinished fourth because we didnot get the job done in otherareas. It was a team thing,”Wemple said.

The Bears compete next onMarch 5 at the ECACChampionships in Boston.

W. trackcontinued from page 8

Page 6: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

EDITORIAL/LETTERSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2005 · PAGE 6

C O R R E C T I O N S P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Correctionsmay be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

C O M M E N T A R Y P O L I C YThe staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflectthe views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R P O L I C YSend letters to [email protected]. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters forlength and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may requestanonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed.

A D V E R T I S I N G P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

S T A F F E D I T O R I A L

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Amar Prem, Night EditorChessy Brady, Kate Worteck, Copy Editors

EDITORIALJonathan Ellis, Editor-in-Chief

Sara Perkins, Executive Editor

Christopher Hatfield, Senior Editor

Lisa Mandle, Senior Editor

Meryl Rothstein, Arts & Culture Editor

Melanie Wolfgang, Arts & Culture Editor

Justin Elliott, Campus Watch Editor

Stephanie Clark, Focus Editor

Kira Lesley, Focus Editor

Robbie Corey-Boulet, Metro Editor

Te-Ping Chen, Opinions Editor

Ari Savitzky, Opinions Editor

Chris Mahr, Sports Editor

Ben Miller, Sports Editor

PRODUCTIONPeter Henderson, Design Editor

Katie Lamm, Copy Desk Chief

Lela Spielberg, Copy Desk Chief

Matt Vascellaro, Graphics Editor

Ashley Hess, Photo Editor

Juliana Wu, Photo Editor

BUSINESSIan Halvorsen, General Manager

Daniel Goldberg, Executive Manager

Mark Goldberg, Senior Financial Officer

Lisa Poon, Marketing Manager

Abigail Ronck, Senior Business Consultant

Rob McCartney, Senior Accounts Manager

David Ranken, Senior Accounts Manager

Kathleen Timmins, Senior Accounts Manager

Laird Bennion, Senior Project Manager

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Ryan Shewcraft, Chief Technology Officer

POST- MAGAZINEFritz Brantley, Editor-in-Chief

Adrian Muniz, Executive Editor

Sarah Gordon, Calendar Editor

Abigail Newman, Theater Editor

Josh Cohen, Design Editor

Marissa Hauptman, Photo Editor

Ruthie Baron, Features Editor

Jeremy Beck, Film Editor

Paul Levande, Assistant Film Editor

Jesse Adams, Music Editor

Senior Staff Writers Camden Avery, Alexandra Barsk, Eric Beck, Mary-Catherine Lader,Ben Leubsdorf, Jane Porter, Stu WooStaff Writers Marshall Agnew, Justin Amoah, Zachary Barter, Danielle Cerny, Christopher Chon,Stewart Dearing, Gabriella Doob, Kate Gorman, Jonathan Herman, Leslie Kaufmann, Aidan Levy,Allison Lombardo, Joel Rozen, Jen Sopchockchai, Jonathan Sidhu, Lela Spielberg, Robin Steele,Laura Supkoff, Stefan Talman, Jane Tanimura, Anne WoottonSports Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Zaneta Balantac, Stephen Colelli, Lexi Costello, Ian Cropp,Justin Goldman, Bernard Gordon, Katie Larkin, Matt Lieber, Shaun MacNamara, Chris Mahr, BenMiller, Eric Perlmutter, Jilane Rodgers, Marco Santini, Charlie Vallely, Brooke WolfeAccounts Managers Alexandra Annunziato, Zaneta Lei Balantac, Steven Butschi, Jennifer Kuo,Ashfia Rahman, Joel Rozen, Rukesh Samarasekera, Mitch SchwartzProject Managers In Young Park, Libbie FritzDesign Staff Geolani Dy, Deepa Galaiya, Annie Koo, Allison Kwong, Jason LeePhoto Staff Marissa Hauptman, Judy He, Matthew Lent, Nick Neely, Bill Pijewski, Kori Schulman,Sorleen TrevinoCopy Editors Chessy Brady, Jonathan Corcoran, Eric Demafeliz, Leora Fridman, Allison Kwong,Katie Lamm, Suchi Mathur, Cristina Salvato, Sonia Saraiya, Lela Spielberg, Zachary Townsend,Jenna Young

L E T T E R S

D A N I E L L A W L O R

Despite the efforts of the Thayer Street ImprovementDistrict, the street seems to be continuing its decline. InNovember, Daniel Biederman, a consultant to the ThayerStreet Improvement District who has worked on Manhattan’sBryant Park and Grand Central Station, told The Herald itwas unreasonable to expect tangible improvements in the18-month period since the group’s creation.

But the situation on Thayer Street more than threemonths after his comments seems bleak — more stores,including Café Java and The Gap, have departed, and theirreplacements remain boarded-up storefronts. Perhaps thearea must reach its nadir before it can return to, and ideallysurpass, its former glory days as a vibrant pedestrian shop-ping district.

New restaurants, such as Shanghai, which plans to openin the space formerly occupied by Café Java, will be a boonto Thayer Street. By attracting people besides Brown stu-dents in transit, new restaurants would bring customers tothe area into the evening hours, adding to the revenue ofother stores and possibly paving the way for the opening ofnew stores. Though some have complained that ThayerStreet is becoming a “food court,” restaurants and fast foodshops are the foundation on which the rest of the street’scommerce rests. If a liquor license is what it takes to make arestaurant on Thayer Street financially viable, we’ll drink tothat.

But we agree with the University that Thayer Street is notin particular need of more bars right now. Clubs and barsjust don’t spread the wealth in the same way restaurants do.They do most of their business once other stores have closeddown for the night. How often have you come out of a barand decided to check out a movie? How often do you com-bine clubbing with shoe shopping? And while bars, at leastin theory, are restricted to the 21-and-over crowd, a restau-rant with a liquor license doesn’t exclude families andteenagers.

Bars and clubs have their place in the mix, but the focusshould be on recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of eater-ies. The University doesn’t see a problem with Shanghaireceiving a liquor license, and Shanghai is willing to acceptsome limitations, so there shouldn’t be a conflict. We hopethe Board of Licenses will show its sympathy for the plight ofThayer Street by granting Shanghai a Class BV license.

Give Shanghai its license

C O R R E C T I O N SIn a Feb. 28 article “Brown alums pay homage toalma mater on the big screen,” The Heraldreported that the title characters of the televi-sion show “Will & Grace “ met at Brown. Thecharacters actually attended ColumbiaUniversity.

In the article “Urban Bush Women dazzlescrowd at PPAC,” (Feb. 28), a quote on the inspi-ration for the dance number “Batty Moves” wasincorrectly attributed to Andre Thompson ‘05.The quote should be attributed to Dancer-cho-reographer Jawole Willa Jo Zollar.

To the Editor:

I do not look forward to a campaign season ofprogressives succumbing to Caleb Karpay’s logic(“Save Lincoln,” Feb. 25).

Though Sen. Chafee has indeed taken some high-profile votes in opposition to President Bush, he alsomakes one vote every two years that is a stake in theheart of all who support civil rights, workers’ rights,peace and economic justice — and that is the votefor Bill Frist as Senate Majority Leader. Mr. Frist, andhis top henchmen (including the very RickSantorum, the senate’s third most powerful man,who Karpay mentions as a rigid ideologue) get to setthe agenda of the Senate. It should also be notedthat he has a policy of voting for all but the verymost offensive judiciary nominees Bush puts for-ward, and that he made a key procedural vote to cutoff debate that allowed 2003’s disasterous Medicare

“reform” to pass.The Democrats may not indeed capture back the

senate in 2006. But for Karpay to insist that they noteven try is a self-defeating logic of the sort that leadsonly to one conclusion — permanent minority partystatus on Capitol Hill. If the Dems roll over and playdead, the phenomena that Karpay refers to (lack ofattention from the media, etc.) will only continue forlonger. It was not so long ago that Democrats didcontrol this chamber — as in 2002.

If Sen. Chafee so wished, he could reject a GOPthat clearly does not respect his politics, even with-out joining the Democrats — Jim Jeffords did. But solong as he votes to keep Republicans in charge of theSenate chamber, he should not be considered afriend to Rhode Island’s working people.

Peter Asen ’04Feb. 26

Sen. Chafee’s role in supporting the GOP

Taking responsibility for high school dropoutsTo the Editor:

I found Josh Fintel’s letter (“Don’t blame parentsfor high drop-out rates,” Feb. 24) in response toMegan Gourley’s letter (“Military recruiters not theproblem,” Feb. 23) insulting and off-base. Gourleywas simply defending the notion that poor parentinghas more to blame for a high school dropout than theopportunity for military service. She was in no waysuggesting that inequalities in public educationshould remain.

Schools are not in place to bear the burdens of rais-ing a child or instill a child with values. If a child dropsout of school, he or she is making the wrong decision,whether that school is poorly funded or not. Fundingfor the public school system is based on propertytaxes — something that I don’t see changing any timesoon. What can be improved is a parent’s initiative to

take responsibility and instill the value of educationupon children, be that at Hope High or Brown. Itmight sound fun to blame dropouts on some greatwhite conspiracy, but that’s just not the case.

I am sorry that Josh Fintel is “disgusted” to live inthis country. I would advise him to reread the actualintent behind Gourley’s letter, which states that mili-tary recruiters are not to blame for high schooldropouts. He should also contemplate these wordsfrom Sen. Zell Miller: “It is the soldier, not the agitator,who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the sol-dier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag,whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that pro-tester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.”

Stephen Kausek ’05Feb. 24

Page 7: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

OPINIONSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, MARCH 1, 2005 · PAGE 7

Keep kegs off Brown’s campus

I was sitting in my room a few weeksago doing homework with my doorlocked when all of a sudden I hearsomeone fiddling with the lock. Thedoor then burst open, revealing afriend standing in the doorway yelling“16.4 seconds … a new record.”Immediately I was impressed — it onlytook 16.4 seconds to break into myroom. Then I found out that it actuallytook 16.4 seconds to break into fourrooms in the corner of my hallway, andmy room took less than one second. Iasked to see the advanced lock pickingtool that would be able to break intofour University dorm rooms in 16 sec-onds, and needless to say I was quitesurprised when that tool turned out tobe a wire hanger.

I would have hoped that aUniversity like Brown that spendsmillions of dollars on its security serv-ices per year would have made mylock sound enough to stand up thetechnological wizardry of the wirehanger. In fact, I voiced this desire tothe Office of Residential Life and havesince had my door “fixed” three sepa-rate times. Each time the person fromFacilities Management assures methat “no one is gonna be able to breakthis baby open,” but I return to myroom later that day to see my mattressflipped over and a note telling me howmany seconds it took to get in. I’venow decided that it is impossible formy lock to provide real safety. Brownstudents pay around $5,030 per yearto live in Brown dormitories, whichtranslates to around $590 per month— I would have hoped that $590 permonth would have afforded me a lockrequiring a more sophisticated pick.

Little things like my lock really

make a big difference in our experi-ence at Brown. This is a Universitythat thinks big fitness centers, concerthalls, or a student union in 2048. Butin the midst of all of these big proj-ects, the little things — and the stu-dents that live here currently — aresometimes overlooked.

I understand that donations to biguniversities like Brown are in manycases earmarked for huge projects likea Life Sciences Building. This is likelybecause people would prefer to havetheir names on a building or an audi-torium rather than on a hanger-prooflock to my room or on the two-ply toi-let paper which I think would make

every single Brown resident lessgrumpy.

But even big projects require littleimprovements to make them reachtheir potential. For instance, the Planfor Academic Enrichment, which Ithink has been very good for theschool, wasn’t accompanied by aninitiative to help improve classroomspace on campus. Part of the attrac-tion of getting very high-paid andimpressive faculty members fromother schools is their ability to giveinteresting and engaging lectures.

This becomes more difficult whenthey are forced to give classes inrooms without proper sound sys-tems, air-conditioning or adequatedesks for students. Learning environ-ment plays a huge role in the atten-tion span of students, so when I’mcramped into a dark corner of WilsonHall, trying to write right-handed ona lefty desk because that’s the onlyone that’s left and straining to hear aprofessor who’s yelling because thesound system doesn’t work, I’m goingto be less likely to understand theintricacies of international migratorypatterns.

Concentrating on the big buildingsrather than some smaller less visibleprojects like dormitory renovations(which are occurring but too slowly)means that real changes won’t be ableto be appreciated by current Brownstudents. I appreciate that Brown istrying to make itself a better institu-tion for the future, but some moreattention needs to be paid to someclearly fixable problems in the pres-ent. The little things that stand in theway of the best possible experience atBrown make students like me lesslikely to give money to Brown in thefuture. That means that in 2064, whenthe University needs to build a brandnew building for the study of E-lan-guages, I’m not going to give any ofthe $42.67 that I have to my name. Sofor the sake of the E-languages build-ing, could someone find me a betterlock?

Adam Nelson ‘06 thinks that the com-bination of Ratty food and single-plytoilet paper is the reason that Brownstudents protest so much.

Little improvements mean a lotADAM NELSON

The recent Undergraduate Councilof Students resolution supportingkegs on campus sets a shameful anddangerous precedent. Brown’snightlife doesn’t need kegs on campus.Walk by Wriston Quad on a Friday orSaturday night — do the on-campusparties seem to suffer from a lack ofcheap alcohol?

Kegs foster dangerous attitudesleading to binge drinking and haveother disadvantages such as litter anda greater potential for sexual assault.Such factors are what caused Brown,like so many other colleges and univer-sities, to ban kegs from campus in thefirst place. No new need is currentlysurfacing to justify the reevaluation ofBrown’s keg policy. So what explainsUCS’s recent 16-3 decision to recom-mend that kegs be brought back?

The primary reason to continuekeeping kegs off campus is a concernfor safety. Kegs make it far easier for anassailant to drug someone’s drink —large plastic cups make better targetsthan closed metal cans. And for thisreason, kegs greatly increase the likeli-hood of sexual assault. Compoundingthis problem, students have greaterdifficulty keeping track of their alcoholconsumption when drinking out ofthese cups, which can lead to unin-tended binge drinking — also increas-ing the risk of sexual assault.

Although some argue that keg regis-tration would make party organizersmore responsible for their guests, all

parties on campus are already regis-tered with student life. Keg registrationis unlikely to ameliorate any of thesesafety concerns — it is unlikely that wewould would see many registered kegsat unregistered parties.

Excessive drinking is the most dan-gerous kind of alcohol consumption —a 2002 study tied binge drinking to thedeaths of a staggering 1,400 collegestudents. Furthermore, a recentHarvard study demonstrated that,among a variety of factors, the avail-ability of kegs on over 100 college cam-puses is what showed the highest cor-relation to binge drinking. Although

Brown cannot eliminate the possibilityof students’ binge drinking, the kegban helps curb binge drinking withoutsignificantly affecting campus life.

Proponents who want to bring kegsback to campus offer several justifica-tions for their position. For example,some argue that using kegs wouldreduce pollution, because unlike cans,the keg is reusable. This is absurd.While cans can be recycled, the plasticcups associated with kegs are not recy-cled but are thrown into the trash.

Often students drinking from cups willgo through just as many cups as theywould have cans, and so in the end,kegs are far more wasteful.

We’ve heard some make the convo-luted argument that kegs are betterthan cans because while people cansteal cans to take back to their roomsto get drunk alone, they can’t do thiswith kegs. The only thing more outra-geous than this argument is the ideathat concern for the social well-beingof alcohol pinchers should outweighconcern for student safety.

The UCS resolution calling for areturn of kegs to campus stems from arecent internet poll that revealed that66.7 percent of Brown students com-pleting the poll supported the return ofkegs. Besides a popular mandate, thereis no reason to allow kegs back oncampus. A majority of Brown studentswould probably vote to let candles,smoking and glass bottles back into inresidence halls too. But the Universityprohibits these items for safety rea-sons, just as it prohibits kegs.

UCS represents students, but whenaddressing our concerns to theUniversity, they should provide betterreasoning beyond simply saying, “thestudents say so.” WebCT polls shouldnot supersede student safety.

Nick Mark ‘06 and Matt Lawrence ‘06are driving a mail truck full of cans toMichigan this weekend to collect the10-cent deposit.

Though many Brown students worked to make it oth-erwise, Providence and so many other cities are bracingfor four more years of George W. Bush’s relentless attackson our livelihoods.

There were myriad reasons to vote Bush out of office.But as an urban city, and a particularly poor one at that— with a 40 percent child poverty rate at last check — theharms that we expect Bush to perpetrate will be felt espe-cially profoundly here in Providence.

I sit on the City Council’s Committee on UrbanRenewal, Redevelopment, and Planning, which is incharge of allocating federal Community DevelopmentBlock Grant funds. The federal CDBG is an importantsource of funding for urban renewal programs, used toback up micro-loans for local small businesses, main-tain parks, support local nonprofits and more. CDBGallocations have fallen since Bush took office — theCouncil was recently briefed on Bush’s proposed 50 per-cent cut in CDBG, a reduction of $3.5 million forProvidence. Additionally, HOME funds, used to buildaffordable housing, are slated to be cut by 25 percentthis year.

Cities in Rhode Island and all over the country rely onstate aid for large portions of their budgets. Yet state aidto cities in Rhode Island is dreadfully low, ranking 43rd inthe nation. Wages have fallen, and with them stateincome tax returns. Right-wing Republicans have wongovernorships throughout the Northeast, includingRhode Island, yet they have refused to provide munici-palities with the funding needed to get by.

But cities still must educate our children. They stillmust fund police and firefighters and public-worksdepartments. The cost of living is not going down; thecost of health care is skyrocketing. And in Providence, thepopulation is rising. When we don’t get the money weneed from the State House, property taxes increase, asthey are the only significant taxes we are allowed to levy.They are also regressive — and even within a poor citylike Providence, they tend to hurt the poor more than therich.

Sen. John Kerry promised $50 billion in new federalaid to state governments, which would have meant per-haps $200 million to Rhode Island. Kerry also promisedto fully fund Bush’s No Child Left Behind mandates, tothe tune of $30 billion to cities and states over the nextseveral years. Tens of millions of extra dollars would havetrickled into Providence’s coffers, yielding lower propertytaxes, less urban poverty, better schools, and better serv-ices.

As of 2000, Providence’s median household incomestood at $27,000, with the median income in poorerneighborhoods like Olneyville and parts of SouthProvidence well under $20,000. Kerry backed a $7.00minimum wage that would have put upward pressure onwages in an economy that is increasingly based on low-paying, non-union service jobs. He also supported thenow-doomed Employee Free Choice Act, which wouldhave diminished employer intimidation of workers try-ing to form unions — a big problem, for instance, in thehotels of our new tourism economy.

Most of Providence’s residents are members of ethnicminority groups. A more conservative Congress workingwith a lame-duck Bush administration that thinks racismis a thing of the past will continue attacks on affirmativeaction, both through legislation and judicial appoint-ments. If such attacks are successful, Providence’s needi-est residents will have an even harder time securing goodjobs and placements at high-quality universities.

Increased health care accessibility under Kerry and a“premium rebate” for employers providing health carecould have meant several million dollars less in pressureon Providence’s finances. Thousands more Providenceresidents would have had access to health care, an issueof particular concern in urban environments where dis-ease transmission is easiest, and where AIDS, syphilis,tuberculosis and other diseases can reach epidemic lev-els.

The list of Bush’s betrayals of our cities is long anddense. We won’t be able to solve all of the problems theycreate, but there’s hope. If you’d like to work on importantlocal affordable housing or anti-poverty initiatives, emailDirect Action for Rights and Equality, at [email protected].

David Segal represents College Hill and Fox Point on theProvidence City Council.

Bush’s betrayalof our cities

GUEST COLUMN BY DAVID SEGAL

GUEST COLUMN BY NICK MARK AND MATT LAWRENCE

Kegs increase thelikelihood of sexual

assault and binge drinking.

In search of a locksound enough to

stand up to the technological

wizardry of a wire hanger.

Page 8: Tuesday, March 1, 2005

SPORTS TUESDAYTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MARCH 1, 2005 · PAGE 8

BY KATIE LARKINSPORTS STAFF WRITER

The most anticipated meet ofthe year for the women’s trackteam also turned out to be theclosest of the season. In a wildHeptagonal Championshipsfilled with falls, Brown finishedfourth with 59 points, just fourshort of Columbia and one pointahead of the University ofPennsylvania. Cornell, mean-while, captured the Ivy title forthe second straight year.

“On the ride back from themeet, (Head) Coach (RobertJohnson) asked us to raise ourhands if we thought we gave ourall and nobody raised theirhand,” said jumper Ashley Wall’05. “I think we knew we had a lotmore potential. Now that weknow where we stand in theleague we’re going to try to get ittogether for the outdoor Heps.”

One competitor who exhibit-ed her full potential was BrittanyGrovey ’06, who was again victo-rious in the triple jump, outper-forming her closest competitorby over two feet. Her jump of 41-5 1/4 was a Brown record.

“I just feel like all of the hardwork paid off. I couldn’t havedone it without my teammates. Iwas injured last year and theyhelped me through it, so I reallyfeel like it was a group victory,”Grovey said.

For the runners, the meet wasfilled with a series of collisionsand miscues, some of whichBruno was able to overcome.Others, unfortunately, costBrown much needed points.

Naja Ferjan ’07 stood poisedto capture another title in the

800 meters to add to her 2004indoor and outdoor victories.Unfortunately, early in the finalsshe was knocked down after aPenn runner tumbled to theground and took Ferjan with her.She was not able to gain back theground she needed and did notplace in the event.

Ferjan’s fall “was very disap-pointing, but it wasn’t the end ofthe meet for us,” said hurdlerFara Kitton ’05. “We knew thatwe had to step up and do whatwe could to bring any points wecould to the score.”

In the 4x800-meter relay, a falloccurring between the secondand third legs threatened to hin-der the team’s chances of plac-ing.

“Normally the receiver gets arunning start so that there isconstant momentum in thehandoff,” said Distance CoachRick Wemple. “Anna (Willard ’06)didn’t take off, so Kelly (Powell’06) ran into her. Fortunately,Kelly went down and not Annaso their performance wasn’t real-ly affected, but Kelly had a hugegash in her knee.”

Despite the setback, the teamof Annie Hatch ’06, co-captainPowell, Willard and Ferjan wasable to place second. Ferjan wasespecially dominant, clearlylooking to make up for her fall.

Wall displayed her versatilityby placing second in the longjump and third in the high jump.Wall’s mark of 18-11 1/4 eclipsedher personal best by seven inch-es and was third all time forBrown. Wall accounted for 14 of

BY JILANE RODGERSSPORTS STAFF WRITER

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Themen’s track team tallied 50points to take sixth at theHeptagonal Championshipsthis weekend, as Cornell cap-tured the team crown. Theresult was a disappointment forthe Bears, who had hoped tobreak into the top three of theIvy League, but the highly phys-ical nature of the weekend tookits toll on some of Brown’s topperformers. The aggressive toneallowed others to step up to thechallenge, however, as severalBears had surprise, standoutperformances.

The men’s 3,000-meter runSaturday night saw the Bearsgarner their first points of theweekend. Going into the meet,co-captain Patrick Tarpy ’05looked to be a favorite for theindividual title in the event. Tothe Bears’ dismay, he was thefirst casualty of the unforgivingweekend, as a battle for positionin a large pack resulted in Tarpylosing his shoe and ultimately achance to take the win.

Because Ivy League rules pro-hibit athletes from competingthe remainder of the weekendonce they have dropped out ofan event, Tarpy was forced tofinish the race with one shoe inhopes of coming back the nextday in the mile finals. However,the injuries he sustained pre-vented him from scoring in thatrace as well.

Owen Washburn ’06 steppedup to fill the gap in the 3,000with a breakthrough race. AsWashburn became aware ofTarpy’s situation, the race beganto break. Washburn took charge,picking up the pace and kickingin for a final time of 8:17.18,good for third overall.Washburn, who came into themeet ranked sixth in the event,scored for the first time at Heps.

“I felt great during the race,”Washburn said. “While it wentthrough my mind then that Ireally needed to (step up), it hadbeen a goal all along to place ashigh as possible for the team.”

Sunday kicked off with anoth-er highlight for the Bears, as RayBobrownicki ’06 took to theinfield to defend his indoor highjump title. The weekend’s inten-sity continued as Bobrownickientered a duel with Dartmouth’sBrian McCarthy when bothcleared 6-11 1/2. At the nextheight, the crowd fell silentbefore each attempt as the mensought to take the win. Bothmen had near-successful jumpsat the height. McCarthy missedhis final attempt, andBobrownicki was declared thewinner because he missed onlyone attempt in the entire com-petition. It was a relief forBobrownicki, who had a frus-trating season leading up to theIvy League Championships.

“He spent the last three weeksmentally focusing and physical-ly focusing,” said Jumps CoachAnne Rothenberg. “He pushedheights in practice to be pre-

pared for this. He went in moreconfident than his competitors.”

Rothenberg also noted thatonly three other conferences inthe nation saw such tight com-petition, with sixth place at 6-10or higher. Bobrownicki tied hisindoor personal best with theclearance, and it is the secondtime in a row he has set his sea-son best at the Championships.

“I’m glad things came togeth-er at the right time,”Bobrownicki said.

Another jumper put points onthe board for Brown, as IkennaAchilihu ’08 took fourth in hisfirst Heptagonal games. He hit49-3 in the triple jump, just shyof his personal best.

“It was wild,” Achilhu said.“There was so much energy, andit was an eye-opening experi-ence to see how deep the com-petition was.”

Back on the track, a pair ofsprinters brought vital points tothe Bears’ total. Mike Pruzinsky’07 and Dallas Dissmore ’06returned to the lineup after injury-plagued seasons. Pruzinsky cap-tured fourth place in the 400-meter dash in 48.74, despite beingpushed from behind in the begin-ning of the second lap. Dissmoreturned it on in the final stretch ofthe 500-meter run, passing threemen in the final lap to clock1:04.19 to take third.

Heading into the relays, thedistance medley squad saw anear-complete change in line-up. Washburn continued to starfor the Bears, as he took Tarpy’splace as the anchor leg.

“I knew from the beginning ofthe day it was a possibility that I

would need to run it,” Washburnsaid. “What reassured me is that(Distance Coach) John(Gregorek) has never had me dosomething that he wasn’t confi-dent I could do. So when he toldme I could anchor the relay, Itrusted him.”

Jordan Kinley ’06 led off, anddisaster nearly struck whenCornell’s runner was pushedand hit the floor, nearly takingKinley with him. Kinley wasbarely able to keep his balanceby jumping over the fallen ath-lete. He assumed position nearthe front of the race, which wasmaintained by Elridge Gilbert’05 and Eamon Quick ’07.During the other legs of therelay, Washburn took on theresponsibility of rallying theBrown supporters, running

BY CHARLES VALLELYSPORTS STAFF WRITER

On the third and final day of theIvy League Championships,held in Princeton, N.J., thewomen’s swimming and divingteam finished strong, movingpast Yale and the University ofPennsylvania to capture thirdplace behind Harvard andPrinceton.

The late break, highlighted bytheir performance in the 200-yard butterfly, did not come as asurprise.

“I liked how things looked onpaper for day three,” said HeadCoach Peter Brown.

The Bears were fifth after thesecond day of competition.However, they closed in on Yaleand Penn, cutting the deficit to10 and 30 points, respectively.With some of their best eventsstill to come, the Bears were ingood position to make a jump.

“It was frustrating knowingthat we had more depth later onin the meet and had to wait untilthen to show it,” said butterflierAshley Wallace ’07. “(But) goinginto day three we were confidentthat we could place third, espe-cially since we weren’t verymany points behind Yale andPenn.”

To start the day, DillonDelaney ’08 made it to the finalsof the 1,650-yard freestyle, andtook eighth place with a time of17:09.73, shattering her previouspersonal record.

“She kind of sparked us all,”said Lauren Zatorski ’08.

Wallace also noted Delaney’scontributions, and those of theother “milers,” Bridgette Cahill’06 and Lauren Harlow ’07, whofinished 10th and 18th in theevent.

“It was really important theway our distance swimmers allswam really well and beat out alot of Yale’s top milers,” Wallacesaid. “I was especially proud ofDillon.”

Jessica Brown ’05, the onlysenior on the Championshipsroster, took sixth in the 200-yardbackstroke, followed by a sec-ond-place finish in the 100-yardfreestyle by Eileen Robinson.

In the 200-yard butterfly, theBears made up for any groundthey had lost, as four swimmersmade it to the finals. Wallace ledthe pack, finishing second witha time of 2:03.01, followed byBecky Kowalsky ’07 in third,Meredith Cocco ’07 in seventhand Cahill in eighth.

“All the girls who were in it

had done pretty well throughoutthe year,” Robinson said. “It wasso great when we had that manyin the final, plus we had some-one in the consolation final(Katey Mirch ’06) and one per-son in the bonus final (MeredithMoore ’08), so we had six peoplescoring points, which was prettybig.”

According to Coach Brown,things were simply going as theteam had planned.

“I expected it,” he said. “Moreimportantly, so did our women.”

Zatorski also anticipated thestrong showing in the event,which moved the Bears intothird place.

“We kind of went crazy duringthat event, because we knew thatwas our event,” she said. “Weknew that after the 200 fly that weput ourselves in good position.”

The Bears got another solidteam performance in the finalindividual event of the weekend,the 3-meter dive. Jessica Larsen’06 finished eighth, followed byAmy Latinen ’07 in 14th andDana Meadow ’07 in 16th.

“Diving was huge for us,”Coach Brown said. “A big plus.”

Now 24.5 points ahead ofYale, the third-place finish wasall but clinched. But the Bears

finished strong, taking fourth inthe 400-yard freestyle relay withthe team of Elizabeth Wong ’06,Robinson, Kowalsky, and EmilyBrush ’07.

“Harvard and Princeton arekind of on a different level, sothey were kind of in a competi-tion against themselves,” saidZatorski. “Of course, we’d love tobe champions, but we reallywanted to beat Yale and Penn,and we did.”

The third day was not theonly one of note for the Bears, asJessica Brown recorded theBears’ only victory on day two,taking first in the 100-yard back-stroke in 56.04. In the processshe became the only Bear toqualify for Nationals.

While Coach Brown waspleased with the meet results, hecommented that all of the team’sgoals have yet to be accom-plished.

“I am very proud of ourwomen,” he said. “They gave alot and competed very well,both individually and as a team.But we are not satisfied. … Ourfoundation is becomingstronger for future growth. Weare getting there and will workhard at recruiting to keep thingsmoving in the right direction.”

Collisions and falls mark Heptagonals for track

W. swimming takes third place in Ivies

Dan Grossman ’71

Owen Washburn ’06 took 3rd inthe 3,000-meter and anchoredthe distance medly squad.

Women end in fourth, just behind ColumbiaM. track takes sixth at indoor championships

see W. TRACK, page 5see M. TRACK, page 5