T U E S D A Y MARCH 12, 2002
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVII, No. 33
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Simmons, students discuss Friday arrests at open meeting BY ANDY GOLODNY
Megan Lynch / Herald
An ACLU sponsored panel discussed restrictions on civil liberties since Sept. 11 in Salomon 001 Monday.
Sept. 11 response violates civil liberties,panel advocates allege BY NICHOLAS FOLEY
Six months after Sept. 11, a panel of professors, legal experts and advocates attacked the U.S. government’s attempts to restrict civil liberties at a Monday night discussion in Salomon 001. “There has been a concerted effort by the Bush administration to quell dissent. … The attempt is laughable,” said Harvey Silverglate, criminal defense attorney and civil liberties litigator. Silverglate and two co-panelists denounced freedom of speech restrictions, racial profiling and the USA Patriot Act, which allows for increased government surveillance of private communication. At key moments in U.S. history, certain government actions have been rightfully discredited by dissent on the part of young Americans, Silverglate said. Loren King, adjunct assistant professor of political science, reinforced the importance of defending freedom of speech, and said he worried that Attorney General John Ashcroft has
unfairly muted critical voices in the wake of Sept. 11. On Dec. 6, Ashcroft said those who questioned the Bush administration’s new homeland security policies would “aid terrorists” and “erode our national unity.” “If you’re committed to democracy, this has to really trouble you,” King said. Steven Brown, executive director of the Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said citizens must have the right to denounce the racial profiling of Middle Eastern immigrants to the United States. “It is absolutely extraordinary that Middle Eastern immigrants for six months have been detained on minor charges,” Brown said. Brown said there is “not one shred of evidence” tying many of the detainees to terrorism. He compared their detention to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. “Racial profiling perpetuates stereosee PANEL, page 4
About 60 student activists squeezed into Wilson 301 Monday night to discuss allegations of racial profiling and a response to the Friday arrest of two Brown students on the Main Green. President Ruth Simmons also attended the meeting, in which students spoke about racial profiling, the arming of Brown Police and the University’s Monday decision to commission a study of campus security by Bratton Group LLC, a team of outside consultants. Brown University Police and Security officers arrested the two students, Michael Smith ’05 and David Williams ’05, on the Main Green after they declined to show their identification and engaged in an altercation with police. Students said Friday’s arrests raised questions about the potential arming of Brown Police. “It is very clear that this was a case of racial profiling and that there are racist policies practiced by the Brown Police,” said Brian Rainey ’04. Both of the students arrested Friday are black. Simmons said she feels strongly that racial profiling is wrong and that “it is absolutely, categorically improper for anyone at Brown to do that.” Simmons said her son, who has dreadlocks, has been stopped by police because of his race. She said she wants to “eradicate any semblance of racial profiling on campus.” Students in attendance criticized the way Brown Police handled the situation. “What is the point of checking them for IDs in the first place?” asked Matthew Swagler ’02. “It is very easy to tell the difference between a Brown student and a Hope High student, and the high school students come on campus all the time.” “BUPS doesn’t have records of every time they stop someone,” Simmons said in response to questions about how often students are asked for IDs in the area of Faunce House, where Friday’s incident took place. “If (Williams) was cursing, then that is a
morally justified response to an act of racism,” Rainey said. Some of the students gave evidence of past examples of racial profiling by BUPS. Niketa Williams ’05 said that during a safety forum at the Third World Transition Program, a BUPS officer told students that “90 percent of campus crime is perpetrated by black and Latino males, so don’t be offended if you are approached because you fit the profile.” Toward the end of the meeting, Simmons engaged in a heated discussion with some of the students. Rainey criticized Simmons’ motives for attending, saying “the president obviously felt some heat.” “That is not true — you can’t state what my feelings are,” Simmons responded. “This is not a game for me, I want to listen to different viewpoints, which is why I am here,” she said. Some students said they were not sure if they should combine the question of racial profiling with the debate over arming the police. “Friday’s incident could add weight to the anti-gun message, but I am not sure if the guns issue will add weight to racial profiling,” said Riana Good ’03. “This has exposed what is wrong with arming the Brown police,” said Shaun Joseph ’02. “These issues are intimately connected.” Some students said they thought the administration was moving too quickly toward a decision to arm police. “That is totally false,” Simmons said. “There is not a plot underway to arm the Brown Police.” She added that she is undecided about arming police but is gathering opinions from both sides of the issue so she can “study it very seriously.” “I’m not anywhere near a decision on this,” she said, and added that she might not be ready to make a recommendation to the Brown Corporation on arming police until next semester. Some students also criticized the see ARRESTS, page 4
With $1M budget boost, CIS plans campus-wide computing overhaul BY JULIETTE WALLACK
As part of President Ruth Simmons’ Plan for Academic Enrichment, Computing and Information Services is preparing to upgrade the campus computing network, improve computing support services and enhance security on CIS’ antiquated system. Simmons’ proposal, approved by the Corporation last month, includes a $1 million budget increase for CIS — a relatively small increase in comparison with other parts of the proposal. University officials said they are delaying further funding until a more specific plan is proposed for CIS. CIS’ future was not clear during the Corporation weekend because Ellen WaiteFranzen, vice president for computing and information services, had been at the helm of Brown’s technology services department
for less than a month when the Corporation met, Simmons told The Herald after the Corporation meeting. “I think the Corporation felt because our vice president for computing was not here and has not had a chance now to really give us any clear direction in terms of what will be required that it might be good to just contemplate some fairly modest increases,” Simmons said. Waite-Franzen is now focusing on the future of CIS, which she said involves upgrading the campus network and improving support services. She said those are the areas of concern that staff, faculty and administrators brought to her attention prior to her arrival on campus, and she hopes to have a basic proposal ready in a few months. “I knew before I arrived that Brown’s basic technology infrastructure needs
attention so that we can provide better services campus-wide,” she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “This remains my focus.” Waite-Franzen told The Herald that a faster, larger-capacity network will allow CIS to “push” software like anti-virus programs to students. Now, she said, students must go to the server and “pull,” or download, programs. Waite-Franzen said she plans to enhance CIS’ security so that “we’ll know a little more about who’s using our network and who’s trying to do bad things on the network,” she said. Waite-Franzen said she hopes to start improving the network this summer with the assistance of a consultant who will arrive on campus later this semester. Her department has not selected a consultant group to assist with planning the improvements, but CIS has sent out requests for
I N S I D E T U E S D AY, M A RC H 1 2 , 2 0 0 2 Brown-led study finds many anti-depressant users would not qualify for clinical trials page 3
UCS discusses racial profiling, improvements to CIS services at weekly meeting page 5
Student assaulted early Sunday morning at College and Brown streets, BUPS reports page 5
proposals, she said. “The main barriers to the upgrade relate to our ability to get into buildings, offices (and) rooms during times when they are not in use,” Waite-Franzen wrote. “We cannot disrupt classes, so our window of opportunity is very limited.” This summer, Waite-Franzen said she hopes to target residence halls and classrooms, and next fall, “we’ll see if there are some areas we can do that are not going to be really disruptive.” Work will continue during winter break and could be completed by the summer of 2003, she said. “We will be able to do this during very controlled times, and this will result in the full installation taking longer than if we had access whenever we needed it,” WaiteFranzen wrote. But, she said, this same limsee CIS, page 6
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Renee Betancourt ’05 says students must show solidarity with arrested first-years guest column,page 15
Wrestling finishes fifth at Eastern Intercollegiate Tournament page 16
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