T H U R S D A Y OCTOBER 31, 2002
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVII, No. 103
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
TWA picks up effort to keep guns out of officers’ hands
Admission office begins ‘Talent Quest’ to recruit more minorities
BY ELENA LESLEY
BY XIYUN YANG
The Main Green Brown Bear statue carried a paper gun on Wednesday in an effort to raise awareness about a petition against arming the Brown Police. Third World ACTION began circulating the petition about a week ago and has so far gotten over 750 signatures, said TWA member Doreen Wang ‘05. TWA members chose to hand out yellow ribbons to students and decorate the Main Green with yellow balloons on Wednesday because “yellow means no guns,” said TWA member Sage Morgan-Hubbard ‘05. “Black usually goes with anti-police stuff, but we decided it wasn’t as visible.” Organization members also equipped the Brown Bear with his firearm. “We wanted to raise awareness and get people interested because Ruth Simmons will be making a decision at the end of the semester,” Morgan-Hubbard said. An e-mail circulated by TWA said that the Department of Police and Security has a history of racial profiling and “students have found the system to file complaints against police officer behavior dismissive, bureaucratic, and ineffectual.” Instead of arming police, the e-mail suggested
The admission office recently launched a program to recruit more students of color by increasing communication with high schools that have large populations of underrepresented minorities. The project, dubbed “Talent Quest,” aims to present Brown as an attainable goal and accessible university for minority students, said Andrea van Niekerk, assistant director of admission. The Office of Undergraduate Admission enlisted the cooperation of the Undergraduate Council of Students and the alumni office for the Talent Quest project, Niekerk said. Some parts of the admission process are remnants of the “old process” of admission, in which the applicant pool was heavily represented by East Coast private schools, she said, and Talent Quest will help move Brown beyond that. “Brown’s admissions office is just really incredible,” said Rahim Kurji ’05, who heads the UCS division of the project. “The people in the office are very idealistic.” The project will not replace current recruiting measures, but will supplement current initiatives, van Niekerk said. Undergraduates, alumni and admission officers selected the schools that the University should target. Some schools on the list have had little contact with the University but others already work with the admission office. UCS compiled its own list entirely from student word of mouth and input from Third World Action, Kurji said. The list now includes several hundred schools, and admission officers will further refine the list by making school visits.
see TWA, page 13
Allison Lombardo / Herald
Members of Third World Action placed a paper gun in the hands of the Brown Bear Wednesday to show their opposition to the arming of Brown Police.
Students discuss growing up multiracial BY JOANNE PARK
As part of Multiracial Heritage Week, Assistant Dean of Student Life Kisa Takesue ’88 facilitated a discussion for biracial and multiracial students to share experiences and perspectives on growing up in multiracial settings Wednesday at the Third World Center. The Herald was allowed at the discussion contingent on its not reporting student names. Forum participants raised questions ranging from the issue of phenotype to the way multiracial people are racially “read” in society. Students also discussed their experiences with racial classification at Brown and the personal conflicts they faced within their own families which differed in culture, upbringing and language. “If I play basketball, people refer to it as it being the ‘black’ in me, whereas if I study at the science library then that’s the ‘Indian’ in me,” said one participant. Other students echoed these difficulties and said extra pressures they faced in electing majors or socializing were due in part to the assumptions people made about their multiracial identities. “No matter who you really are, others tell me this is the person I look like, therefore the person I should be,” said another participant. “Although inside the house there is mostly acceptance, I’ve had rocks thrown at me in other places.” Students often interlaced their recounting of experiences with references to their families, who they said were significant influences on their views of multiracial issues. “Personally, I don’t really care what other people think. I accepted myself and formed my own identity,” said a participant. “My parents, by not forcing it to be an issue, allowed me to become comfortable with it “ Other participants said they experienced difficulties due to language barriers they faced with one or both parents. These barriers hindered their mutual understanding of racism’s current context, students said. Participants said they faced conflicts with their siblings as well, due to their multiraciality. They said that different skin colors between siblings often led to one being associ-
ated more often with a particular parent. Students said they were often frustrated while growing up in a multiracial household because they felt compelled to identify with one race to the exclusion of the other. “Our mixed heritage does not mitigate our struggles against myths that are held about one particular group,” a participant said. Parents of a biracial son and daughter also attended the forum. “Growing up and watching them has been both an enlightening and challenging experience,” the student’s father said. “I try to do a lot of reading on multiraciality to grasp an idea of what they are going through,” said the student’s mother. “I ask my children if they go through the same problems, but it’s often difficult to talk about it.” While multiraciality most affected their children, the parents said it posed a frustrating problem for them as well. “It evokes fury sometimes,” the father said. The parents said they were often asked if their children were adopted. They faced difficulties when racial slurs were thrown at their children, because they had to construct a comprehensive way to speak to their children about their multiraciality, the parents said. “I’ve tried to turn this into a positive experience,” the mother said. “It’s taken me nearly 37 years, but now I try to look at where a person is coming from, and what aspects of their backgrounds makes them think a certain way about multiracial people.” The mother said her daughter’s recent interest in Korean language drew them closer together. The student participants also said it was important for multiracial people to recognize all facets of their identity. A participant said a recent trip to his mother’s homeland sparked a further understanding of himself and of his family’s background. “I realized the importance of seeing who I am in a fuller perspective,” he said. “I feel like I can step back from the painting now and see the bigger picture.”
see QUEST, page 6
Ivy League students team up to promote oncampus greening BY LISA MANDLE
Environmentally-minded students from Ivy League universities teamed up to form a coalition to coordinate their efforts at the fifth annual Greening of the Ivies Conference earlier this month. Approximately 35 students, including five from Brown and students from several other Ivy League universities, attended this year’s conference on the weekend of Oct. 18. Attendees participated in workshops, lectures and panels on environmental issues and campaigns. Attendees created the coalition because there is a need for environmental groups at Ivy League schools to have a collective voice and communication, said Susan Dubois, a sophomore representative from Dartmouth College. While students recognized this need at previous conferences, it never led to anything concrete, Dubois said. The group’s primary initiative is achieving “tree-free” campuses. By speaking and acting together, the coalition
I N S I D E T H U R S D AY, O C T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 0 2 In South Carolina, a small college president gives 100 first-years $50 each — find out why page 3
At Vanderbilt, administration faces lawsuit over changing a building’s name page 3
First Ward Candidate Bill Miller hosts a Thursday night ‘soiree’ at Louis page 5
see GREENING, page 6
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Jonathan Skolnick ’04 says U.S. Jews must resign their support for Ariel Sharon guest column, page 15
In outreach effort, Brown student-athletes promote literacy in Fox Point sports, page 16
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