F R I D A Y FEBRUARY 14, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 18
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
U. program seeks change in American education BY JULIAN LEICHTY
Reactions at Brown were, on the whole, more sympathetic. Professor of Political Science Darrell West described his reaction to the tragedy as one of “complete shock.” “We’d all gotten used to the space program being generally safe,” West said. But the space shuttle is “a very sophisticated technology that sometimes fails,” he said. “There’s a calculated risk (in space
Public schools don’t work. So says Joe DiMartino, program director for Student Centered Learning at The Education Alliance, a Brown-affiliated program that’s looking to change the way America educates its kids, school by school. “Our feeling is that high schools generally don’t meet the needs of anybody,” DiMartino said. “Our high schools are failing kids.” For the most part, he said, students that go to college are “ill-prepared,” and others “are dropping out in droves.” The national high school completion rate is about 70 percent, DiMartino said. But that number only tells part of the story — completion rates are close to 100 percent in suburbs and only 50 percent in the inner cities, he said. “The unspoken fact is that many schools and many school boards count on the fact that they’re going to have a high dropout rate so they don’t have to increase the number of schools or teachers,” said Denise Wolk, who assists with the program at the alliance. DiMartino coordinates the Student Centered Learning program, which sends design teams to interested high schools to explore ways they can improve. Student Centered Learning is currently working to help restructure 50 high schools, including Providence’s Hope and Mount Pleasant high schools, DiMartino said. “We help them develop their own plan,” he said. The alliance provides them with expertise by sending a coach and a design team to work with the school. Teams consist of people who have worked in state departments of education and school districts, and people who have worked in high schools, like teachers, retired principals and guidance counselors. Although the alliance brings its expertise to a school, “it is our understanding that
see SHUTTLE, page 4
see EDUCATION, page 4
Kimberly Insel / Herald
CABLE CAR TREATS Brown will present the sixth annual French Film Festival Feb. 20 through March 2 at the Cable Car Cinema. Eighteen French films will be screened during the 11-day festival, beginning with "Satin Rouge."
Valentine’s Day gift not to give: mononucleosis BY LISA MANDLE
Still trying to come up with a last minute Valentine’s Day gift for your special someone? Some words of advice: Don’t make it mono. Mono, or mononucleosis, may commonly be referred to as the kissing disease, but smooching is not the only way to spread it. Mono is transmitted through any contact with saliva, which includes sharing utensils and glasses, said Lynn Dupont, assistant director of Health Services. Health Services sees students every semester with mono, Dupont said. One in 50 Brown students every year gets mono according to data from 1996, she said. There has not been an increase in affected students this season, Dupont said. Fatigue, a sore throat, headache and swollen glands are the most common symptoms, Dupont said. However, she said a blood test is the only way to know for sure whether a patient has the virus. Because mono is viral, not bacterial, antibiotics should not be prescribed, Dupont said. Only the symptoms can be treated. Dupont advised rest and lots of fluids. Patients should also avoid strenuous activities, which could cause the spleen to enlarge, Dupont said. Brown’s Health Education Web site also recomsee MONO, page 4
Reaction to Columbia disaster mixed, letters editors say BY ELLEN WERNECKE
In the wake of the Columbia space shuttle accident, students and professors at Brown grieved for the astronauts involved while expressing hope for the space program. But letters to the nation’s newspapers told a different story, according to Editorial Page Editor John Diaz of the San Francisco Chronicle. In an editor’s note that appeared in the paper’s Feb. 4 edition, Diaz wrote that he was surprised by the small volume and “cynical, even hateful” tone of many of those letters. Dodie Hofstetter, Voice of the People editor at the Chicago Tribune, also found that the Columbia tragedy did not generate as much mail as originally expected. “It was the first big nationwide event in my five years here where we didn’t have enough letters” for an extra page in the Sunday edition, Hofstetter said. “The letters were slow in coming,” she said. “It could be because we’re so engrossed in writing letters about going to war” that other issues were not as heavily addressed, she said. As to their tone, Hofstetter said she “saw a lot of letters questioning whether or not the astronauts were heroes and many saying the space program must go on.” But few of the letters she received discussed the possibility that the shuttle disaster was the result of sabotage or terrorism, she said. “Those theories are out there,” Hofstetter said, “but I was lucky enough not to have to deal with them.”
Community gathering for consolation and hope begins today in Manning Today marks the first of a series of reflectional meetings to help the Brown community cope with death at a personal level and on a larger scale, Associate Director of the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life Jennifer Rankin told The Herald. On Fridays at 12:30 p.m., the Chaplains’ Office will sponsor half-hour gatherings in Manning Chapel. Rankin said the goal is “to create a space that is truly interfaith where people can stand together in silence.” Each session will begin with a reading by a faculty member or spiritual leader. Associate Professor of Sociology Ann Dill will be involved, as will leaders
I N S I D E F R I D AY, F E B RUA RY 1 4 , 2 0 0 3 The John Hay Library opens a 3,500-volume exhibit of centuriesold books arts & culture,page 3
“The Vagina Monologues,” opens tonight at Rites and Reason Theatre. arts & culture, page 3
Valentine’s Day: you love it or you hate it. Camille Gerwin ‘03 hates it. column, page 11
from all religious denominations represented by the Chaplains’ Office. For the remaining minutes of the half-hour, participants will sit in silent reflection. In this way they are “supported by people they know without having to speak,” Rankin said. This idea was born of a feeling at the Chaplains’ Office that many members of the Brown community are having trouble coping with the recent deaths of Mary Interlandi and Sarah Lamendola ’04, Rankin said. Coupled with the possibility of a war see GATHERING, page 7
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Yale Wang ‘06 shamelessly uses column space to beg for Valentine’s Day date. column, page 11
Men’s hoops looks to protects its perfect league record this weekend. sports, page 12
mostly sunny high 21 low 9