M O N D A Y MARCH 31, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 41
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
Watson helps high schools teach the war
U. buys $1.3 mil. house for provost
BY JOANNE PARK
As high school educators across the country struggle with how to “teach” the war in Iraq, about 5,000 teachers have found an answer in a curriculum devised at Brown’s Watson Institute for International Studies. The Choices for the 21st Century Education Program provides students with the opportunity to reassess traditional views of historic decisions, such as those made by the U.S. government during the Vietnam War. “We want students to look at their role in the world … putting the students within a period of history,” said Susan Graseck, director of the Choices Program and senior fellow at the Watson Institute. The history of the Choices Program stretches back to 1988, when Brown educators worked with members of the U.S. Senate in foreign policy research. The program started as an attempt to assess public attitudes toward the Soviet Union and the nuclear crisis, Graseck said. From there, it grew to encompass issues ranging from Indian independence to Weimar Germany. Today over 5,000 high schools integrate the Choices Program into their classrooms, presenting students with pressing questions ranging from the decision to drop atomic bombs over Japan to the current administration’s actions in Iraq. Less publicized questions, such as Russia’s future in the post-Soviet era and U.S. immigration and trade policy, are also highlighted by the Choices Program. The average curriculum consists of teachers’ and students’ booklets that provide background information about a historic crossroads and the options available at the time to the U.S. government. Cartoons, excerpts from texts and charts are provided to better assist the students in placing the events within a specific context. After viewing the various options, students are asked to make their own decisions. Sarah Fox, curriculum writer for the Choices Program, said the process of see SCHOOLS, page 4
www.browndailyherald.com
BY JULIETTE WALLACK
began Feb. 16 and ended March 28. Oxfam at Buena Vista edged out Brown by about $50, winning national publicity and a $1,000 reward, Noble said. But, Brown’s second-place finish was also a success, he said, raising more than twice what Brown donated last year and beating out about 250 other schools. Noble estimated that, at Brown, about 400 students visited the Web site twice each day for the full duration of the six-week-long drive. He attributed this tremendous support to increased publicity, including slips placed throughout the computer cluster and
The University has purchased the C.H. Merriman House at 37 Cooke St. for $1.295 million. The single-family residence will serve as the official home of the provost, said Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service. In addition to nine bedrooms and 7,355 square feet of living space, the three-floor, brick exterior house features five fireplaces and a sunroom, according to public documents. Built in 1909, the house has been on the market since Aug. 16, 2002, and originally had a list price of $1.595 million, the documents state. Nickel said the University purchased the house with the plan of making it the permanent residence for “all provosts from now on.” The Corporation authorized the purchase, he said, and “the University has been looking for a residence that would meet the needs.” Those needs include proximity to campus and the room to host certain gatherings and events, he said. Brown currently uses the president’s official residence, 55 Power St., as a place to hold certain gatherings for faculty and students. “The provost’s residence would work in somewhat the same way,” Nickel said. The University plans some minor renovations, Nickel said, but he said he wasn’t sure what the price tag of those improvements would be. Current Provost Robert Zimmer “should be moving in sometime this summer,” Nickel said. For Oliver Bennett, the University’s purchase of 37 Cooke St. means he will be one of Zimmer’s new neighbors. Bennett, who moved into his current residence two years ago, said he’s not concerned about Brown buying the property next to him. He doesn’t have a problem with the house serving as both a home for the provost and as a place for University gatherings, he said.
see OXFAM, page 4
see HOUSE, page 4
Juliette Wallack / Herald
C.H. Merriman House on Cooke Street is the future home of Brown’s provost.
Oxfam at Brown raises over $8K through Collegiate Click Drive BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZ
Oxfam at Brown raised over $8,000 for loans to needy families through the Oxfam America Collegiate Click Drive, possibly with some controversial assistance. Brown came in second to Buena Vista University in the national competition, which challenges students and alumni to generate the most donations on behalf of their school by clicking on Oxfam’s “Poverty Fighters” Web site. The site’s advertisers contribute 25 cents to Oxfam’s drive for each click, funding “micro-loans” to help poor families worldwide start businesses, said Eric Noble ’05, president of Oxfam at Brown. The second annual drive
Laura Rothenberg ’04 dies over break of cystic fibrosis; friends remember her as “exceptional” BY LISA MANDLE
Photo courtesy of Ben Petrosky
Rothenberg’s memoir will be published in July.
When friends remember Laura Rothenberg ’04, the word “exceptional” comes up repeatedly. Described as exceptionally brave, exceptionally strong and exceptionally caring, Rothenberg possessed a remarkable knack for drawing people together, creating a web of people connected with a common love for her, friends said. Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was three days old, Rothenberg, 22, died March 21 from chronic rejection of a lung transplant complicated by infection, her father told the New York Times. Though Rothenberg struggled with cystic fibrosis and the resulting “laundry list of health problems, she was always a person beyond the illness,” recalls friend Ben Petrosky ’03. “Cystic fibrosis wasn’t her,” he said. “Laura accomplished more in her 22 short years than most people accomplish in a lifetime,” said Kathleen Forcier ’03. Rothenberg left Brown during her sophomore year to
await a lung transplant, but when the transplant did not go as well as hoped, she spent much of her junior year too sick to return, Forcier said. But she was always willing to talk about it, Petrosky said. Rothenberg shared her experience with cystic fibrosis with her friends and with the public. She recorded her award-winning audio diary, “My So-Called Lungs,” as part of a documentary series called “Radio Diaries.” It broadcast on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” in August 2002. “Breathing for a Living,” Rothenberg’s memoir, will be published by Hyperion Books in July. She started the memoir for a creative nonfiction class at Brown. And from the first draft to the final page proofs, she made sure the book was hers, Petrosky said. Rothenberg had a “seize the day mentality,” Petrosky
I N S I D E M O N D AY, M A RC H 3 1 , 2 0 0 3 BEAN brings students, community together through monthly vegetarian potluck metro,page 3
Mitchell reflects on the media’s role in Iraq, path to war at BrownProJo Conference campus news,page 5
Louella Hill ’04 pays tribute to recently departed classmate Laura Rothenberg opinions, page 11
see ROTHENBERG, page 4
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Kate Gubata ’03 says changes to the University’s library system fall flat opinions, page 11
Equestrian continues to dominate competition in events leading up to nationals sports, page 12
light snow/wind high 38 low 23