W E D N E S D A Y APRIL 9, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 48
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
U. wants increased presence in India
Students get a look at the University’s master plan BY PHILISSA CRAMER
Israeli-occupied territories is referred to as “transfer” — sometimes even “voluntary transfer.” Right-wing religious parties call Arabs “a cancer” plaguing Israeli society, a tactic Gordon called “fervent nationalism that is informed by racism.” Media coverage of Israeli affairs is also a problem outside the country, Gordon said. “The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about real differences and is not, as the American media often
Members of the Brown community caught their first glimpse Tuesday of the more unified, more efficient and possibly even Grad Center-free campus that University planners hope to construct over the next two decades. Two discussions with Frances Halsband, the main architect behind the University’s master plan, presented a three-dimensional model of the University’s future for faculty, staff and a small number of students. The forum, titled “Recommendations for the Future of Brown’s Campus,” was held twice during the day in Starr Auditorium. Possibilities for the campus include the construction of additional academic facilities, expansion of the Rock and SciLi and use of off-campus spaces in Providence’s Jewelry District and the Narragansett Bay waterfront, Halsband said. Vice President for Planning Richard Spies introduced Halsband by relating the need for enhanced facilities to President Ruth Simmons’ Initiatives for Academic Enrichment. Spies said increasing faculty size, enhancing students’ experience and initiating multidisciplinary centers require physical expansion and changes to the allocation of space. “If we didn’t change, we would not be as good ten years from now as we are today, when in fact our goal is to be better,” Spies said. Halsband said the need for the plan arose from a trend toward increased growth at Brown. She added that she finds the project particularly exciting because many of her proposals will be
see GORDON, page 4
see MASTER PLAN, page 9
BY ZACH BARTER
More than one billion people — one out of every six on earth — live in India. Brown is hoping that a few more of them might one day find their way to College Hill. The University recently began exploring ways to enhance its presence in India, seeking to capitalize on a strong alumni network and tap an increasingly talented student population. Both the size of the population and the quality of the educational system heightened Brown’s interest in India, said Ronald Margolin, vice president for international advancement. Margolin said Brown’s greatly expanded South Asian course offerings and the strength of its alumni and parental network in India were also motivating factors. “There just seemed to be enough interest in the subcontinent for Brown to be paying more attention,” Margolin said. Margolin had planned on traveling to India in late March to meet with parents, alumni, government officials and media outlets, but the outbreak of war with Iraq and the needs of international students on campus forced the trip’s cancellation. Margolin’s trip was meant to see INDIA, page 6
Brown EMT helps alleged drunk driver after car crash BY ADAM STELLA
Dan Pastula ’03, a trained Emergency Medical Technician, came to the aid of an alleged drunk driver who lost control of his car and slammed it into a tree near the intersection of Thayer and George streets around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday. An older-model gray Chevrolet was traveling south on Thayer Street when the driver careened through the intersection and struck a tree on the southeast corner. The driver has no affiliation with the University, said Department of Public Safety Officer Daniel Lapati. Pastula was walking north on see CRASH, page 9
Alex Palmer / Herald
APRIL SHOWERS BRING MAY FLOWERS? A surprise spring snowstorm blanketed the campus on Monday. Clouds and rain are predicted to continue throughout the week.
Neve Gordon says gravest danger for Israel “is coming from within” BY DANA GOLDSTEIN
The realization of peace in Israel is most challenged, not by terrorist organizations, but by the country’s own government, said Neve Gordon, professor of politics and government at BenGurion University. “Israel’s gravest danger is coming from within,” Gordon said at a lecture Tuesday night in Barus and Holley. “It is the creeping rise of a proto-fascism.” Gordon’s talk, entitled “The Israeli Peace Camp in Dark Times,” drew upon his experiences as what he called “an embedded academic” — a person engaged in academia, the Israeli peace movement and Israeli society at large. The Israeli peace camp has failed to return to full vibrancy since the Second Intifada began in September 2000, Gordon said. He attributed this to widespread fears of terrorism and the interference of the current Israeli government, which Gordon said has succeeded in turning the media into “a government organ” and limiting opportunities for interaction between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Gordon said there is also evidence Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s administration is employing tactics, such as
phone-tapping and e-mail interception, to track the plans of peace groups. “This kind of surveillance has become legitimized,” Gordon said, calling it a sign of fascism. Gordon framed the struggle for peace as a poetic one in which a media-supported government paints Palestinians as fanatic terrorist aggressors who do not value human life and describes Israeli Jews as victims who uphold the dignity of life and peace. Gordon said the expulsion of Palestinians from
Three assaults on Sunday in short time period BY JULIETTE WALLACK
Three assaults took place in a three-and-a-half hour span on Sunday night and were likely committed by the same party, according to a University crime report. The three crimes, which all occurred between 7:15 and 10:40 p.m., included a mugging, robbery and a simple assault, according to Providence Police reports. According to the report, Rebecca Brown ’05 was walking east on Waterman Street at about 7:15 p.m. near Cooke
Street when two men ran up behind her and grabbed her cell phone and purse. At 7:40 that same night, Darien Williams ’05 called police from the RISD library to report she had been mugged. Williams told The Herald she was walking to the RISD ceramics studio and was at the intersection of College and Benefit streets when she “saw out of the corner of my eye this person next to me.” When the man grabbed the handle of her purse, Williams said she pulled it back, but he proceeded to tug
I N S I D E W E D N E S D AY, A P R I L 9 , 2 0 0 3 New study shows regular homework assignments help child development academic watch,page 3
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Two Brown alumns are honored with Pulitzer Prizes for Drama and Fiction page 5
Lev Nelson ’04 fears liberals are forgetting to focus and are spread too thin opinions, page 11
it. At that point, the suspect told Williams he would shoot her, according to the Providence Police report, and she let go of her purse. Williams said another man was standing behind her assailant, “keeping watch,” but she didn’t see evidence of a weapon at any point during the mugging. Just three hours later, at 10:40 p.m., police responded to an assault at 38 Charlesfield St. see CRIME, page 6
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Kate Gubata ’03 shares her fond memories of Spring Weekend at Brown opinions, page 11
Men’s and women’s tennis teams enter Ivy League season with mixed results sports, page 12
p.m.showers/wind high 39 low 31