M O N D A Y SEPTEMBER 8, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 66
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Friends read from Laura Rothenberg ’04 memoir BY AMY GOINS
To correct this misconception, the Queer Alliance is taking a threepronged approach through their outreach, advocacy and community departments. Outreach oversees activities such as QUEST, a meeting group for students questioning their sexuality or gender orientation. The advocacy department includes activism- and politics-centered groups like Radical University Queers United
When posts on the Daily Jolt complained about the “coughing girl” in a first-year lecture class, Laura Rothenberg ’04 wasn’t fazed. Rothenberg, who was born with cystic fibrosis, never shied away from her condition and went on to take a public role at Brown as an Undergraduate Council of Students representative. “There was a bluntness and honesty about her body and her situation that stunned the rest of us 15-year-olds who weren’t thinking and writing about having a chronic terminal illness,” said Lucy Boyle GS, who had been a friend of Rothenberg’s since childhood. Boyle and two of Rothenberg’s other friends read selections from “Breathing for a Living: A Memoir” at the Brown Bookstore Saturday. The book, published after Rothenberg’s death last March, chronicles her struggle with cystic fibrosis and her decision to undergo a double lung transplant. Rothenberg was 20 at the time of her death. Had illness not disrupted her education, she would have graduated with the class of 2003. Carol Deboer-Langworthy, visiting lecturer in English, introduced the readers and shared some of her memories of Rothenberg. Rothenberg was her student in several classes and worked with her on two independent study projects, developing Rothenberg’s poetry and writings into her memoirs. The readings were interspersed with recordings from Rothenberg’s audio diary. Rothenberg worked with Joe Richman, a reporter for National Public Radio, for nearly two years on the diary, entitled “My So-Called Lungs.” Boyle, Ben Petrosky ’03 and Izetta
see LGBTA, page 9
see ROTHENBERG, page 4
Sara Perkins / Herald
A renovated Hillel complex is scheduled to open in January, after some $12 million worth of construction and renovations.
New Hillel Center to open this January BY KIRA LESLEY
It’s hard running a 21st century organization in a 19th century building. But that’s what Brown/RISD Hillel has done in recent years. The colleges’ Jewish communities have operated out of a space far too small for the growing organization. Zoe Tarshis ’04 remembered the building as “dark, with low, low ceilings” and cramped. “People had to squish to get in.” The building also showed signs of aging. “It wasn’t structurally safe,” said Executive Director of Hillel and Associate University Chaplain Rabbi Rich Kirschen. “When people would dance, light bulbs would shake downstairs.” A renovated complex, the Glenn and Darcy Weiner Hillel Center, is scheduled to open in January, after over a year of construction and renovations. The official building dedication is set for Feb. 26. For the $12 million privately funded project, Hillel chose architect Cornelis de Boer, whose company, Haynes/de Boer Associates, specializes in historical preservation. The layout includes two new buildings attached to two renovated buildings on Angell Street that date to 1796. In planning for the center, much emphasis was placed on keeping the houses intact, Kirschen said. The new center will be 25,000 square feet — more than three times the size of the old building. Kirschen said it will include a see HILLEL, page 8
LGBTA changes name, attitude BY JONATHAN KROP
It’s more than just a new name. The organization formerly known as the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Alliance hopes that changing its title, structure and attitude will attract new members and lend its causes new momentum. Now called the Queer Alliance, the group is undergoing a major overhaul of its mission. The umbrella term “queer” will serve as a more inclusive heading for a diverse and hard-to-define community, said head coordinators Jason Lambrese ’06 and Leslie Soble ’05. “Sexuality tends to fall in a spectrum,” Soble said. “Queer,” once used only as a homophobic slur, has been “reclaimed as a symbol of fighting back against oppression,” she said. Although the word remains controversial to some members of the LGBT community, the head coordinators of the Queer Alliance said members can choose any label they want or simply forgo all labels. The organization’s purpose has not changed with the name, Lambrese said. It is still, as he calls it, a “social, outreach and activist organization.” The major change in the organization’s structure has been its shift from a “queer students’ group” to a hub around which such groups can rally and organize, he said. Too often in the past, the LGBTA was perceived as nothing more than a social club, he said.
Four e-mail kiosks arrive on campus BY AMY GOINS
Though their arrival was overshadowed by a glut of network outages, four new public e-mail kiosks greeted students, staff and faculty on campus. The OMAC and V-Dub are home to one machine each. Two more are located in the Lower Blue Room of Faunce. The computer stations were funded by extra money from the budget of Computing and Information Services and were installed during the last week of July, said Kara Kelley, director of personal technology services for CIS. “We waited until the end of the University fiscal year to see if we could afford them, and (CIS Vice President) Ellen Waite-Franzen then allocated
I N S I D E M O N D AY, S E P T E M B E R 8 , 2 0 0 3 A Brown alum making a name for himself as an indie popster returns to campus arts and culture,page 3
The Bell Gallery’s Faculty Exhibition 2003 features the art of sixteen Brown profs arts and culture,page 3
Dabrowski ’04 spent her summer watching stars like Ashton Kutcher undress page 5
the money to build them,” she said. The list of suggested locations came from the Office of Campus Life and Student Services, which consulted students for ideas, she said. “We originally had the Ratty on the list as well, but since there was no data wiring or electricity existing in certain areas, and considering that the building will soon be renovated, we did not install a kiosk there,” she added. Depending on usage statistics and overall student reaction, Kelley said more kiosks may be on their way. The kiosks proved especially helpful for students cut off from the network during last week’s outages. “(The kiosks) were pretty useful to see KIOSK, page 4
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Liberals must know their enemies in order to defeat them, says Rob Sand ’05. column, page 11
Women’s soccer records two shutouts in the season’s opening weekend sports, page 12
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