W E D N E S D A Y SEPTEMBER 24, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 78
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Nearly a third of Brown students not having sex, expert says BY ALEXANDRA BARSK
Are Brown students having sex? Yes, said social norms expert Alan Berkowitz, but maybe a smaller percentage than you think. About a third of Brown students are not sexually active, he said, citing results of a 2001 survey. “If you survey people of any age-group in any kind of relationship situation, people in those groups believe that the other people in their group are having more sex than they actually are,” Berkowitz said. Frances Mantak, director of the Office of Health Education, which sponsored the lecture, said it was not meant to address a problem specific to the Brown community, but rather to serve as an opportunity for education about issues pertinent to any college campus. Berkowitz addressed a group of about 25 students, faculty members and parents in Starr Auditorium on Monday evening, in a lecture titled, “Are we having sex yet?” But before he began his talk, Berkowitz said he would remove the word “yet” from the title because, he said, it assumes sex is a place everyone is supposed to get to rather than recognizing many people actively choose not to be sexually active for different reasons. Berkowitz explained that the effect of overestimating or underestimating the normalcy of certain social behaviors might cause a person to adjust their own behavior to fit the perceived norm. Berkowitz spoke about how the social norms approach to social marketing could be applied to sexual activity as well as drug and alcohol use, racism, sexism and homophobia. Berkowitz outlined his conditions for consent in sexual activity and detailed the difference between three terms: bad sex, good sex and sexual assault. There are times, he explained, when someone accused of assault may have believed the sex was see SEX, page 9
John Forasté / Herald
Edward Beiser, associate dean of medicine for the humanities and social sciences, retired in August after 35 years in the political science department and medical school.
Associate Dean Beiser leaves Brown after 35 years at the University BY DANIELLE CERNY
Brown students who haven’t taken one of Edward Beiser’s courses yet are going to miss out on one of the University’s greatest thinkers, straight shooters and tellers of corny jokes. Beiser, associate dean of medicine for the humanities and social sciences, retired in August after an influential 35-year career in the political science department and medical school. Stephen Smith, associate dean for medical education, worked directly above Beiser, but said he saw Beiser as much more than a colleague. “My fondest memories of Ed Beiser are his corny jokes, which he had an endless supply of,” Smith said.
Brown med student simulates Mars visit on Arctic island BY GREG MAZUREK
Photo courtesy of Peter Lee
Brown medical student Peter Lee is one of few people on Earth who can say he’s been to Mars. Or, at least, a simulation of the planet. Lee, who received his undergraduate degree from Brown in 1994 and is currently working on his medical and doctorate degrees, spent July working at the Flashline Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island. Lee said both science and medicine have fascinated him since childhood. And it’s the unknown that attracts him to space, he said. Lee filled out an application for the Flashline program over a year-and-a-half ago. He said the competition was intense, with 800 people applying for seven spots. But Lee said his medical focus helped him in the selection process — the program was looking to create
Medical student Peter Lee ’94 spent last July working on a Mars simulation.
see MARS, page 4
“He would use these jokes to introduce or illustrate a very serious point of ethics or policy. “By this technique, he always had everyone’s attention and the point he was trying to make would stick. He was truly a masterful teacher,” Smith said. Beiser received his bachelor’s degree from City College of New York and his master’s and doctorate degrees from Princeton University. He brought this wealth of knowledge to Brown to focus on the interface between medicine and law. After Beiser began teaching at the University, he attended Harvard Law School. “His subsequent training as a lawyer only helped to make him one of the strongest minds in our department over just about one-third of a century,” said Professor Emeritus of Political Science Newell Stultz. During his years at Brown, Beiser’s favorite class to teach was PS 116: “Politics of the Legal System.” “It was a course in the American legal system, but it was also a course in how to read and how to think,” Beiser said. “I still can’t believe I fit that much material into one class.” During his 35 years teaching at Brown, Beiser watched the University grow and change. One of his most vivid memories occurred during the turbulent years of the Vietnam War, he said. The campus was in an uproar after the killing of four student protesters by Ohio National Guardsmen at Kent State, Beiser said, and a meeting of more than 3,000 students was held in Meehan Auditorium to discuss a unified response to the tragedy. A panel spoke to the crowd and then opened the floor to comments. Beiser took the opportunity to remind the students to keep the target of their protests in perspective. “I went up to the microphone and said, ‘I would like to make a point that this is a strike at Brown, not against Brown,” Beiser told The Herald. “This seemed to crystallize the students’ sentiments and the whole crowd went wild.” Stultz said such a straightforward approach was always Beiser’s style. see BEISER, page 4
I N S I D E W E D N E S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 2 4 , 2 0 0 3 Yale unions agree to eight-year contract, ending workers’ 22day strike campus watch,page 3
Students ask for an apology from Duke fraternity for throwing Viva Mexico party campus watch,page 3
Alix Olson, spoken word artist and folk poet, speaks to a crowd Tuesday night page 5
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Petition signers were paid making the recall ridiculous, says Littenberg-Brown ’04 column, page 11
Young volleyball squad loses three matches in weekend tourney at Penn State sports, page 12
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