F R I D A Y MARCH 19, 2004
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXIX, No. 36
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Administrators did not disclose opening of TWTP to white students
Panel discusses U. connections to slave trade
U. unsure if all first-years will be invited this fall
BY DANA GOLDSTEIN
BY ROBBIE COREY-BOULET
Administrators chose not to publicize a decision that officially opened the Third World Transition Program to white firstyears last fall. The decision was “probably motivated” by Supreme Court rulings in June 2003 on affirmative-action policies at the University of Michigan, said Karen McLaurin-Chesson ’74, Third World Center director and associate dean of the college. The decision held that schools must accept and reject students not as members of any ethnicity but as individuals. “I didn’t think it was necessary for public announcement,” McLaurin-Chesson said. Looking back on this decision, she said there “probably should have been an announcement.” White students in the Class of 2007 did not receive invitations to the pre-orientation program, although they would have been admitted if they had requested to attend. McLaurin-Chesson said she is unsure whether white students will receive invitations this fall. Since the Supreme Court decision, a number of Brown’s peer institutions have announced the opening of their minority orientation programs to white students. Last month, the Yale Daily News reported that Yale University’s pre-orientation program, Cultural Connections, will be open to
Marshall Agnew / Herald
Darshan Somashekar ‘05, Sean Siperstein ‘05, Lily Rayman-Read ‘06, and Will Bittinger ‘05 participate in a discussion of the Internet’s role in political campaigns.
Internet increasingly vital to campaigns, student panel says BY SARAH LABRIE
The impact of the Internet on politics has yet to reach its full potential, according to a panel of students who spoke Thursday night in Salomon 001 as part of the Brown College Democrats’ Democracy Awareness Week. Students on the panel had worked for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean’s presidential campaign and for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Panelists agreed on the Internet’s importance in bringing together supporters of common causes. Darshan Somashekar ’05, webmaster for the Brown College Democrats, has worked as an intern in the DCCC’s recently created department of online
see TWTP, page 4
operations. Of the nine candidates in this year’s Democratic presidential primary, Dean was the one voters most associated with the Internet, Somashekar said. Dean’s Web site included a blog, or online journal, that let supporters follow Dean’s every move on the campaign trail. The Web site also helped volunteers organize MeetUps, where Dean supporters could talk about their candidate and plan grassroots campaigning. The strength of Dean’s Web-based campaign was that it was interactive, Somashekar said. Voters could send see DEMS, page 3
Finalists for senior administrative positions to be interviewed in coming weeks BY BEN GRIN
Search committees are close to creating a list of finalists for two open administrative positions: vice president for campus life and student services and vice president for public affairs and University relations. Luiz Valente, associate professor of Portuguese and Brazilian studies, is heading the search committee for the new vice president for campus life and student services. The position is currently occupied by an interim vice president, David Greene, who was formerly President Ruth Simmons’ executive assistant. Valente would say only that he is “comfortable’ with the applicant pool and declined to comment on whether Greene is a candidate for the position. The ideal candidate combines strong managerial and interpersonal skills, Valente said. The Office of Campus Life, which reports to the Office of Student Life, oversees a range of administrative departments, including the Third World Center, the Office of the Chaplain, Brown
Dining Services and the Department of Athletics. The search committee is made up of 11 members, including four faculty members, two administrators, three undergraduates and two graduate students, he said. Valente said the search committee has advertised for the position in several academic journals, including the Chronicle of Higher Education. Some candidates were nominated for the position by their colleagues, while others submitted applications on their own, according to Valente. The committee has received about 100 applications, he said. Valente said the committee hopes to compose a list of finalists before Spring Break. At that point, the search committee will invite the finalists to campus, where they will meet with the committee, student leaders and possibly Simmons. After meeting with the finalists, the search committee will make recommendations to Simmons, who has the final
say in the hiring process. John Savage, professor of computer science, is heading the search committee for the vice president for public affairs and University relations. The office handles community and government relations, publishes the George Street Journal and the Brown Alumni Magazine and manages University events. Savage’s committee has 14 members, including four members of the Corporation, four University administrators, four faculty members and two representatives of an outside search firm, who have been able to seek out potential applicants. Savage said there is “no expectation” of student involvement in the decision-making process. “We’re getting close to creating a list of finalists,” Savage said, adding that finalists should be invited to campus for interviews within a few weeks. “Our intention is to present this university with some very high-caliber candidates,” he said.
China will change only with the help of those who were oppressed, writes Erin Baksa ’04 column, page 7
see SLAVERY, page 5
W E AT H E R F O R E C A S T
I N S I D E F R I D AY, M A RC H 1 9 , 2 0 0 4 “Three Chairs, Two Cubes” premieres five student-written plays arts & culture, page 3
In the midst of substantial media coverage, Brown’s new Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice commenced its public work Thursday night with a panel discussion titled “Unearthing the Past: Brown University, the Brown Family and the Rhode Island Slave Trade.” Although media attention has focused on the possibility that the University will make financial reparations for slavery, panel discussion focused on Rhode Island’s role in the slave trade, in particular the involvement of the Brown family. About 100 people attended the panel, held in Salomon 101, although few of them were undergraduates. President Ruth Simmons, who formed the committee last summer, was not present at the panel and instead participated in a University fundraising event in Darien, Conn. The event began with an introduction by committee chair and Professor of American Civilization James Campbell, who urged members of the Brown community to think deeply about the issues of slavery and justice as reflected in the history of the University and the nation. “What responsibility, if any, accrues to us in the present as inheritors of this mixed legacy?” he asked. Brown University was founded as Rhode Island College in 1764 and renamed after Nicholas Brown Jr., a 1786 graduate, in recognition of a $5,000 contribution. Brown was the son of Nicholas Brown Sr. and nephew to Moses Brown, an abolitionist Quaker, and John Brown, a Rhode Island slave trader and businessman. Panel members J. Stanley Lemmons, professor at Rhode Island College, and Joanne Melish Ph.D ’96, professor at the University of Kentucky, focused their remarks on Rhode Island’s centrality to the African slave trade. During the 18th century, between 60 and 90 percent of ships sailing to Africa each year began their journey in Rhode Island, Lemmons said. It is a great irony that although Newport and Bristol were the premier U.S. ports in the slave trade, Rhode Island was the first state to outlaw the slave trade in 1787, according to Lemmons. Later, it was Moses Brown’s Abolitionist Society that brought charges against John Brown for illegal slave trading. John Brown was acquitted of the charges, although his ship was condemned by the courts, Lemmons said. Melish spoke about the “erasure of the historical significance and experience of slavery in New England. “New England, as a region, has been invested in the distance between itself and the evil, slave-holding South,” she
Katherine Cummings ’06 says U.S. drug laws leave Americans in danger column, page 7
Athlete of the Week Jessica Link ’05 is key to w. hockey team’s championship quest sports, page 8
W. lacrosse recovers from University of Maryland loss by beating Colgate sports, page 8
FRIDAY
light snow high 36 low 22
SATURDAY
sunny high 44 low 34