T U E S D A Y SEPTEMBER 7, 2004
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXIX, No. 62
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Neighbors take aim at LiSci with lawsuit BY JANE PORTER
East Side residents are suing to halt construction of the $95-million Life Sciences Building, claiming the assessment of the building’s environmental impact was insufficient. The lawsuit, now in its early procedural stages, centers on residents’ concerns that the new building will cause adverse environmental and health effects that were not properly determined. Plaintiffs are calling for construction to halt while a new, more in-depth assessment is completed. “The thrust of this lawsuit focuses on potentially toxic and other harmful emissions,” plaintiff William Touret told The Herald. “People have been very upset about this building from the time that it was first proposed.” Toxic emission is one of many qualms local residents have regarding the new building. Residents are also concerned with traffic congestion and parking, the destruction of historical buildings and the effects on the “overall character of the neighborhood,” Touret said. Touret, who lives within one block of the site, is one of 11 East Side residents involved in the suit. He has been a vocal opponent of the project since Brown presented the project to neighbors in fall of 2001. In addition to Brown, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Department of Energy are also defendants in the lawsuit, which was brought in U.S. District Court. These government agencies conducted an environmental assessment of the building, which residents believe was insufficient and not in accordance with law. NASA and the DOE contributed around $6.2 million to the Life Sciences project. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 requires that these federal agencies prepare a detailed statement of the environmental impact of the building. The original statement was released in June 2003 and found no significant adverse environmental effects. The Life Sciences Building, which will be located on Meeting Street next to the
Nick Neely / Herald
The line of customers waiting to check out at the Brown Bookstore Monday stretched through the store as students geared up for the start of classes today.
Jägermeister master donates $20 million for academic building 62 years after he should have graduated, Frank finds his place at Brown BY JONATHAN ELLIS
A $20 million donation from a man who spent one year at Brown and made Jägermeister a household name has set in motion the first phase of the University’s decade-long physical expansion plan. The gift allows planning to begin on a $30 million academic building that will house the Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences, the Brain Science
see LISCI, page 5
Program’s administrative offices, a 350seat auditorium and classrooms. Sidney E. Frank Hall will also anchor a landscaped north-south pathway connecting the Pembroke campus to Lincoln Field, dubbed “The Walk.” The University will probably spend two years planning the project, begin construction in summer 2006 and finish in 2008. It is possible that members of the Class of 2008 will see the building’s com-
This past week, new Brown students experienced for the first time the challenges of moving away from home and into double rooms, and some upperclassmen came back to dorms that had been renovated over the summer. Five dorms — Hegeman Hall, Caswell Hall, Miller Hall, Metcalf Hall and Machado House — received new paint, furniture, lighting, flooring and lighting systems; in addition, all of the Graduate Center towers received new beds, which students can adjust to a
desired height. But although some dorms are in better condition than last year, Richard Bova, director of residential life, said the housing situation could be improved. “We are very tight on housing,” Bova said. Although both the number of students with off-campus permission and the number living in converted spaces have held steady, there were 22 students living in temporary housing as of Sept. 2 — an increase over the same time last year.
The increased number could be due to students not participating in the housing lottery but still requesting oncampus housing, Bova said. Other students might have planned to study abroad in the fall but have changed their plans, he said. Bova said he expects these students will be able to move to permanent housing within two weeks, as the Office of Residential Life determines where empty rooms exist on campus. see HOUSING, page 4
Hot weather, heavy furniture marked move-in for Alexandra Toumanoff ’06 column, page 11
Last spring’s debacle proves UCS election process is flawed, says Ethan Ris ’05 column, page 11
A 2003 alum died Monday morning in an apparent suicide, according to police and news reports. Joanne Michelle Leavy fell from the top floor of a building at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Leavy, a second-year graduate student at the school, is the sixth NYU student to commit suicide in the past year. Leavy was living in New York City with her father; their residence was across the street from the building from which she allegedly jumped. Leavy won a 2003 Weston Prize at Brown for her work in art-semiotics.
W E AT H E R F O R E C A S T
I N S I D E T U E S D AY, S E P T E M B E R 7 , 2 0 0 4 New artists debut, and old favorites return to the comics roster comics, page 2
see FRANK, page 6
Leavy ’03 dies at Tisch School
Move-in goes smoothly, but housing crunch leaves some in temporary rooms BY AMY HALL GOINS
pletion before graduating, said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to President Ruth Simmons. The Corporation approved Sidney Frank’s $20 million contribution — the largest gift for a building in University history — at its May 29 meeting. Frank, 84, said he feels strongly about the
New players help w. soccer to open the season with two big wins sports, page 12
Chris Hatfield ’06 says professional sports leagues should honor their contracts sports, page 12
TUESDAY
partly cloudy high 80 low 67
WEDNESDAY
rain high 76 low 66