T H U R S D A Y NOVEMBER 11, 2004
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXIX, No. 108
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Community policing initiative could start next month BY AIDAN LEVY
Starting as early as December, Department of Public Safety officers will be assigned to patrol specific campus regions in an effort to facilitate communication between DPS and the Brown community. The initiative, spearheaded by Lt. Kevin Andrews, is intended to accelerate the crime investigation process and streamline communication between the community and law enforcement officials. Ultimately, the initiative, known as “community policing,” should build a safer, more connected community, Andrews said. “A lot of older people would say it’s going back to the era of the foot cop, but it’s more complicated than that,” Andrews said. “A wide array of service-oriented organizations in the community is involved.” Currently, each DPS officer patrols a large campus region — North Campus or South Campus. Under the new system, each will patrol a much smaller territory. With community policing, 30 DPS officers will negotiate which regions will be their territory. Regions are small — for example, Wriston Quad is a region by itself. Each region will be covered during three daily shifts. Assignments will last one to two years, but a concrete figure will emerge as the plan develops further. Currently, DPS is hiring new officers to fill the positions of two officers who are transferring out of the department in coming weeks. When the interviewing process has concluded and the community policing plan is put in place, officers will be encouraged to familiarize themselves with residents of
Nick Neely / Herald
A Providence police officer stood watch at Faunce Arch as a student walked home to Pembroke campus Tuesday night.
see POLICING, page 8
Dorm inspections leave some ‘I can’t talk right I’m in class’ students unhappy with ResLife now, Professors try creative BY JANE TANIMURA
Confusion about where and when annual room inspections would be conducted has left some students complaining that they were fined unfairly by the Office of Residential Life. Since Oct. 27, ResLife inspectors have been performing the first round of plain-sight inspections in select residence halls across campus. The second round, which will cover all other residence halls, will be conducted in the next three weeks. In accordance with ResLife protocol, inspectors will knock on a resident’s door, enter and then record any violations per a checklist, a process that
takes only a few minutes, said Assistant Dean of Student Life Thomas Forsberg. If a resident has violated any rules, the inspector will leave a copy of the checklist in the room. Inspectors confiscate some unauthorized materials, especially candles, upon inspection, and they will revisit other rooms to make sure students have made required changes to décor and removed other illegal materials. In serious cases, failure to correct these violations will result in referral to the disciplinary system, Forsberg said. Some students who were fined dur-
The Rhode Island Workers’ Safety Act, signed by Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 last summer, will ban smoking in all public facilities beginning March 1, 2005. Approved by the General Assembly on June 17, the law forbids smoking in bars, clubs, restaurants, malls, sports arenas, offices, taxis and any place of employment. Only smoking clubs, such as cigar bars, and Rhode Island’s two gambling facilities — Lincoln Park and Newport Grand — are exempt from the ban. Though bars with Class C or D liquor licenses and fewer than 10 employees can wait until Oct. 1, 2006, to implement the policy, very few locations around the Brown campus qualify for the provision. Most College Hill restaurants do not currently allow smoking. Those that do are accepting the policy without opposition, and some suggest it is a positive change. “I quit smoking six months ago, so for
me it is a blessing,” said Kostas Karampetsos, general manager of Kartabar on Thayer Street. “From my understanding everybody thinks it’s a good thing.” Both Kartabar and Paragon currently allow smoking at the bar (and restaurant, although with limits), but will implement the ban when it comes into effect in March. Fish Company, however, tentatively plans to prohibit smoking sometime in January. A Fishco bar manager said he expects the ban will hurt business. Jennifer Roberts, general manager of Paragon, said that while the law will affect every food and beverage business in the state, some Rhode Island towns are already smoke-free and “pretty much everybody just gets used to it.” “You’re not going to stop going out to a restaurant or a bar because you’re not allowed to smoke,” Roberts said. “They’re going to come here or they’re going to stay home.”
Nicholas Mackris, co-owner and managing partner of Andreas, is similarly straightforward about the change. “It’s not a negative thing, and obviously we’re going to have to comply,” Mackris said. “But a lot of college kids smoke … so I do think it’ll affect businesses around this area in particular.” But many Brown students expressed relief that they would no longer be victims of secondhand smoke. “As an asthma sufferer, I’m looking forward to the ban,” said Greg Kuwaye ’08. Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, New York, Florida, California, Delaware, Idaho and Utah and several cities — including Boston — already have smoking bans in place. Students from those places say eating in partially smoky restaurants has been far more of an adjustment than the upcoming ban will be. “I’ve gotten so used to eating a burger at a bar and tasting the burger instead of
see SMOKING, page 6
see PHONES, page 6
see RESLIFE, page 4
W E AT H E R F O R E C A S T
I N S I D E T H U R S D AY, N O V E M B E R 1 1 , 2 0 0 4 RISD’s solar decathlon team gets ready to compete against 18 schools in two-year competition risd, page 3
NPR correspondent Mara Liasson ’77 to speak on 2004 election this afternoon campus news, page 5
Alexandra Toumanoff ’06 isn’t so sure what she thinks about feng shui — but her mom really likes it column, page 11
BY JUSTIN ELLIOTT
The proliferation of cell phones in modern society has been felt everywhere, from the roads to subway cars to concert halls and movie theaters. Brown’s classrooms and lecture halls are no exception. A decade ago, students would never have recognized the sound of a cell phone cutting into a lecture or breaking up a discussion. But Gus Crothers ’07 said HI 135: “Modern Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity,” has regularly been interrupted this semester. “I can say that probably in every lecture you can hear a cell phone, but that’s the case in every big lecture class I have,” he said. Crothers said he did not think his professor should do anything “but set a good example by turning off his cell phone, which he made sure to do after his phone went off in one of the early classes.” Alana Firl ’07 said she has heard cell phones ring in each of her courses this semester except her 8:30 a.m. physics class. Firl added that she was extremely annoyed by students comparing ring tones in one class. “I’d like to see all cell phones collected and burned,” she said. According to Christine Rosen, a senior editor of the technology journal New Atlantis, “What we’re seeing on college campuses and classrooms, we’re seeing in many public spaces.” The author of a recent article, “Our Cell Phones, Ourselves,” said she’s observed “a Jekylland-Hyde thing that goes on with cell phones, because those of us that have them like to think that we use them thoughtfully in public space.”
College Hill bars prepare for smoking ban BY MARY-CATHERINE LADER
strategies to stop cell phone interruptions
Marie Hopkins RUE ’08 writes that the financial aid situation isn’t fair for transfer and RUE students column, page 11
Two members of the men’s tennis team have successful weekend at Dartmouth competition sports, page 12
THURSDAY
mostly cloudy high 57 low 40
FRIDAY
showers high 45 low 30