T H U R S D A Y FEBRUARY 24, 2005
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXL, No. 20
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An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
THE SHINS TO PLAY THURSDAY OF SPRING WEEKEND
TODAY
TOMORROW
Hipster band will headline Meehan concert with rapper Talib Kweli, BCA confirms
mostly sunny 39 / 23
snow flurries 32 / 10
S E E PAG E
2
23% of EMS calls alcoholrelated
Jamaica Kincaid will read new works tonight
BY BEN LEUBSDORF SENIOR STAFF WRITER
BY SUCHI MATHUR CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Members of Brown Emergency Medical Services once found a girl passed out with her head in a toilet. Her face was less than an inch from the vomit-filled water. If her shoulders had been a little narrower, or the toilet bowl a little wider, she would have drowned. “We’ve had a lot of close calls,” said Richard Lapierre, manager of Emergency Medical Services. But to his knowledge there have been no alcohol-related deaths at Brown. That wouldn’t be the case without Brown EMS. Brown EMS was founded in 1978, and provides advanced life support service and a single ambulance to the Brown community. It has a paid staff of five supervisors, as well as 120 student volunteers, working three daily shifts in the morning, afternoon and night, according to Lapierre. That’s a sizable investment for a university, according to Lapierre, who said most schools do not invest in a full-time, yearround service with paid staff as well as students. The University of Rhode Island, for example, has an entirely student-run, parttime program. In the 2003-2004 school year, EMS responded to 770 calls, according to Lapierre. Sixty-eight percent of those runs were for undergraduates, 5 percent for graduate students, 7 percent for faculty and staff and the remainder for persons either otherwise affiliated with Brown or not affiliated with the University. Eight percent were for participants in Brown’s summer programs, a “steadily increasing” number, Lapierre said. The program depends on its student volunteers, said Lapierre, who described them as “a very, very dedicated group of individuals. … I think they’re very much an unsung resource at Brown University.” He praised their responsibility, nonjudgmental attitude and dedication to what “is not the most pleasant job” on campus, working five to seven hours a week without pay. According to Nick Mark ’06, a student Emergency Medical Technician, about twothirds of the student volunteers are certified EMTs, and a smaller number have advanced cardiac certification. There is always a paid supervisor with cardiac or paramedic certification on duty, as well as at least one student with EMT certification. Having paid supervisors “is a really great system. … You get to learn a lot (from the supervisors) and it means the quality of care is better,” Mark said. Mark worked the 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. night shift with Erin Kelly ’07 last Friday. Both are pre-medical students and EMT-Cardiacs. Their high certifications make them what Mark jokingly called the “A-Team” of EMTs, on duty for an especially difficult shift. “It’s a good shift. It’s a busy shift,” Kelly said. “Generally the end of the week is much busier,” Mark said, due to what is probably Brown EMS’s most visible work: responding to alcohol-related incidents. According to Lapierre, alcohol and substance abuse are “the largest single cause of EMS calls,” making up 23 percent of all calls last year for a total of 180 runs. One hundred sixty-eight were alcohol related, two
bring kegs on campus in a carefully regulated and responsible form,” Bidadi said. “This is what they (the students) want done,” said UCS Treasurer Xaykham Khamsyvoravong ’06. “It is our job to get that done in the interest of addressing student opinion.” Margaret Klawunn, interim dean for campus life, sat in on the meeting and gave her input as an administrator after the resolution had been passed. She told UCS members that they were “putting something forward that is going to be hard to accept.” The resolution will be reviewed by the Brown Alcohol Advisory Board, headed by Nancy Barnett, assistant professor of
From the lingering effects of colonialism on the Caribbean to gardening, from AIDS to the flora of the Himalayas, Jamaica Kincaid’s writing covers a breadth of topics unknown to many contemporary authors. Tonight at 7:30 in Sayles Hall, Kincaid will read from her newest book along with material from currently ongoing work, according to Paget Henry, professor of Africana studies. As the first speaker of Caribbean Heritage Week, Kincaid will set the tone for the week and encourage attendance at the remaining six events, said co-organizer Carey Turnquest ’07. “I think so many Brown students receive the commercial, industrial aspect of the Caribbean — the balmy beaches, the hot sun and palm trees,” he said. “But in her writing, Ms. Kincaid portrays an unfettered, virgin experience of the Caribbean, one that an outsider may not experience. That perspective can only be seen … through someone who has such an amazing command of language as Ms. Kincaid.” Kincaid, born on the island of Antigua as Elaine Potter Richardson, left her family at the age of 17 to work as an au pair in New York City. After several stints writing for small-scale magazines, she became a staff writer for the New Yorker in 1976. Her first piece of fiction was published in the same magazine two years later, and soon after became part of her first book, “At the Bottom of the River,” in 1983. In the following years Kincaid published prolifically, with works including “A Small Place” (1988), “Lucy” (1990), and most recently, “Among Flowers: A Walk in the Himalaya” (2005). She has won many awards for her fiction and non-fiction work, and last year was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Kincaid deals with such a variety of diverse issues that her writing appeals to a broad range of people, Henry said. “She deals with issues of colonialism, racism, gender — she also deals with problems of identity and psychological development,” he said. “I think that is why she gets a lot of attention — she deals with these issues and she deals with them very well.” Though Kincaid has spoken at Brown before as a special guest of former President Vartan Gregorian, no speakers of her literary standing have participated in past Caribbean Heritage Weeks, Turnquest said. “This year she is the only (fiction) author, in an effort we made to ensure that we have a diverse range of disciplines represented,” he said. Students of Caribbean Ancestry and the Department of Africana Studies made a joint effort to bring Kincaid to campus. “Since I’m from Antigua and Ms. Kincaid is from Antigua, and I’ve known her since she was a little girl, I figured I had an in, so I approached her
see UCS, page 7
see KINCAID, page 7
Chris Bennett / Herald
Brown EMS Anthony Halperin ’06 answered a routine call while on duty in the basement of the Health Services building. were related to other substances and 10 were caused by the combination of alcohol and drugs. But “it’s not just babysitting drunks,” Mark said. “Our bread and butter,” he said, are sports injuries, falls, chronic illnesses, diabetic emergencies, people feeling sick, major trauma and occasional cardiac emergencies. “If kegs come back to campus, yeah, we’re going to have a problem,” Lapierre said of the proposed Undergraduate Council of Students initiative to lift the ban on kegs. While statistics by year of graduation are not kept, based on his 10 years on the job, Lapierre said “a large percentage of your alcohol calls, the majority, are freshmen.” He added: “I don’t think seniors drink any less than freshmen. But they learn to handle it better.” Mark agreed, noting that very few students are treated more than once for alcohol poisoning. “It’s a learning curve thing,” he said. The weekends of SexPowerGod, Starf*ck and Spring Weekend are the busiest times
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of the year for EMS, Lapierre said. Mark said he was on duty last Halloween and got 18 calls that night. He said that the number of calls during Spring Weekend can reach 20 per night. Health Services is aware that those times will be busy and plans accordingly, Lapierre said. When Brown EMS cannot respond to several simultaneous calls, Providence authorities pick up the slack, Mark said, though they charge students for the service. The Brown EMS service is free. Mark said EMS is considering purchasing a second ambulance to help cover busy nights. “It’s on the wish list,” Kelly said. Lapierre praised the University for its alcohol education work: “We are more proactive than any other education institution I am aware of,” he said. “I think the University does as much as it possibly can” to combat binge drinking and other unsafe practices while still respecting students as adults. He also praised the work of Bruce Donovan, the former dean of alcohol see EMS, page 8
UCS takes stand on kegs BY LAURA SUPKOFF STAFF WRITER
The Undergraduate Council of Students passed a resolution at its Wednesday meeting in support of bringing kegs back to campus, in accordance with favorable student response on a WebCT poll. After much debate, 16 members voted in support of the resolution. Three opposed it, and four abstained from voting. The resolution, written by UCS members Brian Bidadi ’06, David Bronfman ’07, Jesse Maddox ’08 and Charley Cummings ’06, details the benefits of kegs as compared to canned beer. “I feel like if safety is emphasized and responsible guidelines are set forth, UCS can work with the administration to
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