Issuu

T U E S D A Y APRIL 5, 2005

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXL, No. 42

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

RIGHT HAND GRAD Christopher Bizzacco ’03.5 was Cicilline’s campaign manager, now serves as deputy chief of staff METRO 3

‘QUEER AND PLEASANT DANGER’ Performance Studies International Conference asks audience to get uncomfortable A R T S & C U LT U R E 5

ETHICAL DILEMMA Kevin McRoskey ’05: U. got the facts wrong in decision to cancel bioethics concentration OPINIONS

TODAY

TOMORROW

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Brown hosts debate on potential for Middle East democracy BY CHRISTOPHER CHON AND JONATHAN HERMAN STAFF WRITERS

The key to ending violence in the Middle East is the democratization of tyrannical regimes, said Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian democratic activist and sociology professor at the American University in Cairo, in an optimistic keynote address Sunday afternoon. His speech opened the Providence Journal/Brown University Public Affairs Conference, which explored the possibilities of democracy in the Middle East. “I argue that peace and democracy are two sides of the same coin,” Ibrahim said. “Therefore, by working for democracy, not only will we be fulfilling a lofty goal that all mankind is entitled, (but) we will be sparing not only ourselves but you (the Western world) from further bloodshed.” He addressed the question of whether democratic developments in the region in

the past two months were a “spring of freedom” or “a desert mirage.” Middle Eastern countries are ready for democracy because they have been democratic societies in recent history, Ibrahim said. He cited his native land of Egypt as an example of a country with a pre-existing democracy. “Our part of the world, especially Egypt, had our first constitution and parliament in 1866,” Ibrahim said. The Middle East “had a liberal age from the middle of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century.” He dismissed the fear that a democratic election in the Middle East would result in

an Islamic theocracy. In both Turkey and Morocco, Muslims have been incorporated into fledgling democracies without disturbing the liberal processes, he said. “These two experiments shining in the Middle East … they showed in my own cell in prison,” Ibrahim said, referring to his political imprisonment under the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Ibrahim said he is optimistic about democracy in the near future because of the activism and involvement of Middle Eastern youth and other individuals against despotic regimes. see DEMOCRACY, page 7

Decisions mailed to Class of 2009 BY ERIC BECK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Prospective Brunonians — members of the largest applicant pool in the University’s history — were mailed and were able to access their admission decisions online April 1. About 2,500 received the message they were hoping for — a welcome to Brown’s Class of 2009. Outgoing Director of Admission Michael Goldberger said 16,907 students, comprising both early and regular admission, applied for a spot in the incoming class, an increase of 10 percent from last year. From the record-setting applicant pool, 2,463 were accepted to form the anticipated 1,440-member Class of 2009. This year’s acceptance rate was 14.6 percent, compared to 15.8 percent last year, Goldberger said. Students from 58 countries and all 50 states were accepted. Canada, Korea and Singapore are the most represented foreign countries. An acceptance letter was sent to Kazakhstan for the first time. Over 90 percent of accepted students are in the top 10 percent of their high school class, and 375 high school valedic-

Gabriella Doob / Herald

President and publisher of Harper’s Magazine John MacArthur joined other journalists and leading foreign policy experts in a panel discussion on democracy in the Middle East.

torians were offered a spot in the incoming class. “The pool was pretty incredibly strong. … It appears that we’re in for a great year,” Goldberger said.

ACCEPTED TO THE CLASS OF 2009

white

42%

37% 58%

students of color

international

31%

attend private school

14%

did not indicate a race

Source: Brown Admission Office

Undecided 10%

MEN 48%

Gender Breakdown

Engineering 11%

WOMEN 52%

Social sciences 21%

Math or science 36%

Humanities 22%

Intended Concentration

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Beat poet and Distinguished Professor Creeley dies at 78 BY MARY-CATHERINE LADER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Robert Creeley, poet and distinguished professor of English, died Wednesday morning after a bout of pneumonia exacerbated an existing lung condition. Creeley, 78, joined the University faculty in 2003, but his contribution to the Brown community — as a landmark contemporary poet, professor and friend — was significant despite his brief term. Born May 21, 1926, in Arlington, Mass., Creeley studied at Harvard College until he left school in 1944 to work for a year as an ambulance driver in the American Field Service in India and Burma. Creeley began corresponding with Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams in 1949. Fellow poet Charles Olson invited Creeley to teach at Black Mountain College in 1954, an experimental arts college in North Carolina from which he ultimately received his B.A. As editor of the college’s influential and innovative literary journal “Black Mountain Review,” Creeley continued the Modernist tradition of Pound and others, and developed, along with Olson, a theory of “projective verse” — free verse that took form while being composed. “He brought a rhythm that no one had seen in poetry before, a rhythm that perfectly enacted a complex kind of thinking,” said Professor of English and Director of the Literary Arts Program Forrest Gander. “What you see in his poems is like a mind in movement, and you feel the rhythm of that mind in movement. … So despite the fact that he was an innovator and associated with the avantgarde, he never distanced himself from communicating emotional, powerful feelsee CREELEY, page 4

Cleland will speak today on needs of returning vets BY AIDAN LEVY STAFF WRITER

attend public school

www.browndailyherald.com

Max Cleland, former Veterans Administration chief and former U.S. senator, will deliver the sixth annual Dr. and Mrs. Frederick W. Barnes Jr. Lecture in Public Health at 4 p.m. today in Andrews Dining Hall. The lecture is titled “Pathways to Recovery from Combat: Needs of Returning Veterans.” In 1965, Cleland volunteered to serve in Vietnam and was stationed there starting in 1967 as a Signal Corps officer. In a covert operation to relieve the siege at Khe Sahn, Cleland lost both his legs and right arm in a grenade explosion, abruptly ending his military career. Following extensive rehabilitation, Cleland, a Georgia native, entered the political stage in 1970 at the age of 28, becoming the youngest member ever of the Georgia State Senate. After serving four years, he became a consultant to the U.S. Senate Committee on

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

Veterans Affairs. In 1976, President Jimmy Carter appointed Cleland to head the Veterans Administration, the largest health care system in the country. During his tenure as VA administrator, Cleland staunchly advocated for psychological readjustment counseling, full rehabilitation and job training for injured veterans. In 1980, Cleland created the Vet Center counseling program, the first network to help Vietnam veterans deal with the trauma of war. Cleland served three terms as Georgia’s secretary of state, from 1982 to 1996. He was then elected to represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate as a Democrat, where he served on the Armed Services Committee. Cleland was defeated while running for a second term in 2002. That year, he was appointed to the 9/11 Commission, formally known as the National see CLELAND, page 4 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

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THIS MORNING TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 · PAGE 2 Coreacracy Eddie Ahn

TO D AY ’ S E V E N TS “PATHWAYS TO RECOVERY FROM COMBAT: NEEDS OF RETURNING VETERANS” 4 p.m. (Andrews Hall, Pembroke) — Former U.S. senator and Veterans Administration chief Max Cleland will deliver the sixth annual Barnes lecture for the Brown Medical School. Cleland, a Vietnam veteran, is an advocate for improved physical and mental health care for war veterans.

LATINO HISTORY MONTH CONVOCATION 7 p.m. (Smith Buonanno 106) — Olga Nogueras and Socorro Gomez Potter, two inspirational leaders in the Providence community, lecure on bilingualism in the Latino community. HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST 8 - 9:00 p.m. (Salomon 001) — Aryeh Green, a policy advisor to Israel’s minister for Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, lectures on Middle Eastern human rights issues. Lecture sponsored by Brown Students for Israel.

MENU SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH — Artichoke Pasta Medley, Red Rice, Corn and Sweet Pepper Saute, Sliced Turkey and Ham, Chicken Rice Soup, Vegetarian Caribbean Black Bean Soup, Popcorn Chicken, Kielbasa, Magic Bars, Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

Jero Matt Vascellaro

Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH — Vegetarian Corn and Tomato Soup, Bean and Bacon Soup, Shaved Steak Sandwich, Linguini with Tomatoes and Basil, Sunny Sprouts, Magic Bars DINNER — Vegetarian Corn and Tomato Soup, Bean and Bacon Soup, Pot Roast Jardiniere, Vegan Rice and Beans, Roasted Yukon Potatoes with Shallots, Oregon Blend Vegetables, Asparagus Cuts with Lemon, French Bread, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

DINNER — Acorn Squash with Curried Rice and Chickpeas, Au Gratin Potatoes with Fresh Herbs, Fresh Vegetables Melange, Herbed Turnips, French Bread, Orange Turkey, Chocolate Pudding, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

How to Get Down Nate Saunders

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Squad car alerts, briefly 5 Raised, as animals 9 Shadow 14 Hoof sound 15 Exude 16 Bridge expert Charles 17 Turnpike payment 18 Cold symptom 20 Way up or down 22 Havana residue 23 Pie à la __ 24 Seating level 26 Stayed (at) 28 Typical sampling 33 Scoundrel 34 One who bums smokes, say 35 Mo. without holidays 38 Lone Star State sch. 39 Because 40 Anise-flavored liqueur 41 Anonymous surname 42 Foundation 43 Mumbai’s land 44 Filmdom’s Dr. Moreau, for one 46 Sell off quickly 49 Rocket launching gp. 50 Dove, e.g. 51 Neurologist’s order, briefly 54 Wading site 58 Intense chase 61 Nuts (over) 62 __ Park, Colorado 63 Flammable pile 64 Always 65 Marsh growths 66 Belgian river 67 Trial DOWN 1 Does something 2 Story line 3 Gaucho’s weapon

4 Stops living together 5 Pushes (around) 6 Kanga’s kid 7 Book before Nehemiah 8 Low grades 9 “That’s gross!” 10 Joseph Smith follower 11 Cleaning tool 12 “Peg Woffington” author Charles 13 Tossed in a chip 19 Again and again? 21 Hillock 25 Negligent 27 “I’m impressed!” 28 Gunky stuff 29 __-Rooter 30 S-shaped molding 31 Volcano-shaped 32 Alarm bell 35 German automaker 36 Israeli guns

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37 Capricorn critter 39 More glum 40 Like a bull’s-eye 42 Sound from the fold 43 Technical sch. 44 Swabbed 45 Egg hunt season 46 Ballpark employee

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Last Minute Michael Chua

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: A B E L A T L A S O V I D L U T E G R O U T R O D E B L U E G R A S S R E G I O N S E T M A D L Y S K I R L S O P H I M I N P A N A M A C A N A L Z O N E T A N T I A R A S E D I T S I N G S T O T D S S O X I C E S H E A C R E C H E I N D I A N T E R R I T O R Y S R T A A S T A U N I T E Y E P A R L E S F E D E R A L D I S T R I C T D O N N Y E Z R A O V E R D R A G S D A U B S E A N

47 Hangman’s loop 48 Starbucks buy 52 Glimpse 53 Blokes 55 Roof projection 56 Gets on, so to speak 57 Trading place 59 __ Enterprise 60 Dander, and a hint to this puzzle’s theme

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04/05/05

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METRO TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 · PAGE 3

Recent alum’s rise in Providence politics ‘remarkable, unusual’ BY STEPHEN NARAIN STAFF WRITER

Less than five years ago, Christopher Bizzacco ’03.5 was a student in PS 111: “Mass Media.” By his sophomore year, a conversation at the Ratty with a fellow member of the College Democrats led him to an internship for then-state representative David Cicilline ’83. That internship was the beginning of Bizzacco’s meteoric rise through the ranks of Providence city government. Bizzacco’s precocious work researching issues such as government ethics quickly sparked the attention of Cicilline, who was planning his 2002 bid for the mayor’s seat. Cicilline approached Bizzacco with the opportunity to manage his mayoral campaign. “Chris is quick, smart,” Cicilline said. “At the time, we were furiously putting together our campaign, and were already looking at the best people in the country for media and polling. Even though he had never run a campaign like this before, Chris quickly distinguished himself as an extraordinary leader. We were confident he could handle the job (of campaign manager).” Cicilline reflected on a campaign stop he made with Bizzacco at a Latino nightclub in East Providence. “The owner of the club brought out two El Presidentes. Then, I realized my campaign manager isn’t even old enough to drink,” Cicilline said. Cicilline, of course, went on to sweep the 2002 general election with 84 percent of the vote. And Bizzacco, still in his mid-20s, is currently the mayor’s deputy chief of staff. This position requires that Bizzacco work alongside city council members in dealing with policy initiatives. In addition, he handles day-to-day management of various activities in the mayor’s office, Cicilline said. “He’s a remarkable deputy chief of staff,” Cicilline added. “He’s incredibly skilled with people, universally loved and respected. He works seven days around the clock. We’re committed to the same ideals on making Providence the best it can be. I consider myself fortunate to have met him.” Bizzacco also acts as a liaison with other boards and commissions that run the gamut from budgetary to zoning issues. “I get involved with a little bit of everything,” Bizzacco said. “I guess the best way to (define my responsibilities) is as the eyes and ears of the mayor.” Bizzacco said his time at Brown encouraged his involvement in local politics. He praised the University’s academic freedom in helping students take risks and become more proactive in achieving their goals. “As an offshoot of the open curriculum, I think there is this belief that students should experiment with academic pursuits. … You try something, you move on to the next thing. Practically speaking, you’re pushed to try to learn and adapt,” Bizzacco said. Although Bizzacco said he “regretted not building relationships with more professors,” the opportunity to learn hands-on skills out of the classroom was something he couldn’t pass up. He did get a chance, however, to carry out an independent study with Professor of Political Science Darrell West, political analyst and

director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy. Bizzacco’s project focused on analyzing campaign strategies in the 2002 mayoral race, West said. “He’s very politically savvy and understands how to use the political process for social change. … It’s very unusual for a mayoral candidate to trust someone that young to manage a campaign. But Chris is wise beyond his years,” West said. This political activism runs in Bizzacco’s family. His late grandfather was a former city council president in Johnston, and in 1996, Bizzacco’s mother was elected to the North Providence School Committee. “Growing up, politics was a part of everyday conversation. I think I was 13 when I helped my mom out with her first campaign,” Bizzacco said. Since leaving Brown, Bizzacco has maintained a strong relationship with his alma mater. This year he spoke at Career Week, and he helps with student outreach programs at City Hall to attract Brown students.

“We have two main programs. One is an internship, the other is the Providence Mayor’s fellowship. … I also get lots of random e-mails from Brown students,” Bizzacco said. Bizzacco encourages students to further Brown’s tradition of balancing academics with a commitment to community engagement. “Get yourself out there in government organizations, NGOs, community-based organizations. They want bright young minds to work with them. Take risks. The sooner you get out there, the better,” Bizzacco said. As for the future, Bizzacco said he is not ruling out the possibility of running for elected office, following a stop in law or graduate school. With the mayor’s term soon coming to an end, he said his experiences so far have shown him what it takes to succeed in city government. “Chris has an extraordinarily bright future. … I look forward to him continuing a career in public service,” Cicilline said.

Whitehouse wants Senate seat BY JONATHAN HERMAN STAFF WRITER

Sheldon Whitehouse, a former Rhode Island attorney general, will run for the U.S. Senate seat currently occupied by Lincoln Chafee ’75, setting up a Democratic primary contest with Secretary of State Matt Brown. Whitehouse announced his candidacy Monday morning to a small group of reporters at his East Side home, saying the outcome of the senatorial campaign will greatly impact the future of Rhode Island. U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin — both previously rumored to be considering a run for Chafee’s seat — announced last week they would instead continue to represent Rhode Island in the House. “Being from Rhode Island, congressmen tend to keep their seats relatively easily,” said Wendy Schiller, associate professor of political science. “While Chafee is somewhat vulnerable, he is not highly vulnerable, and (running against Chafee) is not worth the risk of possibly losing your spot (in the House).” During prepared remarks yesterday, Whitehouse stressed the need for Democratic representation at the national level. “The Republicans in Washington are close to achieving absolute power, and we need another Democratic senator to hold the line, to stand next to (Sen.) Jack Reed and fight back,” Whitehouse said. Whitehouse’s candidacy is welcome news to some Rhode Island politicians who remain skeptical about Brown’s viability as a candidate. In his official announcement declining a senatorial bid, Langevin said Brown is too inexperienced to run for Chafee’s position, according to the Pawtucket Times. “Matt Brown is a nice guy, but I don’t think he has the experience to serve in the United States Senate,” Langevin said. In response, Matt Burgess, Brown’s press secretary,

cited Brown’s 10-year directorship of the community service organization City Year of Rhode Island and experience as secretary of state as evidence of his qualifications. Burgess said Brown’s experience outside of politics would appeal to the public. “Matt isn’t a career politician,” Burgess said. “I think Rhode Island voters are looking for someone (like that) more than somebody who has spent their entire life in politics.” Darrell West, professor of political science and director of the Taubman Center of Public Policy, said Brown’s success might be hampered by fundraising limitations. Brown has raised over $500,000 for his campaign, mainly from a fundraiser last week headlined by Paul Reiser, the comedian who starred in NBC’s sitcom “Mad About You,” Burgess said. According to a news release from Brown’s campaign, 99 percent of the campaign’s funds were donated by individuals. Burgess said this reflects Brown’s appeal to the people of Rhode Island. Chafee has stayed out of the political limelight while his potential Democratic candidates have announced their candidacies. But Steve Hourihan, Chafee’s press officer, said the junior senator is glad to have Whitehouse enter the senatorial race. “(Chafee) is very happy that Sheldon is going to be running and (is) looking forward to a good-spirited race,” Hourihan said. West said he expects Chafee to defeat either Whitehouse or Brown. “I think Chafee will be favored in (either) race just because people think that he has done a good job in the Senate, and he often votes with Democrats,” West said. Whitehouse said Chafee’s record as a Republican in Washington was out of sync with Rhode Island voters. “I think the Republican Party has abandoned the ideas that made the Chafee name great,” Whitehouse

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005

Creeley continued from page 1 ings.” Creeley’s willingness to discuss his personal life and experiences particularly differentiated his lectures, said Dan Hernandez ’06, one of Creeley’s students last fall in EL 176: “That Old ‘New American Poetry.’ ” “Just being in his presence was more interesting than anything else we could possibly have been learning,” Hernandez said. He added that Creeley was a historical literary figure himself — he typed the first edition of Allen Ginsberg’s classic Beat text “Howl” — and referred to many of the Beat poets by their first names. “These people were his friends,” Hernandez said. Although associated with both the Beat and Black Mountain poets, Creeley “didn’t get stuck there (in the ’60s),” Gander said. “He was always at the forefront of the mutual arts, and in two short years he totally infused Brown with a larger dialogue about art and community.” Among other things, Creeley

Cleland continued from page 1 Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. In 2003, President George W. Bush nominated him as a member of the board of directors of the ExportImport Bank of the United States. Brown alum James Zisson ’74

started a reading series at downtown café Tazza. Since Creeley’s death, Gander has received dozens of e-mails from people around the world touched both by Creeley’s work and his friendships. Greg Mazurek ’06 met with Creeley frequently as a mentor even though he never took one of his classes. “He was a person first and a professor second,” Mazurek said. “He was greatest not staying in the professor role, but being a friend to the community.” Prior to his arrival at Brown, Creeley also taught at the University of British Columbia and San Francisco State College and spent 37 years at the State University of New York-Buffalo. Creeley remained prolific as a poet throughout his teaching career, and his extensive body of work includes more than 60 books of poetry as well as prose, essays and drama. A recipient of the Frost Medal, Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award, Shelley Memorial Award, two Guggenheim Fellowships and a Rockefeller Foundation Grant, Creeley was consistently recognized throughout his life for his contribution to American

poetry. From 1989 to 1991, he served as New York State Poet, and was elected a Chancellor of the Academy of America Poets in 1999. “He was a one-man civilization,” Gander said. Creeley died in the hospital in Odessa, Texas, where he had gone for a two-month residency at the Lannan Foundation in nearby Marfa. His wife, Penelope, and Will and Hannah, two of his eight children, were at his side in the hospital. An “intimate” memorial service open to the University community will be held April 15, Gander said, and will be one of several to take place around the country in the coming weeks. “He was this vastly important person living quietly in our midst,” Hernandez said. Involved in many projects at the time of his death, Creeley l focused largely on mortality. In an as yet unpublished poem “When I think,” he pondered the meaning of his own life: “When I try to think of / things, of what’s happened, of what a life is, / and was, my life, when I wonder what it meant / …it’s what it always is or ever was, just then, just there.”

and his wife established and endowed the Barnes Lectureship in Public Health in memory of Norma and Miles Zisson ’38. The lectureship honors the late Dr. Frederick Barnes, a founding faculty member of Brown Medical School and his late wife, Catherine. Today’s lecture is co-sponsored by the Rhode Island Public Health Association and the

Department of Community Health, the Public Health research centers and the new Pathways to Recovery from Combat Center at Brown Medical School. There will be a reception and public health research poster session in Andrews Dining Hall preceding the lecture from 2-3:30 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Vallely continued from page 12 omen. Maybe we could run moonshine with the good ole’ boys in North Carolina, or enter a demolition derby in Yeehaw Junction, Fla. Or we could use it as a backstop for games of catch, or perhaps challenge Tim Wakefield to locate his knuckleball and take out the car’s headlights. We needed the ding on our trip down to baseball’s equivalent of the Pearly Gates. Next, I turned to eBay for tickets, which also went rather smoothly — even though we had to turn to eBay because we waited too long to buy them from the box office. Except for the ones to the Yankees game (March 29), each ticket went for under face value. We also managed to get hotel rooms with relative ease, booking our stay at a Hampton Inn in Ybor City — the “Latin Quarter” of Tampa, located two hours north of Fort Myers (more on Ybor tomorrow). Because we had games in Tampa and nearby Clearwater, we thought this locale made more sense. Later, we found that it made no sense whatsoever. Now we were cooking with gas: We had a car, hotel rooms, tickets and dreams of 75degree weather, beer on the beach, batting cages and watching the World Series Champs prepare to defend their title. Maybe we would run into Kevin Millar, Trot Nixon and Boomer Wells at a stripclub. Who knew? It all seemed possible. This was spring train-

ing. How could it go wrong? It couldn’t. And yet, we all knew that on the endless stretch of I95, when four college students from New England head south of the Mason-Dixon in a blue Volvo sedan with Massachusetts plates and a “John Kerry for President” sticker, at least something has to go wrong. Someone has to end up in jail. “I think there will be a fistfight,” Hatty said to me the night before we left, as we nailed down the details of our departure. “I hope so,” I said. “This could be,” he continued, “no … WILL be legendary. We have just the right amount of a solid itinerary and shaky planning. Something is going to go horribly wrong.” The next day, we packed into the Volvo, Mike taking the first shift behind the wheel, and blared The Standells’ “Dirty Water,” passing Fenway at 10:03 a.m., in the second mile of our pilgrimage. Riding shotgun, and in charge of the music, I transitioned seamlessly to Van Halen’s “Jump.” My shades were on, and team morale was high. Of course, I didn’t yet know how Hatty would drive, or how Mike would very nearly go insane or how Matt and I would end up trying to harmonize on Aaron Neville and Linda Rondstadt’s “All I Need to Know.” The cannonball run, and the spring training dream, had just begun. Sports staff writer Charlie Vallely ’06 did not, in fact, sit in a child seat to or from Florida.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 5

PSi conference challenges audience’s level of comfort BY SARAH GOLDSTEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Kate Bornstein — who calls herself “a sadomasochistic, anarchistic, anorectic, transsexual, highfemme, dyke artist” — is not worried about ARTS & CULTURE m a k i n g anyone uncomfortable. “My art makes me the most uncomfortable,” she said. Bornstein, a New York-based performance artist and author best known for “My Gender Workbook” — “a practical guide for living with or without gender,” according to her Web site — performed her new work “Kate Bornstein is a Queer and Pleasant Danger” last week as one of 257 artists who came to Providence for the 11th annual Performance Studies International Conference (PSi), sponsored by the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance. The name of this year’s conference, “Becoming Uncomfortable,” is a phrase from one of the first speeches given to students and faculty by President Ruth Simmons. Conference Director and Professor of Theatre, Speech and Dance John Emigh said he felt the term resonated with the conference. “Becoming uncomfortable is a necessity in education and in living — it’s a necessity to never settle into a zone of comfort. Whether it’s living or creating a work of art, it’s always a matter of challenging and changing yourself,” he said. “Pleasant Danger,” Bornstein’s latest work, is a memoir-based performance that looks at questions of families and fatherhood, a subject particularly poignant for Bornstein. Bornstein’s father only knew her as his son, and the daughter Bornstein fathered calls another man “dad.” The show premiered at “Becoming Uncomfortable,” which she found appropriate. “The most uncomfortable thing for me right now is dealing with the whole notion of ‘father’ — What is a father? What is a daddy? A dad?” she said. In addition to examining conceptions of family, “Pleasant Danger,” as one might intuit from

its title, is also a pointed call to arms against what Bornstein perceives as “the right-winging of America.” Bornstein, along with many other artists in attendance at last week’s conference, is concerned not only about international “discomfort” with U.S. policy in Iraq, but with the dwindling government support artists receive under the Bush administration. Bornstein stressed the political significance of holding this year’s conference in the United States — three of the last four PSi conferences have been held abroad. Since the introduction of the USA Patriot Act after Sept. 11, artists such as Bornstein have claimed that it has become increasingly difficult to receive funding for work that is considered in any way unpatriotic. “Of nations that need art to turn the social agenda around, America’s up there,” she said. The field of performance studies is often stuffed under the umbrella of university theater departments or regarded as another highly theoretical genre of post-modern studies. Though it can be both of these, it is, at its best, an interdisciplinary field that brings together artists and scholars, theory and application. According to its mission statement, PSi, which was founded in 1997, “is a professional organization that seeks to create opportunities for dialogue among artists and academics whose concerns converge in the still-evolving areas of live art and performance.” More than 500 people attended this year’s conference for a myriad of performances, workshops and lectures. Events ranged from the experimental lesbian theatre group Split Britches to explorations in place storming (“to enter and occupy a site with the intention of staging a benevolent intervention”) to workshops on the physical discomfort of ingesting undesired food (“Food, Performance, Community”). What makes PSi unique for a university conference is that its program boasts not only bigger names such as Bornstein, but also emerging artists who will have the

opportunity to present their work alongside more established peers, Emigh said. The conference was open to the public. Also performing was Fred Curchack, whose solo work has been on top 10 lists in both the Dallas Morning News and the New York Times. He stresses the importance of making art accessible for all kinds of people and wants his work to appeal to “kids and teenagers, not just the esoteric theorists.” “The extraordinarily tricky issue in art is that it’s in vogue to be uncomfortable, which becomes another form of comfort,” Curchack said. When asked how one can prevent this state of comfortable discomfort, he said, “the trick is to confront ourselves — not to try to make the audience uncomfortable, but to, as artists, genuinely confront our own comfort, and habit, and self-calming and fooling ourselves that we’re all such experts at.” Curchack presented two new works at the Trinity Repertory Theater, both of which confronted questions of selfdeception and illusion, “Shadows of Gauguin” and “Golden Buddah Beach.” The latter, co-written with his partner, Laura Jorgensen, is based on their experience as two Americans vacationing in Thaliand when December’s tsunami hit. “The piece is about two characters, us, trying to get away from it — all the current political garbage that we’re exposed to in this country, and escape the war in Iraq, and the election, and the abuse of civil liberties, and the depletion of abortion rights, and the confusion of primitive Christian ideology politics,” among other things, Curchack said. “So we’re searching, hoping to have a lovely holiday, but we can’t escape our own fevered fantasy — not only about the global catastrophe and the war but our own illusions about ourselves and our relationship.” “Golden Buddah Beach,” the self-reflections of two Americans in disaster-stricken Thailand, is a comedy. Let the discomfort begin.

Senator links courthouse violence to ‘political’ decisions BY CHARLES BABINGTON THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Cornyn said yesterday that recent examples of courthouse violence may be linked to public anger over judges who make politically charged decisions without being held accountable. In a Senate floor speech in which he sharply criticized a recent Supreme Court ruling on the death penalty, Cornyn (R-Tex.) — a former Texas Supreme Court justice and member of the Judiciary Committee — said Americans are growing increasingly frustrated by what he describes as activist jurists. “It causes a lot of people, including me, great distress to see judges use the authority that they have been given to make raw political or ideological decisions,” he said. Sometimes, he said, “the Supreme Court has taken on

see COURT, page 6

Palmer ’07 has top picks In the first annual Herald Division I Bracket Challenge, Morgan Palmer ’07 destroyed the rest of the competition, winning by 21 points. In comparison, there were 11 entrants within 21 points of second place. The secret to Palmer’s success was her correct prediction of all four National Semifinalists — no other entrant had more than two. After her correct prediction of North Carolina’s victory over Illinois, Palmer scored a $20 gift certificate to Pizza Pie-er.

Quick hits Fifteen of the 54 entrants picked UNC to win the National Championship. Eight picked the UNCIllinois title game match-up, with only one picking Illinois. Thanks to all who entered!

Final Leaderboard 1. Morgan Palmer ’07 — 129 2. Franklin Ross ’07 — 108 3. Thomas Benson ’07 — 105 4. Taylor Crockford ’07 — 103 4. Kyle Tracey ’06 — 103 6. Michael Hue ’08 — 102 7. Mark Tuttle ’07 — 95 8. Robby Klaber ’07 — 94 9. Julia Horwitz ’08 — 93 10. Chris Elias ’06 — 90 10. Sandra Idehen ’05 — 90

Chris Hatfield / Herald

Morgan Palmer ‘07 with her winning entry, which had all four semi-final teams correct.

www.browndailyherald.com

this role as a policymaker rather than an enforcer of political decisions made by elected representatives of the people.” Cornyn continued: “I don’t know if there is a cause-andeffect connection, but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. ... And I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters, on some occasions, where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in, engage in violence. Certainly without any justification, but a concern that I have.” Cornyn, who spoke in a nearly empty chamber, did not specify cases of violence against judges. Two fatal

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005

Court continued from page 5 episodes made headlines this year, although authorities said the motives appeared to be personal, not political. In Chicago, a man fatally shot the husband and mother of a federal judge who had ruled against him in a medical malpractice suit. And in Atlanta last month, a man broke away from a deputy and fatally shot four people, including the judge presiding over his rape trial. Liberal activists criticized Cornyn’s remarks, and compared them to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s comments last week following the death of a brain-damaged Florida woman, Terri Schiavo. DeLay (R-Tex.) rebuked federal and state judges who had ruled in the Schiavo

case, saying, “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior.” Ralph G. Neas, president of People for the American Way, said last night that Cornyn, “like Tom DeLay, should know better. These kinds of statements are irresponsible and could be seen by some as justifying inexcusable conduct against our courts.” The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee called the senator’s remarks “an astounding account of the recent spate of violence against judges, suggesting that the crimes could be attributed to the fact that judges are ‘unaccountable’ to the public.” Cornyn spokesman Don Stewart declined to speculate on what instances of violence the senator had in mind. “He was talking about things that have come up and concerned him,” Stewart said.

U.S. moves toward limiting textile imports BY EVELYN IRITANI, DICKERSON AND DON LEE LOS ANGELES TIMES

MARLA

Facing a surge of Chinese textile and apparel imports after global quotas were lifted Jan. 1, the Bush administration Monday took the first step toward re-imposing limits on purchases of certain clothing from that Asian nation. The move is expected to escalate trade tensions between the two nations and comes after intense pressure on the White House from politically powerful U.S. textile interests that have lost 17 ls and more than 7,000 jobs so far this year. The Commerce Department’s Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements said Monday it was launching an investigation to determine whether imports of Chinesemade cotton shirts, cotton

trousers and underwear were disrupting the U.S. market. If the investigation finds such disruption, as expected, it could lead to the imposition of new import limits within the next two to three months. The Bush administration previously has imposed limits on Chinese-made dressing gowns, brassieres, knit fabric and socks, although critics say the White House has not done enough to crack down on allegedly unfair Chinese trade practices. “This administration is committed to enforcing our trade agreements and to providing assistance to our domestic textile and apparel industry, consistent with our international rights and obligations,” Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said in announcing the action. Textile-industry leaders

applauded the news but urged the government to include other goods hit hard by doubleand sometimes quadruple-digit increases in Chinese imports. Imports of Chinese-made cotton trousers, for example, jumped 1,500 percent in the first three months of this year from the year-ago period. If the Bush administration doesn’t move more aggressively to slow China’s growth, textile leaders say they will file petitions for additional restraints. A previous industry effort to force U.S. action bogged down in court. “We hope this doesn’t mean this is just a symbolic gesture,” said Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, which has led the campaign to restrain Chinese imports.

Insurgent groups claim al-Zarqawi’s organization is responsible for Saturady attack on Abu Ghraib prison BY ELLEN KNICKMEYER THE WASHINGTON POST

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Foreign- and Iraqi-led insurgent groups asserted Monday that guerrilla leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s organization was responsible for a major assault on Abu Ghraib prison Saturday that U.S. officers called one of the most sophisticated attacks of the insurgency. Rocket barrages forced Marine guards to abandon a prison watchtower at the height of the precision-timed offensive, which

employed mortars, rockets, ground assaults and a car bomb, a U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, said Monday. U.S. rapid-response troops, backed by Apache helicopters and artillery, fired small arms and grenades to help the guards drive attackers back from prison walls, Rudisill said. The battle wounded 44 American troops and 13 of the more than 3,000 detainees held at the prison. “It was one of the more concerted attacks that we’ve seen,”

said Lt. Col. Steven A. Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman. Asked if there had been any other insurgent attack that surpassed it, Boylan said, “Not that I’m aware of.” In an interview, Iraqi insurgent leaders said the assault was carried out by al-Zarqawi’s group, al-Qaida in Iraq. The claim was also made in the name of the group on a radical Islamic Web site. The group’s numerous attacks had until now largely involved suicide bombings, car bombings and kidnappings rather than direct confrontations with U.S. forces. U.S. authorities said they had not yet determined the veracity of the claims. Boylan said it was “too early to say whether this is a new trend or a new strategy” for the insurgency, which in March inflicted fewer casualties on U.S. forces than in any month since February 2004. Insurgent commanders said Monday that the prison assault represented a shift in tactics and that more attacks on U.S. installations would follow. “These operations will be different from the old ones, the car bombs, the IEDs,” said Abu Jalal, a top commander in Mohammed’s Army, using the common abbreviation for improvised explosive devices, or roadside bombs. Mohammed’s Army is one of dozens of homegrown armed groups believed to

be fighting the U.S. occupation in Iraq. “We are going to use the same method that they used when they attacked Iraq,” said Abu Jalal, who uses a nom de guerre and described himself as a former general in the Iraqi military during Saddam Hussein’s rule. “The old military officers know very well that the attacks on the bases of the enemy army weaken the morale of the soldiers and frighten them. The soldier feels safe when he goes back to his base. If he is attacked in the place that feels safe, that place is really hell,” Abu Jalal said. If Zarqawi was behind the attack, it was unclear where or when his movement acquired the tactical expertise to directly confront U.S. Marines. Abu Jalal denied that former military officers in Mohammed’s Army had served as advisers, saying, “It was 100 percent Zarqawi.” The statement on the radical Web site said “sources with the enemy” had helped provide information to plot the attack. Abu Jalal said the attack had been launched to free a commander of Zarqawi’s group and associates held at Abu Ghraib. The prison complex at Abu Ghraib, about 20 miles west of Baghdad, became notorious for torture under Hussein. After the U.S. invasion toppled Hussein, Abu Ghraib was taken over by the U.S. military and became the

focus of widely publicized abuses of detainees by American forces. U.S. officials decided this year to eventually close the prison, in part because it is located in an area heavily populated by insurgents and their supporters. The raid Saturday was launched at dusk and appeared to involve at least 40 to 50 men, U.S. officers said. The insurgents opened the attack with barrages of 81mm and 120mm mortar rounds, followed by rocket-propelled grenades, the U.S. military said. Arab media reports said some of the projectiles landed inside the prison, causing the injuries among detainees. At least one rocket-propelled grenade hit a corner watchtower, wounding Marine guards inside. The explosion forced the guard team to abandon the tower, Rudisill said. The heaviest damage was caused by a mortar round that destroyed a refrigerator truck, he said. Ground fighters among the insurgents advanced only after the mortar- and rocket assault had ended and attacked the prison from two directions simultaneously. The smaller of the thrusts was apparently a feint to divert attention from the main attack, Rudisill said, who cited both tactics as evidence of sophisticated planning. Arab media said the attackers withdrew under covering fire. The U.S. military reported one rebel killed and dozens wounded. Authorities declined to say whether any insurgents had been captured.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 7

Tens of thousands turn out to view body of Pope John Paul II BY DANIEL WILLIAMS AND ALAN COOPERMAN THE WASHINGTON POST

VATICAN CITY — Tens of thousands of mourners, some weeping, some praying, streamed through St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday to view the body of Pope John Paul II, lying in state by the altar of the huge Renaissance house of worship. Out of sight, Roman Catholic leaders began meetings that will eventually lead to the selection of his successor. Cardinals in red robes and monks bearing candles had accompanied the body down marble halls, beneath the frescoed ceilings of the Apostolic Palace where the pope lived for 26 years before emerging into St. Peter’s Square and passing through the throngs there. Swiss Guards in orange and blue uniforms flanked the steps of the basilica. A chorus sang Latin chants. The pope’s body, set on a velvet pallet, appeared to float above the crowd. It traced a path through the square that John Paul had traversed in his glasssided popemobile to greet pilgrims. Sixty-five cardinals from all parts of the world met Monday morning and set 10 a.m. Friday as the time and date for John Paul’s funeral. The White House announced Monday that President Bush and the first lady would lead the American delega-

tion at the funeral. Vatican officials also disclosed that the pontiff would be buried in a crypt beneath St. Peter’s. Poles had expressed hope that John Paul would be buried in Krakow, where he was archbishop before his 1978 election as pope. But Lech Walesa, the Solidarity trade union leader who helped bring down communist rule in Poland with John Paul’s support, said the decision was correct. “A great pope should rest in the Vatican,” he told reporters in Poland. Following rules laid out over centuries and last altered in 1996 by John Paul, 117 voting cardinals will take part in the election of a new pope, in a conclave to begin 15 to 20 days following John Paul’s death on Saturday. They will deliberate in daily meetings inside Vatican walls before then, and they have been sworn to secrecy about their conversations. Still, a list of qualities that the new pope would possess began to emerge Monday from cardinals, though no one was mentioning names. “Everybody’s speculating, but you’d need two crystal balls to understand their thinking,” said Monsignor Charles Burns, a retired head of the Vatican’s Secret Archives. John Paul ruled the church for 26 years and chose all but three of the voting cardinals. The pope they select is unlikely, therefore,

to diverge from his opposition to birth control, abortion and the ordination of women, according to prelates and outside Vatican watchers. “I don’t think anyone who really knows the church believes that any radical change is likely. I believe that the general line and the tradition will continue, but time will tell,” Cardinal George Pell of Australia told a radio reporter before departing for Rome. But on a host of other issues facing the church, the cardinals bring a diversity of opinions and experience to guide them. John Paul’s engaging, vigole has raised expectations that the next pope ought to be another telegenic world traveler. A return to the bookish, reclusive manner of many past popes is unlikely, many people contend. “No more mystery popes,” Burns said. John Paul broke a 455-year string of Italian popes, and the possibility of a Third World candidate attentive to social ills and the poor has become a talking point. Cardinals from Latin America talked up the idea of one of their own being chosen or at least someone who would recognize the region’s importance. “The majority of Catholics in the world are in Latin America, so whoever is elected should focus on this continent,” Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic told reporters.

Democracy continued from page 1 “These are real (developments). These are real men and women, defying and asserting themselves,” Ibrahim said. “These are not a mirage. Is it a full-blown spring of freedom.” Panel Discussion Echoing the questions Ibrahim mentioned in his lecture, four leading foreign policy experts and journalists debated the legitimacy of the recent democratic developments in the Middle East as part of a discussion panel Monday. Described by moderator and Assistant Professor of Political Science Melani Cammett ’91 as a “critical topic at this juncture, first and foremost for the people of this region and also for the world,” the chances of democracy in the Middle East were debated by the panelists, who were split evenly between self-described optimists and pessimists. Democracy in the region is very much attainable, said Joshua Muravchik, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of “Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism” and “The Imperative of American Leadership.” “We probably are at the dawn of a very big change in the Middle East,” Muravchik said. The “very rapid” global trend of democracy around the world has “reached every corner of the world except the Middle East — until now,” he said. Muravchik is optimistic in light of recent developments in the region, especially the “relatively clean” Palestinian election Jan. 10 in which Mahmoud Abbas was declared the winner. The region is “convulsed in a kind of democratic ferment,” he said. Salameh Nematt, Washington bureau chief of both AlHayat, an international Arab publication, and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation, is less sure. Pointing to the European Union’s Barcelona Process, a set of goals aimed at creating a free trade zone in the Middle East, Nematt said the “democracy project has been tried before. … Ten years later, we know the project

failed.” Nematt said he fears the United States today is “adopting the same approach as that of the European Union.” “I am less optimistic than many of my colleagues of what is going on in the Middle East,” he said. “I do not see this sudden realization of people that democracy is something to fight for.” Nematt said the Jan. 30 Iraqi elections took place only because Saddam Hussein was no longer in power and not as part of a larger trend toward democracy in the region. He went on to question whether establishing a democracy in the region was one of the United States’ initial goals for the Middle East. “I would say that there is no doubt that something is happening in the region,” he said. “Democracies mean regime change. Will the U.S. really pursue this project regardless of the instability that could result with oil prices going through the roof?” Nora Boustany, diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Post, echoed Muravchik’s optimism for democracy in the region. Calling recent developments “exciting,” Boustany said the Iraqi election was “nothing short of historic.” She said nobody had a “cookie-cutter format” for democracy, but said she thinks it would evolve differently for different countries in the region. “Sorry to be hopeful,” she said. John MacArthur, a journalist, author and president and publisher of Harper’s Magazine, was on the pessimistic end of the spectrum. “I think the Iraqi democracy is a fiction, and it’s a very old story,” MacArthur said. He also said it is not “absolutely urgent or essential that democracy break out all over the world. In some cases, democracy can be destabilizing in traditional cultures.” He singled out a quote in Edward Said’s “Orientalism” as indicative of the current attitude of Americans: “They cannot represent themselves. They must be represented.” He went on to say advocates should be careful of prematurely proclaiming “how great it (would be) if democracy breaks out everywhere.”

PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005

W. lax continued from page 12 Orange (6-2) last Wednesday. In the first-ever meeting between the two clubs, Syracuse struck first at the 4:09 mark and never trailed. Bruno knotted the game at 1-1 off a goal from Biros, but the Orange scored four out of the next five to go up 5-2 midway through the first half. Passano added a goal to cut the lead to three, then traded goals with Syracuse to bring the game to 6-4. The game did not stay that close for long, as Syracuse scored six straight goals to end the half up eight points. “The entire team just let down for an entire period,” Staley said. Staley stopped the damage briefly with an unassisted goal to open the second half, but the Orange scored seven goals in the next 16 minutes to take an insurmountable 19-5 lead. Biros added her second goal of the game with under a minute left to provide the final margin. Syracuse was statistically dominant, outshooting Brown 45-13, grabbing nine more ground balls and controlling 11 more draws. Despite the apparent similarities on paper between the Syracuse and Dartmouth games, McDonald refused to draw any parallels. “Syracuse and Dartmouth were very different,” she said. “Against Syracuse, the (rally) was more of a mental lapse, the defense was not as aggressive as we had planned to be. Dartmouth was more of an issue with execution. We followed our game plan, but did not exe-

cute it well enough.” In their only home game of the break, a late rally was not quite enough, as Brown fell to Cal 10-9. Neither team established any momentum at first. Brown started out with goals by Ali Holland ’08 and Staley, but the Golden Bears responded with two quick scores of their own to tie the game less than 10 minutes in. Defender Kathryn Collins ’07 and Passano each added goals for the Bears in the half, but Cal had three scores, including one with 49 seconds left, to take a 5-4 lead at intermission. The second half started much like the first, with both teams scoring two goals in the opening minutes. The Golden Bears, however, kept the Bears at arm’s length, scoring two goals in 12 seconds to take their largest lead of the game at 10-6. Brown did not quit and battled back with three straight goals from Passano, which brought the game to within one with three minutes left to play. “The entire team rallied to give Sarah the ball,” McDonald said. “Everyone wanted to win that game.“ The Golden Bears, however, managed to hold onto the ball to preserve the 10-9 victory. “We had another opportunity (to score), but they executed their stall pretty well and we couldn’t get the ball back,” McDonald said. For the day, Passano led the Bears with 4-for-4 shooting. She is now second in points with 14, four behind Staley’s 18. Brown continues its Ivy schedule Saturday when it takes on Columbia at 11 a.m. at the Erickson Athletic Complex.

Gymnastics continued from page 12 floor, and Nguyen was at a disadvantage since she was unable to work out. Yet, “she had a great dance, great tumbling — it was the complete package,” Forziat said of Nguyen’s routine. For the Bears, the meet served as a time for the seniors to reminisce and for the returning athletes to look forward to the next season. “As a team, (this meet) wasn’t our best meet, but it was a nice send-off for the seniors,” Forziat said. “There was a lot of support for the seniors.”

M. lax continued from page 12 from co-captain Chris Mucciolo ’05 before the momentum swung in the Buckeyes’ favor, as they took control of the first quarter and scored three goals. The Bears answered quickly, retaking control of the game over the next two quarters. Brown tied the game on goals by midfielders Alex Buckley ’07 and Britton Derkac ’05. Attackman David Madeira ’07 added another pair of goals to give Brown a 5-3 halftime lead. Bruno continued the onslaught in the third quarter, with Mucciolo, Woodson and Will McGettigan ’06 each scoring early. Kyle Wilson tried to swing the momentum back in

Forziat also pointed to fellow tri-captain Maya Vadiveloo ’05 as a source of encouragement for the younger gymnasts. “She really is an inspiration for the team. She shows that you can work your butt off and earn a spot in the lineup,” Forziat said. After the meet, Vadiveloo was named the ECAC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Vadiveloo was not the only Brown competitor to receive postseason honors. Eleven of the team’s 14 members were named to the ECAC Scholar Athlete Honor Roll. For most of the team, this concludes the competitive season. Forziat and Cavett, however, have one more meet on their schedule. Both earned a berth

at the USA Gymnastics Nationals, held at Cornell University on April 14, where Forziat will compete on the floor and Cavett will compete on the bars. A third member of the team, Amber Smith ’06, qualified in the all-around, but will be unable to compete after sustaining a season-ending elbow injury. Despite the challenging nature of this season, Forziat chose to focus on positive aspects. “This team has been incredible. (The members) picked up for each other every time,” she said. “Everyone deserves credit (for her efforts). … It really is a team of heroes.”

Ohio State’s favor with a goal midway through the quarter, but Woodson quickly responded with a goal of his own to keep the Buckeyes from getting back into the game. With a 10-4 lead late in the fourth quarter, the Bears relaxed a little and were taken aback as the Buckeyes mounted a furious comeback, scoring four goals in just over three minutes. It was too little, too late, though, as Brown hung on for the 10-8 win. The Bears knew they would face much tougher competition from Syracuse, especially since the defending champions were attempting to rebound from a loss to No. 1 Johns Hopkins 1211 in overtime two weeks ago. Regardless, the Bears knew they were talented enough to beat Syracuse and relished the possibility of toppling the defending champions. “We went in there with the attitude that we were good enough to beat them,” Nelson said. “(The Carrier Dome is) a tough place to play. We should have and could have (won), and we’re disappointed that we didn’t.” The Bears played well against Syracuse, playing tight defense and denying any quality shots in limiting the Orange to only five all-even goals. “The defense is very cohesive right now,” Nelson said. “We played well enough to win, we just let them get (ahead with penalties).” The Bears got off to a strong

start against Syracuse, taking a 2-0 lead off of goals by Woodson and Mucciolo in the first six minutes of play. Syracuse struck back, though, and tied up the score just before the end of the quarter. At the start of the second quarter, luck dealt a huge blow to the Bears as they were penalized for an illegal stick, a threeminute non-releasable penalty. On the ensuing extra-man opportunity, the Orange scored three goals to give them a 5-2 lead. The teams traded goals late in the half and headed to the locker room with Syracuse up 6-3. The Bears got off to a quick start in the second half as Kirk Teatom ’05 exploited a fast break off of the opening faceoff to score. After an Orange goal, Madiera and Woodson scored again to send the Bears into the final quarter down only 7-5. After Madeira scored again, Syracuse added two goals, widening the gap to 9-6. The Bears put on a comeback in the game’s closing minutes, but fell just short, leaving the final score 9-8. The Bears now gear up for the competitive Ivy League season, starting with Yale this Saturday, 2 p.m. at Stevenson Field. The Bulldogs are fired up after knocking off traditional Ivy power No.16 Princeton, 9-8. “They are a very good lacrosse team,” Nelson said. “It’s a great opportunity for the kids.”

TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

Nonprofits abused as tax dodges, IRS chief says BY ALBERT B. CRENSHAW THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — Charities and other nonprofits exempted from taxes because they serve a public purpose have become a hotbed of tax evasion and abuse, according to the head of the Internal Revenue Service. “We can see that tax abuse is increasingly present in the sector,” and unless the government takes effective steps to curb it, such organizations risk “the loss of the faith and support that the public has always given to this sector,” Internal Revenue Commissioner Mark Everson said in a letter to the Senate Finance Committee detailing abuses his agency has found. Everson said that the IRS is finding problems in virtually every type of tax-exempt organization. Nonprofits include not only charities, but colleges and universities, many hospitals, pension plans, trade associations and think tanks. “Unfortunately, we have no precise way to gauge the revenue impact of these issues,” Everson said, though he noted that the nonprofit sector, including pension plans and the like, now totals roughly 3 million entities controlling $8 trillion in assets. “It’s a seminal letter that rips off the rose-colored glasses with which we usually look at taxexempt organizations,” Senate Finance Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Monday. “What’s going on isn’t a pretty picture in the harsh light.” The Finance Committee began examining the nonprofit sector last summer, finding, among other things, that localities and transit systems were collecting fees for allowing corporations to benefit from tax shelters designed to help finance public works. Several provisions of last fall’s tax bill were aimed at abuses uncovered by the panel, but members have suspected, and Everson’s letter confirms, that many more exist. Another hearing will begin Tuesday.

The findings have already sent alarms through the nonprofit community. Last month the industry-convened Panel on the Nonprofit Sector offered a preliminary report on how laws could be tightened and practices improved to curb abuse. In some cases fraud and abuse are committed by the nonprofit itself, such as when a charity is established to benefit its main donor; in other cases, the nonprofit acts an enabler for tax-shelter promoters, such as when a municipality or union takes a fee to participate in a deal that allocates “profits” to it and losses to wealthy individuals. Everson said in his letter, which covered 14 pages, that nearly half of the IRS’s list of 31 major abusive tax-shelter schemes “have the potential to involve tax-indifferent parties,” as the IRS calls entities that don’t have to worry about paying taxes. Everson raised particular concerns about nonprofit hospitals and how hard it is to distinguish them from for-profit hospitals; political activity by nonprofits; misuse of entities set up to allow religious leaders to hold property and conduct business for the benefit of a religious organization; and deals designed to allow members of a tribe to benefit from gambling revenue without owing taxes. A key issue for the government is not just collecting more revenue, but also ensuring that tax benefits extended to “this sector of the economy achieve their intended results.” Grassley agreed. “In exchange for these very generous tax breaks, charitable assets should be going to those in need. More and more, we’re seeing that some people view charities and charitable gifts as a chance to help themselves, not others,” he said. Acknowledging that “our enforcement presence faded in the late 1990s,” Everson attributed much of the growth of problems to “weak governance practices” among nonprofits and “a

culture (in the sector) that has become more casual about compliance (with tax laws) and less resistant to noncompliance.” Everson, who said that the IRS lacks adequate resources to rein in bad conduct, also noted that while the nonprofit sector has evolved and grown over the years, tax law and regulation have changed much less. “Since 1969 there has been only limited review of the rules relating to taxexempt status,” Everson said. For example, many tax penalties are a function of the tax that should have been paid. When the entity is tax-exempt and thus owes no tax, doubling the taxes owed as a penalty is meaningless. Also, in some cases, the IRS’s only weapon is to revoke an organization’s tax exemption —a “remedy” that may work a disproportionate hardship on taxexempt organizations. University endowment funds, for example, may be supporting organizations. There are three categories of supporting organizations, one of which is a particular source of problems because its supporting relationship is “least formalized,” Everson said. Both donor-advised funds and supporting organizations allow donors to take a deduction without requiring that the donation be received by the ultimate beneficiary, leaving assets to be held in the fund or organization and accumulate tax-free. And unlike private foundations, they are not subject to minimum payout rules or prohibitions on self-dealing. “They are, therefore, uniquely tax-favored,” a study by the Congressional Research Service last month said. “We have found that certain promoters encourage individuals to establish purported donoradvised fund arrangements that are used for a taxpayer’s personal benefit, and some charities that sponsor these funds may be complicit in the abuse,” Everson said. Su p p o r t i n g - o r g a n i z a t i o n abuses include donations of money that is then lent back to

the donor, and the possibility of donating assets and then buying them back at a discount, Everson and the CRS observed. A related problem is the valuation of non-cash assets donated to these and other charities. When such assets are not publicly traded securities, the taxpayer has an incentive to inflate the value, and the charity has little incentive to challenge that. That leaves the IRS with the arduous task of revaluing the donation and then possibly defending its revaluation in court. Currently, Everson said, the IRS is auditing 50 donors of conservation easements and several exempt organizations that receive

such easements. It is doing a “preaudit review” of 400 open-space easement donations, “to be followed by a similar review of 700 facade easements.” Donation of easements on the facades of houses in historic areas has grown dramatically. The homeowner donates an easement — giving up the right to alter the facade — and deducts the amount by which that has reduced the value of the house. But because of restrictions that often already apply to such property, “the taxpayers may, in fact, be giving up nothing, or very little,” Everson said. “A taxpayer cannot give up a right that he or she does not have.”

Bush, Yushchenko sidestep their disagreement on Iraq BY JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, THE BALTIMORE SUN

WASHINGTON — President Bush met at the White House on Monday with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, showcasing his support for democracy in the ex-Soviet state even as Yushchenko breaks with Bush by beginning to withdraw his troops from Iraq. In solidifying ties with Yushchenko, Bush faces a potential conflict between his top foreign policy goals — promoting democracy around the world and stabilizing Iraq in order to bring U.S. troops home. In an appearance following their Oval Office meeting, Bush said he understood Yushchenko’s decision to pull troops from Iraq — one of the Ukrainian leader’s promises last year during a tumultuous campaign—but believes U.S. soldiers must remain to train Iraqi security forces. Yushchenko is “fulfilling a campaign pledge — I understand that,” Bush told reporters

in the East Room, praising Ukrainian troop contributions thus far in Iraq. Bush tied the task of U.S. forces in Iraq to the theme he said was at the root of Yushchenko’s recent rise to power in Ukraine: the spread of democracy. At the same time, he made clear that he has a very different view than the Ukrainian leader about committing troops to an extended stay in Iraq. “The fundamental question is, is it worth it? And the answer is, absolutely it’s worth it for a free Iraq to emerge,” Bush said. Staying in Iraq “is worth it to make sure that democracy exists.” Yushchenko, who is to address a joint session of Congress Wednesday, gave no indication that he would reconsider his plan for withdrawing 1,650 troops from Iraq. He said he considers Iraq “a zone of Ukrainian interest” and that it is now up to Ukraine’s “diplomats, businesspeople and politicians” to finish what peacekeepers started.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL/LETTERS TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 · PAGE 10 S T A F F

E D I T O R I A L

Spring into action It’s that time of year again: Flocks of freshly-minted admits to the Class of 2009 are wandering around campus, dodging Frisbees and stepping over the bodies of students basking in the new (and sadly sporadic) sunshine. It can only mean one thing — spring. Spring is a time of big and, we hope, positive things here. Despite the traditional journalistic lust for controversy, as students we hope that the final month and a half of this semester will leave behind the tradition of campus unrest, and instead be sensibly thought provoking. As the ground finally thaws, the campus finds itself with a lot on the horizon. The month began with a conference on democracy in the Middle East, a well-timed opener to a month full of opportunities to be involved in important issues, both local and universal. The Undergraduate Council of Students elections are gearing up again. We are looking for new faces and new voices to present themselves. Justified cynicism about UCS’s varied priorities and ponderous procedures aside, running for office catapults your issues to the top of the agenda — if they’re issues that haven’t yet been addressed, so much the better. Required information sessions for potential candidates are today and Wednesday, 7 p.m. in the Blue Room. Maybe you can be the one to change campus skepticism about UCS’s relevance. Although June is the official U.S. Gay Pride Month, it arrives early at Brown, beginning today with what we anticipate will be a provocative talk by a self-described “feminist pornographer.” April is also Latino History Month, with events targeting the many facets and regions subsumed under Latino identity. The coming month will see some very different and very relevant people visit campus, including former President Bill Clinton, mathematician John Nash of “A Beautiful Mind” fame, former Senator Max Cleland and film director Alfonso Cuarón (“Y Tu Mamá También,” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”). Not to mention Ben Folds, Talib Kweli, Howie Day and The Shins. With all this and more to look forward to, it becomes even easier to ignore looming exams. We hope you’ll dig deeper into your procrastination repertoire than Wiffle balls and hackey sacks, beyond trolling your favorite Web sites, and make the time to participate in at least a few of the upcoming events that make spring a vibrant time at Brown.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Jonathan Ellis, Editor-in-Chief Sara Perkins, Executive Editor Christopher Hatfield, Senior Editor Lisa Mandle, Senior Editor Meryl Rothstein, Arts & Culture Editor Melanie Wolfgang, Arts & Culture Editor Justin Elliott, Campus Watch Editor Stephanie Clark, Focus Editor Kira Lesley, Focus Editor Robbie Corey-Boulet, Metro Editor Te-Ping Chen, Opinions Editor Ari Savitzky, Opinions Editor Chris Mahr, Sports Editor Ben Miller, Sports Editor Stephen Colelli, Asst. Sports Editor PRODUCTION Peter Henderson, Design Editor Katie Lamm, Copy Desk Chief Lela Spielberg, Copy Desk Chief Matt Vascellaro, Graphics Editor Ashley Hess, Photo Editor Juliana Wu, Photo Editor

BUSINESS Ian Halvorsen, General Manager Daniel Goldberg, Executive Manager Mark Goldberg, Senior Financial Officer Lisa Poon, Marketing Manager Abigail Ronck, Senior Business Consultant Rob McCartney, Senior Accounts Manager David Ranken, Senior Accounts Manager Kathleen Timmins, Senior Accounts Manager Laird Bennion, Senior Project Manager Elias Roman, Senior Project Manager Ryan Shewcraft, Chief Technology Officer POST- MAGAZINE Fritz Brantley, Editor-in-Chief Adrian Muniz, Executive Editor Sarah Gordon, Calendar Editor Abigail Newman, Theater Editor Josh Cohen, Design Editor Marissa Hauptman, Photo Editor Ruthie Baron, Features Editor Jeremy Beck, Film Editor Paul Levande, Assistant Film Editor Jesse Adams, Music Editor

Allison Kwong, Night Editor Chessy Brady, Kate Worteck, Copy Editors Senior Staff Writers Camden Avery, Alexandra Barsk, Eric Beck, Mary-Catherine Lader, Ben Leubsdorf, Jane Porter, Stu Woo Senior Sports Writers Bernie Gordon, Jilane Rodgers Staff Writers Justin Amoah, Shawn Ban, Zachary Barter, Danielle Cerny, Christopher Chon, Stewart Dearing, Gabriella Doob, Jonathan Herman, Leslie Kaufmann, Aidan Levy, Allison Lombardo, Ari Rockland-Miller, Stephen Narain, Joel Rozen, Chelsea Rudman, Jen Sopchockchai, Jonathan Sidhu, Lela Spielberg, Robin Steele, Kim Stickels, Laura Supkoff, Jane Tanimura, Anne Wootton Sports Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Ian Cropp, Justin Goldman, Katie Larkin, Matt Lieber, Helen Luryi, Shaun McNamara, Chris Mahr, Madeleine Marecki, Ben Miller, Eric Perlmutter, Marco Santini, Charlie Vallely Accounts Managers Alexandra Annunziato, Zaneta Lei Balantac, Steven Butschi, Jennifer Kuo, Ashfia Rahman, Joel Rozen, Rukesh Samarasekera, Mitch Schwartz Project Managers In Young Park, Libbie Fritz Design Staff Geolani Dy, Deepa Galaiya, Gianna Giancarlo, Annie Koo, Allison Kwong, Jason Lee Photo Staff Marissa Hauptman, Judy He, Matthew Lent, Nick Neely, Bill Pijewski, Kori Schulman, Sorleen Trevino Copy Editors Chessy Brady, Jonathan Corcoran, Leora Fridman, Allison Kwong, Katie Lamm, Suchi Mathur, Cristina Salvato, Sonia Saraiya, Lela Spielberg, Zachary Townsend, Jenna Young

DANIEL L AWLOR

LETTERS Ethan Ris ’05 deserves a chance To the Editor: I have been disturbed over the last week by the letters that several supporters of Councilman David Segal have written (“Ris shouldn’t run,” March 16, “Support Councilman Segal,” March 23, “Ris’ candidacy would split progressive vote,” March 21), as their arguments were both incomplete and, frankly, downright undemocratic. While Segal has been a part of several important efforts, that does nothing to deflate the critique — which I’ve heard expressed widely in the community and on the Brown campus — that the Councilman has failed to provide the leadership that we should expect. Like any elected representative, his most important commitment is to the particular needs of his ward. Someone in Segal’s shoes ought to be able to fight for progressive values at the same time as he is an effective and responsible advocate for his constituents. Many people, however, have come to believe that he has failed that test of leadership, and that his resulting reputation as a gadfly has further hampered his effectiveness in impacting both citywide causes and local concerns.

The suggestion that someone who raises these questions must have some kind of ulterior ambition and should step aside immediately is insulting and undemocratic. The point of living in a democracy is that when an elected representative is inadequate in terms of policy, efficacy — or in some cases, both — he/she can be replaced by a better alternative. Ethan Ris ’05 is someone whose depth of concern about the local community is quite evident to anyone who actually engages with him. My estimation of him has only grown while watching him engage with local issues, and take the lead in quietly and unselfishly building up the Brown Democrats as a strong force for progressive change. Should he choose to run, the electorate of Ward 1 — the majority of which did not support David Segal in 2002 — deserves the chance to meet him and to hear an alternative, progressive vision laid out and debated, rather than being denied by the machinations of a handful of Segal loyalists. Sean Siperstein ’05 March 22

Legalized cannabis works in Colorado To the Editor: As a Colorado citizen who voted for Amendment 20 allowing people to use cannabis medicinally in my state, I agree with the Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Act (“R.I. House and Senate to hear medical marijuana bill,” March 22), which protects sick citizens from the federal government’s attacks. The federal government wants citizens to think cannabis is a chemical weapon of mass destruction; in reality, Coloradoans use the plant cannabis medicinally while following state law, and it works: cannabis use has not increased, and the sky hasn’t fallen.

Further, it is biblically correct to re-legalize cannabis. It is no accident that the Bible indicates God created all the seed-bearing plants and said they were all good, on literally the very first page in Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30. Many obedient Christians would also like clergy to speak up on this issue since Jesus Christ risked going to jail in order to heal the sick. Stan White Dillon, Colo. March 22

CORRECTIONS POLICY The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. CO M M E N TA RY P O L I C Y The staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR POLICY Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. ADVERTISING POLICY The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

OPINIONS TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2005 · PAGE 11

A writing conundrum at Brown GUEST COLUMN BY RHODA L. FLAXMAN Here’s a mystery, not an April Fools Day joke! The mystery is this: Why, after more than 20 years, are students still unclear about the difference between the Writing Center and the Writing Fellows Program? Is it just because both their titles include the word “Writing”? Every week students come to the Writing Fellows office on the ground floor of Rhode Island Hall confusedly inquiring about how they might work with a Writing Fellow. Or they wander in to ask whether the Writing Fellows office is in fact the Writing Center. These entities are distinctly different resources for delivering writing assistance to Brown undergraduates. Your participation in one is voluntary, in the other, mandatory. On the eve of the annual recruitment drive for the Writing Fellows Program, I’d like to clarify several of the differences in their procedures. The Writing Center, ably directed by Douglas Brown, is located in the Rockefeller Library and holds hours from Sunday through Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m and 6 to 9 p.m. It is staffed by graduate students who offer onehour appointments to read your draft and suggest ways to improve it. It’s best to call ahead for an appointment. You are welcome to make as many appointments as you wish. On the other hand, you cannot secure the assistance of a Writing Fellow unless you enroll in a course where the professor has requested that Fellows be attached to

the course. And if the course you’re taking includes a Writing Fellows component, you must work with a Writing Fellow throughout the semester. This requirement helps send the message that all writing benefits from the feedback of more than one reader of an essay. If you are taking a course that includes Writing Fellows, you must submit a first draft of all course papers to the Writing Fellow two weeks before it’s due to the professor. Your Writing Fellow, a trained peer writing tutor, will return it to you a week later with written com-

draft attached. This procedure encourages students to start papers earlier, to have a chance to discuss their ideas with a knowledgeable writing tutor, to strengthen their critical thinking and to take the paper through at least one revision. Biannual evaluations of the program demonstrate that 90 percent of students in fellowed courses find that their writing improves over the semester, and appreciate the care and advice of a trained peer writing tutor. If you are a strong writer who enjoys working with your peers on the academic enterprise — and being paid for the pleasure — please consider applying this spring to join the Writing Fellows Program! We will hold public information sessions during the first week of April (Tuesday, April 5 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in List 110 and Wednesday, April 6 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Wilson 102). At these sessions we will explain the application process and offer hints about how to complete it successfully. We especially hope to choose our new Writing Fellows from a diverse applicant pool that reflects the composition of our academic community. We welcome all Brown undergraduates and urge you to join us. Our esprit is infectious, our knowledge of writing illuminating and our community service inspiring. And, this time, I hope you’ll know that you are applying to the Writing Fellows Program and not the Writing Center!

If you are a strong writer who enjoys working with your peers on the academic enterprise — and being paid for the pleasure — please consider applying this spring to join the Writing Fellows Program! ments that diagnose the problems he or she sees with your paper and suggest ways to revise your paper so as to improve it. Think of us as paramedics of writing! Fellows concentrate on helping you improve your argumentation, organization, clarity, coherence, and sometimes even your style and grammar. They also meet with you for a half-hour conference to suggest revision strategies. You have several days to revise the paper, and give it to your professor with the fellowed

Rhoda Flaxman directs the Writing Fellows Program.

Brown needs Bioethics GUEST COLUMN BY KEVIN MCROSKEY What’s a university to do when the whole country is talking about stem cell research? How about when the presidential election pivoted on moral issues of abortion and waging war? I guess if you’re Brown, you cut the program that deals with these pressing social and academic issues: bioethics. There is faculty interest in bioethics; there is student interest; bioethics is interdisciplinary, cheap and important. According to administration officials, bioethics is unsustainable and, by letting it go, the curriculum will evolve and let other programs pick up the pieces. As a bioethics concentrator, I can tell you that the arguments made by administrators who want to take away bioethics funding are either not factual or just plain wrong. I think hiring a faculty member to lead the hugely successful program would be a better solution. As a major research university, it is irresponsible not to have the bioethics concentration open as a resource for the countless issues raised every day. Dean of the College Paul Armstrong points to the fundamental problem that exists when tenured faculty members create an independent program, run it for years, and then leave it with a vacuum of leadership when they move to another university or retire. Obviously, if no faculty or student group advocates for the program’s existence, it’s best to let it die. But this is not the case with bioethics, which still stands strong after the departure of its founder, Dan Brock. We still have faculty teaching seminars. We still have concentrators moving on to the National Institutes of Health, the Hastings Institute, and law and medical schools. Seminars are overflowing each semester. The bioethics seminar taught every semester consistently draws 50 students for 20 spaces.

This is not a failed program that deserves the boot. Armstrong cites a lack of faculty interest in biomedical ethics in order to warrant its removal from the University’s priorities. This argument is entirely untrue. As members of a major research institute, many professors see the bioethics faculty and concentration as a resource when conducting research and applying for grants. It would be immoral for researchers to pursue an opportunity or begin research without asking if it is ethical first. As the University hires faculty and pushes for increased research grants from the NIH and others, it would be a travesty to lose the knowledge of those so

moral thought. President Bush’s first major speech after election in 2000 was about federal funding of stem cell research. Congress debated whether or not to federalize the case of Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman in Florida whose family battled over her right to die. These are issues not debated in community health or philosophy. Biomedical ethics encompasses unique problems and deserves unique consideration. The Brown undergraduate program in bioethics was the first of its kind in the country, and likely, the world. Now, with President Simmons focused on interdisciplinary study within the University, bioethics should get a funding increase, not be completely wiped out. This decision to cut funding from bioethics is hypocrisy. Why take a program that has had major success over 30 years and destroy it because one professor has left? There is interest from the faculty there is interest from the student body. Tell us that President Ruth Simmons’ Plan for Academic Enrichment does not apply to an interdisciplinary program like bioethics. Tell us that there is no funding for a $15,000-a-year program. But don’t tell us that there is no interest or the program is a failure. Professors Rosalind Ladd, Ed Forman, Jeff Poland and Lisa Raiola have worked tirelessly to pick up the slack for an administration that is not even following its own rhetoric. They are paid next to nothing — and two of them are paid nothing — but they feel this program is too important to give up. When will the administration wake up and see that the only failure in this situation is its ability to gauge the interests and necessities of this University?

Tell us that President Simmons’s Plan for Academic Enrichment does not apply to an interdisciplinary program like bioethics. Tell us that there is no funding for a $15,000-ayear program. But don’t tell us that there is no interest or the program is a failure. intimately aware of the ethical pitfalls presented in research. Faculty at Stanford University consult the Stanford Center for Bioethics with clinical and research ethics issues. By dissolving the concentration at Brown, the administration removes its primary moral consultant. While we debate the ethics of nanotechnology, Brown faculty members conduct research in nanotechnology. We cannot do something without asking first if we should. We have entered an age in which science outpaces

Kevin McRoskey ’05 is a bioethics concentrator.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SPORTS TUESDAY APRIL 5, 2005 · PAGE 12

W. lax loses three Bears struggle against ranked competition BY BEN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR

The women’s lacrosse team faltered against stiff competition over spring break, dropping three games, two of them against ranked teams. The Bears started the week with a narrow 10-9 defeat against the University of California-Berkeley at home and then lost two games on the road, falling 19-6 to No. 17 Syracuse University on Wednesday and 18-8 to No. 6 Dartmouth in their Ivy League opener on Saturday. Brown is now 2-6 (0-1 Ivy) on the season. “I feel good because the Dartmouth score didn’t show what really happened,” said cocaptain Kate Staley ’06. “We picked up our play from Cal and especially from Syracuse. We still made Dartmouth work for all the shots they put in the net. We didn’t let down.” Taking on the Big Green (7-0,

Ashley Hess / Herald

Ashley Holden ’06 had three goals in three games over spring break for the women’s lacrosse team.

3-0 Ivy) in a downpour, the Bears fell behind early, as Dartmouth netted five goals in the first 15 minutes, including three from midfielder Katienne Christian. “It wasn’t anything we were doing. Goals went (Dartmouth’s) way early,” said Head Coach Keely McDonald ’00. “They (scored on) nine of their first 12 shots, which helped them a lot.” The Bears finally broke through at the 14:20 mark off a free position shot from Sarah Passano ’05, but the Big Green scored four of the next five goals for a 9-2 lead. A free position goal by Amie Biros ’07 cut the deficit to six heading into the half. Brown traded goals with Dartmouth after intermission before Ashley Holden ’06 and Biros had consecutive scores to cut the lead to 10-6 with 23:35 remaining. But Bruno failed to get any closer, as Dartmouth outscored Brown 8-2 the rest of the way to seal the victory. “We did a good job playing in the moment,” Staley said. “No matter the score, we kept playing hard. We did the best job we have in transition all year. They had some lucky goals that gave them the edge.” Biros was Brown’s leading scorer, notching three goals on four shots. She also won four draw controls. The Big Green controlled most of the statistical categories, scooping up 19 more ground balls and taking 11 more shots than the Bears. For Bruno, it was the second double digit loss in a week, having dropped a 19-6 decision to the see W. LAX, page 8

No. 18 M. lacrosse beats Buckeyes, fall to defending champion No. 8 Syracuse BY BERNIE GORDON SENIOR SPORTS WRITER

The No. 18 men’s lacrosse team split two games over spring break, defeating Ohio State University 10-8 on March 26, before falling to defending national champion No. 8 Syracuse 9-8 Saturday. The Syracuse game marked the end of the non-conference schedule for the Bears, who take a 3-2 record into the Ivy League season. For the Bears, the Ohio State game was a chance to bounce back after a disappointing loss to University of MassachusettsAmherst the previous week. Showing some emotional resiliency, the Bears dominated play for most of the game, leading 10-4 in the last five minutes, before a furious Buckeye comeback narrowed the gap. “We had a game plan and the kids followed it,” said Head

Plagued with injuries, the gymnastics team finished last at the ECAC Championships with a score of 184.325 points. Towson University won the meet – held on March 26 — with a total of 194.525 points. Although Brown did not compete to the best of its ability in its final team competition of the season, the Bears met their team goal of executing solid individual performances. “We wanted to have personal bests, and we really wanted everyone to hit their routines. We were pretty successful in that,” said Head Coach Sara

Carver-Milne. Senior tri-captains Melissa Forziat ’05 and Kelly Moran ’05 both experienced individual success. Forziat led the Bears on the balance beam with a 9.150. On the floor exercise, Forziat shared the top spot on the team with Jess Pouchet ’06. Both athletes scored a 9.725. In the final meet of her collegiate career, Moran produced a strong routine on the uneven bars, finishing second on the Brown squad with a 9.550. She also had a sound showing on the floor with a 9.45. “Kelly went two for two. Those were probably two of her best sets (this season),” Forziat

Ashley Hess / Herald

Britton Derkac ’05 notched a team-leading two assists in Brown’s 10-9 loss to Syracuse on Saturday. that wasn’t surprising,” Nelson said. “He made the saves he was supposed to make and (then a few more).” The game opened with a goal see M. LAX, page 8

Annals of Spring Training, pt. I: prepping for the open road Editors’ Note: This is the first in a four-part series in which Charlie Vallely relives heading to baseball’s ultimate vacation desination: Spring Training. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wonder if he enjoyed eating paint chips as a kid. Last week, during our brief respite from academic rigors, I made The Great Spring Training Pilgrimage: Starting in Boston, a mere 10 blocks from

Gymnasts finish last at ECACs, but three qualify for USA Gymnastics Nationals BY MADELEINE MARECKI SPORTS STAFF WRITER

Coach Scott Nelson. The Bears bounced back not only emotionally but technically as well, plugging some of the gaps in their game that UMass had exploited. A week after the Bears struggled offensively when UMass shut off leading scorer and co-captain Chazz Woodson ’05, they got their entire unit involved on offense, getting goals from six different players. “We definitely have done some things to get some guys some good shots,” Nelson said. “We’re doing good things offensively.” Another high point for the Bears was the play of goalie Nick Gentilesco ’06, who posted a career-high 19 saves against the Buckeyes, anchoring the defense and keeping their offense in check until the game was all but over. “Nick’s played well all year, so

said. “She has been a rock for the past four years.” Sarah Cavett ’06 also continued her success, leading the team with a 9.675 performance on the uneven bars. Younger gymnasts also performed well for Brown. Hannah Goldstein ’08 led the Bears with a 9.425 on the vault. Nadia Nguyen ’07 scored a personal best on the floor with a 9.475. Her performance was particularly impressive since she was not able to compete or practice at the beginning of the season due to a foot injury. Stamina is necessary for success on the see GYMNASTICS, page 8

Fenway Park, I drove 1,493 miles down the East Coast, passing through 12 states, nearly losing my will to live and arriving at the CHARLIE Red Sox VALLELY C’EST LA V. spring training f a c i l i t y, City of Palms Park, 24 hours later — three and a half hours before the first pitch of a game with the Pittsburgh Pirates. All that being said, I didn’t drive a single mile. That was left up to my travel companions and fellow Sox faithful — Herald Sports Staff Writer Matt Nicholson ’07, Mike Yamartino ’06 and Herald Senior Editor Chris Hatfield ’06 — who split the cannonball run into six even shifts. You see, I am that rare breed of 20-year-old who never bothered to get his driver’s license. Growing up in the city as a master of the subway system, getting my license was never pressing, nor did it seem convenient. So, for whatever reason, I let it slip. Of course, in the face of a 24hour drive, the matter was more than pressing, and my lack of a license seemed rather inconvenient. It put me in an awkward position as I proposed the trip to my friends: “Let’s drive for a full day,

non-stop, watch four Red Sox exhibition games under the Florida sun, drink a few beers and hightail it back. By the way, I’ll be snoring in the backseat if you need me.” But that’s what I proposed and what they ended up agreeing to. I would, as Chris (a.k.a. Hatty) put it, “get chauffeured down the East Coast.” To make up for the fact that I would be sitting by the window with the child-lock, I took on a couple of the key preparatory measures. First, I got my father’s permission to take his car — a task that was, oddly enough, ridiculously easy. When he agreed right away, I was so flustered that I began making promises. My friends are great drivers, I said, and the car will return in impeccable shape. His response was confounding: “No, take the car. No problem. Put a couple dings in it, I don’t care.” “Dings? Dad, these guys aren’t going to get into any accidents …” “No, put a ding in it.” Hatty would, in fact, put a ding in it. Two, actually. But we didn’t know that yet, and my dad’s strange request for vehicular damage seemed like a good see VALLELY, page 4

BROWN SPORTS SCOREBOARD FRIDAY, MARCH 25 BASEBALL: Brown 9, UNC-Asheville 4; UNCAsheville 5, Brown 2 Women’s LACROSSE: Cal Berkeley 10, Brown 9 SATURDAY, MARCH 26 Men’s LACROSSE: No. 18 Brown 10, Ohio State 8 BASEBALL: Brown 8, UNC-Asheville 4 Women’s CREW: 2nd at Princeton with Michigan State EQUESTRIAN: 2nd at Connecticut College GYMNASTICS: 9th at ECAC Championships ECAC AWARDS — GYMNASTICS Scholar Athlete of the Year: Maya Vadiveloo ’05

SUNDAY, MARCH 27 Women’s TENNIS: Long Beach State 6, Brown 1 MONDAY, MARCH 28 SOFTBALL: Brown 3, San Jose State 2; San Jose State 7, Brown 3 BASEBALL: Brown 9, Newberry College 4 TUESDAY, MARCH 29 Men’s TENNIS: Brown 5, New Mexico 2 Women’s TENNIS: Brown 5, UC Riverside 2 BASEBALL: No. 8 South Carolina 7, Brown 2 Men’s Golf: 8th and 10th at Johnson and Wales Invitational

IVY AWARDS — SOFTBALL Ivy League Pitcher of the Week: Uchenna Omokaro ’05

Brown 7 Women’s TENNIS: Brown 4, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 3

Women’s WATER POLO: Brown 6, Bucknell 4; Hartwick 13, Brown 8 at ECAC Championship Women’s Crew: 2nd at Radcliffe with Penn

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30 SOFTBALL: Santa Clara 2, Brown 0; Santa Clara 4, Brown 1 BASEBALL: Brown 9, Western Carolina 5 Women’s LACROSSE: No. 17 Syracuse 19, Brown 6 Women’s TENNIS: Brown 4, Loyola Marymout 3

FRIDAY, APRIL 1 Men’s TENNIS: Pepperdine 6, Brown 1 Women’s TENNIS: Brown 4, UC Santa Barbara 3

SUNDAY, APRIL 3 Women’s WATER POLO: Harvard 7, Brown 5 (at ECAC Championship)

SATURDAY, APRIL 2 Women’s LACROSSE: No. 6 Dartmouth 18, Brown 8 Men’s LACROSSE: No. 8 Syracuse 9, No. 18 Brown 8 Men’s TENNIS: Brown 6, Fresno St. 1

TUESDAY, APRIL 5 BASEBALL: vs. Princeton, 12 p.m., 3 p.m., Aldrich Field SOFTBALL: vs. Boston University, 3 p.m., Erickson Athletic Complex

THURSDAY, MARCH 31 SOFTBALL: St. Mary’s 7, Brown 0; St. Mary’s 8,