T U E S D A Y APRIL 26, 2005
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXL, No. 56
www.browndailyherald.com
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
INTERPRETIVE CHANCE Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project offers RISD artists space to experiment at intersection of art and music A R T S & C U LT U R E 5
A GOOD PRESCRIPTION Joshua Lerner ’07: New York’s new depression screening system finally treats mental illness seriously O P I N I O N S 11
ONE STEP FORWARD ... ... and one step back for baseball as team splits pair with rival Harvard, staying a game behind division rival S P O R T S 12
TODAY
TOMORROW
partly cloudy 66 / 49
rain 59 / 47
Hundreds wait hours in line for Clinton tickets
Preprofessionalism
the taboo in new concentration COE to require up to 16 courses
BY ALEXANDRA BARSK SENIOR STAFF WRITER
In order to secure a prime spot in line for tickets to former President Bill Clinton’s policy address, Ray Serrano ’07 and four friends set up tents on the Main Green at 4 p.m. Sunday, preparing themselves for a 20-hour wait. “It’s a nice day. We’ve just been drinking, enjoying the sun,” Serrano said. “We just needed something worth camping out for.” Though his extreme promptness — Serrano was among the first of over 1,000 people to line up — might suggest a significant devotion to the former president, Serrano said he is “not really a Clinton fan.” “I don’t really expect him to say anything new. … I might sell my ticket,” he said. But not all students were as indifferent. “He could really talk about anything and I would still go,” said Jackie Henry ’06, who started her wait in Faunce House at 8:20 p.m. Sunday. Tickets for the speech, “Embracing Our Common Humanity: Security and Prosperity in the 21st Century,” which Clinton will deliver Friday at 1:30 p.m. in Meehan Auditorium, were distributed Monday to holders of active Brown ID cards from the security booth in Faunce see CLINTON, page 8
BY MARY-CATHERINE LADER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Psychiatric Association Conference in Atlanta. A good deal of Rocker’s work involves interacting directly with patients. “There’s a big difference between taking Professor Hayden’s Abnormal Psych class and clinically seeing these people present with disorders,” Rocker said. “When you read about it, (different diag-
COE may be an unfamiliar acronym to students whose studies have not included economics. However, Assistant Provost Brian Casey hopes the new interdisciplinary concentration behind the initials — Commerce, Organization and Entrepreneurship — will attract students across the academic spectrum. Casey will lead an information session with Professor of Economics Ivo Welch and others at 8 p.m. today in MacMillan 115 to inform students about the new program, which he hopes will emerge as an intellectual approach to commerce distinct from job-oriented business programs at other colleges. “I want to disabuse them of the notion that this is simply, uninterestingly a business program,” Casey said. “I would be very happy if students in the program thought of themselves as intellectual cohorts … not social cohorts, not just as ‘I hope we play golf together when we’re partners at Morgan Stanley.’ ” The concentration, which bridges the departments of Sociology and Economics and the Division of Engineering, will be available to rising sophomores as well as juniors capable of completing its requirements in their remaining two years. COE will replace the Business Economics, Engineering and Economics and Public and Private Sector Organizations concentrations, though students already enrolled in those programs will be allowed to finish. “We are inventing, in many ways, what we want to do. This kind of program doesn’t exist,” said Welch, who was a professor at the Yale School of Management until last year. Welch said COE should assist Brown students entering the workforce in competition against graduates from peer institutions with stronger technical business programs. “What we basically want to do is pick out the good parts of a business school, develop them, make it more intellectual
see HOSPITALS, page 7
see COE, page 4
Gabriella Doob / Herald
Tickets to hear former President Bill Clinton speak on Friday were distributed out of Faunce House on Monday. Students stood in line for hours, and some even spent the night on the Main Green and in Faunce House to receive one of the 3,000 tickets to be distributed.
Report will examine relevance of sign language studies BY STU WOO SENIOR STAFF WRITER
After several weeks of persistent student protest and letters of support from students and faculty, the American Sign Language program at Brown might just be getting a reprieve. Provost Robert Zimmer decided last week that the Academic Priorities Committee, which makes curricular recommendations at the University, should reconsider cutting back ASL studies, according to Dean of the College Paul Armstrong. The decision was made after Zimmer spoke with student supporters of the program and received e-mails from faculty. The APC decided in February to reduce the ASL program because it lacks permanent faculty or a departmental home and because it does not apply to existing concentrations or study abroad programs. The current program, which consists of four classes — SI 10, 20, 30 and 40 — was to be transferred over a two-year period to the Continuing Studies program, where students must pay a fee to enroll in classes and do not receive course credit. About 40 students are enrolled in ASL classes this semester. In an e-mail to faculty members concerned about ASL at Brown, Zimmer said he asked Sheila Blumstein, professor of see ASL, page 9 Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3269
Area hospitals offer students a real-world experience BY ANNA ABRAMSON STAFF WRITER
When Brown students work in local hospitals, “textbooks come to life,” according to Mark Zimmerman, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior. Undergraduates find many ways to bring what they learn in the classroom into the community through internships, research, volunteering, translating and advocacy work at local hospitals. Charlotte Rocker ’06 spends 14 to 20 hours a week at Rhode Island Hospital working with Zimmerman and colleagues on a self-report scale for identifying remission in depressed psychiatric outpatients. Rocker first worked there last summer as an intern for the Rhode Island Methods to Improve Diagnostic Assessment and Services project at RIH. That internship program “allows undergrads, more or less, to join our ongoing clinical research projects,” Zimmerman said. Students observe and learn about evaluations and clinical work, and they are increasingly given more responsibilities and opportunities. “Undergrads feel respected,” Zimmerman said. “They are viewed as an integral part of the team.” After completing the internship, last semester Rocker continued to volunteer twice a week at RIH. This semester, Rocker is the lead author for a paper she will present next month at the American
Weekend increase in substance-related EMS calls average for Spring Weekend BY CHRISTOPHER CHON STAFF WRITER
There are particular weekends in any given academic year when Brown Emergency Medical Services is busier than usual, according to Richard Lapierre, director of EMS. Alcohol- and drug-related calls to EMS are disproportionately higher over Spring Weekend and the weekend of the Queer Alliance’s annual StarF*ck party, which occurred consecutively this year. “People indulge in behavior during Spring Weekend that they normally wouldn’t otherwise,” Lapierre said. “You’re coming in on the end of the semester, you’ve put in a tough year, written X number of papers, etc. —
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
students feel this urge to cut loose and celebrate.” One result of all the celebration is more EMS calls. Between Thursday and Sunday of Spring Weekend, there were 27 total calls to EMS, 13 of which were alcoholor drug-related. On an average weekend this spring — March 3-6 — EMS received a total of 13 calls, 4 of which were alcohol- or drug-related. From Thursday through Sunday on the weekend of Starf*ck, EMS received 16 calls, seven of which were alcoholor drug-related. Compared to past Spring Weekends, see EMS, page 9 News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
THIS MORNING TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005 · PAGE 2 Last Call Eddie Ahn
Apply to be a Herald opinions columnist E-mail opinions@browndailyherald.com by May 31 for an application
TO D AY ’ S E V E N TS PANEL ON THE INTERNATIONAL WAR ON DRUGS 8 p.m. (MacMillan 117) — Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Watson Institute will sponsor a panel on the International War on Drugs featuring three experts. Sanho Tree, Director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies; Aung Din, founder of U.S. Campaign for Burma; and Peter Andreas, professor of Global Security Studies at Brown University. The panel will be moderated by Visiting Professor Ricardo Luna.
GEORGIE GIRL: THE GEORGINA BEYER STORY 7 p.m. (Salomon 001) — Documentary on Georgina Beyer, a transsexual and Minister of Parliament in New Zealand. She is the first transsexual in the world to be elected to that level of political office.
Jero Matt Vascellaro
Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker
MENU SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH — Minestrone Soup, Vegetarian Roasted Butternut Soup with Apples, Spinach Pie, Mushrooms in Garlic Sauce, Mexican Corn, Chicken Fajitas, Vegan Rice and Jalepenos, Black Bean and Spinach Soft Taco, Vegan Tofu Pups, Liberty Chocolate Cake DINNER — Tomato Quiche, Wild and White Rice Pilaf, Tortellini Angelica, Pork Loin with Green Apple Dressing, Lamb Stir Fry, Yellow Cake with Coconut Frosting
VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL LUNCH — Vegetarian Lentil Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Chinese Chicken Wings with Sticky Rice, Wisconsin Ziti with Four Cheeses, Mandarin Blend Vegetables, M and M Cookies DINNER — Vegetarian Lentil Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Italian Beef Noodle Casserole, Red Potatoes with Fresh Dill, Sauteed Zucchini with Onions, Carrots in Parsley Sauce, Squash Rolls, White Cake with Coconut Frosting
How to Get Down Nate Saunders
CROSSWORD y ACROSS 1 On a __ of one to ten 6 Will Smith role 9 Nearly boil 14 Quattros, e.g. 15 Phone button trio 16 Ancient Greek colony 17 Impervious to incompetence 19 Gangster John known as “The Teflon Don” 20 Select, as a jury 21 Bronx pinstripe wearers 23 Campus military org. 24 LAPD alert 26 Stick up 27 Blackboard site 31 Lynx family member 35 Singer Yoko 36 Melville novel 38 Malaise, with “the” 39 1860s nickname 40 Slide on the ice 41 Dear, to Donizetti 42 “Don’t Bring Me Down” band, for short 43 Ex-Disney exec Michael 44 Cereal pitched by a toucan 47 Director’s cry 48 __-cone 49 Regarding 53 Spot for a soak 57 Brew on the rocks? 59 Standoffish 60 Dismisses derisively 62 Vietnam’s capital 63 Possess 64 Baby foodmaking blender setting 65 Inner turmoil 66 Golfer Ernie 67 Eye sores DOWN 1 Less risky
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METRO TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005 · PAGE 3
Youth in Action gives Brown students a presence in South Providence BY TARYN MARTINEZ STAFF WRITER
Although not far from College Hill, South Providence is a section of town Brown students rarely visit. However, with the help of the non-profit organization Youth in Action, an increasing number of Brown students are becoming involved in serving this underprivileged district. South Providence “has had a varied past, but there are a lot of good things happening, too. A lot of people underestimate this area — it deserves a lot more attention and support,” said YIA Assistant Executive Director Adeola Oredola ’02. Youth in Action — founded in 1997 by four local youths and current Executive Director Karen Feldman — “was started mostly because (the initial members) wanted to see how much leadership young people could exercise,” Oredola said. In addition to providing essential services, YIA’s community service projects emphasize development of youth leadership skills. Like many other groups, it focuses on providing a safe, supportive environment for city teens to learn leadership
and public speaking and reading skills, as well as gain selfconfidence. But YIA is unique: It is run almost completely by young adults. Currently, volunteers come in regularly to work with about 200 local students. In total, YIA has reached over 10,200 teenagers with its programs. The Board of Directors — composed mostly of young volunteers, with only several adults serving — has the final say in the group’s decisions and oversees the annual budget and the hiring of the executive director. Many of the organization’s programs that focus on bringing information to teenagers, including the Youth Educating About Health (YEAH) team and Teens Informing Teens About Nonviolence ( TITAN), are staffed by high school students. “YIA has worked really hard over the years,” said Michaelle Larracuente, co-coordinator of YEAH, co-chairman of the YIA Board of Directors and member of Key Youth, a group of selected youths that serve as positive role-models and offer counseling support.
Before YIA formed, “there were no boys getting tested (for STDs) in Providence,” Larracuente said. “Now 75 to 100 boys are tested for STDs a year. We affect a lot of the youth because in the Providence school system they teach a basic health class, but (the students) need a certain type of learning experience. We’re able to reach over 500 students a year with our curriculum.” In addition to YEAH and TITAN, the organization has tackled many different projects, ranging from developing new disciplinary methods for Providence schools to implementing the ArtPark, a park funded by donations that features a water park, basketball court, mosaic benches and a mural wall. “ArtPark is one of our biggest achievements,” Larracuente said, adding that the original idea for the park came from community members. “We asked the residents what they wanted to see us do,” she said. The answer was “a safe place for their kids to go.” see YOUTH, page 4
Shooting of Providence Police officer not likely to affect DPS arming BY ANNE WOOTTON STAFF WRITER
Though the recent shooting of Detective Sgt. James Allen of the Providence Police Department has escalated concern regarding the safety of police officers in situations involving firearms, University officials say the incident will not likely affect the University’s preparation for arming Department of Public Safety officers. Allen was allegedly shot and killed with his own gun April 17 by a suspect he was questioning at the Providence Public Safety Complex. In response to the incident, Providence Police Chief Dean Esserman said he would review the safety of officers who are questioning suspects, according to the Providence Journal. “I’m sure that there will be a thorough investigation by Chief Esserman into what happened there, and I’m sure that there will be some lessons learned and that they will share with us any procedures
that they are going to implement in light of their investigation,” said Vice President for Administration Walter Hunter, who oversees DPS. Questioning suspects is one of the responsibilities of DPS officers. DPS — almost a year and a half into preparations for arming its force — is currently undertaking training and psychological testing for officers. Though the decision to equip officers with firearms was originally announced in late 2003, there is no announced timeline for the switchover. “Readiness (for an armed police force) needs to be demonstrated, and whatever time that takes is the time it’ll take,” said Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service. DPS has a disengagement policy that prevents officers from entering situations where a weapon is involved. Though the policy exists to see DPS, page 7
PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005
COE continued from page 1 and tie that in with a broader perspective of a liberal arts program,” Welch said. However, COE extends beyond business. Associate Professor of Sociology Ann Dill and others involved in the program’s conception stressed its breadth as a liberal arts — not preprofessional business — program. “I don’t see COE as equated with business,” Dill said. A study of those courses PPSO and business economics concentrators were already taking inspired the eight core requirements for the COE concentration. The program’s three tracks — business economics, organizational studies and entrepreneurship and technology — will require an additional six, seven or eight courses respectively. The large number of requirements led Freya Zaheer ’06 to
vote against the proposal when it came before the College Curriculum Council. An economics concentrator with an interest in business, Zaheer’s concern is not whether there is a demand for the concentration, but whether the proposed program will satisfy Brown’s need for a stronger business and organizational curriculum. In order to create a “synergistic concentration” and avoid shortchanging any single discipline, the COE proposal included large, unappealing lecture classes, Zaheer said. “Students at Brown don’t like requirements. We like having choice. This just has so many (requirements), that I wonder if students are going to choose this concentration,” Zaheer said. Although Dill said she expects strong student interest in COE this fall, the existing program will likely be subject to change. “We didn’t mean it as cast in stone,” Dill said. Dean of Engineering Clyde Briant said the program’s admin-
istrators would remain cognizant of whether certain core courses — including EN 3: “Introduction to Engineering” — deter students from the concentration. Current priorities, however, include informing students about the program’s unique nature and developing syllabuses for new courses to be offered next year, many of which are not listed in the Course Announcement Bulletin. Although the COE initiative will ideally include cocurricular lectures, workshops and events in the fall, Dill said the scale of available resources would determine how much of that would be realized. Both Welch and Casey emphasized the critical importance of new faculty hires and financial resources to the initiative’s success. Ross Levine, currently a professor at the University of Minnesota and the third-most referenced economist in the world, according to Welch, will begin teaching at the University this fall. His wife, Maria Carkovic, a senior fellow
at Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management, has been hired as the program’s director. COE’s success will require three or four faculty hires in each of the departments involved, said Welch. But he said that Levine, “an absolute world authority in economic growth,” represents a good start — particularly because COE still lacks an official budget. “We’ve got to be able to engage our outside community to really support this venture. If not, no matter what we want to do, we will not have resources to pull this off,” Welch said. Welch said he hopes COE will serve as a catalyst to elevate Brown to a “world-class, top-five institution.” “We have to use this opportunity to attract the absolute best faculty,” Welch said. “Brown traditionally has had extremely wonderful students … but has lagged in terms of academics behind its peers.” “What we don’t want to do is hire people to come in from
(Wall) Street and tell (business war) stories,” Welch added. Although none of those directly involved in COE termed it a “marketing tool” as Zaheer did, professors and administrators agreed that a strong program would spark interest and contributions — whether academic or financial — from alums. “Clearly a purpose was to serve the interest of alumni,” Dill said. The initiative includes a proposal for alumni fellows or executives in residence who could contribute to classes or teach for a semester. “You could call this almost a startup,” said Josef Mittlemann ’72 P’00, P’04, an adjunct lecturer in engineering who currently serves as COO of Silverstein Properties in New York. He added that the program has a good plan, but will now require careful execution, strong leadership and sufficient funding, like any new venture. “If this is three silos banded together, it’s not going to work,” he said.
Youth continued from page 3 Because it is a nonprofit organization, YIA welcomes volunteers. That’s where Brown comes in. In addition to having a “strong relationship with the Swearer Center,” YIA encourages students to contact them and get involved in a way that lets them share their talents with teenagers, Oredola said. “We have about 10 to 15 Brown tutors that come weekly, to help youth with homework and serve as informal mentors,” Oredola said. One Brown student is currently helping to evaluate the executive director. Another applied a curriculum taken from a Brown professor in a writing workshop, she added, an example that demonstrates the variety of ways students can assist YIA. One such volunteer, Ingrid O’Brien ’07, has been volunteering as a tutor at YIA for two years. O’Brien, who serves on the Board of Directors, organizes the table at the Brown student activities fair and holds an orientation for people interested in working with YIA. “They have a great family atmosphere there,” O’Brien said. “I’ve always felt really welcome by the youth and the adult staff. They really want to improve themselves and better their community.” For more information on how to get involved with YIA, e-mail Ingrid_Obrien@brown.edu.
TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 5
Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project at RISD integrates visual, aural art forms BY JANE TANIMURA STAFF WRITER
The metaphor of creation and destruction guides the performance art project between RISD illustraARTS & CULTURE tion students and the musicians of the Silk Road Project, an educational foundation directed by famed cellist YoYo Ma. At the first workshop, students painted their reactions to improvised music, which played as they took turns working on the canvas. Students made abstract forms on the three eight-by-eight foot canvases in reaction to foreign instruments like the
W. lax continued from page 12 going through a transitional period right now,” Southard said. “They are doing great things, but they aren’t scoring. Day by day they are getting the shots we need, but they aren’t getting on the board. We just need to score more.” The second half was much closer statistically, with the Bears out-shooting the Quakers 12-10 and dominating ground balls, 18-8. In goal, Southard had her fourth straight game with 10 or more saves, stopping 13 shots for the Bears. With three games left in the season, including two against Ivy opponents, the team wants to find some cohesion and close out the season on a positive note. “We’re hoping to bring everything together,” Southard said. “In a couple of games, our offense came up big, a couple of games it was our defense. If we can put the two together, we can be unstoppable.”
shakuhachi, a Japanese flute made of bamboo, and the kemancheh, a Persian spike fiddle, as the musicians played in response to the forms on the canvas. The intention was not to create a finished piece but to explore the interplay between music and visual art. The collaborative workshop, part of a four-day residency project that took place on the Rhode Island School of Design campus from April 1 to 5, marked the first meeting between RISD students and 20 musicians, including Ma himself, from the Silk Road Ensemble. As part of a five-year long educational partnership with RISD, the Silk Road Project
set up office a month ago at the Merchants Bank building in downtown Providence. A statue of the Shiva Nataraj, the dancing form of the Hindu god Lord Shiva, and the myth associated with the sculpture were the underlying inspiration for the paintings created during the workshop. The statue depicts Shiva performing the Dance of Bliss, a pictorial allegory for the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction. According to legend, Shiva defeated three main enemies: a snake, a figure of egoism; a tiger, a symbol of the untamed mind; and a dwarf who see SILK ROAD, page 7
Racial threats put Illinois college town on edge BY P.J. HUFFSTUTTER LOS ANGELES TIMES
BANNOCKBURN, Ill. — Parishioners gathering at the North Shore Unitarian Church on Sunday morning glanced nervously toward the security cars across the street, which had cordoned off access to much of Trinity International University. FBI and police officials have been scouring the conservative Christian campus about 30 miles north of Chicago, interviewing dozens of people about racist notes that were sent to three minority students over the past few weeks. School officials temporarily evacuated dozens of minority undergraduates who live in the campus dorms after a black student received the third letter Thursday via a campus mail system. The letter, handwritten on notebook paper, indicated that its author had seen the female student at a chapel service, and it used racist language and
referred to a weapon, police said. “It’s so strange to imagine that sort of thing happening in our backyard,” said Gary James, minister of North Shore Unitarian. “This is such a small community, and we just don’t see that happening here.” On Sunday, as students headed back to their rooms and prepared to return to class Monday, the mood on the small campus was quiet and reflective. “As we’re talking to students, we’re hearing concern and people being appalled,” Bannockburn police Chief Kevin Tracz said. “We have most of the crimes here that you see in Chicago. They just happen very, very infrequently.” Trinity College — part of the larger campus that includes, among other things, a seminary school — has about 1,000 undergraduates, about 700 of whom live in the brick dorms on the tree-filled campus. Nearly 26 percent of the undergradu-
“A Beautiful Mind’s” Nash will lecture on economics and rationality Though his name and life story have received wide public recognition since the 2001 film “A Beautiful Mind,” Nobel laureate in economics John Nash Jr. has not let Hollywood steer him from the field in which he was first recognized. Nash will give a lecture on “Ideal and Asymptotically Ideal Money” today at 4 p.m. in Salomon 101. Nash shared the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1994 with two other men for their “pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games,” according to the Nobel Prize Web site. Born in 1928, Nash is currently a senior research mathematician at Princeton University. He graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, in 1948 with both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in mathematics, and received a Ph.D. from Princeton. The Nash equilib-
rium, from his 1950 dissertation, defines a strategy for the mutual optimal outcome of a game involving multiple players. In a recent interview, Nash said he could see himself working until the age of 100, if he lives that long. He includes among his research interests logic, game theory and cosmology and gravitation. Taking some liberties, director Ron Howard fashioned Nash’s story of brilliance and schizophrenia into the Academy Award-nominated film, “A Beautiful Mind.” The film was based on Sylvia Nasar’s biography of the same name. His lecture today, part of the Wayland Collegium Faculty Interdisciplinary Seminar on Decision Making and Rationality, will examine the connection between rationality and irrationality and monetary theory and macroeconomics. — Herald staff reports
ates are minorities. Students say the college is a tight-knit place, partly because there are few places in this village where young people on tight budgets can go for entertainment: In 2000, this affluent, predominantly white town of about 1,500 had a median home price of $933,500. The campus itself is a structured environment. When applying to the school, wouldbe students agree to follow the student handbook and its “community expectations.” Among other things, students are to dress modestly and not drink, smoke or take drugs. Single people can’t live with someone of the opposite sex, and dancing on campus must be under the direction and approval of school staff.
“It’s a Christian school,” said Daniel Song’ony, an economics professor here who is also taking courses. “It’s not a racist place. This has shocked everyone.” School officials held a meeting late last week with undergraduates after they learned about the third letter. The first two had included hateful messages targeting black and Latino students, university spokesman Gary Cantwell said. “When the third letter came to our attention, we decided to be cautious and advised students that they might want to temporarily leave,” Cantwell said. “We have an emergency response plan that we used.” The school evacuated 43 minority students who requested help leaving campus, housing them at a nearby hotel.
TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 7
Crew continued from page 12 knew that in order to win we would have to push our first 1,000 (meters) to get up and then execute our plan in the second 1,000.” Facing the raw weather and rain, the Bears carried out their game plan with a solid start. Taking the first 20 strokes of the race hard, the team walked up on the Big Green, soon turning a three-seat lead at the beginning into a full boat-length lead by the halfway mark. Dartmouth,
Hospitals continued from page 1 noses) seem clear, but here you see how fuzzy the diagnoses can be.” Andrew Baum ’07 volunteered in the Intensive Care Unit of Hasbro Children’s Hospital last summer as part of his work for BC 7: “Cost Versus Care.” Associate Dean for Medical Education Stephen Smith, who teaches the course, said that his class stresses the importance of “service learning in the field, whether that be in a hospital, clinic, the Boys and Girls club.” The idea, Smith said, “is to take theory and apply it to the real world.” For about 10 years, Smith and his teaching assistants have made personal visits to potential agencies during the summer. In the fall, students pick from a list of locations and “hit the ground running,” Smith said. Though Hasbro Children’s Hospital was not on the list, Baum was interested in working there and contacted Rachel Shields, the pediatric volunteer coordinator for Hasbro. They arranged a weekly four-hour shift. Shields said students have the option to volunteer in the ICU, the Emergency Department, the Ambulatory Outpatient Clinics or the Recovery Room. Volunteers can also choose to participate in the Pediatric Preoperative Program, which helps prepare children for surgery. Students might also help with clerical tasks or work at the Family Help Desk, providing lower-income families with information on topics such as health insurance, food stamps, housing and referrals. Shields said most Brown students who volunteer are not at Hasbro because of a class. Students tend to come in saying they plan to go into medicine or enjoy working with children, Baum said. As a volunteer, Baum said he found the rules about patient confidentiality frustrating at times. He was told to entertain the children and could not ask them where they were from or why they were in the hospital, he said. These prohibitions, Baum said, “prevent you from forming close relationships with patients. It’s limited — we were told not to give them ‘false encouragement.’ ” Shields said, however, that patients often readily offer information about their lives. For his final project, Baum took the journal notes he had recorded after each shift and dictated them onto CDs. Smith said he has found that “the journals are extremely mov-
however, was not ready to go down without a fight. “We kept walking on them steadily so that by the 1,000 (meter mark) we were up a length. But they walked back up. They didn’t just fold,” Kooyaker said. “It was a good race.” Due to snow melting off the surrounding mountains, the river on which the Bears raced provided a raging tail current that propelled the boat to a finish of 5:15, a time almost 40 seconds faster than its usual result. The second varsity boat dropped to Dartmouth, coming in with a time of 5:41.0, while the two first-year crews swept
their competition, the first boat winning by over 12 seconds. “(The first-years) rowed their best race of the year. They competed with more confidence and more poise than before. It was a really good race,” said Head Coach Paul Cook. In preparation for next week’s race against No. 4 Princeton, the men will need to ride that winning mentality into practice. “At Princeton, we have the opportunity to put ourselves at the top of the league if we race well,” Cook said. “We are excited about this weekend because it gives us a chance to race a really good crew.”
ing” at times. The relevance of these personal reflections in an academic setting means that the learning “affects the heart and mind, not just the mind,” he said. Baum enjoyed the volunteer aspect of class but said he wonders how having this academic purpose or “assignment” lingering in the back of the mind might affect the volunteer experience. “Because we had to keep a journal, which wasn’t (necessarily) a bad thing, the consensus (in class) was that we went into it looking for an experience instead of just enjoying it. … We were looking for, ‘How does this affect me?’ ” For example, a student who cleaned up toys might report that “it helped me with my organizational skills,” Baum said. Baum said that he felt more “a part of the action” shadowing a physician for the class BC 152: “Emergency Medical Systems.” Baum said that as opposed to occasionally feeling “in the way” as he had with past volunteering, the doctors strongly communicated an interest in the students and their abilities. “One doctor asked me, ‘Can you speak Spanish?’ ” Baum said, “And I can’t, but had I, that would have been really cool.” Rebecca Khezri ’06 has served as a sexual abuse advocate for over a year. Her duties involve being on call and then reporting to hospitals or police stations to help an individual “who may not have someone who can advocate for them.” Khezri said she is trained to provide the victim with an understanding of her resources and treatment options and to serve as
a mediator between physician, patient and police. Khezri got involved as a result of her involvement with two Brown groups — the Coalition Against Relationship Abuse, run by the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center, and the Domestic Abuse Advocacy Project, run by the Swearer Center for Public Service. The two groups work closely together, she said, and help connect students with organizations that will train them for advocacy work. Khezri was trained by the Sexual Assault and Trauma Center in Providence and has since used that knowledge to train students at Brown. “I bring whatever I learn there here,” she said. Khezri hopes that more Brown students will become involved, noting that this work involves facing “a lot of obstacles we don’t (usually) see at Brown.” Khezri said she has been surprised by both the “good and bad” in her work as an advocate. Though she had already seen the difficulty victims often have getting help and support from the Providence Police, she said she has been surprised at the “amazingly helpful” nursing staff at Women & Infants Hospital. She also said that working directly with “a different population” is an important supplement to her Brown education. “What we learn in a classroom has its own place, but that needs to be reinforced,” she said. “You can talk about ethics in class, but when you’re in the (emergency department), it’s completely different.” “It’s real, it’s not theoretical,” Khezri said.
Silk Road continued from page 5 represents ignorance, said Dylan DeWitt RISD ’05.5, an illustrations student. Each character was assigned to one canvas. The fulfillment of this narrative inspiration and a limited palette of black and white paint were the project’s only regulations. “We tried to set up a certain area of possibility without defining the possibility too much,” DeWitt said. Where the project would go depended on the students’ and musicians’ constantly changing reactions to the others’ work. “The idea was that it was everybody’s painting,” said Ben Verhoeven RISD ’05. The generally very private activity of painting suddenly became a collaborative art form in this project, said Rob Brinkerhoff, head of the illustrations department at RISD. He said by relinquishing the individual vision of how the project was going to look and by collaborating with one another, students learned about their own way of working and gained exposure to a performance art that relies on two parties. Having never collaborated with musicians on an art piece before, Verhoeven said, the experience was “totally new for me.” “I was trying to listen to where (the musician) was
DPS continued from page 3 ensure the safety of the police force, it prevents officers from acting when “people are likely to be needing police intervention the most,” Nickel said. Vehicle stops are an example of the limits this disengagement policy imposes. “Vehicle stops are the riskiest things officers do — you have no idea if the people inside the vehicle are armed. If they know that they’re being stopped by an unarmed officer, it’s a situation that you can’t put (officers) in,” Nickel said.
going and trying to look back on the painting,” he said. To “let your arm just move with the music” was at first uncomfortable but then became a liberating experience, he said. The four-day residency also included the involvement of students from the film/animation/video and digital media departments of RISD. For the workshop, cameras around the RISD Auditorium where the performance was staged followed the musicians as they played “Tarang,” an existing composition from the Silk Road Ensemble album. As students operated the cameras, images of the musicians were projected on various monitors throughout the auditorium and acted as cues for the musician to start playing. Daniel Peltz, assistant professor of the department of film/animation/video, likened the performance to “monitors dancing on stage along with the musicians.” In the future, Brinkerhoff said more departments will be involved in the collaboration as a way of making connections across various mediums, one of the main purposes of the Silk Road Project. “(Ma is) looking constantly for establishing very trusting, open and energetic relations between different types of people and artists for a more global interaction,” Brinkerhoff said. “A big mission of his is to break down barriers, cultural and artistic.”
“We’ve got really great police officers, but they have to be trained and equipped to handle all sorts of situations,” Nickel said. “There’s a limit to what the University can ask police to do who are not armed, who do not have the tools that a municipal police force would have at any town or city in Rhode Island.” The decision to arm DPS officers came after over a decade of consideration and several failed proposals in the early 1990s rejected by then-President Vartan Gregorian. In 1998, DPS was the third police force in Rhode Island and the first in the Ivy League to gain accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.
PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005
Softball continued from page 12
Mark Cho / Herald
Hundreds of students hoping to see former President Bill Clinton waited Monday in a line that snaked around the Main Green and down George Street
Clinton continued from page 1 House between noon and 3 p.m. and between 5 and 7 p.m. According to Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service, at noon Monday there were just over 3,000 tickets for the
live presentation in Meehan available for distribution. From noon to 3 p.m. about 1,200 tickets were distributed, he said. In an interview early Monday evening, Nickel estimated about 700 tickets would be distributed between 5 and 7 p.m., leaving approximately 1,000 tickets available for distribution during the same time slots on subsequent
days. Once all the tickets for the seating in Meehan have been given out, 2,500 tickets for the video simulcast in the Pizzitola Center will be distributed, Nickel said. Seating for the events will be on a first-come, first-served basis, so the order in which tickets were distributed will have no bearing on the order in which ticket holders are admitted to the venue. Clinton’s visit to Brown coincides with a conference organized by the Brown Democrats that will host over 500 students from 43 different schools. After delivering his Meehan address, Clinton will speak to the conference attendees in Alumnae Hall. According to Seth Magaziner ’06, president of the Brown Dems, this smaller event “will be a more political event … about the state of the Democratic Party and the (2004) election, asking, ‘Where do we go from here?’ … a much more partisan sort of thing.” Jason Davis ’08, who arrived in the vestibule in front of the secu-
catcher and Amy Baxter ’08 struck out swinging to end the inning. Princeton easily retired the Bears with three strikeouts in the seventh to secure victory. The Tigers did not let up in the second game, jumping on starter Berkes for two runs in the first, though only one was earned. Bruno’s bats showed up in the bottom of the first, when consecutive singles by Fleitell and Pierre-Louis putting runners on first and second with none out. After advancing a base off a pop-up by Wirkowski, Fleitell came home for the Bears’ first run of the day off a sacrifice fly by Jenkins. But the rally fizzled after Baxter struck out looking. Princeton got on the board again in the third with one run and then added three more in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-1. After a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers put a runner on with a single, advanced her twice on errors and brought her home on a rity booth at 8:15 p.m. Sunday with friends Nathanael Miller ’08 and Tom Bergman ’08, said, “I’m here because I usually pull an allnighter anyway, so I thought I might as well get a ticket while I’m at it.” The three had originally planned to arrive in Faunce at 11 p.m., but they bumped up their plans when they saw that students had already set up tents on the Main Green. “I was worried that people might start filling up this space (in the vestibule). This is the only power outlet and I didn’t want to be without my laptop for 16 hours,” Davis said. Though Davis and his friends are bigger fans of Clinton than Serrano is, none of them said they had high expectations for the address. “I do think he can say more now that he’s not president, but I’m not expecting anything groundbreaking … but I do think we’re in for a good show,” Miller said. By noon Monday, when ticket
single to left, putting Brown in a huge 7-1 hole. The Bears finally responded in the bottom of the sixth, scoring two runs on two hits. After Berkes struck out, Fleitell took first after being hit by a pitch, and then advanced to second on a ball hit to third by Pierre-Louis. Fleitell came home on a Wirkowski double. Wirkowski then rounded the bases herself after Jenkins hit a single to center. The rally came up short, however, ending on a strikeout by Baxter. The Bears got runners on first and third in the seventh, but two straight pop-ups gave Princeton the victory. It was two tough outings for Berkes, who took the loss in both games, giving up a combined 21 hits and eight earned runs in 14 innings pitched. The Bears were not much more effective at the plate — going a combined 10-of-47, they also struck out 19 times. The Bears return to action at home on Thursday when they take on Providence College in a doubleheader, beginning at 3 p.m. on the softball field at the Erickson Athletic Complex. — Ben Miller distribution began, the line snaked out of the ground level of Faunce and zigzagged across the Main Green, out of the southwest gate and onto George Street, stretching three-quarters of the way to Thayer Street. By that time, Gabe Prestol ’07, who camped out on the Main Green with Serrano, had already received his ticket — the first one to be distributed — and was busy packing up his group’s two tents. Late Sunday night, Prestol said, they were joined by a group of about 10 Phi Kappa Psi brothers, all of whom slept in one large tent. Together, they named their campsite “Billville,” Prestol said. By 3 a.m., the group had already received a noise violation and an album dedication on WBRU. Thanks to their portable grill, the Phi Psi brothers were able to enjoy a late-night snack of baked beans. They said they planned to have breakfast delivered to Billville at 6:30 a.m. Vance Monet ’08, who got on the ticket line at 9 a.m. and received his ticket around 2 p.m., said he is interested in attending the address because now that Clinton is “freed from the shackles” of the presidency he will be able to “speak more liberally … (and) approach issues from a different perspective.” According to Monet, line-cutting Monday afternoon by “people without honor” was prevalent. “People would walk by me as if they didn’t know what was going on and then two or three hours later they were in line in front of me,” he said. Monet said a friend of his counted 40 people in front of him when he initially joined the line and 125 people when he finally received his ticket. Marissa Colon-Margolies ’07, who had wrapped herself in a blanket against the cold, joined the line at 7:45 a.m. By 12:15 p.m. she had moved up to a spot in front of the steps of Faunce. Looking out across the crowded Main Green, she said, “I hope someone takes pictures of this and shows them to Clinton … to let him know they’re expecting a good show.”
TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9
ASL continued from page 1 cognitive and linguistic sciences and former interim president of the University, to write a report examining the relevance of ASL to existing faculty research and to the overall curriculum. The report, which Blumstein said she hopes to finish within three weeks, will be submitted to senior academic deans and the appropriate committees, which, along with Zimmer, will decide the future of ASL studies. Armstrong, who sits on the APC, said Blumstein was approached to write the report because she feels that ASL is important to her field of cognitive and linguistic sciences. Blumstein said she still has not worked out exactly how she will conduct her research. “What is important for the provost and administration to understand is the impact that ASL has on the curriculum and the academic experience more broadly,” Blumstein said. Blumstein added that her research will be based on faculty input about ASL, rather than student input. Though Zimmer wrote in his e-mail that it is too early to anticipate the outcome of Blumstein’s review, he said the Office of the Provost does have funds set aside to continue ASL as a for-credit program. “While the outcome of this
EMS continued from page 1 the number of calls and students treated last weekend was about “average,” Lapierre said. Calls during the weekend of Starf*ck this year were slightly below average, he said, possibly because EMS members patrolled the event, a system instituted last year. Five students were taken to the hospital during Spring Weekend 2005, and Providence Emergency Medical Services treated six others, Lapierre said University EMS supervisor Anthony Fusco told him. Fusco worked the Saturday night shift when the six students were treated. Amy Sanderson, a University EMS supervisor, said Providence EMS only gets involved “if there’s something dispatched that sounds very, very serious. For the most part, the campus is our jurisdiction.” Most calls to EMS involve first-years and sophomores, Lapierre said. He attributed the trend to “lack of experience with alcohol and substances” among underclassmen. Of the 770 calls to EMS in 2003-2004, 523 involved undergraduates, 40 calls involved graduate students, 52 involved faculty and staff, 61 involved students enrolled in the University’s summer program, five involved parents and alums, 15 involved other people affiliated with the University, 56 involved nonaffiliated guests and 18 calls involved subjects whose affiliation could not be determined. One-hundred sixtyeight calls were alcohol-related, two involved other illegal substances and 10 involved both.
review obviously cannot be anticipated in advance, I have indicated that, should there be a determination to continue ASL instruction inside the Center for Language Studies, that resources would be made available to ensure both the quality of instruction and faculty oversight of the program,” Zimmer wrote. The University’s reconsideration of its cutbacks to ASL came as good news to student supporters of the program. ASL supporters have campaigned in the last two weeks to keep the program as a for-credit course, giving away 2,500 “Save ASL” buttons and selling 500 T-shirts. Supporters also launched a student petition and letter-signing campaign to urge the University to reconsider the cutbacks. But although the news of Blumstein’s review may seem like a victory to ASL supporters, Willa Mamet ’04.5, a leader of the student campaign, said she and her allies were not letting up their protests. “I think it’s wonderful,” Mamet said. “But it’s not over. I think that resting on the success we had would be dangerous and inappropriate in terms of getting things done.”
Baseball continued from page 12 shortstop Matt Vance had little chance to throw out Jimmy Lowe ’05 at the plate and attempted to turn a double play instead. The Harvard second baseman did not even bother to throw to first and the Bears streamed out of the dugout to celebrate the hardearned victory. “Right now, it’s pretty much a two-horse race in our division,” Thomas said. “Being one game back, if we would have lost, we pretty much would have had to sweep the next three games to have a chance (at the division title). I’m real proud of the team right now.” The momentum Brown generated in the come-frombehind win in game one dissipated in the middle innings of game two. The Harvard bats finally came alive off of starter James Cramphin ’06, who was roughed up for 11 runs on 6 1/3 innings. “We didn’t do a lot of
things right in the second game,” Drabinski said. But he also said he did not feel Cramphin was as ineffective as his line implied. “I thought he had good stuff. He just missed some spots,” he said. A combination of four errors in the field and only five hits through eight innings did not help matters. Harvard, meanwhile, managed to put men on base in every inning until the ninth. “We didn’t make too many adjustments at the plate today, such as going to the opposite field,” Drabinski said. “I’m still waiting for us to put a complete game together — to play the way we are capable of playing.” The Bears hope that game will materialize this afternoon when the two teams attempt to grab the driver’s seat in the Red Rolfe Division race. Starters Jeff Dietz ’08 and Bryan Tews ’07 will take the mound for the Bears as they once again try to bump Harvard out of first place. The doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. on Aldrich Field.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
EDITORIAL/LETTERS TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005 · PAGE 10 S T A F F
E D I T O R I A L
Controlled chaos By 2 a.m. Sunday, a stalwart crew of 30 to 40 students was camped in and around Faunce House, good-naturedly waiting for tickets to former President Bill Clinton’s much-anticipated policy address. They, like those who had the sense to wait at least until dawn to begin queuing, brought laptops, radios, grills and pillows and turned the process of getting tickets to Friday’s Meehan Auditorium event into a fun, communal event. The scene Sunday and Monday was undeniably silly — and we assume it will be repeated as students line up to claim Meehan’s unassigned seats Friday. But the really ridiculous scene Monday was set in and around the small glass security booth, where a single, methodical swiper was checking each student ID with only one slow, buggy dining hall card machines. There was some evidence that the Student Activities Office and the News Service have learned from past ticket distribution disasters: Officers guided the line to prevent a recurrence of the anarchic conditions before Spike Lee’s speech. But overall, the process did more to test student devotion to seeing Clinton than to humanely and efficiently distribute an enormous number of tickets. Unburdened from the usual limitations of Salomon 101, the organizers still proved somewhat inept. At the Sharpe Refectory, Jose Barros frequently uses two of those card scanners simultaneously, juggling cards in order to keep his line moving briskly, while at peak times as many as three entry points are open and staffed simultaneously. But the University used a single scanner, and a single line through a cramped area in the center of a frequently used campus building. Meanwhile, a huge part of the student body was forced to abandon its usual Monday pursuits to this trial by boredom. Prescient professors were obliged to cancel classes on the last Monday before reading period because more than half their students were not going to be in attendance, and we imagine others were caught by surprise by near-empty classrooms. The University made a very wise move in moving Clinton’s speech to Meehan so that much of the community will be able to attend, but then it wasted Brown students’ time and education while a large number of staff very kindly, patiently and valiantly participated in an infuriating distribution system. We fervently hope, although our optimism wanes with every varied repetition of this type of event, that this is the last time we have to issue this call: Fix the ticket distribution process.
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 Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Manager Susan Dansereau, Office Manager 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, Jonathan Herman, MaryCatherine Lader, Ben Leubsdorf, Jane Porter, Stu Woo Senior Sports Writers Bernie Gordon, Jilane Rodgers Staff Writers Anna Abramson, Justin Amoah, Shawn Ban, Zachary Barter, Danielle Cerny, Christopher Chon, Stewart Dearing, Gabriella Doob, Phillip Gara, Aidan Levy, Taryn Martinez, 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, Madeleine Marecki, Ben Miller, Matt Nicholson, Eric Perlmutter, Katie Quinlan, 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, Taryn Martinez, Suchi Mathur, Cristina Salvato, Sonia Saraiya, Zachary Townsend, Jenna Young
DANIEL L AWLOR
LETTERS Intellectual diversity is moving Brown forward To the Editor: Even though it is not necessarily the opinion of the majority, for those who still hold to the belief that intellectual diversity is going to move Brown in an undesirable direction (“A broken kaleidoscope,” April 20), it’s your time to exit the discussion. Brown is an echo chamber of liberal thought where conservative thinking is squelched under the blanket of tolerance. It is a place where gays and lesbians can post pornography around campus — a degrading display that is detrimental to the GLBTQ cause. Brown is a place where pro-life supporters are labeled as woman-haters. It is a place where abstinence is a psychological disorder. Brown is a place where morality goes to die. But Brown is moving forward. Opposition to the conservative line is not as strong it used to be. In a post-Horowitz Brown, there is no excuse for not supporting the free exchange of ideas. There is a whole world out there, a surprising world to the
average Brown student. It is a world that voted for Bush and does not, on the whole, support gay marriage. This world cannot allow Brown to remain a bastion of Mercedes-owning, weedsmoking hippie activists. I was honored to be accepted; I am glad I came. But Brown is not perfect. Intellectual diversity is two steps forward for Brown. It realizes that diversity is not solely an issue of black and white skin. It is an issue of ideas. Here, true diversity will be realized when a free exchange of ideas can occur in and out of the classroom. Then and only then will Brown be a place where students may acquire an acute understanding of the nation and the world away from the Brown campus. Welcome to the new Brown!!
Joshua Unseth ’08 April 24
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
OPINIONS TUESDAY, APRIL 26, 2005 · PAGE 11
Remembering the Armenian genocide GUEST COLUMN BY MARK BARTLETT, MARIA KASPARIAN, JEFFREY NOBLE AND MIA KAZANJIAN April 24 is the day on which Armenians remember a genocide that is often overlooked. From 1915 to 1923, between 1.5 and 2 million Armenians were massacred in their ancestral homeland, present-day eastern Turkey. On that day, the Ottoman Empire under a Turkish nationalist regime initiated its plan to cleanse Turkey of its Armenian population by executing the Armenian cultural elite, leaving the rest of the population vulnerable. The Ottoman government then ordered the deportation of the 2.5 million Armenians living in Turkey to the southern deserts. Those who did not die from starvation and exhaustion were killed by force. By 1923, an estimated 1.5 to 2 million Armenians had died at the hands of the Ottoman government. An estimated half million fled to other areas of the world, including Syria, France, Lebanon and the United States. This tragedy was one of the first genocides of the 20th century. Some countries, including France, Switzerland and Greece, have officially recognized the killing as genocide, whereas others, including Turkey and the United States, have not yet done so. It is truly remarkable that the United States refuses to recognize the Armenian genocide. Back in 1917, every U.S. citizen knew about Armenia and the tragic events that were taking place. It was at this time that the phrase “starving Armenian” came into existence. At the beginning of the 20th century, American missionary colleges, orphanages and seminaries were established all around historic Armenia and Eastern Turkey, and American-based charities such as Near East Relief raised millions for the imperiled Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empire. The U.S. ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, sent regular reports, documenting the atrocities committed against the Armenian population. Turkey threatens economic sanctions and the souring of diplomatic ties if the United States recognizes the Armenian deaths as genocide, and these threats have prevented the United States from taking a stand on the issue. In 2000, France faced similar reprisals from Turkey, but still affirmed that the events between 1915 and 1923 constituted genocide. While the Turkish government recalled its ambassador from France and drew up a list of possible economic sanctions against the nation, it ultimately restored relations within a few weeks. The United States is quick to act against the “axis of evil” by invading Iraq but is unable to stop — or in some cases, even acknowledge — the most horrific and sinister of plans, which have been carried out by the governments of the Ottoman Empire, Rwanda, Cambodia and Sudan. It is not hard to draw parallels between the Armenian genocide and the current situation in the Darfur region of Sudan. The United States did nothing back in 1915 and is still doing nothing today. If the United States is unable to recognize the Armenian genocide after 90 years, despite its widely documented nature, how is it supposed to recognize the less publicized genocides that are currently happening? The Armenian genocide is part of Armenian identity and is a tragedy that needs to be recognized if the United States is to play a pivotal role in averting similar tragedies in the future. Mark Bartlett ’05, Maria Kasparian ’05, Jeffrey Noble ’05 and Mia Kazanjian ’06 are members of the Armenian Club at Brown.
JOSHUA LERNER
Taking mental disorders seriously As part of an ambitious new plan, New York City doctors are beginning to screen patients for depression, using a questionnaire that inventories mood and behavioral symptoms. Though the test will not be mandatory, health officials hope every doctor in the city hospital system will be using the screening within the next three years. They have the resources to make their goal a reality — urged by an expert panel in 2003 to expand national mental health screening, Congress allocated $20 billion to implement such state programs. With such a change, the question is this: Is it really a big deal if, over the next few years, testing for depression becomes as commonplace as slapping a rubber band around your arm and checking for high blood pressure? According to some, it is. The Alliance for Human Research, a patient-advocacy group, is launching a campaign to halt the new use of mental health screening, claiming that increased testing will only yield a dangerous stigma for a whole new population of possibly misdiagnosed depressives. Furthermore, the Alliance is wary of what they feel will be a necessary byproduct of increased screening: the over-prescription of antidepressant medications. Organizations such as the Alliance for Human Research are right to be cautious about the overuse of antidepressants, but their efforts are misguided. While recent studies propose a link between the use of some of the more common antidepressants such as Prozac and Zoloft and suicidal behavior in adolescents, other researchers contend that that link is tenuous. Clearly, no health official would want a healthy person to experience the nega-
tive side effects of taking unneeded medication. But this possibility should not dissuade any doctor from supporting a program that could benefit so many currently undiagnosed New Yorkers with mental health problems. The truth is that depression is the most far-reaching and debilitating of mental disorders. It affects up to 16 percent of people living in the United States and costs the nation $44 billion a year in missed work and disability pay, more than any other physical illness — including heart disease. While the thought of any respected doctor campaigning against increased screenings for heart disease for fear of overdiagnosis seems absurd, a whole movement is now trying to halt mental health screenings on the same grounds. Despite what some fear, increased
Overwhelming negative and pessimistic thoughts may be commonly recognized symptoms, but other lesser-known signs exist, including changes in appetite and sleep routine. Imagine how many people experience such symptoms, yet never seek help from mental health workers because they do not recognize these changes as indications of depression. Screenings will curtail this problem by making doctors aware of dangerous symptoms, even if patients are not. In an essay published in this week’s edition of the New York Times Magazine, Peter Kramer, Brown professor and author of “Listening to Prozac,” reminds us that depression should not be romanticized. It is a legitimate disease. While Kramer’s argument takes on those who romanticize depression — those who downplay its severity by calling it a “perspective” — his point is also relevant to professionals in the mental health industry who also downplay the disorder, though for a different reason. Simply because depression is a mental disorder and not a physical one, we should not dismiss it as less grave than other disabilities. It should not be culturally invisible — or ignorable, for that matter. If the momentum to increase screening New Yorkers for depression is thwarted, thousands will be denied adequate mental health care and treatment for a debilitating disorder. Even worse, public opinion will continue to downplay the severe health effects of mental disorders instead of giving them the attention they deserve.
Increased depression screenings won’t necessarily result in overdiagnosis. depression screenings will not necessarily result in overdiagnosis. If a patient’s completed questionnaire does show depressive mood or behavior, the doctor will not immediately diagnose and prescribe medication. Rather, like any other sound medical procedure, the patient will be recommended to undergo further testing before an official diagnosis can be made. Screening, then, is not a means for practicing imprecise medicine, but rather an invitation to more thorough care. And more thorough care is necessary when depressed people so frequently remain undiagnosed. Many never receive a diagnosis because they do not recognize the symptoms of their depression.
Joshua Lerner ’07 listens to Prozac, but only on Sundays.
Rethinking the HEA’s drug provision GUEST COLUMN BY JESSE ADAMS The reason to fear drugs, we are told, is that they rob us of motivation and sense, that they destroy our ability to seize opportunities and make positive contributions to the world. And sometimes they do. But though society should be upset when it catches young people with illicit drugs, it would be the worst possible step to possibly destroy these juvenile offenders’ futures because of a mistake they made in high school. Yet, this is currently the policy of the United States. In 1998, the Higher Education Act — the bill that in 1965 created the Free Application for Federal Student Aid system of financial aid — was amended through a drug provision bill, which required that all FAFSA applications include the question “Have you ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs?” Any applicant who answers in the affirmative, or leaves the question blank, automatically becomes ineligible for aid. Supposedly, the bill only intended for students convicted of drug possession while receiving aid to be affected, but the law has been consistently interpreted since its inception in 2000 as applying to anyone with a prior conviction. Just what the drug provision was supposed to accomplish, even under its supposed original intent, is unclear — except, of course, to allow grandstanding politicians the chance to pass a draconian law to prove themselves “tough on crime.” According to Tom Angell, the national communications director of Students For Sensible Drug Policy, over 160,000 students have been denied aid in the last five years, not counting the unknown number who declined to complete or submit appli-
cations due to the question’s inclusion. That’s the equivalent of 29 entire Brown undergraduate student bodies. According to Brown Director of Financial Aid Michael Bartini, no student has been unable to attend Brown on account of a drug conviction, but that only measures people who actually applied, not those who may not have even bothered to send in an application because they knew they couldn’t afford to attend without aid. Clearly, politicking is more important to some than letting underprivileged youths, the ones who are perhaps most vulnerable to getting sucked into the “drug culture,” have the chance to extricate themselves from their problems. The law is inherently discriminatory, affecting poor and middleincome families and not the upper classes. Minorities are disproportionately represented among drug convicts — the law disproportionately affects already disadvantaged groups. If drugs are a malignancy from which people must be rescued, is denying offenders the chance to gain a postsecondary education really a productive way to save people? Can we live with ourselves in a society where a poor kid who once got caught smoking pot can no longer afford to go to college while a wealthy fop repeatedly caught with kilos of cocaine doesn’t have to worry simply because he happened to be born with privilege? Fortunately, this counterproductive and discriminatory law is not being ignored. In addition to active opposition from SSDP, which was originally founded to fight this law, organizations such as the National Association of Student Financial Aid
Administrators, the Association of Addiction Professionals, the NAACP and the National Education Association have also come out in support of rescinding the drug provision. In January, the congressionally appointed independent Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance recommended removal of the “irrelevant” drug question, because it only complicates the FAFSA and deters some from applying for aid to which they are entitled. On March 9, congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., formally introduced a bill to repeal the drug provision of the HEA, the Removing Impediments To Students’ Education Act. In Rhode Island, Representative James Almeida recently introduced the Higher Education Assistance Act of 2005, which proposes compensating students who lose funding via the federal drug provision. The socalled drug provision is under siege, but no result is foreordained in our present conservative government. Brown SSDP and other chapters throughout the state are currently spearheading a drive to lobby legislators to bring down this discriminatory law once and for all. When offenders have gone through the standard punishments and rehabilitation, society should encourage them to reassert control over their lives by completing school and to possibly go on to higher education. The time has come to stop putting the politics of the drug war above the welfare of the United States’ less fortunate citizens. Jesse Adams ’07 thinks politicking is less important than fighting the man.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
SPORTS TUESDAY APRIL 26, 2005 · PAGE 12
Baseball splits with Harvard
Women beat two Ivy rivals, men get first win
BY STEPHEN COLELLI ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The baseball team finally received a window of clear, yet frigid, weather Monday afternoon to take on Harvard, the team it trails by one game in the standings. However, after two games, the Red Rolfe Division standings remain unchanged — the Bears took game one in dramatic fashion, then the Crimson responded by turning game two into a 16-4 rout. Bruno remains a game back with two more games against Harvard scheduled for today. Paul Christian ’06 gave the Bears a share of first place early in the afternoon when he knocked in the winning run on a fielder’s choice in extra innings. The game was scheduled to be seven innings, but Harvard tied it at 3-3 in the sixth and the game stretched into the eighth. After working out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth and tossing a scoreless seventh, reliever Ethan Silverstein ’07 gave up a two-run homer to Harvard’s Josh Klimkiewicz with two outs in the eighth, setting the stage for the late-game heroics. The Bears quickly reminded Harvard they do not go down easy. Danny Hughes ’06 drew a walk to lead off the bottom half of the inning and Devin Thomas ’07 hit the second pitch he saw off of starter Frank
A Kut above With three hits Monday against Harvard, Matt Kutler ’05 increased his Brown career-record total to:
241
BY SARAH DEMERS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Ashley Hess / Herald
Devin Thomas ’07 went 4-for-6 with two runs and two RBIs in Brown’s split with Harvard on Monday. Herrmann. The Crimson righthander had struck out six of the 11 Bears he faced since giving up two runs in the fourth. “You could see that (Herrmann) was starting to lose some of his command,” Thomas said. “I think he walked the first batter on four pitches, and the first pitch I saw was definitely a ball. It was at my letters but I swung at it and missed. He came back with a slider that didn’t break much and I put a real good swing on it. It was fortunate that it got out.” The shot awakened Brown, according to Head Coach Marek Drabinski. “It was a huge lift,” he said. “Devin’s been swinging the bat real well for the past two weeks or so. The momentum had shifted with (Klimikie-
Softball comes up empty at plate, loses two to Tigers After two dramatic come-frombehind wins over the weekend, the softball team struggled at the plate on Monday, knocking in just three runs in 4-0 and 7-3 losses to Ivy League leader Princeton. The setbacks drop the Bears to 12-16-1 overall and 4-8 in the Ivies — good for a tie for fifth with Dartmouth. The Tigers, meanwhile, have now clinched the Ivy League title and an automatic NCAA bid with an in-conference record of 12-2. In the first game, the Bears had a chance to pick up a run in the first inning when Rachel Fleitell ’06 singled to left, then BROWN SPORTS SCOREBOARD MONDAY, APRIL 25 BASEBALL: Brown 6, Harvard 5 (F/8); Harvard 16, Brown 4 SOFTBALL: Princeton 3, Brown 0; Princeton 7, Brown 3 TUESDAY, APRIL 26 BASEBALL: vs. Harvard (DH, 1 p.m., Aldrich Field) M. LACROSSE: vs. Hartford (7 p.m., Stevenson Field)
Crew ends up on top
advanced to second on a ground-out to third base by LaQuisha Pierre-Louis ’08. A single by Jaimie Wirkowski ’06 gave Brown two runners on with just one out, but Courtney Jenkins ’07 grounded into a double play to end the inning. Princeton finally broke through in the third inning, getting a runner on with a single, then advancing her to third with two infield grounders and scoring her with a hit up the middle. The Tigers would add to their lead in the sixth, scoring two more runs to increase the margin to 3-0. Brown nearly retaliated in the bottom of the same inning, loading the bases with no outs off a leadoff single by Marissa Berkes ’05, followed by a walk by Fleitell and a single by PierreLouis. Unfortunately, Bruno was unable to continue the rally — Wirkowski lined out to leftfield, then Jenkins popped out to the see SOFTBALL, page 8
wicz’s) home run. It was good to see for Devin too, because he works so hard (on his swing).” The Bears followed Thomas’s shot by loading the bases for Christian with one out. Despite a rough day at the plate, Christian was able to get enough of an outside pitch to hit a high chopper to short. With Bruno’s base runners taking off on contact, Crimson see BASEBALL, page 9
It was nothing but victories this weekend at home for the crew program against its Ivy League competition. The women’s team hosted its only home race of the season Saturday on the Seekonk River versus Cornell and Columbia. The varsity eight notched a decisive win, punctuating its triumph with a 10-second victory margin, clocking in at 6:39.68. The men’s squad welcomed its win over Dartmouth, ending a long string of losses to bring home the Atlanta Cup for the second year in a row. The women’s team has been training hard since its win over Boston University on April 16, in hopes of executing another victory over rivals Cornell and Columbia. Although the week brought a wide mix of weather conditions, the women trained consistently and ran through strong practices. “We don’t really do anything different in terms of preparation for different teams. We just try to go out and race our own race,” said captain Catherine Starr ’05. Shrouded in a heavy morning fog, the women’s varsity eight lined up in the center lane for the start. The water was calm, but the feelings were not. “Columbia and Cornell have an intense rivalry. They were going to race hard, and we knew
it. There was a lot of adrenaline pumping when we got going, and we just tried to keep that intensity up,” Starr said. After the start, the Bears were about even with Columbia. The two crews exchanged the lead for a while until Brown ultimately pulled ahead by an insurmountable 10 seconds in the final sprint. “At the end of the race we really finished hard,” Starr said. The other crews followed suit as the junior varsity eight, novice eight and the three varsity fours all beat out the competition. With Yale and Northeastern slated for Saturday, the women will have their work cut out for them. “Yale is a tough crew,” Starr said. “They tied with Radcliffe. It is always an intense race between those two boats, so we just need to work hard in practices and race our race. It should be a great competition.” Drawing from a promising showing of strength and determination last weekend in its loss to Northeastern University, the men’s team traveled to Hanover in hopes of notching its first win of the season. “We went in knowing that Dartmouth was as strong as Northeastern,” said varsity eight rower Terence Kooyker ’05. “We see CREW, page 7
Defense holds strong, but offense a no-show for w. lax in 8-6 UPenn loss BY BEN MILLER SPORTS EDITOR
The defense showed up for the women’s lacrosse team, but this time the offense struggled as the Bears dropped their third straight game on Saturday, falling 8-6 to the No. 15 University of Pennsylvania. The Bears, who move to 3-9 overall (1-4 Ivy League), have now lost six of their past seven games and are in sixth place in the Ivies. The defense showed marked improvement after last Wednesday’s 14-6 setback against Yale in which the Bears let up 10 goals in the second half. On Saturday, Brown allowed only two goals in the first 11 minutes. “The defense definitely improved in the game,” said goalie and co-captain Julia Southard ’05. “Everyone played as a unit for the first time in a while. We all knew that if we made a mistake we would get each other’s backs.” Unfortunately, the offense was held scoreless over the same period, not getting on the board until the 16:48 mark when Amie Biros ’07 found the back of the net. Just a few minutes later co-captain Kate Staley ’06 picked up her teamleading 23rd goal of the season to knot the score at two.
The Quakers, however, netted two more goals to go up 42 with 8:45 left in the half. Biros then picked up her second point of the day, an assist to Sarah Passano ’05 that brought the Bears within one. Penn scored again to extend its lead, but Ashley Holden ’06 responded off a pass from Justine Lupo ’08 to bring the margin to 5-4. The Quakers, however, had the last tally, scoring off a free position shot with 1:10 to go to take a 6-4 lead into the half. For the half, Penn outscored the Bears 4-2 over the final 10 minutes and out-shot the Bears a whopping 21-5. “It was just a little breakdown of what we were going to do,” Southard said. “I don’t think that they deserved or earned those goals, we gave them up.” Bruno clamped down even further in the second half, not allowing a goal until the midpoint of the period when Penn found the net twice in the span of 30 seconds. “Once we figured out what Penn was doing, we were able to stop them,” Southard said. “They like to take the ball from behind and isolate from up top. It was a simple offense.” Brown, however, was no more successful on offense.
Sara Perkins / Herald
Amie Biros ’07 continued her scoring streak on Saturday with two goals and two assists. Biros picked up her second goal off a pass from Lindsey Glennon ’06 at the 10:15 mark, but the Bears did not score again until Passano found the net off an assist by Biros with just under nine minutes left to pull to 8-6. That would be as close as Brown would get, as both teams held the other scoreless for the final nine minutes. “I think that our offense is see W. LAX, page 5