THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2006
Volume CXLI, No. 5 LIGHTING UP IN LIL’ RHODY Recent Rhode Island bill allows doctors to prescribe marijuana to qualified patients METRO 3
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An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 WALK OF FAME Kaizer ’94 becomes first American to walk 50 kilometers in all 50 states in under 100 days FEATURES 5
OIL, EH? Laura Martin ’06: Canadian oilfields might make our northern neighbors the new Middle East OPINIONS 11
TODAY
TOMORROW
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More than just money
26 Brown students travel to Gulf Coast region over break BY JANE PORTER STAFF WRITER
Lindsay Harrison / Herald
Among the John Hay Library’s lesser-known artifacts are three books bound in human skin.
In a literal bind Hay has books bound with anthropodermic leather BY TARYN MARTINEZ STAFF WRITER
Amidst its impressive collections of military antiques and history of science materials, the John Hay Library also has three slightly macabre, lesserknown artifacts: ordinaryFEATURE appearing books that are in fact bound in human skin. The three books are the anatomy text titled “De Humani Corpis Fabrica” and two editions of the folktale “Dance of Death.” The Hay acquired the books in the 1960s as gifts from two alums, at least one an avid book-collector. The books are part of the Hay collection both for research purposes and for their sheer uniqueness, said Sam Streit, director of the Hay. The anatomy book, nicknamed Vesalius after the
author Andreas Vesalius, is often used by scholars because “it is useful in the study of human anatomy, historically speaking,” Streit said. The two copies of “Dance of Death” are primarily of interest to researchers because of the books’ illustrations — a series of woodcuts by the younger Hans Holbein. Streit added the books are also interesting for those who study the history of books and book-making arts. The books were not originally bound in human skin, Streit said. “They were rebound for other private collectors in the 19th century,” he said, although the binding does not “increase the value dramatically” today. “They’re more idiosyncrasies than treasures,” Streit said. see SKIN, page 4
Zipcar service not being snapped up BY AIDAN LEVY STAFF WRITER
The Zipcar vehicle-sharing service has attracted few students since its introduction in October 2005, but University officials have not yet given up on the program. Only 55 people have signed up to become Zipcar members, said Transportation Manager Carleia Lighty, adding that administrators hope to raise awareness of the program through a marketing campaign this semester. “More usage will be required to keep the program alive for next year, but it’s very early and the program has just begun,” Lighty said. “Students can trade their expensive parking spaces for Zipcar, but that’s not what most people have done.” University officials will decide at the end of the semester whether to extend the program for the 2006-2007 academic year, Lighty said. Brown guarantees Zipcar a minimum profit and compensates the company if the minimum usage level is not met. But Christine Laurence, manager of business development for Zipcar, said she predicts that the service will surpass that requirement. The University might continue the program even if the minimum level of use is not met this year. “This is not all about
profits. We’ll try our best to keep it as another option,” Lighty said. Abigail Rider, director of real estate and administrative services, said she is optimistic that the program will continue next year. “It’s a very worthwhile program, but we have no basis for making a projection. It depends on whether it will support itself,” she said. Lighty attributes the low level of interest to the program’s inopportune arrival time around Thanksgiving and winter break, but she said she anticipates increased usage in the coming months. A major reason Brown adopted the
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see ZIPCAR, page 4
For nine days in January, a group of 26 student volunteers distributed food, clothing, medicine and supplies to Mississippi residents affected by Hurricane Katrina. Working with a faith-based relief center called Camp Coast BROWN & Care in Long Beach, KATRINA Miss., the students tore down flooded, gutted, unlivable homes and Third in a hauled tons of concrete series and debris as they tried to help survivors piece their lives back together. “These people only had the clothes on their back that they left in. Their lives as they know it have been annihilated,” said Brian Craigie ’07, who organized the Brown Direct Relief Initiative trip. “If you could see the destruction that’s still there, it’s just flabbergasting.” Returning to Brown directly after the trip, Craigie’s hands were left calloused even through heavy work gloves. “All day you are hauling concrete, breaking down houses, moving trees, smashing windows. … People give of their time and themselves and it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen,” he said of the work done by volunteers. An emotional effort When it arrived in Long Beach on Jan. 14, the group settled in its temporary home — a large gymnasium filled with 150 cots and only two bathrooms at Coast Episcopal School, an elementary school. The 170-student school (down from 210 prior to the hurricane six months ago) already had ties to Brown, though Craigie and the volunteers did not find this out until they arrived.
Catherine McElearney Gautier ’01.5, development associate at Coast Episcopal School, moved to Mississippi 10 and a half months before Katrina struck the area. “We don’t live down here by normal time,” Gautier said in a phone interview with The Herald. “A lot of us are stuck in August of 2005.” Gautier was in the hallway of her house when the hurricane hit. She and her husband did not evacuate the region, wary of radio reports that traffic was moving only one mile per hour and gasoline could no longer be purchased. “Your windows are covered and you don’t see the sun go down and you don’t see the sun come up and the entire world around you when you step out that door has changed,” she said. “When we were in our hallway during that hurricane, we didn’t know if we were going to survive that day.” The Gautiers got their news from the one remaining radio station on the air, which they listened to on a hand-cranked radio. She remembers hearing the disc jockey instruct panicked callers to cut their way onto the roofs of their homes as the water rose. “We are all grateful to be alive. … The published numbers are much smaller than the actual number who have died,” she said. “It’s very humbling to realize see KATRINA, page 4
Blair Hickman
Over winter break, Ana Gustafson ‘08 (pictured alone), Deanna Chaukos ‘08 (left) and Sarah Raab ‘08 (right) were among the Brown students who did relief work for Katrina victims.
R.I. Senators Reed and Chafee ’75 will vote against Alito Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito will likely be confirmed by the U.S. Senate as early as today, despite opposition from both Rhode Island senators. Both Sen. Jack Reed, D.-R.I., and Sen. Lincoln Chafee ’75, R.-R.I., have said they will vote against confirmation for Alito, who is currently a federal judge and considered a conservative jurist. Reed announced his opposition last week, but Chafee waited until Monday to announce his decision at a press conference. A moderate Republican
who supports abortion rights, Chafee chose to oppose Alito partially out of concern that he would not uphold the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion. “I’m very concerned about the slow eroding of women’s reproductive freedom,” he said at Monday’s press conference, according to the Providence Journal. Up for re-election this fall, Chafee may pay a high political price for his vote — he is being challenged in the Republican primary by Cranston Mayor
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Stephen Laffey, who was quick to blast Chafee for his decision. “On key votes, Senator Chafee sides with the liberal special interests,” Laffey said in a press release. “Rhode Island is not well served by Senator Chafee’s rejection of this independent, highly qualified man for the Supreme Court, or by Senator Chafee’s inability to make a firm decision, which once again made him irrelevant to the process in the Senate.” —Ben Leubsdorf News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com