THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2006
Volume CXLI, No. 14 DANCE DANCE REVOLUTION Africanist Weekend brings djemb, chanting and foot slapping to Brown students and community members ARTS & CULTURE 3
www.browndailyherald.com
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 LOCK UP YOUR KEGS Stolen keg, broken parking gate are among items included in this week’s crime log CAMPUS NEWS 5
ON PAR WITH THE BIG GREEN W. hoops defeat Cornell and Columbia to keep pace with leagueleading Dartmouth SPORTS 12
TODAY
TOMORROW
sunny 33 / 23
sunny 38 / 29
Extensive review of social events and alcohol policies continues Metal detectors, bag checks at parties will be considered by committee BY ERIC BECK NEWS EDITOR
Jean Yves Chainon / Herald
A large blizzard blew over the Northeast starting early Sunday morning and continued to blanket campus all day.
Snowstorm causes only minor disruption of U. services BY CHLOE LUTTS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Snowfall starting about 1 a.m. Sunday morning continued through the day and into the night, with weather forecasters expecting 10 to 18 inches of accumulation by the end of the storm, according to the Providence Journal. SafeRIDE announced in an e-mail to the Brown community Sunday afternoon that Sunday evening services would be suspended due to unsafe driving conditions. Walter Hunter, vice president for administration, told The Herald the storm did not cause the University to cancel any events, although he said most “decisions are made by (the individual) departments.” The Providence Department of Traffic Engineering announced a citywide parking ban beginning at 1 a.m. Sunday so streets could be cleared. David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services, distributed a weather advisory by email Saturday afternoon. Thayer Street businesses responded to the snowstorm in a variety of ways. The Brown Bookstore and Tealuxe
Jean Yves Chainon / Herald
were closed all day, but CVS was open during regular hours. Antonio’s Pizza and Johnny Rockets both reported an exceptionally busy day but planned to close earlier in the evening than usual. There were no significant electricity losses in Rhode Island, according to Narragansett Electric Company.
New Plays shed light on creative process BY ELLEN WERNECKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“This is not a production,” said Professor of Literary Arts Paula Vogel at the introduction to Saturday night’s performance of “New Plays Festival 24.1.” Vogel and Visiting Assistant Professor of Literary Art Bonnie Metzgar, the artistic director of the festival, were quick to tell audiences that the plays REVIEW presented this weekend at McCormack Family Theater were collaborative projects developed over the course of two weeks and arrived essentially unfinished. “At some point, we say, ‘Okay, that’s it, put it up on its feet,’” Vogel said of the plays’ development. All three plays in this edition of the New Plays Festival stood on their own this
weekend, though some accomplished the feat better than others. Dan LeFranc’s “Bruise Easy,” which opened Wednesday, sears the audience with its tale of two troubled siblings, Alec (Scott Raker GS) and Tess (Jessa Sherman GS). Tess returns home from Albuquerque, pregnant and looking for her mother. But her mother has disappeared, and Alec, a stoner with a camera, has been drifting through his days without her. There’s nothing fake about either the tone of conversation or the unsettling intimacy between Tess and Alec, and LeFranc gives them some fantastic lines in the course of the show. They’re not completely comfortable with one another, and the dynamic plays out well onstage, particularly with Director Makaela Pollock
Editorial: 401.351.3372 Business: 401.351.3260
see PLAYS, page 4
While two committees continue to review the University’s social events and alcohol policies, University officials implemented interim social events policies Jan. 26 to address issues of immediate concern that arose last semester. Though they have long been a concern of University officials, the alcohol and social events policies jumped to the top of the administration’s agenda at the end of last semester after the Queer Alliance’s Nov. 12 Sex Power God party garnered national media coverage and a melee on the Main Green the preceding evening ended with shots fired. The Ad Hoc Committee to Review Social Events Policy and Procedure, created in November 2005, is charged to review “the problem of binge drinking (and) pre-gaming, violent behavior and the introduction of weapons into the community” and to consider which campus venues are best suited for largescale social functions. Margaret Klawunn, associate vice president for campus life, dean for student life and the committee’s chair, said topics like event admission policy, door management and alcohol service have already been discussed by the committee. In the future, policies concerning what items can be brought into events, the use of metal detectors and other methods of screening partygoers and enforcement policies — including possible changes to residence hall staffing — will be considered, she said. The committee will conclude its review by Feb. 27 and produce a public report outlining its recommendations, which will be presented to the Campus Life Advisory Board, the Undergraduate Council of Students and the campus life committee of the Brown Corporation. A new policy should be in place by Spring Weekend,
Klawunn said. It is not yet clear whether the policy review will simply clarify existing practices or produce more far-reaching changes. “It’s hard for me to say without seeing (the committee’s) recommendations at this point,” said David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services. “I don’t think we’re going to see any real big changes in policy,” said Tony Sheets ’06, vice chair of Greek Council and a member of the review committee. “We’re going to be evaluating a lot of parties to see what went well for them within the existing policies and see what didn’t work. … In general, most parts of the policy are pretty effective.” Meanwhile, the existing Campus Life Advisory Board Subcommittee on Alcohol and Other Drugs was asked to review the University’s alcohol policy and consider the campus culture on alcohol and drug use. “We are looking very broadly in that committee at whether we have the right policies in place, how we are enforcing them and whether we have the right culture,” Klawunn said. “There is no such thing as a foolproof (alcohol) policy,” Greene said. “But we need to think about how to address behavior when students are putting themselves and others at risk.” The alcohol subcommittee, chaired by Nancy Barnett, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, is expected to release its findings by the end of the semester. Administrators stress that formal policies will only be part of what the review produces. “What we all recognize is that changing the policies will only get us partway to where we need to be with some of these see PARTIES, page 7
Possible heat, hot water loss today as repairs on Main Green leak continue BY MELANIE DUCH SENIOR STAFF WRITER
After a disruption that began Wednesday, the 46 buildings affected by the defective “high temperature hot water loop” under the Main Green regained heat and hot water at 6 p.m. Saturday, according to Stephen Maiorisi, acting vice president of Facilities Management. The hot water line sprung a leak Wednesday evening, prompting emergency repairs. Because of the snow storm, Facilities Management postponed further work on the loop until 6:30 a.m. Monday morning. Some buildings may lose heat and hot water again at about 10 a.m. when testing will resume. “This is necessary as we continue to test, in order to further isolate the area in need of repair,” wrote Derek Henries, manager of the Service Response Center, in a notice
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
sent to Maiorisi on Saturday. According to an e-mail written by Henries and sent to all on campus on Friday by Thomas Forsberg, associate director of Residential Life, Facilities Management implemented a “secondary water feed” so that repairs could continue without further interruption of heat to the buildings. “This has allowed us to isolate and lessen the number of buildings that will experience a decrease in temperature and/or temporary interruption to heating systems as repairs begin again,” Henries wrote. Still, at least one student had not fully regained heat and hot water by Sunday evening. Arielle Baskin-Sommers ’07, a resident of Grad Center, said although she and her suitemates have hot water, their heat has been irregular. “We had heat last night at midnight but then it shut off in the middle of the night. It came on again midday today but now no one has heat in the suite,” she said. News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com