THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2006
Volume CXLI, No. 52
www.browndailyherald.com
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891 BOY MEETS CANDIDATE “Boy Meets World” star Ben Savage gave $500 to Brown professor Jennifer Lawless’ campaign in early 2006 CAMPUS NEWS 5
BROWN LOW ON GREEN U.S. Senate candidate Matt Brown recently had to fire four campaign staffers due to lack of funds METRO 3
In colonial Rhode Island, slavery played pivotal role
POLITICS ON THE PLAYGROUND Trevor Gleason ’07 analyzes a study finding that childhood temperament indicates future political leanings OPINIONS 11
TODAY
TOMORROW
few showers 57 / 44
partly cloudy 63 / 47
UFB cuts 70% from next year’s UCS budget
MODERN-DAY SLAVERY
Higher student activities fee means higher budgets for other groups
Trade with slave-based economies implicated New England colonies
BY MELANIE DUCH SENIOR STAFF WRITER
tions because there are already networks that service the needs of consumers,” he said. The network will be most advantageous to “organizations whose operating footprint is most consistent with the state’s borders,” Panoff said, citing as an example the state government, especially public safety agencies, which have operations in currently disconnected areas such as lakes and rivers. Other potential benefits include improving communication and connectivity for educational institutions, the health
With a significantly expanded budget due to a $10 hike in the student activities fee, the Undergraduate Finance Board “had the opportunity to increase the budgets for a lot of groups” for 2006-2007, though the Undergraduate Council of Students took a notable $10,000 budget reduction, according to UFB Chair Swathi Bojedla ’07. Among the groups with significant budget increases are the Brown Concert Agency, which received about $20,000 more than it did last year, and the Brown Film Society, which received an additional $5,000 for next year, according to UFB’s budget reports, which were made public Monday. UCS applied for $14,750 for the 20062007 school year, roughly comparable to this year’s budget of $14,394.80. But the council was allocated only $4,313.40. “The reason (for UCS’s budget cut) is that for UCS meetings — there is one every week — they spend $240 to have tables and chairs set up by a facilities manager,” Bojedla said. “That cut alone was $6,000 from their budget,” she said. “(UFB) didn’t really think it was appropriate to give that much money for table and chair set-up given that a lot groups set it up themselves,” she continued. “Even in UFB, we come early and we set up tables and chairs for our meeting,” she said. Zachary Townsend ’08, vice president of UCS, said though he believes the cut is “significant, especially considering the $100,000 increase in (revenues from the) student activities fee,” he generally agrees with UFB’s decisions. “I don’t know why we can’t set up our own tables,” he said. Townsend added that though he is unsure whether UCS will appeal the decision, he believes it is unlikely.
see WIRELESS, page 8
see BUDGETS, page 4
BY ANNE WOOTTON METRO EDITOR
Though the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice was expected to submit its report to BROWN President Ruth SimCONFRONTS mons this spring, it is unclear when the reSLAVERY port will be submitSecond in a ted or whether it will be released publicseries ly before summer. In this, the second in a series on the committee and its work, The Herald examines the context of slavery in colonial Rhode Island and some of the committee’s educational undertakings. Though North American ships represented a relatively small portion of the global slave trade, Rhode Island was the epicenter of the North American slave trade. At
Jean Yves Chainon / Herald
Katherine Chon ’02 (right), co-founder of the anti-human trafficking organization the Polaris Project, and Beatrice Fernando, a former slave, spoke last night. see CAMPUS NEWS, page 5 least two-thirds of North American slavetrading voyages each year were from the colony. Before the American Revolution, Newport was the chief slaving town in Rhode Island. Afterward, it was replaced by Bristol largely because of the DeWolf family, which owned a plantation in Cuba and was the biggest slave-trading family in the nation. The infamously cruel slave trader James DeWolf got his start as the captain of a ship owned by the Brown broth-
ers’ father, according to James Campbell, associate professor of history and chair of the committee. About 1,000 Rhode Island ships completed the Triangle Trade Route between North America, the West Indies and Africa, but an estimated five to six times as many made the bilateral trade route to the Caribbean. Rhode Islanders depended on industries related to sugar production besee SLAVERY, page 4
Rhode Island set to become first wireless state BY CHLOE LUTTS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Rhode Island is set to become the first state with a comprehensive wireless network, starting with a pilot METRO program slated to launch this week in Providence. The first antenna installed for the network will be at the top of Brown’s Sciences Library, one of the highest points in the Ocean State. Brown is a “partner in the infrastructure side of the house and the application side of the house,” said Melissa Withers, communications director for the Business Innovation Factory, the non-profit
Herald File Photo
The top of the Sciences Library will be home to the first antenna of the state’s pilot wireless program.
behind the project. Representatives from the University are on the advisory committee guiding the pilot program, and the University will be one of the first organizations to use the network during the pilot. In cooperation with the Rhode Island Department of Education and local K-8 schools, 12 students from Brown participating in the Rhode Island Teacher Education Renewal project will take advantage of the wireless broadband connection. Though the current program is limited, it will allow the project’s organizers to work out any problems that may appear before the final program is put in place. Bob Panoff, a Massachusetts-based consultant, said he first came up with the idea of the statewide wireless network. He said Rhode Island’s size makes the project possible. “Rhode Island is a tiny little place and that has always been a competitive disadvantage,” he said. But the statewide wireless network will turn the state’s size into an advantage by making “integration and collaboration not only within organizations but between organizations” more “mobile and flexible,” he said. Panoff praised the University’s support for the project, saying, “Brown obviously has been very generous and very supportive.” He noted particularly the University’s willingness to allow use of the educational band in the radio spectrum and the SciLi itself. Use of the wireless network will probably not be free, Panoff said, though several business models are under consideration. He said the project seeks to market itself to a number of Rhode Island businesses and organizations. The project is “targeting organiza-
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Rowley’s ‘Out of Ivy’ now on bookshelves For $19.99, Brown students can now learn why the New Curriculum should be abolished and Queer Alliance should be censured — at least, according to one conservative alum. “Out of Ivy: How a Liberal Ivy Created a Committed Conservative” by Travis Rowley ’02 appeared on shelves at the Brown Bookstore Monday. Copies of the self-published take on Brown and its student body were dropped off at the bookstore on Saturday, according to Lori Dalesio, an assistant buyer at the bookstore. “Travis came in approximately a month ago, and he told me he had written a book about his experience here at Brown,” she said. The bookstore agreed to carry it, and it is available in the section for books by Brown alums, she said. As of Monday afternoon, there had been about seven inquiries about the book but no sales, Dalesio said.
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
Rowley told The Herald in March that he wants his book to be a catalyst to reform Brown. “My upbringing really disagreed with what I saw at Brown,” he said. “I was insulted almost the entire time.” Some students received e-mails promoting the book Monday afternoon, including a flyer that says Brown should reinstate the ROTC and “Abolish the Third World Center (like, tomorrow).” According to Stephanie Birdsall, lead communications specialist at Computing and Information Services, the message was probably sent to a mailing list Rowley created by “harvesting” student e-mail addresses from the Electronic Address Book on the University Web site. Birdsall said she did not know how many students received the e-mails, which she referred to as “spam.” —Ben Leubsdorf News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com