Issuu

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD F RIDAY, F EBR UAR Y 16, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 18

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

46 percent of students approve of UCS, a third don’t know BY AUBRY BRACCO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures Davis Guggenheim ’86 was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his collaboration with Al Gore in “An Inconvenient Truth.”

“Inconvenient Truth” director recalls Derbies, house parties BY REBECCA JACOBSON STAFF WRITER

As an undergraduate, Davis Guggenheim ’86 said he could “outsleep” anyone at the Rockefeller Library. A self-described “total geek,” Guggenheim said he would go to the Rock every night and would sleep at his carrel for three hours instead of working on his senior thesis. Twenty years later, Guggenheim enjoys slightly more auspicious evening plans. On Feb. 25, he will don a tuxedo and walk the red carpet with former Vice President Al Gore in hopes of collecting an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his directorial work on “An Inconvenient Truth.”

“It’s thrilling,” Guggenheim told The Herald. “It’s not just a golden statue — it means that our message will reach out that much more.” Guggenheim admitted he did not always have such faith in “An Inconvenient Truth,” which tells the story of Gore’s crusade to

cian would be “a terrible idea.” But after viewing the first 15 minutes of Gore’s presentation, Guggenheim realized he had to find a way to make the film work. Filming “An Inconvenient Truth” proved to be a “race against time,” Guggenheim said. Gore, Guggenheim and the film’s producers wanted to complete it before the Sundance Film Festival in January 2006. They finished it in six months, during a time when news was breaking about the realities of global climate change, according to Guggenheim. Hurricane Katrina, the strength of which some scientists

FEATURE fight global warming and is the third-highest-grossing documentary in the United States to date. When producers Laurie David and Lawrence Bender first approached him about directing the documentary, he voiced apprehension. Guggenheim said he initially thought a film on a slide show and an out-of-work politi-

Presidents Day Weekend may be upon us, but students at Brown and colleges around the country know surprisingly little about past presidents of the United States, according to a recent study from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. The study utilized test scores from a 60-question test administered to 14,000 college freshmen and seniors at 50 universities across the country in the fall of 2005. The survey asked questions about topics including economics, international relations and American history. Students were asked multiple choice questions about such presidents as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. “There was less gain in knowledge (from freshman to seniors) about American presidents than

INSIDE:

3 ARTS & CULTURE

there was on all the other subjects,” said Gary Scott, senior research fellow at ISI, a conservative group. First-year students answered 57.2 percent of the questions about presidents correctly, and seniors did only marginally better, answering 57.6 percent correctly. At Brown, seniors did worse than freshmen on the presidential section — ﬁrst-years scored 62.5 percent, and seniors managed to correctly answer just 59.8 percent. Overall, Brown ﬁnished 48th of 50 in American History and 44th of 50 in American politics. Scott noted that “the lesserknown colleges scored better,” on the test but that such esteemed institutions as “Cornell, Yale and Duke (universities) scored close” to Brown. Rhodes College had the best performance in the sections on American politics and world af-

CHOSEN “SUN” Charlie Custer ’08, also know as rapper Sun Zoo, releases his latest album titled “Can’t See the Forest” online today

www.browndailyherald.com

THE HERALD POLL Tristan Freeman ’07, vice president of UCS, said the large number of students with no opinion of UCS is not a reﬂection of the current leadership. He noted the importance of “re-educating students about what UCS does on a fundamental level.” Freeman said he was “extremely pleased” that the poll showed more student support for UCS than in the past — the 46 percent who voiced support for UCS this semester is up from the 38.9 percent who did so in last semester’s poll. But approval for UCS is still down from a year ago, when 53.5 percent of students continued on page 6

“ B L A C K B E LT S A N D I V O R Y T O W E R S ”

continued on page 4

Students know little about U.S. presidents, study shows BY CAMERON LEE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Over a third of undergraduates have no opinion of their elected representatives on the Undergraduate Council of Students, according to a recent Herald poll. Asked whether they approve or disapprove of the way UCS is handling its job, 46 percent said they approved, while 20 percent said they disapproved. The 34 percent who said they didn’t know or had no answer is similar to student responses in past polls — 34.5 percent had no opinion of UCS a year ago, and 42 percent gave that response last November. The poll this semester was conducted Jan. 29 to Feb.2 and has a margin of error of 4.7 percent with 95 percent conﬁdence. The Herald poll conducted a year ago had a margin of error of 4.6 percent, and the poll last fall had a margin of error of 4.4 percent. “I don’t think people are going to have a strong opinion about UCS unless they come to meetings or UCS projects affect them,” said UCS Communications Chair Michael

Glassman ’09. But Glassman said he was not surprised that the number of students with no opinion of UCS dropped from last semester. “It reﬂects everyone being at Brown a semester longer,” he said, noting that students who weren’t aware of UCS in the fall may have had a chance to learn or get involved with the organization since the last poll.

5 CAMPUS NEWS

Eunice Hong / Herald Boston College professor Davarian Baldwin spoke on race and social thought yesterday afternoon.

fairs, Colorado State University had the highest marks on the economics portion and Grove City College students ranked ﬁrst in American history. But while knowledge of presidential facts is important, it is not indicative of how educated someone is, said Associate Professor of History Michael Vorenberg, who has published works on Abraham Lincoln. “I don’t know if the highest priority should be given to knowledge about what was considered to be basic political knowledge 100 years ago,” Vorenberg said. Vorenberg was reluctant to put much stock in the study, questioning its ability to assess the quality of a student’s education. “I would want to know who was polled by this organization and what was its purpose in conducting these polls,” he said. “If you assume the facts that this poll

Rush underway as Greek houses seek to up student membership

continued on page 4

SHAKE YOUR POM-POMS Trying to offer students healthier ier choices, the Gate introduced the POM line of pomegranate juice to its shelves

BY RACHEL ARNDT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Rush is in full swing on campus as Greek houses recruit new members for the coming year. The deadline for recruiting, known as Super Deadline Day, is Mar. 6. Starting next Wednesday, the fraternities, sororities and societies will begin to offer bids — or invitations — to students they want to recruit. If the interest is mutual, the student turns in the bid card Mar. 4 to 6, said Alex Dean ’08, program house committee chair for Residential Council and a member of the Alpha Delta Phi Society. Rush — the one time each year when program and Greek houses can formally add new members — is especially impor-

11 OPINIONS

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

POINT-COUNTERPOINT Trevor Gleason ’07 and Amy Littleﬁeld ‘09 debate the ﬁner points, the tactics and the power of protesting

tant for houses that are low on numbers. Greek and program houses are required to have at least 22 in-house members at any given time. Failure to do so can adversely affect a house in the semiannual program house review conducted by ResCouncil. Greek Council, which is made up of all on-campus Greek houses except for St. Anthony Hall, sets the start and end dates for rush. The council also regulates when official events can be held. Currently, houses can hold official rush events Monday through Thursday, 8 to 10 p.m. The council also determines whether alcohol can be served at events: Alcohol is now prohibited at official events, though there is “no specif-

12 SPORTS

M. SQUASH MASHES MIT The men’s squash team nabbed its third victory of the season, taking all nine games from MIT in its ﬁnal match of the season

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

TODAY THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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WE A T H E R

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

WBF | Matt Vascellaro

TODAY

TOMORROW

mostly sunny 27 / 18

mostly sunny 37 / 24

MENU SHARPE REFECTORY

VERNEY-WOOLLEY DINING HALL

LUNCH — Vegan Lentils with Roasted Vegetables, Sliced Turkey and Ham, Lobster Bisque, Chicken Fingers, String Beans La Belle, Butterscotch Layer Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies

LUNCH — Vegetarian Caribbean Black Bean Soup, Manhattan Clam Chowder, Chicken Fingers with Sticky Rice, Vegan Vermicelli with Garlic Sauce, Sugar Snap Peas, Chocolate Chip Cookies

DINNER — London Broil, Zucchini & Summer Squash, Lima Beans, Shoepeg Corn Casserole, Strawberry Jello, Cherry Pie, Onion Rings, Sliced Turkey and Ham, Cheese Pizza

DINNER — Vegetarian Caribbean Black Bean Soup, Manhattan Clam Chowder, Italian Meatloaf, Grilled Chicken, Carrots Vichy, Green Beans, Cherry Pie, Braised Cauliﬂower, Chocolate Cake

How to Get Down | Nate Saunders

SUDOKU Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9. Deo | Daniel Perez

12 Pictures | Wesley Allsbrook

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Symbol of gentleness 5 Accord 9 Clobbers 14 Java Freeze maker 15 Clueless 16 Dinsmore of children’s books 17 Repositions ceramics? 19 Number in the NATO phonetic alphabet 20 Stray 21 Tough test 22 Ponderosa Ranch site 23 Doesn’t go along 25 Perceived stature 27 Help of a kind 29 They get people connected 33 Having a limited focus 36 “__ baby!” 38 Marginal mark 39 Dinner request, maybe 40 Ryder rival 41 Buffet unit 42 Bernese __ 43 Historic caravel 44 Poker Hall of Fame charter inductee 45 Make certain 47 Hubbard of fiction 49 __ nerve 51 Legendary name in Chicago history 55 Curt 58 Costello et al. 60 “Après __, le déluge” 61 Noted horn honker 62 Inmate dining section? 64 Normandy notions 65 Starlet’s dream 66 Diminished 67 Father on a base 68 Ratified 69 Took steps

DOWN 1 Calorieconscious choices 2 Maker of the RDX SUV 3 Gay 4 Little Joe’s dad 5 Customer 6 Nearly 9% of the Earth 7 Orchestra section 8 Inventing initials 9 Weasel out 10 Feel of a 1963 musical? 11 Sen. McCain’s alma mater 12 Bound 13 Bug fighters 18 West Coast NBAer 22 Sounding stuffy 24 Broadcasts a 1937 Cary Grant film? 26 Joint 28 Gauguin’s retreat 30 “Just doing my best” 31 It can be shady 32 Lid woe

33 Latin I word 34 To-go order? 35 Entertainer who was a Congressional Gold Medal recipient in 1962 37 Get darker 40 Agreement 44 “The Perfect Fool” composer 46 Resist

48 Charged up 50 Mask 52 Honey-hued 53 Psychologist May 54 Buckle under 55 Liner, for one 56 Zilch 57 Hopping mad 59 “Lean __”: 1972 and 1987 #1 hit 62 Fiscal VIP 63 Early p.m.

Jellyﬁsh, Jellyﬁsh | Adam Hunter Peck

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Homefries | Yifan Luo

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The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown demic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Ofﬁces are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2007 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

ARTS & CULTURE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Custer ’08 drops new rap album today BY ALLISSA WICKHAM STAFF WRITER

When coping with the chaos of modern life, some people take weekly yoga classes or unwind with an hour of “American Idol.” Others, like Charlie Custer ’08, spin their frustration into original rap music. Custer, known as “Sun Zoo” to his fans, said he has been writing and recording rap songs for nearly a decade. His latest album, “Can’t See the Forest,” will be released today on Sun-Zoo.com, where listeners can sample his fresh beats and lyrical dexterity free of charge. “Basically, the idea is to get it out as far as it can go,” Custer said of his decision to post his music online. It’s a method that has worked for him in the past. Despite limited publicity, Custer’s web release of his 2006 album “Hope Flies” earned him a small following of fans and several positive reviews on various music blogs. Using non-traditional instruments such as cellos and Japanese ﬂutes, Custer has crafted a distinctive sound that has elicited praise from underground rap enthusiasts. Deriving his alias from the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, Custer strikes a combative tone on his most political album so far. In “Forest’s” 14 tracks, he

addresses issues such as government surveillance, political corruption and music piracy. In the song “Aldous Huxley,” Custer urges a nation “high off Prozac and PlayStation” to question the Bush administration’s use of illegal wiretapping. “Huxley’s” chorus asks listeners if they can hear “that FBI truck in the back?/ ‘Cause we all know you’re there/ Yo, it’s nothing but fact.” In “Not for Sale,” Custer shifts his focus to the war in Iraq and its impact on domestic programs like health care and poverty relief. “It’s old people dying ‘cause they can’t afford their medicine/ Paying for the war by taking benefits from veterans,” he sings, charging that those in power “try to make us scared of homosexuals and Mexicans.” “For every minute that we fighting our brothers/ Another Halliburton bill goes to the Right undercover,” he says of the greed he feels prompts decisions made by current government officials. A few of the songs on “Forest” were reserved for more personal issues. The album’s title track deals with his younger brother’s chronic marijuana abuse, while “Leave the Rest Behind,” written by Sarah Clark ’09, meditates on the complexities of romantic relationships. Custer said he made the album over January break using equipment hooked up to his personal

computer. He recorded most of the songs at his home in Avon, Conn. and the private school where his parents teach. Upon returning to Brown, Custer spent most of his free time mixing and perfecting “Forest’s” tracks. “I haven’t done any reading in the last few weeks,” he admitted. A few marathon editing sessions had him working until 5 or 6 a.m. “Once the album’s out, I’m going to pick my head up,” he said. Custer has also attracted some industry attention. A few record companies have approached him with development deals, he said. But the labels wanted more creative control than he was willing to relinquish, which means “Sun Zoo” remains an unsigned artist. While he plans to continue creating music after graduation, Custer doesn’t harbor dreams of rapping professionally. ““The industry’s kind of in shambles now,” he said. “I would love to make a career out of this, but there are already a ton of rappers out there.” In the meantime, he’s content to perform live and put out the occasional album. He and Clark opened for singer Vienna Teng in Sayles Hall last November, and the duo has also performed for an on-campus Amnesty International beneﬁt. Custer is considering performing songs from his new album at Faunce House’s Under-

“Redeeming Qualities” takes on human relationships in 3 scenes BY ROBIN STEELE STAFF WRITER

Production Workshop’s “Redeeming Qualities” is a three-scene show portraying a dysfunctional family, a tense brunch and a rooftop rendezvous in Milan, Italy. The show, written and directed by Wade German ’07, opened Wednesday night to a packed room in PW’s upstairs space. The three scenes are only connected in a thematic sense, with members of the cast playing different roles in each scene. The sharply conceived dialogue flows naturally — German embraces awkward pauses and nonsensical exclamations to capture the rhythm of real exchanges. This is true particularly in the second scene — “The Phony” — as the characters transition from small talk to painful verbal jabs, emerging with a renewed intimacy. The first scene, titled “Some Enchanted Evening,” opens with firstgrader Daniel, played by Caleb McEntire ’10, singing the titular song and standing on a chair in darkness, illuminated by light. As his performance concludes, the house lights come up on his family congratulating him. Daniel’s mother and grandmother perch on a worn, plaid sofa while Daniel’s cold father lurks behind them. Daniel’s grandfather sits in a comfy armchair beside an endtable filled with liquor bottles, and his relative Samantha, played by Phoebe Lapine ’07, sprawls on the floor nearby. This family scene soon dissolves into squabbling and tense exchanges as the characters attempt to talk over each other. Lapine provides some delightful comic relief as Samantha, twirling around the stage and making blatant cries for attention as Daniel

sits uncomfortably in the midst of a family dispute. “Some Enchanted Evening” captures the dynamics of family — mother and daughter rehash old issues as father and son-in-law force a conversation about meaningless trivialities. One child is caught in the middle, while the other is ignored.

REVIEW “The Phony” focuses on a former couple engaged in an awkward conversation over brunch in Manhattan. The spare setting — a cafe table and two chairs — focuses the audience’s attention on the dialogue, which begins with friendly banter and descends into a more uncomfortable and unsettling exchange. The ﬁnal scene, “Milan, Italy,” leaves the somewhere-in-Manhattan settings of the previous scenes and portrays a marijuana-smoking New Yorker on a church roof in Milan with the vivacious Francesca and Eduardo, played by Zoe Chao ’08 and Maxwell Hoffman ’07.5 respectively. Clusters of darkly clad, raucous Italians joke and sing in the background as Francesca and Eduardo try to draw out the reticent Ben. Chao and Hoffman are thoroughly believable as seemingly carefree Italian youths. This scene has a slightly different tone, opening with a monologue by the main character before settling into a group scene. The narrative devolves into violence, but the scene ultimately ends with the redemptive power of music. The show runs under 45 minutes. The last performance of “Redeeming Qualities” is tonight at 8 p.m. in PW’s upstairs space.

Eunice Hong / Herald

Charlie Custer ’08, also known as “Sun Zoo,” will release a new album today.

ground in the coming months. Custer, an East Asian Studies concentrator, will be abroad in China this summer, leaving him little time to work on his next album. However, he has “already started thinking of new things”

and may release four or ﬁve additional songs by the semester’s end. Local producers have also approached Custer about the possibility of doing a “Can’t See the Forest” music video.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

“Inconvenient Truth” director recalls Derbies, house parties continued from page 1 attribute to climate change, struck one day before Guggenheim was set to film in New Orleans. “It really felt like global warming was in the zeitgeist at the moment,” Guggenheim said. “It felt extremely urgent. We felt like were onto something and like we had to make it right away.” Working with Gore also helped to bolster Guggenheim’s commitment to the documentary’s message. “Al is really driven,” he said. “When you’re in a room with him, you feel like you are working next to one of those great figures who is trying to change the world. That sounds cliche, but it’s the way that great leaders are.” Though Guggenheim does not describe himself as an environmentalist, he acknowledged early stirrings of activism while at Brown. During his senior year, he and a friend built a shanty on the Main Green to urge the University to divest from companies operating in South Africa. In addition to sleeping at the Rock and constructing crude huts on the Main Green, Guggenheim also sang a cappella in the thenfledgling Brown Derbies — but

he could not remember any of the group’s songs. According to the Derbies’ Web site, Guggenheim soloed on “Cadillac Heaven” and “Take the A Train,” both featured on the 1986 album “Derby Laundry.” “We were sometimes pretty good and sometimes pretty awful,” Guggenheim said. “It’s kind of embarrassing to look back on. … I would imagine the Brown Derbies are much more accomplished now.” Guggenheim said he originally intended to concentrate in semiotics but was “completely lost,” so he switched to American Civilization. When not at work on his senior thesis — in which he argued that Jewish ﬁlmmakers had abandoned their ethnic roots in order to ﬁnd success in Hollywood — Guggenheim and his friends spent their time like many college students do: throwing parties. “The Providence Police used to come to our apartment to shut down our parties,” he said. “We didn’t have the best parties on campus, but we tried.” After graduating, Guggenheim struck out for Hollywood, joining the independent company Outlaw Productions and working on

such films as Steven Soderbergh’s “Sex, Lies, and Videotape.” Guggenheim also directed two documentaries about the Los Angeles public school system. He was the executive producer on “Training Day,” directed the feature film “Gossip” and has accumulated numerous television directing credits, including episodes of “Alias,” “24,” “NYPD Blue” and “ER.” Up next for Guggenheim is “Gracie,” a film based on the teenage years of his wife, actress Elisabeth Shue. “Imagine the movie ‘Rocky,’ but with the lead as a teenage girl,” Guggenheim said. “It’s one of these impossible stories of a girl who wants to play soccer on an allboys team. It’s very inspirational.” After “Gracie” is released in early June this year, Guggenheim said he intends to return to documentaries. He has a number of films lined up, including a potential follow-up to “An Inconvenient Truth” and perhaps a film on the current perjury trial of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr. “I’d love to keep making documentaries,” Guggenheim said. “There’s no better feeling than making something that works as a movie and works as a force of good. I’d love to keep doing that.”

Rush underway as Greek houses seek new members continued from page 1 ic guideline as to whether or not” alcohol can be served at non-ofﬁcial rush events, said Greek Social Chair Teresa McRann ’07, a member of Zeta Delta Xi. Greek Council does not have rules about how houses interact with rushes, but some houses may have their own rules, McRann said. The treatment of rushing students has “not been problematic in a public way,” she said, but added that she doesn’t “know if that would be an issue raised to the community at large.” So far this year, there have been no violations of rush policies, McRann said. The process is akin to matchmaking — students are feeling out houses to see if they’d like to join while houses look to attract students they think will ﬁt in well with their culture and lifestyle. “It is competitive, but at the same time, we want more people to join the Greek houses,” said Mark Connolly ’07, chairman of Greek Council and a member of Delta Phi. Houses generally work to avoid confrontation. During the month-long rush, houses that compete for “the same ‘types’ of rushes” schedule their 8 p.m. events so they don’t overlap, Dean wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “(The) Greek system is pretty good at trying to avoid direct competition” in terms of event timing,

said Matt Dennis ’09, president of Delta Tau. Still, there is competition among the houses to get the students they want. “Hopefully we’ve done our job pitching our side,” Dennis said. “There deﬁnitely will be competition.” Some Greek houses started their recruiting fairly early this year. Zete started recruiting new members Friday, Jan. 26 and visited ﬁrst-year dorms to drop off calendars of rush activities. “Every freshmen has probably gotten a calendar from Zete,” said Mark Fuller ’09, chair of rush for Zete and a member of ResCouncil. Zete has held fondue and sushi nights so far for rush, as well as a Super Bowl Party. There are “generally just people here all the time,” Fuller said, noting the house holds about four events a week. Like Zete, ADPhi started recruitment soon after students returned to campus. The house has had an “event more or less every day” since rush started, according ADPhi rush chair Daniel Heller ’07. DTau is going about the process a little differently. DTau was once a frat dominated by members of the wrestling team but saw its membership decrease dramatically after Head Coach Dave Amato started dissuading members of the team from joining the fraternity in 2003. Since then, the frat has reinvented itself — it has only four seniors,

and the rest of the members are sophomores. Pizza and a televised sports game make up a typical rush event at DPhi, Connolly said. The “open-door policy” of the events makes for an informal environment, he said. The frat also gets in touch with students more casually by talking to them in classes and meeting them through athletics. The two sororities have different rules for rush than the University’s fraternities because they are part of the Pan-Hellenic Conference, a national organization of sororities. Kappa Alpha Theta and Alpha Chi Omega share advertising space, host events together and even share sign-in sheets for their events. Since there are only two sororities, students can get a general feel for sorority life from both of them, said Nicole Villaverde ’07, recruitment chairman for Theta. The houses also hold individual events so interested students can learn about each sorority. In addition to larger events, such as a comedy night held in conjunction with the Stand Up Comics, Theta also has three informal events. These events allow “girls (who) are shy” to talk to sorority members more easily, chapter adviser Jennifer Paolino ’06 said. Overall, Brown’s sorority rush is “much more relaxed” than at other schools, according to Villaverde.

Students know little about U.S. presidents, study shows continued from page 1 reports are true, is this necessarily a problem?” When asked four questions from the ISI test by The Herald, Brown students for the most part were able to answer questions about presidents correctly. Hee Kyung Chung ’09, who attended high school in the Nether-

lands, answered two of four questions correctly. “I ﬁnd it really shocking that four years of college doesn’t do much to add to the knowledge of the history of the country that you’re living in,” she said. Jesse Bateman ’10 and Alex Linkin ’10 both correctly answered three of the questions. Bateman attributed their answers to knowl-

edge from high school. Alexis Lawrence ’07 declined to take the sample test, as she felt her presidential knowledge to be inadequate. “In high school, talking about history and presidents is an everyday thing, whereas in college we only talk about these subjects if we elect to do so,” she said, adding, “especially at Brown, where everything is optional.”

CAMPUS N EWS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

NEWS

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

I N

BRIEF

Second Banner forum sees same low turnout, more speciﬁc questions The Undergraduate Council of Students yesterday held its second open forum on Banner, but few were in attendance despite the 150plus chairs provided in Leung Gallery. The 15 to 20 students who showed up asked more pointed questions than those at Tuesday’s forum, also hosted by UCS. Students raised a number of concerns that had not previously been voiced, and shopping period was the focus of most of the questions. Brad Portnoy ’09 said he felt shopping period, though technically still present, would not be as free and open under Banner as it is now. He also suggested that registration, which is currently scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Apr. 24, should be moved since students would have fewer conﬂicting time commitments later in the day, he said. Another student said the Banner policy of giving faculty the power to control every aspect of their course restrictions would be problematic. Though most members of the faculty are in favor of some form of shopping period,, the student said some faculty who dislike shopping period might eliminate it through strict course restrictions. Associate Provost and Banner Project Coordinator Nancy Dunbar addressed a number of other student issues such as privacy of information — under Banner, faculty and administrators will only be able to see information that pertains to them. But she was unable to provide concrete answers for concerns expressed by Portnoy and others — in some cases, she merely acknowledged the inquirer had raised a valid point. Dunbar said she would seek out some answers from other administrators. — Chaz Firestone

POM takes Gate by storm Brown students apparently love the antioxidant power of pomegranate juice. POM-brand drinks, which became available at the Gate at the beginning of the semester, sold out their first day and have been flying off the shelves since then. The popularity of POM juices and teas, which use pomegranate juice as a base, has taken the Gate’s management by surprise. “If we had four coolers with it, full, we’d probably sell all of them,” said Kevin Bayer, assistant manager of retail operations for the Gate. He said the Gate receives shipments of the juices and teas three times a week with plenty of back stock, but the coolers are often empty by the weekend. Bayer said he believes the drinks’ popularity is thanks to their novelty, noting that tea drinks also usually sell well at the Gate. “I try everything new that comes in,” said JoAnna Serrato ’08 after enjoying a POM tea at the Gate. Bayer also said the popularity of the drinks may be thanks to new reports on the health benefits of pomegranate fruit. “People are thinking about what they eat a lot more,” Bayer said. But at $2.99 a bottle, POM drinks are among the more expensive beverages offered at the Gate. Bayer said it will be interesting to see if sales continue at the same pace. —Julia Zweig —

Stuart Duncan Smith / Herald File Photo The Ratty and the V-Dub have both added various new dishes to the menu this semester.

Ratty and V-Dub add new recipes to menu BY DANIEL BLOCK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Sharpe Refectory and VerneyWoolley Dining Hall have added a variety of new dishes into their rotations since students returned back for the spring semester. The Ratty has added 15 different recipes to their regular lineup, said Bridget Visconti, the Dining Services dietitian in charge of menu selections. New vegetarian options include vegan brown rice pilaf with mushrooms, tomato pesto soup, vegan lentils with roasted vegetables and Indian-style spiced vegetables. New meat selections include a ham and bean soup, savory chicken stew, carne gizado, French tacos in puff pastry, barbecued beef ribs and honey dipped chicken. Macaroni and cheese with avocados and tomatoes, spinach enchiladas, zucchini pie and a new eggplant parmesan

recipe have also been added. At the V-Dub, Visconti said ﬁve new stir-fry ﬂavors have been added, as well as carrot casserole, Mohegan succotash, salmon provencal, butternut squash with shallots and sage, rotini salad with spinach and feta, creamy smashed sweet potatoes and turkey pie with cornbread. The changes were motivated by a variety of factors, Visconti said. “Menu items are added to the rotation to add variety, to replace items that are not as popular as others, to add delicious new recipes that we might have introduced at a special meal and to aid our culinary staff in their abilities to produce so many items for each meal.” Most students questioned about the new recipes were unaware of any new items. Jasmine Leonard ’09 said she had “never seen any of this.” Devin Sutcliffe ’10 agreed. “I haven’t noticed any changes,” he

said. He considered the salmon once but was hesitant to eat ﬁsh in a cafeteria setting. When told about the new menu options, Sutcliffe said he would look out for the barbecued beef ribs. Tristan Hale ’10, who regularly eats at the V-Dub, acknowledged the good intentions behind the new menu options but said, “These additions are (heading in) the wrong direction.” He said he would like to see a greater variety of ethnic foods and seafood. However, some students voiced concerns about the selection of healthy options. Though a big fan of the sweet potatoes, Sarah Garcia ’08 said she “personally has a problem with all prepared food.” Kieran Fitzgerald ’10, a vegan living in Woolley Hall, said variety is a constant problem. He said he would prefer to see more whole-wheat choices added to the cafeteria menu due to their “high glycemic index.”

Still an R.I. issue, prostitution touched Brown community 20 years ago BY EVAN BOGGS STAFF WRITER

When students picked up The Herald on the morning of March 11, 1986, they saw a front-page story that would shock both the University and nation. Four days earlier, Rebecca Kidd ’86 and Dana Smith ’87 had been arrested for soliciting payment for sex from an undercover Providence Police officer. The following week, local and national reporters swarmed the campus. It was, as Joseph Finkhouse MA’84 PhD’91 told The Herald a few days later, “the stuff TV movies are made of.” Twenty years later, prostitution remains an issue in Rhode Island, if not at Brown. Local activists’ interest in human trafficking has been growing, and two state coalitions are lobbying for the State’s General Assembly to pass a bill that would close a legal loophole that currently allows indoor prostitution. Toby Simon, director of health education at Health Services at the time of the prostitution scandal, said the police were not primarily interested in prosecuting the women but rather in finding the leader behind an alleged prostitution ring.

Following their arrest, Kidd and Smith told police that Stanley Henshaw, a local insurance agent, had coerced them to join a prostitution ring he was running. Police then raided Henshaw’s home and found small amounts of cocaine and marijuana and over 100 photographs of 46 women, six of whom were later identiﬁed as Brown students. Some photographs even had names and addresses written on the back.

FEATURE The Associated Press reported that University officials had alerted police to the situation. “(ThenProvidence Police Chief Anthony) Mancuso said administrators made the initial contact after a female Brown students spoke to an administrator,” read a Mar. 13, 1986 Herald article. University officials then called Providence police, sparking the investigation. But while the University tipped police off about the alleged prostitution, Brown officials were supportive of Kidd and Smith. Robert Reichley, then vice president for University relations, told The Herald that University officials did “not have sufficient information which would

cause us to consider disciplinary action” and that the University’s primary concern lay with the two students and their families. Before the arrests, Simon, who is now director of the Women’s Center at Bryant University, said several women had come to see her about an unidentiﬁed man who had approached them outside the OlneyMargolies Athletic Center with a business card, offering them modeling opportunities. After the women came to the man’s apartment, he would encourage them to remove their clothes for the photo shoot and have sex with him, Simon said. “Here was this guy who was sort of considered a man of decent standing and living in a respectable home and going to all the right clubs … and he was pimping these girls out to his friends at the Agawam Country Club,” Simon said. In exchange for their cooperation w with the case, police dropped the charges against Kidd and Smith. But even with the testimony of Kidd and Smith in the Superior Court case, prosecutors could not convince jurors that Henshaw was guilty of engineering a prostitution ring. In December 1987, Henshaw, whose defense team included Da-

Archive

The Brown Daily Herald front page from Mar. 13, 1986 announcing the expansion of the investigation into the prostution ring.

vid Cicilline ’83 before he was elected mayor, was acquitted of all prostitution charges and found guilty only of drug possession. “I don’t like what he was doing, the way he was doing it,” juror Helen Potter told the Providence Journal after the trial. But she added that there was not enough evidence to link Henshaw to prostitution. A United Press International headline summed it up in another way. “Jurors say Brown co-eds were ‘asking for sex,’” it read.

University reaction With media outlets including the New York Times, CBS and Time Magazine covering the story, reporters from around the nation converged on College Hill to cover the trial. “Because it was Brown and because it was a prostitution ring, people really latched onto it,” Simon said. “I think in some ways it was quite blown out of proportion.” Howard Swearer, then the Unicontinued on page 6

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W. tennis clawed by No. 19 Wildcats,Terriers continued from page 12 (BU No. 1) in the very first national tournament that I played in juniors — that match was a sort of wake-up call for the competition that I was to face for years to come. So playing her for the first time since and coming off the court with a victory for the team felt good.” But defeating Katims was no walk in the park for Ames. “She definitely has a lot of experience and came up with huge shots at clutch moments. She nailed the corners on three points in the tiebreaker,” Ames said. “I knew I had to step up my game as well, and I did. When the games were close

and it was tied up, I was loving the moment. I had a really fun time playing that match.” The close matches exposed the Bears to what pressure-packed Ivy League matches will be like in April. Nevertheless, Assistant Coach Cecily Dubusker was unhappy with the match’s results. “I believe I speak for the team when I say that Sunday’s match was disappointing,” she said. “We just couldn’t get a handle on the day across the board. Everyone had some bright spots, but not enough to get a hold of some conﬁdence and run away with the match.” On Saturday, Kentucky did not drop a match, but the Bears pro-

20 years ago, Brown students charged with participation in prostitution ring continued from page 5 versity’s president, and Reichley lambasted the press for their intense focus on the University’s involvement. In a letter to almost 10,000 parents and alums, Swearer said he and other ofﬁcials were “stunned at what seems to us as grossly sensationalized media reports,” while Reichley held a press conference soon after the incident to correct mistakes already made by the media and Mancuso. Reichley “was pretty skilled at dealing with the media and the press,” Simon said. “He stood by in supporting our students.” Though the campus initially greeted the news with shock, it was quickly absorbed into a University-wide conversation. “Students spent a lot of time talking about it, and there were (discussion forums),” Simon said. “It probably bounced around for about a month or so,” Miller said. “There were a couple of undercurrent discussions that surfaced at the time.” Discussions ranged from the

need for more ﬁnancial aid to keep students from resorting to prostitution to arguments over whether The Herald should have published the names of the two students arrested. “It was a crazy, crazy, really intense time,” then-Herald Editorin-Chief Jill Zuckman ’87 told the Herald in March 2004. “It was a fast-moving story that put us all (at The Herald) to the test.” Zuckman’s staff was especially tested Mar. 11, when a student — said to be the boyfriend of one of the women arrested — stole some 2,000 copies of the newspaper to conceal the identities of the women. But Simon remembers the sense of understanding and respect that marked the student body’s reaction to the event. “Brown students were pretty sensitive about not being too invasive or getting these women to come forward and talk about it,” she said. “Some were rather blase about it. There were women who stripped at the Foxy Lady (Gentleman’s Club). It was good money.”

vided a stiff challenge in the doubles matches. Michelle Pautler ’07 and Sara Mansur ’09 grabbed an 8-6 win at ﬁrst doubles, and Ames and Kathy Sorokko ’10 pushed the Wildcats’ third doubles team to 7-all before losing 9-7. Mansur was also a tough out in singles play, falling 75, 6-4. “I’m going to give credit to Kentucky on Saturday,” Dubusker said. “They came in being an established great team and they played like it in each spot. In doubles, we looked like we deserved to win the point, and we almost did, which was great against a team ranked 19th in the country. The fact that we are almost there is frustrating, of course, but

also pretty neat to see, too.” The Bears will be in action once again this weekend when they play Bucknell University on Saturday and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst on Sunday. According to Ames, the Bears will hope to use the experience gained from this weekend’s matches to their advantage. “(Head Coach Paul Wardlaw) has done a really good job of getting a good, tough schedule for us early in the season,” Ames said. “The teams we are playing are all very solid and once we get a bit more used to playing them, then the wins will come across the board and as a team. We are doing really well and we are only going to get better.”

46 percent approve of UCS continued from page 1 voiced their support. Freeman said the uptick in approval for UCS is probably the result of successful projects such as the winter term and Internet Protocol Television, as well as ongoing efforts such as a proposal to add a DVD rental service to the Sciences Library. But some students still say they don’t know enough about UCS to have an opinion. “To be honest, I don’t really know enough … to approve or disapprove,” said Matthew Listro ’07. “I know they work behind the scenes to give students a voice, (but) I’m unsure how they go about that.” Amanda Muchnick ’07 said she doesn’t know what UCS does but attributes that to her lack of interest in student government. “(It’s) partly my own personal thing. I’m not really into politics and this is the equivalent of Brown politics,” she said, adding that she believes any major changes on campus are “going to happen from Brown faculty and administration.” On the other hand, some students say they like the job UCS is

doing. Max Schoening ’09 said he approves of UCS and has had good experiences with the organization. A member of the Darfur Action Network, Schoening said his group “needed to raise substantial funds” for a conference and UCS gave the group Category III status, permitting them to apply for a full budget from the Undergraduate Finance Board. Schoening said it isn’t difﬁcult to get involved in UCS and thinks students who didn’t express an opinion about UCS on the poll were “lazy” and chose the “easy answer.” “If you want to know about it, I think it’s pretty easy to ﬁnd out about it,” he said. “(In) high school, people get skeptical about student government and that carries on into college.” Glassman said people “maybe take for granted” the work UCS does behind the scenes to “help Brown.” But Freeman said UCS won’t be agonizing over the results, saying members “don’t sit around reading the poll,” adding that students will likely support UCS more as they continue to see it producing results.

M. squash garners easy victory over Mass. Institute of Technology continued from page 12 eling ﬁve games and had great fan support. Haynes enjoyed the easy victory as well. “It feels great. It was fun and it was nice to be in a relaxed atmosphere with my good buddies watching,” he said. Haynes’ best memories were of the friends he made in his time as a member of the team, and he said he still stays in contact with older players who were seniors during his freshman year. Haynes embraced the atmosphere of Brown squash,

saying, “The teammates are great. The coaches are great. And the fans are great.” Head Coach Stuart LeGassick appreciated what the seniors contributed to the team this season, introducing them before the match as “magnificent ambassadors for the team and the university.” He added, “All three are wonderful role models.” The team’s third senior, co-captain Dan Petrie ’07, did not play in the match. Petrie finished out his home career last week in a thrilling five-game victory against Tufts Uni-

versity. Though Brown was not challenged by MIT, it was still an important win heading into postseason competition next week. LeGassick pointed out that “we play a tough schedule against the top teams in the nation. Anytime we can get a win it is a good thing.” The team used the easy opponent to improve on some weaker areas of its game. “I certainly wanted them to work on certain elements — mainly keeping the ball in play and volleying more,” LeGassick said. The win also gives the team posi-

tive momentum closing out the regular season. The Bears last competition of the year will be in the Hoen Cup the weekend of Feb. 24. The Hoen Cup is the second division tournament that includes teams ranked between No. 9 and No. 16 nationally. Though the team does not know where it will be seeded, it feels it has a chance to take home the cup. “It is the most wide open it has ever been,” Goldberg said. “We could end up anywhere between nine and 16. Whoever wants it most will win.”

Athlete of the Week continued from page 6 we are expecting even greater things from her in the future. We are ecstatic to have her on the team. What relationship do the men’s and women’s water polo teams have, especially since you play in different seasons? Both teams try to go to each other’s games. A few guys have come out to scrimmage with us to help us get ready for our season. We try to be just as supportive to them. Who is Brown’s biggest water polo rival? I would say the three teams that we are particularly gunning for are Hartwick (College), Princeton and (the University of) Michigan. All three teams are always tough, and we have always played extremely close games with them. Did you enjoy growing up in Northern California near Stanford University? I actually practiced with the Stanford water polo club team while I was in high school. By sophomore year, I was playing against girls on the varsity Stanford team, but it was tough. There is nothing like getting your butt kicked by college girls when you are in high school. They make you work a lot harder. Are you a San Francisco Giants fan? Sort of. I’ve always been a little bit of a Giants fan at heart, but I’m not a die-hard by any sense of the word. Do you root for the Los Angeles Lakers or Clippers? I root for the hot basketball players. What do you enjoy most about water polo? The best thing about water polo at Brown is my teammates. My three fellow seniors (Paige Lansing ’07, Caitlin Fahey ’07 and Claire Angyal ’07) are some of my best friends at Brown. Water polo is enjoyable because I look forward to spending time with them and the rest of the team. Do you have any nicknames? I’m Gumba No. 2. It’s an Italian name for someone special in the family. My dad uses it, partially because I’m special and partially because my dad can’t remember my name. How would you describe yourself? I’m pretty shy, but I think that doesn’t show when I’m with my team. We are constantly cracking each other up, especially because the freshmen have a whole new set of antics on the pool deck. How does shyness affect your play? Once I get in the pool, especially at my position at twometer offense, I have to wrestle and ﬁght for position all the time. Shyness is not rewarded and usually gives way to my competitiveness.

W ORLD & N ATION FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

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BRIEF

Bush promises new effort in Afghanistan WASHINGTON (Washington Post) — President Bush vowed Thursday to make a sustained new military and political effort to beat back resurgent Taliban forces as he turned his attention back to Afghanistan and a conﬂict that has been overshadowed for the past couple years by the larger war in Iraq. Bush announced that he will continue a temporary increase of 3,200 U.S. troops in Afghanistan “for the foreseeable future” and urged Congress to give him $11.8 billion more to accelerate training, reconstruction and counternarcotics programs. He also insisted that NATO allies should drop restrictions on their forces in Afghanistan and join the ﬁght against Islamic extremists. “America and our allies are going to stand with these folks,” the president said in an address to the American Enterprise Institute. “That’s the message I want to deliver to the Afghanistan people today. Free debates are important. But our commitment is strong. We will train you, we will help you, and we will stand with you as you defend your new democracy.”

D.C. government hands out 250,000 condoms WASHINGTON (Washington Post) — It comes in a purple and mustard-yellow package with a message aimed squarely at anyone having sex in the nation’s capital, and on Friday the city will dispense 250,000 of these D.C.-branded condoms during a massive giveaway. In a single morning, the kickoff distribution to groups working on the front line of HIV/AIDS will almost equal the number of condoms supplied by the D.C. Health Department in 2005 and 2006 combined. The agency wants to hand out 1 million by year’s end, making the small package the most visible element of the District’s efforts to reverse epidemic levels of the virus. “It’s overdue, tangible proof of what we’re doing for public health,” said Gregg A. Pane, director of the department. With condoms one of the most effective ways of preventing the spread of HIV, Pane said, he hopes that they will be placed prominently and accessibly not only in government buildings, health clinics and social service agencies but also in barbershops, nightclubs, convenience stores and other locations. “We want to go places we haven’t gone before,” Pane said. Ofﬁcials had planned to introduce the new design on Valentine’s Day, which, because of its amorous overtones, doubles as National Condom Awareness Day. And if internal complications and bad weather had not delayed the launch, the District would have shared the distinction of having the ﬁrst municipally authorized protection in the country.

Trial begins in Spanish terror attack MADRID, Spain (Los Angeles Times) — Twenty-nine defendants sat on one side of the heavily guarded courtroom Thursday, most of them shielded by bulletproof glass. A few yards away sat some 50 victims: angry, somber survivors and families of the nearly 200 dead. On March 11, 2004, bombs planted by suspected Islamic militants ripped through four commuter trains during Madrid’s morning rush hour, killing 191 people and wounding more than 1,800 others. It was the ﬁrst time al-Qaida-linked attacks had hit European soil, shedding new light on the existence of militant networks prepared to commit violence. The carnage traumatized a thriving nation and upended Spanish politics. Many here hope the trial now will somehow help heal the scars. Thursday’s proceedings, televised live to a transﬁxed national audience, opened with questioning of a key defendant often portrayed as a mastermind behind the attacks. Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, an Egyptian, was arrested in Milan three months after the bombings and purportedly boasted of his role in the conspiracy.

Ancient Civilization liked it spicy (Los Angeles Times) — Thousands of years before ketchup, mayonnaise or Grey Poupon, there was the red-hot chili pepper. Researchers have found evidence that farmers in Latin American villages from the Bahamas to Panama to Peru domesticated the spicy fruit more than 6,100 years ago, making it perhaps the oldest condiment. The scientists were surprised to ﬁnd that those early agricultural societies had advanced beyond cultivating staples such as maize, yams, beans and cassava. “This is an indication that there was a complex system of agriculture and sophisticated cuisine very early, even before pottery in some places,” said Linda Perry, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and leader of the study, published Friday in the journal Science. Perry and other food archaeologists found microscopic fossils of chili pepper starches on milling stones, on cooking vessels and in the dirt at seven early settlements in the New World.

www.browndailyherald.com

Clinton treads cautiously with Obama BY GLENN THRUSH NEWSDAY

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., may be in the ﬁght of her political life with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, but racial politics may dictate a few pulled punches. Clinton isn’t likely to let Obama take undefended shots at her, but she’s acutely aware that she must be careful to avoid alienating black voters who value the Illinois senator’s role as a racial pioneer, even while they support Clinton in 2008, supporters say. “She has to be smart, careful and cautious in how she deals with him,” said a black Democrat allied with Clinton. “The contest for black voters, this is a contest she thought she had in the bag. . . . Now it’s not, so she’s got to be careful.” Clinton is extremely popular

with blacks, outpolling Obama among black Democrats in some recent polls. But her backers fret that such support could evaporate instantly should she make a single insensitive comment, such as Sen. Joe Biden’s, D-Del., statement that Obama was a “clean” and “articulate” candidate. “Hillary has to thread the needle with Obama; she has no wiggle room to make mistakes,” said University of Virginia politics professor Lynn Sanders, who studies race and politics. “It’s a great disadvantage for Hillary . . . . Without undercutting her own campaign, she needs to celebrate Obama’s candidacy.” People close to Clinton’s campaign say that she’s more likely to criticize the Illinois Democrat indirectly, employing proxies in the black community. But that strategy has its own pitfalls: The news earlier this week that South Carolina Demo-

crat Darrell Jackson endorsed Clinton was eclipsed by word that her campaign would pay Jackson’s politically wired consulting ﬁrm $210,000 over the next two years. In the meantime, former President Bill Clinton, who is even more popular among blacks than his wife, has been making dozens of calls to black leaders. It’s not clear if the non-running mate plans to accompany his spouse during her Sunday visit to South Carolina, a state whose Democratic primary electorate is half black. “Her biggest proxy, that’s going to be Bill Clinton,” said Bill Lynch, a Harlem-based Democratic consultant who backs Clinton in 2008. Racial politics aside, Hillary Clinton has little to gain from attacking anybody and much to gain from being attacked this early in the campaign — especially by Obama, who has claimed he’ll run a positive campaign.

Legislators ponder tobacco reform BY RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR LOS ANGELES T IMES

WASHINGTON — House and Senate lawmakers of both parties introduced sweeping legislation Thursday to make tobacco subject to the kind of federal safety regulation that now applies to medicines and food, and said prospects for action are the most favorable in years. “This bill is long overdue, and this is the year, I believe, that regulation of tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration is going to become law,” said Rep. Henr y Waxman, D-Calif., a longtime nemesis of the tobacco industr y who now chairs the Government Reform Committee. “If this gets to the House ﬂoor, (its passage) will be (by) a ver y large margin,” said Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, Waxman’s Repub-

lican co-sponsor. The legislation could garner enough support to override a veto, Davis predicted. Although the White House has not supported similar legislation in the past, it’s not clear what position President Bush will take this time. Administration ofﬁcials took a neutral stance on Thursday. “We’re in the process of reviewing the legislation,” Health and Human Ser vices spokeswoman Christina Pearson said. “As a general point on smoking reduction, I do want to note the substantial progress that has happened over the past 40 years. Though we must remain vigilant ... reducing the incidence of smoking in this countr y has helped us avert many thousands of cases of disease.” The tobacco industr y is divided over federal regulation. Most

major public health groups support it. The bill introduced Thursday would grant the FDA legal authority to regulate nicotine. The agency had previously asserted it had such power, but the Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that Congress must speciﬁcally authorize it. Under the bill, the agency would also gain the power to restrict tobacco advertising, require stronger warnings on cigarette packs, mandate reductions in nicotine levels, regulate additives to tobacco products and set stiff penalties for selling to minors. Smoking is a leading cause of cancer, heart disease and emphysema and is estimated to cause more than 400,000 deaths a year. continued on page 8

Maternal ﬁsh consumption linked to child IQ BY SALLY SQUIRES WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON — A large study has found that children of women who ate little fish during pregnancy had lower IQs and more behavioral and social problems than youngsters whose mothers ate plenty of seafood, a finding that challenges the U.S. government’s standard advice to limit seafood while pregnant. The study finds “no evidence to lend support to the warning of the U.S. advisor y that pregnant women should limit their seafood consumption,” concluded the team led by Joseph Hibbeln, a researcher at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, writing in the Lancet. The study found that children born to women who ate about three ser vings of fish per week or less — near the maximum advised by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency — had lower verbal IQs, more problems with fine motor skills and higher rates of behavioral and social difficulties, compared to youngsters

whose mothers consumed more seafood during pregnancy. The advice to limit seafood consumption is based on concerns that children might absorb too much methylmercur y, which builds up in fish and can cause neurological problems. “Higher maternal fish consumption results in children showing better neurological function than children whose mothers ate low amounts of or no fish during pregnancy,” noted Gar y Myers, professor of neurology and pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center, in an editorial accompanying the study. “These results highlight the importance of including fish in the maternal diet during pregnancy and lend support to the popular opinion that fish is brain food.” The findings are also expected to help determine whether the benefits of eating seafood for some segments of the population outweigh the risks of ingesting methlymercur y and other contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). “I think that the U.S. warnings

are not meant to discourage ﬁsh consumption,” noted Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Har vard School of Public Health. He urged incontinued on page 9

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Egypt quietly cracking Israel worries about makeup down on Islamist group of new Palestinian government BY MEGAN STACK AND NOHA EL HENNAWY LOS ANGELES T IMES

CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt’s regime is seizing upon a moment of regional chaos and U.S. inattention to crack down aggressively on the country’s most popular opposition group and shore up its hold on power, analysts here say. In a bald push against the Muslim Brotherhood, the secular government in recent weeks has arrested hundreds of activists, unveiled new restrictions on political Islam and published a stream of anti-Brotherhood propaganda in the state-run media. More than 80 members were jailed on Thursday alone, officials in the banned group said. “This is the most brutal campaign against the Brothers since (Egyptian President Hosni) Mubarak came to power,” said Amr Shobaki, a political analyst and Muslim Brotherhood expert at the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. With the U.S. distracted by the war in Iraq and increasingly nervous about the regional rise of political Islam, Mubarak’s regime appears free to squeeze the Brotherhood, which has long been officially outlawed — though tolerated — as an Islamist opposition force. About 300 Brotherhood members have been imprisoned in recent arrests, including at least 100 senior activists. Some of the prisoners’ assets were frozen by order of the government. Meanwhile, Egyptian officials and their media mouthpieces have accused the group of creating armed militias and receiving aid from Iran. “The banned Muslim Brotherhood group is dangerous to Egypt’s security,” President Hosni Mubarak told an Egyptian

newspaper in a recent interview. If the group gets more powerful, “investments will stop and unemployment will increase. … Egypt will be completely isolated from the rest of the world.” Brotherhood activists have seen a severe shrinking of leeway since 2005, when they stunned the country by capturing one-fi fth of the parliamentary seats in national elections. Back then, U.S. officials said the invasion of Iraq would deliver democracy to the Arab world, and Egyptian officials portrayed the empowerment of the Brotherhood as a necessary step toward democratization. “Democracy cannot progress in Egypt without deciding what to do with them,” a ruling party official said at the time. But voting has empowered Islamists across the board: Hamas in the Palestinian territories, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iranianbacked Shiite parties in Iraq, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood. Formed in the 1920s to advocate Islam and oppose secular and Western influence, the Brotherhood has a history of battling Egypt’s governments. With its vast network of social services, it is deeply popular among religious Egyptians who regard it as a non-corrupt answer to cronyism and decadence. But secular Egyptians fear its empowerment, and U.S. diplomats have a policy of shunning its leaders. Mubarak has controlled Egypt for a quarter of a century, permitting virtually no dissent. As the one movement he hasn’t been able to squelch, the Brotherhood is his nemesis. At the same time, it allows Mubarak and his inner circle to justify their repressive style of rule by claiming that the only other option is an Islamic state adminis-

continued on page 9

BY PAUL RICHTER LOS ANGELES T IMES

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration’s latest Middle East peace initiative, which begins this weekend, is taking place under a cloud of uncertainty because of Israeli anxieties about the complexion of a proposed Palestinian unity government. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lead an American push to bring together Israeli and Palestinian leaders for the first talks in six years about the eventual shape of the long-promised independent Palestinian state. But hopes for the U.S. mission have dimmed amid Israeli worries that a new Palestinian government, while including more moderates, may not go far enough in rejecting the views of the militant Hamas party leaders who also will play a central role. Many Israelis have indicated they would be reluctant to try to work with such a government. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared his intentions to cooperate Thursday, but Israeli cabinet officials and other commentators have spoken pessimistically about the gathering, while some Palestinian officials have expressed their own doubts. Rice acknowledged Thursday that the peace mission was “obviously more complicated because of the uncertainties surrounding the national unity government.” But she signaled that the United States would continue to push for progress by working through its primary ally, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, even if U.S. officials dislike the new Palestinian government. “In the Middle East, if you wait for the perfect circumstances, you will never take the airplane,” Rice said. Under the Palestinian government structure, the president’s of-

fice is separate from the administrative branches that will be overseen by the new ruling coalition. The U.S. could still provide aid and political support to Abbas even if the administration decides it cannot do business with the remainder of the government. Rice will meet over the weekend in bilateral sessions with Olmert and Abbas, and all three will meet in Jerusalem on Monday. Rice’s mission is built around the idea that by renewing discussions of the Palestinian state, she can illustrate to Palestinians the advantages of choosing a moderate path rather than the violent resistance espoused by Hamas. The administration also is eager to show allied Arab governments that it can make progress on Israeli-Palestinian issues, in hopes of strengthening their cooperation in stabilizing Iraq and resisting the influence of Iran. But the politically weak Olmert government has been unenthusiastic about peacemaking overtures that could build pressure for Israeli concessions and weaken its political position. Many Israelis have been wary of the new Palestinian government, announced Feb. 8 in Mecca, even though it will incorporate moderate and pro-Western Palestinian figures. Abbas, who is eager to have world powers resume direct aid to the Palestinian government, points out that the Mecca deal commits the government to respect previous agreements. But critics say the Palestinians are not supporting the three principles called for by the diplomatic quartet of the U.S., the United Nations, the European Union and Russia: recognizing Israel, repudiating violence, and observing past agreements. Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday urged Olmert to cancel the three-way talks in light of the Mecca agree-

ment. While Olmert has agreed to go ahead with the talks, Israeli officials in Jerusalem say he does not want to engage in detailed negotiations until he learns directly from Abbas about the power-sharing deal. To start with, he plans to demand the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured in June and is being held by Hamas. “I think we will have a tough situation to convince Israel to deal with a unity government,” said Abbas aide Nabil Amr. “But what can we do? This is what we achieved in Mecca.” There were news reports, attributed to Abbas aides, that U.S. officials have privately told Palestinian officials that they would not recognize the new government. U.S. officials denied the claim. There are also risks that the new government will not survive long. On Thursday, the cabinet of the former Hamas government formally resigned, a procedural step required to the open the way for the new team. But some observers believe the many unresolved issues, and the recent bloodshed between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah party, will make the new government inherently fragile. A U.S. official defended the decision to go ahead with the talks. “What happens to the government is important, but it doesn’t change the ability, or the rationale, of Abbas engaging with the prime minister,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Can anyone argue that this will make less sense than it did when Hamas led the government?” U.S. officials continue to play down their expectations for the three-way meeting, saying that they are beginning as informal discussions. “Whether this leads to something bigger and grander, we’ll just have to see,” said the U.S. official.

Legislators ponder tobacco reform continued from page 7 Three presidential candidates immediately signed on to the legislation: Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Hillar y Clinton, DN.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill. Its principal sponsors in the Senate are Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and John Cornyn, RTexas. The last major battle over tobacco regulation came in 2004,

when a bill passed the Senate but faltered in the House. It was blocked by Republican leaders, including former Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas. The new Democratic leadership in both chambers is behind the legislation, advocates said. “We’ve always had bipartisan support, but we didn’t have support from the leadership,” Waxman said. The biggest cigarette company, Phillip Morris, favors the legislation, saying that FDA oversight would provide the industr y with a stable legal framework and could reduce harm from smoking. But many smaller companies oppose regulation, in part because they say it could create roadblocks to competition that would beneﬁt Phillip Morris. Congressional debates over health issues often turn personal, and this one promises to be passionate. Davis said his own father died of emphysema. Another co-sponsor, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., recalled that his father was a two-pack-a-day Camel smoker and died of lung cancer. “If we can regulate nicotine in gum, in patches and in nasal sprays, why can’t we do it in cigarettes?” Davis said.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Mubarak regime suppresses Islamists ‘Amphibian Ark’ launched continued from page 8 tered by the Brotherhood. The elections played neatly into that argument. Many analysts here believe the Bush administration began to back away nervously from its democracy push when it saw Islamists winning at the polls across the Middle East. Egypt’s hand also has been strengthened by the instability in Iraq and the Palestinian territories, conﬂicts that have forced the United States to call on powerful Sunni allies in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan for diplomatic and political backing. Nabil Abdel Fattah, an analyst at the Al Ahram Center, said the war in Iraq “has given more weight to the Egyptian foreign policy, which will give the government leeway in dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood.” “The regional and international atmospheres have become convenient,” Fattah said. “Attacks against the group will continue in order to send strong messages.” A criminal court acquitted a handful of prominent Brotherhood detainees last month, but they were immediately locked back into prison while their cases were sent to military court. In the most startling and incendiary charge, the Egyptian government has begun to accuse the Brotherhood of forming and training underground militias. In news stories short on details, ofﬁcials say they have seized documents proving that the Brotherhood has secret cells dedicated to provoking civil disobedience. The groups are quietly toiling toward a “sacred mission,” Interior Minister Habib Adli told an Egyptian newspaper recently. The accusations mark a serious departure from the status quo between the regime and the Brotherhood, considered the only opposition group with any serious street popularity.

The old understanding was simple: The Brotherhood was officially outlawed but treated with grudging tolerance. The Islamist group didn’t try to overthrow the government, and in exchange, the regime looked the other way when the movement slipped its leaders into parliament by running them as “independents.” Lately, the mounting pressure seems to have pitched the group into crisis, forcing it to cast about for ways to cement its foothold in the government. Brotherhood leaders have taken pains to tailor their words for an intellectual, even Westernized, audience. Their speeches are carefully moderate, scrupulously tolerant and reverent toward democracy. Seeking to calm fears that it would morph into another Taliban if it gained power, the group has reached out to Egyptian Christians. Seeking to ease concern about women’s rights, it fielded a female candidate in last year’s elections. (She lost.) And in an improbable move, a Brotherhood leader recently told the Times that the Islamic head scarf was a choice for women, not an obligation. But the group’s quest for credibility has been badly undercut by a series of public relations disasters. Brotherhood lawmakers raged in parliament after Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told a female reporter that the head scarf was a sign of “backwardness” and “regression.” They demanded that Hosni be replaced by someone who “respects the constitution and the Islamic Sharia,” and they called unanimously for a no-confidence vote. Veiled women marched in protest; clerics issued a storm of condemnations. Though the uproar eventually died down, it left feminists and secular-leaning Egyptians more leery than ever about the Broth-

erhood. The hubbub also fed the perception that Brotherhood lawmakers have neglected the issues of poverty and housing in favor of showy campaigns to advertise their Islamist credentials. Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, a Brotherhood leader, defended the group’s record in parliament. Members have done their best to chip away at a repressive government, he said at his ofﬁce on a noisy street near downtown Cairo. “The problem is, we work under a despotic, corrupt regime that doesn’t really care about the members of parliament, that only cares about the ruling elite,” Fotouh said. “In the United States, a congressman may change things. Here, it’s impossible.” But the woes in parliament were nothing compared with the scandal that erupted at Al Azhar University, the storied seat of Sunni Muslim learning. In December, young men from the Brotherhood’s student group dressed in black and staged a military-style parade, complete with martial arts demonstrations, to protest restrictions on student political activities at Al Azhar. The action shocked a nation where public demonstrations have been banned since President Anwar Sadat was shot dead by soldiers in a 1981 military procession, and it fueled fear that the Brotherhood might have secret militias. “This militia show deﬁed the state and contradicted all the peaceful ideas the Muslim Brotherhood talks about,” Fattah said. Despite the tension, or perhaps in reaction to it, the Brotherhood has announced that members are drawing up a political platform for a party. Although the regime is unlikely to consider giving the group a license, the move is widely seen as an attempt to continue the Brotherhood’s push into mainstream politics.

Maternal fish consumption linked to child IQ continued from page 7 creased consumption of seafood during pregnancy, but excluded fish that have particularly high mercur y levels — shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish. “We need to make it clearer that women don’t need to limit their consumption to zero to 12 ounces of fish per week,” said Rimm, but he added that he does not think the new findings are strong enough to change federal policy yet. In 2001 and again in 2004, both the FDA and the EPA warned women of childbearing age, as well as those who are pregnant or nursing, and young children, to avoid consuming any shark, swordfish, tilefish or king mackerel. While acknowledging that seafood can be an important part of a balanced diet, the agencies urged the public to consume a variety of fish and said that women in these groups “could safely eat 12 ounces per week of cooked fish”— but not more. In 2004, the agencies added a warning to eat no more than six ounces per week of albacore tuna per week. These advisories were based on theoretical calculations, however, so Hibbeln teamed with Brit-

ish researchers from the University of Bristol researchers to look more closely at the actual effects of seafood consumption in pregnant women and their children. In 1991, the Bristol researchers had begun the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, one of the longest and most comprehensive studies ever to assess how environmental factors, including diet, affect the development, health and well-being of children. It included more than 14,000 women and some 13,000 of their children who sur vived to 12 months of age. Participants ﬁlled out food questionnaires four times during pregnancy and answered specific questions about their seafood consumption during the third trimester. Later, they provided information at regular inter vals about the diet, education, social circumstances, behavioral and developmental outcomes of their children. The children also under went intelligence testing at eight years. Because the United Kingdom conducts national tests of students, the researchers were also able to check school test scores of children who dropped out of the study. To the researchers’ surprise, children of women consuming

the most ﬁsh showed signiﬁcantly higher verbal IQs at age eight and fewer behavioral problems than youngsters whose mothers consumed only the amount of seafood currently recommended in the United States. The EPA said Thursday that until the results can be reviewed and replicated, its advice would remain the same.

BY JENNY JARVIE LOS ANGELES TIMES

ATLANTA — Scientists from across the world gathered in Atlanta Thursday to launch an “Amphibian Ark” for thousands of species of frogs, toads and salamanders threatened by a deadly fungus. The ark project was envisaged as scientists came to realize that the amphibians could not be saved in the wild, said Kevin Zippel, Amphibian Program Ofﬁcer for Amphibian Ark. The group is appealing to zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens across the world to construct special, bio-secure facilities for 500 each of nearly 2,000 endangered amphibian species — most of which are frogs. After the frogs are collected, they would be cleaned to make sure they did not bring the fungus into the captive environment. That stopgap portion of the project is estimated to cost about $40 million. The scientists estimate their fuller goal of researching how to save the species will cost ten times that amount. They are establishing a global fundraising campaign and plan to designate 2008 “Year of the Frog.” The crisis now facing amphibians from the fungus and other causes is one that scientists liken to the extinction of dinosaurs: about 170 of the nearly 6,000 species of amphibians have become extinct in the last decade and 2,000 more are threatened. “This is a mass extinction never before seen in human history,” said Joseph Mendelson, curator of herpetology at Zoo Atlanta and executive director of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources’ amphibian specialist group. “From a purely cold-hearted scientiﬁc perspective, it’s a fascinating thing to document when we’re still guessing what happened to dinosaurs.” Among the extinct species is the Costa Rican golden toad. The Panama golden frog and the Dominican mountain chicken frog are close to extinct. In California, about 85 percent of the 650 frog populations at the Yosemite National Park are infected with the fungus. Because their skin is so permeable, amphibians are particularly sensitive to new diseases and changes in the environment, such as climate change, pollution, and deforestation.

The rapidly-spreading deadly fungus — the chytrid fungus — was discovered and named as a new genus in 1998. It is a microscopic parasite that invades the surface layers of the frog’s skin, making it difficult for them to use their pores and regulate water intake. There is no evidence that the fungus could shift from amphibians to other organisms such as mammals or plants, but the scientists who traveled to Zoo Atlanta from countries as diverse as Colombia, Australia, Germany and India argue that the plight of amphibians presents a warning for humans, as well as a critical opportunity to learn. One of the most abundant vertebrate groups, amphibians play a critical role in the ecosystem, functioning as a middle system in food chains. Without amphibian tadpoles in streams in the cloud forests of Panama, a hyper-prolific algae is spreading, affecting stream ecology and water chemistry. Meanwhile, entire groups of predators that rely on amphibians, such as snakes, have slowly starved to death. Amphibians also have significant biomedical value for humans: the skin of the Ecuadorian tricolor frog produces a pain reliever that is more powerful than morphine, without any addictive side effects; secretions from the Peruvian giant monkey frog are used to treat seizures and depression; antimicrobial peptides secreted from the Australian red-eyed tree frog’s skin disables HIV infection. “As they disappear, our medicine chest goes with them,” Mendelson said. Scientists are not sure of the fungus’s origin. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published a study suggesting that it began in Africa. Researchers across the world are studying the African clawed frog, which carries the fungus on its skin, but is immune to its fatal effects. “Bringing (frogs) into an amphibian ark is really the last option,” said Kevin Buley, director of herpetology at Chester Zoo, England, and chair of the European Zoos and Aquariums’ amphibian ark. “Everyone is aware of endangered pandas and tigers, but no one is making noise about these tiny creatures that have lived for 200 million years. “Think of them as the canaries in the coalmine,” he said.

“The ballot is stronger than the bullet.” — Abraham Lincoln

Celebrate Presidents Day!

E DITORIAL & L ETTERS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

STAF F EDITORIAL

Diamonds and coal Coal to the couple who may or may not have gotten it on in the bathroom at Tealuxe. Very public displays of affection may inspire us to ask you to get a room, but that’s not the room we had in mind. Can’t you stick to the 13th floor of the SciLi like everyone else? But a diamond to the reporter whose attempts to question the Valentine’s lovebirds were largely ignored as he suffered and sat idly by, observing “coy glances and affectionate nuzzles.” As if the slushy weather wasn’t bad enough. A diamond to Shape Up R.I.’s group nutrition education sessions for resembling a totalitarian rally. All together now: Sodium! Sugar! Hail victory! Coal to anti-cyberbullying legislation just introduced in the Rhode Island General Assembly. We haven’t completely figured out what cyberbullying is, but we’re pretty sure it’s how we coerce our writers into taking story assignments. A diamond to POM at the Gate. Sipping the light pink, overpriced goodness while sporting Uggs and chatting on our RAZRs is going to look sooooo trendy. A diamond to the sustainable food initiative for trying to bring chic organic farming to campus. Too bad that though farming is so hot right now, some of us won’t be willing to get our hands dirty. I mean, iPod headphones don’t really go with overalls. Speaking of trendy and healthy, though, could you pass another POM? Coal to emPOWER’s 1,000 faces for climate change. We respect your crusade, but nice job killing five trees with all that paper. Also, putting up the exhibit just as snow falls and temperatures drop isn’t the best timing… A diamond to Davis Guggenheim ’86, director of “An Inconvenient Truth,” for aiding the fight against global warming in an enviably high-profile way. Yet we feel compelled to also dish out a coal since he was that guy who always falls asleep in the Rock. Davis, did you ever do that thing where you fall asleep on your laptop keyboard and keep typing “e”s with your nose? A diamond to the new dining hall recipes. We can’t wait to fill our plates with new entrees that will almost immediately bore us. And, finally, after an extensive search and grueling interview process that yielded denial after denial, we grant Drew Gilpin Faust a cubic zirconium. Sure, you got Harvard. But Ruth? She got a valentine.

ROXANNE PALMER

LETTERS Prewitt ’08 underestimates ethical consumption To the Editor: In his column about Fair Trade coffee (“Moral uncertainty at Jo’s,” Feb. 13), Matt Prewitt ’08 notes that the purchase of Fair Trade coffee is sometimes simply an expression of a preference “to think of (oneself) as ethical.” He correctly argues that this preference for ethical appearances is no guarantor of the actual ethicality of purchasing Fair Trade coffee. Prewitt has demonstrated an important point about the quest (or “preference”) to behave ethically: If fulﬁlling the preference to appear ethical doesn’t guarantee ethical behavior, then fulﬁlling preferences, in general, doesn’t guarantee ethical behavior either. If there really are ethical imperatives related to purchasing decisions, then there may be times when the laws and norms governing the market get it wrong

about which preferences are ethical to fulﬁll. I assume for instance that the purchase of Mississippi cotton in 1820, though legal, was on the wrong side of the line. I do not use this example to imply that an ethical decision on Fair Trade coffee is equally obvious as one related to slave-produced cotton — it’s not. I merely want to point out that market laws might not set boundaries that correspond with ethics, and there probably is a line to be drawn somewhere. Though Prewitt does not like the thought, we might be “expressing our social consciences through consumption” more often than we realize. David Wishnick ‘07 Feb. 13

Bright ’07 wrong on the war in Iraq To the Editor:

T HE B ROWN D AILY H ERALD Editors-in-Chief Eric Beck Mary-Catherine Lader

Executive Editors Allison Kwong Ben Leubsdorf

Senior Editors Stephen Colelli Sonia Saraiya BUSINESS

EDITORIAL Lydia Gidwitz Lindsey Meyers Stephanie Bernhard Stu Woo Simmi Aujla Sara Molinaro Ross Frazier Jacob Schuman Michal Zapendowski Peter Cipparone Justin Goldman Sarah Demers Erin Frauenhofer Madeleine Marecki

Arts & Culture Editor Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Features Editor Metro Editor Metro Editor News Editor Opinions Editor Opinions Editor Sports Editor Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor Asst. Sports Editor

PHOTO Eunice Hong Christopher Bennett Jacob Melrose

Photo Editor Photo Editor Sports Photo Editor

General Manager Mandeep Gill General Manager Ally Ouh Executive Manager Darren Ball Executive Manager Dan DeNorch Laurie-Ann Paliotti Sr. Advertising Manager Ofﬁce Manager Susan Dansereau PRODUCTION Design Editor Steve DeLucia Copy Desk Chief Chris Gang Graphics Editor Mark Brinker Graphics Editor Roxanne Palmer Web Editor Luke Harris

Benjamin Bright ’07 argues that the United States has a moral obligation to prolong the war in Iraq (“Prevent genocide in Iraq: the case for staying put,” Feb. 15). Were we to withdraw, he writes, “The scale of murder would be inconceivable.” Really? How does Bright know that withdrawal would ineluctably lead to disaster? Moreover, given his admission that “even with the presence of the U.S. military, we are unable to contain the civil war and sectarian hatred that is ravaging Iraq,” what makes Bright think that prolonging the war would ultimately result in a better humanitarian outcome than withdrawal?

Does he think that the chances of sectarian slaughter would be reduced if we were to stay put for another two years? Five years? Ten years? Of course, in raising these questions I do not mean to suggest that withdrawal is some kind of panacea. Yet in simply assuming that staying put is better than withdrawal, Bright gives the impression that the moral case for prolonging the war is far more clear-cut than it actually is. Kingston Reif ’05 Feb. 15

POST- MAGAZINE Hillary Dixler Melanie Duch Taryn Martinez Rajiv Jayadevan Mindy Smith

Managing Editor Managing Editor Managing Editor Features Editor Features Editor

Christian Martell, Steve DeLucia, Designer Jacob Frank, Chris Gang, Copy Editors Senior Staff Writers Rachel Arndt, Michael Bechek, Oliver Bowers, Zachary Chapman, Chaz Firestone, Kristina Kelleher, Debbie Lehmann, Scott Lowenstein, James Shapiro, Michael Skocpol Staff Writers Susana Aho, Taylor Barnes, Evan Boggs, Alissa Cerny, Irene Chen, Stewart Dearing, Nicole Dungca, Hannah Furst, Sarah Geller, Thi Ho, Rebecca Jacobson, Tsvetina Kamenova, Hannah Levintova, Abe Lubetkin, Christian Martell, Taryn Martinez, Zachary McCune, Jennifer Park, Nathalie Pierrepont, Kam Sripada, Robin Steele, Spencer Trice, Sara Walter, Allissa Wickham, Max Winograd Sports Staff Writers Amy Ehrhart, Kaitlyn Laabs, Eliza Lane, Kathleen Loughlin, Megan McCahill, Marco Santini, Tom Trudeau, Steele West Account Administrators Emilie Aries, Alexander Hughes Design Staff Brianna Barzola, Aurora Durfee, Sophie Elsner, Christian Martell, Matthew McCabe, Ezra Miller, Sarah Raifman Photo Staff Stuart Duncan-Smith, Austin Freeman, Tai Ho Shin Copy Editors Ayelet Brinn, Catherine Cullen, Erin Cummings, Karen Evans, Jacob Frank, Ted Lamm, Lauren Levitz, Cici Matheny, Alex Mazerov, Ezra Miller, Joy Neumeyer, Madeleine

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

O PINIONS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Protests: Force or folly? Protestors — don’t be afraid to show your anger The United for Peace and Justice march on Saturday, Jan. 27 showed Congress that an estimated half-million Americans are opposed to the escalation of troops in Iraq passionately enough that they were willing to travel to Washington, D.C., and spend a day protesting it. It is absolutely vital that this be the case. The American people have a responsibility to pay attention to what their government is doing and to make noise when their administration is perpetrating war for profit in foreign lands. Going to pre-planned marches is part of fulfilling this responsibility. It’s important to make headlines and come together to communicate and collaborate. But as I walked through the slow-moving crowd that Saturday — the parents pushing strollers and the kids with hand-painted signs, the performers on stilts, the drummers, the people chanting, everyone following the pre-determined route that snaked circuitously around the Capitol building — I felt like there was something missing. There has been some debate recently among young leftists about the efficacy of marches in promoting the kind of radical change that the political situation in our country so clearly mandates. I believe these marches are absolutely necessary — if for no other reason than that they are evidence of a spirit of dissent that must exist in any truly democratic society. Protests send a message to the public that the government’s actions can and should be questioned. They encourage people to think critically about the government’s policies and they let the people in power know that we are not complacent. I remember reading an essay by Arundhati Roy in which she thanked the American people who marched in opposition to the Iraq war and showed the world that not all of us are complicit in the actions of our government. It is important for us to call the government out, to unify and to prove that we have a pulse and a brain. I don’t think I could live in a society where such marches didn’t take place. But something about the Jan. 27 march felt insufficient, and I think it was the lack of rage that we should all rightfully be feeling about our government’s actions. More than 3,000 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq. The occupation has killed 655,000 Iraqis, according to a Johns Hopkins report. Guantanamo Bay is still open, despite the flagrant torture taking place there. Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are terrified, traumatized and ill-equipped, and it’s looking more and more likely that the same spirit of corporate greed that has destroyed Iraq will bring us into Iran. It’s easy to forget these things when so many people are standing around holding signs with puns that insult the president’s intelligence or portray him cartoonishly with devil horns or a Pinocchio nose. Perhaps humor is a way for people opposed to the war to deal with the terror and anger they feel towards the current administration, but humor is also an extremely effective way to ignore the true depth of the problem. Joking about George Bush is unproductive — he is already a laughing-stock, and laughing at him more is not going to end the war. Not that I think a protest should necessarily be all business. I found the overall tone of the march to be joyful — it was a nice day, and people were happy to see so many others out in support of the cause. Someone was handing out stickers with smiley faces on them. Does it detract from the cause to wear a smiley-face stick-

er and rejoice in the fact that we are united against the war? I don’t know. I wore one. I’m still not sure. We need to ﬁnd a balance between being happy to see each other and sending a clear message about the fact that we won’t tolerate U.S. occupation in the Middle East. Scripted marches, though important, have become something the government and the public expect — it is no longer a novelty if half a million people turn out to an antiwar protest. Though I was not part of the small group of young people who attempted to storm the Capitol building and I’m not sure I see that as the most pragmatic approach, I at least have to commend them for expressing the sort of unbridled rage that we don’t see enough of in our so-called democracy. Actions outside of the normal repertoire of protest express a profound sense of

Violent protests are counterproductive Throughout history, protests have long been seen as effective means of rallying support, signaling dissatisfaction and calling attention to causes in need of action. From bringing about independence in India and ending South Africa’s system of apartheid to forming one of the key components of the civil rights movement here in the United States, protests have long played their part in helping to enact important political and social change. While each of these movements used varying methods, they all sought to affect change by changing the minds and the hearts of society and its leaders. The ongoing antiwar movement in the United States is no exception. As with any other means of communicating thoughts and ideas, there are some ways of getting the point of a protest across that are vastly more effective than others.

BY AMY LITTLEFIELD GUEST COLUMNIST

POINT COUNTERPOINT COUNTER TREVOR GLEASON OPINIONS COLUMNIST

disapproval for the government’s actions. Things like occupying a senator’s office or attempting to enter a government building demonstrate to the public and the administration that people care profoundly enough about stopping the war that they are willing to risk arrest to make a statement about it. There is an urgency in such forms of protest that reflects the direness of the current situation more powerfully than a pre-planned march. Even if the people in front of the Capitol appeared crazy to those who chose to stay at home and watch the march on TV, their energy and willingness to act demonstrate a passionate dedication to stopping the war that is difficult for the government and the public to ignore. I certainly don’t endorse violence as a form of protesting violence, but there is something deeply troubling to me about the fact that we were all so well-behaved. We shouldn’t be behaving ourselves. We should be yelling louder. There should have been a million people out there, or 2 million. The amount of dissent surrounding U.S. occupation in the Middle East is disproportionate to the amount of suffering it has caused. We need to find new ways to say: “We won’t take it anymore.”

Amy Littleﬁeld ’09 is a member of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Brown’s student antiwar group.

Which method is in fact most effective in any given instance is often a hotly debated subject. One can look at the spectrum from purely peaceful protests to riots to planned, terrorist attacks and ﬁnd that almost every method imaginable has its proponents. To be fair, no one in the United States with even a shred of credibility has seriously advocated taking up open arms against the government. Instead, aggression comes across in a less explosive manner — violent outbursts amongst the antiwar movement are far from uncommon and bear the added advantage of making headlines far more easily than a simple gathering or sit-in. A rally in Washington, D.C., Jan. 28 received extra publicity when protesters stormed the Capitol and started spray-painting symbols and slogans as police were told to stand down. While some may have been inspired by the aggressive anger demonstrated by the protesters, I view outbursts like the one displayed at the Capitol as detrimental to the ultimate goals of the anti-war movement as a whole. By inserting violence into their dissent, protesters harm the cause they claim to care so passionately about. There are even those in the administration who may prefer that such violent outbursts continue, realizing that they may ultimately take some of the pressure off their own shoulders. Indeed, blaming Karl Roveian machinations for such occurrences would not be entirely unreasonable — the

U.S. government has often planted operatives inside social movements and organizations for the purpose of discrediting the group by inciting outbursts. While the violent actions of a small group of individuals are not likely to derail the antiwar movement as a whole, such actions take a toll on the forward momentum of the public dialogue against the war. If nothing else, the seeming hypocrisy of the protesters’ use of violent outbursts to rally against another form of violence (the war) is more than likely to instill doubt into hearts which might otherwise have rested solidly on the side of the protesters. This is not to say that violent protest will always derail a movement. In South Africa, the military wing of the African National Congress took actions that even today many consider to have been terrorist violence, yet the ANC proved instrumental in bringing about the end of apartheid. The Black Panthers have had more than their share of violent encounters with the government, and yet they are still credited with creating some positive change. However, these organizations fought against a much different enemy than the antiwar movement faces today. The ANC fought against a social system that cast its shadow throughout every part of society, while the war in Iraq is a much more distant issue to most Americans, even if many of its effects can still be felt close to home. The more remote an issue appears, the harder it is for an average citizen to feel that violent opposition to it is justiﬁed. Beyond that key dissimilarity, the violent actions of the ANC and the Black Panthers in many cases overshadowed their overall message. Although they may have used violence, it is through their more peaceful efforts that these groups achieved many of their greatest successes. Some might argue that it is only through some form of violent outburst that it is possible to really make people pay attention to the issues you care about, but such actions serve to radicalize your movement in the eyes of the populace at large. While you may achieve the aim of making people aware of the issue you care about, by resorting to violence, you may make yourself and your actions seem like an even larger, more glaring issue. The Israeli-Palestinian conﬂict, for instance, is rooted in reasonable concerns on both sides of the aisle — concerns which might be unknown to quite a few people were it not for the violence that often rips through the region. However, the bigger story has long been the violence itself. Instead of bringing attention to the issue, the outbursts have become the issue, defeating any hope of satisfactory resolution. It is unlikely that any of the actions of the antiwar movement would ever come close to approximating the violent actions that typify many forms of social protest throughout the world. However, even on a more constrained level, not only do violent outbursts weaken public support for those who are protesting, but — by overshadowing their cause — violent protesters obfuscate their initial concerns. Effecting change of any sort is bound to be a slow process, especially when acting against entrenched government interests, but slow and steady progress is vastly preferable to erratic outbursts. At the end of the day, “We shall overcome” will forever be a more effective rallying cry than “We shall overthrow.”

Like a tree standing in the water, Trevor Gleason ’07 shall not be moved.

S PORTS W EEKEND FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Track record of Japanese pitchers doesn’t bode well for Matsuzaka, Red Sox

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo

The Bears’ No. 1 singles Daisy Ames ‘07 beat BU’s Erin Katims 6-4, 6-7(3), 10-3 on Sunday.

W. tennis clawed by No. 19 Wildcats,Terriers BY MEGAN DANSBY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The women’s tennis team knew that it would face formidable competition on back-to-back days last weekend against No. 19 University of Kentucky and an undefeated Boston University squad. Despite preparation, Brown dropped both matches, falling 7-0 at home on Saturday to Kentucky, and the next day to 5-2 BU in Boston. These losses drop the Bears’ record to 0-3. The highlights of the weekend were victories by Daisy Ames ’07 at

No. 1 singles and Alexa Baggio ’09 at No. 6 singles against the Terriers. Ames won a closely contested match in a third-set tiebreaker, 6-4, 6-7(3), 10-3. Baggio won 5-7, 6-0, 108, coming back from losing the ﬁrst set to whitewash her opponent in the second frame and close out the match. Though her win did not lead to team success, Ames felt her victory could be beneﬁcial in other ways. “It was a good win for me personally,” she said. “I lost to Erin Katims continued on page 6

M. squash engineers victory over MIT BY JASON HARRIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The men’s squash team closed out its schedule in dominating fashion on Thursday night against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Bears dismantled the Engineers 9-0 in less than an hour without dropping a game at the Pizzitola Center. The win caps a 3-9 regular season. Even though Brown rested its regular No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 players, MIT was never in the contest. In the ﬁrst three matches, co-captain Patrick Haynes ’07, Jacob Winkler ’09 and Alex Heitzmann ’10 ﬁnished off their opponents in under 20 minutes. Even then, they spent almost as much time resting between games as they did on the court. Brown

gave up no more than four points in any game. The closest scare came in Heitzmann’s third game when he found himself in a 4-0 hole to start the contest, only to turn the jets on en route to a 9-4 victory. Mark Goldberg ’07, one of the Bears’ three seniors, won his last career home match easily 9-1, 9-2, 9-0. He was emotional after closing out the victory. “It was awfully nostalgic,” Goldberg said. “It’s been a long four years and this was a nice way to ﬁnish.” Goldberg’s fondest memory at the Pitz was his win against perennial powerhouse Princeton as a sophomore. He also remembered his match this year against Bowdoin College, in which he won in a grucontinued on page 6

SPORTS SCHEDULE FRIDAY, DAY FEB. 16 DAY, M. BASKETBALL: vs. Harvard, Pizzitola Center, 7 p.m. W. BASKETBALL: at Harvard M. ICE HOCKEY: vs. Dartmouth, Meehan Auditorium, 7 p.m. W. ICE HOCKEY: at No. 3 Dartmouth W. SQUASH: at Howe Cup (New Haven, Conn.) W. SWIMMING: at Ivy League Championships (Princeton, N.J.) WRESTLING: vs. Wagner, Pizzitola Center, 1 p.m.; vs. Columbia, Pizzitola Center, 3 p.m.

SATURDAY, ATURDAY FEB. 17 ATURDAY, M. BASKETBALL: vs. Dartmouth, Pizzitola Center, 7 p.m. W. BASKETBALL: at Dartmouth EQUESTRIAN: at Connecticut College M. HOCKEY: vs. Harvard, Meehan Auditorium, 7 p.m.

W. ICE HOCKEY: at No. 6 Harvard W. SQUASH: at Howe Cup (New Haven, Conn.) W. SWIMMING: at Ivy League Championships (Princeton, N.J.) M. TENNIS: at Louisville W. TENNIS: vs. Bucknell, nell, Pizzitola Center, 9 a.m.; vs. UMass, 3 p.m. WRESTLING: vs. Cornell, Pizzitola Center, 11 a.m.; vs. Delaware State, Pizzitola Center, 3 p.m.

SUNDAY, DAY FEB. 18 DAY, GYMNASTICS: vs. Bridgeport, Pizzitola Center, 1 p.m. W. SQUASH: at Howe Cup (New Haven, Conn.) M. TENNIS: at Virginia Tech W. TENNIS: vs. Rutgers,, Pizzitola Center, 10 a.m. M. & W. TRACK: at USATF New England Championships (Cambridge, Mass.)

A lot of things have got me thinking about the upcoming baseball season: The start of spring training, all of the columns by Tom Trudeau ’09 comparing the New York Yankees to the Boston Red Sox and that huge Chris Mahr void in FebruMahrtian Encounters ary when the football season has ended and there’s little in the way of sports to watch on TV. For me and the rest of New England, 2007 has provided another harbinger of the impending season in the proliferation of the Daisuke Matsuzaka phenomenon. We have been exposed to endless stories of his success as a high school star in Japan, his ﬁrst news conference as an ofﬁcial member of the Red Sox, even the neighborhood in Boston where he’ll be settling down (it’s Brookline, by the way). Not even the arrival of Pedro Martinez almost a decade ago can trump the scale of this welcome wagon. There is a lot of excitement surrounding the arrival of the 26-yearold Japanese dynamo, and there should be. The man can pitch, and his arrival in the Hub not only stabilizes a fragile pitching staff, but also makes the Red Sox a global brand similar to what the Yankees have

achieved with Hideki Matsui. Not to mention, it’s awesome saying his name — it gives you the feeling that you’re in a martial arts movie, and it takes all the energy you have stored up to not start throwing ninja stars. And yet, as much momentum as the Matsuzaka phenomenon has, I can’t help but feel a little skeptical. Obviously, there are no sure things when it comes to baseball, particularly when the topic of discussion is a pitcher. In Matsuzaka’s case, he has a second factor that could potentially work against him: the precedent of other Japanese pitchers in MLB. The Sox are asking their new commodity to be the superstar that he’s been since his star turn at the Koshien High School baseball tournament in 1998. Yet all the highly touted Japanese pitchers that have come before him have never been able to reach the same lofty status when they came over to the States. Hideo Nomo had one or two good seasons with the Dodgers before he lost his stuff and started bouncing around from team to team. Hideki Irabu was supposed to dominate with his 95-plus mph fastball, but instead we only remember him as that “fat toad” whose tenure with the Yankees was very short-lived. Those are the two most prominent names in the discussion of Japanese pitchers that didn’t quite cut it in the states, and there are more:

Mac Suzuki, Tomo Okha, Kaz Sasaki, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Shingo Takatsu and Kaz Ishii. All of whom proved to be extremely capable pitchers, none of whom were able to sustain it for more than a season or two. And I’m fairly certain that the Red Sox brain trust signed Matsuzaka with the idea of getting six good years out of him. I’m not saying that Matsuzaka can’t reverse this trend. He’s probably the best-looking pitcher ever to come from the Land of the Rising Sun. And I’m not saying that Japanese pitchers can never make it in the majors. If that’s what I was saying, I would be stripped of my column-writing privileges and be labeled as an anti-Japanese bigot. What I am saying is that the poor track record of Japanese pitchers is one more factor to consider in Daisuke’s ﬁrst season. Coming from a columnist whose livelihood has been living vicariously through the Ole Towne Team, this skepticism may seem like a dramatic departure from the norm. Just call it high expectations on my part. When I scream out his name like I’m in a martial arts movie this season, I want it to be because he’s done something spectacular.

Chris Mahr ’07 throws ninja stars and trains with nunchucks in his spare time.

Balassone ’07 on beating Harvard BY MARCO SANTINI SPORTS STAFF WRITER

Last weekend, women’s water polo co-captain Elizabeth Balassone ’07 led Brown to six straight wins in the season-opening Ivy tournament at the Smith Swim Center. She scored a team-high 16 goals and was named to the Ivy Tournament First Team for her effort. In 2006, Balassone rang up 43 goals, good for second on the team, and helped the team to a sixth-place ﬁnish at the Eastern Championships. Jacob Melrose / Herald

ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Elizabeth Balassone ’07 scored 16 goals over the weekend and was named to the All-Ivy Tournament First Team.

Herald: Brown’s closest margin of victory this weekend was a 10-8 triumph over Wagner. The other five wins were by a combined 66 goals. How significant are these wins to start the year? Balassone: This tournament was a success, and we always love beating Harvard, especially by almost triple the score (11-4). This fast start definitely puts us in a position to make a run for the Eastern Championships. This tournament was a good marker of how hard we’ve been working. We’re all really happy to see the fruits of our labor, regardless of our expectations. But nothing really counts until the last few games.

Tuesday. They have had several engineers and architects looking at it, so we never felt that we were in any danger.

How did you hear about the Smith Swim Center closing? Our coaches told us during a team meeting before practice on

Where will you practice? Most likely, we will be practicing locally in Providence and Boston, probably at Harvard and (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Everything is still in question, and we’re still not sure. How does it feel to have the Swim Center close after such a strong start? It doesn’t change much for us. I think it strengthens our resolve to work harder. We will make sure that we are efﬁcient, no matter the schedule. We must keep our focus because our goals haven’t changed.

How does it feel to be named to the All-Ivy Tournament team? To be honest, I’m not quite sure what it stands for, but it was nice that our freshman goalie Stephanie Laing (’10) got firstteam honors, and field player Sarah Glick (’10) made the third team. How does the team feel about having a freshman goalie? We had a retuning goalie, Anne Deggelman (’08), but she took a leave of absence. We have definitely been missing her, but at same time, there is no doubt that Stephanie has stepped up to plate. There is a lot of pressure as a freshman starting goalie, but she’s been playing very well. She had a great tournament, and continued on page 6