THE BROWN DAILY HERALD T UESDAY,
Volume CXLII, No. 33
ARCH
13, 2007 2 007
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Simmons gives $20,007 for senior class gift ber of people on board and how well this class was organizing this effort,” Simmons told The Herald, adding that it was a spur of the moment decision. “So I will have a shorter vacation this year.” The Brown Annual Fund, which last year raised $30.7 million from parents and alums, focuses more on rates of participation than the size of donations when coordinating the class gift, said Johanna Corcoran, the fund’s assistant director for student programs. “I had chills,” Corcoran said of
BY ROSS FRAZIER NEWS EDITOR
If President Ruth Simmons’ annual donations to the senior class gift campaign are any indication of her confidence in the graduating class, she’s feeling especially optimistic this year. Simmons, who in years past donated an amount equal to the seniors’ graduating year — $2,004, $2,005, $2,006 — this year announced at the senior gift campaign kickoff event last weekend that she will give $20,007 to their class gift campaign. “I was very moved by the num-
Rahul Keerthi / Herald
The Office of International Programs has added a sponsored program in Barcelona for next year.
Barcelona, Cuba on U.’s study abroad radar BY RACHEL ARNDT SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Students planning to study abroad in coming years will find changes in the offerings of the Office of International Programs, including a new Brown program this fall in Barcelona, Spain, and a program in Cuba that is still in the initial planning stages. Meanwhile, other programs that have
been available in the past are being reduced or ended by the OIP, such as the Brown in Egypt program and the approved alternative program in Ethiopia. Last fall, payment structure for studying abroad changed — students in the class of 2010 and later will pay full Brown tuition for all programs instead of simply the fees for the approved program. But this spring, changes at
the OIP have mostly concerned the status and addition of new programs. The OIP offers two types of study abroad programs: programs run by and directly associated with the University and other programs — often run by other institutions — known as approved alternative programs. continued on page 4
continued on page 4
Nussbaum denounces religious intolerance of Chicago, where she holds appointments in the law school, divinity school and philosophy department. “When people are afraid or insecure — when some unusual economic or political threat confronts a nation — respect for equality is even harder to sustain, and the comfort of an orthodoxy becomes ever more alluring,” Nussbaum
BY JAMES SHAPIRO SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Noted philosopher Martha Nussbaum criticized systematic discrimination against religious minorities Monday in a half-filled Salomon 001 during the 41st Annual Meiklejohn Lecture, titled “Liberty of Conscience: The Attack on Equal Respect.” Nussbaum is a professor of law and ethics at the University
continued on page 4
Brown Noser gets a whiff of success
Mission of Burma joins Spring Weekend lineup
BY MICHAEL BECHEK SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Alternative rock band Mission of Burma has been added to the Spring Weekend lineup, the Brown Concert Agency announced last night. The band will open for The Roots and Soulive on Thursday, April 19. In a press release, BCA credits Mission of Burma with creating “some of the most influen-
FEATURE
When the editors of the Brown Noser were turned down by the Undergraduate Council of Students for Category III status early last month, they appealed the decision, and arrived at UCS’s general body meeting last Wednesday night fully prepared to fight their case. Decked out in face and body paint, Noser members — including the editors and at least a dozen others — rallied around a sign: “Don’t be a Poser. Free The Noser.” “There was a bit of a misunderstanding,” co-editor in chief Mitch Moranis ’10 said of the initial rejection, which was based on the grounds that the satirical newspaper did not have a demonstrated need for funding. Not so this time, as Noser editors Moranis and Steve Daniels ’10 successfully lobbied the council to reconsider their status. The motion passed unanimously, and the parade exited Petteruti Lounge in celebration. For Moranis and Daniels, the financial help comes as a relief, though they said they will consider the new money as mostly “backup.” As part of brokering their deal for funding from the University, Moranis and Daniels admitted they — and their families — had absorbed the roughly
INSIDE:
3 METRO
$500 of debt incurred in printing the first issue. “Our short-term goal is just to break even on our own,” Daniels said. For the two editors, the Noser’s take-off has been unexpected. The paper, which runs “fake news” in the style of the Onion, has developed rapidly in just a few months, putting out three issues and starting a Web site, thebrownnoser. com, that already features Brown Noser TV video “reports.” Daniels and Moranis said the Noser counts almost 50 students as members — almost all of them first-years. “I really never thought it was going to happen,” said Daniels, who met Moranis, a high school friend of his roommate, during freshman orientation. He said the two discussed starting a humor paper together, but never got around to it as the school year began. But one boring afternoon in November, Moranis said he gave Daniels a call and suggested they get started. The Noser was born. “There was a void,” Moranis said, adding that the existing humor publication, the Brown Jug, had a different style — more MAD magazine than the Onion — and “wasn’t exactly what we wanted to continued on page 6
STOP & SHOP WON’T STOP A planned strike over health insurance by Stop & Shop workers was averted, and a contract agreement was reached Saturday
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5 CAMPUS
tial music ever to come out of the American punk scene,” noting that acts such as Nir vana,
ARTS & CULTURE R.E.M. and the Pixies have all drawn from their sound. BCA also announced that tickets for this year’s Spring
Weekend are selling much faster than in years past, with over 5,000 already purchased for the two shows. There are roughly 800 tickets still available for Thursday’s concert and only 200 left for the show headlined by the Flaming Lips on Saturday, April 21. — Allissa Wickham
ANOTHER SIDE OF HISTORY
Rahul Keerthi / Herald
The John Carter Brown Library’s exhibition on historical documents related to slavery will run until May. SEE CAMPUS NEWS, PAGE 5
NUDITY ASSAULT, LOBSTER NUDITY, Campus crime last week included indecent exposure, an assault at the Gate and the theft of 2 lbs. of lobster from the Ratty
11 OPINIONS
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
BRING BACK THE DRAFT Sean Quigley ’10 proposes the United States bring back the draft to universally conscript all men from 18 to 26 in service to their country
12 SPORTS
SOFTBALL SPLITS 2-2 Playing in Virginia, softball wins against YSU and Morgan State before falling in a rematch against YSU and a game against George Mason
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