THE BROWN DAILY HERALD F RIDAY
Volume CXLII, No. 45
RIL
6 , 2007 20 07
Santorum: America must fight radical Islam
Pressure mounts as theses crunch time nears
BY MICHAEL SKOCPOL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
BY ZACHARY CHAPMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
With the deadline for his honors thesis fast approaching, Peter James ’07 said he has often been so absorbed in his work that he sometimes forgets to eat meals. James, who will earn honors in geology-physics/mathematics with the successful completion of his thesis on the elastic and inelastic behavior of the oceanic lithosphere, said he often spends one to two days in the geology department before returning to his dorm room, usually pausing only to take brief naps on the department’s couch. As he scrambles to wrap up over a year’s worth of research and mathematical analysis, James can take solace in the fact that he is not alone in his plight. While many of their peers enjoy the onset of spring in their last semester on College Hill, a select group of seniors are working furiously to put the finishing touches on ambitious and demanding academic exercises — writing theses. Michael Gladstone ’07, who is working on an honors thesis in history, has taken full advantage of the Friedman Study Center’s long hours — he said he spent nearly 72 consecutive hours at the Friedman in the last few days before spring break, leaving only to eat and grab quick naps in his dorm room. Yet even now, in the home stretch, most seniors interviewed by The Herald expressed more enthusiasm than regret about their decision to complete a thesis. James seemed nonplussed about his irregular eating habits. He said doing a thesis has been one of the most valuable experiences he has had at Brown. “It has been really good to think through a fundamental problem from start to finish,” he said. “It brings closure to your time at Brown and makes you feel like you have accomplished something you couldn’t have gotten anywhere else,” he said. James, whose thesis topic came out of an Undergraduate Teaching and Research Assistantship he did during his junior summer, said he is having some difficulty wrapping up his thesis because he often finds new avenues on his topic that he would like to explore. “I have notebooks and random printouts all over the place,” he said. While, technically, he has written only five pages, James said “he is not too worried” about being able to finish his thesis. Rochelle Hartley ’07, a biochemistry and molecular biology concentrator, has 21 days until her thesis is due but said she has also continued on page 6
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Chris Bennett / Herald Former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum spoke to a packed Salomon 101 last night on the dangers posed to Western civilization by “Islamic fascism.”
The United States “will pay a horrible price” if it does not recognize the threat posed by “Islamic fascism” and act to defeat it, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum told a near-capacity crowd in Salomon 101 last night. Santorum, an outspoken conservative brought to campus by the Brown Lecture Board, said the United States’ current struggles in the Middle East are the beginning of a new chapter in the historical conflict between the Judeo-Christian West and the Islamic world. He said he believed the struggle would cause Americans to reject “multiculturalism” and return to traditional values. After cracking jokes early on, an energetic Santorum quickly grew serious, saying that the last 40 years have seen “a cataclysmic shift in America and the Western
world” away from traditional Judeo-Christian values, especially in Europe. But the conflict with radical Islam “will bring this country together more than maybe any war has ever done” in opposition to that trend, he added. “I do not believe that all cultures need to be or should be respected equally,” Santorum said, calling that premise “one of the mainstays of the secular orthodoxy” and predicting that it will fall out of favor. Later, in a question-and-answer session following the speech, Santorum said the Judeo-Christian tradition “is superior to all other cultures” and that Islamic culture is in need of reform. “These folks have had plenty of opportunities to reform, to modernize,” Santorum said. “Christianity has become tolerant of other world views, and Islam continued on page 4
Candidates gear up for UCS elections, debate in the Ratty BY MICHAEL BECHEK SENIOR STAFF WRITER
At the final information session Thursday night for prospective candidates for the Undergraduate Council of Students and Undergraduate Finance Board, members of the elections board, all UCS veterans, offered some seasoned advice for campaigning — and went over a few rules. Running for class representative? You’ll need 100 signatures from your classmates. If you’re running for a position on UCS’s executive board or for UFB, make
that 400. Have those turned in by Wednesday (they’ll be verified, so don’t bother cheating), and you’re ready to start spending your 100 allotted publicity points (an 8.5inch by 11-inch poster costs half a point, but print in color and you’ll pay four times that). Starting a Facebook group is a good start, but be careful of mass e-mails, which may do more harm than good. “Don’t inundate people with stuff, or they won’t like you,” said UCS Vice President Tristan Freeman ’07. It’s a lot to handle, but there
are plenty of opportunities. Every elected position on UCS is open for the upcoming spring elections — including president, vice president, treasurer, five committee chairs and five representatives from each class — as are UFB chair, vice-chair and five at-large positions. Voting will take place on MyCourses between April 17 and 19. Christina Kim ’07, chair of the elections board, said about 25 to 30 prospective candidates in total had showed up to one of the first four information sessions, and nearly 20 more were present
at last night’s half-hour session in the Upper Blue Room in Faunce House. “One of the things we’re trying to do this year is just up the number of people that are running,” Kim said. Of those who came to the first four sessions, Kim estimated that about two-thirds were currently on UCS. Attendance at an information session is mandatory for all candidates, and most who show up to an information session end up running for something, Kim said. continued on page 4
Documentary captures w. rugby’s Ugandan adventure BY ISABEL GOTTLIEB STAFF WRITER
Sounds from African drums and wild cheers filled Smith-Buonanno 106 Wednesday night as the women’s rugby team faced off against a women’s team from Uganda in a documentary about the Brown team’s landmark trip to the country last year. The Brown women were the first non-African women’s rugby team to play in East Africa. A few minutes further into the 45-minute documentary — which drew an audience of about 25, mostly women’s rugby and hockey players — the Ugandan and Brown women were laughing, drinking and teaching each other dance moves as they shared rugby stories. The most common theme: No one takes a female rugby player seriously. The inspiration for last year’s spring break trip to Uganda came from co-captain Jennifer Hustwitt
VETERAN FRESHMAN Kato McNickle ’10, a student in the Resumed Undergraduate Education program, has brought her extensive experience in theater to campus
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’07. Hustwitt spent the summer after her freshman year working in Uganda for the African Child Foundation, a small community organization. The following summer, Hustwitt was awarded a Royce Fellowship to return there and research children’s access to secondary school education. Driving through the capital city of Kampala one day that summer, Hustwitt spotted a rugby pitch. Later, she attended a match between Uganda and Rwanda. “I wanted the team from Brown to experience it,” she said. Team members interviewed in the documentary say the trip was first discussed during the first week of practice last year. The rugby team took — and paid for — all players who were interested in going. The total cost for the trip was between $85,000 and $120,000, the players said. continued on page 6
SANTORUM’S FORUM After delivering his lecture to campus on Thursday night, the former U.S. senator sat CAMPUS NEWS down for a question and answer session with The Herald
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195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo The Brown women’s rugby team, which traveled to Uganda last spring break, screened a documentary of the experience in Smith-Buonanno Wednesday night.
POINT/COUNTERPOINT Trevor Gleason ‘07 and Don Trella ’08 debate whether the dangers of global warming are exaggerated or are far greater than we realize
12 SPORTS
WE’RE NO. 1!! The women’s rowing team is ranked first nationally in the latest poll after defeating Princeton, Radcliffe and Ohio State over break
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