Monday, July 16, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD M ONDAY, J ULY 16, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 59

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

Exonerated Duke suspect awaits fresh start at Brown BY STU WOO SPORTS EDITOR

NEW YORK — Reade Seligmann ’09 is sitting in a Starbucks a block away from Times Square, talking about some of the students he knows at Brown, when a woman with black hair, heavy, dark-blue eye shadow and an “I Love NY” shirt approaches the table. “Would you care for a psychic reading?” she asks. Seligmann looks up at her, unfazed, and quickly smiles. “No thanks,” he says. Then he adds: “I think I know where I’m going.” It seems like a bold statement for Seligmann, who admits he couldn’t say that a few months ago, when he was one of three Duke lacrosse players accused

of raping an exotic dancer at a team party in March 2006. But this evening, Seligmann looks relaxed, if a little tired after 11 hours of work at Bear Stearns, the New York investment bank where he is an intern. He is wearing a white Oxford shirt with an orange tie. His sleeves are rolled up. Tonight, all Seligmann wants to talk about is Brown, where he will enroll this fall as a transfer student and lacrosse recruit. He asks several questions about the open curriculum, the faculty and the history department, where he will be a concentrator. He says, half-jokingly, that he would quit his internship on the spot if he could start the semester the next day. continued on page 12

Tai Ho Shin / Herald

Summer@Brown students playing Frisbee on the Main Green enjoy the relaxed summer atmosphere.

Longtime prof makes waves with her exit BY ROSS FRAZIER NEWS EDITOR

Writing Fellows director Rhoda Flaxman PhD’82 resigned late last semester, protesting both a perceived lack of University support for the peer tutoring program she founded and ran for two decades and the transfer of the program’s longtime administrative assistant. The popular professor’s resignation prompted University officials to defuse a vocal backlash

from writing fellows who sensed external meddling in their tightknit group, just as the dean of the College was preparing to begin a wholesale review of writing instruction at Brown. Writing fellows, who are selected through a competitive application process, help all the students in courses for which professors request their assistance. “I decided to leave Brown — I was going to retire in three years anyway — because I was very dis-

turbed when I found out I was losing my staff,” Flaxman told The Herald in a July 10 interview. “Wendy Sheridan, the woman who helped me for 14 years, who has done a terrific job of managing our courses and our work, was no longer available to the program.” “At this point in my life, I did not really want to be in a fight with administrators over supcontinued on page 4

Thayer St. bikers relegated to designated parking spaces BY CAMERON LEE STAFF WRITER

Bikers are a loud, proud, Thayer Street staple. But a new amendment to the city code may soon keep some of them away. Motorcyclists visiting Thayer Street will soon be required to park in designated spaces. An amendment calling for the designation of parking spots as “motorcycleonly” was signed into law July 11 by Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83. Supporters of the amendment hope it will limit the number of bikers who choose to loiter on the commercial street.

METRO The new motorcycle-only spaces will likely be indicated by blue painted curbs. Several parking laws were adjusted in order to accommodate motorcyclists, according to Adrienne Southgate, deputy city solicitor. While fines are still applicable for cars that park with their left wheels toward the curb or at an improper angle to the curb, they will no longer apply to motorcycles, in order to ease the accommodation of more motorcycles into Tai Ho Shin / Herald

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INSIDE:

postINSIDE

Motorcycles have long lined Thayer Street.

POST- FOR THE SUMMER post-, The Herald’s weekly arts and entertainment magazine, gets an internship, wears the wrong clothes and gets knocked up

www.browndailyherald.com

3 CAMPUS NEWS

READING, NOT COMPLAINING Incoming first-years don’t seem to mind the new mandatory summer reading, one of several changes implemented as part of an Orientation overhaul

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

College without the stress Students find new ways to enjoy Providence BY STEPHANIE BERNHARD FEATURES EDITOR

On a recent sunny afternoon in July, the Main Green was nearly as busy as when the trees first started blooming in April. Art students sat on the Quiet Green sketching the Manning Chapel, Frisbee players dashed around the University’s lawns and construction sounds from Wilson Hall belied the peacefulness of the tree branches swaying in the breeze. Many of the students lounging on the Green are high school students participating in Summer@Brown, while others are Brown students staying in Providence for the summer. Deborah Gorth ’09.5, who is living in a Governor Street apartment, is filling her days with both study and work. She is taking two classes, one in neuroscience and one in biology, and working at two labs doing biomedical engineering research. Gorth admitted that her schedule keeps her busy — she woke up to study neuroscience on a Saturday morning — but she also said she is enjoying her summer in Providence. “It’s awesome,” Gorth said. “It’s a good mix of being productive and having fun.” Gorth brought a car to campus, so she has been able to venture off College Hill for weekend entertainment. She went surfing in Newport, explored rural South County and made plans to attend a Red Sox game in Boston. Kaitlyn Laabs ’09, who also has a car available, has spent much of her free time scoping out the state. “I have a newfound love for

Providence and for Rhode Island,” said Laabs, a Herald sports staff writer. For her, one of the greatest benefits of spending summer near campus has been developing a new relationship with her surroundings. When she is not roaming Rhode Island, Laabs is studying for her American civilization class and working for WBRU. “You’ve got no stresses of the school year, but all the benefits,” Laabs said. She likes using her extra time to find new treasures in the area, from a great concert venue or a new restaurant to the perfect place for relaxing with a book. But Laabs said it’s the student culture that makes summer in Providence worthwhile. “I’ve met so many awesome people I never would’ve met during the year,” she said, explaining how easy it was to run into the same few people over and over again until friendships formed. Though Adam Backer ’08 does not have a car, he has also found ways to entertain himself and meet new people in Providence. Backer spent the past two summers here, and he said he can now navigate the city pretty well. “During the year, I’m always in the same few blocks, but now I can walk farther and see more,” Backer said. “There’s more time continued on page 4

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