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Thursday, September 27, 2007

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The Brown Daily Herald T hursday, S eptember 27, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 77

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

Weekend turmoil over elections leads to UCS code changes By Franklin Kanin Senior Staf f Writer

In the wake of alleged election irregularities at last week’s general body meeting, senior Undergraduate Council of Students officers played damage control over the weekend as council members privately expressed concerns about how the internal council elections were handled by President Michael Glassman ’09 and Vice President Lauren Kolodny ’08. At last Wednesday’s general body meeting — the first of the academic year — UCS held internal elections to fill several vacant executive board positions and name the council’s representative to the Undergraduate Finance Board. Some council members questioned the legitimacy of the race for appointments chair. The position had traditionally been voted on internally by the council, but last year UCS passed a “code change” to allow the appointments chair to be voted by the student body in the regular spring UCS elections, said Drew Madden ’10, who sponsored the code change last spring as appointments chair. In April, Tan Van Nguyen ’10 ran unopposed and was elected appointments chair by the student body. After that election, council members discovered that the UCS

Architect Diller looks forward to CAC project By Olivia Hoffman Staff Writer

Renowned architect Elizabeth Diller, whose New York City firm Diller, Scofidio and Renfro was recently selected to design Brown’s new Creative Arts Center, addressed a packed MacMillan 117 Wednesday. Diller discussed several of the firm’s recent projects in Wednesday’s lecture, including the Blur Building in Switzerland, which is constructed primarily from water and mist, and a dance piece called “Moving Target” that uses mirrors and video projection to avoid separating “the audience from the narrative space of the stage,” according to the firm’s Web site. Known for its interdisciplinary approach to architecture, Diller, Scofidio and Renfro has also been involved in projects such as the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston and Lincoln Center and the Highline in New York City. Though she told the audience it is too early to discuss plans for the Creative Arts Center, Diller expressed her excitement about beginning the design process for the new campus building. “What’s great about the project is that it doesn’t have a model,” she said. “We’re going to use a healthy continued on page 10

INSIDE: www.browndailyherald.com

Alum starts foundation for brain trauma By Jenna Stark Contributing Writer

Humm. Originally the team was invited to a ceremony with other national champions in June but was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict with the Henley Royal Regatta. When the team was informed of the invitation, most members were awestr uck. Co-captain Emma Olson ’08 called it “a big surprise.” Elizabeth Boghossian ’09 was

A month after his graduation, Charlie Maddock ’04 was hit by a car and suffered an often-fatal traumatic brain injury. Two years later, in 2006, he founded the Charles Maddock Foundation, a nonprofit foundation that supports patients who have suffered brain trauma. Maddock was crossing the street in New York City when he was hit by a taxi cab and crashed through its windshield. He received several severe physical injuries, including a fractured jaw and shattered pelvis. The most critical injury, however, was the trauma to his brain, which swelled due to the impact of hitting the cab. Maddock was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he underwent surgery to reduce the intracranial pressure in his skull. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, approximately 1.4 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury, or TBI, in the United States annually. Of that number, 50,000 die. Other long-term effects of TBI can include epilepsy and a greater risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. “I was one of the lucky ones,” Maddock told The Herald. After leaving the hospital, Maddock still had the difficult task of rehabilitating from the physical and emotional pain of his TBI. The affliction is often called an “invisible epidemic,” Maddock said, because people who survive a TBI are forever changed. Maddock said he does not remember anything from the weeks after the accident. Jonathan Meachin ’04, treasurer of the Charles Maddock Foundation and Maddock’s friend, said, “One thing I didn’t understand at all was this lack of memory from the first

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Rahul Keerthi / Herald

UCS members look on as Gabriel Kussin ’09 delivers his election speech as the only candidate running for communications chair. The meeting was marked by the aftermath of weekend discussions about alleged irregularities in last week’s internal elections.

constitution stipulates that the appointments chair must be voted internally, rendering Nguyen’s election illegitimate. A code change is not sufficient to amend the constitution, which requires a two-thirds

vote of the student body. “At the time, we didn’t realize that the positions to be openly elected were delineated very specifically in the UCS constitution,” Madden, now the UCS student ac-

tivities chair, said last night. “We didn’t have time to put a referendum (to amend the constitution) on the ballot.” continued on page 12

W. crew team recognized at White House By Yashua Bhatti Contributing Writer

A group of Bears was recognized by President Bush at the White House last week, and it wasn’t the College Republicans. The women’s crew team was honored by President Bush at the White House along with seven other NCAA championship teams last Friday. The team is the reigning NCAA Division I Rowing Champion, following its May triumph over the University of

Virginia, 58-54. The team has won a remarkable five national titles in the past nine seasons, but this was the first year it was recognized by the president at the White House. The crew was finally able to attend a White House ceremony this year after previous attempts by the Department of Athletics to glean an invitation were unsuccessful. Those attempts extended back to President Clinton’s administration, according to Director of Sports Information Chris

Former Mass. Gov. Swift speaks on leadership in crises By Nicole Dungca Staff Writer

Drawing from personal experiences during her time in public office, former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift shared various perspectives on leadership Wednesday by recounting lessons she learned during her tumultuous term as governor — one that included fiscal crisis, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the birth of Swift’s twin daughters. Speaking to a sparsely filled Salomon 001 that included Sue Carcieri, wife of Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65, Swift maintained a conversational tone in her lecture ­— titled “Rising to the Occasion: Public Leadership in Challenging Times” ­— as she punctuated her speech with

POST- ON DANCE AND PANTS post- dances its way through the first month of the semester with good tunes and good pants.

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METRO

jokes and stories, including details about her bouts with morning sickness and her first moments grappling with the events of Sept. 11. Swift, a Republican, served as governor from 2001 to 2003, after Gov. Paul Cellucci resigned to become the U.S. ambassador to Canada. When she signed on to be governor, she said, the state was in the throes of financial crisis — following years of economic prosperity, her term was a time of significant downturn for the state’s budget, she said. Handling the budget was one of the greatest challenges of her time as governor. Swift spoke as part of the John Hazen White Sr. lecture series. In its 36 years, the series has brought to continued on page 13 R.I. OUT OF SUDAN After lobbying from Brown students, Rhode Island has become the 19th state to divest from Sudan.

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Emmy Liss / Herald

Former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift spoke to a small crowd yesterday in Salomon 001.

CRIME LOG

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

VANISHING CHAIRS Seven chairs have been stolen from the President’s Dining Room in the Ratty since Sept. 11.

16 SPORTS

W. SOCCER WINS The women’s soccer team picked up its first win of the season Tuesday at home, defeating the U. of Maine.

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com


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