The Brown Daily Herald F riday, O ctober 5, 2007
Volume CXLII, No. 83
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Brown lands Fukayama, Silver debate biotech and society $14.1m NIH award
Students voice concerns in DPS open hearing
By Max Mankin Contributing Writer
By Isabel Gottlieb Senior Staff Writer
By Hari Tyagi Contributing Writer
The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has awarded the University and its partner, Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a five-year, $14.1 million contract to participate in the National Children’s Study, a research project dedicated to improving the “health and well-being of children.” The NICHD, part of the National Institutes of Health, initiated the National Children’s Study under the federal Children’s Health Act of 2000. The study was created to examine the effects of environmental conditions and stimuli on the health and development of children. It designates 22 new research “centers” — which include universities, hospitals and other medical research facilities — to join the existing 83 centers in conducting the survey. According to Stephen Buka, professor of community health and director of the Center for Population Health and Clinical Epidemiology, the University was named a lead institution after “intense” competition for the contract. Buka is the principal investigator for the Providence center. Using the information gathered by watching children who are infants today over a long period of time, researchers hope to illuminate the environmental origins of childhood diseases such as asthma, autism and diabetes and gain a more thorough understanding of birth defects and injuries, and learning, continued on page 6
Political theorist Francis Fukuyama and Princeton University molecular biology professor Lee Silver discussed biotechnology and how it may benefit society in a packed Salomon 001 Thursday afternoon. The discussion, “Playing God? Biotechnology and the Future of Humanity,” was the opening lecture of the Janus Forum series sponsored by Brown’s Political Theory Project. The two public intellectuals spoke individually for 30 minutes, with Fukuyama speaking first. After their lectures, there was an audience question-and-answer session. In his remarks, Fukuyama said technological advancement in biotechnology cannot be stopped, but society and government should regulate genetic manipulation, since there is no benefit to society if humans can choose physical traits such as sex, eye color and height of their children. “I figured if I had another three or four inches of height, I would continued on page 9
By Kevin Pratt Contributing Writer
Proud Californians haven’t simply brought distinctive slang and a laid-back attitude to campus this fall. Longboards, originally popularized in the Golden State, are starting to trickle East. Lenny Marandino ’09.5, a longboarder from northern California, has noticed the phenomenon.
“I see more and more longboards out on the Green as well as a decline in skateboarding,”
FEATURE he said. The emergence of the longboard may indeed challenge the popularity of skateboarding — and give Brown students another way to roll to class. The longboard looks like a long
Renowned sex therapist and radio personality Dr. Ruth Westheimer delivered a lecture, “Sexually Speaking: An Evening with Dr. Ruth,” to a packed Salomon 101 last night. Sponsored by the Office of Student Life, the Dean of the College and Health Education, the talk was held in honor of Deputy Dean of the College Stephen Lassonde. The evening began with an introduction from Miles Hovis ’08, representing the Office of the Dean of the College, and soon after, the floor was turned over to Lassonde, the “man of honor,” according to Hovis. Lassonde credited his friendship with Westheimer for bringing her to the University. Heralded by Lassonde as “one of the world’s authorities on sexuality for the last 25 years,” Westheimer took the stage to thunderous applause, subsiding into laughter as
Chris Bennett / Herald Students mingle in List Art Center during the opening reception and exhibition for “Before Letters: After Words.” See Arts & Culture, Page 3
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Mixed Media Providence’s fourth annual Pixilerations festival mixes new media and visual art.
skateboard with a wider wheelbase. It was developed in the 1950s with the rise of California’s surfing culture, where smooth, rolling hills made riding ideal. Shane Farrell ’11, a skateboarder from Philadelphia, said that region might play a big part in the longboard’s popularity. He said people seem to prefer longboards when there are continued on page 8
Sexually speaking, Dr. Ruth Westheimer’s talk a hit By Catherine Cullen Contributing Writer
ARTS & CULTURE
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Brenda Han / Herald
Political theorist Francis Fukayama discussed biotechnology during the opening lecture of the Janus Forum series.
Longboarders roll across campus
D i g i tal G e t do w n
INSIDE:
she climbed onto a wooden box behind the podium, elevating her 4-foot-7-inch form to the level of the microphone. Westheimer thanked the audience for their attendance then laid out the format for the evening, announcing that she wanted to “put some issues on the table” and conclude with a question-and-answer session with the group. Westheimer praised modern sexual attitudes, saying that Americans have come a long way since the Victorian era, when mothers would instruct their daughters to “lie back and think of England” on their wedding nights. In other words, she said, “don’t expect the world to shake, don’t expect the stars to twinkle, don’t expect orgasms.” Despite the admirably frank and unabashed vocabulary used by Westheimer — she did not
Four students spoke at a public hearing Thursday night that will help decide whether the Department of Public Safety is reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies. The hearing was videotaped for later review by the commission, which is commonly known as CALEA. DPS voluntarily contracted with CALEA, an outside organization that reviews and accredits security forces, and first received its accreditation status from the commission in 1998. Every three years, the department undergoes a reaccreditation process in which its Professional Standards Bureau must prove to CALEA that DPS is compliant with 446 standards in nine categories, including interagency relationships, administration, traffic operations and prisoner and court-related activities, according to the department’s Web site. CALEA originally set the public hearing date in August. But Mark Porter, chief of police and director of public safety, received phone calls from students “expressing their disappointment for not being able to attend” the summer hearing, Porter said. Porter then sent CALEA a formal request asking to hold a second public hearing during the academic year. CALEA assessors came to campus for two days in August to conduct their on-site review but postponed writing their report until after the second, rescheduled hearing. “I got the sense from the calls I received from students that they wanted an opportunity to appear at the hearing and voice concerns and that they also wanted some type of dialogue with DPS,” Porter said. “We always want more input. We can never have enough.” About a dozen students were in attendance to hear the four who spoke, prefaced by remarks from George Carpenter, a police chief from Wilmette, Ill., who is leading CALEA’s onsite assessment. He read an official statement from the commission and requested that students limit their comments to five to 10 minutes. Josh Teitelbaum ’08 read a statement on behalf of an alum who graduated in December 2005. The student was attacked on Benefit Street in September 2005. “I was knocked to the ground, and I sustained various injuries, later requiring medical attention. My attackers repeatedly yelled the word ‘faggot,’ ” the student recounted in his letter as read by Teitelbaum. The student went directly to DPS headquarters, where his injuries were photographed, and he filed an incident report and received emergency medical attention. The student said that when he returned to DPS to
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CAMPUS NEWS
Take a BIKE DPS will make bicycle registration on campus mandatory starting in January.
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OPINIONS
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
Move On Madness Lindsey Meyers ‘09 examines the New York Times’ MoveOn.org advertisement controversy.
12 SPORTS
On the Rebound After losing to Boston University, men’s soccer looks to rebound against Princeton this weekend.
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