The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, O ctober 17, 2007
Volume CXLII, No. 90
Six EU consuls speak at Watson By Melissa Dzenis Contributing Writer
Six European consuls extolled the successes of the European Union Tuesday afternoon, but were met with incisive questions from faculty and students in attendance who criticized their positive outlook. Hosted by the Watson Institute for International Studies, the panel discussion — “Social and Political Issues Facing the European Union at 50: Consuls from Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain Offer the Perspectives of Their Countries” — filled the Joukowsky Forum to capacity. Each consul spoke briefly on what they perceived to be the most important issues facing their own country and the EU at large. Because Portugal currently holds the presidency of the European Union, the Portuguese consul general in Boston, Manuela Bairos, began the program. Alenka Suhadolnik, Slovenia’s consul general in New York, spoke last. Of the nations present, Slovenia was most recently incorporated into the EU and will be following Portugal in assuming the six-month presidency of the EU starting in January. The EU was initially constructed as an economic arrangement, evolving from the embryonic European Coal and Steel Community in 1950, which sought to politically and economically consolidate the continent into the six-member European Economic Community. Each consul emphasized, however, that the 27-member modern EU is not simply a federation or an economic continued on page 4
Taubman policy conference addresses living wage laws By Michael Skocpol Senior Staff Writer
Three sharply differing views on addressing poverty were on display yesterday at a panel discussion of living wage ordinances hosted by the Taubman Center for Public Policy, part of an annual conference on urban policy issues. The discussion panel was titled “The Living Wage,” in reference to laws that cities have enacted in recent years that target employees of municipal sub-contractors
and mandate payments above the prevailing minimum wage. But the discussion ranged broadly, touching on the national minimum wage, the earned income tax credit or EITC and the role of labor unions. An audience of several dozen in Faunce House’s Leung Gallery listened to short presentations and posed questions to three national experts on wage policy: Paul Sonn, a minimum-wage advocate at the New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center; James Sherk, a labor policy fellow at the
Defunct since 2002, the African Sun will be published once again this fall as its staff looks to reestablish the journal in the Brown community and spread it to other campuses as well. The Sun, a publication that, according to its mission statement, provides a voice “for and about the black community at Brown University,” stopped printing after April 2002 because “there wasn’t a direct transfer of leadership,” said Cristina Rodrigues ’10, who is spearheading the comeback effort along with Megan Smith ’10. “Once (a publication) has fallen, it is easier for it to stay defunct,” Rodrigues said. Much of the Sun’s mission today is the same as it was in 2002, Rodrigues said, in terms of “creating a forum for alternative perspectives on mainstream news, while making room for specifically black issues.” The Sun also hopes to connect black students with black alums while educating the
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conservative Heritage Foundation; and Oren Levin-Waldman, a public affairs and administration professor at the Metropolitan College of New York. Assistant Professor of Political Science Scott Allard moderated. Sonn spoke first, focusing on the national movement to raise minimum wage laws. The decline of these laws, he said, has contributed to a “stagnation of living standards” in the past 35 years. Citing recent research, Sonn said that, contrar y to the arguments of their critics, minimum
wage laws do not cause job loss. In fact, Sonn said, allowing minimum wage laws to fall to well below their historic levels has had the effect of “artificially holding down wages for the entire bottom end of the economy.” Sonn said a current congressional effort, spearheaded by Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., and others, to raise the national minimum wage and legislate automatic cost-of-living increases, Sonn said continued on page 6
F ri S c F ra z z l e d
Rahul Keerthi / Herald With midterms in full swing, the Friedman Study Center in the Sciences Library has been especially hopping as of late.
African Sun to be revived, expanded to RISD By Aditya Voleti Contributing Writer
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Brown community at large about the black community on campus, she said. Rodrigues said a publication like the Sun is important because of its function as a historical record for the University’s black community. “Each generation isn’t starting on a blank state,” she said. Smith and Rodrigues plan to alter the format of the publication, starting with the first issue in December. “It (used to be) more creative writing and poetry. This will be more of a newspaper that includes poetry” and emphasizes alternate perspectives on mainstream media, Smith said. Smith expressed interest in an intercollegiate editorial board for the Sun. She and Rodrigues have spoken to students at Johnson and Wales University and Rhode Island College, and this is the first year of participation from students at the Rhode Island School of Design, Smith said. “We don’t just want submissions from other schools, we want them to be on the staff as well,” Rodrigues said.
FAUST IN AT HARVARD Drew Faust was inaugurated as president of Harvard University last Friday, the first woman to hold the job.
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Philip Glenn, a RISD student who is a member of the Sun’s staff, said he is excited to have a publication that caters to his school’s black community. “I just know that my experience has been very different from (that of) a white or Asian student,” Glenn said. “Black students will be excited to know that they are being appreciated and noticed.” “We’ve had a black student union type of group, but never a publication,” Glenn added. He said the current political atmosphere is inspiring students to create groups to assert themselves as active members of the community, citing issues such as the “Jena Six” in Louisiana and immigration as motivation for student action. Glenn said the Sun’s main challenge is raising RISD student curiosity, since only a few professors remember the publication from five years ago and no students have heard of it. He said he hopes RISD students will contribute poetry, articles, artwork and continued on page 4
CAMPUS WATCH
THE NEW FACEBOOK? College.com hopes to attract student users by restricting access only to people with .edu e-mail addresses.
Eastside Marketplace tries to cater to students By Anita Tasavanh Contributing Writer
FEATURE
Eastside Marketplace, an independent grocery store located at 165 Pitman St., is trying to make grocery shopping more of an experience than a chore. But despite the local supermarket’s efforts, many student shoppers with access to cars prefer to make the drive to Seekonk, Mass., to take advantage of Stop & Shop’s lower prices. Liz Encarnacion ’09, who is not enrolled in the University’s meal plan, said she would rather go out of her way than spend extra money. “(Eastside) is a little on the pricy side, especially in comparison to Stop & Shop,” she said. Short of lowering prices to the levels of chain stores, representatives at Eastside said they are looking for new ways to appeal to the student population, as well as to the larger Providence community. “Because we’re an independent store, when you walk in here there’s a feeling and sense of familiarity,”
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195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
SO NEAR, SO far Alison Schouten ’08 ruminates on her long-distance relationship with the RISD museum.
said Public Relations Manager Kim Moreau. “We have employees who have been around for 25-plus years. Customers have been here just as long, and you might not get that when you go to other stores.” Moreau said she feels at home at Eastside, though she’s only been with the company for four years. Moreau also said Eastside prides itself on its community involvement. “One of our greatest assets is that we give back to the community,” Moreau said. “It’s important that we support the community that supports us.” Recently, Moreau organized an unofficial focus group of about 15 Brown students in partnership with WBRU. According to Moreau, Eastside gathered the group to find out what students “were looking for, what they ate, what they liked and to find out what the needs of today’s continued on page 4
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VOLLEYBALL WOES The volleyball team is 0-5 in the Ivy League, but is looking forward to nine home games out of 11 left.
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