The Brown Daily Herald M onday, A pril 14, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 50
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Meara Sharma / Herald
Students enjoyed the sporadically sunny weather, slipping and sliding down Wriston Quad as part of the Spring Weekend festivities.
Laura Buckman / Herald
Mash-up artist Girl Talk intently watches his laptop at a concert in Meehan Auditorium on Saturday.
‘Significant number’ of fake tickets caught Spring Weekend concert staffers trained to eye counterfeits By Alex Seitz-Wald Contributing Writer
Laura Buckman / Herald
Lupe Fiasco, who headlined the Friday evening concert in Meehan Auditorium, drew praise from concert attendees, as did opener Vampire Weekend.
Crazy and loud, weekend concerts generally a hit By Caroline Sedano Senior Staf f Writer
The concerts may have been indoors, the crowds raucous, the sound quality poor during M.I.A.’s performance, but Spring Weekend concert attendees seemed to thoroughly enjoy the weekend’s performances. The number of transports by Emergency Medical Services were higher than during last year’s Spring Weekend. On Friday and
Saturday, EMS transpor ted 10 people because of alcohol or drug use — six on Friday and four on Saturday, according to Associate Vice President of Campus Life and Dean for Student Life Margaret Klawunn. Last year, only four people were transported over all of Spring Weekend. In 2006, EMS transported 10 individuals for alcohol and drug use over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. continued on page 6
A “significant number of students” were caught with counterfeit tickets at the two concerts sponsored by the Brown Concert Agency this past weekend, said Elliot Colbert ’09,
who was in charge of ticketing for BCA. The agency could not give an exact number of tickets confiscated, but it was “at least 100 over the two days,” BCA Booking Chair David Horn ’08 said. It was “definitely a bigger problem” this year than in the past, Horn said. Tickets for the two concerts, Friday’s headlined by Lupe Fiasco and Saturday’s by M.I.A, sold out exceptionally quickly this year. BCA was “completely taken aback by the
pace of sales,” Colbert said. Within the first two days of sales, all raincapacity tickets for both events had been sold, leaving many students without a legitimate way to attend the annual spring event. But the problem wasn’t just that the tickets sold out, Colbert said — BCA expects to sell out every year because no campus venue can accommodate the entire student population. Because of quick sales, continued on page 8
Campus life VP spot down to short list By Scott Lowenstein Metro Editor
The search for a new vice president for campus life and student services is well underway, though behind the schedule President Ruth Simmons set last fall that called for an announcement in early April. Candidates on a shortlist are slated to visit campus before the end of the month. “Now it looks like we will have recommendations to (Simmons) by the end of the month,” said Ann
Dill, associate professor of sociology and chair of the committee, composed of administrators, faculty members and students, to find a vice president for campus life and student services. Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 is currently filling the position as an interim. Dill declined to comment on any specifics about the candidates for reasons of confidentiality, saying that the committee has yet to even contact the candidates’ references. “We are in the place ... where
the only people who know the candidates are candidates are the candidates and us,” Dill said. Carey will begin in a new position, senior vice president for Corporation affairs and governance, beginning July 1. He will be involved in developing University-wide policy initiatives in areas like public safety and environmental management, as well as managing risk avoidance and Corporation affairs. The campus life and student continued on page 4
No early admits may yield a different ADOCH By Debbie Lehmann Higher Ed Editor
A year ago, Aaron Bartnick ’11 was sitting in a dorm room with three other admitted high school students during A Day on College Hill. Two of these students came to ADOCH undecided about where they would spend the next four years, and at least one of them would leave settled on Brown. That student was “convinced to come” by Bartnick, an early admit, and the fourth student, a recruited athlete, Bartnick said. Organizers are hoping this year’s ADOCH — which will bring about 800 students to campus tomorrow
and Wednesday — will retain the enthusiasm from students like Bartnick despite the University’s decision to not invite students admitted early this year. The change is an effort to downsize the event, which had become overcrowded and impersonal, leaving people with a “not-so-great taste in their mouths” about the experience, Dean of Admission James Miller ’73 said. The event this year will also become “specifically a recruitment event, rather than an orientation event,” said Ashley Cromwell ’10, one of the ADOCH coordinators. The decision not to include early applicants comes as Brown faces a
Jesus Moonwalks Marcus Gardley’s new play explores love in the Civil ARTS & CULTURE War South
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“very competitive year” with peer institutions, Miller said. New financial aid policies may lure admitted students to Harvard, Princeton and Yale. In addition, Harvard and Princeton recently dropped their early decision programs, so many students who would have applied early to those schools will now apply to Brown as well. This means more applicants will be facing tough decisions about where to accept admission, making it more important than ever for Brown to make ADOCH “the best experience possible,” Miller said. continued on page 4
Vote or Die Get the lowdown on the platforms of candidates for UCS and UFB positions
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OPINIONS
Chris Bennett / Herald File Photo
Last year’s A Day on College Hill was the last to welcome students admitted through early decision. Admitted students will begin arriving Tuesday.
E-verify this Michael Ramos-Lynch ‘09 takes on the governor’s new order on illegal immigrants in RI
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
sunny, 56 / 34
tomorrow’s weather It’s going to be sunny, just like it ended up being on Spring Weekend. Hindsight’s 20/20, we suppose.
News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com
T oday Page 2
Monday, April 14, 2008
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Menu
But Seriously | Charlie Custer and Stephen Barlow
Sharpe Refectory
Verney-Woolley Dining Hall
Lunch — Rosemary Portobello Sub Sandwich, Comino Chicken Sandwich, Clam Strips on a Bun with Tartar Sauce, Apple Oat Squares
Lunch — Cavatini, Vegan Stuffed Peppers, Peanut Butter and Jelly Bar, Raspberry Swirl Cookies
Dinner — Beef Pot Pie, Vegan Garden Chili, Peas with Pearl Onions, Tomato Rice Pilaf, Dutch Cherry Cake
Dinner — Grilled Cilantro Chicken, Sweet and Sour Tofu, Fried Rice, Arabian Spinach, Dutch Cherry Cake
Nightmarishly Elastic | Adam Robbins
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Los Angeles Times Daily oCrossword Puzzle C r o ssw rd
Gus vs. Them | Zachary McCune and Evan Penn
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 1 Gyro bread 5 Clumsy vessels 9 Marching band instruments 14 Exec’s “I need it yesterday!” 15 Borscht base 16 Limber 17 Furniture protector 19 Kate’s sitcom friend 20 Phone answerer’s opener 21 “Iliad,” for one 23 Divine sign 24 Ancient empire whose capital was Nineveh 26 Decisive bout enders 28 August through December, for many collegians 32 Pepsi competitor 35 Yipping littermates 36 Big galoot 37 Bridge structural support 38 Easy mark 39 Manitoba tribe 40 Gave a meal to 41 Contented sighs 43 Humiliated 45 Resettable mileage measurer 48 Bochco show whose opening title was seen on a California license plate 49 Perplex 53 Shed skin 55 Othello, for one 57 Take for one’s own use 58 From the top 60 Hardly the Ritz 62 Big name in siding 63 Nail groomer 64 Property encumbrance 65 Sloppy 66 Numbers for one 67 Fast fliers of the past: Abbr.
DOWN 1 Former Turkish title 2 Wight and Capri 3 Attire with a top hat 4 Seek by filling out a form 5 Hematological classification letters 6 Unmask 7 Hang on to 8 Begin, as a conversation 9 LAX watchdog 10 Inuit abodes 11 Marquee names 12 Peace Nobelist Wiesel 13 “... as __ on TV” 18 Reef composition 22 Kid’s summer spot 25 Dockworker’s org. 27 “Sure thing” 29 Jerk or twitch 30 Fencing sword 31 Clarinetist’s need 32 Break in relations 33 Trucker with a handle
34 Pricey wheels 38 They love to be in the spotlight 39 Commuters’ cost savers 41 “You’ve got mail” co. 42 Cain raiser 43 From __ Z 44 Seat in the park 46 Paved backyard areas 47 Sign up
50 Trumpeter Armstrong 51 Improbable win 52 British submachine guns 53 Sir’s counterpart 54 Look at leeringly 56 Eclectic assortment 59 Vote of dissent 61 Canadian prov. named for royalty
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
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04/14/08
Classic How To Get Down | Nate Saunders
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04/14/08
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A rts & C ulture Monday, April 14, 2008
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
A & C Editors’ Picks
Courtesy of David Winton Bell Gallery
Video stills from Walid Raad’s “We Can Make Rain But No One Came to Ask,” a work now on display in the David Winton Bell Gallery.
History and fiction blurred at Bell Gallery By Andrea Savdie Assistant Ar ts & Culture Editor
Those who have class in the List Art building may have curiously read the poster hanging outside, which credits the large, politically charged mural displayed on the lobby walls to Elly Boueri. Probably few questioned the accuracy of this attribution — if it says that Boueri created the mural, then why think otherwise? Most likely, few students went
home and searched the Internet for Elly Boueri, only to discover that she may not even exist. According to David Winton Bell Gallery Curator Vesela Sretenovic, Elly Boueri is the alter ego of Walid Raad, whose project “We Can Make It Rain But No One Came To Ask,” will be on display in the Bell gallery until May 25. The way people don’t question the mural’s authorship is precisely the way many people approach history, emphasizing what
seems to be the essential conceit in Raad’s work. Although historical revisionism — questioning, reinterpreting and rewriting history — is easy to find, most people still shudder with discomfort at claims that events never actually happened, or at least not in the way in which they have been narrated. In his project, the New York-based Lebanese artist blurs continued on page 4
‘Jesus’ pulls on labors of liberty, love By Ben Hyman Staff Writer
Near the beginning of Marcus Gardley’s new play “... and Jesus moonwalks the Mississippi,” set in the Civil War South, one Creole character raises a toast “to la fraternite, l’egalite, and to l’amour.” It’s a key moment. The line twists the three tenets of the French Revolution — liberty, equality and fraternity — into “fraternity, equality and love,” a fitting substitution in a work that’s all about the place in which love and liberty intersect. “Jesus,” which opened on Thursday in a compelling Sock and Buskin production, shows how love can be both a kind of freedom and, at the same time, a kind of enslavement. Gardley’s lyrical play, loosely based on the classical myth of Persephone, opens with a chilling act of violence — the onstage lynching of Damascus (Mark Brown ’09), who is a runaway slave searching for his lost daughter, Po’em, in 1865. Somehow, Damascus survives — or perhaps he dies and is reborn. “Jesus” operates through its own surrealistic logic and embraces ambiguity at the expense of simple narrative clarity. In any case, Damascus returns, dressed as a woman and bearing a new name, Demeter, but still just as determined to find Po’em. The bold choice by director Patricia Ybarra, assistant professor of theatre, speech and dance, to have Demeter played by a man — a possibility suggested, but not required, by the script — could easily have devolved into a campy, two-hour-long wink were it not for Brown and Ybarra’s careful sculpting of this complex character. In fact, Brown’s self-effacing performance is so thoroughly convincing that the audience simply forgets that the woman onstage is actually a man, except in those few moments when Gardley’s script intentionally points to this dissonance. Demeter invades the Louisiana home of Cadence Verse, played
by Alicia Coneys ’09 as an aging Southern belle who lives in boozy memories of a “Gone with the Wind”style antebellum South. Cadence, who can hardly take care of herself, also has two children to raise on her own: her white, tomboyish daughter Blanche, played by Samantha Ressler ’09 and Alfreeda (Lauren Neal ’11), also called Free, a half-black, halfwhite girl whose origins are, at first, a mystery. Demeter’s unexpected arrival disrupts the Verse family’s bayou paralysis and teaches the women how to be self-sufficient. But when Demeter
starts asking uncomfortable questions about Free’s roots, the family’s old, hidden scars are torn open. In a parallel narrative set two years earlier, during the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg, Cadence’s husband Jean, played by Federico Rodriguez ’09, is also searching desperately for Po’em. He soon finds himself in an unlikely partnership with Yankee Pot Roast, a bugler in the Union army, played by Lucian Cohen ’09. The 1863 and 1865 stories weave into and out of each other until they finally collide continued on page 4
April 14 to 20: The 2008 Ivy Film Festival will run throughout the week. Events include a screening of Ari Gold’s “Adventures of Power” on Friday at 9 p.m. in Salomon 101 followed by a question-and-answer session with the director, and screenings of Martin Scorsese’s “Shine a Light” at the Avon Cinema on Saturday at 12 p.m. and at 5 p.m., with an address by Scorsese in Salomon 101 at 3 p.m. Screenings of studentmade films kick off on Friday night in Salomon 101 and will run through Sunday, with an awards ceremony and speech by co-chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment Tom Rothman Saturday night at 7:15 p.m. Admission to all the events is free and tickets will be available at the Post Office starting today, except for tickets for the Scorsese lecture, which will be available starting at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. April 15: A panel discussion, “The Politics of Sex Education in Rhode Island,” will take place at 7 p.m. in the John Nicholas Brown Center at 357 Benefit Street. Accompanying “Beyond the Birds and the Bees,” an exhibit presented by masters students in Brown’s public humanities program to explore sex education in the past 100 years, the panel includes representatives from the Rhode Island Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the Rhode Island Teen Pregnancy Coalition and Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island. It is free and open to the public. April 15 and 16: The International Writers Project presents “Under the Tongue: A Festival of African Literature,” a series of readings and discus-
sions featuring award-winning African novelists Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi, Nuruddin Farah and current IWP fellow Chenjerai Hove as well as poet Jack Mapanje and playwrights Pierre Mumbere Mujomba and Charles Mulekwa. Tuesday’s events include “Swimming in Troubled Waters,” a talk by Farah at 3 p.m. in the Watson Institute for International Studies followed by a Freedom to Write panel at 3:30 p.m. That evening, at 8 p.m., Hove and Mapanje will read from their work in “New Writing From Africa” at the McCormack Family Theater. On Wednesday, a panel on new literature from Africa will take place at 11 a.m. in the Watson Institute, the playwrights will perform staged readings at 3 p.m. at the George Houston Bass Performing Arts Space in Churchill House and, at 8 p.m. in the McCormack Family Theater, “New Writing From Africa” will continue with readings by Adichie and Farah. All events are free and open to the public. April 18 and 19: Josh Feintuch ’08 presents his 45-minute opera-musical “Ravioli!” in Grant Recital Hall on Friday at 8 p.m. and on Saturday at 2 p.m. A reception will follow Saturday’s performance. Admission is free. April 19: Brown Stand-Up Comics presents “Brown Alumni Comedy Show” at 10 p.m. in Salomon 101, starring Jordan Carlos ’01, Max Silvestri ’05 and Ross Hyzer ’03.5, who have appeared on The Colbert Report, Best Week Ever and in the HBO Comedy Festival, respectively. Tickets will be on sale for $2 Monday to Friday in the Post Office from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and are $3 at the door.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Monday, April 14, 2008
Exhibition challenges truth and its versions
ADOCH more a ‘recruitment event’ without early admits
Page 4
continued from page 3 reality and fiction to explore the idea that history — or specifically in his case, war — is a selectively constructed narrative filled with uncertainty and contradiction. The work exhibited in the main gallery, which includes a 17-minute video accompanied by 43 inkjet photographs and text, centers on a particular car bombing that took place on Jan. 21, 1986, in Beirut. In the second part of Raad’s exhibition — the lobby mural titled “I Feel A Great Desire to Meet the Masses Once Again” — he depicts postSept. 11 court trials sketched on a sky blue background that changes shade as the political climate is transformed. This is the piece that he attributes to his “double-agent,” Elly Boueri, Sretenovic said, adding that if asked, Raad would claim that an artist from Jerusalem named Elly Boueri actually did paint the mural. Similarly, much of Raad’s earlier work is presented under an umbrella organization called the Atlas Group, which is essentially just Raad, she said. “All his work is based on this duality.” Entering the Bell Gallery, the lights are dimmed. Instead of hanging on the walls, Raad’s photographs are displayed in a narrow strip on white sheets lined up neatly on separate long tables, intending to create the sensation of reading through archival material, Sretenovic said, adding that the five tables function as separate chapters of a book. At the beginning of each table is a piece of introductory text written by Raad. Two of the tables are devoted to telling the ambiguously fictional story of two historical figures, car bomb investigator Yussef Bitar and photojournalist
Georges Semerdijian, who are also the subjects of the documentarystyle film that is simultaneously screened on the far end of the same room. This installation is unique in that the video and photographs are displayed together in the same room for the first time, Sretenovic said. “The idea of reading was supposed to be juxtaposed to the moving images of the video.” By blending imaginary stories and characters with what has been presented by historians and mainstream media as fact, Raad creates multimedia representations of political figures, cars, streets and buildings that alternate between blurred or clear, continuous or disjointed and isolated or placed in context. While it may seem as if Raad has intentionally created these tensions in his work, his explanations imply that this is how the images exist in his memory. “I photographed crowded streets only for them to appear deserted in my negatives; open store fronts appeared shut; faces appeared as backs ... buildings as architectural drawings,” he said both in the text accompanying his photographs and in the lecture he gave Wednesday in List 120, which he called “a narrative tour” of the exhibition. The fragmented images and crackling sounds presented in his video can perhaps be connected to a question he posed during his lecture: “How do you rebuild time as sequential and space as homogeneous?” His speech began with numbers — there were several thousand car bombings that took place in Lebanon between 1975 and 1991, and although there are many general accounts of the wars, he said, individual car bombings and other
violent crimes are dwarfed. For this reason, the Lebanese wars have become a “hollowed abstraction” that he intends to fill by zooming in on one particular detonation: that of Jan. 21, 1986, which he claims to have chosen “as arbitrarily as anything is ever chosen.” As he spoke, he projected mixed images on a screen, gradually creating collages — including faces, store signs, chemical line structures and maps — to recreate the train of events that stemmed from that particular car bombing. In addition to giving a historical account of the bombing, his story was also very personal. He spoke of the loss of privacy that came with the violence. He described a Lebanon where people were constantly aware of not only what car their neighbor drove but also what car their neighbor’s date drove. “We found ourselves always living in the present, unable to see any future beyond the next few hours, the next car bomb,” he said. Throughout both his speech and the exhibit, Raad never explicitly makes clear that certain elements are fictionalized or manipulated — it is unnecessary for him to do so since, as Sretenovic said, his work deals with the concept that memory is not something that can be validated as truth. Although it’s almost impossible to pick up on it, “he’s playing with you, teasing you ... deceiving you,” she said. After Raad concluded his speech and left time for questions, Sretenovic asked him how he met Boueri (his alter ego), to which Raad responded that he came across her work and contacted her to collaborate on the project. No one asked any further questions about Elly Boueri.
Short list of campus life VP prospects submitted continued from page 1 services vice president oversees the Office of Student Life and other aspects of students services on campus. Carey was appointed to a two-year interim term after former vice president David Greene left for the University of Chicago in 2006. Simmons told Carey he could either apply for the permanent campus life position or accept the Corporation affairs and governance job, according to a Feb. 6 article in The Herald. Carey chose to accept the new post. Dill said the short-listed candidates will visit campus this month to meet with “various constituencies” on campus, including repre-
sentatives from student groups and from the staff of Campus Life and Student Services. She said these groups have played an important role throughout the selection process. “In order to filter through the applicants, we talked with (student and staff representatives), and came up with a pretty clear consensus about the criteria that we are looking for in the person who will fill this position,” Dill said. The candidate should be “first and foremost very attuned with the Brown culture,” Dill said, describing the ideal candidate for the position. “There needs to be a presence of this person on campus and accessibility.”
The ideal candidate would possess not only the management skills and experience necessary but also have “creativity and intelligence in bringing new ideas about how to link academics and co-curricular life.” “We are not looking for a manager — we have great managers in these offices,” Dill said. “We are looking for someone with CEOlevel skills, and (who) has creativity and vision that would be consistent with the Brown culture.” “That’s a tall order,” Dill said. “We know we’re asking for a lot ... (but) I am extremely pleased with the candidates that we have, and I think we will all be happy with the outcome.”
continued from page 1 To make up for the enthusiasm that might be lost without early applicants, the ADOCH committee has recruited 30 volunteers who will “basically substitute for the early decision kids,” mingling with participants and promoting Brown at each event, said ADOCH coordinator Anthony Staehelin ’10. The event will also feature a number of “academic lectures” this year, during which professors will speak about their departments and give a typical introductory lecture. While actual Brown classes will still be open to prospective students, these lectures will allow students to experience classes that don’t require “lots of prerequisite knowledge they don’t have,” Cromwell said. In addition, ADOCH will have a formal closing ceremony with an address by former Senator Lincoln Chafee ’75, a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies. More students signed up for ADOCH this year than anticipated, Miller said. Even without the early applicants, the event will bring a comparable number of students to campus. The increased interest reflects Brown’s popularity, he said, as well as the number of students facing “difficult choices.” Miller said he expects Brown’s financial aid packages for many students to be comparable to those from other schools. Still, he said it is “very important to make sure people get exposed to Brown.” “Choosing a college is a very visceral and emotional experience,” Miller said. “We just need to show Brown as fully as we can, and people will respond positively.” But for early applicants, response to not being invited to ADOCH hasn’t been entirely positive. The Office of Admission has received a few calls and e-mails from students about the event, and had to explain why early decision students weren’t invited. “I guess they were unhappy,” Staehelin said, “but hopefully they understand that it’s in their interest
to get the best students here.” Staehelin added that early decision students “mean a lot to the University.” “We haven’t forgotten about them,” he said. “In terms of ADOCH, we’ve just shifted our focus.” The Office of Admission will still hold admitted student tours and lunches. In addition, it has organized more regional receptions for admitted students — upwards of 30 this year, Miller said. He added that the University has been in touch with early decision students throughout the winter with mailings, including letters from President Ruth Simmons. Still, some students admitted early are not satisfied. Kevin Chen ’11 said a friend of his was admitted early and was “kind of ticked” that she wasn’t invited to the event. “She wanted a chance to reinvigorate her passion for Brown,” he said. Chen said excluding early decision students would probably decrease the number of students who enroll in the University. Other students are divided on the effects of the change. Julie Siwicki ’10 said the lack of early decision students probably won’t make a difference at ADOCH. She said most people she talked to when she went to the event hadn’t gotten in early, but almost all of them were set on Brown. Cy Kilbourn ’11, on the other hand, said most people he talked to at ADOCH were still deciding where to accept admission. Regardless of how many students are undecided, Megan Litrownik ’10, who was accepted early, said the lack of early applicants will “really change the atmosphere.” “I really liked being there and talking to kids about why I chose Brown,” she said. She and Bartnick both said that, ultimately, the students who were admitted early are the ones who will lose. “It doesn’t serve any purpose for them,” Bartnick said. “It’s totally justified, but it’s unfortunate.”
‘Jesus moonwalks’ lyricism masks a plot in need of more continued from page 3 in the play’s chaotic climax. Erin Adams ’09, as Mississippi, movingly captures the river’s tortured soul in her role as a constant presence and commentator on the play’s action. Clarence Demesier ’11 takes on the role of Jesus, who is visible only to Free. Demesier, seemingly undaunted by this formidable part, delivers Jesus’ impassioned monologues as well as his naively comic moments with impressive command. Leading a talk-back after Thursday’s performance, Professor of Africana Studies James Campbell, chair of the University’s Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice, pointed to the play’s daring in addressing the topic of slavery by mixing together a range of emotional responses, from artificial, “Gone with the Wind” idealization to rage and bitterness. He connected this approach to a larger trend of more nuanced understandings of slavery’s legacy in the United States. In his comments, he highlighted the play’s insistence on the confusion of seemingly intractable borders be-
tween master and slave, male and female and white and black. Gardley’s thickly poetic language is itself a kind of composite, deriving its excitement from the intermingling of the earthy and the sublime. But lyricism can only go so far in masking weaknesses in plot. The 1863 narrative, despite Cohen and Rodriguez’s committed, exciting acting, is underdeveloped, and several of its scenes ring false. It often feels as though Gardley works too hard to mold necessary backstory into unnecessarily hectic theater, and all of those double-crossings and plot reversals eventually grow tedious. Demeter’s story, however, has enough stately simplicity and emotional power for two plays, and the warmth and cunning humor of her interactions with the Verse women are a lesson both in virtuoso acting and powerfully understated drama. “Jesus” runs through April 20 at Leeds Theater. On Friday, April 18, Daphne Brooks, associate professor of English and African-American studies at Princeton University, will lead a talk-back.
C andidate P rofiles Monday, April 14, 2008
Page 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
C andidat e s for U C S pr e sid e nt
C andidat e s for U C S V I C E pr e sid e nt
Brian Becker ’09
Ellen DaSilva ’10
Brian Becker loves Brown, but he thinks it’s changing. “I think we’re sort of at the crossroad of a huge cultural shift at Brown,” Becker said, referring to changes to the New Curriculum brought by Banner and online registration. Becker thinks the Undergraduate Council of Students can do a lot to make students’ voices heard because it is a “funnel” of student opinion to the administration. UCS’s strength also lies in changing small things that can improve students’ daily lives, said the international relations concentrator from Los Angeles. “You can have big goals, but you also need small areas that can be vastly improved with small solutions,” Becker
said. Becker joined UCS during the fall of his freshman year and served as chair of the Campus Life Committee his sophomore year. Though not currently on UCS, his past accomplishments include the introduction of salads at Josiah’s and the DVD collection in the Friedman Study Center, and working on a report that led to the renovation of freshman lounges. He believes that UCS needs to communicate better with students and said he wants to send an occasional letter to the student body with information on UCS’s activities. UCS “just does a bad job about letting (students) know” about its actions, he said.
Courtesy of Brian Becker
Becker, an International Relations concentrator from Los Angeles.
time on UCS. Bell, a public policy concentrator, thinks UCS needs to work on getting need-blind admissions for international students and improving currently “deplorable” advising for interdisciplinary concentrators like those in international relations. He also wants to improve dorm upkeep — the interior of Vartan Gregorian Quad looks like a “insane asylum,” he said. “Too often, UCS just focuses on the small picture” rather than “looking down the road ahead of it,” Bell said. The “cornerstone” of his presidency will be to improve communications to make UCS more visible, he said. “Whoever’s communications chair will play an integral role in UCS under me,” Bell said.
ing class representative positions, she said. “Everyone in the community should be represented on UCS,” the New York native said. “I want all 6,000 people at this school to be heard.” DaSilva, an American civilization concentrator, hopes that having more people on UCS will expand and empower the committees, and wants to create committees to back the currently existing appointments and communications chairs, she said. “It’s so important that (the appointments committee) be organized since it runs the rest of the school,” she said.
Kim Perley / Herald
DaSilva, a New York native and transfer from Georgetown University.
Michael MacCombie ’11
Martin Bell ’10 Martin Bell thinks he can use the leadership skills he learned in the Navy to lead UCS effectively. “The Navy has a fundamental basis of traits and values that leaders should possess,” Bell said, citing honor, courage and commitment. The skills he learned during his three years as an intelligence specialist will allow him to “exploit the strengths and improve the weaknesses” of UCS, the New Mexico native said. Bell, who served as liaison to the Corporation last semester but left UCS earlier this semester, worked to establish the Sexual Assault Advisory Board and the Sexual Assault Task Force and to spur the debate about the transparency of the Undergraduate Finance Board during his
Loud and outspoken, Ellen DaSilva thinks UCS is “the least efficient body on the planet.” “Something that really irritates me this year is how inefficient the committees are,” said DaSilva, a Herald account manager. The committee chairs “aren’t as much taskmasters as they need to be,” she said, adding that the vice president’s role is to “make sure everyone is doing their job.” DaSilva transferred to Brown from Georgetown at the beginning of the year and joined UCS immediately, rising to alumni liaison in October. She wants to supervise UCS’s expansion next year as it moves toward abolish-
Meara Sharma / Herald
Bell, a public policy concentrator and New Mexico native.
Michael MacCombie thinks UCS lacks drive. But he hopes to make up for it. “After six hours of class on Wednesday, I want to go to UCS because I know people want to get things done,” he said. “There are too many people on UCS right now that are just waiting for the meetings to end.” MacCombie, who serves as an at-large representative, said next year’s expansion of UCS will “bring new people into (the) fold.” He wants to improve UCS’s communication with the student body by holding office hours in dining halls, he said. “I want to make it less of a forced, formal connection, and more of an informal thing,” he said. He has worked to expand
advising awards to encourage good advising, and he wants a system that would allow students to have brief meetings with professors in their departments before choosing concentration advisers. “Since we have such an emphasis on the undergraduates here, it’s sort of important,” said MacCombie, who hails from Cleveland, Ohio. He also co-sponsored resolutions this semester to encourage the University to allow kegs at Class F parties and to allow student input in departmental hiring, firing and tenure decisions. MacCombie, who is on the steering committee of the Janus Forum, is planning to study economics, and possible add a second concentration of public policy or urban studies, he said.
Courtesy of Michael MacCombie
MacCombie, who hails from Ohio and plans to study economics.
C andidat e s for U F B C H A I R
Jose Vasconez ’10
Lily Tran ’10 Lily Tran knows how scary the Undergraduate Finance Board can be. “I have first-hand experience about how intimidating UFB can be,” said Tran, a Herald sales manager. “I think that stems from the fact that UFB lacks transparency.” Tran, who has served on UFB since Januar y, works with a number of student groups, from the Brown Spectator to the Vietnamese Students Association, in finance roles, helping the groups request money from UFB, she said. Though Tran, a Los Angeles native, doesn’t think UFB’s closed deliberations should be opened, she does
think the board should be “more accessible.” She wants the board to send an e-mail to student groups after every decision explaining how it reached its conclusion, she said. “The problem with having open deliberations it that it becomes really political,” she said, adding that members would become uncomfortable voicing their opinions. Tran, a political science and economics doubleconcentrator, proposes parcelling student groups and assigning each bunch to a representative who would become an expert in helping their kind of group craft realistic proposals for funding, she said.
Courtesy of Lily Tran
Tran, a Los Angeles native, studies economics and political science.
Jose Vasconez, who has served on UFB for three semesters, said he understands how UFB works. He’s even written a “comprehensive guide” on how to get funding from the board. The guide explains to student groups the ins and outs of requesting funding, he said, and will be posted online. “One of the biggest problems with UFB is the lack of transparency,” Vasconez said, adding that the guide, which lists the relevant precedents that UFB uses to make its decisions, should help assuage that problem. The guide could save students the “frustration” of “having to make a detailed budget request, coming to
UFB and having it denied,” Vasconez said. “Students pay a student activities fee, and they generally feel like they don’t know where it’s going” or why it goes to a given group, he added. He also wants to post the amount of money UFB has available on the UFB Web site each week to give students a more realistic expectation of how much funding they could receive, he said. Vasconez, a Commerce, Organizations and Entrepreneurship concentrator from Los Angeles, also serves on UCS’s Academic and Administrative Affairs Committee and as finance chair for Brown’s Ivy Council.
Kim Perley / Herald
Vasconez, a COE concentrator from Los Angeles.
— Profiles by Chaz Kelsh
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No. of students EMSed up from last year continued from page 1 No information was available on yesterday’s EMS activity, how many calls EMS fielded last weekend or how many people were treated overall, though Klawunn added that some people were treated by paramedic foot patrols. Students having a few drinks with friends also enjoyed largely cooperative weather, though the concerts were still moved to Meehan Auditorium because of rain forecasts. Though Brown Concert Agency managers didn’t know exactly how many people attended the concerts, they did think Meehan Auditorium was full to its 3,500 capacity at some point during both shows, according to BCA board member Elliot Colbert ’09. Rapper Lupe Fiasco and dancehall powerhouse M.I.A. headlined the concerts. Hipster, Indie-darlings Vampire Weekend also played Friday, and grunge jam band Umphrey’s McGee and mash-up DJ Girl Talk took the stage before M.I.A. on Saturday. During her performance, M.I.A. amped up the audience by crowd surfing, bringing people on stage to dance around her and jumping up to sing and dance on top of enormous speakers. During “Galang,” Brown’s African dance company “New Works” performed a self-choreographed dance along with M.I.A. and her dancers. Horn said the group choreographed the entire dance and got to practice with M.I.A., who was “super excited about the collaboration,” the day before the show. “We essentially left it to them and they created something awesome,” said Colbert, who called the dance one of his favorite parts of the show. Bringing students on stage was one of the more exhilarating elements of the concert. “M.I.A was amazing — she’s a really great performer,” said Monica Garcia ’11, who got to Meehan
at 11 a.m. to be close to the stage during M.I.A.’s performance and who also danced on stage during her set. “She’s so small but she really took control of the whole stage. I was really impressed.” Garcia said the experience topped her year at Brown so far. “It was a lot of fun — an incredible experience and also really ner ve wracking,” she said. “I was so excited (to be on stage) that I didn’t care how I was dancing, so I probably danced oddly.” Saturday’s concert started off slowly with a long set from Umphrey’s McGee. Crowds swelled when Girl Talk took the stage. Girl Talk spent most of his time on stage dancing, crowd surfing and yelling out to the audience. “It was fun, like a really big dance par ty,” said Adam Suzan ’08. And the dance party didn’t stay on the floor. During some songs, students packed the stage to dance with Girl Talk himself. Attendees in the front rows also had the pleasure of carr ying the DJ back and forth in front of the stage. “He was covered in sweat so he just slid across our hands,” Garcia said. “My friend had his crotch in her face.” Vampire Weekend opened the two-day concert on Friday with a clean and smooth, if uneventful, set. The band played new songs and turned “One (Blake’s Got a New Face)” into a call and repeat number with an enthusiastic audience. “I loved them all, but Vampire Weekend is like my new favorite band, so it was amazing that they came,” said Jackie Davey ’11, who added that he saw people looking bored during M.I.A.’s performance. “A lot of people left in the middle (of her performance),” he said. Following Vampire Weekend’s crisp pop sound, hip-hop ar tist Lupe Fiasco took the stage. Tak-
Spring Weekend EMS stats By the numbers:
• 6 transports on Friday night for alcohol or other drug use • 4 transports on Saturday night for alcohol/drug use • Both nights a few students were also treated by EMS foot patrols ing a shor t break between his lively sets, Fiasco talked politics — speaking against President George Bush and encouraging students to take the lead for change in the countr y. “Lupe was the shiznits,” said Dami Olatunji ’11, who said she was less impressed by the other artists she saw during the concert. “He’s so fly. I just love him.” While the performances garnered high praise from many attendees, there were some complaints. “I almost died during the first band (Vampire Weekend) — the crowd was so intense,” Olatunji said. Nam Pham ’11 agreed that “the crowd was wild,” and that at points during the concert he saw people “lodged between people. I left after a while, it was so crowded.” Horn noticed the crazy crowd, but added “it really just comes with the territory of 3,500 people trying to get close to the stage.” Another issue was the sound volume during M.I.A.’s set. At times, her voice was drowned out by the music, gun shots and air sirens that riddled her show. “Sound quality was pretty compromised,” Colbert said, adding that the show was too loud, but that the sound was totally in M.I.A.’s creative control. “We spent the better part of M.I.A.’s set tr ying to get her sound man to turn down the master levels. She likes it loud. But when it’s loud everything gets washed out.” Despite these few issues, Horn and Colbert thought the concert ran smoothly. “Usually little things come up here and there, but this year this went without a hitch,” Horn said. “I am extremely happy with both shows.”
Thanks for reading.
W orld & n ation Monday, April 14, 2008
College students saddled with thousands in debt By Nancy Trejos Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Lavina Ramchandani, 20, got an American Express card two months ago so she could pay a tuition bill. Holly Jackson, 19, got a credit card when she needed a laptop. Ethan Elser, 20, recently used his card to pay for a spring-break trip to Mexico. All are college students, and all are in debt. As the economy worsens, largely because so many people took out mortgages they could not afford, the nation is questioning how credit could have been made so easily available and why consumers were so eager to accept it. But experts say it is behavior that begins at an early age. Decades ago, credit cards didn’t typically enter the picture until a consumer had a career or a family. Now, once people turn 18, they are bombarded with credit card offers. College campuses have become breeding grounds for new consumers of credit, with companies using free T-shirts, sandwiches, even iPods to entice potential customers. Students are an attractive market because “most adults already have too many credit cards,” said Ed Mierzwinski, program director for U.S. PIRG, a federation of state Public Interest Research Groups that defends consumers. “It’s expensive to market to people who have credit cards with other companies.” Consumer advocates say college students can least afford to graduate with debt these days, with an unstable job market. Many of them will graduate with student loan debt. “Going into a recession, which it looks like we are, are you going to spend all this money on school and then graduate and not be able to find a job?” said Emily Davidson, a financial expert at Credit.com, a Web site that rates credit cards. In a recently released U.S. PIRG survey of 1,500 students at 40 colleges in 14 states, nearly two in three students reported that they had at least one credit card. Fifty-five percent of cardholding students said they used their card for day-to-day expenses. Reflecting escalating college costs, 55 percent said they charge their books and nearly one-quarter said they pay their tuition with a card. On average, those freshmen whose parents were not helping them with their bills had a balance of $1,301. Seniors had more than twice that, $2,623. Nellie Mae, a student loan company, gathered similar data when it did a study of undergraduate credit card use in 2004. Seventysix percent of undergraduates began that school year with credit cards, and the average balance was $2,169, lower than it had been in 2001. Jackson, a sophomore government and politics major at the University of Maryland, has more than $2,000 in credit card debt. She has two cards, one that she opened to buy a Dell laptop and another that she used to pay for gasoline, food
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and books. She works part time at the Gap, earning $7.75 an hour. Most of that goes toward her credit card bills. So far, she has not made any late payments, but she said she feels overwhelmed and might get a second job. “I’m learning my lesson,” she said. “After I pay these off, I don’t plan on getting more. They’re awful.” Card companies argue that college students are adults and therefore have a right to credit. For the most part, industry experts say, they are no less responsible than the average adult. In a survey of 1,200 full-time undergraduates conducted last month on 100 campuses, the marketing research firm Student Monitor found that the percentage of students with a credit card in their own name had decreased, from 46 percent in 2004 to 35 percent this year. Of those who have cards, 63 percent said they pay their balance in full each month. The 37 percent who do not carried an average balance of $452, a decrease from last year, the report said. Students had more student loan debt than credit card debt, the study pointed out. Both the U.S. PIRG and Student Monitor surveys found that about a quarter of the students had been charged a late fee at some point. “To me, the bigger issue is more about financial education,” said Kenneth Clayton, senior vice president for card policy at the American Bankers Association. Consumer advocates and financial advisers agree that education is key and that the onus should be on parents, educators and the card companies to help students become smarter consumers. But the students themselves, they argue, should also do their part. continued on page 10
Courts struggling with capital punishment By Robert Barnes Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Ever since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty more than 30 years ago, it has been finding ways to limit it. In the intervening years, justices have employed their interpretations of society’s “evolving standards of decency” to remove juvenile and mentally retarded killers from death row. Before that, they excluded kidnappers who did not kill and even some accomplices to murder. In 1977 the court also concluded that a state could not execute a man who raped an adult woman. But on Wednesday the court will consider whether a person who rapes a child is different. Louisiana prosecutors will argue that the same societal mores that have persuaded justices to spare certain categories of criminals lead in the opposite direction when it comes to child rapists, demanding an expansion of capital punishment, not a retrenchment. Proponents say society demands retribution for those who harm its most vulnerable members. But some child advocacy experts say the unintended consequences of the death penalty might be a decline in the reporting of sexual assaults by family members, or even an incentive for the rapist to kill the victim. The argument comes as the court has imposed a de facto moratorium on capital punishment as justices decide in a separate case whether the current methods of lethal injection are constitutional. Even as the number of death sentences imposed in the United States has fallen — last year saw the fewest since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 — Louisiana and a handful of other states have changed their laws to allow executions for those who rape children. They are supported by additional states that say they might want to do so in the future. “The ‘evolving standards of de-
cency’ framework is not a one-way street that may lead only towards the elimination of the death penalty,” the state of Texas argues in a brief joined by eight other states. “Each state’s legislature should be allowed to ... reflect its citizens’ current moral judgment regarding the just desserts for certain capital crimes.” Of the 3,300 inmates on death row across the country, only two are there for a crime other than murder, and both were convicted under Louisiana’s child rape statute, passed in 1995 and still the broadest in the land. Those facts alone are a powerful argument that executing someone for rape would violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment,” argue lawyers for Louisiana death row inmate Patrick Kennedy. The 43-year-old Kennedy was convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter in 1998 in an assault so brutal that the girl required surgery. But Jeffrey Fisher, a Stanford University law professor who will argue Kennedy’s case, said no matter how heinous the crime, the court decided in 1977’s “Coker v. Georgia” — its last previous ruling on the limits of capital punishment — that rape is not subject to the ultimate penalty. Justice Byron White wrote for the court: “We have the abiding conviction that the death penalty, which is unique in its severity and irrevocability, is an excessive penalty for the rapist who, as such, does not take human life.” That might have settled it, except the court noted in that decision, and in subsequent ones, that although the victim was 16, she was an “adult woman.” To Louisiana legislators, that meant there was an open question about whether capital punishment would be allowed for those who rape children. The state’s Supreme Court held that children require special protection from society and that the “the degradation and devastation of child rape, and the permeation
of harm resulting to victims of rape in this age category” justifies the death penalty. And it pointedly noted that “this current court, and its new members” have not considered the issue. Louisiana has been joined in expanding the death penalty by Montana, South Carolina, Oklahoma and most recently Texas. (Florida and Georgia have older laws that have been called into question by state courts.) Missouri’s Republican Gov. Matt Blunt has asked his state’s legislature to impose the death penalty on child rapists following a highprofile case of a man who kidnapped a boy and held him captive for four years. Michael Devlin received 74 life sentences, but Blunt questioned whether that was “sufficient” for his crimes. “This court should not foreclose a national debate on appropriate punishment for child rape,” Missouri said in an amicus brief. Louisiana argues that such initiatives are reflective of the same sort of societal trends — albeit in the opposite direction — that the court recognized in 2002, when it declared the death penalty unconstitutional for the mentally retarded, and in 2005, when it did the same for juveniles. Both reversed earlier decisions by the court. Fisher and the Capital Appeals Project in New Orleans, which represented Kennedy in his appeals, countered that more states have rejected the death penalty for child rapists than have added it, and that New Jersey repealed its death penalty law entirely. “Viewed against the backdrop of 44 years without a single execution for rape of any kind, the enactments of only four states over 13 years ... hardly signify a shift in societal attitudes,” their brief argues. Expanding the death penalty to include non-homicidal rape would separate the United States from continued on page 10
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Spring Weekend tickets sold out quickly this year, and the Brown Concert Agency saw a significantly high number of attempts to counterfeit tickets. Courtesy of Elliot Colbert
Laura Bucknam / Herald
Above right, students joust gladiator-style at the SPEC carnival on Thursday; above, Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend strums and shouts at Friday’s concert.
‘Steady stream’ of counterfeits found continued from page 1 would-be counterfeiters had an entire month to “take it on as a project.” The extra time allowed them to perfect their fakes before the show, he said. Alex Spoto ’11, BCA’s security chair, said that though the “somewhat sophisticated” counterfeiting was “not something that you could do with a cheap printer,” it could still be done simply with a scanner, the appropriate paper and a highquality printer. BCA expected an increase in counterfeiting as result of high demand for tickets, Horn said, and the group worked with the Department of Public Safety and Green Horn Management, which was contracted to handle security for the events, to catch counterfeits. Director of Student Activities Ricky Gresh and other staff from the Student Activities Office oversaw the ticket collection and inspection, Spoto said. “Everyone had their eyes out” for fake tickets, he added. An hour before each concert, GHM employees were trained with real tickets to inspect details of the tickets like paper weight and the perforation lines, Spoto said. Spoto said he saw a “steady stream” of counterfeit tickets being discovered, suggesting that the ticket-detection training paid off. Nonetheless, he and other BCA members conceded that several fake ticket holders made it past the heightened security, though
they would not speculate as to how many. The fake tickets “looked good” at first, Spoto said, but could usually be spotted quickly on closer inspection. Spoto said most counterfeits could be identified by the lightness of the ink color and cut of the paper. Those caught trying to use fake tickets had their counterfeits confiscated and were turned away at the door. Some were asked where they had purchased the tickets, in an effort to catch those selling fakes. DPS officers were stationed outside Meehan Auditorium, where the concerts took place, to try to dissuade the practice, Spoto said. One BCA member, who preferred to remain anonymous, said a group of BCA members went outside the venue to try to buy fake tickets in an impromptu sting operation to catch counterfeiters, but did not find anyone at that time. Horn said that he didn’t know of such an operation, but that it may have taken place. BCA has no plans to investigate ticket counterfeiting, but DPS and the Providence Police Department may do so, Colbert said. Colbert said next year there will be “many differences” to the “ticket distribution system,” but these are primarily designed to affect the pace of sales rather than to prevent counterfeiting. Representatives from DPS and the Student Activities Office did not return phone calls requesting comment on Sunday.
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Left, Lupe Fiasco gets close to his audience at the show he headlined in Meehan Auditorium Friday night; below, Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend, which opened for Fiasco, jams intensely. Laura Buckman/Herald
Laura Buckman / Herald
Middle, Arthur Kim ’08, of The Trolleys, plays the violin. The Trolleys opened for Saturday’s concert in Meehan Auditorium; above, Girl Talk, without his shirt, gets down with students at Saturday’s show; left, MIA sparkles on stage Saturday.
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Iraq fires 1,300 soldiers, police By Tina Susman Los Angeles T imes
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraqi officials said Sunday that they had fired some 1,300 soldiers and police who refused to fight Shiite Muslim militias during the recent government crackdown, desertions that raised questions about the likely performance of Iraqi forces as U.S. troop levels diminish. The announcement provided the first detailed accounting of the resistance put up by some Iraqi soldiers and police during the offensive, which began March 25 in the southern city of Basra and sparked clashes in several Shiite strongholds in Baghdad. A high-ranking police official in Basra said a roundup of alleged militia sympathizers had begun Saturday and that “a large number” of police were arrested at work and accused of membership in militias. “They were high-ranking and with different positions,” said the Iraqi official, who was not authorized to speak and would not give his name. He did not specify which militias they were accused of supporting. A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, Abdul Kareem Khalaf, said fired troops faced courtsmar tial after having deser ted for political, religious or ethnic reasons. In general terms, Khalaf described their offenses as “showing solidarity with outlaws,” but he did not detail the specific charges they faced. Khalaf did not say how many of those fired were police and how many were soldiers. Khalaf said most of the desertions occurred in Basra, where 421 police officers and 500 additional troops, including some police and soldiers, were fired. The other deserters were from Kut, the capital of Wasit Province and the scene of intense fighting in the days immediately following the launch of the Basra operation. U.S. and Iraqi officials have said that police were most likely to have gone AWOL because of pressure they faced within their own neighborhoods. They said this was especially true in militiaheavy areas such as Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of radical
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Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army militia. Unlike soldiers, police report for duty in the districts where they live. Three days after the offensive began, Sheik Salman Freiji, the chief of the Sadr organization in Sadr City, greeted about 40 men who said they were police and soldiers. The men, wearing dark glasses and masks to hide their faces, told journalists accompanying them that they would not fight fellow Shiites and wanted to give their weapons to al-Sadr. Video and photographs from journalists showed Freiji giving the men olive branches and Qurans in return. “It was probably more out of fear than (al-)Sadr loyalty,” said a U.S. military official in Baghdad, describing the possible reasons for police putting down their guns. He said early reports had indicated that most of the security forces who deserted were young recruits recently out of training. Whatever the reasons, the deser tions are a sign of what critics have said were broader problems with the offensive ordered by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, including overly rapid deployment of shaky troops and lack of adequate planning. Some say this points to weaknesses in al-Maliki’s leadership and portends ongoing problems as future U.S. troop levels continue to be a focus of political debate in Washington. “There’s a certain bravado to the current (Iraqi) leadership, believing they can come into a difficult situation and just with a show of force make things happen the way they want,” said the U.S. military official, who spoke anonymously because of his critique of the U.S.-backed Iraqi leader. “There’s so much that it takes to plan a militar y operation. All that stuff had not been done,” the official said. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker has admitted to being taken by surprise by the size and scope of al-Maliki’s move into Basra. The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Gen. David H. Petraeus, while praising al-Maliki for his decisiveness, said some elements of the Iraqi offensive were a disappointment, “although it is not over yet,” he added during last week’s testimony before Congress.
Credit card debt hitting college students continued from page 7 “Frequently, (students) don’t have an understanding of both the rights and obligations of credit cards,” said Susan Coleman, a finance professor at the University of Hartford. “Young adults and their parents need to take steps to educate themselves about the uses of debit and credit cards so they can be informed consumers.” Elser, a sophomore business administration major at George Washington University, said he considers himself informed. “I think once you hit 18, you’re old enough to make your own decisions and you should absolutely be able to sign up for a credit card,” he said. He said that he has never missed a payment on his Visa card and that he always pays more than the minimum. (But he would have to pay interest on any unpaid balances.) He did not choose his card based on a marketing gimmick. Instead, he applied for one at his parents’ bank before he went to college. Now, after that trip to Mexico, he has a balance of slightly more than $1,500, but his mother plans to help him pay it off. He has scaled back on his spending, eating out less and doing no unnecessary shopping. “I always have a plan for how I’m going to pay for it,” he said. Many schools are incorporating financial literacy into their curricula or freshman orientation. At George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., for example, freshmen are required to take Mason 101, a course on handling college life that includes a lesson on credit cards. At Trinity Washington University, students go through a session on credit cards during freshman orientation, then again later in the year. The school also sends students e-mails advising them on good financial behavior,
said spokeswoman Ann Pauley. Credit card issuers said they, too, give students tips on how to handle their cards responsibly and start them out with lower limits. People who apply for the Discover Student Card receive a “Credit 101” booklet, and the company’s Web site includes a “student center” with a budget calculator, credit quiz and a glossary of key terms, said Matthew Towson, a company spokesman. Capital One, in partnership with Visa, has offered MoneyWi$e University, a program to teach responsible spending and basic money management skills, on college campuses across the country since 2002. Still, in recent months, federal and state lawmakers have taken credit card companies to task for their marketing techniques. Last month, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., introduced a bill that would, among other things, require credit card issuers to receive “opt-in” approval from consumers younger than 21 before mailing solicitations to them. Also last month, the Maryland House of Delegates approved a bill that would ban companies from offering college students gifts to sign up for credit cards on campus or at school sporting events. The bill also would prohibit colleges from sharing student e-mail or postal addresses with card companies. Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann recently sued Citibank for allegedly handing out coupons for free sandwiches at Ohio State University without making it clear that the students would have to fill out credit card applications to redeem them. Citibank has said it used an outside marketing company and did not authorize the campaign. According to the U.S. PIRG study, 76 percent of students reported stopping at tables on campus
to apply for credit cards, and nearly one-third were offered a free gift to sign up. Increasingly, however, college campuses are banning such practices. For those who get into serious debt, financial advisers said there are ways out. Brent Neiser, director of strategic programs and alliances at the National Endowment for Financial Education, said students can turn to credit counselors and, most important, to their parents. Mom and Dad might not pay off the debt, but they could have some good ideas for dealing with it. Students should then cut their spending and think about getting second jobs. Curtis Arnold, founder of CardRatings.com, which reviews credit cards, said students should also consider transferring their balances to cards with lower rates. And if they are deeply in debt, they should cut up the card, several advisers said. Ramchandani, a junior at the University of Maryland, has a plan for paying off her debt. She and her mother researched several credit cards and found an American Express card that charges no interest for the first 14 months and has a $2,000 limit. Eager to pay her own way through college, she charged whatever her student loans could not cover of this semester’s tuition. She is working part time at the campus television station and does not spend much money on things she does not need. “It’s not the greatest idea in the world. It’s risky,” she acknowledged. “I know I can be one of those college students who falls into debt. That’s one of my greatest fears.” Still, she plans to pay off her card by June, then charge next semester’s tuition.
Court will address capital punishment continued from page 7 other Western nations and align it with “only a sliver” of the world, including China, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Fisher argues. Even if imposing the death penalty for child rapists were ruled constitutional, he said, Louisiana’s law
is so broad that it fails the Supreme Court’s test of narrowing classifications of offenders to the worst of the worst. For instance, while other states require previous convictions before a convict is eligible for the death penalty, Louisiana does not. Anyone convicted of raping a child younger than 13 is eligible for the death penalty, even though the typi-
cal murderer would not be. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union reminded the court of the “scourge of racial bias” that accompanied the execution of rapists during the middle part of the 20th century; nearly 90 percent of those executed were black. Beyond legal issues, the law is bad policy, an unlikely coalition of social workers and groups that work to prevent sexual assaults told the court. Her opposition “might seem counterintuitive,” Judy Benitez, executive director of the Louisiana Foundation Against Sexual Assault, said in an interview. “But our great fear is that it will increase underreporting” of the crime. She said the “vast majority” of sexual assaults against children are committed by a family member or friend, and that other family members would be unwilling to turn over the rapist if the death penalty might be carried out. Additionally, the imposition of the death penalty means that abusers face no greater penalty for raping and killing their victims than for solely raping them, Benitez said. Benitez acknowledges those are arguments that would seem better directed at legislators than the courts. But she said lawmakers are often swayed by the emotions that accompany terrible crimes. “It’s a complex area that I think needs to be looked at in a more indepth manner than policymakers are often willing to do,” she said.
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Antiabortion lawmakers give Obama unexpected support By Shailagh Murray The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — As strong and consistent abortion foes, Sen. Robert Casey Jr. and former congressman Timothy Roemer are anomalies in a Democratic Party that has overwhelmingly advocated abortion rights. Yet both are backing Sen. Barack Obama, whom one conservative blogger dubbed “the most pro-abortion candidate ever.” As firmly as Casey of Pennsylvania and Roemer of Indiana have adhered to their opposition, Obama has never supported a single measure that would curtail access to abortion — even under controversial circumstances. But Casey and Roemer have chosen to ignore Obama’s legislative record, and are promoting the Democratic presidential candidate to their antiabortion allies as someone who could achieve a new consensus on the issue. “He has the unique skills to try to lower the temperature and foster a sense of common ground, and try to figure out ways that people can agree,” Casey said, although the freshman senator added, “On this issue, it’s particularly hard.” The endorsements send a powerful signal in two critical battlegrounds: Pennsylvania, which will hold its primary on April 22, and Indiana, which will vote on May 6. Both states have sizable segments of socially conservative Democrats who reject the party’s orthodoxy on an issue they have long viewed as troubling and complex. Casey’s endorsement is particularly important because Obama’s ability to reach these voters is even more in question in light of the controversy provoked by his description of small-town Pennsylvania voters as driven by bitterness over their economic situation and looking for ways “to explain their frustrations.” Campaigning in both upcoming primary states this weekend, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., seized on the comments to paint Obama as an elitist, out of touch with average Americans. But Sunday Casey said that the better his constituents get to know Obama, “the more they’re going to understand his heart and his values, and I think he’s going to win.” Obama did not mention abortion in his controversial remarks, made last week at a fundraiser in California, though he noted other divisive social issues. But last week in Indiana, he said that both sides of the abortion debate are guilty of hyperbole. “The mistake pro-choice forces have sometimes made in the past, and this is a generalization ... has been to not acknowledge the wrenching moral issues involved,” he said. “And so the debate got so polarized that both sides tended to exaggerate the other side’s positions. Most Americans, I think, recognize that what we want to do is avoid, or help people avoid, making this difficult choice. That nobody is pro-abortion — abortions are never a good thing.”
Happy Monday.
Asked Sunday night at a nationally televised forum on religious and moral values if there can be “common ground” on abortion, Obama said that “people of good will can exist on both sides.” With Casey watching from the audience at Messiah College outside Harrisburg, Pa., he added that while there will always be irreconcilable differences between opponents and supporters of abortion rights, “we can take some of the edge off the debate.” Obama is trying hard to make inroads into Clinton’s support among women, and in at least one primary — in New Hampshire — her campaign successfully made an issue of his commitment to abortion. A flier mailed out just before the primar y targeted “present” votes Obama had cast in the Illinois legislature. Although he was acting at the behest of local abortion rights advocates, his advisers think that female voters backed off their candidate as a result, probably contributing to his narrow and surprising loss. But Clinton has also sought to break from party policy, as she, too, made clear Sunday night. She said that “I will continue to do what I can to reduce the number” of abortions, so whoever wins the nomination, Democrats are likely to try to defuse the issue in the general election. Clinton co-wrote, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., a significant abortion-prevention bill in January 2005; Obama signed on early as a co-sponsor. Any attempt to play down the issue represents a marked change in a party for which abortion rights has been a defining issue. At the 1992 Democratic National Convention, Casey’s late father, former Pennsylvania governor Robert Casey Sr., was denied a speaking slot after he refused to endorse Bill Clinton because of Clinton’s support of abortion rights. His son shares the same convictions, and ran afoul of women’s groups in his
2006 Senate race. Roemer’s antiabortion views have also shadowed his political career. Liberal bloggers and some party officials aggressively opposed his bid for chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee in early 2005, causing him to say: “I like a good fight. But don’t put my arms behind me. Give me a chance to talk about my values. And don’t litmus-test me.” Despite his opposition to abortion, Roemer said he has come to believe that the all-or-nothing approach that both parties have advocated over the years has created gridlock across the policy spectrum, from health care to international policy. He called the old style “tin cans on the back of a car.” With Obama, Roemer said, “the first words out of his mouth aren’t `People should be free to do whatever they want.’ He leaves open the possibility that there are other ways to address some of these issues.” Antiabortion leaders in Indiana and Pennsylvania were alarmed by the two endorsements, and were wary about the potential consequences. “We feel it’s going to cause more confusion than influence,” said Maria Vitale, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, referring to Casey’s endorsement. “But it was notable.” To provide clarity, the group’s political office mailed a voter guide to 100,000 Democratic and Republican supporters in the state. “A lot of people aren’t aware of Barack Obama’s position on abortion,” Vitale said. The guide, posted on the group’s Web site, notes that Obama voted against parental notification laws. When the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 last year to uphold a 2003 ban on a procedure that some call “partial-birth” abortion, he objected to the ruling as representing “an alarming willingness on the part of the conservative majority to disregard its prior rulings respecting a woman’s medical concerns and the very personal decisions between a
doctor and patient.” But Obama supports legislation that promotes abstinence education and contraception subsidies, and he strays into conservative terrain by urging more federal support for those who decide to proceed with unplanned pregnancies. A “Pro Life for Obama” group has formed on his campaign Web site, a lively contingent described as voters “who oppose abortion, but feel that Obama’s proposed policies will do a better job of preventing abortion than another four years of Republicans taking half-hearted pro-life positions.” Otherwise, the Web site does not refer to abortion, posing a challenge for voters trying to determine his position. During a town hall meeting in Lafayette, Ind., on Thursday, Obama was asked what type of Supreme Court justice he would appoint. His lengthy answer made no mention of “Roe v. Wade,” the landmark ruling that legalized abortion. But threading the needle in a bitter election year is a different matter. In both Pennsylvania and Indiana, Democrats who oppose abortion could swing the outcome of the primary election. In Pennsylvania, the Democratic presidential contest is the only statewide race that will not feature an antiabortion Democrat on the ballot. In Indiana, two socially conservative freshmen, Reps. Joe Donnelly and Brad Ellsworth, face tough reelection battles in November, and neither has taken sides in the presidential race. “I’m not sure how the Roemer endorsement can be justified,” said Mike Fichter, executive director of Indiana Right to Life. “I find it beyond confusing.” But he conceded: “It could be significant with people who are paying attention to Obama’s sound bites, rather than what he has voted for. For people who are not really digging into the background, support from someone like Roemer could have quite an impact.”
M. crew to face Huskies this weekend continued from page 16 job. They handled a lot of wind and rough water; they kept their poise … and were able to really have a complete race. To see them move away at the end, I’m really proud of those guys.” Spurred on by mild temperatures and mostly bright skies, droves of fans turned out to support not only the men’s crew but also the women’s, who were racing Rutgers, packing the decks of the Narragansett Boat Club. Afterwards, both teams gathered with friends and parents at the Marston Boathouse for a cookout. The support pleased Cooke. “We had a lot of fans, didn’t we? It’s great to have so many people out watching the crew and maybe a little bit of an event for Brown, which a lot of times the rowing isn’t so much (a sport students come to watch),” he said. Coming out of this weekend with added confidence, the Bears will now turn their attention to Northeastern, whom they will face on Saturday morning in Boston. The Huskies should be just as stiff a test as the Crimson; on April 6 their varsity eight placed fifth in the Copley Cup final at the San Diego Crew Classic Regatta, just 28 hundredths of a second behind Harvard. “They had a great showing out in San Diego, so we know they have a strong eight,” Cooke said. “We know they’re always very tough. We’ll be expecting a strong race from them, and we’ll see if we’re equal to the task.” O’Lear y thinks that the team is. “They’ve shown some speed, but we’ll be training hard this week, and we’ll definitely be ready for them,” he said.
Monday, April 14, 2008
57 shots on goal do not slow m. lax continued from page 16 Hall also added that confidence was crucial in the comeback. “Coach told us in the huddle (after the first quarter) that Penn gets up on teams and lets their leads get away,” he said. “Coach told us we were still in the game. It helped our motivation and our confidence.” Tiffany also pointed to the fact that the team struggled in some third quarters earlier in the season and has since fixed the problem, which has led to the strong play in the middle of games. He said the team made an effort to work on coming out of halftime better and the team even “practiced halftime” during regular practices, by waiting around for a few minutes in between drills. Though Penn cut the lead to 5-4 by the end of the third quarter, the Bears put the game away in the fourth when Hollingsworth and Walsh extended the lead to 7-4 with 4:45 to play in the game. Walsh said that an increased use
of wing dodges in the second half contributed to an improved offensive effort after halftime. Tiffany called the offense “opportunistic” and “efficient,” scoring eight goals on just 22 shots. Penn controlled the ball for approximately 75 percent of the game according to Tiffany, which was aided by Brown’s occasional inability to clear after a Burke save. “Ideally we would have liked to have more shots. Our target is around 35-40 shots. They had long possessions. All our shots were good though,” Walsh said. Penn tried desperately to make a comeback, unloading 18 shots on Burke in the fourth quarter, but it managed just one goal, which came too late to give the Quakers a chance. Burke pointed to one five-minute stretch in the fourth when Penn controlled the ball without a whistle and the defense began to tire but didn’t give in. He said that he thought the Penn offense was frustrated with having so much possession time but
getting nothing out of it. The 8-5 victory keeps Brown on pace with Cornell, who is 4-0 in the Ivy League, and Princeton, who is 3-0. The Bears will try to extend their seven-game winning streak to eight on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Harvard. The team is excited to play at home again, according to Walsh. They haven’t been home since their March 25 game against Vermont. Though the team’s fans have traveled well, making strong showings at Yale and Penn, “teams always play better at home,” Walsh said. The game will also be the first one for the team on Stevenson Field, which means the first game on natural grass. Very few teams still play on grass anymore and Tiffany said it changes the game because “your legs are so heavy.” The Bears hope the grass won’t slow them down too much and they will be able to continue on the road to an Ivy League championship, which Burke said has been the team’s goal since the beginning of the season.
Crowds show to watch m. tennis beat Ivies continued from page 16 No. 2 doubles. The No. 3 pairing of Chris Lee ’09 and Charlie Posner ’11 also proved victorious, grabbing the sweep with an 8-6 win. Unfortunately, Posner, filling in for an injured Jon Pearlman ’11, couldn’t keep the momentum flowing into his singles play, as he was the lone Bear to drop his match. Posner was quickly defeated 6-3, 6-0 at No. 6, but Bruno charged on, dropping only one set in the remaining five matches at No. 4 singles as Garland fought for a come-from-behind victory in three sets winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. At No. 1, Kohli grabbed an easy win, 6-3, 6-1, followed by Gardner at No. 3 singles winning 6-3, 6-0. Lee, at No. 2 singles, dominated his first set 6-1 before struggling in the second set leading to a tiebreaker where he grabbed the point for Bruno, 7-6. Following suit with Lee, Kendrick Au ’11 quickly grabbed his first set at No. 5 singles before powering through the second set to finish his match, 6-2, 7-5. “My game plan was simple — stay extremely consistent, not force myself to do too much and attack when I could,” Au wrote in an e-mail. “As soon as we step on the court, it’s all about taking care of business for us, and I think with that mentality combined with an amazing group of supporters helps eliminate any nerves we may have.” But there were no signs of nerves in the Bears as they warmed up for their must-win match against Columbia the following day. “We knew coming in that Columbia was going to be an extremely tough team,” Lee said. “They are very strong up and down the entire lineup, we knew that we had to play big and play confidently to beat this team.” At the start of doubles play, that confidence was apparent on all three courts. At No. 1, Kohli and Ratnam easily grabbed the win, 8-4, but it would be the only doubles win for Bruno as No. 3 Lee and Posner played a match that was much closer than their 8-4 loss would indicate. At No. 2 doubles Garland and Gardner, down 6-2, made a last ditch attempt for a victory with fans and teammates spurring them on, but they ultimately fell 8-6.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
With his team down 1-0, Head Coach Jay Harris attempted to fire up his players by reminding them that only one point was done, and there was still an entire match ahead of them. “Coach said we need to show these guys the energy we can bring through the entirety of all six singles matches,” Garland said of Harris’ speech. “He always stresses after we lose a doubles point that there are six more points to be had.” It seems Harris’ speech truly did inspire the team as they came out swinging with one thing on their mind: victory. With the urgency to grab the win, Bruno quickly jumped on the Lions, winning the first sets on five of the six courts. Garland was the first with a win to tie up the score at No. 5 singles, 6-0, 6-4, but that was immediately followed by a loss at No. 3 singles, when Ratnam dropped his match, 6-4, 6-3. As the day wore on, fans began to pour into the stands providing the support and energy the Bears needed to motivate them to victory. “It was so great to play in front of so many friends and family,” Kohli said. “Our crowds are very vocal and they help us through tough situations. It’s always great to be able to look up to the stands knowing that you have so much support.” That support came at just the right time as Gardner at No. 4 singles was down in the second set 4-1 before his teammates and (always present) parents kept him alive as he demolished the next five games to win the match in tiebreaker, 7-6, 7-5. It was the same story on a different court as Au, at No. 6 singles, grabbed the first set 6-3 before losing his game in the second set, 6-0. As news broke in the stands he had split sets, the crowd shifted towards his court to cheer him toward a victory as he clinched the match with a 6-0 win in the third. Up 3-2, it was down to the top two players on the final two courts, as one more victory would give Bruno the team win. As Kohli split sets at No. 1 singles, he began to cramp and called for a medical time-out, and the attention was then shifted to Lee at No. 2 singles. “I didn’t actually know Saurabh was cramping until after my match, I didn’t even know we were up 3-2 until I was up 6-5 in the second and
I asked coach what the score was,” Lee said of the pressure. “After he told me, I went out with a little more determination knowing that I could clinch the match right there.” Lee stepped up to the plate, and knocked it out of the park, as he was up 40-0 in the last game when he grabbed match point by a double fault from his opponent securing the victory for Bruno, 7-6, 7-5. With one more match to go, Kohli was showing signs of extreme pain as he limped across the courts during play, but continued to show his determination for a win in his final match against Columbia. “At this point of the season, there isn’t much you can work on physically,” Kohli said of his gutwrenching match. “It is what we can do to stay tough mentally and emotionally to keep us swinging away.” Kohli kept swinging as he caught a break at 2-2 in the third, the match having already been awarded to Brown, the line judge called for a seven-point tiebreaker to determine the winner of the match. Knowing he only had to play hard for seven more points, and that all eyes were on him without any of the added pressure, Kohli grabbed the victory, wincing and limping in pain, 6-7, 7-5, 2-2 (8-6). Falling into a sea of supporters from Brown, the Bears celebrated the victory with a “Happy Birthday” song to Ratnam, who turned 21. He could be overheard saying they now have two things to celebrate, his birthday and their two wins. “I am so proud of our guys, because we really fought at every spot, until the very last ball was hit,” Lee said. While celebration may have been in order for the victories and Ratnam’s birthday, there are plenty more balls to be hit in the upcoming weeks as the Bears will next hit the road to take on Dartmouth this Friday before returning home for the match of the season against the current Ivy leader, Harvard, on Sunday, April 20 at 12 p.m in the Pizzitola Center. “This has been the deepest the Ivy League has been in many years,” Lee said of the upcoming competition. “We can only focus on our next match, because every match is a challenge, every match has the Ivy League title on the line.”
Bears score fist Ivy win, will take on UConn Wednesday continued from page 16 said Wilson. “I am looking for the good pitches and being aggressive. It feels good to snap a bit of a dr y spell.” In game one against Dartmouth, Brown jumped out to an early lead. Lavine reached first on an error, stole second and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by Amy Baxter ’08. Lavine then came home on an error by the center fielder to give Bruno the early lead. Brown was able to keep Dartmouth scoreless until the top of the third, when the Big Green scored on an RBI double from third baseman Leigha Clarkson. The Bears would answer in the bottom of the inning with a run of their own to take a 2-1 lead. It was Lavine crossing the plate again for the Bears as she hit a double to get on base before Baxter singled up the middle to bring her home. The Bears held the lead until the top of the sixth, when Dartmouth put up three runs to go up 4-2. After the third run scored for Dartmouth, Moses was relieved from the game and Kristie Chin ’11 came in to finish the game. Chin allowed one run in the sixth, but held Dartmouth without a run the rest of the way. Moses had a solid outing, giving up four runs, three of them unearned, on seven hits, while registering six strikeouts. A home run by Wilson in the sixth inning sparked new life in the Bears, but that was the only run that would cross the plate in that inning. Wilson hit her second home run in as many days, tying two of her teammates with two on the season. Although the Bears fought hard they came up a bit short, falling to Dartmouth 4-3 in the first game. The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader proved to be a pitching duel, with Chaddock facing of f against Dar tmouth’s Devin Lindsay. Chaddock kept it close for the Bears with some key outs, especially in the third inning, when Brown got out of a bases-loaded jam. “The drop ball was working well to get the hitters off balance,” Chaddock said. “It is tough to pitch in a 0-0 game because any error can end up in a run.” Though working on a shut-out, she was relieved by Jessica Iwasaki ’10 in the bottom of the fifth. Jessica would get the Bears out of the fifth with two key strikeouts. “It was good to see Jessica get back on track,” said Head Coach DeeDee Enabenter-Omidiji. “This was a character building experience for her and she did an excellent job.” In the bottom of the sixth the Big Green would score the only run of the game. Clarkson doubled to center, and was replaced by pinch runner Jackie Begay, who would eventually score from third on a single by J.J. Wright. “I was surprised to see we only had three hits in the game, two of which were by freshman Lindsay Rice,” Enabenter-Omidiji said. “This can’t happen if we are going to be successful.”
In the second doubleheader of the weekend, Brown managed to split with Dar tmouth, giving Brown its first Ivy win of the season and snapping a 13-game losing skid. Enabenter-Omidiji has been stressing fundamentals all season, and the Bears seemed to take advantage of their training in the second game. “Moving people over with sacrifice bunts and putting people in a position to score is crucial,” she said. “We need to make better of our opportunities.” In Sunday’s first game, Dartmouth came out to an early 2-0 lead with two runs in the top of the second. Chin started the game pitching for the Bears, but with several early base runners, Chaddock came in during the third inning to tr y to keep Dartmouth at bay. Chaddock and the defense held the Big Green off in the third inning and then Brown came back with their of fense in the four th to tie the game at two. Andrea Browne ’10 and Rice both crossed the plate for the Bears. Then, in the fifth, Brown managed to take a 3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly from Rice. The lead would not last long, though, as Dartmouth’s hitting began to heat up in the top of the sixth. Moses came in to relieve Chaddock with the bases loaded, but she could not manage to hold off the Big Green despite a valiant effort. Moses walked in a run then allowed a double, resulting in four runs for Dartmouth. In the top of the seventh the Big Green tacked on an insurance run with a home run off the bat of Clarkson. Brown ended up losing the game, 7-3. Game two would yield a much dif ferent result, as the Bears picked up a crucial victor y. The Bears hit the ground running with a three-run first inning to grab the early lead. Lavine, Baxter and Chin all crossed the plate for the Bears in the inning. Dartmouth was able to cut the lead down to one with a two-run second inning. The score would remain 3-2 until the top of the fifth, when Dartmouth picked up a run. The Big Green’s Katie Chifcian singled into center field to score her teammate Christy Autin and tie the game at three. Brown came right back in the fifth and scored two runs of their own to take back the lead 5-3. Chin took over pitching from Iwasaki in the sixth and allowed only a single hit, sealing the Ivy win for the Bears. Iwasaki had a solid day on the mound, facing 20 batters and allowing only five hits while striking out four. Brown was led by Lavine at the plate; she went 5-for-8 with an RBI. Wilson also had a strong showing, going 2-for-6 while tallying two RBIs. “We have proved that we can hang with any team and we will eventually break through,” Chaddock said. The Bears are back in action on Wednesday as they travel to Storrs, Conn., to face the University of Connecticut Huskies. The Bears are looking to stay in the win column and build on their first Ivy win.
We didn’t get any work done, either.
E ditorial & L etters Page 14
Monday, April 14, 2008
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Staf f Editorial
Becker ’09 for UCS president Despite the fact that more than a third of students recently polled by The Herald have no opinion on the work of the Undergraduate Council of Students, we believe UCS can be a strong voice for students’ needs as administrators lead change at Brown. But we don’t think either candidate for UCS president would use the council as an effective vehicle for student-driven change. Martin Bell ’10 exhibits a thorough understanding of the direction the University is headed in and a passion to speak for students as big decisions are made on College Hill. But, as a member of UCS, he hasn’t been able to prove that he can effect even small policy changes. Bell also dropped the ball as the council’s liaison to the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, resigning from his position in early February — just weeks before a large Corporation meeting. We’d rather see Brian Becker ’09 lead UCS next year. During his two years on UCS, Becker proved that he could plan and implement changes that affect students’ everyday lives. Becker can be partly credited with the DVDs available to students in the Friedman Study Center and the salads students can now buy at Jo’s. A UCS president must meet with students to understand their needs. We feel confident that Becker will listen attentively to students and convey their concerns to administrators and faculty. But we wish Becker would see the role of UCS president as more than a conduit between students and higherups at Brown. The UCS president should pursue a clear agenda, in addition to conveying students’ immediate concerns. The president must also keep on top of proposed changes and show students how they can take a stand on issues that many ignore, such as University officials’ increased focus on research and making Brown international. The UCS president must also create ways for students to directly express their displeasure at administrative changes, through open forums, for example. This year, the council failed to elicit any administrative response to student concern about the implementation of Banner and the enforcement of prerequisites. We’d hate to see a similar opportunity lost again because the next UCS president doesn’t understand the importance of his job. We urge Becker to realize the potential of his role at the University if elected UCS president. We urge you to vote for him because he has concrete experience and the right attitude to do more than get us salads and DVDs, if he decides that’s what he wants to do.
P ete fallon
Letters An Olympic boycott matters for Darfur To the Editor:
Endorsements of other candidates Herald Account Manager Ellen DaSilva ’10 and Michael MacCombie ’11 are running for UCS Vice President, while Herald Sales Manager Lily Tran ’10 and Jose Vasconez ’11 are running for Undergraduate Finance Board Chair. That Herald staffers are participating in both races presents us with a conflict of interest in endorsing candidates. We will therefore abstain from doing so.
T he B rown D aily H erald Editors-in-Chief Simmi Aujla Ross Frazier editorial Arts & Culture Editor Robin Steele Andrea Savdie Asst. Arts & Culture Editor Debbie Lehmann Higher Ed Editor Chaz Firestone Features Editor Olivia Hoffman Asst. Features Editor Rachel Arndt Metro Editor Scott Lowenstein Metro Editor Michael Bechek News Editor Isabel Gottlieb News Editor Franklin Kanin News Editor Michael Skocpol News Editor Karla Bertrand Opinions Editor James Shapiro Opinions Editor Whitney Clark Sports Editor Amy Ehrhart Sports Editor Jason Harris Sports Editor Benjy Asher Asst. Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Megan McCahill Asst. Sports Editor production Steve DeLucia Production & Design Editor Chaz Kelsh Asst. Design Editor Catherine Cullen Copy Desk Chief Adam Robbins Graphics Editor
Senior Editors Taylor Barnes Chris Gang Stu Woo Business Darren Ball General Manager Mandeep Gill General Manager Susan Dansereau Office Manager Alex Hughes Sales Manager Lily Tran Sales Manager Emilie Aries Public Relations Director Jon Spector Accounting Director Claire Kiely National Account Manager Ellen DaSilva University Account Manager Philip Maynard Recruiter Account Manager Katelyn Koh Credit Manager Ingrid Pangandoyon Technology Director
Last Tuesday I was in San Francisco participating in the only official stop on the International Olympic Torch Relay. Along with over 2,000 Darfur activists from throughout the country, I protested the Chinese government’s explicit and malevolent support of the genocidal Sudanese regime. As China prepares to host the Olympics, it is indisputable that its extensive oil pursuits in Sudan have allowed the Khartoum government to carry out its genocide in Darfur, resulting in upwards of 400,000 deaths. Yet, as Dan Davidson noted Monday (“Making a statement: Boycotting the Olympic Opening Ceremony,” April 8), I feel that a boycott of the Opening Ceremonies from world leaders is the most effective course of action. A full boycott would harm hard-working athletes from our country and destroy any chance of leverage we have with China.
President Bush, however, could make a tremendous statement by boycotting the Opening Ceremonies; an event that China has marked as its post Tianamenn Square coming out party. A coordinated effort with European world leaders would demonstrate that we will not tolerate China’s explicit support of Sudan. As I proudly walk the torch route today, on behalf of the thousands of students throughout the country that have made Darfur an issue, I hope that President Bush is watching. He has the opportunity to make a difference in Darfur in his last year in office. I hope he will make a powerful statement at the beginning of the Beijing Olympics.
Scott Warren ‘09 National Student Director, STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition April 13
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Correction An article in Thursday’s Herald (“URC election nullified in lengthy meet,” April 10) incorrectly stated that Colombianos Unidos en Brown was granted Category I status. In fact, the group, which already had Category I status, was granted Category II status. The article’s headline was also inaccurate. The Undergraduate Council of Students voted to re-do the election for the University Resources Council but did not nullify its results. C O R R E C T I O N S P olicy The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. C ommentary P O L I C Y The staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. L etters to the E ditor P olicy Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed. advertising P olicy The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.
O pinions Monday, April 14, 2008
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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Gov. Carieri’s new immigration order: one step closer to a police state BY MICHAEL RAMOS-LYNCH Opinions Columnist On March 27, Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 signed an executive order to address undocumented immigration in Rhode Island. This order will negatively impact all Rhode Islanders. The new policy relies upon racial profiling, turns state police officers into federal agents and uses terminology that describes Rhode Island public school students born to undocumented immigrant parents in America as a “tremendous strain” on the state despite their equal status as full U.S. citizens. In a letter delivered to Carcieri on March 31, immigrant rights groups including Immigrants United, We Can Stop the Hate Rhode Island, the Hispanic Ministerial Association and the Univocal Legislative Minority Advisory Coalition called the order “the biggest attack on the rights of immigrants in Rhode Island in at least a generation.” Their frustration is understandable. The order contains six provisions almost all of which will harm Rhode Island and its citizens. Among the provisions, the Department of Administration will have to use a computer program called “E-Verify” to confirm that Rhode Island executive branch employees are legal immigrants or citizens. Companies that do business with the state will be required to use the program as well. The order also creates a “Memorandum of Agreement” between United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and state police. The agreement will give state police officers (who will have received ICE training) the ability to search federal databases
and process immigrants through the federal Wyatt Detention Center. Many leaders in Rhode Island have said that the order does not address the real problems currently confronting the state. According to the Providence Journal, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts ’78 stated, “We have a major budget problem. We have an economy in recession. We need to find solutions to those problems, but the governor’s executive order is not a solution.” Steven Brown, executive director of the
human rights of undocumented immigrants. These immigrants will likely not report crimes committed against them or crimes that they witness because they will rightly fear persecution by state police with ICE training. Crime rates in Rhode Island will probably increase as a result. Rhode Island also stands to lose business partners because many companies will be unwilling to use the “E-Verify” program to confirm that their employees are properly documented. Perhaps the most offensive
The negative effects of Carcieri’s order are far reaching — it will only serve to further violate the human rights of undocumented immigrants. Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, was quoted in the Providence Journal as saying that the governor’s executive order “has nothing to do with whether anyone is legal or illegal — his order is going to affect everyone based on their national origin, color of their skin and their accent and it’s very unfortunate.” Roberts and Brown are right. The negative effects of Carcieri’s order are far reaching — it will only serve to further violate the
aspect of the ordeal, however, is Carcieri’s defense of the order. According to the Providence Journal, Carcieri stated that he supported those who pursue the American dream through legal means. However, he justifies the order by arguing that undocumented immigrants are putting a “tremendous strain upon our public schools, hospitals, state and local human-services organizations and law enforcement agencies.” Carcieri callously ignores the welfare of the
children of undocumented immigrants who are born here. It is hard to see how these children can ever pursue their American dream if their parents are deported. I cannot support policies that deport the parents of young U.S. citizens who are legally enrolled in school and pursuing an education in order to become responsible, law-abiding and productive members of society. Carcieri repeatedly referred to himself as “a grandson of immigrants” in defending his order at a press conference, the Providence Journal reported. However, no matter Carcieri’s background, he now lives a life of wealth and privilege — a life starkly different from the lives of the immigrants his order targets. Carcieri does not struggle with the problems that affect so many immigrants in this state and country, and it is therefore entirely inappropriate for him to seek credibility by referencing the struggles of his grandparents. In order to truly help Rhode Island and to safeguard U.S. citizens’ pursuit of the American dream, we must not support the governor’s order. Instead, we should join those leaders who have already voiced their opposition to these policies. Even a staunch opponent of undocumented immigration should be able to recognize that turning state police into federal agents and requiring businesses to utilize an error-prone computer program will lead to increased crime rates, human rights abuses and continued difficulties for an already struggling economy. For the benefit of Rhode Island, this order must be stopped.
Michael Ramos-Lynch ’09 joins in chanting, “¡Un Pueblo Unido Jamas sera Vencido!”
Breaking down boundaries BY JoNAH FABRICANT Opinions Columnist In every corner of Brown’s campus, students are passionately pursuing political and social agendas, eager to raise awareness about their pet issues or advocate for change in society. Many of us had experience as student leaders before we reached College Hill and have well-formed views about the issues that shape our world. One of the results of bringing together so many students with pre-existing interests is an unavoidable imbalance in the representation of opposing viewpoints on campus. It seems that from year to year, the visible number of groups seeking environmental change, decr ying specific human rights violations or advancing minority political opinions fluctuates wildly. The large impact just one leader can have on the tone of a debate on campus means that the dynamics of the public dialogue on any given issue are unpredictable, rarely reflecting widely-held student opinion. This uneven distribution of voices has an unfortunate result: The political rhetoric on campus becomes unnecessarily polarized, limiting the effectiveness of attempts at open dialogue or debate. The most extreme views are often the simplest, the most interesting and therefore the most compelling to those unfamiliar with a controversy, and the nuanced middle ground that exists in the background of almost every heated debate rarely sees the light of day on the pages of the Herald or elsewhere on campus. A prominent example of one such issue is the constant debate over the conflict in Israel and Palestine. The conflict itself is steeped in
historical, political and religious contexts that confound attempts at simple arguments on the issue; this complexity is so problematic that I am skeptical of the efficacy of broaching the topic at all in a column of this length. However, a brief discussion of the discourse on this region at Brown should be illustrative of the general kinds of problems that stifle debate on controversial issues on campus. There are several student groups dedicated to issues surrounding Israel, Palestine, and the relations between the two. Collectively, the student leadership of these groups represents a trove of knowledge and passion
views, leaders should be especially careful to communicate with and reach out to other groups that would be interested in relevant events. Too often, wonderful programs are planned, supposedly to raise awareness and open dialogue, but no one makes the effort to use the right channels of communication to convey that events are going on and whether dissenting viewpoints are welcome. When events are advertised or political issues are discussed, there is also an alarming trend in favor of using provocative language. In the case of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I have seen commentaries or promotional
When discussing Israel’s rights and responsibilities vis-a-vis Palestinian human rights, the disputed borders and the tragic violence in the region, campus events tend to be segregated and divisive rather than productive. about the region, but the adversarial nature of their activities seems to almost invariably preclude effective dialogue. When discussing Israel’s rights and responsibilities vis-a-vis Palestinian human rights, the disputed borders and the tragic violence in the region, campus events tend to be segregated and divisive rather than productive. Several simple solutions would serve to elevate the level of the conversations which are occurring. Although they have opposing
materials describing the Palestinian situation alternately as apartheid, ethnic cleansing or even genocide. As a supporter of Israel, I freely admit that when I see a table slip for an event that uses language like that, I am disturbed and relatively unlikely to attend. My negative reaction to provocative language doesn’t just stem from my disagreement with its implications. People should realize that if they want to engage people on campus meaningfully about an issue, they are
never going to get very far flinging insults and media buzzwords. Obviously, there are reasons people subscribe to certain opinions and they have every right to express them openly. However, if the goal of bringing up these problems is to persuade others or move towards a consensus, organizers need to realize the devastating effect beginning with the wrong words can cause. If an event is billed as a frank discussion of the “siege” of Gaza, few people for whom the blockade’s status as a “siege” is at issue are likely to participate. The result is a campus full of small events at which people are essentially preaching to the choir. The issues that divide us are undoubtedly those most worthy of our attention. A university campus is one of the only contexts in which disagreements can be aired and explored in a congenial manner. Some of this dialogue can occur in courses — there are several profoundly worthwhile offerings at Brown on issues in the Middle East — but if advocates on either side genuinely want to have a dialogue and the opportunity to influence public opinion, they need to look beyond the divisive language and methods of organizing currently regarded as the norm. Social and political commentar y often devolves into thinly veiled finger-pointing. If we as students take our task of developing enlightened opinions seriously, we need to find ways to creatively discuss our differences without excluding moderate, fringe or opposing voices. The facts at hand may seem clear-cut, but by assuming that this is the case, student leaders do a disservice to Brown and themselves and frustrate attempts at intellectual diversity and dialogue.
Jonah Fabricant ’10 loves participating in difficult dialogues
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Monday, April 14, 2008
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Quaker shots can’t shake Burke, m. lax M. crew’s top 8 recaptures Stein Cup from Harvard By Jason Harris Sports Editor
The men’s lacrosse team has been out-shot in almost every game this season. But on Saturday at Penn, the No. 16 Bears took this trend to an extreme, as they Brown 8 were out-shot, 57-22. Penn 5 Bruno proved that quality is better than quantity, though, as it took down the Quakers, 8-5, improving to 8-2 on the season and tying for second in the Ivy League with a 3-0 record. Penn dropped to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the Ivy League. After a 25-minute lightning delay, the Quakers looked as if they would be able to tame the Bears early on when they jumped out to a 2-1 lead in a dominating first quarter. Penn fired off 14 shots in the opening 15 minutes, but goalie Jordan Burke ’09 ensured that only two found the back of the net. The nation’s leader in save percentage and goals against average made four of his 19 saves in the first quarter, keeping the team in the game. “Jordan made some great saves on some closer shots,” said Head Coach Lars Tiffany ’90. “We weren’t playing with poise and composure yet. I told the men we were fortunate to be down 2-1 after the first quarter.” As the team has done in a number of recent games, it vastly improved its play in the second and third quarters. “We have to come out a little bit harder in the first quarter. But it says a lot about our team character. We never give up. We never quit,” Burke said. After Penn got a goal with 6:48 to play in the first half, the Brown defense did not allow another goal for an entire quarter. “We did the same thing we have been doing all year,” Burke said.
By Andrew Braca Assistant Sports Editor
Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo
Staying undefeated in Ivy play, Jack Walsh ’09 helped Brown defeat the Quakers on Saturday with three goals and one assist. “Now we really know when to slide and when not to slide. We are communicating really well.” In that same time span, the Brown attackmen shone, tallying four goals. Kyle Hollingsworth ’09, Jack Walsh ’09, Thomas Muldoon ’10 and Andrew Feinberg ’11 all had at least a goal or an assist during the stretch. Walsh’s second goal just 1:03
Softball beats Dartmouth to break 13-game dry spell By Nicole Stock Spor ts Staf f Writer
The softball team has been on the losing end of several one-run games and have been winless in their last 13 match-ups. But they broke the streak by defeating Dartmouth in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader during Spring Weekend. Last Wednesday, the Bears traveled to URI for a mid-week doubleheader looking for some key victories outside the Ivy League. Unfortunately, Brown fell short, losing 3-2 in game one and 4-2 in game two. This past weekend the Bears hosted the Big Green for a four-game series. The first two games of the doubleheader yielded two more close losses. In the next two games, the Bears lost 7-3 and then picked up a much-needed victor y, defeating Dartmouth, 5-3. In game one of the Wednesday doubleheader against URI, the Rams got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning with three runs off of six singles. Brown tried to get back into the game in the top of the seventh, when Emily Chaddock ’11, ser ving as a pinch hitter, hit a double into center field and started the comeback for the Bears. Brittany Lavine’10 followed with a double
of her own to score the Bears’ first run of the game. Linnea Anderson ’08 walked to push runners to first and second with two outs. Kelsey Wilson ’09 then singled to bring Lavine home. But with Anderson on third, Maria Macrina ’11 struck out swinging, and the Bears lost, 3-2. Pitcher Michelle Moses ’09 fell to 5-7 on the season after dropping the game to the Rams. Game two was a bit of deja vu for the Bears, as the Rams scored a pair of runs in the third inning. URI’s Kelsey Duffy reached first on an error and Darci Borden hit a triple to bring her home. A single would score Borden from third to give URI a two-run lead. Brown’s two out magic continued with a rally in the fourth, when Wilson hit a two-out double and came around to score on an error. But URI would score a run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings to pull away. Wilson hit a two-out home run over the left field fence in the top of the sixth, but Brown would come no closer, and the Bears lost the second game, 4-2. Wilson went 5-for-7 in the doubleheader, leading Brown hitters. “I have been seeing the ball well the past couple of games,” continued on page 13
into the second half gave Brown a 4-3 lead, and Penn was never able to catch up again. “The attack have been playing great lately,” said tri-captain Jeff Hall ’08. “They are fearless, they have been coming around the cage strong.” continued on page 13
Although Harvard won the first four races of the day against men’s crew, Brown’s varsity eight rowed to a stirring victory to recapture the Stein Cup on Saturday afternoon on the Seekonk River. “To win the varsity race was the big one,” said Head Coach Paul Cooke ’89. “(Harvard) obviously had a ton of depth and showed that they were a really impressive squad, so that part of it was a bit rough on Brown. But in the end the varsity race is the biggest race, so to take that was a major victory for Brown.” The first two races were especially hard for the Bears, as the depth of the Crimson won out. In the second freshmen four race, Harvard “A” cruised across the line in 7:46.46, followed closely by Harvard “B” at 7:51.53, while Brown trailed behind at 8:16.44. Harvard also had two boats opposing Bruno’s third varsity eight; Harvard “A” finished in 6:31.5, followed by Harvard “B” at 6:37.39 and Brown at 6:45.7. The freshmen eight race provided the first drama of the day, as the teams dueled back and forth right down to the finish line. The Crimson ultimately pulled out the narrow victory by crossing the line in 6:42.21, just ahead of the Bears at 6:44.67. Still, the freshmen’s performance pleased Cooke. “I thought the freshmen rowed a great race, and it was nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. “I was really proud of them. They came up short, but I admired their effort and how well they raced.” Rob O’Leary ’09 said that now the freshmen need to take the next step.
“It’s good to see them come in a close race like that, but they definitely need to learn to pull it out and get the win,” O’Leary said. Harvard then claimed its fourth victory of the day, when its second varsity eight finished at 6:12.95, 5.53 seconds ahead of Bruno. Strong winds made the Seekonk choppy in the afternoon, but just before the start of the varsity eight race the sky darkened and the wind began to howl, creating waves that hampered steering at the outset of the race. “We were a little shaky off the start,” O’Leary, the varsity eight’s coxswain, said. “The conditions picked up and there was pretty strong wind.” The Crimson stuck close to the Bears in the early stages of the race. “Off the start we had about six seats, but then they pushed back into us through the first 1000, and they pulled even about 800 meters through the race,” said co-captain Paul Strombom ’08, who was at bow. “Right when we came through the 1000, we started getting our rhythm back, and that’s where we made most of our move.” The varsity eight boat, made up of Cole Bonner ’10, Ben Duggan ’10, Chris Greene ’08, co-captain Colin Keogh ’08, Scott Morgan ’10, O’Leary, Gareth Seymour ’09, co-captain Paul Strombom ’08 and Matt Wheeler ’09, pulled away from Harvard at that point and continued to widen the gap all the way to the finish line, crossing it in 6:23.73 with a 5.1 second victory. “It was great that they were able to get a convincing victory,” Cooke said. “I thought they did a great continued on page 11
M. tennis still up for title after Ivy sweep By Meagan Garza Sports Staff Writer
Spring weekend brought good weather and good fortune to the men’s tennis team, which 1 swept Cornell and Cornell 6 Columbia to stay Brown alive in the Ivy title race on FriColumbia 2 day and Saturday. 5 Bruno embraced Brown the clear skies of April by competing on their outdoor courts for the first time at home this season, defeating Cornell on Friday 6-1, followed by a nail-biting 5-2 victory over reigning Ivy champion Columbia. “Personally, I love playing outdoors because your athletic ability is shown to the fullest and proves who the toughest team is,” said Sam Garland ’09. “Our scores of 6-1 and 5-2 definitely showed we came with the energy and (were) able to keep it up throughout the four-five hour affair.” Cornell was first up in this weekend’s affair as Bruno came out strong sweeping the doubles point in three easy victories. At No. 1, cocaptain Saurabh Kohli ’08 and Basu Ratnam ’09 took the first win 8-6, followed by co-captain Noah Gardner ’09 and Garland with an 8-5 win at continued on page 13
Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo
Saurabh Kohli ’08 won all four of his matches at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles this weekend against the New York Ivies.