The Brown Daily Herald F riday, O ctober 3, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 84
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Budget slows replacement of possibly unhealthy cups By Chris Duffy Contributing Writer
Dining Services is replacing plastic cups in campus dining halls due to a possible health threat. But because of budget concerns, they will only replace broken cups instead of all the cups immediately. The plastic cups contain the chemical Bisphenol A, or BPA, which has been linked to numerous health problems. The new cups will be BPAfree. “Since the news of potential detrimental health effects of BPA broke last spring, we have been searching for a replacement cup that is both BPAfree and affordable,” Ann Hoffman, director of administration for Dining Services, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. The cups in question have the number seven on the bottom in the recycling symbol, which signifies that the plastic is polycarbonate. The Herald reported last spring that the polycarbonate used in these cups contains BPA, which has come under scrutiny in recent months after the Canadian government declared the plastic compound toxic. BPA acts as a hormone disrupter in the body because it’s broken down into natural estrogens. “This is an estrogen and we’ve seen with other estrogens in the body that there is a decreased ability to have children and
an increased risk of cancer,” said Scott Belcher, a professor at the University of Cincinnati who studies BPA and plastics. Belcher recently published a study showing that BPA was leached up to 55 times more rapidly after polycarbonate plastic water bottles were exposed to boiling water. Belcher said that the age of the plastic doesn’t seem to matter. “It looks more like it’s the repeated high-temperature washing. With polycarbonate cups in a cafeteria, it’s probably being released.” Hoffman wrote that plastic cups in the dining halls are exposed to “highheat dishwashing” but added that due to budget limitations, Dining Services “couldn’t afford to replace our entire inventory of cups at one time.” Students outside the dining halls expressed surprise and concern when told about the presence of BPAs in the plastic cups they’d just used. “Replacing the cups should be a priority that the school puts money towards,” Meredith Hunt ’11 said. “I’m surprised,” Zach Wilson ’12 said. “I think that it’s important enough if it’s a health risk for them to spend the money and replace all the cups. It’s weird that they’ve only replaced some. It should be all or nothing.” In the meantime, Belcher said, “there is clear reason for caution based on the science. My personal choice would be to avoid the polycarbonate.”
Kim Perley / Herald
Twenty-eight students are using Brown’s off-campus student parking lot this year.
Fewer than 30 students using U. parking U. considering moving spots back to campus By Alexandra Keegan Contributing Writer
Only 28 students are currently using the University’s new off-campus student parking lot — down from as many as 250 students using oncampus parking last year. The students are parking in the
SPOTLIGHT
Spy game: From Williams St. with love Espionage in the name of art
The Delta Tau fraternity has been forced to cancel a scheduled event this weekend after being placed on a six-week probation this week by Greek Council. The council sanctioned the fraternity for failing to properly register a charity auction it held two weeks ago. DTau members said they believe the probation is unfair. Matt Kahn ’10, DTau’s treasurer,
Brenna Carmody ’09 leans over a tall iced coffee and uses detailed hand gestures to explain a fundraising idea to her professor across the table. She fumbles with her pen and sits cross-legged, adjusting her chair as she transitions from one idea to the next. She wears flip-flops. At a corner table on the raised platform a few feet to Carmody’s left, Claire Russo’s ’09 hands move in short bursts, but her eyes stay focused on Carmody. “Poor posture,” Russo writes in a worn, unlined notebook. “Gesticulatey.” Today, Russo is not at Starbucks to sip the Earl Grey tea by her side or to study in the cushioned armchair she eyed when she walked in. She’s here for Carmody. She has studied Carmody’s daily schedule, staked out a proper lookout point and brought supplies to document Carmody’s every move. Russo is a spy. Carmody is her target. The twist? Carmody asked for it.
By Charlene Kim Contributing Writer
Courtesy of Claire Russo
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What makes a hero? “Dreams of Antigone” mixes ancient Greek drama with American politics
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said the probation was in response to an unregistered event in Olney House on Sept. 19. The Date-a-Delt charity event auctioned off about 10 fraternity brothers to raise funds to aid victims of Hurricane Ike. Kahn said DTau chose to give the proceeds of more than $800 to the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund through the Greater Houston Community Foundation in an effort to “give as directly to the people as we possibly can.” continued on page 4
PawPrints problems prove profitable for some pupils
Claire Russo ‘09 grabbed a clandestine photo of her target, Brenna Carmody ‘09.
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“With what we’re expending to run security and the shuttle, we can better use funds in other ways,” Gentry said. As recently as 2005, Brown was allocating as many as 500 oncampus spots to undergraduates, according to a January 2005 Herald article. It later reduced the number of available spots to 250 and then announced last semester it would
DTau loses party privileges because of charity auction By Hannah Moser Contributing Writer
By Chaz Firestone Features Editor
ARTS & CULTURE
lots at Providence Piers, about two miles from the center of campus, said Elizabeth Gentry, assistant vice president of financial and administrative services. The Herald reported in April that the lot has 250 spots. So few students are parked in the off-campus lot that, while campus parking is still crunched, the University is considering returning the 28 spots to campus, Gentry said.
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CAMPUS NEWS
polo Sans water Polo team hopes to gain recognition — and funding — as club sport
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OPINIONS
Spurred by widespread problems with printing clusters earlier this semester, Computing and Information Services last week reset all student’s PAWPrints credit to $30. Starting in the second week of the semester, a problem with the network configuration of printers meant many students weren’t able to print PDF files and files from MyCourses. CIS was able to locate and fix the problem.
FUN IN THE STACKS Alvin Kerber ’11 thinks you should actually check out books at the library
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
12 SPORTS
It then reverted each student’s PAWPrints account back to $30, regardless of how much of the allowance had already been spent. “People would be going to the printer, and either nothing was happening because the job was so slow or massive, or the printer would print a ton of junk with dense random text,” said Steven Lavallee, head of the Friedman Study Center. Lavallee said that as the printer continued on page 4
athlete of the week Buddy Farnham’s ‘10 pregame ritual: crepes with his roommates
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