The Brown Daily Herald F riday, O ctober 24, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 98
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Gibbs recalls activist roots decades later
Library shelvers suffer from repetitive stress injuries By Alexandra Ulmer Staff Writer
Andy Pereira grabbed a stack of medical books and hauled them onto a shelf of the fifth floor of the Sciences Library. To do so, Pereira, a library technician, used a left arm scarred by two nerve transposition surgeries on his elbow and a shoulder surgery needed after 28 years of shelving books at Brown. He was awarded worker’s compensation for the injuries in 2000, 2002 and 2003 after he hired a lawyer to prove that they were workrelated. Pereira is one of six full-time shelvers employed by the University Library to lift, bend and reach, in addition to pushing carts of books weighing between 80 and 120 pounds. About 20 students assist them as part-time shelvers. Another shelver, who asked not to be named, said she has been away
since July because of a work-related injury. The absence has reduced the number of full-time shelvers to five instead of the usual six, and no additional full-time employee has been hired, nor have the wages been increased for the remaining shelvers. Of the three current shelvers and one former shelver in both the SciLi and Rockefeller Library who agreed to speak with The Herald, three said they had suffered workrelated injuries. “I can certainly see how you could get overused,” said Anthony DeLuise, an orthopedic surgeon specialized in upper extremities at Foundry Orthopedics in Providence. “If they’re heavy books and it’s all day long, probably.” “Repetitive motion can cause injuries,” said Shawn Baxter, occupational therapist and ergonomist at the John E. Donley Rehabilitation continued on page 6
SPOTLIGHT
By Hannah Moser Contributing Writer
Matthew Varley / Herald
Wednesday at Fish Co. still a first-year tradition
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ARTS & CULTURE
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Before beginning his lecture Thursday evening, J. Peter Scoblic ’97, executive editor of The New Republic, took a quick political poll of his audience. Of the roughly 30 students and others in attendance, not one supported John McCain for president. “Wow,” said a surprised Scoblic, whose appearance in Smith-Buonanno 106 was co-sponsored by the College Republicans, the Brown Democrats and the Brown Journal of World Affairs. But as his
arriving on foot, some in cabs and some in overloaded cars. Many came armed with drinks to down as they shivered in the line outside the door. Among the first to show up were eight girls sharing one plastic water bottle. “Is it done?” one girl asked, of the bottle. “Yeah, it’s done,” her friend replied, tossing it aside. As ever, Brown Night at College Hill’s bar down by the river had attracted droves of first-year students looking for a break from unit gab sessions and Wriston basements. “I don’t plan on going to Fish Co., but I usually end up here,” said Malcolm Burnley ’12 as he waited to get inside. “I usually don’t think I’m gonna have a good time, but surprisingly I do.”
Families dancing This weekend includes a dance concert showcasing various musical influences
continued on page 4
Scoblic ’97 dissects U.S. foreign policy failures
Patrons wait to get into Fish Co. on a Wednesday. The weekly “Brown Night” attracts plenty of first-year students.
At five minutes before 11 p.m. on Wednesday night, four vivacious Fish Co. bartenders poured red drinks for four eager Fish Co. bouncers. Then the eight young employees raised their plastic cups in a toast to impending debauchery. Though the bar at 515 S. Water St. had been open since 3:30 p.m., it was virtually deserted. Twenty early birds, mostly male, pocketed billiards at a corner table or puffed cigarettes outside on the waterfront deck. Next to the dance floor, DJ Meatball warmed up for the evening with a downbeat techno mix. It was the calm before the storm. As if by consensus, the party started at 11:20 p.m. Collegeage partiers converged on Fish Co. from all directions, some
continued on page 4
Alexandra Ulmer / Herald
Andy Pereira needed two surgeries to move the problematic ulna nerve in his elbow.
By Matthew Varley Higher Ed Editor
By Matthew Varley Higher Ed Editor
lecture and subsequent questionand-answer session revealed, his politics mirrored those of his audience. Scoblic, who ser ved as coeditor of the Brown Journal of World Affairs as an undergraduate and later worked as editor of Arms Control Today, is the author of “U.S. vs. Them: How a Half-Century of Conservatism has Undermined America’s Security.” A former visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment’s Nonproliferation Program and fellow at the
Renowned environmentalist Lois Gibbs described her transformation from housewife to environmental activist to a crowded MacMillan 115 Thursday night. Her talk, entitled “Love Canal ... 30 Years Later,” described the circumstances surrounding the 1978 toxic waste scandal that enveloped her upstate New York community of Love Canal and made her famous. As a 27-year-old stay-at-home mom with a husband, house and family, Gibbs said, “I believed I had achieved the American dream.” But when her usually healthy son developed symptoms ranging from asthma to epilepsy, Gibbs found out that his elementary school in their Niagara Falls neighborhood was built on 20,000 tons of chemical waste that was poisoning 900 families in the surrounding neighborhoods. Gibbs later discovered a report completed two years earlier that described the toxic nature of land in Love Canal, but a plan to remedy the danger was not enacted because of its cost. Gibbs expressed indignation that authorities had allowed families go on living in an area with known health hazards. “How dare they!” she said of the “cost-benefit analysis” that had judged the health of Love Canal citizens not worth the investment. Gibbs said Love Canal “taught us a lot about the way decisions are made in this country.” She said many corporations focus on making profits and make decisions about the environment based on what they can get away with. She said decisions should be made to prevent as much harm as possible, not how much harm people think the environment can tolerate.
STRUM FOR SUDAN
Eunice Hong / Herald
continued on page 4
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CAMPUS NEWS
Saturday Morning Project performs at the Stand For Sudan Benefit Concert for Sudanese refugees in the Hourglass Cafe.
proud to be sub-free More than twice as many firstyears as last year elected to live in substance-free housing
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OPINIONS
AN ARMY OF ONE Adam Swartzbaugh ’09, Brown’s only ROTC member, reflects on his time in the Corps
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
12 SPORTS
ATHLETE(s) of the week The Herald has not one, not two, but nine athletes of the week: crew’s men’s varsity eight
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