Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxliv, no. 42 | Mecredi, le 1 Avril, 2009 | Servicing the community daily since 1891
Second SDS attempt to storm U. Hall ends in tragedy By Trey Boucher Senior Staff Writer
A male undergraduate student was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital yesterday with severe spinal injuries after friends launched him from an improvised catapult at University Hall during an unscheduled meeting of the Corporation. The student, Trevor Demers ’11, lost consciousness upon colliding with the brick face of the historic building, authorities said, and will likely face partial or full paralysis from the neck down. A member of the group Students for a Democratic Society, Demers was reportedly trying to make his way through a window and into the third-floor room where the University’s highest governing body was meeting. Members of the same activist student group tried to forcibly enter University Hall during a meeting of the Corporation in October. According to a police report, about 14 students gathered on the Main Green around 9:15 a.m.
By Roberta Livengood Senior Staf f Writer
chemistr y class,” said Dudez, a 225-pound linebacker. “Going to Wheeler has helped me in a way that my TA never could.” But new academic skills are not the only fruits of the new program. “For sure, I mean, I definitely think I’ve made friends with my tutor,” Dudez said. “She made me
Seeking to cut non-educational expenses, the University announced Tuesday it would sell its controlling stake in the College Hill Independent to The Herald, effective immediately. The sale, brokered by Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper and approved over the weekend by UCS’s Student Activities Committee, will save the University the $80,000 it spends annually to subsidize production of the neo-postcurricular newsmagazine. The move is not without risk. Herald business staffers said the move carries a risk of declining revenues — the Independent has so far demonstrated little appeal to advertisers outside of the consignment clothing sector. Herald copy editors will be required to undergo training in irony-detection next week, but other wise business will proceed as usual, Herald President Steve DeLucia ’10 said as he announced the acquisition last night. University officials described the move as necessar y in light of uncertain economic times. “Given that we’ve been operat-
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Carl Marks / Herald
A student was hospitalized Tuesday after a group attempt to storm University Hall.
Tuesday wheeling a “catapult-like machine” and banging drums. After a brief theatrical performance, in which students acted out “old white men crushing the dreams of young people,” they positioned Demers in the catapult’s basket. Providence Chief of Police Dean
Esserman described the device that launched Demers as “a dangerous weapon that should never have been used to propel a human being.” The device was aimed at a thirdfloor window in University Hall, the police report said, but the students misfired and propelled Demers into
the brick face of the building just left of the window. In a press conference early Tuesday evening, President Ruth Simmons expressed her “deep regret” at Demers’ injuries. “This is a terrible day for the University,” she said. “Our continued on page 2
Tutoring program unites football team, Wheeler School By Melbourne Coal Senior Staff Writer
Every Wednesday, Matt Dudez ’10 enters one of the seventh-grade science classrooms at the Wheeler School and settles into a plastic chair next to Erin Spark, who says she loves Bunsen burners and equations. The two huddle over a notebook filled with scribbles and doodles as
Herald to acquire Indy
they become engrossed in their weekly tutoring session, laughing and gesturing as they complete the day’s assignment. The program is part of a new tutoring initiative instituted by Football Coach Phil Estes to “foster a close-knit, functional, necessary relationship between today’s youth and my athletically talented — but not always school-oriented — athletes,” he said.
Estes said he noticed low selfesteem among his players during recent practices, leading him to propose a way for his team to “get back in the game, both athletically and academically.” The result was weekly tutoring sessions, when students such as Dudez go over problem sets or study for upcoming exams with the seventh graders. “I frequently struggled in my
Romano Prodi brings back Trattoria
sci-li renovations revealed
By Martin Amore Staf f Writer
Visiting professor Romano Prodi, a former Italian prime minister and president of the European Commission, has arranged to return the Trattoria to its regular spot in the Sharpe Refectory rotation, a University spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. Though critics had characterized the move as a return to “gastronomic imperialism,” Prodi argued that “the Trattoria is a cornerstone of the international cross-understanding he hopes to promote at Brown, and we have obliged him in that request,” said Marisa Quinn, director of public affairs and University relations. Prodi had reportedly been in intense discussions with Refectory officials for weeks over how to arrange a politically palatable demise of the unpopular “Tastes of the World” line
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Mary Catherine Lader / Herald The revamped SciLi has received complaints of “phallicocity.”
News.....1-4 Spor ts...5 Editorial..6 Lolcats...6.5 O p i n i n g. . . 7 Today........8
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Eric Beck / Herald
“Mamma mia!” the former prime minister exclaimed.
and return the pizza and pasta station to its former glory. “It was especially important to the prime minister that the Refectory resume serving on a regular basis both apple pie dessert pizza, which is a traditional Italian dish with a great history, and overcooked fusilli,” said Nandeeni Dellafishco,
a Prodi spokeswoman. The Refectory will now also feature ambient accordion music and will play a tape of Dean Martin singing “That’s Amore” on continuous loop, she added. Prodi also hopes to visit Via Via IV next week, Dellafishco said, to “pay his respects to the management.”
News, 3
Sports, 5
Opinions, 7
New Fraternity Leave Policy Implemented Updated guidelines allow for time with bros, hos
You won’t believe where Bill Russell wears his eleventh championship ring
Herald to reduce Allotted headline SpCost-cutting measures limit content availability
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