Thursday, April 23, 2009

Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 57 | Thursday, April 23, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

Wertheimer wins UCS presidency Other races marred by controversy, appeals By Ben Schreckinger Senior Staf f Writer

Clay Wertheimer ’10 was elected president of the Undergraduate Council of Students with 65 percent of the vote in this week’s run-of f election, defeating Ryan Lester ’11. Diane Mokoro ’11 was elected vice president of the council with 66 percent of the vote, winning her run-off with Harris Li ’11. The run-off was announced last week when no candidate achieved a majority in either the UCS president or vice president race last week, although both Wertheimer and Mokoro came within 5 percent of doing so in the first round of voting. continued on page 3

Faunce overhaul headlines summer construction By Brigitta Greene Senior Staf f Writer

Initial construction on the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center in Faunce House is now underway, according to Stephen Maiorisi, vice president for Facilities Management. The University also plans to break ground on a new Creative Arts Center and renovate Caswell and Slater Halls before classes begin in September. The Faunce renovations are not scheduled to be complete until December 2010, Maiorisi said, though a new basement event space in the former mailroom should be complete by September. Because the rest of the building will be under construction for the duration of the 2009-2010 school year, the Blue Room Cafe will temporarily relocate to the Salomon Center lobby, Maiorisi said. After an expensive new “Mind Brain Behavior building” was scrapped earlier this semester due to financial pressures, the University has now identified an overhauled Metcalf Chemistry and Research Laboratory as the likely

Courtesy of Brown

An artist’s rendering of the revamped eatery slated to succeed the Blue Room Cafe in Faunce House.

future home of Brown’s brain science programs, administrators said Wednesday. A facelift for Faunce The revamped Faunce House will look very different from the one students use now. When renovations are complete,

a new food service area will occupy the space currently filled by Petteruti Lounge, Maiorisi said, adding that Dining Services is “planning a potential expansion” of the food service offered in that location. The Blue Room’s current location will be converted into an expanded dining area, complete with

booth-style seating and views of both the Main Green and Waterman Street, he said. Additional renovations to the building will include new side access from Faunce Arch, a visitor center, a new roof on the building’s continued on page 4

More active writing enforcement in store By Anish Gonchigar Staff Writer

Courtesy of Brown.edu

Political scientist Fareed Zakaria.

Zakaria will be graduation speaker By Chaz Kelsh News Editor

Journalist and political scientist Fareed Zakaria will deliver the baccalaureate address at Commencement next month, the University announced Thursday. Grammy-winning recording artist Aretha Franklin and global health leader Jim Yong Kim ’82 will receive honorar y degrees along with Zakaria and five others. Anthropologist Mar y Elmendorf, businessman Richard Barker ’57 P’03 P’05, humanitarian David Saltzman ’84, engineer Jerry Fish-

inside

continued on page 2

News.......1-8 Metro....10-12 Sports....13-15 Editorial....18 Opinion.....19 Today........20

www.browndailyherald.com

Plans to more actively enforce the undergraduate writing requirement are moving forward, according to Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron. Brown’s degree requirements call for students to demonstrate competence in writing, but official University policy does not offer concrete avenues for students to do so. The College Curriculum Council, which Bergeron chairs, has been looking at ways to clarify and strengthen the “implementation” of the writing requirement, CCC members said. Currently the requirement “has been handled as a kind of deficit model,” Bergeron said — the writing requirement is considered fulfilled as long as a student is not flagged for poor writing. But the CCC’s goal is to ultimately have students take some tangible step to fulfill the writing expectation, according to CCC member Jason Becker ’09. Bergeron said she felt the writing requirement’s enforcement is

post-

“inadequate” and that “there’s a great desire on the part of the faculty who teach writing at Brown to turn this into a positive benefit.” No structures have yet been officially approved to more strongly enforce the writing expectation, according to Becker. But stronger implementation could mean students will soon be expected to fulfill one of a series of active steps, both Bergeron and Becker said. Among the ways they identified that students might do so would be to complete a specifically designated writing development course or maintain an electronic portfolio of their college writing. Extracurricular writing might also fall among the other ways to demonstrate writing proficiency, Bergeron said. “The expectation was, if you’re a good writer, you come to Brown and become a better writer,” Bergeron said. “The next phase is to be clear about ways to fulfill this.” As a first step in that process, Becker said, the CCC has been working on drafting a new official statement of the University’s writcontinued on page 8

Justin Coleman / Herald

On the agenda for this year’s Ivy Film Festival is a keynote panel featuring Academy Award-winning actor Jack Nicholson P’12.

Annual Ivy Festival celebrates best of film mount CEO Brad Grey P’10P’12. The panel will focus on the inner workings of Hollywood and new The 2009 Ivy Film Festival, which developments in filmmaking. kicked off Tuesday, will showcase Saturday will also feature two an array of student films and ce- other panels — one on screenwritlebrity panels focusing on the art ing, with writers Simon Kinberg and industry of ’95 and Scott ARTS & CULTURE Neustadter, and cinema. The six-day another, “Getting festival plays host to a variety of the Green Light: A Film’s Journey high-profile professionals in the from Script to Big Screen,” with film industry. Saturday’s keynote studio executives Lauren Levy event, titled “Iconoclasts,” will and Steven Puri. Thomas Rothfeature actor Jack Nicholson P’12, continued on page 9 producer Robert Evans and ParaBy CaitLin Trujillo Staff Writer

Inside

Sports, 7

skylarks with the New Curriculum, defines sex, and makes like a baby head out into the future

honorable mentions Lacrosse, baseball and water polo players were recognized this week

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

This is the final print edition of The Herald for the semester. News updates will be posted online throughout finals period and the summer. Thanks for reading. herald@browndailyherald.com

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS Tougaloo exchange opens eyes, doors

Brown-sponsored conference at Tougaloo, a response to the report of the University Steering CommitWhen Courtney Johnson MD’12 ar- tee on Slavery and Justice, which rived on College Hill in the dead of was released in 2006. winter last January, she had never But throughout the partnerseen snow before. ship’s evolution, the student exBut the weather wasn’t her only change has remained its flagship surprising or difficult experience. program. Brown now sends a small Johnson is one of nearly 600 stu- but stable number of undergradudents, faculty and staff from both ates to Tougaloo for semester-long Brown and Tougaloo College — a exchanges, and several Tougaloo small historically black liberal arts students come to Brown each semester. The Tougaloo school in Mississippi — to have participated in students participate FEATURE an exchange program in an undergraduate since its inception in 1964. exchange and as part of the joint Johnson and others involved Early Identification Program, which with the program said it provides grants Tougaloo students early a valuable — though challenging admission to the Alpert Medical and underused — opportunity for School and requires them to spend both schools’ students. one semester at Brown during their The relationship between undergraduate years. Brown and Tougaloo began in the early 1960s, when several students Another school, another world went to Tougaloo to participate ac- Students from both schools said tively in the civil rights movement, participating in the exchange according to Associate Dean of the was an eye-opening experience Graduate School Valerie Wilson, for them. the program’s director. “I had some really formative, The official partnership that valuable experiences,” said Evan came out of this collaboration Pulvers ’10.5, who spent last fall began on the 10th anniversary at Tougaloo. “I got a glimpse into of Brown v. Board of Education, the South, I got some really good said Wilson, who was named as- friends.” sociate provost and director of Pulvers, who is white, contininstitutional diversity last week. ued, “I also think I got a better Since then, the program has understanding of what it means evolved to include joint learning to be a minority, in the numeric and research ventures, including sense.” a “virtual classroom” for student continued on page 6 collaboration and an upcoming By Ellen Cushing Senior Staff Writer

sudoku

Daily Herald the Brown

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260 Stephen DeLucia, President Michael Bechek, Vice President

Jonathan Spector, Treasurer Alexander Hughes, Secretary

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for members of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com. Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily. Copyright 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

“I got a glimpse into the South.” — Evan Pulvers ’10.5, on spending last fall at Tougaloo College

Brown to honor ‘Queen of Soul,’ Kim continued from page 1 man P’99 and health advocate Jessie Gruman will also receive honorary degrees. Zakaria will deliver a speech entitled “Living a Global Life” during the traditional ceremony in the First Baptist Church in America May 23. The editor of Newsweek International since 2000, Zakaria is well-known for his weekly column in the magazine, which also appears in the Washington Post. He is also a former managing editor of the journal Foreign Affairs, and his 2008 book, “The PostAmerican World” became a New York Times best-seller. He serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations, the International Institute of Strategic Studies and the Trilateral Commission. He has also hosted PBS’s “Foreign Exchange” and currently hosts “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” a weekly international affairs show on CNN. Franklin, who will receive an honorar y doctor of music, is the second soulful superstar to be honored by Brown in the last three years. Blues legend B.B. King received an honorar y degree in 2007. Franklin has won 20 Grammy awards and has had 45 Top 40 hits since 1961. The first female artist to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she entranced America in January when she sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” at President Obama’s inauguration. Her songs, which include hits such as “Respect,” “Chain of Fools” and “I Say a Little Prayer,” are known around the world. Franklin was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2005. She is still recording — she released an album in December 2008 and recently founded her own record label, Aretha Records. Kim, a renowned physician and humanitarian, was elected president of Dartmouth College in March. His work has focused on health care in developing countries. He ser ved as executive director of nonprofit organization Partners in Health and also worked for the World Health

Courtesy of Brown.edu

Jim Yong Kim ’82 and Aretha Franklin will be among the recipients of honorary degrees at Commencement this year.

Organization, where he oversaw a host of HIV/AIDS programs. An expert in the field of tuberculosis, Kim won a MacArthur genius grant in 2003 and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2006 and one of America’s 25 best leaders by U.S. News & World Report in 2005. He earned both an M.D. and Ph.D. from Harvard after graduating from Brown. Other leaders honored Barker has served as vice chairman of the board and director of Capital Group International, Inc. and chairman of the board of both Capital International and Capital Guardian Tr ust Company. He ser ves on the advisor y boards of venture capital funds Champion Ventures and Pharos Capital Partners. The former Corporation trustee serves on the Board of Governors of the Watson Institute for International Studies. He is also the leader of the Campaign for Academic Enrichment’s initiative to raise money for financial aid. Elmendor f, a peace activist, worked for more than 60 years to improve drinking water and aid women in emerging nations. She ser ved on the Ford Foundation’s First Task Force on women in 1972 and was the World Bank’s first staff anthropologist. Her work has taken her to United Nations conferences all over the world. She has also worked with the International Development Research Centre, the International Rescue Committee, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the World Health Organization. Her work has centered on water sanitation in Latin America. Gruman is president of the Washington-based nonprofit Cen-

ter for Advancing Health, which she founded in 1992. Her career has centered on improving health care in the U.S. and working to end disparities in the care Americans receive. She has also worked at AT&T, the National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society. Gruman teaches at the School of Public Health and Health Services at The George Washington University and serves on the boards of the Public Health Institute, the Center for Medical Technology Policy and the Advisor y Panel on Medicare Education of the Department of Health and Human Services. Saltzman is the executive director and a founding board member of the Robin Hood Foundation, which has raised over $1 billion to combat poverty in New York City since its inception in 1988, and which projects that it will distribute $150 million this year alone. He led two AIDS education programs sponsored by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Time magazine named Saltzman to its list of 100 Innovators in 2001. After graduating from Brown, Saltzman earned a master’s in public policy and administration from Columbia, which awarded him its Global Leadership Award. Fishman, president and chief executive officer of the semiconductor company Analog Devices, ser ves on the boards of Cognex Corp. and Xilinx Corp. He has contributed to Brown to support various projects in the Division of Engineering, including the Laboratory for Engineering Man/Machine Systems and the “studio lab.” He holds an M.S. from Northeastern University, an M.B.A. from Boston University and a J.D. from Suffolk Law School.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

PLME is “a very expensive commitment in this economy.” — Julianne Ip, associate dean of medicine

Appeals complicate UFB elections continued from page 1 “I want to thank ever ybody that helped make this possible,” Wertheimer said Wednesday night after the results were announced by Elections Board Chair Lily Tran ’10 from the steps of Faunce House. While those two races were neatly resolved, elections of ficials had to respond to several elections-related controversies. UCS voted not to cer tify the results of the election for Undergraduate Finance Board at-large positions after an appeal from Anish Mitra ’10, whose name was absent from the online ballot for the first hour and 15 minutes of the 48-hour voting period due to an error by an elections official. Two hundred and sixty-eight votes — more than 10 percent of all votes cast in the race — were cast before Mitra’s name was added to the ballot. The elections board threw out these votes in calculating the top six finishers in the at-large race. The exclusion of these votes did not alter the results, but Mitra, a Herald opinions columnist, argued that the outcome could have been dif ferent if his name had been on the ballot when those votes were cast. Mitra finished in eighth place, just 66 votes away from sixth place and a seat on the board. The seventh place finisher, Tan Nguyen ’10, finished just 22 votes

behind 6th-place finisher Soobin Kim ’11. A new student body election will be held for the six at-large seats either this semester or in the fall, according to current UCS president Brian Becker ’09. The council certified the elections of Juan Vasconez ’10 to UFB chair and Jose Vasconez ’10 to UFB vice chair despite appeals brought by one-time vice chair candidate Neil Parikh ’11, who withdrew from the race on the first day of voting, and Salsabil Ahmed ’11 who lost in her bid for UFB chair. Parikh argued that elections board of ficials improperly pressured him into resigning after he was seen tearing down campaign posters for both Vasconez brothers from a door on Wriston Quadrangle. He also said the posters had been placed in an illegal location. Rakim Brooks ’09, an elections board official, responded that the elections board has never enforced rules against the placement of posters on those doors. Ahmed appealed to the council on the grounds that Jose Vaconez’s campaign posters inaccurately represented her experience, and that the elections board failed to respond to a formal complaint she had lodged early last Thursday morning. The council deliberated on the appeals in closed session for over

UCS Election Results President First-round voting Paris Hays: 332 Mike MacCombie: 324 Ryan Lester: 448 Clay Wertheimer: 976 Run-off results Lester: 542 Wertheimer: 1,009

Vice President First-round voting Evan Howlonia: 166 Harris Li: 601 Diane Mokoro: 885 Run-off results Li: 466 votes Mokoro: 921

40 minutes. Becker told The Herald before deliberations that there has been significant controversy surrounding the process in each of the four most recent elections, and that he hoped UCS would order a review of the elections process next year. “It needs to be fixed,” he said.

For visiting student, winding path led to Brown By Matthew Klebanoff Staff Writer

Instead of venturing off to the jungles of South America or the cobblestone streets of Europe, Michael Riecken, an undergraduate at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., chose to spend his junior year “abroad” on College Hill. Riecken is now finishing up his second semester at Brown as a visiting student — one of only a handful admitted this year. The visiting student application to Brown was very similar to a transfer application, Riecken said. He had to write several essays and submit his original SAT scores as part of the application process. “Not many people know about visiting student applications,” Riecken said. Riecken first learned about Brown’s visiting student program when researching various studyabroad options for his junior year. “When it came time to consider a study-abroad program, I was considering Oxford University,” he said. “I thought if a school of Oxford’s caliber had a visiting student program, then Brown probably would as well.” Riecken said he ultimately chose Brown over Oxford because of an interest in Egyptology he has harbored since the fourth grade. Brown is not only home to one of the few Egyptology departments in the country, but

also to his mentor, James Allen, a professor of Egyptology and former curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he said. Riecken said he first learned of Allen while talking to a few curators at the Met, who helped put him in touch with the Egyptology expert.

FEATURE Riecken proceeded to work fulltime with Allen in the museum’s Department of Egyptian Art during the summers following his junior and senior years of high school, he said. In the museum, Riecken organized photos from excavations, and catalogued periodicals and acquisitions. Though it did not have an Egyptology program, Riecken ultimately chose to attend Catholic University. After spending two years at a conservative and religious college, Riecken found it exciting to come to Brown — Catholic’s “polar opposite,” he said. “One thing I really enjoy about Brown is the separation of church and academics,” Riecken said. “The fact that there’s no theology in one’s daily conversation — it’s really refreshing.” Riecken, who grew up in New Jersey, doesn’t describe himself as a religious person. He said he went to Sex Power God last semester and

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attended both Spring Weekend concerts. “I’ve been given a year to experience a Brown education, and I’ve been trying to live it up every moment,” Riecken said. “I’ve been relishing every moment I’ve had here.” Besides attending parties and concerts on campus, Riecken has also become involved with the College Republicans and has participated in the Ballroom Dance Club. One of the main differences between Catholic and Brown, Riecken said, is each college’s attitude toward academics. “I feel students at both schools are really open and friendly, but there’s a stronger drive in students at Brown,” he said. “There’s greater academic emphasis here, which is a nice thing.” Riecken has taken classes in a variety of departments, though he said his favorite class this semester was CLAS 0210L: “Who Owns the Classical Past?” because it was related to cultural property law, a field Riecken said he has considered entering in the future. Riecken said he has cherished his time at Brown, but added that the visiting student program could be improved. He said he befriended some transfer students at the beginning of the year, but living in a single in Harkness House has made meetcontinued on page 7

news in brief

PLME applications drop 13 percent Despite a 21 percent increase in applications for admission to the Class of 2013, PLME applications for the undergraduate class of 2013 decreased by 13 percent, according to Associate Dean of Medicine Julianne Ip. The Program in Liberal Medical Education­­­ — which allows students to earn their undergraduate and medical degrees in a single eight-year program ­— admitted a total of 97 students this year, including 20 early decision candidates, Ip wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Both numbers are consistent with previous years, she added. The drop in applications could be due to the current economic recession, Ip wrote. “When a student applies and is accepted to the PLME, it is an eight-year commitment — a very expensive commitment in this economy,” she wrote. “It would be my educated guess that the economic downturn played a significant role in our drop in applications.” Admitted PLME students visiting campus during A Day on College Hill said other reasons could explain the drop in the number of applicants. Sahar Shaharmatdar of Rockville, Md., said she thought the decrease might be related to waning student interest in eight-year medical programs. “A lot of people I know weren’t really interested in the program because they wanted to do accelerated programs,” she said. “Since they were already committed to becoming doctors, they just wanted to get through the courses as fast as possible.” For example, she heard of many such students applying to Northwestern University, Shaharmatdar said. Northwestern’s Honors Program in Medical Education allows students to earn an undergraduate degree in three years and complete a four-year medical program after that. Alex Grieb, an admitted PLME student from New Orleans, had a different theory. “Because of the new application on the Common App,” she said, “you just had to check a box and write an extra essay (to apply for PLME consideration). Some people may have missed that part of the application.” But Ip wrote that the drop in applications this year could have just been an aberration, adding that the program will probably not undergo any major changes as a result of the decline. “We are probably not going to change anything given this one-year drop in applications considering we have a steady increase over the past five years in applications,” she wrote. “It will be interesting to see where medicine in general is going ... to see if there is a drop in overall interest in medicine or to see if this was just an ‘off year,’” she added. — Shara Azad

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Thursday, April 23, 2009

A renovated Faunce House will help create a “student district” on campus. — Vice President for Facilities Management Stephen Maiorisi

Courtesy of Brown

A floor plan depicting how the first floor of the new Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center in Faunce House will look when renovations are completed in December 2010, including expanded dining space and a visitor center.

Arts center construction to begin this summer continued from page 1

Illustrations Courtesy of Brown, Photo by Katherine Regalado / Herald

Artist’s renderings of the new event space (top) that will replace the old University mail room (bottom) in Faunce and of the new expanded dining area where the Blue Room currently is (middle).

older west wing and overhauls of all interior spaces, including Leung Gallery, the Underground and the Student Activities Office. Overall, the changes will allow Faunce — which has over the years evolved into a de facto center of social life on campus — to more easily cater to student and community needs, Maiorisi said. Because it is located within steps of the student services hub in J. Walter Wilson, the Third World Center and Brown/RISD Hillel, he said, the renovated building can form the cornerstone of a “student district” on campus. The Underground and Campus Market will be closed for construction from this summer through December 2010, Maiorisi said. Certain details of the Faunce plans have not yet been finalized, Maiorisi said. The University is considering adding a mezzanine that would hang over Leung Gallery in an effort to increase flow across the building’s third floor and add to the “student center feel,” he said. A Mezzanine would add about $600,000 to the approximately $18 million project, he said. Current plans illustrate Leung Gallery equipped with chairs and tables, with new reading and lounge spaces in the space currently occupied by the SAO. Though many aspects of the plans — from the new glass entryway in Faunce Arch to the modular armchairs of the proposed dining area — are modern in style, “historic parts (of the building) are being renovated to look historic,” Maiorisi said. Ceilings, woodwork, fireplaces and historic wainscoting will be restored throughout the building, he said. Breaking ground, scaling back Elsewhere on campus, construction will begin this summer on the long-planned Creative Arts Center, Maiorisi said.

The University expects to break ground for that project in late May and complete it by January 2011. The facility will hold classrooms, studios and meeting spaces for interdisciplinary work in the arts and will be equipped for acoustics and exhibitions. But as a chorus of construction tones warms up along the Walk, the University will continue making quiet plans for a proposed brain sciences building. In response to budgetary concerns, the Corporation decided in February that the University should consider renovating an existing building — rather than building new — for the project. Renovations could cost less than building a new structure by as much as half, Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior adviser to the president, told The Herald in February. The University has since identified the Metcalf Chemistry and Research Laboratory as the “main option” for construction, said Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations. Renovations on the building — currently home to the Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences program, a planned occupant of the new facility — were scheduled for summer 2010 but were postponed due to tightened budgets, Maiorisi said. Administrators will present a formal proposal for the brain sciences facility to the Corporation at its meeting in May. Were the Corporation to sign off on renovating Metcalf as a way to proceed with that project, it would lay to rest for the near future the possibility of tearing down or relocating the Urban Environmental Laboratory and two University-owned houses on Angell Street to make way for a new facility. Though University officials said in February that construction on a new aquatics center could begin as soon as the summer, the pool project is “still in its planning phase,” Quinn said. The Corporation officially ac-

cepted a $14.75 million bequest in February — more than half of the necessar y funding — that jumpstarted the project, which officials had previously suggested was a low priority. Under Brown’s current guidelines, the project can move forward only once the funds from the bequest are in hand and gifts have been secured for the remainder of the approximately $25 million project. The University is still actively fundraising to secure the remaining funds, she said. Plans for the new Nelson Fitness Center remain on hold, Quinn said. Other plans Facilities Management will be completing only minor work on the campus’s 90 classrooms this summer, Maiorisi said. The University has completed the Task Force on Undergraduate Education’s recommended technology upgrades, he added. But Facilities will move forward with renovations of Slater and Caswell Halls to be completed by September, Thomas Forsberg, associate director of housing and residential life, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. New bathrooms will be created on the first and fourth floors of Slater, while the existing secondand third-floor facilities will be renovated. The addition of new bathrooms will have “no significant impact” on existing room sizes, as they will largely take over spaces now occupied by hallway closets and entryways, Forsberg wrote. Construction will “virtually double” the existing lounge space of Caswell Hall, he wrote, and a new kitchen will be installed where the current lounge sits. New doubles will replace existing smaller kitchens on the upper floors. The University also expects to upgrade the furniture in Barbour Hall doubles in time for the fall, he added.

So far, avoiding layoffs. The Brown Daily Herald

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

C ampus N EWS

Thursday, April 23, 2009

“People can do it at their own convenience.” — Rebecca McGoldrick ’12, on online course evaluations

Move to online evals aims to save on paper By Kristina Fazzalaro Contributing Writer

Seventeen departments are using online course evaluations instead of in-class paper forms this semester, according to Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron. The online form, which the University has been developing and revising since 2006, was completed by 600 students for the first time in a seven-course trial run last spring, Bergeron said. That form drew on questions from a variety of departmental evaluations, she said, allowing deans to assess which questions were most useful. This semester, for the first time, departments are able to add their own questions regarding specific aspects of curricula to the online evaluation form, Bergeron said. Last semester’s form also included a question asking students to rate the form itself, and the feedback was “over whelmingly positive,” Bergeron said. The dean’s of fice decided to implement online evaluation forms based on input from the College Curriculum Council and the Task Force on Undergraduate Education. The online evaluations are part of a University effort, partially in response to student concerns, to reduce paper consumption and move toward being a “paperless” university, Bergeron said. Last fall, the Office of the Dean of the College offered an updated form to all math and music classes and revised it again based on student response, Bergeron said.

One professor told The Herald she was in favor of online evaluations. “It’s nice because students can do it at their own convenience,” said Nina Tannenwald, associate research professor at the Watson Institute for International Studies. But Tannenwald said she is concerned that students might not take the initiative to fill out the forms. “(When) you have students fill out forms in the class room, you have a captive audience,” she said. “They have to do it.” Bergeron, who said she shared Tannenwald’s concern, said in the future her office hopes to link the form to Banner, so that students must complete an evaluation to receive their final grades. Still, last semester both the math and music departments received about 60 percent of their evaluations — a “pretty good” rate for a voluntary system, Bergeron said. This year, nearly 20 percent of students completed online evaluations in the first two days after the form was made available Monday. Students inter viewed by The Herald appeared to prefer the online form because it is faster and easier to complete than paper forms. “I think online is more practical for people, especially for larger classes where only one-third of the class shows up,” said Rebecca McGoldrick ’12. “People can do it at their own convenience.” “When you can do it on your own time, you can put more thought into it,” said Gabe Gonzalez ’12.

Courtesy of Joshua Bernard

Members of Brown’s Mock Trial team attended a national championship in Des Moines, Iowa last weekend.

Mock trial team makes it to nat’ls By Anna Andreeva Contributing Writer

Ten members of Brown Mock Trial earned a place at the American Mock Trial Association National Championship last weekend. The team placed 17th in its 24team division at the tournament, according to team captain Daniel Sprecher ’09. There were 48 teams

in all at the tournament. Rachel Shur ’12 received an intercollegiate All-American Witness Award at the tournament — which took place Friday to Sunday in Des Moines, Iowa — after scoring high marks, along with two other participants, for her portrayal of a defense witness. Unlike most of its competition at the tournament, Brown Mock

Trial is entirely student-run. Its 30 undergraduate members are divided into three equally-weighted teams. The team captained by Sprecher earned the opportunity to participate in the national championship by finishing third at a preliminary national tournament. continued on page 7

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, April 23, 2009

C ampus N EWS

Program welcomes minority students By Heeyoung Min Staf f Writer

Though most prospective firstyears finished their preview of Brown on Wednesday, some are still on campus for one more day on College Hill. About 140 admitted students are staying for Third World Welcome, the Admission Office’s program for minority students, according to Natasha Go ’10, the program’s co-coordinator. The program gives students of color an opportunity to learn about the academic and social experience of minority students at Brown, said Christopher Belcher ’11, another of the program’s cocoordinators. The two-day program is more intimate than A Day on College Hill, Belcher said. Because the program is “smaller and more manageable,” students admitted in the early decision round are permitted to participate, he said. Early decision students have not been allowed to attend ADOCH since last year to make the event smaller. The TWW program kicked off with a buffet-style dinner at Sayles

Hall, where prospective first-years had the opportunity to interact with faculty and administrators from several departments. Other events Wednesday night included a “Cultural Show,” featuring several of Brown’s performing groups, and later, an ice cream social with Minority Peer Counselors and representatives of various ethnic and cultural student groups. Today, students can attend classes, tour Brown’s science facilities or attend a panel on research opportunities for minority students, among other events. TWW par ticipants told The Herald they enjoyed the program’s first day. Chao Long decided to attend TWW to help her decide between attending Brown and Princeton. “Princeton did not have a program specifically for minorities,” she said. “I’m not leaning towards either school yet, but it’s nice to know that Brown has a supportive community in terms of race and heritage.” Other prospective students already committed to Brown saw the program as an opportunity to meet

more of their future classmates. Evangeline McDonald ’13 said she was persuaded to register for the program by a phone call from a Brown alum. “I signed up because an alumna called and told me that TWW was one of her best Brown experiences. I’ve already chosen Brown — I have a Brown sticker on my car, and own a Brown sweater and sweatpants — but I came out here because TWW seemed like a lot of fun,” she said, adding that ADOCH seemed like a “whirlwind” compared to Third World Welcome’s more intimate setting. Diego Ciccia ’13 and Ramy Pena ’13 have also committed to Brown, but said they registered for the program to get to know some of the members of their class in a more comfortable environment. “We come from inner-city schools, so we feel more welcomed in this diverse environment. We were here yesterday for ADOCH, and we just didn’t feel as comfortable,” Pena said. “There are just more people that we can relate to in the TWW program.”

Brown-Tougaloo partnership declines continued from page 2 Nina Fitzerman-Blue ’09, who participated in the exchange in fall 2007, also said going to Tougaloo changed the way she thought about race. “I was one of a handful of nonAfrican-American students on campus,” she said. “I’ve never had to be concerned about my race every single second of every single day, and that’s something minorities deal with every single second of every single day. So I’d say that I got a little taste of what minorities have had to deal with since the beginning of time in America.” Johnson said Brown’s diversity provided her with a more complex view of race. Race “wasn’t cut-and-dry, blackand-white any more,” she said. Michael Sweeney ’70 said his experiences at Tougaloo in the fall of 1968 were “unbelievable and utterly fascinating.” They shaped the rest of his life, he said. “I knew why I was at Brown after Tougaloo,” he said. The semester was his “most important sensitization to the real world,” said Sweeney, who now teaches anthropology and African-American studies at a high school in Portland, Ore. Several Tougaloo students who attended Brown said the resources the University offers were a highlight of their experiences. “You can get involved in so many ways,” said Andre Whittington, a junior from Tougaloo currently studying at Brown. “It’s overwhelming. That was the biggest shock.” At Brown, Whittington said, “when you desire to do something, there’s no limitation.” Steven Shadwick, a student in the Early Identification Program spending his last undergraduate semester at Brown, said the exchange “helps keep perspective open for both parties.” He said he found Brown to be a very warm environment — except for the weather, that is. “I felt extremely welcomed here,” Shadwick said. “The biggest thing was the cold.” Johnson said she experienced her share of challenges and culture shock — especially coming from the South. “It was a new environment, nothing like where I’d grown up,” she said. “Coming from a more conservative institution, being here totally opened my eyes to very liberal people and ideas. Things like guys and girls in the same dorm — that doesn’t happen at Tougaloo,” she said. Shadwick, who lives in Chapin

House, recalled a particularly unexpected moment. “I was walking up the steps from Thayer onto the quad, and I just saw this crowd of naked people,” he said. “That was, I guess, exciting.” A program in decline But in recent years, the number of Brown students in the program has gone down, and the students from Tougaloo who participate in the exchange regularly outnumber those who come from Brown. “People never think to do it,” said Fitzerman-Blue, who was Brown’s only participant during the 2007-2008 academic year. Wilson acknowledged that fewer Brown students attend Tougaloo than the other way around. “Some of that has to do with how visible the program is,” she said. “I don’t think it’s well-publicized,” Pulvers agreed. The structure of the program, as well as disparities in the two schools’ resources, mean “there’s not a lot of incentive for Brown students to go,” she said. Tougaloo has no graduate school, and enrolls fewer than 1,000 students. “In terms of things like course offerings, Tougaloo has substantially fewer,” Pulvers said, adding that it was difficult to transfer credits and coordinate housing and course registration — problems Wilson said Brown was working to solve. Tougaloo has several outstanding academic programs, particularly in music and Africana studies, according to Assistant Dean of Medicine Timothy Empkie, who has taught twice at the historically black college. “We could do a better job of understanding the faculty expertise at Tougaloo and communicating that to Brown students,” he said. Empkie, Pulvers and Wilson also said the increasing number of opportunities for Brown students to study abroad may have diverted interest away from the Brown-Tougaloo exchange. “Brown has so many resources for students, and recently more students have been more excited by the opportunity of going abroad,” Wilson said. Wilson said she was confident the exchange would continue to serve students despite its current low enrollment. “Each generation of presidents, students and administrators rediscover the partnership and rediscover it in the context of the current time and find it valuable,” she said. “The program has become adept at reinventing itself.”

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, April 23, 2009

C ampus N EWS

Mock Trial team succeeds For visiting student, winding path even without a coach continued from page 3

continued from page 5 “It was very much unexpected,” team member Ben Schrank ’11 said of earning the trip to nationals. “Brown is unusual in that we do not have a coach. … We came across no (other teams) without coaches.” In addition to having no professional guidance, the Brown team’s most experienced members are spread evenly among its three groups. “This team was freshmen and sophomores, and we were neck and neck with everyone else, which was absolutely incredible,” Sprecher said. “We were definitely the youngest team there.” The last time a Brown Mock Trial team made it to Nationals was in 2007, when the team was composed primarily of experienced upperclassmen, said Venkat Mendu ’12, one of the team members. “We do ver y well pretty consistently,” said Erinn Phelan ’09, a captain of one of the two teams that did not travel to Iowa. “Every year, we qualify beyond the first round.” Though some of the costs of the trip were covered by funding the

team receives from the Undergraduate Finance Board, team members had to pay about $150 out-of-pocket to fund the trip, said Maria Gordon ’11, one of the 10 students who went to nationals. The team’s success stems in part from its cohesion, members said, and its ability to focus on having fun. “In the end, it’s just a game,” said team member Joshua Bernard ’11. “It’s hard to remember that when you put so many hours into it.” Despite the young team’s success this year, Schrank said a return trip to nationals next year would require just as much hard work and team effort. “I think if we continue to do what we did this year — practice regularly, maintain our great team dynamic and exploit the natural talent that each of our members possesses — we’ll be well-situated for a repeat performance next year,” Shur wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. The other team members who competed at nationals were Joshua Bernard ’11, Alysha Naik ’11, Herald Higher Ed Editor Gaurie Tilak ’11, Andrew Becker ’12 and Andrew Nizamian ’12.

ing new people difficult. Riecken also said he needed to work to become a part of the Brown community in areas other students did not — how many other students can say they had to manually sign up for Morning Mail? Regardless of the visiting student program’s weaknesses, Riecken said he is “reluctant” to return to Catholic

for the next school year and has even applied to transfer to Brown. “After being here for the past year I found that this is the only school I really want to go to,” Riecken said. “I can’t see myself happier anywhere else.” The process to apply has been difficult for Riecken, who had to petition the University to waive a policy that requires visiting students to first return to their home school

before applying for transfer. Riecken’s persistence has paid off. On Wednesday he received formal permission to apply to Brown as a transfer student. Allen said Riecken is one of the most determined people he has ever known. “The ancient Egyptians would’ve liked that,” Allen said. “They awarded gold necklaces for persistence.”

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Thursday, April 23, 2009

C ampus N EWS

Bergeron, CCC exploring more writing enforcement continued from page 1

ing expectation. Bergeron provided The Herald with a draft of that statement Wednesday. “As a Brown student, you are expected to work on your writing in your general studies and in your concentration,” the draft reads in part. “You may begin to fulfill this expectation by taking at least one course that engages you in the writing process.” “Remember to save examples of your best work each year,” the draft statement reads. “This evidence will allow you to demonstrate your abilities, not only to Brown advisors but also to future colleagues and employers.” The draft, recently approved by the CCC, is intended to make clear to students that “this is what we expect you to do, this is the process we want you to engage in, this is what we want you to have at the end,” Becker said. Toward the end, the CCC recently approved a special designation for courses, such as those that participate in the Writing Fellows Program, in which students can expect to receive feedback on their writing and conduct revisions. Those courses will be marked with a “W” in the Course Announcement Bulletin, Bergeron and Becker said. Becker stressed that there are no plans to require all students to take a “W” course, only a sentiment that they should be one of many ways students can satisfy the writing expectation. The University also plans to launch an electronic portfolio this summer where students

will be encouraged to store their best pieces of writing each year, Bergeron said. The portfolio is intended as a way to track a student’s development as a writer over the course of their time at Brown, Becker said. The portfolio is part of a larger effort to help advisers, deans and students assess their writing improvement. The University is “going to build in some reflective practice” to students’ studies, Bergeron said. In a report issued last fall, the Task Force on Undergraduate Education, which Bergeron chaired and of which Becker was a member, recommended that the University take a “much more coherent approach to its writing requirement.” The electronic writing portfolio was one of the Task Force’s recommendations, Becker said, as was an independent assessment of Brown’s writing programs. That took place last September, Bergeron said, when the University invited writing specialists from Yale and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to evaluate writing at Brown. Though for now the work of the CCC has focused mainly on articulating clearer principles, Becker said, “We’re going to have in place at some point, some kind of check by somebody that says that a student has worked on their writing here at Brown in a constructive way.” But, he added, “We’re very, very apprehensive about limiting the ways that students can do this.” — With additional reporting by Lauren Fedor

fair point

Kim Perley/ Herald

Brown students discussed their organization at the ADOCH Activites Fair Wednesday. A Day on College Hill wrapped up later that afternoon for the roughly 650 attendees.

Arts & Culture The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, April 23, 2009 | Page 9

Ivy Film Festival draws big names Plenty of art to check continued from page 1 man ’76 P’11, a top executive at Fox studios, will also lead a discussion on Friday. At the same time, the core of the festival, according to its executive director, Daniel Wolfberg ’09, is the student film competition. Wolfberg and his staff received a total of 350 student submissions this year — an increase from previous years. Wolfberg attributes the jump to the festival organizers’ decision to begin accepting submissions earlier, during the summer. Screenings of the student films — which hail from universities throughout the United States and Europe — begin Friday night and will run through Saturday. In addition to the student work, advance screenings of upcoming feature films — including an IMAX sneak preview of “Star Trek” on FriJustin Coleman / Herald day at the Providence Place Mall Writer and director Robert Siegel spoke at a screening of his newest film, — will be a major highlight of the “Big Fan,” in MacMillan 117 last night. festival. Writer and director Robert Siegel Inspired by early Martin Scorsese festival was recently profiled in Vapresented his newest film, “Big Fan,” films, Siegel said, he never intended riety magazine. last night in MacMillan 117. Centered to make humor “the object of the “I think we’ve established ouraround Paul (Patton Oswalt), an ob- scene.” Instead, he wanted the real- selves as a quality film festival and a sessive New York Giants fan who istic nature of the film and charac- unique film festival,” Wolfberg said. is assaulted by one of his idols, the ters to reflect the natural interplay But though celebrity guests have movie explores the main character’s between humor and sadness. helped the festival make its name attempt to strike a balance between “The humor comes from real-life in the film world, Wolfberg said, the maintaining his devotion to the team situations and characters as organi- focus is really on the student filmcally woven into it,” Siegel said. and accepting his trauma. makers and their projects, thus proPaul finds himself both unwilling Siegel also described his work moting the art of film on university to press charges against his hero as the screenwriter of 2008’s “The campuses. “We want to celebrate the art of and unable to shake the feeling of Wrestler,” his own development as film, generally, but also we want to a comedy and drama writer, casting being betrayed. His well-meaning provide a quality venue for student and directing a film, his preference family tries to spur him to abandon his pastime and grow up, but in the for “flawed, regular everyday char- filmmaking,” Wolfberg said. end, he must develop his own coping acters” and his future plans for the film’s distribution. mechanism. Siegel said in the discussion held “(500) Days of Summer” will The Ivy Film Festival runs through after the screening that, though he screen tonight at Avon Cinema, fol- Sunday. All screenings and events are feels characters are expected to un- lowed by a discussion with writer open to the public. Tickets for screendergo drastic change by the end of a Neustadter. Max Mayer’s “Adam” ings are available at the Ivy Film Fesfilm, he wanted to present something was given an advance showing at tival table on the Main Green or in J. closer to real life. Instead of portray- the Avon Tuesday. Walter Wilson through today and are ing characters experiencing huge Wolfberg said the festival’s popu- free for students, $5 for non-students. changes, Siegel aimed to show that larity, as measured by the number Tickets to “Iconoclasts” sold out yestermany people do not alter their lives of submissions and attendees, has day, but a limited number of tickets and are happier for it. been increasing in recent years. will be raffled off at Saturday’s other Siegel also talked about the tone Big-name guests like Scorsese and panel events. “Iconoclasts” will also be of the film, which alternates between Oliver Stone have attracted both simulcast in Salomon 001. the humorous and the dramatic. audience members and clout. The

out near semester’s end Tomorrow and Sunday: The Brown University Orchestra offers up Aaron Copland’s “Lincoln PorTonight through Sunday: trait,” for speaker and orchestra, Shakespeare on the Green pres- with two very special guest stars. ents not one, but two plays this On Friday night at 8 p.m., hear the semester. “Coriolanus,” the late words of Abraham Lincoln read by tragedy of imperial Rome, will be another Lincoln — Watson Instiperformed (fittingly) in the pres- tute distinguished visiting fellow ence of Marcus Aurelius on Lin- Lincoln Chafee ’75, that is. And on coln Field. That’s at 6 p.m. tonight Sunday at 2 p.m., the same work and tomorrow, and at 8 p.m. on will be performed by none other Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, than President Ruth Simmons. “Macbeth” gets bloody in the park- Tickets are available all week in ing lot between T.F. Green and Or- Orwig 101 and an hour before each wig Halls, tonight and tomorrow at performance in Sayles, $2 with a 8 p.m., and at 5 p.m. on Saturday Brown ID. and Sunday. The Tomorrow: two tragedies go A&C: Editor’s Picks Badmaash preshead-to-head for ents its third ana combined midnight showing Fri- nual show, “Throw It Down,” at day night on Lincoln Field. 6:30 in Salomon 101. Tickets are Tomorrow: Professor of Music $5 at the door or in advance in the Rose Subotnik will offer a farewell mail room. lecture — “How Many Ways Can April 27 through May 3: You Fetishize a Song? From Ador- Next week, enjoy a packed festino to ‘American Idol’” — before val of solo performances by ten embarking on her retirement after senior actors. Featuring Julian Cihi 18 years at Brown. At 4 p.m. in ’09, Lucian Cohen ’09, Emily Borromeo ’09, Lily Spottiswoode ’09, Grant Recital Hall. Tomorrow through Monday: Phoebe Neidhardt ’09, Jonathan Musical Forum presents Will Finn Dent ’09, Sophie Shackleton ’09, and James Lapine’s P’07 1998 Samantha Ressler ’09, Adam Lumusical “A New Brain,” in PW’s bitz ’09 and Albert Huber ’09. A Downspace. Performances at 8 complete schedule is available at p.m. on Friday, Sunday and Mon- solofest2009.blogspot.com. Free day., and at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on tickets will be available 30 minutes Saturday. Free tickets available an before each performance in Strashour before each performance. berg Studio. By Ben Hyman Arts & Culture Editor

a rt s i n b r i e f

Sock & Buskin announces ’09-’10 line-up In addition to presenting four plays from three different centuries, Sock & Buskin’s 2009-2010 season will mark the culmination of a retooled relationship between Brownbrokers — a group that produces student-written musicals — and the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance. Next season’s student musical will benefit from increased faculty support and funding, according to Brownbrokers board member Aaron Malkin ’10. Brownbrokers has traditionally produced one musical written, directed and produced by students as part of each Sock & Buskin season. But next season’s show will be faculty-directed, and it will enjoy more design mentoring and a fuller development process. The season kicks off in September with Moliere’s classic farce “Tartuffe,” auditions for which will take place before the end of this semester, Sock & Buskin board member Chris Tyler ’10 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Frank Wedekind’s proto-expressionist play “Lulu” will be produced in February. Two contemporary plays will also be featured. “The Cook,” a drama by Eduardo Machado about Cuba under Fidel Castro, goes up in April. Jordan Harrison’s MFA’03 play “Doris to Darlene” will be presented in December. The Brownbrokers’ show, which has yet to be selected, will be produced in November. Two musicals are currently under consideration for the slot — “Adding Up,” by Sarah Kay ’10 and Drew Nobile ’07 and “Leavittsburg, Ohio,” by Nate Sloan ’09. Both works will soon receive staged readings — “Adding Up” on May 9 and “Leavittsburg, Ohio” on May 10. The board, in collaboration with department faculty, will then select one of the musicals for production, Malkin said. — Ben Hyman

Metro The Brown Daily Herald

“It’s not journalism. It’s getting out and meeting people.” — Scott Kingsley, co-founder of Stimulus Times Thursday, April 23, 2009 | Page 10

Laid-off ProJo workers print ‘stimulus’ paper By Lauren Fedor Senior Staf f Writer

Four former Providence Journal employees have teamed up to have “a little fun in the face of potential economic ruin” — by creating their own newsletter. Scott Kingsley, Brandie Jefferson, Denise Bass and David DelPoio — who all lost their jobs as part of recent layoffs at the Journal — now manage Stimulus Times, a free weekly publication available throughout the East Side. Stimulus Times, which published its second issue Wednesday, has a circulation of 2,500 copies. According to its Web site — stimulustimes. com — the newsletter is “a quirky look at the stimulus package and its effect on our economy.” Started by Kingsley, a former assistant managing editor at the Journal, the newsletter can be found at local businesses on Hope Street, Thayer Street and Wickenden Street and in Wayland Square. Kingsley told The Herald he decided to publish the newsletter after being laid off from the Journal

in March. “There aren’t any jobs in the newspaper industry,” he said, adding, “There’s no way I could make any money sitting on the end of the couch, and I wanted to put my name out there.” Though the newsletter’s name alludes to the Stimulus Package, formally known as the American Recover y and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Kingsley said there is no political agenda motivating the newsletter. “It’s about stimulating a conversation,” he said. “It’s about the times we live in.” This week’s edition includes articles with titles such as “Think You’re Stressed?” and “AIG’s Largesse.” There is also a “Stimu-stat” about employer insurance, a “Stimu-dex” measuring public interest in the stimulus package and a request for readers to vote online for a “Stimulator of the Week” from three local figures — a florist, a sushi chef and the infant of a neighborhood business owner. The group is also hosting a

“handwringing party” next Tuesday where attendees can “kvetch” about their economic worries. Kingsley admitted that many of the stories the Stimulus Times offers are supposed to be humorous. “It’s goofy. I get that,” he said. “It’s not journalism. It’s getting out and meeting people.” Kingsley has certainly met people. Since publishing the first issue last week, Kingsley estimates he has met more than 50 local business owners. In addition to introducing himself and Stimulus Times, he encourages them to advertise in the newsletter. “I can put feet in their street,” he said. Though the paper now has many advertisers, Kingsley said he has yet to break even. But he said he expects to begin turning profits in the near future, and he and his colleagues will stay in the business for as long as they can. Still, the project isn’t going to replace a day job for Kingsley. “I am looking for a full-time job,” he said. “I have a family. I need health benefits.”

metro in brief

Rep. calls for ‘product stewardship’ State Representative Donna Walsh, D-Dist. 36, has introduced a bill in the General Assembly that calls for manufacturers to regulate the disposal of waste from certain consumer products. The approach, called “product stewardship,” requires makers, designers and sellers to share the responsibility and costs of waste disposal. “Americans are inundated with products with hazardous components and wasteful packaging,” Walsh said in a press release. “We need the people who create and sell items to be more mindful of the harmful effects their products have on the environment.” Toward that end, the bill would institute product stewardship methods of waste disposal. “It doesn’t make much sense that cities and towns — and ultimately, taxpayers — are the ones who end up paying for the disposal of hazardous items used in products,” Walsh said in the press release. “Some of that responsibility should fall to manufacturers who choose to make products that way. If we start implanting product stewardship, we will see manufacturers making design changes that reduce waste and unnecessarily harmful effects on our environment.” Some businesses currently voluntarily engage in product stewardship. Some office supply stores, for example, collect used ink cartridges to ensure that they are recycled properly. Walsh’s bill would require the state Department of Environmental Management to develop recommendations consistent with the product stewardship programs already in place in states such as California, Vermont and Minnesota. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which first instituted a product stewardship policy in 1999, offers initiatives for the disposal of beverage containers, telephone directories, paint, compact fluorescent lightbulbs, carpets, automobiles and electronics. According to the press release, Rhode Island already has an “e-waste” law that requires proper disposal of hazardous electronic products. Walsh’s bill would institute requirements similar to those in the e-waste program. The House Environment and Natural Resources Committee recommended on March 19 that the bill be held for further study. — Anne Speyer

www.browndailyherald.com

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M etro

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

“I don’t understand why we have to fight the city instead of work with the city.” — Elington Rosario, local business owner metro in brief

awesome blossoms

Local relations director to leave Brown

George Miller / Herald Friends of Brown Street Park will host an Earth Day event Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at Brown Street Park. Festivities will include a performance by Joe’s Backyard Band and work sprucing up the park’s gardens. The Rhode Island Water Lady will discuss rain barrels, and the Worm Ladies of Charlestown will talk about worms and compost.

Community argues against restaurant By Melissa Shube Senior Staf f Writer

Problems with rowdy crowds at a Providence nightclub, including reports of fights, underage drinking and weapons, may keep the owner from getting the city’s permission to open another establishment in Fox Point. Elington Rosario wants to open Privilege Restaurant and Lounge on 345 South Water St., which he says will be “like Kartabar, but closer to the water.” Rosario is also one of three owners of Club Elements, a nightclub on Richmond Street downtown, but has ventured out on his own to open restaurant. The Providence Board of Licensing did not grant him the licensing he sought last Friday, and community members say the rejection was due to problems with the management of Club Elements. “The objection was the proposed owners have a lot of unresolved issues and a lot of serious issues with their own establishment,” said Seth Yurdin, the city councilman for Ward 1, which includes the area that Privilege would take. “If they’re not

Thursday, April 23, 2009

running one business properly and respectfully under the law, it doesn’t seem like it makes sense for them to have the privilege of opening the second business,” he said. “It’s just the owners have a reputation for running rowdy nightclubs,” said Daisy Schnepel, president of the Fox Point Neighborhood Association. “So the police have a lot of trouble with the crowd, and the police have no assurance that they aren’t going to do the same thing in this neighborhood.” “I don’t think it would be a good fit over there,” Lieutenant John Ryan, commander of Providence Police District 9, said of the restaurant. Ryan testified to the licensing board about “underage drinking, weapons charges and a whole series of different problems” at Club Elements, Yurdin said. Privilege Inc., Rosario’s company, wants to open the restaurant in a location currently occupied by the restaurant Chez Ben. Rosario applied for a transfer license, a liquor license and an extended license to allow the venue to stay open until 2 a.m. on Fridays and

Saturdays, according to the Providence Board of Licensing. The licenses were denied last week, but Privilege Inc. plans to appeal the decision on Monday, Rosario said. Rosario said his proposed restaurant was not going to be a nightclub. Since this project doesn’t involve the other owners of Elements, he said he didn’t think incidents at the nightclub should disqualify him from opening a new restaurant. “We’ve never had anyone get hurt inside or anything happen like that,” he said. But Rosario did acknowledge that Elements has had its share of incidents and conflicts with the city. He said the club told the police when there were incidents of underage drinking or rowdy behavior and that he felt the police department and the licensing board were holding those reports against him. “I don’t understand why we have to fight the city instead of work with the city,” he said. One incident discussed at the hearing involved a weapon in the club’s parking lot. continued on page 12

Darrell Brown, director for state and community relations, will leave his post at Brown this May to start a new job in Washington, with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. In his current position, Brown is responsible for all community relations activity off campus, he said. He is a registered lobbyist for the University in the Rhode Island General Assembly, and deals with local community groups on issues involving businesses on Thayer Street and the University’s emergency siren system. “It’s been a pleasure working for Brown,” Brown said. Brown will start his new job June 1, acting as counsel to the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. Vice President for Public Affairs and University Relations Marisa Quinn told The Herald the University would look for a replacement for Brown. “The University’s relations with the state, city and community are crucial, so I hope to fill the position,” Quinn wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Quinn’s office includes the office of government relations and community affairs. “Darrell has been very effective in dealing with community issues and will be missed,” Will Touret, president of the College Hill Neighborhood Association, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. — George Miller

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Fox Point restaurant faces obstacles continued from page 11

“We own the nightclub but we can’t go outside and check people’s cars,” Rosario said. He also said he didn’t feel he should be responsible for fights that happened blocks away from the club. The club and the city have also disagreed about the capacity at Elements, Rosario said. The city initially set the capacity of the club at 254, which Rosario said left the

club “empty” and “dead.” An appeal to the state saw the capacity rise to 390, Rosario said, but in the interim Elements was cited for capacity violations. Rosario said his planned restaurant would benefit the city. “I think that will be good for the area, especially because they are bringing down the highway,” he said. The state is currently relocating the interchange between I-95 and I-195, a project it has named Iway.

The restaurant and lounge would bring in tax revenue for the city, and would create jobs for students, Rosario said, adding that he hoped to employ Rhode Island School of Design and Brown students. But the community does not seem convinced. Yurdin said he was supportive of new businesses and venues but that the issue was with the ownership. If Privilege Inc. appeals the licensing board’s decision, a lot of concerned people will come out to oppose it, he added.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

metro in brief

Forbes: Providence a tough place to live If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere — at least according to Forbes. The magazine recently named Providence the U.S. city “where it’s hardest to get by.” Rounding out the rest of the top five, in order, were Los Angeles; Riverside, Calif.; Tampa, Fla. and Buffalo, N.Y. The rankings were based on unemployment, cost of living and median income. Rhode Island’s unemployment rate recently rose to 10.5 percent, but according to the April 14 article, Providence residents are even worse off, facing an 11.6 unemployment rate. And though the city has a median income above the national average, it ranks 22 points higher on the cost-ofliving index than the national average of 100, according to the article. The Forbes ranking covered metropolitan statistical areas used by the federal government. — George Miller

SportsThursday The Brown Daily Herald

Looking back: The year in sports By Benjy Asher and Andrew Braca Sports Editors

With the 2008-2009 school year coming to an end, it’s time to take a look back at the year of Brown sports. While the year was disappointing on many fronts for Brown athletics, it also had its share of shining moments. On a rain-soaked Saturday in September, the football team pulled out a 24-22 victory over Harvard, Brown’s first win over the Crimson since 1999, to open up the Ivy League season. A key stop on a Harvard two-point conversion in the closing minutes sealed the victory for the Bears, propelling them to a 6-1 Ivy League record and a share of the Ivy League championship, Brown’s second in four years. “We’re in the infant stages of what could be something very special,” Head Coach Phil Estes said. Though inconsistency plagued the women’s soccer team in the 2008 season, the high point came early on, when Brown took the collegiate soccer scene by storm at the UConn Classic. On Sept. 12, the Bears scored in overtime to notch a 1-0 win over No. 11 Penn State, before playing to a scoreless tie against No. 1 UCLA on Sept. 14. For the second straight year, the field hockey team started out 0-6 in Ivy League play, and for the second straight year, the Bears defeated Yale in their final contest of the season. On Nov. 8, Leslie Springmeyer ’12 scored three goals to pace Brown to a 4-1 victory, giving the Bears a 5-12 overall record to finish out the season, a significant improvement from their 1-16 mark in 2007. “It’s great to finish my career with a win. It’s definitely a bittersweet feeling, though, having the four years go by so quickly, but it’s definitely finishing on a really good note,” said Victoria Sacco ’09. Following the departure of Head Coach Craig Robinson and All-Ivy guards Damon Huffman ’08 and Mark McAndrew ’08, the men’s basketball team was unable to repeat the success of its 2007-2008 season, when the Bears went 19-10, with an 11-3 record in the Ivy League. The team did end its season on a high note, though, finishing with back-to-back wins over Harvard and Dartmouth. On March 6, Garrett Leffelman ’11 drained a three-pointer as time expired to give Brown a 61-59 win over the Crimson, and the momentum carried into Saturday, when the Bears defeated the Big Green, 69-59, to send off tri-captains Chris Skrelja ’09 and Scott Friske ’09 on a high note. “They’re wonderful people, and when I’m recruiting somebody I want them to be able to go to those guys, and I want our guys coming in to be like those guys,” Head Coach Jesse Agel said. “They worked hard all the time, they cared, they were passionate, they were good teammates and they’re what Brown basketball aspires continued on page 14

Thursday, April 23, 2009 | Page 13

Burke ’09, Gormley ’11, Glick ’10 take home awards Spor ts Staf f Repor ts

A bevy of Bears received recognition on the awards scene this week. For the second year in a row, men’s lacrosse captain and goalie Jordan Burke ’09 has been named a finalist for the Tewaarton Award, given annually to the national player of the year. Burke is also a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award, which recognizes excellence in the classroom, community, character and competition. Burke leads the Ivy League with a .626 save percentage and 12.4 saves per game, while his 7.6 goals against average stands eleventh in the nation. Last season, he was honored as both the Ivy League and the New England Player of the Year and was named a Second Team

All-American. On the diamond, Mark Gormley ’11 was named the Ivy League co-Pitcher of the Week for two sparkling appearances in which he surrendered just one run over eight innings. He pitched 1 2/3 innings of one-hit relief in a 3-2 win over Marist on April 14, then led Brown to a 3-1 win over Harvard on Saturday, beginning a four-game sweep of the Crimson. In his start on Saturday, Gormley scattered six hits and struck out six batters in 6 1/3 innings. After a strong showing at the Nor thern Division Championship, Sarah Glick ’10 was named the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s Nor thern Division Player of the Week. She filled the stat sheet with nine goals, continued on page 15

Justin Coleman / Herald

Jordan Burke ’09 was named a finalist for the Tewaarton Award, given to the national player of the year, for the second time in a row.

Mixed week for women’s tennis, both golf teams Sports Staff Reports

As teams embark on their final challenges, the Bears continue to represent both at home and on the road. Men’s golf The men’s golf team finished seventh out of nine competing teams at the Caves Valley Spring Invitational, racking up a team score of 619. Cocaptain Conor Malloy ’09 led the team with a combined score of 150 over the two rounds, followed by Michael Amato ’11, who shot a 74 in the second round to finish at 155. Cocaptain Chris Hoffman ’09 finished at 162 and Joe Rued ’09 was close behind with a 168. John Giannuzzi

’10 was disqualified in the first round, but finished with a 75 on the second day of competition. This weekend, the team will head to the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, N.J., for the Ivy League Championship in a 54-hole tournament, played Friday through Sunday. Women’s golf The women’s golf team finished with a team score of 665 at the Roaree Invitational in Suffern, N.Y., over the weekend, coming in eighth out of ten teams. Julia Robinson ’11 finished with a 163 to lead the team, while Heather Arison ’12 and Carly Arison ’12 were close behind, each shooting a 167 over the two rounds

of play. Megan Tuohy ’12 and Susan Restrepo ’11 each came in at 170, and Sarah Guarascio ’12 finished at 176. This weekend, the women’s team will head down to the Atlantic City Country Club for the Ivy League Championship. Women’s tennis On Friday, the No. 58 women’s tennis team lost its final home match of the season, falling 4-3 to Harvard. The Crimson took all three doubles matches to secure the doubles point, and Bianca Aboubakare ’11 lost her match at No. 1 singles, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. At No. 2 singles, Cassandra Herzberg ’12 won the first set, 6-1, before falling 6-0 in the second set, but rallied

for a 6-0 win of her own in the third set to take the match. Sara Mansur ’09 won convincingly, 6-0, 6-2, at No. 4 singles, and Julie Flanzer ’12 pulled out a tough 6-3, 7-5 victory at No. 6 singles. But losses by Tanja Vucetic ’10 at No. 3 singles and Carissa Aboubakare ’12 at No. 5 singles gave Harvard the 4-3 win. On Sunday, the Bears rebounded with a 4-3 win at Dartmouth to close out the season. Brown won the doubles point, as Bianca Aboubakare and Herzberg got a 9-7 win at No. 1 doubles, and at No. 3 doubles, Emily Ellis ’10 and Kathrin Sorokko ’10 won, 8-6, for their Brown-record continued on page 15

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Thursday, April 23, 2009

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Mixed year for sports had ups and downs continued from page 13 to be.” The men’s hockey team struggled for the duration of the regular season, but finally hit its stride in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs. Heading into the best-of-three series as the No. 12 seed, taking on No. 5 Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., the Bears swept the Crimson with back-to-back shutouts, 1-0 and 2-0, behind incredible performances from goalie Mike Clemente ’12, who made 86 saves over the two games. Though the team’s season came to an end with a pair of losses to top-seeded Yale the following weekend, the Bears established themselves as a team to watch next season. “It’s fun. When you’re a little kid, you want to be in a 1-0 or 2-0 playoff game where your team needs you,” Clemente said. The gymnastics team had one of its most successful seasons in recent history, including a second-place finish at the Ivy Classic, and Victoria Zanelli ’11 capped off the season with an AllAmerican performance at USAG Nationals. Zanelli posted a score of 9.725 on the beam, putting her in 12th place and giving her All-American status. Notable quotables Here are our top three favorite quotes from this year:

3. “I never doubt the heart of these men. I love this team. I love these men. They play with a passion, they play with a sense of urgency and they love each other.” Men’s lacrosse Head Coach Lars Tiffany ’90, following an 11-10 double-overtime loss to Hofstra. 2. “It sounds bad to say this, but I was like, ‘Yeah, we should win the region because we’re that good,’” — Jennifer Grover ’10 of the equestrian team. 1. “We won it, we beat Harvard, so we won the whole thing, and we won it outright.” — Estes, following the football team’s season-ending 41-10 victory over Columbia. Outlook for the rest of the way While here at The Herald we’re wrapping up our semester of production, the year is not yet over for Brown’s sports teams, and there’s still plenty to watch for. With a 11-2 record, and a 3-1 mark in the Ivy League, the men’s lacrosse team’s Ivy League championship hopes are still alive, and with a current No. 13 national ranking in the USILA Coaches Poll, Brown could make for a serious contender for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Saturday at 1 p.m., at Stevenson Field, the Bears will take on No. 2 Cornell (9-2, 5-0 Ivy) with their Ivy League championship hopes on the line, and next Saturday,

they will close out their regular season at No. 5 Princeton (10-2, 3-1). With its Ivy League record at 12-4 heading into the final weekend of play, the baseball team is still in the running for a spot in the Ivy League championship series. Brown will take on Yale in a four-game series this weekend, but even if they sweep the series, the Bears will still need some help from Harvard, who will face Rolfe Division leader Dartmouth (20-11, 14-2) in a four-game series this weekend. The Bears will travel to New Haven, Conn. for a doubleheader on Saturday, before returning home for a doubleheader at Murray Stadium on Sunday, beginning at noon. Both crew teams have a lot left to race for. The men will shoot to defend their Ivy League title at Eastern Sprints on May 10 before heading back on June 4 to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships, where they finished fifth last year. The two-time defending national champion women will host Columbia and Cornell on Saturday at 8 a.m. on the Seekonk River. The women will look to retain their status as the most successful program in the history of women’s crew, having won six of the past 10 championships and finishing in the top three at every NCAA Championship, at this year’s NCAAs from May 29 to 31.

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Track and field earns Outstanding Bears get Ivy honors wins in tuneup for Heps continued from page 13

continued from page 13 20th doubles win this season. Once again, Herzberg, Mansur and Flanzer came through in singles play, securing the victory for the Bears. With the win over the Big Green, Brown finished up the season with a 19-4 overall record and a 5-2 mark in Ivy League play. Both win totals are the highest for the team since 1997, when Brown went 19-3 overall and 7-0 in the Ivy League. Men’s track and field The men’s track and field team saw strong performances at several meets over the weekend. Duriel Hardy ’10 competed at Princeton’s Larry Ellis Invitational and ran a 14:11.75 in the 5000-meter run to qualify for NCAA Regionals. At the Husky Invitational at UConn, Tyler Prince ’09 threw 51.44m for third place in the hammer throw, and Kevin Cervantes ’10 earned a fourth-place finish in the 400m with a time of 50.87. At the John McDonnell Invitational at the University of Arkansas, Craig Kinsley ’11 launched a personal-best throw of 69.66m to win the javelin throw, and Bryan Powlen ’09 threw 54.58m for second place in discus and 16.46m for fourth place in the shot put. Matt Jasmin ’09 ran a personal best of 14.28 in the 100m hurdles.

Jasmin will join Hardy, Kinsley and Powlen at the NCAA Regionals in late May. Women’s track and field For the women’s squad, Brynn Smith ’11 finished fourth in the hammer throw at Arkansas, with a schoolrecord toss of 54.79m and a NCAA Regional qualifying mark. Danielle Grunloh ’10 also performed well in the throwing events at Arkansas, finishing third in the shot put with a throw of 14.64m and throwing 44.00m for a fifth-place finish in the discus throw. Nicole Burns ’09 also competed at Arkansas, finishing fifth in the 400m in a time of 55.06. At UConn, Herald Assistant Sports Editor Katie Wood ’10 earned a fourth-place finish in the javelin with a personal best throw of 41.41m, and Cassandra Wong ’10 cleared 3.35m to finish second in the pole vault. On the track, Samantha Adelberg ’11 won the 1500m in 4:37.75 and Susan Scavone ’12 ran a 14.73 for third place in the 100m hurdles. Michaeline Nelson ’11 competed at Princeton, qualifying for NCAA Regionals with a time of 10:49 in the 3000m steeplechase. This Sunday, the team will compete at the Brown Invitational in a final tune-up before the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships the following weekend.

six steals and nine assists in three games. Glick notched a pair of hat tricks on Saturday in a 16-4 win over Connecticut College and an 8-7 double-overtime win over Har vard, scoring the tying goal with 26 seconds left in regulation. Glick also scored three goals in Sunday’s 11-7 loss to Hartwick, but the Bears will still advance to the Eastern Championship, which begins on Friday. In addition, four Bears were named to the Ivy League honor roll for their respective sports. Robert Papenhause ’09 scored at least one run in all seven of the baseball team’s games last week. In an 8-5 win over Har vard in the second game on Saturday, Papenhause fell a single short of the cycle and drove in three runs. Kate Strobel ’12 powered the softball team to a 1-3 record against Har vard over the weekend, going 5-for-13 with two doubles, two home runs, three runs scored and five RBI. She leads the Bears with a .344 batting average, 33 hits, 20 runs, five home runs, a .573 slugging percentage and a .933 OPS on the season. Attackman Thomas Muldoon ’10 tallied six goals and three assists to lead the men’s lacrosse team to two wins over the past

week. He tallied two goals and three assists in an 8-6 victory over Har vard on April 15, and netted four goals in a 10-6 win over Providence College on Saturday. For the women’s lacrosse

team, midfielder Alexa Caldwell ’11 shone in a pair of losses to Quinnipiac and Penn. She tallied seven ground balls, two draw controls, forced seven turnovers and netted a goal against Penn.

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World & Nation The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, April 23, 2009 | Page 16

Third woman says Paraguayan president fathered child with her By Joshua Partlow Washington Post

The clamor over Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo’s behavior is getting louder, one crying baby at a time. For the third time in less than a month, a woman came for ward Wednesday saying that Lugo, a former Roman Catholic bishop, is the father of her child. A single secret out-of-wedlock child by any president would make headlines. But in this heavily Roman Catholic countr y, the revelations about a man who had sworn chastity vows as a priest has stirred deeper concerns that some say could have serious repercussions for his government. The scandal broke this month when lawyers for Viviana Carrillo, 26, said they were bringing a paternity suit against Lugo, claiming that he had fathered her child, Guillermo Armindo Car rillo Canete, who will turn two next month. Carrillo said she was 16 when their relationship began. Lugo shocked the countr y by publicly admitting that he was the boy’s father and saying that he would “assume all responsibilities.”

“I recognize that I fathered the child,” he said at a news conference in the capital, Asuncion. Lugo, 57 and single, became a bishop in 1994 but resigned a decade later from the diocese in San Pedro, a province in central Paraguay. In December 2006, he said he was renouncing his bishop status to run for president, but Pope Benedict XVI did not accept his resignation until last July — before he took office as president. Lugo’s admission of paternity has prompted widespread discussions not only about his loyalty to his vows to the Catholic Church but also about his credibility on other matters. During the campaign, he did not admit to having children. “We are in the phase of initial incredulity about these announcements,” said Jose Luis Simon, a political analyst, journalist and professor who has long opposed Lugo. “We have begun to see a process of deterioration of the popular support of this president ... all this has set off ver y serious questions that puts Paraguayan democracy at risk.” In a column in La Nacion newspaper, Claudio Paolillo, an

editor, wrote that “from now on, it’s legitimate that Paraguayans ask if when the president speaks whether he is telling the truth.” “If he was capable of hiding, concocting facts and lying about nothing less than his condition as a father, why would he not `sin’ again ... about other things related to his term. How many more children does the president have that he has not yet admitted?” Others seemed more concerned about the church’s rules on priestly celibacy. “It’s evident that the demands of the church restricting the sexual life of priests to permit them to do their work is anti-natural,” another columnist, Enrique Vargas Pena, wrote in La Nacion. On Monday, the second woman to speak out, Benigna Leguizamon, said she began working at the San Pedro diocese in 2000 when she was 17, and that her son with Lugo was born in September 2002. “At the time, the monsignor gave me his suppor t but took advantage of my great need and induced me to have relations,” she was quoted as saying in local media. “In a year, I got pregnant by him. A midwife delivered my baby in the same house where I was living, whose rent he paid.” Lugo did not confirm or deny her claim but read a statement saying he would comply with all legal procedures. Leguizamon filed a suit demanding Lugo take a DNA test to determine whether he was the father. The woman who came forward Wednesday, Damiana Moran, a 39-year-old divorcee, said in interviews with the Paraguayan media that she had only compliments for Lugo, whom she met in 2006, after he left the diocese. Moran, a social activist and director of a childcare center, called him “phenomenal” and said their relationship “was driven by a great love.” She said her son, Juan Pablo, is 16 months old but that she, unlike the other women, does not plan to file suit against Lugo. Lugo has not yet responded to the most recent claim. One bishop, Rogelio Livieres, told Paraguayan radio Tuesday that the Catholic Church was aware of Lugo’s relationships in 2004 but let him resign. “The church hierarchy knew for years of this misconduct by Lugo but kept silent. Now there’s nothing they can do,” Livieres said.

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ANC looks set to retain large majority By Robyn Dixon Los Angeles Times

DIEPSLOOT, South Africa — South Africans queued before dawn in chilly temperatures Wednesday for an election expected to slightly narrow the African National Congress’ large parliamentary majority yet still result in the installation of controversial party leader Jacob Zuma as president. A large voter turnout was reported, and in some areas election officials ran short of ballot papers and had to call for more. Voting results were expected Thursday. Corruption charges against Zuma were dropped two weeks ago. Despite his extraordinary political comeback, the ANC faces its toughest challenge since it took control in 1994 in the nation’s first democratic vote. Many South Africans are disillusioned by continuing high unemployment, crime and a lack of decent housing. For the first time, the ANC faced a sizable black opposition party in this election: the Congress of the People, or COPE, which was formed by former ANC members. The other major opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, or DA, is led by a white woman, Helen Zille. In South Africa, the parliament elects the president, so Zuma is expected to be voted into office early next month. For some voters, the early euphoria of democracy has faded. “Actually, I don’t know why I’m voting,” said Victoria Jonathon, 27, who waited hours to cast her ballot. “I’m still staying in a shack. That makes me very angry.” She voted for the ANC but said it would be the last time unless there was real change before the next national election.”I don’t see change in five years, no change, I won’t vote ANC again. I’ll vote for someone else.” Gigi Mafifi, 33, an insurance salesman, said he usually voted ANC but decided this time to cast his ballot in favor of a small opposition party. “The quicker the small parties grow, the better it is for South Africa,” he said. “I haven’t got anything against the ANC and COPE, but I think they need to be shaken up. We need to shock them a bit. “Once the ANC doesn’t have the majority in the parliament, they’ll start to listen.” In contrast, Solomon Mapheto, 59, a pensioner, said he would always vote ANC. “I voted ANC because they stopped apartheid. I don’t see any other party for me but the ANC.” The ANC won 69.9 percent of the vote in the 2004 elections. Opinion polls indicated that it was likely to receive two-thirds of the vote this time — slightly less, but still above the critical level required for it to change the constitution at will. The DA’s election campaign slogan, “Stop Zuma,” urged voters to deprive the ANC of a twothirds majority. ANC dominance remained clear

among voters in deprived townships such as Diepsloot. . But some were shunning the party for the first time, such as Siyanda Sdlulene, 28, who said, “They don’t do all the promises they said they will do. I voted for COPE. I hope that maybe things will change.” Sdlulene, who fixes tires and earns about $260 a month, said, “People are walking around with guns, shooting people for no reason. I’d like to have a better job, and to have security. And some more building of houses and infrastructure.” Most of the poor and jobless reflexively vote ANC “because they believe in Nelson Mandela,” he said, referring to South Africa’s first democratically elected president. “They see him as their hero, and I think that’s why they vote ANC.” Edigan Malale, 29, said that when he wore his DA T-shirt around the township, he was abused and jeered by residents who derided DA as a white party. “It’s mostly black people around Helen Zille as the leader,” he said. “So that brings in hope.” Away from the dusty streets and shacks of Diepsloot, in the distant upscale neighborhood of Killarney, Mandela’s supporters waited hours for a glimpse of him as he arrived to vote amid cheers and ululating. Hundreds of people with cameras crowded onto a terrace to photograph the man who has come to personify South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. Frail and stooped, he was so thickly flanked by party officials that a group of elderly supporters couldn’t see the face they’d waited for. After voting, he left the polling station, beaming at the cameras. Another iconic elder statesman who fought apartheid and served as chairman of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Nobel laureate and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, voted in Cape Town. He recently said he was not looking forward to having Zuma as president. Tutu said Wednesday that people had tended to vote ANC automatically in the past but that that was changing. “I feel good, but it isn’t like the previous elections. That is true of so many people who are having to ask questions. It’s good for democracy,” he said. Zuma was charged with corruption in 2005 in connection with a multibillion-dollar arms deal. In 2006, he was acquitted of rape charges. Prosecutors recently dropped the 2005 corruption charges, citing outside interference in the timing of charges. Marlyn Abrams, a white psychologist voting in Killarney, was concerned about the charges being dropped. “I think he (Zuma) is a bit of a disaster. He’s a buffoon, unintelligent, populist. He has avoided facing it (the corruption trial). He’s avoided clearing himself, although he said he wanted to.”

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Thursday, April 23, 2009

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Supreme Court visits question of reverse discrimination By Robert Barnes Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday searched for the line where possible discrimination against one race turns into actual discrimination against another. Conser vative justices clearly believed they have found it in New Haven, Conn. That is where the city threw out the results of the fire department’s promotional test because no blacks and only two Hispanics would have been eligible for advancement. City of ficials are being sued by the white firefighters who scored well on the test and had their promotions scuttled. But the of ficials claim that because federal law treats as suspect tests that have such disparate impacts, they would have been sued by minorities if they had approved the promotions. Wednesday’s intense, serious and expanded argument is the first of two the court has taken to examine the role race should still play in government policies; the constitutionality of a provision at the heart of the Voting Rights Act will be examined next week. They come as the cour t has

become more skeptical of such policies, and in the wake of the election of the nation’s first black president, who has urged a new conversation about the effects of past discrimination and the future of race relations. But Wednesday’s argument quickly revealed a familiar split on the court. Liberals on the court sprang to the city’s defense, saying it should have the flexibility to discard the results of a test that seemed to produce discriminatory results. Justice David Souter said New Haven found itself in a “damned-ifyou-do, damned-if-you-don’t situation.” Using the test would seem to cross Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and its warning about tests with disparate impacts. Throwing out the test has led to the lawsuit from white firefighters, who claim their constitutional rights to equal protection have been violated. “Why isn’t the most reasonable reading of this set of facts a reading which is consistent with giving the city an opportunity, assuming good faith, to start again?” Souter asked. But Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia made clear they believed New Haven officials were only concerned that

the test had not produced the outcomes they had hoped for. They sharply questioned New Haven’s lawyer, and the lawyer representing the federal government, which largely supported giving the city the right to discard the test. Roberts asked Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler if the results had been reversed — that black applicants had scored well and no whites were eligible for advancement — “can you assure me that the government’s position would be the same?” When Kneedler said yes, Roberts literally raised his eyebrows. Scalia went further, telling Kneedler: “I don’t think you’d say that.” With the court’s most consistent liberals and conser vatives in balance, the outcome likely depends on Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often skeptical of race-based government policies and who was tougher in his questioning of the governments’ lawyers. “Shouldn’t there be some standard that there has to be a significant, a strong showing after the test has been taken that it’s deficient? Before it can be set aside?” Kennedy asked Kneedler. Gregor y Coleman, an Austin, Texas, lawyer who opposes race-

based policies and is representing both the firefighters and the voting-rights act challengers, said his clients were being punished simply because of their race. “Racial classifications are inherently pernicious and, if not checked, lead as they did in New Haven to regrettable and socially destructive racial politics,” he told the court. He said New Haven officials scuttled the promotions not because they found fault with the test, which they had commissioned from a private company, but because the results caused a political uproar. Souter said Coleman wanted to turn “any race-conscious decision into a discrimination decision, and that equation we certainly haven’t made and we’re never going to make.” Kennedy asked whether a city could take race into consideration when choosing between two tests, one of which showed a disparate impact and another that did not. Coleman eventually said yes. Christopher Meade, who represented New Haven, said both public and private employers should have “some limited degree of flexibility” when they learn of a practice that has a “severe adverse impact such that it creates an inference of dis-

crimination.” But Roberts said the test the city wants is only that it acts in good faith because it fears a lawsuit. “Isn’t that kind of a blank check to discriminate, if all they need is a reasonable basis to think that further investigation might be useful?” Roberts asked, saying there would be nothing to stop the city from numerous “do-overs” until it got the results it was seeking. The Obama administration’s position is that New Haven’s actions are justified if they were undertaken in good faith, and not as a “pretext” for simply tr ying to promote minorities at the expense of whites. It advised to send the case back to lower courts for a decision on that question. The district cour t originally granted the city summary judgment and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed. But it seemed unlikely from Wednesday’s questioning that a majority of the justices would agree with those decisions. If the court remands, it would likely be with new standards for the lower courts to apply. The case, Ricci v. DeStefano, is likely to be one of the last the court decides before it adjourns at the end of June.

Editorial & Letters The Brown Daily Herald

Page 18 | Thursday, April 23, 2009

e d i to r i a l

Expand orientation, move TWTP As members of the Class of 2013 move on from ADOCH, they begin the long wait until their next major event at Brown: Orientation. We’ve all been through it, but Brunonians graduating in 2009 and 2010 experienced their first days somewhat differently — mostly because there were more of them. The University should return to a six-day orientation, a move recommended in no small part by problems with the current Third World Transition Program. TWTP is a valuable forum for students of color to discuss issues of race, class and gender and we hope that it remains a fixture of Orientation. However, the program’s current timing (before the rest of Orientation) does significant damage to its stated aims. As we have previously noted, social life at Brown is dangerously divided along racial lines, a problem to which the current TWTP schedule contributes. TWTP participants have noted that, like all new first-years, they tend to make friends and personal connections with the people they meet in their first few weeks. Given the demographic makeup of TWTP, social groups largely or entirely composed of students of color form before those students even have a chance to meet their peers who arrive on “White Tuesday,” a term used by some TWTP participants in reference to the first day of Orientation. This is not a healthy way to promote interracial dialogue and understanding. That is not to say that there shouldn’t be any programming exclusive to students of color. We believe all aspects of TWTP should be incorporated into Orientation. Unfortunately, this transition cannot happen as long as the University insists on limiting Orientation to three days. The University’s most compelling justification for the current length of Orientation is that the old system resulted in more alcohol abuse and sexual misconduct among first-years. If evidence existed to support such a claim, we might agree. In fact, recent crime records suggest the opposite: In 2007, the first year in which the shortened Orientation was used, there were three times as many forcible sex offenses on campus as in 2006. A longer Orientation would also allow for a more steady and manageable introduction to the University, giving students more time to get to know Brown’s curriculum and organizations as well as their fellow first-years. There’s a reason that 200 polled students unanimously preferred the old Orientation to the new one. We recognize that the schedule for next year is already in place. However, as the University starts putting the 2009 schedule together, we hope they will consider how much easier (and more welcoming) it could be in 2010. Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d Editor-in-Chief Steve DeLucia

Managing Editors Michael Bechek Chaz Firestone editorial

Arts & Culture Editor Ben Hyman Hannah Levintova Arts & Culture Editor Features Editor Sophia Li Features Editor Emmy Liss Higher Ed Editor Gaurie Tilak Higher Ed Editor Matthew Varley Metro Editor George Miller Metro Editor Joanna Wohlmuth News Editor Chaz Kelsh News Editor Jenna Stark Sports Editor Benjy Asher Sports Editor Andrew Braca Asst. Sports Editor Alex Mazerov Asst. Sports Editor Katie Wood Graphics & Photos Graphics Editor Chris Jesu Lee Graphics Editor Stephen Lichenstein Eunice Hong Photo Editor Kim Perley Photo Editor Justin Coleman Sports Photo Editor production Kathryn Delaney Copy Desk Chief Seth Motel Copy Desk Chief Marlee Bruning Design Editor Jessica Calihan Design Editor Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Neal Poole Web Editor

Associate Editors Nandini Jayakrishna Franklin Kanin Michael Skocpol

Senior Editors Rachel Arndt Catherine Cullen Scott Lowenstein

Business General Managers Office Manager Shawn Reilly Alexander Hughes Jonathan Spector Directors Ellen DaSilva Sales Director Claire Kiely Sales Director Phil Maynard Sales Director Katie Koh Finance Director Jilyn Chao Asst. Finance Director Managers Local Sales Kelly Wess National Sales Kathy Bui University Sales Alex Carrere Recruiter Sales Christiana Stephenson Credit and Collections Matt Burrows Opinions Opinions Editor Sarah Rosenthal Editorial Page Board James Shapiro Editorial Page Editor Nick Bakshi Board member Zack Beauchamp Board member Sara Molinaro Board member William Martin Board member Post- magazine Arthur Matuszewski Editor-in-Chief Kelly McKowen Editor-in-Chief

Jessica Kirschner, Anna Migliaccio Designers Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Jordan Mainzer Copy Editors Ben Hyman, Chaz Kelsh, George Miller, Ben Schreckinger, Melissa Shube Night Editors Senior Staff Writers Mitra Anoushiravani, Ellen Cushing, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Nicole Friedman, Britta Greene, Sarah Husk, Brian Mastroianni, Hannah Moser, Ben Schreckinger, Caroline Sedano, Melissa Shube, Anne Simons, Sara Sunshine Staff Writers Zunaira Choudhary, Chris Duffy, Nicole Dungca, Juliana Friend, Cameron Lee, Kelly Mallahan, Christian Martell, Heeyoung Min, Seth Motel, Jyotsna Mullur, Lauren Pischel, Leslie Primack, Anne Speyer, Alexandra Ulmer, Kyla Wilkes Sports Staff Writers Nicole Stock Senior Business Associates Max Barrows, Jackie Goldman, Margaret Watson, Ben Xiong Business Associates Diahndra Burman, Stassia Chyzhykova, Caroline Dean, Marco deLeon, Katherine Galvin, Bonnie Kim, Maura Lynch, Cathy Li, Allen McGonagill, Liana Nisimova, Thanases Plestis, Agathe Roncey, Corey Schwartz, William Schweitzer, Kenneth So, Evan Sumortin, Haydar Taygun, Anshu Vaish, Webber Xu, Lyndse Yess Design Staff Katerina Dalavurak, Gili Kliger, Jessica Kirschner, Joanna Lee, Maxwell Rosero, John Walsh, Kate Wilson, Qian Yin Photo Staff Qidong Chen, Janine Cheng, Alex DePaoli, Frederic Lu, Quinn Savit, Min Wu Copy Editors Sara Chimene-Weiss, Sydney Ember, Lauren Fedor, Miranda Forman, Casey Gaham, Anna Jouravleva, Geoffrey Kyi, Frederic Lu, Jordan Mainzer, Kelly Mallahan, Madeleine Rosenberg Web Developers Jihan Chao

ALEX YULY

l e t t e r to t h e e d i to r s

Don’t use American money to fund Israeli repression To the Editor: The recent letter from Brown Students for Israel and Hillel (“No divestment at Hampshire, no divestment at Brown,” April 15) grossly misrepresents the Hampshire divestment, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and the nature of Zionism. First, Hampshire President Hexter released the letter cited only after Zionist enforcer Alan Dershowitz threatened to call for a boycott campaign against Hampshire and to withhold a significant personal donation if the university did not renounce the BDS movement. That the administration partly acquiesced to overt intimidation cannot erase the fact that it was Hampshire Students for Justice in Palestine who campaigned for two years and presented their case to the Board, securing the decision to divest from the fund in question. Hexter may retrospectively whitewash, but the action and its context speak for themselves. Second, the canard that Israel is uniquely singled out is absurd. Many regimes perpetrate human rights violations, and are justly censured. How many, however, carry out those violations with weapons and funding provided by the U.S. government? We don’t pay for North Korean torture with our taxes, nor does the Iranian army use American-supplied white phosphorus or cluster bombs to target civilians. Americans finance Israel’s occupation and apartheid regime with funds that should go to healthcare for our neighbors, schools for our children. Finally, to characterize Zionism as simply “the belief in the right of national self-determination for the Jewish people” is profoundly ahistorical and disingenuous. From its inception, Zionism has pursued ethnically exclusive Jewish nationalism, openly envisaging the ethnic cleansing of non-Jews. Theodor Herzl described in 1895 plans to “spirit the penniless population across the border … denying it any employment in our own country,” whereupon “We shall then sell only to Jews, and all real estate will be traded only among Jews.” David Ben-Gurion said, “We must expel Arabs and take their place,” implementing policies that saw mass expulsion of conquered Arab populations throughout the region. Since 1948 Israel has consistently dispossessed the Arab population into ever-

shrinking enclaves of land, with ever-dwindling human rights, leading to the shattered open-air prison that is Gaza today and the checkpoint-riddled Bantustan landscape of the West Bank. The Israeli government just elected not only refuses to support even a notional Palestinian state, but features as Foreign Minister the openly neo-fascist Avigdor Lieberman, who has variously advocated bombing the Aswan Dam, drowning thousands of Palestinian prisoners in the Dead Sea (even offering to provide buses for the trip — who exactly is driving whom into the sea?) and killing Knesset members who had contact with Hamas after it was elected. He openly advocates transfer of Israel’s 1.2 million Palestinian citizens. No person of conscience can support any people’s project of self-determination if that project fundamentally requires the brutal abrogation of that right for another people. As anti-Zionists, we oppose not the Jewish right to self-determination, but the Israeli occupation. As BDS supporters, we call on Americans to resist the use of our name, our clout and our tax, tuition and investment dollars in the service of Israel’s brutal campaign of repression, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Jesse Soodalter ’94, MD’09 William Keach, Professor of English Francesca Contreras ’11 Elaine Freedgood, Visiting Professor of English Paige Sarlin GS Sean Feiner ’11 Lindsay Goss GS Andrea Dillon ’11 Caitlin Chazen GS Alex Ortiz ’09 Margaree Little ’09 Will Lambek ’09.5 Shaun Joseph ’03 Rodrigo Lehtinen ’09 Eric Larson GS Senia Barragan ’08 Dara Bayer ’08 Matthew Hamilton ’05 April 19, 2009

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 editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page 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 clarity 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.

Opinions The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, April 23, 2009 | Page 19

Always believe in the power of your dreams! BEN BERNSTIEN Opinions Columnist

I’ve always been a dreamer. When I was in pre-school, my recurring dreams centered on being kidnapped. I would often be at a restaurant with my parents, sitting in a wrap-around booth, one of those leather-bound semi-circles, and some faceless men would come and try to pull me away by the arm while my parents pulled me by the other. I would wake up and immediately look around frantically for my parents who would, of course, be fast asleep in their bed, hardly an obstacle to me as I burst violently into their room just to make sure they were still there. Now my dreams are all about graduation. Or more specifically, they are allegorical, psychedelic references to what came before graduation — my time at Brown. In one, I take a breathless trip to the top of an immensely tall building, a real skyscraper, and ask one of my fellow travelers, a math major (so you know he’s smart) if I am ready for the next step. He assures me, despite my doubts, that I am. When I open a door to head back down to earth, I am met by nothingness. I’m sure I’ve lost some of you, but if you stay with me, there’ll be a payoff. In another dream, I am hanging out at the

OMAC when a voice in my head tells me to come down to the basketball courts. There, I meet a woman, dressed in business attire, who identifies herself as the leader of a special organization and tells me she has tapped my phone, but has done so for my own benefit. Behind her is the rest of her organization — superheroes and geniuses in wheelchairs. I try to speak but only nonsense comes out, to which the group of people laughs understandingly.

the real world: How does Brown, or rather, the experience of going to school at Brown prepare or change 20-year-old kids in a meaningful way? To paraphrase from my dream — it just does. That is to say, Brown’s education gives students the ability to reassure themselves, to have a little faith. At Brown, where the advising generally stinks and there are no curriculum requirements to make academic choices any easier,

The best gift Brown ever gave you was to throw you like a naked babe into the cold world of college with no more than your own wits as a life preserver.

The woman tells me that I’ve been accepted into the group and I’m shocked. “Why me,” I ask, “How am I possibly qualified?” “You just are,” she answers. And I understand. Then I wake up, only this time, instead of making sure my parents are still there, I want to make sure that my university is still around. I know this feels like a non-sensical Indy article right now, so I’ll try to bring it back to

students are simply forced to develop some self-confidence. I majored in history and in some respects, it was disappointing. I can name some dates, battles and kings, but I’ll forget them within a few years. I know what different scholars say about the rise of the American working class, but I’ll forget them soon too. What I will retain, what I feel confident I will take with me after spending four years here, is my confidence. Recently, a professor told

me that college is auto-didactic, which means that you have to teach yourself. I was lucky to work for The Herald where I could teach myself on a regular basis. As a columnist who wrote primarily about Brownrelated issues, I talked with Ratty workers, library staffers, Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76, all sorts of deans and provosts and a wider range of students than I knew existed. I learned how to talk to people, how organizations work, how change happens and how it doesn’t. What these students specifically had, besides a melting pot’s worth of brilliant ideas, clever schemes and nervous tics, was self-reliance — and a willingness to teach themselves — that would make Ralph Waldo proud. Although frankly I’m hardly qualified to advise even myself, if I could give one piece of advice to students still at Brown, and feel free to cringe here, it would be to try to teach yourself at every opportunity. The best gift Brown ever gave you was to throw you like a naked babe into the cold world of college with no more than your own wits as a life preserver. The most important thing about the dreams I brought up earlier was that I was the person dreaming them. Learn to believe in your abilities and you’ve gotten all that you ever could from Brown.

Ben Bernstein ’09, a former Herald opinions editor, is from St. Louis, Missouri.

As the world interns KEVIN ROOSE Opinions Columnist If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that Brown students love unpaid internships. We love unpaid internships the way Romeo loves Juliet, the way Joanie loves Chachi, the way Angelina Jolie loves adopting third-world babies. Every June, thousands of us leave College Hill and spread across the nation like overeager kudzu, checking into the workplaces where we’ll spend the summer fiddling with Excel spreadsheets and changing #2 coffee filters in exchange for “class credit” and a subway pass. I’ll admit that although I’ve had summer jobs, I’ve never had a full-time unpaid internship. And frankly, I’m a little depressed about it. According to a 2006 survey by Vault, a career counseling firm of some sort, about 80 percent of college students have done an internship by the time they graduate. What if I’m missing something by spending my summers making actual money? What if sitting in an air-conditioned office and doing an imaginary job for free is an integral part of the Brown experience, like eating at Loui’s or using the word “dichotomy?” This week, I decided to fall in line behind the rest of collegiate America. I decided to find the perfect unpaid internship. I began my search on the Internet. An e-book titled “The Last Guide to Finding a Great Internship You’ll Ever Need” offered to help me “define what will make an internship great for you and then how to land it.” But there was a catch:

at $17, the cost of the advice would eat into, oh, 90 percent of my potential earnings. A Craigslist search for freelance entertainment jobs turned up a casting call from a national TV show offering to give on-camera makeovers to people whose eyebrows are “so furry and full that plucking doesn’t even make a dent” (I’ll pass, thanks), but no appealing internship leads. I thought about asking Brown’s Career Development Center for help, but I refuse on principle to engage with anyone who sends me 27 e-mails a day. So I struck out on my own. Remembering that one of my friends had spent last summer

think I was up to the task. I thought back to my first-ever job interview, at a Chinese restaurant in Manhattan whose owner took one look at my resume and concluded that I had “no real-world skills.” Which is true. I don’t know what it takes to get hired at PricewaterhouseCoopers, but I’m pretty sure being able to quote from all 87 episodes of “Saved By The Bell” won’t help. Maybe, I thought, I should set my sights a little lower, find something I could really excel at. A friend forwarded me a New York Times article about Pizza Hut’s much-publicized listing for a “Twintern” — an intern whose job

What if sitting in an air-conditioned office and doing an imaginary job for free is an integral part of the Brown experience, like eating at Loui’s or using the word ‘dichotomy’? interning for Joan Rivers after approaching her on the street and asking for a job, I began thinking of celebrities who might need a summer grunt. I sent a Twitter message to Shaq, offering to work for him for free. He didn’t respond, which, in retrospect, is probably a good thing. I’m not sure I want to spend my summer watching basketball practices and describing things as Shaqalicious. Next, I found a list of the 50 Best Internships, as ranked by Business Week magazine. They’re serious gigs at investment banks and government offices — jobs requiring diligent work and boatloads of ambition — and I didn’t

would consist of Twittering breaking pizza news from a cubicle in Dallas. That could work. Even more promising was a listing for a position at Electronic Arts, the video game manufacturer behind the Madden series. I called up EA spokesman Brian Schneider to ask if the listing meant what I thought it meant: that there are interns whose duties involve playing Wii all summer. “We hire about 100 interns every summer,” Schneider said. “But most of them are involved in game development.” Schneider — whose e-mail signature reads “I play games at work. For research

and development, of course.” — then told me that EA has a year-round squad of full and part-time game testers, some of them college students from local universities. When I told him this sounded like the Platonic ideal of a job, he responded: “People say that. But our testers sometimes have to play the same level over and over again, to find all the bugs and glitches. Then it’s maybe not so fun.” I wasn’t convinced. I told Schneider I could beat Madden’s career mode on All-Pro difficulty when I was 16, and asked him if this alone would qualify me for an internship. He laughed. “We have some hardcore players over here. I’m not sure where you’d rank. Being a tester isn’t just about gaming, though. Our testers get intimately familiar with the intricacies of the games. They see them as they’re developed, they poke and prod and find out what’s fun and what’s not fun.” To be a tester, you apparently have to talk about video games in the terms most people reserve for lovemaking. He continued: “It’s not an easy job. Definitely not for slackers.” I thought about challenging Schneider’s implied accusation, if only because nothing is more shameful than being dissed by a guy who uses “game” as a verb. But then I had a jarring realization: It’s the last week in April, and I still don’t have summer plans. So I thanked him and got off the phone, newly aware of my place in the world. When it comes to internships, I guess slacker is as slacker does.

Kevin Roose ’09.5 is an English concentrator from Oberlin, Ohio. He can be reached at kevin_roose@brown.edu.

Today The Brown Daily Herald

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Providence is the hardest to get by in

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The Herald looks back on the year in sports

Thursday, April 23, 2009

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d i a m o n d s a n d c oa l Coal to financial “challenges,” hiring “pauses” and other euphemisms we’ve heard this semester. Anyone who’s looked for a job this summer knows this economy is totally had-intercouse-with. A diamond to the pioneering students who heroically abolished Columbus Day this semester. After being commissioned to embark on your ambitious project, you boldly navigated the frothy waters of administrative committees, languishing at the mercy of procedural obstacles for months, before triumphantly discovering the savage University calendar of myth, to which you brought modern enlightenment. Truly, you deserve a holiday of your own.

13 c a l e n da r Today, April 23

FRIDAY, April 24

4:00 P.M. — Licht ’38 Lecture: “An Afternoon with Donna Brazile,” Salomon 101

12:00 P.M.— “Out for Lunch With Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83,” Leung Gallery

7:00 P.M. — Performance by The Tranny Roadshow, List 120

6:30 P.M. — Badmaash Dance Company’s annual show, Salomon 101

menu Sharpe Refectory

Verney-Woolley Dining Hall

Lunch —Hot Turkey Sandwich with Sauce, Falafel in Pita, Mashed Red Potatoes with Garlic, Hawaiian Pizza

Lunch —Asian Sesame Chicken Salad, Crispy Thai Tofu, Grilled Rotisserie Chicken

Dinner —Braised Beef Tips, Pumpkin Raviolis with Cream Sauce, Rice Pilaf with Zucchini, Sunny Sprouts

Dinner — Roast Turkey with Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Stuffing, Jamaican Pork and Apricot Saute

Coal to SDS and the Corporation, whose respective antics have surely gone on far too long. How about a compromise — SDS members get to sit on the Corporation, and Corporation members get to, every now and then, cut the brakes on that boom-box/shopping cart during a downhill protest. A diamond to new UCS President Clay Wertheimer ’10. With Petteruti under construction all year, we hope you won’t mind having the council meetings in the suite you chummy kids are all living in together. Coal to the fact that the owner of Shark Sushi Bar and Grill has actually followed through on his promise that Shark would indeed have a shark, saying last week that the five-foot predator was currently “acclimating in the tank.” This sounds like the most dangerous abuse of literalism in branding since Johnny Rocket’s brought in that surplus Soviet VA-111 Shkval. Coal to journalist and Commencement speaker Fareed Zakaria. You’ll need to stretch your speech out to at least 30 minutes, so try to rack your brain for some words other than “I,” “me” and “my new book.” A diamond to Aretha Franklin, who will receive an honorary degree from the University at Commencement next month. Maybe you can teach whoever was pooping in the Harkness washing machine earlier this semester a little bit about R-E-S-P-E-C-T. A sentimental diamond to the Blue Room, which will soon no longer exist as we know it. There’s nowhere in the world we’d rather not be able to spend meal credits.

crossword comics Cabernet Voltaire | Abe Pressman

Enigma Twist | Dustin Foley

The One About Zombies | Kevin Grubb