Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxliv, no. 96 | Friday, October 30, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Prostitution ban passes, but college taxes falter
E y es I n D isguise
tion bill in May and June respectively, but were unable to reach a compromise before the General The Rhode Island Senate Thursday Assembly adjourned this summer. night passed a compromise version The House version of the bill carof a bill banning indoor prostitu- ried harsher sentences for prostition, which now awaits Gov. Donald tutes than did the Senate version, Carcieri’s ’65 signature. which did not mandate criminal The legislature also passed sev- penalties until a third offense. eral other bills, including The compromise verone that would strip the sion of the bill, which Metro had passed the House governor’s authority to fill vacant United States Senate seats Wednesday, makes prostitution — by appointment. whether indoors or outdoors — a Notably absent was any action misdemeanor carrying a minimum on two bills to tax private colleges fine of $250 and up to six months and universities — the bills, which in prison for a first offense. Clients would have extracted millions from can receive up to a year in prison the University and other Ocean for a first offense. State nonprofits, were not on the Penalties are much stiffer for agenda, meaning that their propo- the operators of brothels, who will nents will need to start at square receive a minimum sentence of one one when the legislature recon- year for a first offense. venes in January. Outside of part of Nevada, the The House and Senate passed continued on page 2 their own versions of the prostituBy Ben Schreckinger Senior Staf f Writer
Alum dishes on his X-rated career By Rachel Arndt Senior Editor
What is porn? For Sam Benjamin Stern ’99, it was the possibility of pursuing art while making money. It was also a way out of the pot-smoking grind of his first post-college job as an organic farmer in California.
FEATURE
Nick Sinnott-Armstrong / Herald
The Ladd Observatory is decked out for Halloween this week, glowing mummies and all. See News, page 2
New URI president makes overtures to Brown By Alex Bell Staf f Writer
Just four months into his presidency at the University of Rhode Island, David Dooley has big plans for his school — plans he hopes will include Brown. Dooley’s vision includes increasing collaboration on research opportunities — sharing research sites and equipment, for instance — and academic coop-
eration, including possibilities for cross-registration between the two schools. “When I came in, it looked to me like Brown and the University of Rhode Island could do a lot more together,” Dooley said. But “nothing specific is being explored at this time,” President Ruth Simmons wrote in an e-mail to The Herald, adding that administrators have not had talks on campus about cross-registration
or other initiatives. Dooley, who said he left his position as provost of Montana State University with a mission to bolster URI’s reputation for research, wasted no time in approaching Brown administrators with his proposals. “We had a ver y, ver y productive meeting that involved me, President Simmons and members of our senior leadership teams, where we discussed what we saw
as opportunities for us to work together, and what the potential might be,” Dooley said. According to Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98, the meeting at Simmons’ house, which took place a few weeks ago, was a dinner in honor of Dooley’s arrival to URI and not specifically a session to strategize about collaboration. continued on page 3
A spirited tour of the East Side’s major haunts By Talia Kagan Staf f Writer
During the Revolutionar y War, University Hall was temporarily converted to an army hospital. While the building’s administrative offices bear little evidence of this gruesome past in which soldiers received painful surgeries such as leg amputations, on the right night a passerby might see a contorted soldier’s face staring out a second-floor window — according to the Providence Ghost Tour, one of the walking tours that explore the city’s various “haunted” locations. In fact, Rhode Island’s capital
is filled with ghosts in unexpected nooks and crannies, according to the guides who use their supernatural knowledge of Providence’s paranormal to lead visitors and locals alike through the city’s haunted side. Drawing on archival research and local history, both the Providence Ghost Tour and the Providence Ghost Walk divulge College Hill’s spooky secrets to give customers a taste of Providence’s otherworldly thrills.
SPOTLIGHT
inside
Claire Huang / Herald
News.....1-5 Sports.....6-7 Ar ts.........8 Editorial..10 Opinion...11 Today........12
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Tomatoes, porn and now a book
Quoth the Raven The eerie tales of Edgar Allan continued on page 4
Last but not least, it was a way into publishing: His self-published first book, “Confessions of an Ivy League Pornographer,” was released this May. Benjamin, who used his last name, Stern, while at Brown but now goes by just his first and middle names, “Sam Benjamin,” chronicles in the memoir his journey in and out of the porn industry — from directing videos to starring in them. The book is told from the point of view of a “highly educated Jewish kid from North Carolina,” wrote Benjamin’s publicist, Shane Mahoney, in an e-mail to The Herald. The book is for the “postmodern, jaded, Gen-X crowd,” he added. Indeed, Benjamin writes his story with no lack of self-consciousness, calling his decision to choose filming sex over harvesting tomatoes the “fantasy shared by every uppermiddle-class, semi-hipster, slightly awkward Jew who’s ever done time in a college classroom.” From 2000 to 2005, Benjamin made about 10 independent pornographic films and filmed hundreds of scenes for professional companies. His interest in pornography goes back at least as far as his years at Brown. A concentrator in art-semiotics, he toyed around with editing existing porn films. He also drew a comic strip for The Herald called “Anxiety Comix.” “I was super passionate about being a working artist,” he said, but “I wasn’t really talented.” Benjamin wanted to bring an uncharted level of artistic thought to porn, pairing postmodernist thoughts — and even a bit of humanity — with eroticism. He tried his hand at it on and off from 2000 to 2005. “Porno was this land of undiscovcontinued on page 5
News, 3
Sports, 7
Opinions, 11
beyond borders Former European leaders discussed the future of the European Union
Ground down Zach Tronti ’11 has iced recent foes late, but Penn will be a tough new test
Early Exclusion Jared Lafer ’11 wants past discrimination against Jews by elite colleges examined
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