Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 52 | Tuesday, April 20, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Agreement between students disputed
Dorms vie to save the most energy
G oing G reen
By Luisa Robledo Staff Writer
Female student’s lawyer says rape claim is true By Ben Schreckinger and Sydney Ember Metro and News Editors Hilary Rosenthal / Herald
A lawyer for William McCormick III — a former member of the class of 2010 who is suing the University, over a dozen employees, a female student and her father — said in federal court last week that a statement made by the lawyer for the female student and her father during that same hearing was the first assertion so far in the case that the female student’s rape accusation — the veracity of which has significant ramifications for the outcome of the litigation — was not false. “This statement to that effect in the courtroom on Monday and its appearance in newspaper articles on this case is a complete surprise,” J. Scott Kilpatrick, McCormick’s lawyer, told The Herald. “In the seven months continued on page 2
Environmentalists displayed their “Truck Farm” and screened documentary clips on Monday to advocate for local, sustainable food initiatives.
By Ben Noble Staff Writer
The University is partnering with the City of Providence to upgrade most of the traffic lights on Angell and Waterman streets. The project, which will “significantly reduce congestion,” is underway and will be completed over the summer, said Michael McCormick, assistant vice president for planning, design and construction. The lights on both streets between North Main Street and Way-
land Square have lost synchronization, causing congestion during peak hours, according to McCormick. “It should be synchronized in such a way that you can pass all the way through that corridor at a reasonable speed without stopping,” he said. “All these lights need to be hooked together to do that.” The improvements were conceived four years ago in the transportation component of Brown’s Institutional Master Plan, which was approved by the Providence City Plan Commission in July 2006.
BY JULIA LONGORIA Contributing Writer
Kim Perley / Herald file photo
inside
Brown Dining Services have hired two students to research local, sustainable food options for Brown’s dining halls.
www.browndailyherald.com
continued on page 2
U. and Providence partner to upgrade traffic signals
Student hires bring ‘real’ food to the Ratty
News.....1–5 Editorial....6 Opinion.....7 Today........8
Brown’s EcoReps has dared students in Poland House, Machado House, Slater Hall and Hope College to turn off the lights. In an effort to save energy, the student group launched an inter-dorm competition on April 11 to see which dorm will be able to consume the least energy over a three-week period. “We want to raise awareness on energy efficiency,” said Adam May-
Last semester, Brown Dining Services hired two students to search for “real food” — food that is local, fair, ecologically sound and humane — and this Thursday at the Sharpe Refectory’s Earth Day Dinner Special, the Brown community will see what they’ve found. The Herald reported in October that Brown’s chapter of the Real Food Challenge, a national campaign to increase sustainable food in university dining halls, received $25,000 from President Ruth Simmons’ discretionary fund for a two-year pilot project, creating paid student jobs in Dining Services. Two students were hired: Kyle Lemle ’11, the Real Food Initiative public relations and education coordinator, and Emily Viggiano ’12, the Real Food Initiative progress coordinator. Lemle said the $25,000 goes toward the two student hires and to offset the continued on page 4
The University hired transportation consulting firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. to prepare the transportation component. While the lights were originally synchronized with internal clocks, the firm conducted a field review in September 2005 and found they had slowly lost their coordination over time. “Say you were going 30 miles per hour; you would still end up stopping at all the lights,” McCormick said. In the transportation component of the Plan, published in April 2006,
the firm called the progression of vehicles traveling on Angell and Waterman “poor” with the signals causing “unnecessary delays to both vehicles and pedestrians throughout the day.” The firm singled out the light coordination where Waterman and Angell streets meet Benefit Street as particularly “deficient” during peak hours. The firm advised the University to upgrade the signal timing mechacontinued on page 3
State House weighs bills to end pot prohibition By Claire Peracchio Senior Staff Writer
Two bills that would end the criminal prohibition of marijuana use came before the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee last Wednesday. The first bill — proposed by Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence, whose district includes College Hill — would legal-
METRO ize the drug under certain conditions. The second bill — introduced by Rep. John G. Edwards, D-Tiverton and Portsmouth — would decriminalize marijuana consumption and levy a $150 fine for possession. The two bills come on the heels of a March recommendation by a state Senate study commission that the state decriminalize small amounts of the drug. While Ajello took into account the commission’s findings, she said that her support for legalization arose large-
ly from a realization that the state’s marijuana policy is ineffective. “Marijuana laws are not working,” Ajello said. She cited the fiscal toll of imprisoning marijuana offenders as well as the fact that “more people of color are arrested and imprisoned for small amounts of marijuana.” Letters urging legalization from Professor of Economics Glenn Loury and Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Community Health David Lewis — who both also served on the Senate marijuana commission — further contributed to her decision to propose the bill, Ajello added. Ajello’s bill would legalize the use of up to one ounce of marijuana, provided that users refrain from driving under the influence, among other restrictions. Cultivators and distributors would be required to register with the state government. The bill would also establish a “verification system” so that law enforcement can ensure that continued on page 5
News, 3
News, 4
Opinions, 7
ELECTION CHANGES UFB and UCS may change campaign rules for next year
Staying in service? Students convene in response to the Swearer Center’s staff cuts
a privileged life Brian Judge ’11 urges students to come to terms with their privileged lives
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