Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 91 | Friday, October 15, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Candidates debate in Salomon By Claire Peracchio Senior Staff Writer
The race for governor of Rhode Island came to Salomon 101 Thursday night as the candidates — Democrat Frank Caprio, independent Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14, Republican John Robitaille and Moderate Ken Block — debated their ideas for solving the state’s problems. The debate, moderated by Director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy Marion Orr, covered topics including illegal immigration and the looming budget deficit. Caprio and Chafee are running neck-and-neck in recent polling. The two shared center stage and traded barbs over providing instate tuition to undocumented students and addressing the state’s unfunded pension liability. The Chafee campaign suffered a setback Tuesday when campaign manager J.R. Pagliarini resigned amid allegations that he collected unemployment insurance while working on the Chafee campaign’s payroll. In his opening statement, Block — the first gubernatorial candidate of the party he founded continued on page 4 Candidate interviews Q&A’s with Block, Caprio, Chafee and Robitaille on page 4
Group rallies for library workers in contract dispute Contract extended again; meetings to continue By Kristina Klara Staff Writer
About 60 to 70 students, faculty members, library workers and Providence community members gathered Thursday on the steps of the Rockefeller Library to protest changes to library employees’ contract at a rally sponsored by the Student Labor Alliance. The contract was originally going to expire Sept. 30, but was extended until Thursday. It was continued on page 3
Lydia Yamaguchi / Herald
Students and community members gathered on the library steps to protest with library workers.
Running away with ‘Heddatron’ robots SEC puts off Rattner ’74 settlement By Kristina Fazzalaro Senior Staff Writer
What do 19th-century playwright Henrik Ibsen and three musical robots have in common? They are all featured in Production Workshop’s new performance of Elizabeth Meriwether’s “Heddatron,” opening Friday night in T. F. Green Hall. The play is based — loosely — on Ibsen’s 1890 drama “Hedda Gabler” which tells the sad story of the title character’s loveless marriage, bored existence and eventual suicide. “Heddatron” offers audiences a decidedly lighter fare while still exploring serious questions of love, freedom and, of course, robots. Director James Flynn ’11 said
he was very excited not only to work with a large cast, but also to collaborate with individuals across disciplines who helped bring the robots of “Heddatron” to life. The crew includes people from the computer sciences, visual arts and acting community whose innovative work cre-
ARTS & CULTURE ated wonderful robotic characters for the audience to enjoy. The set is an amalgamation of electronic devices, brought together to tease the viewer’s eye, forcing it to jump from television to boom box to ancient desktop computers. Flynn said he was most interested in the idea of technological
revolution across history and what happens when technology literally invades the household. “How do you structure family, relationships and identity in the face of these kinds of changes?” he asked. “Heddatron” opens with a projected video of Jared Bellot ’12, an engineer, reassuring audiences that there is nothing to worry about with regards to robots. “The Singularity,” or the moment when robots will achieve self-awareness, is a long way off, he says. But if this is true, questions a documentarian, played by Josh Wallace ’13, what happened to Jane Gordon? Jane (Elizabeth Rothman ’11) continued on page 5
Rising seniors snatch up off-campus leases earlier By Ana Alvarez Senior Staff Writer
Herald File Photo
inside
Upperclassmen competing for prime off-campus housing push the process earlier this year than in the past.
News.....1–3 Metro........4 Arts..........5 D&C........6 Opinion......7 Today........8
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For many upperclassmen who wish to live off-campus, signing a lease is the happy end of the long housing road — from getting a group together, to obtaining permission from the Office of Residential Life, to finding the perfect house. But this whole process seems to be happening earlier this year. Juniors, who have guaranteed permission to live off-campus next year, are now signing their leases in late September and October, something that Gail Medbury, director of auxiliary housing, said is relatively new.
“Students are consistently getting their leases earlier and earlier,” Medbury said. “People just want to make sure they get housing as soon as possible.” Medbury said this was the first time she ever showed students housing over the summer because of high demand. That was the case for Shay O’Brien ’12, a junior who lives offcampus. O’Brien signed her lease for her current house last May, after receiving permission from ResLife. But, at the same time, she also signed the lease for the house she will live in senior year — over a year in advance. continued on page 2
By Ashley Aydin Senior Staff Writer
The Securities and Exchange Commission put off its vote on a preliminary settlement dealing with Steven Rattner’s ’74 P’10 P’13 role in a pay-toplay scheme, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The New York Times had reported Wednesday that Rattner had reached a settlement with the SEC. The case involves allegations that Rattner had given kickbacks in exchange for the business of the state’s pension fund, worth approximately $125 billion. The Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the office of the New York Attorney General would not settle its ongoing case against Rattner based on the SEC’s settlement. “In this and other cases, we work cooperatively with the SEC. But we are each independent, even though sometimes we reach coordinated resolutions of cases. Currently, both offices have ongoing matters with Mr. Rattner,” John Milgrim, a spokesman for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office, told the Journal. The Journal also reported that a person familiar with the matter had said Rattner wanted to see the deal move ahead Thursday, in part because it included a two-year ban instead of the three years in an earlier offer from the SEC. The settlement deal would ban Rattner from doing some work in the securities industry and fine him $6 million.
Beastly battle
Reppin’ rituals
Easy A
Bears take on Tigers, aim to get back on track
Hillel Gallery Project exhibit depicts ritual objects
Sarah Yu ’11 says more A’s encourage course exploration
Sports, 3
Arts, 5
Opinions, 7
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