Wednesday, January 22, 2003

BY LISA MANDLEBrown students and alumni joined thou-sands of other protestors in Washington,D.C., and other cities last weekend in whatmay have been the largest antiwardemonstrations since the Vietnam era.Protesters said they hoped to send a mes-sage to the president that the use of mili-tary force against Iraq is not unanimouslysupported by the American public.

While estimates of the number of pro-testors present at the Washington rallyranged from tens of thousands to 500,000,the rallies made clear that “people are notreally behind the war, despite what(President George W.) Bush says,” saidAdam Vitarello ’05, who attended theprotest in Washington.

The protesters weren’t just aging hip-pies and college students, he said. Therewas a “big smorgasbord of people” of allbackgrounds.

Four hundred people from Providenceand about 70 Brown students attendedthe rally in Washington, estimatedAndrew Sawtelle ’03, who rode a bus tothe demonstration with the Act Now toStop War and End Racism coalition fromProvidence.

Several Brown students attended therallies as representatives of larger politicalorganizations, including the CollegeDemocrats, Not Another VictimAnywhere, the International SocialistOrganization and Brown University

Faculty, Alums and Staff Against the War.Other students went with friends andfamily members.

James Laurie ’00.5 said the protest wasin some ways like a reunion because heran into many Brown alumni and currentstudents. Laurie’s “concern for civiliancasualties and the economic cost of war”motivated him to attend.

Sawtelle said he attended the rally to

show the Bush administration that “theydon’t really have a mandate anymore fromSept. 11 and that the public is more savvyof the world.”

The political views of the people at themarch, though all opposed to war, werevery broad, Sawtelle added. Some protes-tors were strongly anti-Bush, while others

I N S I D E W E D N E S D AY, J A N UA RY 2 2 , 2 0 0 3 TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T

THE BROWN DAILY HERALDAn independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

J A N U A R Y 2 2 , 2 0 0 3

Volume CXXXVIII, No. 1 www.browndailyherald.com

W E D N E S D A Y

Director ofResLife resignsunexpectedlyover break

Simmons criticizesBush policy atMLK Jr. breakfastin Chicago

President Simmons hits the road on Brown’s behalf

Photo courtesy of Andrew Sawtelle

Brown students and alumni were among the thousands of protesters that convenedSaturday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

San Francisco high school students engaged by Ruth

BY SARA PERKINSDirector of Residential Life DonaldDesrochers abruptly resigned from his posi-tion in early January. The Office of CampusLife appointed Katherine Tameo, then man-ager of finance and administration for theOffice of Student Life, as acting director.

Desrochers’ resignation was unexpected,said Dean for Campus Life MargaretJablonski, who selected Tameo as a “short-term appointment.” Meanwhile, Jablonskisaid the Office of Campus Life is lookinginto applying for an exception to theUniversity’s hiring freeze, which has blockedall new non-academic hires since lateDecember.

Desrochers, who worked at theUniversity for 25 years, left “for personal rea-sons, for family and health considerations,”Jablonski said.

ResLife oversees student housing,including first-year assignments, the hous-ing lottery and off-campus housing permis-sion.

“We’re sad to see (Desrochers) go,” saidSanders Kleinfeld, chair of ResidentialCouncil and a Herald columnist. “He’s beenvery supportive of ResCouncil. He takes stu-dent suggestions to heart.”

Last semester, Desrochers andResCouncil cooperated on shortening the

see DESROCHERS, page 10

BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZSAN FRANCISCO — It’s a long way fromUniversity Hall to the crooked hills of SanFrancisco, but inside the library of thecity’s Burton High School, the studentsseemed just the same — eager to hearfrom President Ruth Simmons.

In truth, the 50 teenagers pulled out ofclass and into the library on Jan. 7 comefrom far different circumstances thanmost Brown students, but they sharetheir academic drive.

Generally underprivileged and fromthe inner city, these high school studentsall participate in Young Scholars, a col-lege preparatory program that hasbrought them scholar Cornel West as aguest speaker and taken them as far as anIvy League tour last spring.

According to Simmons, these dis-tances are precisely the ones worth trav-eling. Growing up in Houston, she andher siblings were “defined by five or sixblocks and, when we walked to school,we were terrified,” she said. “We wereconfined to our area. That was all weknew.”

It was language study in high schooland college that ultimately taught her theexpanse of the world and her own abili-ties, Simmons told the students. “Once Iunderstood I could go from zero to acomplete understanding of a system ofexpression, no one could ever convince

me again that I was stupid,” she said.All 350 Young Scholars study lan-

guages at their high schools, which arespread across the San Francisco BayArea. Under the eye of program directorJackie Rushing, they also map out four-year plans, participate in summer intern-ships and maintain at least 3.0 gradepoint averages as they set their sights oncompetitive colleges across the country.

Students who fill out the program’sbrief application tend to be accepted,Burton junior Reggie Hayes said.

But Simmons had plenty of questionsfor the students.

“If the teacher says to read to page 20,you should read to page what?”

“25.”“In 1963, the country was still what?”“Segregated.”“Do you know people who just run

their mouths all the time?”“Yes!”“There’s nothing more annoying to me

than people who can’t listen long enoughfor you to get a sentence out of yourmouth,” Simmons added. “It is a skill topay attention.”

Photo courtesy of Allison Lauterbach

President Ruth Simmons held San Francisco high school students at rapt attention duringan informal talk over Brown’s winter recess.

see SIMMONS page 4

BY XIYUN YANGCHICAGO — President Ruth Simmonsopenly criticized President George W.Bush’s policies and lauded faith in socialprogress last Friday during an event at theChicago Hilton and Towers Hotel honor-ing Martin Luther King Jr.

Simmons gave the keynote address atthe 17th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.Interfaith Breakfast held by the city ofChicago. The event honored King’s visionof unity by bringing together community,religious and political leaders for a morn-ing of prayer and speeches.

Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley andmany local spiritual leaders attended theevent.

Daley introduced Simmons as a “schol-ar, academic leader and a shining exampleof the power of education to transformpeople.” Various religious leaders speakingat the event celebrated the social progressmade since King’s time, while Simmonsfocused on what still needs to beimproved.

Warning against social complacency, a

see BREAKFAST, page 4

U. students,alums joinantiwar protests

see PROTESTS, page 6

New study sayscombined drug andalcohol use increaseschance of injurypage 3

Car crash kills four Yalestudents andpostpones Brownmen’s basketball gamepage 5

Over 40 mid-yeartransfers take the tra-ditional walk throughthe Van Wickle Gatespage 5

Sanders Kleinfeld ’03says pluses and minus-es won’t standardizegrading at Browncolumn, page 21

Athletes on three fallteams claim leaguehonors for individualperformancessports, page 24

windy and coldhigh 20

low 3

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372

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Elena Lesley, President

Kerry Miller, Vice President

Jamie Wolosky, Treasurer

Joseph Laganas, Secretary

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD, INC.

THIS MORNINGTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2003 · PAGE 2

M E N U S

ACROSS1 Steve Martin’s

instrument6 Where to get down11 Wrigley Field

scoreboard abbr.14 One in charge of

monk business15 Actress Garbo16 Operated17 Saving bucks,

big-time20 Keynes’s subj.21 Comet leader?22 “Famous” cookie

maker25 Moves like

molasses29 Cambodian

monetary unit30 Karaoke activity33 “Our Miss

Brooks” star34 Historic times35 Ed.’s piles36 Absorbed39 Formerly41 Inquire44 Big dance46 Habituate50 Being politically

evasive54 Cone maker55 Botch56 Carol57 Gardener’s aid59 Carpeting

calculation61 Nabbing the bad

guy68 Low digit69 Thick soup70 Examine again,

as a patient71 Fast flier72 Editors’ marks73 Exorbitant

interest

DOWN 1 Mus. majors’

degrees2 Blood grouping

syst.3 “Will & Grace”

network4 Joy buzzer user5 Ending for psych6 Seasonal

beverage7 A Gershwin

8 Drops on thegrass

9 JFK posting10 Sunbeams11 Skull12 Accelerates13 Takes a breath18 Whistle hour19 Fairway roller22 Lawyers’ org.23 Nice sea24 Like the gray

mare of song26 California

CongresswomanLofgren

27 Continentalcurrency

28 Musial ofbaseball

31 Not suitable32 Computer

storage acronym37 Proper partner38 Tennille of The

Captain &Tennille

40 Captures41 Sides42 Departs: Var.43 Small crested

bird

45 Classic Brit.sports cars

47 Mil. recreationgroup

48 Feel regretabout

49 Slender fish51 Wobble52 Old saws53 Romance

novelist Roberts58 Knocks

60 Color of raw silk62 Unpaved road

feature63 Exasperation64 Place to surf,

with “the”65 Buckeyes’ sch.66 “__ the

ramparts...”67 Entrance

requirement,often

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31 32

33 34 35

36 37 38 39 40

41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49

50 51 52 53

54 55 56

57 58 59 60

61 62 63 64 65 66 67

68 69 70

71 72 73

M A A M L O C O T A B L EA L M A A L A S A G A I NZ O O M M A R C B A S T ED O U B L E F E A T U R EA F R O S E R A M O E

T W I N S I S T E R ST I R E H A S I O T A SA D A M S O N N A R R A T EM E D I A C U P A L E SP A I R O F P A N T SA L A C A N E M B E R

T W O C E N T S W O R T HN A I A D L I E U R O U EO V O I D L E N D S O D AD E N T S A R T S E K E S

By Bruce Venzke(c)2003 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

01/22/03

01/22/03

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Stumped? Call 1-900-226-4413. 99 cents a minute

[email protected]

C R O S S W O R D

BLOOD DRIVE — Sayles Hall, starts 9 a.m.

OPEN HOURS — to obtain information from the Department of SpecialServices. Third World Center, 11:30 a.m.

FLU SHOTS— will be given until 5:00 pm to anyone with a Brown ID. Hallof Fame Room, Olney Margolies Athletic Center, noon

LECTURE — “Long-Run Development and the Legacy of Colonialism inSpanish America,” Jim Mahoney, Brown. Dining room 7 p.m., Ratty, noon

OPEN OFFICE HOURS — with President Ruth Simmons. Office of thePresident, 4 p.m.

RECITAL— featuring applied music voice students performing works byDonizetti, Schubert, Barber, Puccini, Mozart, and others. Grant Recital Hall, 8p.m.

C A L E N D A R

G R A P H I C S B Y T E D W U

W E A T H E R

High 26Low 7

light snow

High 27Low 9

partly cloudy

TODAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

High 17Low 9 cloudy

High 20Low 3windy

THE RATTYLUNCH — Vegetarian Squash Bisque, Turkey & Wild RiceSoup, Shaved Steak Sandwich, Broccoli Cheese Pie,French Style Green Beans, Coconut Crescent Cookies

DINNER — Vegetarian Squash Bisque, Turkey & Wild RiceSoup, Cajun Chicken w/ Pasta, Pork Chops with SeasonedCrumbs, Shoepeg Corn Casserole, Roasted Herb Potatoes,Sliced Beets, Fresh Vegetable Melange, Herb & CheeseBread, Chocolate Cherry Upside Down Cake, Nacho Bar

V-DUBLUNCH — Vegetarian Squash Bisque, Turkey & WildRice Soup, Chicken Pot Pie, Eggplant Parmesan Grinder,Sugar Snap Peas, Coconut Crescent Cookies

DINNER — Vegetarian Squash Bisque, Turkey & WildRice Soup, Chili Con Carne, Lasagna with Sauce, OvenBrowned Potatoes, Belgian Carrots, Sauteed Broccoliwith Garlic, Herb & Cheese Bread, Chocolate CherryUpside Down Cake

Coup de Grace Grace Farris

A Story Of Eddie Ahn

My Best Effort Andy Hull and Will Newman

Pornucopia Eli Swiney

For the Love Keely Tharp and Dominique Bosa-Edwards

ACADEMIC WATCHTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD


I N B R I E F

Rhode Island hospital to establish acancer research programRhode Island Hospital recently received an $8.2 milliongrant under the Centers of Biomedical Research ExcellenceProgram to establish a cancer research program. The grantwill fund a number of pilot and full research projects deal-ing with gastrointestinal and liver cancer as well as pro-teomics research and a tissue bank.

Douglas Hixson, a professor at the Brown MedicalSchool, is the principal investigator. The grant will alsobenefit the faculty who work in the center.

The grant will “set up an incubator for young investiga-tors that will provide them with the equipment, the infra-structure and the mentoring they need to get their ownindependently funded grants and move on in theirresearch career,” Hixson said.

There will be a number of pilot projects, at $50,000 ayear, and four full projects, which will receive double thatsum. When researchers get their own funding, they willmove out of the full project, allowing another researcherto replace them.

The grant also supports three teams, Hixson said. Anadministrative team will direct the activities of the center,including grant-writing workshops, symposiums, seminarseries and a variety of other similar activities.

A proteomics corps will provide cutting edge equip-ment for analyzing how proteins change when a normalcell becomes a cancer cell.“With that technology, we hopeto find new markers for diagnosis or for early detectionand/or for treatment,” Hixson said.

A molecular pathology corps will provide a tissue bankto store and catalog extremely valuable human and ani-mal tissues, Hixson said. It will also provide state of the artservices, like laser capture micro-dissection.

Rhode Island Hospital will also build a new clinical can-cer center, Hixson said.“That, together with this center,should give us everything we need to apply for an NIHcomprehensive cancer center grant,” he said.

“We’re very excited about the possibilities that this newcenter offers. It’s a research arm to match the clinical arm,”he said.

— Stephanie Harris

BY STEPHANIE HARRISPeople who drink alcohol and use marijuana are morelikely to sustain injuries than users of either substancealone or non-users, according to a recent study led byRobert Woolard, an associate professor at the BrownMedical School.

The study, which was published in the January issue ofAcademic Emergency Medicine, showed that of 433injured patients considered problem drinkers, those whosmoke marijuana had more injuries and negative conse-quences than those who did not.

“Many people believe that marijuana is safe, andthey’re right in that it doesn’t lead to injuries, but whenyou use alcohol and marijuana, it’s additive. In fact, thereare higher injury rates and problems that people need tobe aware of,” Woolard said.

Woolard has been involved in research that providescounseling to people who come into the emergency roomwith alcohol-related injuries. He found that 47 percent ofthose patients used marijuana, which led him to study therelationship between alcohol and marijuana use andinjuries more deeply, he said.

Experts in the field do not know why such a large per-centage of patients use marijuana as well, Woolard said.He said he hopes to look into this question in futureresearch. But he does have a theory he developed partial-ly from his knowledge of the habits of adolescents, whichhe learned from his own children, he said.

“One theory we had is that these are party people,”Woolard said. “Alcohol and marijuana are available at

every party they go to. It seemed like a common activityfor young people.” The availability of alcohol and mari-juana in the same environments may lead a person to useboth, which then can lead to an increased likelihood forinjury, he said. Many of the patients were young, includ-ing a large number of college students, the report said.

Woolard said the research took into account other fac-tors that could increase the risk of injury. The researcherslooked at a scale of risky behaviors and impulsiveness toget a sense of whether the patients often took risks suchas skydiving, Woolard said. Even when they controlled forage, sex and other factors, marijuana use still proved to besignificant.

The study was conducted at Rhode Island Hospital.Injured patients who were intoxicated, were carrying alco-hol on them or scored highly on a standard screen for haz-ardous drinking were asked a series of questions abouttheir lifestyle, including whether they used marijuana. Theresearchers targeted the night and weekend shifts, whenmost of the intoxicated injured patients come in.

Woolard said this latest research will help him tailor hiscounseling to more accurately target patients’ issues.“Our counseling, which focused on alcohol, was missing abig factor,” he said. Woolard plans to try a new interven-tion for alcohol and marijuana, he said. “We’re hopingthat intervention will reduce injuries.”

Herald staff writer Stephanie Harris ’04 edits theAcademic Watch section. She can be reached at [email protected].

BY AYANA MORALESHigh school students across the country may have aBrown professor to thank for later school start times.

Mary Carskadon, professor of psychiatry and humanbehavior at Brown and director of sleep and chronobiolo-gy at Bradley Hospital in East Providence, is a sleep spe-cialist conducting a series of studies on the effects ofsleeping patterns on the body during puberty.

“Many young people are carrying a sleep deficit in theirbrain and then have trouble in school with their gradesand trouble with their moods,” Carskadon said.

Teenagers in high school are going through majorchanges in their life that affect their sleeping patterns, shesaid. As the pressure to achieve academically and sociallyincreases, high school students often push back the timethey go to sleep. Teachers are then plagued the next daywith sleep deprived students struggling to keep their eyesopen.

“New analysis shows that the ‘sleep system’ inside thebrain is changing during puberty, and hence makes it eas-

Alcohol and marijuana users at risk of injury

Brown profs. urge later school starts

see SLEEP, page 4

ier to stay up,” Carskadon said.Teenagers need at least eight tonine hours of sleep a night, butaren’t getting it, she said.

Schools in certain states havetried to solve this problem bypushing back the start time ofclasses. Maureen Zolubos, chair-woman of the School StartingTime Committee in NeedhamCounty, Mass., told The BostonGlobe she is concerned that stu-

dents need more sleep duringpuberty. Her committee willbring recommendations for laterstart times for middle and highschool before the superintend-ent.

Carskadon and her associatessurveyed the sleeping patterns of3,000 Rhode Island high schoolstudents. They determined stu-dents are getting much less sleepthan they need and that sleepdeprived students are more like-ly to get low grades in school.They also found a strong associa-tion between depression andlack of sleep, Carskadon said.

As a result of their sleepingpatterns, many teenagers have inextreme cases developedDelayed Sleep Phase Syndrome,where individuals take muchlonger than average to fall asleep.

To confirm the accuracy of thesurveys, Carskadon measuredthe amount of sleep some stu-dents received with wrist activitymonitors that recorded when aperson was asleep or awake. Thedata obtained confirmed the sur-veyed reports.

Carskadon next plans to studythe sleeping habits of college stu-dents.

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2003

fervent tone of social and politicalcriticism surged through Simmons’speech. Simmons condemnedsocial disinterest and the disap-pearance of selflessness andreferred to King as “our prophet”who martyred himself for the free-dom of others.

She described our current socie-ty as one submerged in its prized“modern me-isms.” Individualismhas been distorted into a starklyunitary interest in oneself,Simmons said. Parents who refuseto shoulder the responsibilities ofparenting and individuals vainlyengrossed “in the pursuit of socialstatus” bring about the erosion ofcommunity, she said.

Simmons said that King had an“ardent and unfailing faith” in thepotential for social change and jus-tice, a faith that we have lost as asociety. Without faith, the capacityfor social progress diminishes.Simmons encouraged open debateas a catalyst for social awareness,an awareness that battles againststagnation.

The audience received her viewswith frequent and enthusiasticmurmuring and applause, whichincreased in volume as Simmonsunapologetically criticized the cur-rent presidential administration.

“Why does our government feelthe need to make rich people evenricher?” Simmons asked in a point-ed attack on President Bush’srecently unveiled economic poli-cies.

“We are only as worthy as ouractions toward the poor,” she said.

Simmons spoke of being hound-

ed by the press seeking a reaction toPresident Bush’s recent assault onaffirmative action.

She raised her voice and threwup her hands to another sea ofapplause saying, “What do youthink my response is?” Simmonsreferred to the president’s actionsas a hindrance to the momentumof social progress.

Simmons questioned our suc-cess as a nation and offered todefine success beyond the exces-sive bulk of our SUV’s and militaryarsenal.

A successful government mustbe one that seeks to “improve thelives of many rather than the few,”Simmons said.

The prevalence of racial profilingin our social system proves thatKing’s vision has still yet to be real-ized, she said. Simmons also com-pared the American early educa-tion and health care programs totheir much more effectiveEuropean counterparts, conclud-ing that as a nation we are not real-izing our full potential.

Simmons completed her speechwith a quote by King asking societyto instill faith in “reconciliation,redemption and the spirit of thecommunity.”

After the event, Cardinal FrancisGeorge told The Herald that headmired Simmons for her empha-sis on “the ability to sacrifice in atime of social disinterest.”

Daley said Simmons was an“extraordinary individual whosepassion on the subjects of whichshe speaks was matched only bythe powerful response from theaudience.”

Herald staff writer Xiyun Yang ’06can be reached at [email protected].

continued from page 1

Breakfast

Simmons’ own talk lasted forabout half an hour, and waspacked with academic advice.Work hard in high school, avoidgut courses in college andattend the most rigorous univer-sity you can, she told the YoungScholars. “Even if it’s inAntarctica, go,” she said.

In rapt attention at the backof the library, the students inSuzette Ross’s French class werenot in the Young Scholars pro-gram, nor were they invited tothe assembly.

But Ross brought them any-way.

“You want inspiration?” Rossasked, turning to her students.“Here it is.”

Herald staff writer CarlaBlumenkranz ’05 can be reachedat [email protected]


Simmons


Sleep

Photo courtesy of Allison Lauterbach

President Simmons encouraged students to attend college with highacademic standards no matter how far from home.

CAMPUS NEWSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD


Four Yale studentsdie in car crash

BY JAMAY LIUTransfer and visiting students made their move toBrown official Tuesday with a march through the VanWickle Gates and a welcome address by Dean of theCollege Paul Armstrong.

Forty-three transfers, seven visiting students andone deferred freshman entered Brown this semester,said Associate Dean of the College Margaret Klawunn,who organized the orientation program for mid-yeararrivals with Associate Dean of the College CarolCohen.

The orientation program, which began Sunday,included advising meetings, workshops and tours.Convocation yesterday included the march through

the gates accompanied by the Brown Band, followed bya luncheon in Leung Gallery, with welcoming remarksby Armstrong.

Although there was some talk last year of eliminat-ing the mid-year program, Klawunn said, in the endthey decided to continue it.

“The mid-year crowd always bonds very strongly,”Cohen said.

Jeff Carleton ’03, one of twelve transfer counselors,said that transferring second semester is harderbecause “social activities are already in full swing.”

Transfer counselors — a total of 12 this year — try to

Zach Frechette / Herald

Transfer and visiting students brave cold weather to pass through the Vanwickle gates during the mid-year versionof the annual fall tradition.

U. welcomes transfers, visiting students

BY JULIA ZUCKERMANKimberly DelGizzo, currently an associate director ofCareer Services at Harvard University, will become Brown’snew director of Career Services in early March.

DelGizzo plans to spend her first weeks or months onthe job “getting a feel for what’s happening now” anddeveloping a “vision to move forward.”

But she has some plans in mind already, including aneffort to find “creative ways to integrate (Career Services)with the academic environment,” she said. She said whilesome people don’t see career planning as an integral partof college students’ experiences, it can be made part ofBrown’s liberal arts education.

As part of this initiative, Career Services may work withacademic departments to develop specific programs forconcentrators and graduate students, she said.

With 16 years of experience overseeing career counsel-ing for college students, DelGizzo said she is looking for-ward to working with the Career Services staff as well asfaculty and administrators to help Career Services growand improve its programs.

The search for a new Career Services director began lastAugust. DelGizzo said she “wasn’t actively looking for aposition,” but was approached by Harvard’s director ofCareer Services after he heard of the opening.

“The more conversations I had with more people, themore interested I became,” she said.

A search committee chaired by Associate Dean forSummer Studies Karen Sibley ’81 that included students,faculty and administrators, reviewed the candidates andrecommended three finalists. Dean of the College PaulArmstrong made the final decision to select DelGizzo.

Armstrong called DelGizzo “exactly the person weneed.”

“She has a real vision for how the kind of liberal artseducation that we offer at Brown helps get students readyfor a variety of careers,” he said.

At Harvard, DelGizzo focuses on placement for gradu-ate students and for undergraduate students pursuinggraduate degrees. Her experience with graduate studentplacement was another reason she was selected,Armstrong said, adding that he and Dean of the GraduateSchool Karen Newman believe the University needs to domore to support graduate students.

DelGizzo emphasized the importance of a “reactive andproactive” approach to career development in a tough job

New Career Services director plans creative changes

see DELGIZZO, page 10

BY JULIETTE WALLACKThe Friday car crash that took the lives of four YaleUniversity undergraduates happened more than 100 milesfrom Providence, but, despite the distance, the Browncommunity shared in Yale’s grief.

Of the five surviving students, three have been releasedfrom the hospital. There were no other fatalities in the acci-dent that involved four vehicles in total after the driver of atractor-trailer rig lost control on the icy road and crossedinto the southbound lane of Interstate 95, according to theYale Daily News.

“I know I speak for all of us when I express my profoundgrief and sadness at these tragic events and pray for theinjured to make a full and speedy recovery,” wrote LindaKoch Lorimer, secretary of Yale, in an e-mail sent to theentire Yale community last Saturday. On Friday, 400 peopleattended a gathering in Yale’s gymnasium.

Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead called the day “asblack a day as I have ever experienced” during his time atYale, the Daily News reported. “This kind of day gave you aneducation we never intended to give you,” Brodhead said.

Members of the Yale community spent the days after theaccident attending memorial services for junior SeanFenton and sophomores Kyle Burnat, Andrew Dwyer andNicholas Grass. The university provided transportation toDwyer’s memorial in New York and Grass’ funeral mass andwake in Massachusetts. Yale has also provided numeroussupport systems including counseling and residential col-lege gatherings for grieving students.

The accident shook the Yale student body, whichreturned for the beginning of the spring semester last week.And even as Brown students prepared to migrate back toProvidence — some along the same stretch of I-95 onwhich the accident occurred — the incident hit home formany when the Yale athletic department postponed themen’s basketball game versus Brown. The game was sched-uled to take place in New Haven on Friday evening.

According to Brown men’s basketball coach Glen Miller,“Anytime you have a tragedy like that, you have to post-pone at least one day until you get everything under con-trol.”

No members of the Yale basketball team were involvedin the crash, and the game was postponed for only one day.

Miller, whose team went on to win 78-66 over Yale, said

see YALE, page 6see MID-YEAR, page 10

wanted Bush to just “cool it,” he said.Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rep. John

Coyers Jr., D-Mich., and other

prominent public figures spoke tothe crowd before the march left theNational Mall for the WashingtonNavy Yard, Vitarello said. The marchalso passed through some ofWashington’s lower income areas,supposedly a first for a rally thatstarted in the Mall, Vitarello said.

Actor Martin Sheen of “The WestWing” and singer Joan Baez madeappearances at the rally in SanFrancisco that several Brown stu-dents attended.

Despite the large number of peo-ple and their many different views,the protest in Washington was “verypeaceful,” Sawtelle said. The policepresent at the rally made few arrestsand respected the public’s right todemonstrate, Vitarello said.

The activist group BrownUniversity Faculty, Alums and StaffAgainst the War will host a series ofon-campus forums in the comingmonths to educate the communityabout the war and encouragedebate, said Dean DeHart, a mem-ber of the group’s steering commit-tee and husband of Evelyn Hu-DeHart, director of the Center forRace and Ethnicity in America atBrown.

Herald staff writer Lisa Mandle’06 can be reached [email protected]

the atmosphere during the gamewas not at all different from aBrown-Yale match-up during nor-mal circumstances. The only dif-ference, he said, was a pre-gameceremony that recognized the stu-dents killed.

“Aside from that two-minuteperiod then, I didn’t notice any-thing different,” he said.

“The intensity (from) thecrowd and Yale, I thought, was nodifferent than it normally was,”Miller said. “That’s what sportingevents are good for,” he added.“You can get into the game emo-tionally, as a player and as a fan.After the game was over, I’m suretheir minds, or many of them,were right back to the tragedy.”

Miller said this week’s homegame against Yale will be playedas scheduled, but had the Yaleadministration asked to postponelast Friday’s game for a longerperiod of time, “we wouldn’t havebeen opposed to whatever theysuggested.”

The Yale team did not lose anymembers, but Miller said hethought Yale’s request to post-pone the game was an effort tosimply get extra time to deal withthe tragedy.

It was 5 a.m. last Friday whenan SUV driven by Fenton crashedinto a jackknifed truck. Fentonwas driving eight other Yale stu-dents back to New Haven from aDelta Kappa Epsilon event in NewYork City. All nine men wereeither members or pledges of thefraternity, according to the DailyNews.

About 500 people attended thememorial service for Fenton heldon Yale’s campus, including sen-ior Meg Reuland. Reuland toldThe Herald that Fenton was sim-ply “friends with everybody.”

“What came out at his memo-rial was how generous he was,”Reuland said.

Reuland met Fenton throughhis characteristic generositywhen he volunteered to help herset up her off-campus computeraccess. Fenton, a California nativeand a former football player whoquit the team to focus on com-puters, worked for Yale as a com-puter assistant. Though Fentonwas not required to help Reulandset up her computer system andwas not paid for his time, he didso and came to know Reulandand her housemates as a result,she said.

Herald staff writer Juliette Wallack’05 can be reached [email protected].

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2003


Yale


Protests

Photos courtesy of Ethan Ris

Police maintained a heavy presence at the “very peaceful” protests, making few arrests (left). Saturday’sdemonstration attracted a “smorgasbord of people” (right).

“You can get into the

game emotionally, as

a player and as a fan.

After the game was

over, I’m sure their

minds, or many of

them, were right

back to the tragedy.”

Glen MillerBrown men’s basketball coach

WORLD & NATIONTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD


Abortion providers fewest in 30 yearsWASHINGTON (Washington Post) — The number of U.S. abor-tion providers has fallen to its lowest level in threedecades, a trend many physicians ascribe to a hostile polit-ical environment, hospital mergers and a lack of enthusi-asm for teaching the procedure at most medical schools.

In 2000, nearly 30 years after the Supreme Court legal-ized abortion, researchers at the Alan Guttmacher Institutesay, there were just 1,819 physicians performing abortions,down from 2,000 four years earlier. The new survey,released on the eve of Wednesday’s 30th anniversary ofthe Roe vs. Wade decision, also found that 87 percent ofthe counties in the United States do not have a singleabortion provider.

Over the same four-year period, the number of abor-tions dipped slightly, from 1.36 million to 1.31 million in2000, the most recent statistics available. Ninety percent ofthe abortions in the United States were done in the firsttrimester.

Guttmacher researcher Lawrence Finer said the resultsreflect a mixed picture.“The availability of new contracep-tive methods is helping avoid unintended pregnancies,”he said.

“In other instances, though,” Finer said, anti-abortionactivists have thwarted efforts to “establish basic abortionservices” in some communities.“That has had a directimpact.”

About 6 percent of the Guttmacher Institute’s budgetcomes from Planned Parenthood, which supports abortionrights, and 20 percent comes from the federal govern-ment.

Abortion rights opponents said they do not dispute thestatistics in the survey. They said the statistics are positiveindicators that women and physicians are turning awayfrom a procedure they find morally reprehensible.Abortion rights advocates, however, said that in a nation inwhich 44 percent of women will have at least one abor-tion, the dwindling number of trained providers is tanta-mount to a denial of basic health services.

“Even though the goal is to make abortion less neces-sary, reproductive health care is totally incomplete withoutthe component of pregnancy termination and abortion.”said Kate Michelman, president of NARAL Pro-ChoiceAmerica

Leaders of the anti-abortion Christian MedicalAssociation disputed the need for abortion training. KathiAultman, a Florida doctor who performed abortions untilthe birth of her child, said it is a mistake to suggest that adrop in abortion training jeopardizes women’s health.

“I don’t think women are at risk just because doctorsare not getting abortion training,” she said. Residents canlearn the basic abortion procedure while treating miscar-riages, she said, rather than “learning on a live fetus.”

In the two decades immediately after the landmark Roedecision, the number of doctors doing abortions climbedfrom 2,005, in 1974, to a high of 2,908, in 1982, accordingto the nonpartisan institute, which conducts extensive sur-veys on reproductive health. But in the past 10 years, thenumber has steadily declined as older doctors retired andfewer incoming physicians filled the ranks.

I N B R I E F Bush stance on Iraq puts U.S. atodds with overseas alliesWASHINGTON (Washington Post) — The endgame has begun —not only with Iraq, but also with America’s friends.

By escalating his threats against Baghdad, and insistinghe’s unwilling to participate in “the rerun of a bad movie,”President Bush is serving notice on Iraqi President SaddamHussein that the time for prevarication is over. More imme-diately, he’s also signaling U.S. allies that he’s prepared to goto war with Iraq without their approval.

The increasingly bellicose White House rhetoric puts theBush administration sharply at odds with many of itsEuropean allies, particularly France, which has threatenedto veto a second United Nations Security Council resolutionauthorizing a war with Iraq over its weapons of massdestruction. Even British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush’smost loyal supporter, has called for U.N. weapons inspec-tors to be given the “time and space” to complete their work.

There remains a possibility that a “smoking gun” willemerge that will persuade the French and other allies of thecase for early military action. For now, however, the UnitedStates faces the prospect of fighting a major war with littleinternational support. Less than three months after win-ning a unanimous Security Council vote that gave Saddamone “last chance” to surrender his nuclear, biological, andchemical weapons, the United States and Britain find them-selves diplomatically isolated.

The White House hope is that a spirited show of U.S.

determination will persuade reluctant allies to fall into line,rather than miss a chance to shape the future of the MiddleEast. In his remarks Tuesday, Bush recalled predictions by“many of the punditry” prior to the Nov. 8 Security Councilvote that “no one is going to follow the United States ofAmerica.” In the end, he noted, the Security Council fol-lowed the American lead.

There is, however, a difference between the last timearound and this time around, according to foreign policyanalyst Ivo Daalder of the Brookings Institution. Althoughthe Nov. 8 vote demanding that Iraq cooperate with U.N.weapons inspectors was unanimous, it masked deep divi-sions among Security Council members over the threshholdfor military action against Iraq and the length of timeinspections should be allowed to continue before declaringBaghdad to be in “material breach” of its obligations. As wargets closer, these divisions have burst into the open.

Bush and his advisers are determined to avoid a repeat ofthe cat-and-mouse game that Iraq played with U.N. inspec-tors during the 1990s, when it dribbled out informationabout its weapons programs only under extreme duress.“Surely our friends have learned lessons from the past,”Bush said, referring to French claims that Iraq is cooperat-ing with the inspectors. “It appears to be a rerun of a badmovie. He is delaying. He is deceiving. He is asking for time.He is playing hide-and-seek with the inspectors.”

One American dies in ambush at U.S.military base in KuwaitDOHA, Qatar (L.A. Times) — Two Americans were ambushedTuesday as they drove to work at a U.S. military base inKuwait, in an attack that has shaken residents of this con-servative oil-rich sheikdom and sent shivers through aregion bracing for war.

Michael Rene Pouliot, 46, a software executive forTapestry Solutions of San Diego, was killed instantly, andDavid Caraway, a software engineer at the same company,suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators saidtheir four-wheel drive vehicle had two dozen bullet holes.

The attack was apparently launched from behind a rowof greenery adjacent to the roadway as the victims’ vehi-cle was stopped for a traffic light on the outskirts ofKuwait City, en route to Camp Doha, where they were mil-itary contractors. The assailant is believed to have fled bycar. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

The shooting is the latest in a series of attacks againstAmerican citizens in the region. It comes as thousands ofU.S. troops are massing in the country and elsewhere inthe Persian Gulf area for a possible invasion of Iraq.

The attack under scores a strong, and growing, anti-American sentiment in the Arab world, one that hasfocused on so-called “soft targets,” unarmed, unprotect-ed, unsuspecting civilians. In recent weeks, a nursing aidewas shot in the head in a clinic in Lebanon; a diplomatwas murdered as he stepped from his home in Amman,Jordan; and three Baptist missionaries were gunned downinside a hospital they ran in Yemen. All were Americans.

“We will work closely with Kuwaiti authorities to deter-mine who is behind it,” White House spokesman AriFleischer said about Tuesday’s attack. “It’s a reminder ofthe danger and the risk that our service men and womenface every day in service to our country.”

Perhaps more troublesome for U.S. policymakers isthat the attacks — and provocations against Americans —are occurring with increasing frequency in countries thatare considered close American allies. Kuwait owes itsindependence in large measure to American militarymight. In Egypt, which receives nearly $2 billion annuallyin American aide, a weekly newspaper recently ran a storyclaiming the United States planned to bomb Islam’s holi-est site — the Ka’ba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia — in the eventof an attack on Iraq.

“It is completely irrelevant the attack was carried outby Islamists,” said Mohammed al Musfir, a political ana-lyst at Qatar University. “The point is it was carried out byKuwaitis in Kuwait.”

In a written statement issued by the U.S. embassy inKuwait after the attack, Ambassador Richard Jones con-demned the shooting as “a terrorist incident which hastragically cost the life of an innocent American citizen.”

Two young Kuwaiti men were killed last October afterthey shot dead one U.S. Marine and wounded a second inan attack on the offshore Kuwaiti island of Failaka. In theinvestigation that followed, five others were arrested andaccused of being members of a terrorist cell.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2003

WASHINGTON (L.A. Times) —Increasingly impatient withresistance from key allies,President Bush Tuesday calledtheir challenges to U.S. policyon Iraq a “rerun of a badmovie” and pledged to take onSaddam Hussein militarily ifhe does not fully disarm.

“This business about time,how much time do we need tosee clearly that he’s not dis-arming?” Bush said, bristlingwith irritation.

“He is delaying. He isdeceiving. He is asking fortime. He’s playing hide andseek with inspectors. Onething for sure is, he’s not dis-arming,” Bush told reportersafter talks with economists onhis tax-cutting package.“Surely our friends havelearned lessons from the past.... This looks like a rerun of abad movie and I’m not inter-ested in watching it.”

Bush’s remarks were part ofthe administration’s offensive,launched Tuesday, to convincepublic opinion both at homeand abroad that Iraq shouldbe disarmed quickly. It alsoincluded a blistering counter-attack against critics of mili-tary intervention in Iraq andthe issuance of a 33-page doc-ument detailing Iraq’s allegedhistory of deceit and decep-tion in dealing with the UnitedNations.

As Bush talked tough, thePentagon ordered the deploy-ment of two more Navy air-craft carrier battle groups,whose arrival in the PersianGulf region will double thesize of carriers deployed towithin striking distance ofIraq.

Defense officials said theadministration is consideringdispatching two others carri-ers, critical for naval air power

independent of land bases, fora total of six carriers and theirsupport ships. Each carriersupports 70 to 80 warplanes.

The carrier deploymentcame on the heels of a newPentagon deployment ofanother 37,000 troops, includ-ing elements of the Texas-based 4th Infantry Division. Itis the Army’s most modern-ized infantry division,equipped with the military’smost sophisticated commandand control and communica-tions systems.

The new deployment bringsthe total number of troops dis-patched to the Persian Gulfand Mediterranean since lateDecember to 125,000.

Bush vowed, “in the nameof peace,” that the UnitedStates will keep diplomaticand military pressure on Iraquntil Saddam surrenders allhis nuclear, chemical and bio-logical weapons and ballisticmissiles. Iraq denies that itstill has any weapons of massdestruction.

But noting that “time is run-ning out,” Bush said that theUnited States will lead a so-called coalition of the willingto disarm Iraq if it continuesto “play hide and seek.”

“Make no mistake aboutthat, he will be disarmed,”Bush added.

Bush also predicted that theUnited States will eventuallygarner wider support, despitegrowing antiwar protests andpublic opinion polls at homeand overseas showing minori-ty support for military actionwithout U.N. backing.

“It is very much like whathappened prior to our gettinga resolution out of the UnitedNations. Many of the punditrywere quick to say, `No one isgoing to follow the United

States.’ And we got a unani-mous resolution out of theUnited Nations,” he said.

The administrationlaunched its public relationsoffensive in the nervous run-up to two major events nextweek that could be decisivejunctures in the showdownwith Iraq. On Monday, chiefweapons inspector Hans Blixwill deliver his widely antici-pated report on Iraqi coopera-tion to the U.N. SecurityCouncil. Bush will give hisannual State of the Unionspeech on Tuesday.

Returning to New YorkTuesday after weekend meet-ings with top Iraqi militaryofficials in Baghdad, Blix saidIraq has imposed heavy condi-tions on the use of U-2 spyplanes to assist the inspec-tions and has still notanswered basic questionsabout gaps in its 12,000-pagedeclaration that was supposedto give a final accounting of itsdeadliest arms.

Iraq wants to dispatch itsown aircraft to accompany theU-2 aircraft. It also wants ahalt to flights by U.S. andBritish planes to guaranteeprotection for northern andsouthern Iraq, a provision inplace since 1991 to prevent theregime’s repression of Kurds inthe north and Shiites in thesouth.

“In some respects there isnot cooperation,” Blix toldreporters at Kennedy Airport.“And in other matters, there isa fair amount of assistance.”

The Swedish diplomat indi-cated his report would providea mixed evaluation. “It will bea description of what we areachieving and the problemswe are facing. All the latestthings will be in there,” hesaid.

Bush calls allies’ stance onIraq a ‘rerun of a bad movie’

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2003 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

(L.A. Times) — Bitter Arctic coldmagnified by stiff winds numbedthe Northeast on Tuesday, withweather so foul that even meteo-rologists in a mountaintop obser-vatory in New Hampshire weretemporarily stranded.

Millions bundled up, homelessshelters were crowded and phonelines for reporting insufficientheat in buildings were jammed.Cars wouldn’t start, and storesreported brisk sales of ice-meltingchemicals, portable heaters,propane torches and long under-wear.

The frigid weather, which haslasted eight days, has causedheating oil prices to rise, and fore-casters promise no relief for thefreeze until at least the weekend.

“If you walk outside in yoursneakers when it hits 40 below,the soles will get stiff and breakright in half,” said Andrea Grant, ameteorologist at the private, non-profit Mount WashingtonObservatory, which sits atop thetallest peak in the Northeast, at6,288 feet.

“We’ve had the jet stream movesouth. We’re getting a ton of airfrom the North Pole, and it’s justsitting here,” Grant said. As shespoke, instruments measured awind gust of 103 mph. The wind-chill temperature, which repre-sents the combined effects ofwind and cold on living things,was 70 below zero.

Adding to the misery were iceand a dense fog that has lasted forsix days.

Grant said a neighbor in Berlin,N.H., phoned to say the pipeswere freezing in some homes.

Close to the Canadian border,in Caribou, Maine, NationalWeather Service meteorologistVic Nouhan said the agency’s cli-mate experts had predictedabove-normal temperatures forJanuary.

“I would say that one is goingdown in flames,” he added.

In New York City, 8,212 singleadults crowded into sheltersMonday night — the most sincethe winter of 1991. As the cold

continued, advocates for thehomeless criticized the city andwarned that the numbers couldrise.

“We have had monitors outevery night,” said Patrick Markee,senior policy analyst at theCoalition for the Homeless. “Wesee homeless men with mentalillness waiting for 12 hours to geta shelter bed. They are forced fre-quently to sleep on a bare mat-tress. They are not given a locker,a towel so they can bathe.

“There is a need for significantimprovements at the front door ofthe shelter system.”

Eliza Greenberg, head ofBoston’s Emergency SheltersCommission, said the city was onhigh alert because of the Arcticcold front. Several homeless shel-ters in the Boston area temporar-ily changed their policy, allowingclients to remain indoors becauseof the cold.

Boston Mayor Thomas M.Menino assigned extra housinginspectors to investigate no-heatcalls.

How cold was it? Thermometers recorded a

temperature of minus 26 beforedawn in Watertown, N.Y. At a skiarea in Jay, Vt., the afternoon tem-perature was 14 below zero. Thelast time the mercury climbedabove freezing in New York Citywas Jan. 13, and a wind-chill ofminus 10 was expected in somesuburbs.

“These days, some of thenewer cars have the outside tem-perature on the dashboard,” saidRobert Diamond, a corporatesenior advisor who lives inScarsdale, N.Y., a short commutefrom Manhattan. “It becomes afascination as you are watchingthe numbers go down.

“The difference between thisyear and many other years isn’tthe snow. It is the penetratingcold.”

To protect against the cold,Stan Tice, a Manhattan privatedetective, wore a hat, turtlenecksweater, vest, scarf, warm pantsand heavy shoes on Tuesday.

“When you do a stakeout inthis kind of weather, you have tokeep your feet moving,” he said.“Tap dancing is a survival trait.”

The frigid weather has helpeddrive up the price of heating oilfor future delivery, said JeffMower, editor in chief of PlattsOilgram Price Report.

He said that on Jan. 8, con-tracts on the New York MercantileExchange for a gallon of heatingoil were 83.21 cents. On Tuesday,the figure was 89.47 cents.

However, he said increaseddemand did not signal a shortageof the fuel, which is used to heatmany homes in the region.

“Right now in the Northeast,there are about 52 million or 53million barrels, according to theDepartment of Energy, which isn’tlow,” Mower reported. “Nothingdangerous.”

Throughout the Northeast, theweather service warned thatfrostbite was a real possibility —for people as well as pets.

“This is not a night to let yourpets outside, regardless of howmischievous they can be,” saidJason Allard, acting NewHampshire state climatologist.

At Le Chien Pet Salon inManhattan, store managerEdward Alava said cold-weatherclothing such as scarves, cash-mere sweaters, boots and minkcoats for dogs (at $595, depend-ing on the size) were sellingbriskly. Back atop MountWashington, the shift normallychanges every Wednesday, whena 12-passenger snow tractormakes it up the slope.

The trip, scheduled forWednesday, was being post-poned, said Scott Henley, theweather station’s marketing man-ager.

Grant said even after staffmembers had turned on an extrafurnace, the temperature insidewas 59 degrees, and she waswearing three or four layers ofclothing.

But Grant said she had seenworse. “I spent a year down inAntarctica,” she said.

Northeast in deep freeze


housing lottery and creating moreco-ed suites in on-campus housing,Kleinfeld and Jablonski both said.

Tameo, who started in her newposition on Jan. 20, said she seesopportunities to review and reor-ganize ResLife’s finances and orga-nizational structure, and ultimatelyhopes to reduce the work involvedin assigning housing by computer-izing some of the more tediousaspects of the lottery and of first-year housing assignments.

“Staff have to manually averagethe lottery numbers” of students whoenter the lottery as a group, she said.After this year’s lottery, Tameo said she

plans to research the systems used atother universities.

Associate Dean of ResidentialLife Thomas Forsberg saidDesrochers “resigned for his ownreasons, and I’m sorry to see him go.I wish him all the best.” Jablonskisaid she regretted Desrochers’departure but had faith in Tameo.

“We’re grateful for Don’s serviceto the University and confident inKathy’s leadership during this timeof transition,” Jablonski said.

Before being hired by theUniversity in March 2002, Tameowas the treasurer and tax collectorfor the town of Seekonk, Mass.,where she lives.

Herald staff writer Sara Perkins’06 can be reached [email protected]


Desrochers

market. She said Career Servicesshould help students start work-ing early on career development,cultivating skills “that will assistthem throughout their lifetime”and working to identify potentialemployers in addition to partici-pating in recruiting.

“It is a tighter market,” shesaid, “but there are opportunitiesout there.”

Former director of CareerServices Sheila Curran told TheHerald last year that CareerServices was left out of the plan-ning process for the University’s

initiatives, leaving her to wonderif the University would find roomin its budget or schedule forimprovements in Career Services.

But DelGizzo said administra-tors “have been very clear in sup-port of our efforts” and her plansto implement new programs andincrease Career Services’ role oncampus.

Armstrong said a budgetincrease is “entirely possible” andsaid the administration will prob-ably increase funds for graduatestudent support, and possibly forundergraduates as well.

Herald staff writer JuliaZuckerman ’05 can be reached [email protected].


DelGizzo

ease the transition process byorganizing social events, servingas advisors and just being “famil-iar faces,” said Lanie Wurzel ’03,co-chair of the transfer orienta-tion program with Michael Just’03.

Sarah Kroesser, a transfer stu-

dent from New York University,said she has wanted to go toBrown since middle school.

“I’m really excited about theway the courses are laid out here,and how you can pick the coursesyou want to take,” she said.“That’s definitely not how it waslike at NYU.”

Herald staff writer Jamay Liu ’05can be reached at [email protected].


Mid-year

Photo courtesy of ResLife

Katherine Tameo has replaced Donald Desrochers at ResLife


(Newsday) — A Northwest Airlinespilot preparing to fly to Detroitwas arrested at New York’sLaGuardia Airport early Tuesdaywhen security screeners found aloaded semiautomatic handgunin his carry-on bag.

Port Authority police arrestedRobert B. Donaldson, 43, a pilotbased in the Detroit area, afterthe gun was found as he tried topass through security. He washeaded to the gate to be the firstofficer on Flight 1911, scheduledto leave at 6 a.m.

“We are working with federaland local authorities,” saidNorthwest spokeswman MaryBeth Schubert, who declined tocomment further.

The gun, a Taurus 9-mm semi-automatic, was fully loaded,according to the Queens districtattorney’s office.

Donaldson faces three countsof criminal possession of aweapon, including one felonycount that could carry a sentenceof up to 15 years, the DA’s officesaid. He was being held awaitingarraignment Tuesday night.

Donaldson has a license tocarry the handgun in Michigan,but not in New York, prosecutorssaid. Transportation SecurityAdministration officials said theywere waiting for more informa-

tion from investigators to see ifthe gun was transported to NewYork on a previous flight. “We’lltake appropriate actions if war-ranted,” a TSA spokesman said.Airline pilots seldom check bags,so it’s unlikely that the handgunwas carried to New York inchecked baggage.

Donaldson’s lawyer, FrederickP. Hafetz of Manhattan, declinedto discuss the circumstances butsaid that when the facts are “fullyknown” Donaldson would beexonerated. “He is a long-termpilot for the airline, with a longrecord of military service,” Hafetzsaid.

Last fall, Congress overwhelm-ingly passed a measure requiringthe federal government to set upa voluntary program to trainpilots to carry guns to protect thecockpit. But the training has notyet begun. Once it does, thou-sands of pilots are expected tosign up and become deputized asfederal flight deck officers.

Northwest’s Web site Tuesdaysaid Flight 1911 was “canceleddue to no flight crew available.”

“It’s certainly an abberationand an isolated incident,” saidJohn Mazor, a spokesman for theAir Line Pilots Association, theunion that represents Northwestpilots.

Pilot arrested at airporton gun charge

(Newsday) — Federal healthofficials will begin shipmentsWednesday of smallpox vac-cine doses to four states, iden-tified Tuesday only as thoseready to start inoculations.

Dr. Julie Gerberding, direc-tor of the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, saidlast week that 11 states wouldbe receiving shipments thisweek. However, federal healthofficials clarified the matterTuesday, saying 11 states haveordered shipments but onlyfour are getting shipmentsthis week. The four states willbe identified Wednesday, andin coming weeks, states are tobe identified by federal healthofficials as their shipments aresent.

All told, the administrationhopes 500,000 health careworkers will volunteer for vac-cinations.

The program expands in thesummer to a second phase, inwhich 10 million volunteersfrom the ranks of firefighters,police officers and emergencyworkers will be immunized.

Inoculations can begin asearly as Friday, the day the fed-eral Homeland Security Actgoes into effect.

A provision in the measureprotects from liability allinvolved vaccine manufactur-ers, the federal governmentand those who administer thevaccinations.

Negligence, however, is notcovered.

President Bush last monthasked that health care workersvolunteer to be vaccinatedagainst smallpox to provide alarge group of protected clini-cians and first-responders inthe event of a bioterror attack.A similar vaccination programhas already begun with inocu-lations of members of armedforces.

The last case of smallpox inthe United States occurred in1949; the disease was declarederadicated globally in 1980.

Federal health officialsexpect the vaccination pro-gram to run smoothly but theydo not expect it to be problem-free.

U.S. is ready to ship smallpoxvaccines to 4 states


MEXICO CITY (L.A. Times) —Simmering tensions betweenMexico and the United Statesover capital punishment mayheat up a few more degrees thisweek as the International Courtof Justice considers a Mexicanrequest for stays of executionfor 51 of its citizens on U.S.death row.

The hearings, which beganTuesday in The Hague, couldaffect the fate of Mexican citi-zens in 10 U.S. states, including28 in California and 16 inTexas.

Lawyers representing theMexican government are argu-ing that the United States hasrepeatedly violated the 1963Vienna Convention onConsular Relations, whichallows people accused of com-mitting crimes in a foreigncountry to seek help from theirconsulates and obtain compe-tent legal counsel in their ownlanguage.

Until the court rules on themerits of that complaint,Mexico is asking that theUnited States refrain from exe-

cuting any Mexicans on deathrow. The International Court, abranch of the United Nations,has no actual power to enforceits rulings.

In court Tuesday, WilliamTaft, legal adviser to the StateDepartment, argued thatMexico’s request “fails todemonstrate that it is needed,either for the preservation ofrights under the ViennaConvention” or “because of theurgency of events.”

According to a court tran-script, Taft also said that theMexican request, if upheld,would require the court “tointrude deeply into the entirecriminal justice system of theUnited States.”

Sandra Babcock, aMinneapolis-based lawyer rep-resenting Mexico, disagreed.

“It doesn’t harm the UnitedStates simply to forbear frominjecting lethal substances intopeople or flipping switcheswhile waiting for a year or sofor the courts to decide,” shesaid in a phone interview.While the court could issue a

decision on an injunction thisweek, the case in its entiretycould take months or evenyears. Mexico wants all 51 con-victions reviewed, raising thepossibility of new trials or dis-missals.

The court previously hasfound fault with the way theUnited States treats foreignersaccused of crimes, mostnotably in a 1984 case involv-ing two German brothers, Karland Walter LaGrand, who wereconvicted in the murder of abank teller. Both were executedin 1999 in Arizona.

Two years later, theInternational Court, in a 14-1vote, found that the UnitedStates had “breached its obli-gations to Germany and to theLaGrand brothers under theVienna Convention” by failingto inform the brothers of theirright to talk with a Germanconsulate.

In Mexico, the issue hasbecome politically delicate,due to perceptions here thatMexicans tried for murdernorth of the border are dispro-

portionately likely to face thedeath penalty. In a recent inter-view, the president of Mexico’slower house of Congress, EricEber Villanueva Mukul, saidthat imposing the death penal-ty on Mexicans in the UnitedStates is “an act of discrimina-tion against our countrymen.”

Last summer, PresidentVicente Fox backed out of ameeting with President Bush athis Texas ranch after Bushrefused to commute the deathsentence of Javier SuarezMedina, 33, who was on deathrow for murdering a U.S. drugenforcement agent.

He was put to death in astate prison north of Houstonafter the Supreme Court deniedan 11th-hour appeal fromMexico and Texas Gov. RickPerry declined Fox’s request togrant a reprieve.

No Mexican court hasapplied the death penalty sincethe 1950s, and although per-mitted under the constitution,capital punishment is notincluded in the penal code ofmany Mexican states.

Mexico fights U.S. capital punishment in U.N. Court

WASHINGTON (L.A. Times) — TheSupreme Court on Tuesdayupheld the government’s broadpower to imprison those who joina conspiracy to sell drugs or com-mit terrorism, even when thesepurported conspirators do notcarry out the crime or when theplot has been foiled before theyjoin it.

By law, a conspiracy is a type ofguilt by association. It allows thegovernment to prosecute allthose who are involved in a druggang or terrorist activity and tocharge the minor players with amajor crime.

Because of the “vital impor-tance” of conspiracy law in prose-cuting terrorists and drug dealers,U.S. Solicitor Gen. Theodore B.Olson urged the Supreme Courtto affirm the broad reach of con-spiracy and to overturn the nar-rower rule adopted by the 9th U.S.Circuit of Appeals for the Westernstates.

Since 1997, the appeals courthas thrown out conspiracycharges against drug sellers whowere picked up after agents hadfoiled a drug-selling plot.

In the latest reversal of the 9thCircuit, the Supreme Court ruledunanimously Tuesday that unwit-ting, would-be conspirators canbe sent to jail for joining a plotthat has already been broken up.

“The essence of a conspiracy isan agreement to commit anunlawful act,” said JusticeStephen G. Breyer. “That agree-ment is a distinct evil, which mayexist and be punished whether ornot the substantive crimeensues.”

Breyer said the law of conspira-cy has been well-established for along time. “The view we endorsetoday is the view of almost allcourts and commentators, but forthe 9th Circuit,” he said.

Conspiracy charges also havefigured prominently in the war onterrorism.

Thanks to the conspiracy law,federal prosecutors were able tobring terrorism charges and seekthe death penalty againstZacarias Moussaoui, even thoughhe was in jail in Minnesota whenterrorists attacked the WorldTrade Center.

Tuesday’s Supreme Court deci-sion revives the drug conspiracyconvictions of two men whopicked up a truck that had beenleft in the parking lot of shoppingmall near Boise, Idaho.

The day before, on Nov. 18,1997, Nevada state police hadstopped the truck near Las Vegasand found inside 369 pounds ofmarijuana and 15 pounds ofcocaine.

Together, these drugs were saidto be worth more than $10 mil-lion.

The two drivers claimed to beignorant of what was in the truck,but one of them helped police setup a sting.

To keep on schedule, agentsused a C-130 cargo plane to fly thedrug-laden truck to the Idahoshopping mall. The cooperatingdriver called a pager number, andthe person who returned themessage promised to “call amuchacho to come and get thetruck,” according to courtrecords.

SupremeCourt backsgovernment’sconspiracytheory


WASHINGTON (L.A. Times) — TheRev. Al Sharpton, a black politi-cal activist from New York City,jumped into the 2004Democratic presidential contestTuesday, hoping to appeal tolarge numbers of minority votersand gain national influencewithin the party.

Sharpton, seeking to claim amantle of black leadership lastworn by the Rev. Jesse L. Jacksonduring his two presidential runsin the 1980s, is likely to be takenseriously by his Democraticrivals, even if his chances of win-ning the nomination are remote.

In a telephone interview,Sharpton predicted he will ener-gize voters dispirited byDemocratic losses in the 2000presidential and 2002 midtermelections. His unabashed aim isto yank the party sharply to theleft as it prepares to challengePresident Bush.

“I am the only clear antiwar,anti-death penalty, anti-tax cut

candidate who is in the race,”Sharpton said after filing papersto establish an exploratory com-mittee for a presidential run.

He noted that he was the lonepotential candidate to speak inWashington Saturday at a majorrally against a possible war inIraq.

Sharpton, 48, joins a field ofpresidential hopefuls thatincludes three Democratic sena-tors — John F. Kerry ofMassachusetts, Joseph I.Lieberman of Connecticut andJohn Edwards of North Carolina— as well as former VermontGov. Howard Dean and Rep.Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri,the former House minorityleader.

In that group, only Dean hasspoken against the resolutionCongress approved last fall toauthorize Bush to use militaryforce against Iraq; the others allvoted for it.

Of his rivals for the nomina-

tion, Sharpton said: “Many ofthem are to the right ofRepublicans and they’ve beenpart of this move to the right.That has ruined the party. Wehave a bunch of elephants run-ning around that are in donkeyclothes.”

Others weighing runs for theDemocratic nomination includeSen. Bob Graham of Florida,retired Gen. Wesley Clark ofArkansas, former Sen. Gary Hartof Colorado and former Sen.Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois,who was the first black womanto serve in the Senate.

A fixture in New York politicsfor two decades, Sharpton hasbeen an unsuccessful candidatetwice for U.S. senator, in 1992and 1994, and once for New YorkCity mayor, in 1997. But he hasbeen extremely successful ingetting his views heard — oftenon matters of importance toracial and ethnic minority com-munities.

Sharpton to seek Democraticpresidential nomination

WASHINGTON (Washington Post) —Defense Secretary DonaldRumsfeld, responding to growingcriticism for recent remarksabout draftees adding “no value”to the U.S. military, offered a “fullapology” Tuesday to veteransgroups and their supporters onCapitol Hill.

“Hundreds of thousands ofmilitary draftees served over theyears with great distinction andvalor — many being woundedand still others killed,” Rumsfeldsaid in a letter sent Tuesday nightto the American Legion, VietnamVeterans of America and otherveterans organizations. “The lastthing I would want to do wouldbe to disparage the service ofthose draftees.”

Rumsfeld’s letter came inresponse to demands from thosegroups and lawmakers from bothparties angered by the defensesecretary’s comment two weeksago in response to a questionabout legislation calling for rein-stituting the draft. In his remarks,Rumsfeld said he opposed theproposal, adding that drafteesadded “no value, no advantagereally, to the United States ArmedServices over any sustained peri-od of time.”

Three leading Democrats whoserved in Vietnam, Sens. TomDaschle, D-S.D., and John Kerry,D-Mass., and Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., said in a letter to RumsfeldTuesday that “we are shocked,frankly, that you were apparentlywilling to dismiss the value of theservice of millions of Americans.”The letter asked that he apologizeto them and their families.

The Vietnam Veterans ofAmerica, the principal organiza-tion representing veterans fromthe war, also demanded an apol-ogy for what it called Rumsfeld’s“insulting” remarks. It distrib-uted audio responses from veter-ans and the mother of one serv-iceman killed in action to severalhundred radio stations across theUnited States.

RumsfeldApologizes forRemarks onDraftees

NEW YORK (Washington Post) —Gary Hart, a once and possiblefuture Democratic candidate forpresident, surveys our post-ter-ror attack nation and sees unad-dressed menace.

American ports unload 20,000uninspected cargo containersevery day. Power lines areunguarded. Local public healthsystems are an underfunded dis-aster. Overseas, 14 of the 18 topal-Qaida leaders still are at large.And President Bush talks warwhile Congress pares billions ofdollars from domestic defense.

“If I were in Bush’s shoes, I’d bescared to death,” he said. “Whenthe next attack occurs, he will bejudged very, very harshly.”

The former Colorado senator,who chairs the Council onForeign Relations’ task force onnational security, views anotherattack as a certainty. He plans tomake that stern message the cen-terpiece of another possible runfor the presidency.

Hart gave the first of fourspeeches Tuesday night — thisone on national security — that

are intended to take the tempera-ture of the 2004 presidentialwaters. His upcoming speecheswill touch on the economy andforeign policy and civic engage-ment, but national security is thethread that binds the rest. After afall campaign in which Bushlashed the Democrats as weak ondefense, Hart believes he brings aformidable and missing expertiseto the Democratic field.

Hart’s commission — whichincluded former RepublicanSecretary of State George Schultzand FBI director William Webster— released a report that predict-ed the likelihood of catastrophicterrorism nine months before theSept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.They released another report lastfall, warning that America“remains dangerously unpre-pared” and that the next attackwill “result in even greater casual-ties and widespread disruption toAmerican lives.”

The commission pointedlydeclined to use the conditionaltense in talking about the “next”attack.

Gary Hart considersanother run at presidency


WASHINGTON (Washington Post) —The Bush administration willseek $100 million to expand afledgling grants program tocurb diabetes, obesity andasthma — a strategy to copewith soaring health costs bypreventing major chronic dis-eases that account for most ofthe nation’s medical expendi-tures.

Health and Human ServicesSecretary Tommy Thompsonsaid Tuesday that the initiative,part of the budget PresidentBush is to propose to Congressin two weeks, would funnelmoney to perhaps a dozen U.S.cities that want to design cam-paigns to encourage their resi-dents to improve nutrition,exercise more and smoke less— changes proven to reducechronic ailments.

The budget being finalizedby the White House will havelittle room to ease the strain ofrising health costs on states,insurers and employers.Instead, the prevention initia-tive seeks to lower costs byattacking the root cause:unhealthy habits that con-tribute to the need for medicalcare.

“We’re not very healthy inAmerica,” Thompson said, not-ing that more than two out offive Americans have a chronicdisease and that those ailmentsare responsible for three-quar-ters of the country’s health carespending. “This is where the bigdollars are.”

In a meeting with reporters,

the health secretary also said heis working with administrationbudget officials and a few sena-tors to provide a compensationplan for medical personnel andemergency responders whosuffer complications from thesmallpox vaccine. Unions, localofficials and many publichealth experts have pressuredthe administration to create aseparate fund to cover healthcosts and lost work time attrib-uted to the vaccine, which isknown for its serious sideeffects.

“There’s some anxiety outthere, and I want this to be suc-cessful,” Thompson said, refer-ring to the vaccination cam-paign set to begin Friday. Bushhas called for inoculating up to10.5 million volunteers whocould respond to initial cases inan outbreak, and for vaccinat-ing the rest of the population ifa biological attack occurred.

Bush first proposed $25 mil-lion for the prevention grantslast year. According to HHS, theHouse has approved thatamount; the Senate has agreedto a smaller sum. Under theexpanded version, cities wouldpropose public education cam-paigns and other ways toencourage healthy habits —particularly in minority com-munities — and to trackwhether they work. HHS willhold conferences and conductexperiments with insurancecompanies to foster better cov-erage of preventive care andmonitoring of diseases.

Bush seeks money to preventchronic disease in America


WASHINGTON (Washington Post) —President Bush sought to enlistprominent economists Tuesdayin his push to enact a $674 billioneconomic growth plan, asDemocrats sharpened theirattacks on a plan they decry asineffective, expensive and unfair.

Bush huddled with 15 support-ive economists from Wall Streetand academia in the first of sever-al events planned by the adminis-tration this week to promote aplan to accelerate income tax cutsand sharply cut taxes on invest-ment dividends.

Several economists in thegroup — including the dean of theassembly, Harvard Universityeconomist Martin Feldstein —underscored one of the criticismsleveled against the plan whenthey suggested beefing up its first-year numbers to provide more ofa stimulative kick to the econo-my. But Bush said he had nointention of compromising on aplan that has gathered consider-able opposition from Democratsand a few Republicans.

“It’s a plan that’s good for allAmericans,” the president saidafter the meeting. “It is a plan thataddresses our needs, and it’s aplan that Congress needs topass.”

A senior official said Bushacknowledged to the economiststhat the possibility of war withIraq creates an uncertain busi-ness climate. But he said the costof allowing Iraqi President

Saddam Hussein to remainarmed would be higher. “The riskpremium of Saddam Husseinlaunching an attack on Americadoesn’t compare to the risk pre-mium of removing” him, Bushsaid, according to the official.

The official quoted Bush assaying he wants to get any mili-tary action over “as quickly aspossible” for security reasons.Bush added that this could have abeneficial byproduct for theeconomy, the official said.

In general, the economistsprovided the intellectual heft theWhite House was seeking, espe-cially for the plan’s centerpiece —a 10-year, $364 billion provisionto end the taxation of dividends.“I think it’s terrific,” said AllanMeltzer, a Carnegie MellonUniversity economist. “It’s ashame to see it getting lost in thepolitical muck.”

Democrats sharpened theircriticism of the plan at a SenateDemocratic Policy Committeeforum on Capitol Hill and in aspeech by Sen. Edward Kennedy,D-Mass. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., the top Democrat on theSenate Budget Committee, toldthe forum that Bush’s plan wouldkeep the federal budget in deficitfor the rest of the decade and pro-vide Americans who earn morethan $1 million a year $88,000 intax relief. Those in the middleincome bracket — earning about$27,000 to $44,000 — would get$265.

Bush seeks to enlisteconomists’ support

SINGAPORE (L.A. Times) — Theyoung Canadian immigrantfrom Kuwait seemed an out-standing prospect for member-ship in the al-Qaida terror net-work.

Not yet 20, MohammedMansour Jabarah spoke excel-lent English, held a Canadianpassport that would allow himto travel with a minimum of sus-picion, and had received topmarks at four al-Qaida-runtraining camps in Afghanistan.

In July 2001, he met withOsama bin Laden, who acceptedthe eager novice and asked himto swear an oath of loyalty to al-Qaida. Bin Laden told him he“must be ready to fight the ene-mies of Allah wherever they are,and specifically mentioned theUnited States and Jews,” Jabarahsaid later.

Enlistment in al-Qaida wasthe beginning of a saga of bombplots, secret meetings and cashdeliveries that took Jabarahfrom Afghanistan to Singaporeand the Philippines and endedwith his arrest in Oman lastMarch. Taken to Canada andthen the United States for inter-rogation, Jabarah admitted hisrole in a December 2001 plot toattack Western targets inSingapore with as many asseven suicide truck bombs,according to a confidentialintelligence document summa-rizing his confessions. A copy ofthe document was reviewed bythe Los Angeles Times.

The story of Jabarah’s eightmonths as an al-Qaida operativeprovides a rare insight into theday-to-day running of a terrorcampaign. It shows the highlevel of attention that senior al-Qaida leaders who are still atlarge pay to operational details,and their willingness to giveimportant responsibility to anuntested recruit.

Jabarah’s account to authori-ties also provides solid evidenceof the close working relation-ship between al-Qaida andJemaah Islamiah, a groupbelieved responsible for dozensof bombings across SoutheastAsia, including the Oct. 12 Baliblasts that killed nearly 200 peo-ple.

Jabarah’s job was to serve asthe intermediary between al-Qaida and Jemaah Islamiah,which also contributed men,money and explosives to theSingapore conspiracy.

The plot was foiled by author-ities in Singapore who learnedof the existence of JemaahIslamiah a few months beforethe strikes were to be carriedout. Police arrested more than adozen of the plotters and issueda worldwide alert that led toJabarah’s arrest.

Jabarah is the product of achildhood split between twoworlds — the devout life ofIslamic Kuwait and the middle-class life of a small city inOntario, Canada. Born in Kuwaitin 1982, he moved to St.Catharines with his family whenhe was 12. He lived on a quiet

street in the city of 130,000 peo-ple, which is close to NiagaraFalls and the U.S. border.

He prayed regularly at thelocal mosque with his father, aleader of the Islamic Society ofSt. Catharines.

According to his account,Jabarah was attracted to radicalIslam as a teen-ager, especiallywhen he returned to Kuwaitduring summer holidays.

After high school he traveledto Pakistan, and from there wasrecruited to attend al-Qaidatraining camps in Afghanistan,where his courses includedweapons handling, urban guer-rilla warfare, mountain warfareand sniper training.

Between sessions, he receivedreligious training in Kabul andwent to Mecca on the hajj pil-grimage.


captivate us, there are many ath-letes whose attempts at actingleave us feeling the exact oppo-site. Shaquille O’Neal may be anall-star basketball player, but hisacting ability is equal to that ofDustin Diamond in “Saved by theBell: The College Years.” RickFox’s movie was so bad I can’teven remember the name of it.But I would be myopic to notmention the stellar performancesof O.J. Simpson in the “NakedGun” series and Cam Neely’s rolein “Dumb and Dumber.”

So the next time you go rent avideo, or just download one,make it a sports movie. And praythat no sport should be subjectedto the evils of reality TV, for we allknow too well that if you build it,it will come.

Ian Cropp ’05 hails from Buffalo,N.Y., and is a political scienceconcentrator.


Cropp

Al-Qaida recruit’s saga includedmeetings, bomb plots

(L.A.Times) — Confirming a gas-tronomical trend that nutri-tionists have long suspected, anew study demonstrates thatfood portion sizes have growndramatically—a finding thatmay help to explain the grow-ing obesity levels in the UnitedStates.

The study, covering the years1977 to 1996, found that theaverage hamburger was 23 per-cent larger, an order of fries was16 percent bigger and the sizeof a soft drink had jumped 50percent.

And that was true whetheryou ate in a fast-food joint, in aclassy restaurant or in yourown kitchen, according toresearchers from the Universityof North Carolina at ChapelHill.

Although the researchers

could not establish a direct linkbetween increased portionsizes and weight gain, expertssay the results provide power-ful insight into why the inci-dence of obesity has more thandoubled since 1971, climbingfrom 14.5 percent of the popu-lation to 30.9 percent.

“Many people have thoughtthat portion sizes might be onthe rise, but until now, therehave been no empirical data todocument actual increases,”said Barry Popkin, a professorof nutrition and co-author ofthe study with graduate stu-dent Samara Joy Nielsen. “Wethink this is important infor-mation not only because itdocuments this trend, but alsobecause obesity presents agrowing health threat both inthe United States and abroad.”

Meal sizes have increaseddramatically, study finds


WASHINGTON (L.A. Times) — TheSenate on Tuesday overwhelm-ingly approved legislation toextend nationwide the Amberalert system, which enlists thepublic’s help in searching forabducted children.

The system, already in use inmore than two-thirds of thestates, has gained nationalattention for helping authori-ties rescue abducted children,including two Californiateenagers kidnapped lastAugust.

But especially in the criticalearly hours after an abduction,gaps can hamper efforts totrack down children abductedin or taken to states that do nothave a system for issuing alertson radio, television and high-way message signs.

“We have no greaterresource than our children, andwe need to see to it that we doall we can to protect them frompredators,” said Sen. OrrinHatch, R-Utah, citing the kid-napping last June of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart from herSalt Lake City home as illustra-tive of the “terrifying wave ofrecent child abductions thathas swept our nation.”

Different versions of the billwere approved by the Houseand the Senate last year, but thelegislation died when Congressadjourned before negotiatorscould reconcile their differ-ences.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., one of the bill’s chief

sponsors, said that she hopesthe “tidal wave of Senate sup-port will carry over to theHouse and we soon will have anational Amber alert law.” Themeasure was approved, 92-0.

A spokesman for Rep. F.James Sensenbrenner Jr., R-Wis., chairman of the HouseJudiciary Committee, said hisboss was pushing a “compre-hensive approach that not onlygets the word out when a childabduction occurs, but takesmeaningful steps to prevent achild abduction in the firstplace”— including a mandato-ry minimum 20-year prisonsentence.

President Bush has takensteps to expand the alert sys-tem nationwide, includingdirecting the JusticeDepartment to set standardsthat would help states deter-mine when an alert should beissued.

Attorney General JohnAshcroft announced Tuesdaythat he would seek $2.5 millionfrom Congress in the 2004 fiscalyear for training law-enforce-ment and broadcast personneland providing radio stationswith the software needed toupgrade emergency alert sys-tems.

The Senate legislation wouldauthorize $25 million in grantsfor development of Amber alertsystems.

“This bill helps fill the gapsthat exist in the current patch-work of Amber systems,” said

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, another sponsor of thebill.

The system is named forAmber Hagerman, a 9-year-oldwho was kidnapped while rid-ing her bicycle in Arlington,Texas, in 1996. Her body wasfound four days later in adrainage ditch four miles away.

Today, the system, in use in34 states and a number of com-munities and regions, has aidedin the rescue of 43 children,according to the NationalCenter for Missing andExploited Children, a nonprofitadvocacy group based inAlexandria, Va.

In 75 percent of child abduc-tion homicides, the child isdead within the first threehours, according to the center’sJoann Donnellan. “We need tojump into action quickly, getthis information out to thepublic,” she said. The alerts aregenerally used in the most seri-ous child abduction cases,when a child’s life is believed tobe in danger.

Since California first adopt-ed Amber alerts last year, thestate has issued 16 alerts andrescued 20 children.

The system gained nationalattention last August when themessage “Child Abducted” wasdisplayed on 500 freeway mes-sage signs across California,helping to rescue two AntelopeValley teenagers from their sus-pected kidnapper, who wasshot dead by police.

MEXICO CITY (L.A. Times) — A pow-erful earthquake of 7.8 magni-tude ripped across Mexico onTuesday night, killing at least 19people, shaking buildings andrattling nerves across severalwestern states and sending terri-fied residents into the streets ofthe nation’s capital.

The heaviest damage wasbelieved to have occurred in thestates of Colima, Puebla, Tlaxcalaand Jalisco, but specific reportswere hindered because phonelines were overloaded with calls.

According to the U.S.Geological Survey, the 45-secondquake was centered 30 milessouth-southeast of the seasideresort city of Manzanillo in thestate of Colima, 310 miles west ofMexico City. It was followed by anaftershock of between 3 and 4magnitude.

Nine people were killed in thestate capital, Colima, and theother 10 elsewhere in the samestate, Gov. Fernando MorenoPena said. Radio reports saidmost of the victims died whenbuildings collapsed.

Manzanillo was struck by a7.9-magnitude temblor on Oct. 9,1995, that triggered mudslides,toppled power lines and killeddozens of people. The fault sys-tem involved in that quake alsowas responsible for the 8.2-mag-nitude temblor that killed 10,000people in Mexico City on Sept.19, 1985.

“This quake is large enough tobe capable of substantial dam-

ages and casualties,” said DonBlakeman, a geophysicist withthe Geological Survey.

Mexico’s State Departmentreported that some governmentbuildings in the worst-hit areashad suffered considerable dam-age. Pedro Macias, a civil protec-tion official in the Jalisco statecapital of Guadalajara, said somebuildings in the metropolitanarea had sustained considerablecracking.

In Mexico City, the quakeswayed office buildings and frozetraffic, as workers and residentspoured into the streets clutchingpets, blankets and each other.

Tuesday’s temblor unleashedinstant memories of the devas-tating 1985 quake, and althoughno injuries were reported in thecapital, there were numerouspsychological casualties.

“It was horrible, frightening,”said Carla Medina, who works onthe 13th floor of a mid-rise officetower in the city’s historic center.“The building started to shakeback and forth. Then the alarmsounded and the electricity wentoff. The shaking was tremen-dous.”

In neighborhoods throughoutthe capital, anxious residentsmilled about on sidewalks, somesmoking, others laughing nerv-ously, still others staring up thetaller buildings for signs of dam-age.

Police cars equipped withloudspeakers roamed the streets,asking if people were OK.

7.8 magnitude earthquakekills 19 in western mexico

Senate OKs amber alert extension


WASHINGTON (L.A. Times) — Hoping to ensure that the“shoe bomber” ends his days in prison, federal prosecu-tors released new details Tuesday that show Richard C.Reid tried six times to light a bomb in his sneakers aboarda trans-Atlantic flight a year ago, and was so determinedthat he melted the end of the bomb fuse.

Prosecutors also provided fresh evidence that Reid ini-tially scouted airports and security measures for aplanned bombing of an El Al airlines flight because hewas embittered with the nation of Israel. But, prosecutorssaid, he changed his plans and targeted AmericanAirlines Flight 63 from Paris to the United States becausehe became “very angry” with the U.S. military bombingin Afghanistan.

The court documents outline Reid’s alleged embraceof the al-Qaida network and the terrorism fomentedagainst Israel and the United States by its leader, Osamabin Laden. Prosecutors noted that at the Oct. 4 plea hear-ing, for instance, that “Reid admitted that he was a mem-ber of al-Qaida, was pledged to bin Laden, was an enemyof this country, and had used the explosive device in hisshoe as an act of war.”

However, government officials have never character-ized Reid as a top soldier in the terrorist organization, butrather as a follower of the network who was so ferventthat he wanted to make his own strike against the UnitedStates.

Prosecutors on Tuesday also released the contents ofthree e-mails that Reid allegedly left behind beforeboarding the flight on Dec. 22, 2001, including a will andseparate messages to his mother and a man identifiedonly as a “brother.”

In the message to the “brother,” Reid described aneerie dream he had in which he was waiting for a ride ina pickup but when the truck came by, it was already full.Reid said he was angry and had to go later in a smallercar.

According to prosecutors, Reid told the “brother” thatthe pickup was a symbol that he was not with the air-plane hijackers who struck the World Trade Center andthe Pentagon.

“I now believe that the pickup that came first was 911as its true that i was upset at not being sent,” Reid wrote.

Reid abruptly pleaded guilty last October because hesaid he did not recognize the U.S. court system. He is tobe sentenced on Jan. 30 in Boston, where the case isbeing handled in federal court.

His federal public defenders could not be reached forcomment Tuesday .

However, his defense attorneys did say after his deci-sion to plead guilty that the 29-year-old British citizen“has no disagreement with the facts asserted in thecharges.”

The government’s sentencing memorandum, filed inBoston Friday and released publicly Tuesday, urges thatReid be sentenced to life in prison, and given no chanceat parole.

In the court papers, prosecutors added that “Reidintended and attempted to kill nearly 200 innocent per-sons, coming within moments of inflicting on some or allof them one of the most cruel and terrifying deaths imag-inable.”

They also said that “al-Qaida would have been free torepeatedly use the same devices to destroy more com-mercial aircraft.”

Prosecutors said Reid came up with the idea for abomb while scouting El Al security at various airports,noting that “security personnel did not check the insidesof his shoes.” He also considered a train bomb in Tel Aviv,Israel.

But Reid, who was born a Christian but later convert-ed to Islam, chose the United States as his intended tar-get, telling U.S. authorities after his arrest in Boston thathe was incensed over the bombing in Afghanistan.

“America is the problem; without America there wouldbe no Israel," he allegedly told investigators.” ... Americamust remove its troops from our soil and keep its noseout of our business."

Once aboard Flight 63, Reid took a window seat . Then,2 1/2 to three hours into the flight, when the plane wasover the North Atlantic and out of radio range, heremoved his ankle-high shoes.

Reid tried to light shoe bomb 6times, prosecutors say

(L.A. Times) — Ten survivors were evacuated by airTuesday from a remote lodge in the CanadianRockies, where they took refuge after an avalanchethat killed seven backcountry skiers, including achampion snowboarder and three otherAmericans.

One of the survivors, John Siebert, said the skiershad been climbing a 30-degree slope Monday after-noon when he suddenly “felt the snow settle andheard a loud crack.” Seconds later, Siebert toldCNN, he was buried up to his neck in snow as hardas concrete.

Siebert and 13 others were dug out and escapedserious injury, said Royal Canadian MountedPolice, but seven skiers, buried in up to 15 feet ofsnow, apparently suffocated.

Police identified the dead as Craig Kelly, 36, afour-time champion snowboarder from the UnitedStates who had been living in British Columbia;Dennis Yates, 50, a ski instructor from Los Angeles;Kathy Kessler, 39, an outdoorswoman and environ-mental activist from Truckee, Calif.; RalphLunsford, 49, of Littleton, Col.; Dave Finnery, 30, ofNew Westminster, British Columbia; Naomi Heffler,25, of Calgary, Alberta, and a 50-year-old man fromCanmore, Alberta, whose identity was being with-held pending notification of relatives.

Most of those who lived through the massivesnowslide were forced to spend the night on the7,000-foot mountain when thick fog groundedRCMP helicopters. Ten were flown out when theweather improved late Tuesday, but three elected toremain at the lodge, police said.

Avalanche experts were flown to the steep slopein the Selkirk Range, where conditions had beenrated hazardous on Monday. Kenny Kramer, an ava-lanche specialist at the Northwest Weather andAvalanche Center in Seattle, said Monday’s slideprobably was caused when a weak layer of snowbeneath the surface suddenly gave way.

Avalanche survivorsare evacuated fromremote ski lodge

OPINIONSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2003, 2002 · PAGE 21

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN anA-minus and a B-plus?

For nearly two semesters now, Brownstudents have been deluged with rumorsand rumblings that “pluses” and “minuses”may possibly become viable appendages toour transcript grades at some indetermi-nate point in the near or dis-tant future. There’s buzz overwhether pluses and minus willhelp to curb grade inflation(which would be a good thing)and whether it may spur cut-throat competition for topgrades (which would be a badthing). But due considerationneeds to be paid to what intrin-sic purposes, if any, can beachieved through the additionof pluses and minuses to ourgrading system. I get the feelingthat it is quaintly irrelevant totake a structuralist point ofview on the matter, but it would be nice tohear argued what subtle differences inobjective achievement can reasonably besignified by grades bearing these new mod-ifiers.

Perhaps such a behest is too much to askfrom a University where the Registrar’s Website’s “Grade Explanation” rubric recursive-ly defines a grade of A as “A,” of B as “B” andof C as “C.” The Registrar’s Office mustbelieve the whole system is rather self-explanatory. Letter grades are first and fore-most tokens of a standard academic evalu-

ation system that is implemented nation-wide, and ubiquity and familiarity canserve as a substitute for denotations thatare far less self-evident than one is indoctri-nated to believe.

Currently, when enrolling in courses,students can select one of two grading pro-

tocols: one that evaluates aca-demic performance on a four-point scale (A, B, C, NC) or onethat evaluates it on a two-pointscale (S, NC). Should a studentelect to take a course for agrade, the ABC/NC option per-mits a professor to slot thequality of acceptable work intoone of three roughly definedcategories: high level ofachievement, medium level ofachievement or just-passinglevel of achievement. Such asystem is clearly far from per-fect; a student who works hard

to obtain an average score of 88 percent onthree exams will likely get the same grade asa student whose more mediocre achieve-ment earned him an average of 81 percent.

But this four-point scale is not withoutits benefits. It nicely bridges the dividebetween courses in the sciences and thehumanities. It is a much simpler endeavorto assess a student’s grasp and applicationof concepts quantitatively in physics thanin comparative literature. When a studentearns an 86 on his physics exam, it’s areflection of answering a specific numberof questions correctly. For a professor toattach a specific numerical value to anEnglish paper has always struck me asabsurd. Can the professor clearly articulateto his class the exact disparities in quality

that rendered one paper worthy of a 93 andthe other a 92? If not, the application ofnumerical percentages is arbitrary and pre-tentious. No matter what protocol profes-sors use to measure the quality of studentwork, the Registrar’s current system forcesthem to cast their final evaluative ballotinto one of four boxes: excellent, good, fair,insufficient to pass. This reductiveapproach guarantees a level of parityamong teaching styles, course goals anddisciplines. Courses in which it is not possi-ble to pinpoint student accomplishmentwith a high level of precision are not held tothe standard of courses that can. It is a “low-est common denominator” mentality thatensures that grades maintain their overar-ching significance.

Tripling the number of different gradetypes available implicitly presupposes thatit is generally possible in all classes for pro-fessors to meaningfully classify their stu-dents on a 10-point scale, as opposed to afour-point scale. It implies that professorscan look at a series of papers, exams orprojects and make a determination in goodconscience and with confidence that thework merits an A-minus and not a B-plus,or a B-plus and not a B. It suggests that theline that separates “slightly better thangood” from “slightly worse than excellent”is just as well defined as the line that cur-rently divides “good” and “excellent.” Now,this may well be the case in a great manycourses, most of which probably rely firmlyon exams that can be mathematicallyscored. But is it appropriate to generalizefrom these instances that the inclusion ofpluses and minuses would be across-the-board useful? It undermines the entire eval-uation process to have a grading system

that pressures faculty to make distinctionsthey cannot themselves perceive, and thenencourages them to toss out pluses andminuses willy-nilly.

I suspect the underlying desire to intro-duce pluses and minuses has little to dowith whether they represent legitimate gra-dations for student assessment, and every-thing to do with Brown’s academic reputa-tion. There is a widespread perception thatpluses and minuses lend an air of legitima-cy to the imperfect science of gauging stu-dent aptitude and achievement. Pluses andminuses also have a significant impact onthe calculation of a grade point average(another standard quantitative measure ofacademic success). Although Brown doesnot formally calculate GPA, it’s an unavoid-able mainstay of the job application andresume. New Curriculum or not, Brown isan Ivy League school that purports to fur-nish its matriculants with a top-notch edu-cation and all the associated perks. For thepast few years, Brown’s reputation has beenspiraling downward: our ranking in U.S.News and World Report’s infallible annualcollege guide keeps dropping, we’re theonly Ivy whose acceptance rate rose lastyear and early admit rate rose this year anda Life Sciences building that promises tobring in streams of revenue in the form ofresearch grants and endowments still is notunderway.

The shadow of mediocrity looms promi-nently over the Brown campus, and every-one feels its presence. The push for plusesand minuses is, on some subconsciouslevel, a push to reconfigure Brown’s imageas a place that is academically challengingand fosters competition — and not theplace for tree-humping slackers.

Is a “plus” and “minus” grading system beneficial?More specificity in grading protocol comes at the expense of undesirable arbitrariness

Sanders Kleinfeld ‘03 takes many coursesS/NC because he is insecure and lazy.This is his seventh semester as a Heraldcolumnist.

SANDERS KLEINFELDHOW VERY

EDITORIAL/LETTERSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD


THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

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A N D R E W S H E E T S

S T A F F E D I T O R I A L

Activism at Brown has come a long way since the VietnamWar era. Where the campus was once alive with protests,teach-ins and walkouts throughout the buildup and hostili-ties, many of us today have adopted a grim sense ofinevitability about Iraq. “What can I do,” we ask, “against apresident and country seemingly determined to go to war?”

A sound philosophy, perhaps, if only that assessmentwere true. A Washington Post-ABC News poll released todayfinds that only half of Americans approve of PresidentGeorge W. Bush's handling of the Iraq situation, down from58 percent a month ago. The closer we come to war, thecloser opposition ideas come to the mainstream, and theharder it is to pretend everything's all right.

We applaud members of the Brown community, both stu-dents and members of Brown Faculty, Alums and StaffAgainst the War, who participated in Saturday’s antiwardemonstrations. They're ahead of the crowd.

Without a draft, it’s easier for college students to remaincontent to watch events unfold on CNN, with little sense ofurgency connected with the threat of impending war.Signing a petition, making a banner or marching in a rallyseems as futile an effort as yelling at the TV.

Though the war itself may not be a certainty, once itbegins, the true inevitabilities will quickly become clear.Senseless loss of life on all sides, threats to our civil liber-ties, a damaged economy and a dangerous precedent inU.S. foreign policy for first strike attacks will give us some-thing to protest about if we don't speak out soon.

Now — before the bloodshed begins — is the time tomake our voices heard. To let those in power know that waris not the answer to dealing with our international prob-lems, nor is it the path to re-election. To shed our label asthe apathetic, self-centered generation. And to assert our-selves on the national stage for the first time.

So don’t be apathetic. Go to the faculty and guest lecturesand educate yourself. Form an opinion and then make youropinion known. Someday soon the coming war won't be soeasy to ignore.

Pre-emptive strike

Malena Davenport, Night EditorMarc Debush, Anastasia Ali, Copy Editors

Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Zach Barter, Hannah Bascom, Carla Blumenkranz, Dylan Brown,Danielle Cerny, Philissa Cramer, Ian Cropp, Maria Di Mento, Bamboo Dong, Jonathan Ellis,Nicholas Foley, Dana Goldstein, Alan Gordon, Nick Gourevitch, Joanna Grossman, StephanieHarris, Shara Hegde, Anna Henderson, Momoko Hirose, Akshay Krishnan, Brent Lang, Hanyen Lee,Jamay Liu, Allison Lombardo, Lisa Mandle, Jermaine Matheson, Jonathan Meachin, MoniqueMeneses, Alicia Mullin, Crystal Z.Y. Ng, Joanne Park, Sara Perkins, Melissa Perlman, Eric Perlmutter,Samantha Plesser, Cassie Ramirez, Lily Rayman-Read, Zoe Ripple, Amy Ruddle, Emir Senturk, JenSopchockchai, Adam Stella, Adam Stern, Stefan Talman, Chloe Thompson, Jonathon Thompson,Joshua Troy, Juliette Wallack, Jessica Weisberg, Ellen Wernecke, Ben Wiseman, Xiyun Yang, BrettZarda, Julia ZuckermanPagination Staff Jessica Chan, Melissa Epstein, Joshua Gootzeit, Caroline Healy, Hana Kwan,Erika Litvin, Stacy WongCopy Editors Anastasia Ali, Yafang Deng, Hanne Eisenfeld, Emily Flier, George Haws, ElizaKatz, Blair Nelsen, Amy Ruddle, Janis Sethness

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Newspapers are flawed, sensationalized, ofteninherently biased, yet absolutely necessary in a freesociety. Good journalism can bring previouslyignored issues to the surface and mobilize themasses. At the Herald, we hope to play our small —but valuable — part in fostering meaningful debate.

A student-run organization is always plagued bythe limitations of time, experience and money.Nonetheless, The Herald’s 113th editorial board willstrive to bring clear, accurate and balanced news toour readers and be honest about our mistakes. AsBrown’s newspaper of record, we’re dedicated togetting the facts straight. Through our expandedbeat system, we hope to make our coverage moreaccurate and more complete.

We strive for professionalism because we knowthat media can shape public opinion and that deci-sion makers often look to The Herald to gauge sen-timents on campus. As a result, we feel a strong

responsibility to continue the Herald’s legacy as avehicle for campus debate, through its opinionscolumns, letters to the editor and online forums.

We are proud of our financial, and thus, editori-al, independence from the University, but we alsoembrace our mission to serve the Brown communi-ty. Brown is a diverse institution and we hope toreflect that diversity in our pages. But this cannot beaccomplished without outside cooperation andinput. Write us letters. Submit columns. Call us toexpress your concerns. We will gladly consider yoursuggestions and always remain open to criticism.

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OPINIONSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2003, 2002 · PAGE 23

Race under fire: affirmative action at U. Michigan

RACE MATTERS. OR DOES IT? THERE ISno more controversial issue in our societytoday than affirmative action. It is at leastas controversial as abortion and the deathpenalty, if not more so. In fact, probablythe most confusing part about affirmativeaction is defining what we areall arguing about. Is it blackversus white? Poor versus rich?Historically oppressed versushistorically oppressive?

To me, it is not directlyabout any of those things. It isabout individual equalitybefore the law versus a legiti-mate public interest in diversi-ty only the government canregulate. This March, theSupreme Court will determinewhether the governmentindeed has such an interest inpromoting diversity. If itdecides government does have that inter-est, the outstanding litigation chargesagainst the University of Michigan will beproven false. Unless, of course, it can beproven on different grounds that theMichigan system is indeed a quota system,as President Bush has suggested, and doesnot comply with the Bakke v. University ofCalifornia Regents case that struck downracial quotas in state admissions policies aquarter century ago. Let us, therefore,examine the University of Michigan case.

The University of Michigan undergradu-ate admissions system is based on a 150-point scale, 110 of which relate to an appli-cant’s high school academic record. While amere 12 points are additionally awarded fora perfect SAT score, a fat 20-point bonus isgiven to students of “underrepresentedminorities,, which include African-Americans and Hispanics, for example, but

exclude Asian Americans. Defenders of theMichigan system point out that race is butone factor in the admissions process, andthat bonus points are also awarded for stateresidency and to sons and daughters ofalumni. President Bush has argued this is

not compliant with the Bakkecase. In my opinion, because itdoes not specifically reserveseats for students of color butmerely considers it as a factor,this is not a quota system andcannot be struck down onthose terms. Therefore, anylegal objections to theUniversity of Michigan systemshould be directed to the issueof racial preference, not quotas.Using an anti-quota smokescreen to object to an issueclearly about race further com-plicates the dilemma in the

public eye.While the University of Michigan

undergraduate case clearly seems to beabout the racial diversity versus individualequality argument, the Michigan LawSchool case directly relates to the Bakkecase. The law school case, which sets asidea “critical mass” of minority applicants ineach first year class, does implicitly whatthe Bakke case did explicitly: reserve a cer-tain percentage of the class for minoritystudents. The implications of the reversalof this case are staggering: University ofMichigan Law School admissions reportsthat some 900 white and Asian applicantsfall into their top bracket of highest under-graduate GPAs and law board scores, whileonly 35 “underrepresented minority”applicants do. Furthermore, using the cur-rent system, a consistent 12 to 14 percentof the minority students fill the first yearclass every year despite the heavily unbal-anced applicant numbers. This hasprompted liberal critics to point out thatthe elimination of the racial preferenceadmissions program for the law school

would bring the percentage of enrolledfirst year African American students tobelow three percent. Thus, the conse-quences of this forthcoming SupremeCourt case in January are real.

While Bush has condemned theMichigan system as “impossible to squarewith the constitution,” he nonethelessclaims, “I support diversity of all kinds,including racial diversity in higher educa-tion.” His alternative approach, which heimplemented as governor of Texas, is theso-called “affirmative access” program.This program does not rely on racial pref-erence policies per se but allows all Texashigh school students that graduate in thetop 10 percent of their class to enroll in theUniversity of Texas state schools.

Bush’s approach, however, has its ownproblems. Since its implementation, crit-ics have explained that the quality ofapplicants has dropped dramaticallybecause it considers the high school rankfactor alone, ignoring extracurricularactivities, standardized test scores, gradepoint averages or teacher recommenda-tions. The number of minority students atthe University of Texas at Austin, the flag-ship school in the University of Texas sys-tem, has also dropped significantly.Former University of Michigan PresidentLee Bollinger (now president of ColumbiaUniversity) has pointed out that “the per-centage solutions have a lot of characteris-tics as a quota.” In fact, many pseudo-Bush plans may also be vulnerable to thesame constitutional attacks as theMichigan plans. Therefore, I have con-cluded that as a public policy measure, theBush alternative is no better.

This leads us to the critical junction Imentioned at the beginning of this article:Does race still matter? Conservatives pointout that if we continue to promote racialpreference policies, we are inherentlyimplying on some deep philosophicallevel that race does matter and as long aswe contend that, they argue, we will never

escape into an egalitarian society thatevaluates people solely on non-racial fac-tors. That a certain underrepresentedracial group has “special value” seems oddfor an egalitarian system, they contend. Iunderstand these valuable objections tothe admissions process, because theyseem to violate some of the liberal princi-ples that our Constitution is based on.

Contrary to other liberals, I find the useof affirmative action as a means of alleviat-ing racism to be somewhat misguidedbecause I do not think this program direct-ly addresses it. Racism is real and wrong,but affirmative action does not address it.Furthermore, the use of affirmative actionas a kind of slavery reparation or paymentof past wrongdoings is a dubious distinc-tion that does not translate to today’s soci-ety. However, the use of affirmative actionto achieve a stronger marketplace ofdiverse ideas that is of mutual benefit to allstudents may be worth considering.

Diversity is a legitimate goal for oursociety because diversity of opinions is thebest way to inform the general populace ofwhat other people think. Regardless ofone’s own opinions, alternate points ofview allow students to examine their ownviews in a new light. The racial componentof diversity is one factor among many, andwhile it may seem an arbitrary one that attimes can divide us, it is possibly the singlebest way to preserve a diverse studentbody that is of benefit to an entire colle-giate community.

The Supreme Court will have to decide ifthe state has a legitimate interest in ensur-ing diversity through affirmative actionprograms at the expense of equality. Theuse of race as a formal admissions criterionseems a dubious, murky distinction for meto consider philosophically. But from apublic policy standpoint, my heart tells methat something intrinsically very valuablewill be lost if the use of race as an admis-sions criterion in state-funded higher edu-cation is eliminated by a court order.

Schuyler von Oeyen ’05 is looking forfriends to sled down College Hill with himwhen the next big snow storm comes.

SCHUYLER VONOEYEN

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED

Constitutionality of racial preference programs still in question, but Bush alternative is no better

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BY JOSHUA TROYWhile the majority of the Universityenjoyed a four-week vacation and theopportunity to spend time with friends,family and the rigors of daytime televi-sion, Brown athletes were hard at workpracticing and competing. Instead of amonth-long break, these athletes spenttime training for the chance to win indi-vidual, league and conference champi-onships. As a result of their efforts, sev-eral athletes garnered individual acco-lades last week, with Earl Hunt ’03 andTanara Golston ’04 earning Ivy LeaguePlayer of the Week and Sarah Hayes ’06and Keaton Zucker ’06 winning Rookieof the Week in their respective sports.

Hunt received recognition as theleague’s player of the week for leadingthe men’s basketball team (6-9, 1-0) tovictories over New Hampshire, 93-76,and Yale, 78-66. He was the top scorer inboth games and totaled 58 pointsbetween the two, 32 of which helpedlead the Bears to a win over the Bulldogsin their league opener. The scoring effortalso moved him into eighth place on theleague’s career scoring list with 1,780total points.

This was the second time in threeweeks that Hunt earned the honor and,since the start of break, he has averaged26.3 points per game. Currently leadingthe league in scoring average, he hopesto echo his past play and lead the Bearsto victory when they play host to Yale onFriday at 7 p.m. at the Pizzitola Center.

Golston and Hayes received honorsfor their parts in helping the women’sbasketball team (7-7, 1-0) to wins overIona, 66-41, and Yale, 84-77. Against Yale,Golston notched her first double-doubleof the season with 18 points and 10assists. This came after a 20-point, eight-assist performance against Iona. For theseason, she is ninth in the league inpoints per game and leads the league inassists per game.

Hayes pulled down Ivy League Rookieof the Week honors for the second timethis season in recognition of her double-double against the Bulldogs, 15 points

and 10 rebounds, and her 12 points andfour steals against Iona. As a freshman,she is currently tied for first on the teamin steals, second on the team inrebounds and second on the team inassists. Hayes and Golston will return toaction, along with the rest of the team, ina rematch against Yale on Saturday at 2p.m. at the Pizzitola Center.

Zucker, a member of the women’shockey team, was named ECAC Rookieof the Week following a five-point per-formance in a two-game homestandagainst St. Lawrence. Heading into thegame, St. Lawrence was ranked sixth inthe nation and Zucker’s three-goal, two-

assist effort helped Bruno pull out a winand a tie last Friday and Saturday. Shetallied the game-winning goal in Friday’s4-3 win and scored the game-tying goalon Saturday with under three minutes toplay in the game.

As a result of her recent hot-streak,she sits fourth on the team in goalsscored. She will not have a chance to addto her total until Feb. 1 when the Bearsare next in action on the road against theUniversity of Connecticut.

Sports staff writer Joshua Troy ’04 is thesenior sports editor. He can be reached [email protected].

SPORTS WEDNESDAYTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

JANUARY 22, 2003 · PAGE 24

Two thumbs upfor sports flicks

Hunt / Herald

Earl Hunt ’03 (above) was one of four Brown athletesto be recognized by the IvyLeague and ECAC for their outstanding athletic achievments in the past week.

Gymnastics, skiing end winter breakwith wins in seperate competitions

While teams rack up wins, athletesbring in league, conference honors

1,780With 32 points against Yale onSaturday, Earl Hunt ’03 moved intoeighth place on the Ivy League’s all-time points scored list with 1,780points. Hunt needs 17 points takeover seventh place from DonFleming of Harvard.

THE HUNT IS ON

BY IAN CROPPThink back to the last time you saw a goodmovie. Chances are it wasn’t a movie withShaquille O’Neal, although I could bewrong. Movies and sports have been formsof entertainment for a long time, and oftenthe silver screen converges with the fields

to form a ratherquality mix.

Some of the bestmovies have beenabout sports, and forgood reason. Sportsare a large part ofour culture, and,accordingly, sportsmovies also play arole in cinema. Theyinspire. They enter-tain. They teach. Thelist of great sportsmovies is endless

and diverse. From “Hoosiers” to “AnyGiven Sunday,” we will never tire of watch-ing high school kids or pros play to win, orjust play to play.

Who hasn’t wanted to try out for thefootball team after watching “Rudy”? Imean, when Rudy is carried out on theshoulders of the Irish, no matter how hardI try, I can’t stop the tears from rollingdown my cheeks. Watching a dramaticsports movie is what pumps bloodthrough your veins. It’s the all mighty feel-ing that one gets when reaching theepiphany of a Bon Jovi power ballad.

Though not quite as graphic or as sad as“American History X,” “Remember theTitans” did a good job of portraying racismwhile providing a true story. BrendanFraser and the rest of the cast of “SchoolTies” also provided a moving perform-ance. Tom Hanks may not have been thehero, but he definitely mixed well withGeena Davis, Rosie O’Donnell andMadonna in “A League of Their Own.”

While I have no actual numbers to backme up, I’m willing to bet that more peoplehave seen “Happy Gilmore” than “CitizenKane.” Don’t get me wrong, I think OrsonWelles is great, but I will never grow tiredof watching Adam Sandler beat up BobBarker or Ben Stiller being troubled for awarm glass of “shut the hell up.”

OK, for every good sports movie, theremay in fact be one “Dude, Where’s My Car”or “Freddy Got Fingered.” Kevin Bacon hasbeen in some great movies, but it’s safe tosay that “The Air Up There” was madesolely for the purpose of adding anothermillion people to his six degrees of separa-tion. Any Jon Voigt movie is completelyawful. There, I said it. I could chastiseDisney for making some movies that arecheesier than the state of Wisconsin, but“The Mighty Ducks” exonerates Disneyfrom all its faults — all except for one ofthe greatest cinematic travesties of alltime: casting Shaq in the movie “Kazaam.”

As much as sports movies inspire and

IAN CROPPKINDERGARTEN

CROPP

see CROPP, page 17

BY NICK GOUREVITCHBoth the women’s skiing team and thegymnastics squad were in action over theweekend. It was the ski team’s first compe-tition of the season, while gymnasticshosted its first meet of the year.

Women’s SkiingThe women’s skiing team traveled to

Berkshire East in Greenfield, Mass., for itsseason-opening carnival, hosted byUniversity of Massachusetts at Amherstand Smith College. The Bears came in fifthplace in the slalom with the third, fourthand fifth places being decided by less thana second and a half.

Brown was led by Captain and three-time All-American Doria DiBona ’03 whorecorded an eighth place finish closely fol-lowed by Molly Sheinberg ’04 in ninthplace. Adrienne Jones ’03 placed 17th.

The freshman class showed its skillsgrabbing 16th, 18th and 21st place finishesin the slalom. Stephanie Breakstone ’06led the rookie class coming in 16th asHilary Swaffield ’06 grabbed 18th andCaitlin Stanton ’06 finished 21st.

The Bears then went on to compete in

the giant slalom where they place secondbehind UMass. Brown was once again ledby DiBona who came in third place andSheinberg who raced her way to a ninthplace finish. Jones grabbed her second top20 finish of the day, coming in 19th.

The freshman trio of Stanton, 13th,Swaffield, 14th, and Breakstone, 15th,helped the Bears record five skiers in thetop 15. This is the first time that five Brownskiers have come in the top 15 in Brownskiing history.

“I am really excited to see what happensand where this team takes the level ofBrown skiing,” Head Coach KarenFinocchio told Brown Sports Informationon the improvement of her team’s level ofplay.

The Bears will continue action thisweekend at the Plymouth State Carnival inWaterville Valley, N.H.

GymnasticsThe gymnastics team improved its recordto 2-4 on the season with a 183.875-175.8victory over Springfield, falling to Yale inthe same meet by a score of 186.8-183.875.

Jayne Finst ’04 led the way, tying for first inthe individual all-around with a memberof the Yale squad.

Finst took third on the vault with a 9.5,behind two Bulldogs, while winning thebars competition with a 9.625. In addition,Gina Verge ’04 placed on the bars, takingthird place with a 9.55.

Finst also won the beam competitionwith a 9.625, while Verge took fourth with a9.55. Finst took second on the floor exer-cise with a 9.625, while Melissa Forziat ’05claimed fourth with a 9.55.

The all-around competition went toFinst and Kathryn Fong of Yale, who eachscored a 38.425. Verge took third in the all-around with a 37.25.

The Bears continue action on Sunday,Jan. 26, hosting Alaska and SouthernConnecticut at 12 p.m. in the PizzitolaCenter.

— With reports from Brown SportsInformation

Herald staff writer Nick Gourevitch ’03edits the Sports section. He can be reachedat [email protected].

Wednesday, January 22, 2003

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