thursday, february 20, 2003
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The February 20, 2003 issue of the Brown Daily HeraldTRANSCRIPT
THE BROWN DAILY HERALDAn independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
F E B R U A R Y 2 0 , 2 0 0 3
Volume CXXXVIII, No. 20 www.browndailyherald.com
T H U R S D A Y
I N S I D E T H U R S D AY, F E B RUA RY 2 0 , 2 0 0 3 TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T
sunnyhigh 40
low 23
BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZFamily, friends and teachers gath-ered Wednesday to celebrate the lifeof Sarah Lamendola ’04, a studentwho “was able to be that two-feettall little kid just as she was develop-ing into this beautiful youngwoman,” said her mother, AleneLamendola, at the memorial servicein Sayles Hall.
Sarah Lamendola constantlyimpressed her faculty advisor, KarenFischer, associate professor of geo-logical sciences, with her exception-al self-confidence, Fischer said.Even when preparing to fly halfwayaround the world for a semester inNew Zealand, Lamendola felt “nodoubts or anxiety, just happinessand anticipation,” Fischer said.
“If Sarah were here today, I amsure she would tell us all to go outand seize the world,” said Sara Read’04, a friend of Lamendola. “She wasnever scared of living her life.”
Harry Siple ’04 met Lamendola atA Day On College Hill and, eversince, his experience at Brown hasbeen colored by the “crazy, magnet-ic pull of her personality,” he said.
Making up names for everythingfrom Kermit the car to Abraham thefinger puppet, Lamendola “drewyou into her world, and the nextthing you knew, you’d find yourselftalking about Kermit and Abraham,”Siple said.
Lamendola was just as famousfor her perpetual optimism, friendssaid. “I’ve got an idea: Go blow bub-bles on the Main Green and eat lotsof ice cream,” she wrote in an e-maillast summer to cheer up KerryMiller ’04, Herald executive editor.
“I remember thinking, ‘It’s justnot fair. How can she be so happy?’”Miller said. Now, she said sheunderstands what Lamendolameant — that there are “so manythings in life worth experiencingand appreciating and being happyabout.”
Photographs showed Lamendolafollowing her own advice, blowingbubbles on the Main Green, eatingice cream with zeal and laughing,smiling and making faces in thehalls of her freshman unit. Friendsand family members received bub-ble solution and wands with theirprograms and picked up Ben andJerry’s ice cream bars in the foyer.
In remembrances they passed upto the front of Sayles to be readaloud, friends and family testifiedthat Lamendola “rocked my socks,literally,” acted like “living catnip,”making everyone happy all the timeand “made me feel special in a wayno one else has.”
Lamendola “had the capacity toget you excited about life on a daily
This weekend’s Corporation retreatwill focus on extending PresidentRuth Simmons’ academic enrich-ment program, said Secretary of theUniversity Russell Carey.
The Corporation, a group of 42trustees and 12 fellows that directsthe University’s academic and finan-cial initiatives, meets three times ayear in October, February and May,Carey said. The February meetingusually examines the University’sbudget, including its tuition andfees, Carey said.
Typically, the standing commit-tees of the Corporation, which dealwith specific aspects of theUniversity’s organization such asathletics and investment of theendowment, meet individually,Carey said. He said a business meet-ing usually is held on one day of eachCorporation meeting.
But rather than convening theCorporation’s standing committeesseparately, Simmons has chosen tohold the meeting in a retreat format,with the Corporation as a wholecoming together on Friday, Careysaid.
“You need different formats fordifferent agendas,” Carey said.
He said the retreat format isappropriate for the goal of February’smeeting — to continue crafting an“ambitious plan” for Brown’s evolu-tion in the next decade.
“The academic plans and futuredirection of the University are broadenough that they cut across commit-tees,” Carey said.
—Philissa Cramer
Cassie Ramirez / Herald
BUILDING THE DREAMTeamwork and a ladder were required to fashion a massive snowman — or perhaps, snow beast — on the Main Green Wednesday.
BY DANIELLE CERNYSupporters and opponents of war withIraq sounded off against each other in aloosely-formatted debate Wednesdaynight designed to address the concerns ofa divided campus over an impending war.
Hosted by Brown’s Debate Union, YoungAmericans for Freedom and theInternational Socialist Organization, thedebate showcased six Brown studentdebaters, three antiwar and three pro-war.Both sides were allowed five minutes tomake their original arguments, whichwere followed by brief rebuttals, and con-cluded with alternating questions fromthe two views. A forum was later opened toaudience questions.
President of the Debate Union BrookesBrown ’04 proctored the event. “Too oftenBrown is accused of being a place wherenot all views are represented,” she said. “Itis important that we recognize the diversi-ty of ideas on Brown’s campus.”
The pro-war debate team was com-prised of Joseph Lisska ’04, Joshua Marcus’04 and Ari Gerstman ’05. Arguing againstthe war were Shaun Joseph ’03, StephenBeale ’04 and Sasha Rosenthal ’04.
Joseph gave the opening statement forthe antiwar proponents, which centeredon the lack of public support for war, thedevastation Iraq would endure as a resultof a U.S. attack and the human cost of war.
“The U.S. has no plans of instilling ademocracy after war. What they have is ashock and awe plan. This is a terrorist pol-icy beyond the most twisted dreams ofSaddam Hussein,” Joseph said.
The pro-war advocates, first represent-ed by Marcus, molded their argumentaround the consequences of not going towar — the horrific acts Hussein has takenagainst his own people and the need to
reinforce the validity of the UnitedNations.
“None of the debaters are in disagree-ment that Saddam is evil. The question ishas he gone against the U.N. enough towarrant an attack. Yes, no question aboutit,” Marcus said.
“We’ve let a lot of middle fingers fromSaddam slide,” he said. “Are we willing towait for the final straw that breaks thecamel’s back? Are we going to wait forSaddam to launch his own war that couldkill five million people?” Marcus asked.
The two sides remained sharply dividedthroughout the debate about what did anddid not legitimize the need for war andabout the existence of possible alternatesolutions.
Gerstman said the need for war boileddown to how long we would allow Husseinto violate U.N. requests and potentiallybuild up an arsenal of nuclear weapons.The pro-war side also acknowledged therole oil plays in the motivation for action.
“Even if all our interests in the MiddleEast were about oil, let’s at least get somegood out of it and liberate the people ofIraq in the process,” Gerstman said.
Ultimately, the antiwar advocatesstressed the illegitimacy of an unprovokedattack that was not, Rosenthal said, a mat-ter of protecting the United States, but wassimply an act of revenge by an administra-tion with hidden agendas.
In the pro-war group’s final statements,Gerstman said “evil happens when goodpeople sit back and do nothing.”
Smitha Khorana ’06 was disappointedby what she said was a lack of passionfrom the debaters. “I thought it was reallygood that both sides were represented
Friends, familycelebrate lifeof Lamendola
Corp. meetingthis weekend Students debate Iraq war
see MEMORIAL, page 4see DEBATE, page 4
Brown First programdoesn’t hurt localbusinesses as much asexpectedpage 3
ResCouncil approvesArt House and Inter-faith House as BottegaHouse disbandspage 3
Grad students ineducation practiceteaching at localschools like Wheeler page 3
Poli Sci Prof. AlanZuckerman examinesBush’s reasons forwar with Iraqguest column, page 11
Hockey teams looktoward playoffs, aswrestling falters infinal home matchessports, page 12
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003 · PAGE 2
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Coup de Grace Grace Farris rocks biochemistry
A Story Of Eddie Ahn
My Best Effort Will Newman and Andy Hull
M E N U S
Pornucopia Eli Swiney
Survival & Reproduction Ross Loomis
ACROSS1 Columnist
Hopper6 Subside11 1860s nickname14 Really dug15 Nocturnal fliers16 Auction action17 Part of a
collection18 Soothing
succulents19 Seasonal
beverage20 Jimi Hendrix
classic22 Beach area23 Helpful contacts24 Aced26 Hit lightly30 Frost lines32 Renters, e.g.33 1976 Ron
Howard film37 Poi, essentially38 Bug39 Once again40 Cheech and
Chong movie42 Rocket fuel
component,briefly
43 Silly44 Light craft45 Grow distant48 “__ Love You”49 Dedicated50 This puzzle’s title57 Boring
accessory58 Type of acid
used in anemiatreatment
59 It can precede orfollow “to be”
60 Motel freebie61 Sawyer of
“Primetime Live”62 Bender63 62-Across
consequence,maybe
64 “See ya”65 Steel girder
DOWN 1 Cellar door
device2 Caesar’s closer3 Beloved
4 Refuseconvenience
5 Puts on6 Eastern nurses7 Gaucho’s gadget8 It covers
everything9 Them10 Snowstorm
starter?11 Repeal12 Kentucky’s
northernmostcounty
13 Advanced withcare
21 Terminate22 Scorn25 “Lilacs” poet
Lowell26 “Coppelia”
costume27 On the double28 Gilpin of “Frasier”29 Like forks30 Hanky
attachment31 Early Nebraskan33 Son of Seth34 “I will sing __ the
Lord...”: Exodus35 Withered
36 Terrible year?38 Like some basic
organisms41 Grass section42 Capital east of
Lake Victoria44 CBS forensic
drama45 Zealous and
then some46 Throw out47 Quotes
48 Showsimpatience, in away
51 Jai __52 The Flintstones’
pet53 Minute quantity54 Author Rice55 Exercise
discipline56 Check58 Rx overseer
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M O L A R S N A P E M A GE N O C H C O S T G A V EA T T H E D R O P O F A H A TN O T E B O O K M I D R I B
O R D T A N E L YQ U I C K A S A W I N KU N C A S M I N E D A MI T O R B E T T E D I V AT O N E E C O A G A I N
W I T H O U T D E L A YA M U O H O N O SK A L I N E A R M O R I E SI N T H E S A M E B R E A T HT O R O D I B S B U T T EA R A P A L I T S P E A K
By Nancy Kavanaugh(c)2003 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
02/20/03
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C R O S S W O R D
COLLOQUIUM— “The Role of Spiritual Development for CollegeStudents,” Margaret Jablonski, Brown, Center for the Study of HumanDevelopment. Room 241, CIT, noon.
LECTURE—“Lowest-low Fertility in Europe During the 1990s,” Hans-PeterKohler, University of Pennsylvania, Population Studies and Training Center .Zimmer Lounge, Maxcy Hall, noon.
WORKSHOP—“Black Women and Relationships: Self Image, Choice, andSocial Construction,” Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Room 103, Wilson Hall, 6p.m.
THEATER—“Senior Director’s Showcase: Valparaiso,” by Don DeLillo, direct-ed by Benjamin Sugar ‘03, Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance.Leeds Theatre, 8 p.m.
C A L E N D A R
G R A P H I C S B Y T E D W U
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TODAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY
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THE RATTYLUNCH — Vegetarian Six Bean Soup, Kale & LinguicaSoup, Chicken Parmesan Grinder, Vegetable Strudel,Mixed Vegetables Creole, Cherry Tarts
DINNER — Vegetarian Six Bean Soup, Kale & LinguicaSoup, Beef & Broccoli Szechwan, Cajun Baked Fish, BakedMacaroni & Cheese, Sticky Rice, Fresh Sliced Carrots, StirFry Vegetable Medley, Cheese Biscuit Bread, ChocolateCinnamon Cake Roll
V-DUBLUNCH — Vegetarian Garlic Soup, Egg Drop & ChickenSoup, Chicken Cutlet on a Bun, Vegan Tofu Raviolis withSauce, Creole Mixed Vegetables, Cherry Tarts
DINNER — Vegetarian Garlic Soup, Egg Drop & ChickenSoup, Beef Pot Pie,Vegan Ratatouille,Vegan Rice Pilaf,Fresh Sliced Carrots, Mandarin Blend Vegetables, CheeseBiscuit Bread, Chocolate Cinnamon Cake Roll
CAMPUS NEWSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003 · PAGE 3
BY MERYL ROTHSTEINChaos abounds in Charlie Laurent’s thirdgrade classroom at The Wheeler School aseight-year-olds scramble for their work-books and fidget in their seats. Slowly butsurely the noise dies down as Kate GeierGS, a student in Brown’s Master of Arts inTeaching program, says “thank you” toeach of the quiet students.
The 12-month MAT program consists ofeducation in both elementary and second-ary teaching. The program in elementaryeducation includes courses taught atBrown as well as three clinical experiencesteaching at a summer academic program, aProvidence public school and the WheelerSchool or the Hamilton School at Wheeler— a program for children with language-based learning difficulties.
Geier, like other students in the pro-gram, serves as a classroom teacher withthe assistance of a mentor like Laurent.
Although multiple elementary schoolsare involved in the MAT program,Wheeler’s “privileged educational commu-nity” plays an integral role in the program’smission, said Lecturer and ClinicalProfessor of Elementary Education PollyUlichny.
“The focus of our program is to trainteachers to work for the schools with theneediest kids,” Ulichny said. The hope isthat the MAT students will learn “whatmakes Wheeler such an excellent educa-tional experience and how you can takethat into public schools.”
Jeanette Epstein, director of the MATprogram at Wheeler, said the jointBrown/Wheeler program encouragesteachers to commit to local schools, anissue of great importance, particularly insuch a small state. Epstein, who is also anadjunct lecturer at Brown, said, “All kidsdeserve great teachers.
“There is a wealth of expertise” betweenWheeler, Brown and the local publicschools, she said. “Why isn’t this a wonder-ful thing to do?”
Geier, who taught in a first grade class-room at Bailey Elementary School in South
BY EMIR SENTURKWith less than a week before the nextmeeting of the College CurriculumCouncil, the University’s grading systemremains undecided.
On Feb. 25, the CCC will continue itsdiscussion of the grading policy and willlikely reach a decision on whether to sug-gest the proposal of adding pluses andminuses to the faculty. Nearly 82 percentof the faculty support the change, accord-ing to a survey conducted by the HarrietW. Sheridan Center for Teaching andLearning last year.
The Sheridan Center conducted thereport in an attempt to gauge the extent ofgrade inflation at Brown, given its uniquegrading system.
“Grades at Brown are being com-
pressed into the A range by a variety ofdynamics, but that more A’s are beingassigned over the last 10 years is undeni-able if you look at the Office ofInstitutional Research Reports,” said SeanYom ’03, one of the student members ofthe CCC.
Associate Professor of PhilosophyBernard Reginster, who chaired theSheridan Center survey on grade inflationand the Brown grading system nearly ayear ago, attributes grade inflation not somuch to the internal workings of an insti-tution like Brown, but to the pressuresapplied by the outside world.
“Internally, you want to be able to assistthe students in the process of learning. Onthe other hand, you don’t want to damagetheir prospects in the job market or pro-
fessional schools,” Reginster said.Sixty percent of faculty surveyed by the
Sheridan Center said they felt pressure toinflate grades, with 45 percent namingBrown’s grading system as the primaryreason and 30 percent citing competitionfor graduate school and employment.
“Ironically, when seeking to preventstudents from being hurt by transcriptsthat reflect lower-than-deserved grades,some instructors unfairly end up reward-ing the very same students with higher-than-deserved grades,” the report read.
“The C is getting phased out of exis-tence. Really, the only three grades youhave at Brown are A, B and NC,” Reginsteradded.
BY SARA PERKINSBottega House, a four-year-old programhouse dedicated to creative expression,will disband at the end of the semester,due to the lack of interest of currentmembers, according to house leadersand members of Residential Council.
According to Residential Life rules, atleast one-third of program house mem-bers must return in order for the house toreceive ResCouncil approval. Bottegahead Yasmine Soliman ’04 informed thecouncil on Feb. 11 that the house, cur-rently located in Olney House, cannotmeet this threshold for the comingsemester.
Last March, The Herald reportedBottega had added 18 new members, butthe combination of graduating seniors,rising seniors moving off-campus, risingjuniors going abroad and students takingtime off means the house does not havethe necessary number of returning mem-bers
“It was working really well first semes-ter,” Soliman said. “Then out of the blue,many people decided they were going totake time off.”
Noreen Cipriano ’04 said she was“saddened by the fact that they hadn’tadvertised they were disbanding,” as shehad considered Bottega an option.
Bottega held three events last fall, all of
which house member Erika Litvin ’03described as successful and well-attend-ed. In addition to their fourth annual fin-ger-painting event on the Main Green,they sponsored pumpkin carving and a“Fire and Ice Cream” study break.
But as Bottega House disbands, twonew program houses, Interfaith Houseand Art House, are slated to join the ros-ter program houses in the coming semes-ter.
Interfaith House “aims to create a safespace at Brown to foster discussion,understanding and inter-religious dia-logue” for both those with a religiousbackground and those without, accord-ing to its charter.
Created by Matt Hamilton ’05, Heraldcontributing writer Julian Leichty ’06 andSushil Jacob ’05 with University ChaplainJanet Cooper Nelson, the house will hosta variety of faith-related events, includ-ing “amateur theology” and interfaithprayer and meditation meetings.
Although a spiritual successor toBottega House, Art House plans to placespecial emphasis on building the artcommunity at Brown and strengtheningits connections to Providence artists,Candace Toth ’05 said.
Toth said the relatively small size of
BY ZACH BARTERThe University’s new Brown First policyhas had a varying but largely marginalimpact on area businesses, according toseveral College Hill vendors, dispellingfears of a broader decline as the policytakes effect.
The policy requires student groupsand departments to use UniversityFood Services and Graphic Servicesbefore contracting with outside ven-dors. The policy first began to takeeffect early last semester.
Brian Austin, manager of MeetingStreet Cafe, which has catered lunchesfor several University departments, saidinitial reservations he had held aboutthe policy proved to be unfounded.
“It sounded rather absolute at first,”Austin said. “We thought that a lot oforders wouldn’t materialize, but forwhatever reason those orders have con-tinued to come in.”
Despite the lagging economy, theslight decrease in orders caused byBrown First is not significantly hamper-
Brown First haslittle impact onlocal business
Bottega house disbandsMAT programhelps studentslearn teaching
Arguments still on the table for University grading policy
see BROWN FIRST, page 5see BOTTEGA, page 7
see MAT, page 4 see GRADES, page 6
PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003
basis,” said Jessica Purmort’04, turning to the inscriptionof a book that Lamendolagave her last year.
“Live life like always andnever before at the sametime,” Lamendola wrote toher friend on the flyleaf.“Earth is a beautiful place ...be happy. Love, Sarahla.”
About 100 people attendedthe service, includingPresident Ruth Simmons.Lamendola died unexpected-ly from pulmonary throm-bolembolis in her dorm roomtwo weeks ago.
Herald staff writer CarlaBlumenkranz ’05 can be reachedat [email protected].
continued from page 1
Memorial
Providence last semester, said shenoticed a number of differencesbetween Wheeler and Bailey.“Wheeler has a lot more resourcesand the kids come in with a lotmore (academic) experience (athome),” she said.
Geier said her work at Wheelerhas been “invaluable” and thecommunication and helpfulnessamong teachers impressed hermost.
An advantage of the MAT pro-gram, according to Geier, is thesmall size of both Wheeler classesand the program itself, which cur-rently has 13 graduate students.“You get a lot of classroom experi-ence from the beginning,” shesaid.
Both Ulichny and Epstein seethe program as benefiting morethan MAT students — studentsapply the lessons learned atWheeler to the public schools andbring a lot to the entire Wheelercommunity, Epstein said. Theprogram is “absolutely” mutuallybeneficial, she said.
The program is also “an invest-ment teachers have in giving backand producing the next genera-tion of teachers,” Ulichny said.
Students in Geier’s third grade
class said they generally did notsee major differences betweenMAT students and regular teach-ers.
Ellie Carver, one of Geier’s stu-dents, said “She’s the same andshe’s different. She helps you likethe other teachers, but she’slearning how to teach.”
continued from page 3
MAT
since that rarely happens atwar-related events on cam-pus, but I felt the paneliststhemselves weren’t as knowl-edgeable as some of the headsof the activist groups on cam-pus,” she said.
“It might have helped tohave professors or peoplewith a lot of factual evidencerather than people who arejust debaters,” Khorana said.
Herald staff writer DanielleCerny ’06 covers campusactivism. She can be reachedat [email protected].
continued from page 1
Debate
“It might have
helped to have pro-
fessors or people
with a lot of factual
evidence rather
than people who
are just debaters.”
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2003 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 5
ing Meeting Street’s operationsoverall, Austin said.
“Business is about the best wecould hope for given the circum-stances,” Austin said.
Austin also said that imple-mentation of the policy has notstrained Meeting Street’s rela-tions with the University. Headded that Brown First has madedealing with the University sim-pler by centralizing purchasing atUFS.
“There’s no ill feelings betweenus and any of the departments,”he said. “We know them and theyknow us.”
Caren Virtue, director of publicrelations at Eastside Marketplace,which has catered severalUniversity functions in the past,said the slight decrease in orderscaused by Brown First has notimpacted business to any signifi-cant degree. EastsideMarketplace has 300 to 400 regu-lar customers and can weatherany further decline in Universityorders, she said.
“We certainly would be sorrynot to get the business, but itwouldn’t impact us to a largeextent,” Virtue said.
John Gianfrancesco, part-owner of Louis FamilyRestaurant, said, although busi-ness is continuing as usual,Brown First has had a noticeableimpact on his catering opera-tions.
Louis, which began cateringthree years ago, received an aver-age of three University-relatedorders per month before BrownFirst took effect. Now Louis isreceiving orders from only onedepartment, Gianfrancesco said.
“Everybody seemed really
happy with our prices and serv-ice,” he said. “Things just keptgetting bigger and bigger, butnow that we have this policy, it’sjust stopped growing.”
Gianfrancesco criticized thepolicy for giving UFS an unde-served monopoly of Universityfood operations.
“They can waste more moneyand make worse food and getaway with it now that they don’thave any competition,” he said.
Austin also said UFS might notbe capable of handling theincrease in volume and variety oforders resulting from BrownFirst’s implementation.
“There are some things that we
are set up to do better, and thereare some things (the University)is set up to do better,” Austin said.“We pride ourselves on beingable to do something last-minute.”
Despite such complaints, theadministration did not expectUFS and Graphic Services to han-dle every University order, saidVice President of Finance EllenO’Connor.
“We’re not trying to be allthings to all people,” she said,naming ethnic foods as one areain which groups would be per-mitted to seek outside vendors.
The administration has beenin the process of identifying
select outside vendors to providediscounted services when UFSand Graphic Services cannothandle an order. Pizza Pie-er,Kinko’s and Ben and Jerry’s haveall received special status underBrown First, O’Connor said.
The administration discussedkey points of Brown First with localbusinesses before the plan tookeffect and made a special effort tocommunicate with Thayer Streetvendors, O’Connor said.
“I think most of them wereglad to be told about it directly,”she said.
O’Connor said Universitydepartments have been fully sup-portive and cooperative duringthe implementation process. Sheestimated compliance at 95 per-cent.
“The purpose of Brown First isto harness out-purchasing powerand make the best use of Brown’sdollars to run an excellent uni-versity,” O’Connor said, not to“horrendously harm local busi-nesses.”
Herald staff writer Zach Barter ’06 canbe reached at [email protected].
continued from page 3
Brown First “Everybody seemed really happy with our prices and service.
Things just kept getting bigger and bigger, but now that we have
this policy, it’s just stopped growing. ... They can waste more
money and make worse food and get away with it now that they
don’t have any competition.”
John Gianfrancesco Part-owner of Louis Family Restaurant
n e w a n d i m p r o v e d : w w w . b r o w n d a i l y h e r a l d . c o m
PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003
At Columbia, student tran-scripts display the grade given fora course along with the percent-age of students within the coursewho received the same grade.Similarly, at Dartmouth, under-graduate transcripts include themedian grade and total enroll-ment of the courses a studentchooses to take.
At Harvard, the movement tofight grade inflation seems to beoriented not so much toward pol-icy as toward increasing aware-ness of good grading practicesamong the teaching faculty.
Earlier this year, the HarvardCrimson reported that there hasbeen a downward trend in stu-dent GPAs after 16 years ofincreases. Last year, Harvard’sadministration decided to switchto a 4.0 grading scale from its 15-point scale. The new scale willtake effect this fall.
Administrators also decided tocap the number of students whoreceive honors at 60 percent. In2001, 91 percent of Harvard grad-uates received honors. The newhonors policy already applies tothe Class of 2005.
Harvard’s Dean ofUndergraduate EducationBenedict H. Gross told The Heraldhe plans to distribute a booklet ongrading policies and practice tothe faculty later this semester. Theregistrar at Harvard has alsoasked professors to submit thetotal number of each grade givenfor the courses they teach.
Many Brown students haveindicated they believe the addi-tion of pluses and minuses maynot be the best way to combat theproblem. Last week, theUndergraduate Council ofStudents passed a resolution thatstipulated its position against theaddition of pluses and minuses tothe grading system.
Rajiv Aggarwal ’05, who sits onthe Admissions and StudentServices Committee of theUndergraduate Council ofStudents, is opposed to the addi-tion of pluses and minuses.
Aggarwal said he believed his viewrepresents that of the majority ofUCS members.
“Attacking the grading systemhead-on in an attempt to bringabout grade deflation does nottake into account all the otherpossible consequences of such anaction. Pluses and minuses, whichmay not even work, put the insti-tution in a completely differentlight than that which it has stoodunder for so long,” Aggarwal said.
While UCS said in a statementto the University last week that itopposes pluses and minuses, itdoes not object to the explorationof other options that might pro-vide better feedback between fac-ulty and students and serve tocounteract grade inflation.
“Whatever needs to be done,pluses and minuses cannot be theonly option. Adding them into astudent’s transcript is far tooincompatible with the education-al philosophy of the school. Otheroptions must be explored,” saidSam Hodges ’04, a member of theAcademic and AdministrativeAffairs Committee of UCS.
“I think that more researchneeds to be done on other gradingsystem reforms. Initially, Ibelieved that pluses and minusesmight retrench grade inflation,but after more research intoPrinceton, Yale and other Ivies, Irealize now that they might ironi-cally entrench and expand infla-tionary trends,” Yom said.
Herald staff writer Emir Senturk’05 can be reached [email protected].
continued from page 3
Grades The movement to
fight grade inflation
seems to be oriented
not so much toward
policy as toward
increasing awareness
of good grading
practices.
pepperoni nipples my ass. you’rethe one with pepperoni nipples.
and stop throwing snow.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2003 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 7
venting it — but my husband isdead. Baseball and the Orioles —they don’t matter.”
I pressed 4. “You want theKelci Stringer opinion on SteveBechler’s death? If anyone canfeel the pain of Bechler’s widow,you’re talkin’ to her. All of youmedia people, it’s just a story toyou, there’s no way you can —wait, what’s that? You were sur-prised by his death? Practicallyevery sport but baseball saw thiscoming. My Korey wasn’t onephedrine, but why shouldn’tbaseball take seriously a drugthat may induce heatstroke? Didit really take the death of one ofits own players for the league toconsider change? How self-cen-tered.”
I pressed 5. “Welcome toGNC, may I help you? You’relooking for Ultimate Orange?I’m sorry, we’re all out — it’sbaseball season, you know. I’mnot even sure we still carry it,with the death of that baseballpitcher and all. It’s really giventhe stuff some bad press, as wellit should.
“Let me tell you something.I’m only a teenager workinghere so that I can steal someacne medicine, so I’m no experton ephedrine; however, I am abig baseball fan, one member ofthe target audience that base-ball has lost over the pastdecade. If baseball wants myfriends and me to stay in thegame, they had better tighten upon their drug policy. The newlabor agreement is a patheticcover for what needs to be done.Do you really think that BudSelig considers Bechler’s deathan unfortunate yet acceptableloss? He’s just praying that noth-ing like this happens again. Bud,take a hint: Do something aboutit.”
Right on.
Eric Perlmutter ’06 hails fromChappaqua, N.Y., and hopesbaseball finally does the rightthing and bans ephedrine.
continued from page 12
Perlmutter
Brown’s visual art departmentand the demands of a visualart concentration mean “a lotof people on this campus(who) are very creative” don’thave the opportunity or studiospace to fully explore art.
“I feel like we’ve got a lot ofinterest, and word has defi-nitely traveled,” Toth said. Sheattributes some of the interestto the dissolution of Bottega,and said Art House’s ability tosecure facilities from ResLife is“very much related to Bottega’sfolding.”
But ResCouncil ChairSanders Kleinfeld ’03 said thecouncil “considered bothBottega and Art House sepa-rately. Bottega folded before wemade a decision on Art House.”
The new program housesare likely to be located onWriston Quad, said EvanMetcalfe ’03, ResCouncil’sLottery Chair. ResCouncil hasdecided to place Delta Tau, afraternity currently located inSears House, in Bottega’s spacein Olney House, which alsohouses fraternity Sigma Chi.Goddard and Sears Houseshave been proposed as possi-ble locations for the new hous-es, but no final decision hasyet been made.
ResCouncil voted down aproposal to form Third WaveFeminism House by a marginof 3-4-1 said Andy Golodny’03, a member of ResCouncil’sprogram house committee. Ahouse needs a two-thirdsmajority to be approved.
“Our main concern cen-tered around doubts about theresidential necessity of such agroup,” said Golodny. “Anyclub can come in and say theywould like to live together, butthere has to be somethingbeyond that.”
Herald staff writer SaraPerkins ’06 can be reached [email protected].
continued from page 3
Bottega
PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9
Brown’s Pam Dreyer ’03 made 30saves.
“We got in trouble on thepenalty kill,” Murphy said.“When you are in the box youcannot take another penalty. Wetook some penalties at inoppor-tune times, which came back tohaunt us.”
The team did not play this pastweekend and did not practiceSunday or Monday.
“We gave them a couple ofdays, but we did not want to givethem too many days off so thatthey would lose their edge,”Murphy said.
The team has only lost oneplayer due to the weather; JennyRice ’03 is stuck in Vermont, butotherwise the team is intact forpractice this week. The Bears faceconference rivals Yale andPrinceton at home this weekend.
“If we sweep this weekend, weput ourselves pretty much in aposition to have home ice in thefirst round of the playoffs whichis what we want to obtain.Obviously we need to win two ofthe next three games after that,”Murphy said.
Despite their recent slump, theteam still has big goals for theplayoffs, starting with some regu-lar season victories.
“I think that what we’ve doneis pretty much set ourselves upfor a winnable game plan. … Forthe next five games we kind ofhave some short term goals,”Murphy said.
After a game that was lost forthe most part because of defen-sive mistakes, the team will needto shore up that aspect of theirgame. Not only do the Bears haveto play well physically in theupcoming games; they have toplay well mentally.
“The first start is just to getback to fundamentals, defensivehockey, be more disciplined. Thathas been the story of our year —lack of discipline and focus in thedefensive zone. We just have tokeep talking about it, and hope-fully it will sink in and we’ll startgetting hot around playoff time,”Murphy said. “There is no secret.It is just a matter of executing.”
Sports staff writer Kathy Babcock’05 covers the women’s hockeyteam. She can be reached at [email protected].
continued from page 12
W. hockey
always-clutch Les Haggett ’05somehow found its way into theCornell net. Despite severalchances on an ensuing powerplay, the Bears failed to score andthe game went into overtime.Danis stood his ground in over-time, making seven saves.
“Our main goal was to puttogether a consistent effort,”Esdale said. “We definitelyworked hard for all 60 minutesand the five-minute overtime.”
The Bears came out the follow-ing night against a Colgate team— the same team they had notbeat in nine games — looking flat.After losing 7-0 to Harvard thenight before, Colgate came out
hard and scored two goals in thefirst five minutes. A resilient Ford,who had taken a penalty that ledto the first Colgate goal, gotBrown right back on the board.On Brown’s first power play of thegame, he unleashed a blisteringslap shot from the blue line thatfound the Colgate net. With 15seconds remaining in the first,Esdale batted home a rebound offof a shot by Haggett and the Bearsheaded into the locker room evenwith the Red Raiders.
“In the first 10 minutes we werenot competitive and didn’t focuson what we needed to do,” Grillosaid.
“We didn’t panic and I liked theway the guys responded,” Korbladded.
Much like the second half ofthe period, the rest of the game
saw the Bears outplay and out-hustle the Red Raiders. The thirdand game-winning goal came offthe stick of Rugo Santini ’06, andmarked the first goal by a memberof the freshman class. LinematesPascal Denis ’04 and Chris Swon’05 were instrumental in the play,orchestrating the fluid breakoutthat led to the goal.
The fifth goal of the game leftmany people confused, especiallythe goal scorer, Jason Wilson ’03.After scoring the goal, Wilson wassurrounded by teammates alongthe boards, and somehow his armbecame stuck in the partitionbetween the panes of glass.Eventually he escaped the wrathof the newly renovated glass, butboth teams were unsure if thegoal would stand, as the officialssent a player from each team to
the penalty box. A few minuteslater the fifth and final goal finallymade its way on the scoreboard.
Danis finished the game with28 saves. His impressive perform-ance against Colgate along withthe previous night’s 44-saveextravaganza earned him ECACGoalie of the Week status for thefourth time this season.
“Yann is the foundation of ourteam,” Esdale said. “You can ride ahot goalie a long way. We knowhe’s going to be there every night.”
This weekend the Bears look tomove up in the standings as theytravel up north to Vermont andDartmouth.
Sports staff writer Ian Cropp ’05 cov-ers the men’s hockey team.He can bereached at [email protected].
continued from page 12
M. hockey
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EDITORIAL/LETTERSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003 · PAGE 10
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
C O M M E N T A R Y P O L I C YThe staff editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflectthe views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns and letters reflect the opinions of their authors only.
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S T A F F E D I T O R I A L
Stephen Malkmus, Night EditorMarc Debush, Mary Ann Bronson, Copy Editor
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, LindaEvarts, Nicholas Foley, Dana Goldstein, Alan Gordon, Nick Gourevitch, Joanna Grossman,Stephanie Harris, Shara Hegde, Anna Henderson, Momoko Hirose, Akshay Krishnan, Brent Lang,Hanyen Lee, Jamay Liu, Allison Lombardo, Lisa Mandle, Jermaine Matheson, Jonathan Meachin,Monique Meneses, Alicia Mullin, Crystal Z.Y. Ng, Joanne Park, Sara Perkins, Melissa Perlman, EricPerlmutter, Samantha Plesser, Cassie Ramirez, Lily Rayman-Read, Zoe Ripple, Amy Ruddle, EmirSenturk, Jen Sopchockchai, Adam Stella, Adam Stern, Stefan Talman, Chloe Thompson, JonathonThompson, Joshua Troy, Juliette Wallack, Jessica Weisberg, Ellen Wernecke, Ben Wiseman, XiyunYang, Brett Zarda, Julia ZuckermanPagination Staff Joshua Gootzeit, Lisa Mandle, Alex Palmer, Nikki Reyes, Amy RuddleCopy Editors Mary Ann Bronson, Lanie Davis, Yafang Deng, Hanne Eisenfeld, George Haws,Amy Ruddle, Janis Sethness, Nora Yoo
E D I T O R I A L
Elena Lesley, Editor-in-Chief
Brian Baskin, Executive Editor
Zachary Frechette, Executive Editor
Kerry Miller, Executive Editor
Kavita Mishra, Senior Editor
Stephanie Harris, Academic Watch Editor
Carla Blumenkranz, Arts & Culture Editor
Rachel Aviv, Asst. Arts & Culture Editor
Julia Zuckerman, Campus Watch Editor
Juliette Wallack, Metro Editor
Adam Stella, Asst. Metro Editor
Jonathan Skolnick, Opinions Editor
Joshua Skolnick, Opinions Editor
P R O D U C T I O N
Ilena Frangista, Listings Editor
Marc Debush, Copy Desk Chief
Grace Farris, Graphics Editor
Andrew Sheets, Graphics Editor
Kimberly Insel, Photography Editor
Jason White, Photography Editor
Brett Cohen, Systems Manager
B U S I N E S S
Jamie Wolosky, General Manager
Joe Laganas, Executive Manager
Midori Asaka, National Accounts Manager
David Zehngut, National Accounts Manager
Lawrence Hester, University Accounts Manager
Bill Louis, University Accounts Manager
Anastasia Ali, Local Accounts Manager
Elias Roman, Local Accounts Manager
Peter Scheeermerhorn, Local Accounts Manager
Joshua Miller, Classified Accounts Manager
Jack Carrere, Noncomm Accounts Manager
Laurie-Ann Paliotti, Sr. Advertising Rep.
Stephanie Lopes, Advertising Rep.
Kate Sparaco, Office Manager
P O S T- M A G A Z I N E
Alex Carnevale, Editor-in-Chief
Dan Poulson, Executive Editor
Morgan Clendaniel, Senior Editor
Theo Schell-Lambert, Senior Editor
Doug Fretty, Film Editor
Colin Hartnett, Design Editor
S P O R T S
Joshua Troy, Executive Sports Editor
Nick Gourevitch, Senior Sports Editor
Jonathan Meachin, Senior Sports Editor
Jermaine Matheson, Sports Editor
Maggie Haskins, Sports Editor
Alicia Mullin, Sports Editor
L E T T E R S
S H A N E W I L K E R S O N
You can make a difference.
While the new Brown First policy may not significantly ham-per the business of local food establishments, it serves as adetriment to Brown students. Instead of creating a monop-oly of UFS and several hand-picked businesses, theUniversity should examine how to improve the overall quali-ty and affordability of its food services. If student groupswere already tempted by on-campus dining options, therewould be no need to artificially limit outside competition.
What was once a relatively simple process — studentgroups could give an SAO purchase order directly to busi-nesses or seek reimbursement for their catering selections— has turned into a maze of bureaucratic red tape andrestricted options.
Ordering off-campus pizza, for example, is a three-stepprocess. According to the UFS Web site, students must jumpthrough the hurdles of a drawn-out order and authorizationprocess.
Step 1: Record the details of each order onto an IPR andfax the IPR to the Catering Office.
Step 2: When the IPR has been received, the CateringOffice will provide you with a vendor-specific authorizationnumber.
Step 3: Once you have an authorization number, call andplace your order directly. You will have to provide the vendorboth the authorization number and your IPR number. Thevendor will bill UFS, who will in turn, invoice you.
Student groups craving some last-minute Pizza Pie-er areout of luck — without an authorization number, off-campusexpenditures are not eligible for reimbursement.
In addition to having to deal with UFS as a middleman,students are being told how they can spend their money. Yes,the funds are funneled through the SAO, but isn’t this thestudent activities money that comes directly out of ourtuition? Money labeled in tuition bills solely for the benefitof student groups should be the last funds sacrificed to thepoor economy, not the first.
Students First
OPINIONSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2003 · PAGE 11
Why war with Iraq?A war with Iraq may not be desirable, but it is our best option
LISTEN TO THE PRESIDENT AND YOUwill hear the reason for this war: afterSept. 11, 2001, the world changed and weare targets. There are terrorist networksand states that are planning attacks on theUnited States and its allies, and they willuse the most effective meansavailable to them. Traditionalnotions of deterrence may nolonger apply. If they did, binLaden and al-Qaida wouldnever have attacked theWorld Trade Center and the Pentagon;they would never have blown up thenight-club in Bali, the Israeli-owned hotelin Mombassa, Kenya, the synagogue inTunisia and the American embassies inKenya and Tanzania. If we do not disarmIraq now, we will face even more destruc-tive attacks in the future. The administra-tion has developed a strategy for thistransformed world.
A simple principle drives the presi-dent’s strategy: He and his administrationmust protect Americans. That is his pri-mary obligation; nothing is as important.And so, he will do whatever is necessary tomake sure that al-Qaida, North Korea,Iraq or whatever source will never attackthe United States again. Will the adminis-tration succeed? No one can say, but theywill try.
If the president and his administrationseem obsessed with this task, rememberthey have failed once already. Bin Laden’sattack that killed 3,000 people at the WorldTrade Center and the Pentagon, disruptedthe lives of tens of thousands of families,rendered untold damage to the economyand weakened the symbols of America
took place on their “watch.” No matterthat they were in office for less than a year— they are responsible. Their behavioracknowledges this burden. They will doeverything they can to ensure that they donot fail another time. This is not about
politics and the next election.Protection of citizens is thestate’s first responsibility. Thisburden applies even more so tothe dominant power, whoseweakness could unleash forces
of war and turmoil around the globe.Why does the president focus on Iraq
and not other enemies? Saddam Husseinhas weapons of mass destruction. Onlyhe denies this; everyone else acknowl-edges it. The debate at the United Nationsconcerns what to do about it. Using theseweapons against his enemies inside andoutside Iraq, the Iraqi dictator command-ed the deaths of more than a million per-sons, the mutilation of another million,and the exile of more than four million.The administration is not ignoring al-Qaida. To the contrary, there is an ongo-ing war with the terror networks.Successfully disarming Iraq — whether bydiplomacy or force — will send a powerfulmessage to the other looming nemesis,North Korea.
Why does the president insist that weact now? For many people this is the keyquestion. Why now? The administrationbelieves that the Iraqi dictator will use orthreaten to use weapons of mass destruc-tion as soon he obtains the means todeliver them. Observe North Korea, andyou can see a future Iraqi strategy inaction: use the threat of weapons of massdestruction to extort land and peoplefrom his neighbors, not just the Americanaid and recognition demanded by NorthKorea. Indeed, as Saddam has in the past,
he will use the weapons to take what hewants from his people, neighbors andenemies. It is wishful thinking to supposethat he will not do this, and after theattacks on New York and Washington, theadministration insists that we must neverengage in self-delusion. We must not, asCondoleezza Rice articulates, look away,and thereby kick the issue down the roadto a time when Saddam is even stronger.Not to act now is to offer the Iraqi dictatorthe ability to choose the moment of hisattack or extortion.
War is imminent. Bush’s need to defendagainst future attacks clashes withSaddam’s calculation that the American’swill not attack and, if they do, they will nothave the resolve to defeat him. BecauseSaddam will not concede, Bush will act.
Note a paradox here: Opponents of thewar believe the United States is frothing atthe mouth ready to invade, while Saddambelieves that the United States will fold itstent and fade away. Why would he sup-pose that? Doesn’t he view Bush as ahopped up cowboy? No. If he did, hewould have capitulated a long time ago.He would fear for his own life and that ofhis regime. Rather, he believes that even ifthe United States were to invade, it willnot reach him. The people, houses andstreets of Baghdad stand between himand Bush’s forces. The Americans will notbe willing to climb over each and everyBaghdadi, to knock down every home andto open every underground bunker inorder to find him.
Consider too what he wins, if his calcu-lation is right: He is king of the world, theman who toppled the United States! Andso Saddam refuses all diplomatic effortsto disarm him. And the longer he holds tothis strategy, the more successful does heview it. He is daring the United States to
invade, expecting Bush to capitulate.The events of the past few weeks
strengthen his resolve. He sees theUnited States and the United Kingdom asweaker now than at any point in the pastyear. As they continue to lose politicalsupport, he reasons, they lose the will tofight. That’s the lesson he draws from thedivisions at the United Nations and NATOand the mass demonstrations againstwar: His enemy will not attack and thereis, therefore, no good reason for him todestroy the weapons of mass destruction.With these clashing goals and calcula-tions, we come to the brink of war.
No one can say how this war willunfold. The worst-case scenario seesAmerican and British troops trapped inBaghdad, a quagmire, which saps theadministration’s and British government’swill to continue. This outcome willembolden Saddam, as well as NorthKorea and al-Qaida. Remember that theydo not need reasons to attack the UnitedStates, only the means to do so. The best-case scenario is a fearsome demonstra-tion of American power that will toppleHussein, install a democratic governmentin Iraq, help the forces of peace in theMiddle East and frighten and, therefore,deter those who would attack the UnitedStates and its friends and allies.
To claim we are on the verge of war isnot a bloodthirsty call for war. It is tounderstand how we need to ensure secu-rity in our world, which has been trans-formed by the attacks on the World TradeCenter and the Pentagon. Now, Americanpassivity invites attack. Iraq must be dis-armed of its weapons of mass destruc-tion. In this bleak and frightening world,the administration and those who sup-port it view war as the least bad alterna-tive.
PROFESSOR ALAN ZUCKERMANGUEST COLUMNIST
WHEN MY PERSONALITY SWITCH WASset to “evil” a few semesters ago, I jotteddown the definitive column guaranteed tooutrage as many people as possible in theBrown community. What could be morecounter-intuitive, in a community that cel-ebrates cultural diversity, thanasserting that some cultureswere superior to others?However, it is clear to me nowthat this is a far less divisivenotion than I supposed — infact, almost all of us agree withit, even if some people thinkthey hold a contrary idea.
On paper, multi-cultural-ism (and its anthropologicalcousin, cultural relativism)sounds uncontroversial. In apluralistic society, it makes alot of sense to make all sorts ofdifferent cultures feel wel-come, teaching students about differentcultures in a non-judgmental fashionbeginning in primary school. In the sensethat multi-culturalism encourages educa-tion in this fashion, it is unproblematic.Clearly I’m better off for having learnedabout Japan in kindergarten, the Inuit ofAlaska in third grade and the various peo-ples of Asia by ninth grade. With respect to
cultures and subcultures within this coun-try, I suppose I am better for having readnovels by African-American women abouttheir experiences in the South. At the veryleast, these studies let me know that noteveryone in the world is like me and had
all of the blessings and privi-leges of middle-class subur-bia.
When I name oppressed orindigenous cultures, ourdefault attitude is respect.Our attitude may be summa-rized, “people in differentparts of the world generatedunique cultural traditions andattitudes that should berespected.” If our culturalattitude of multi-culturalismwas represented by WaltDisney World’s Epcot Center,then every culture would be
invited to have its own pavilion.But the reality is quite different. We
study and cherish the indigenous culturesthat we are predisposed to and find little“richness” in cultures we find abhorrent. Ican think of no better example than theculture of Nazi Germany or of apartheidSouth Africa. Each possessed a rich if(shockingly by our standards) racist,authority-driven culture full of literatureand poetry and other such trappings ded-icated to their way of life. It may seemsweet for kindergarteners to dress up in
Japanese garb for a lesson on Japanese,but I have yet to see any kindergartenersdon Nazi garb on Nazi culture day — notthat there is a Nazi culture day, and I cer-tainly don’t propose one.
Here lies the contradiction. On the onehand, we assert respect for all differentcultures. On the other, we only actuallyoffer respect to the ones that possess somedegree of compatibility with our own.Here at Brown, there are departmentssuch as anthropology, comparative litera-ture and others that at least in part under-take the task of attempting to present orunderstand the world from other culturalperspectives. But there is no department(and I’m not calling for one) dedicated tothe Nazi perspective — a non-judgmentalassessment of Nazi ideology that exploresthe intricacies and “beauty” of Nazi litera-ture and culture. Neither is there a depart-ment that evaluates in a sympathetic lightAmerican skinhead culture, backwaterAppalachian culture or inner citydrug/pimp lord culture.
It would seem to me that the multi-cul-turalist has two options. He may deny thatthese groups constitute “legitimate cul-ture,” but this comes at a steep price: Hemust answer the question, “Who decidesif a culture is ‘legitimate’?” Different cul-tures, after all, might have different ideasof what culture is, and so forth. The otheroption is to concede the point and suggestthat centers should in fairness be estab-
lished, and that the Nazi culture, et al., berespected to the same extent as indige-nous Ethiopian culture.
Or perhaps a multi-culturalist willassert I’ve picked extreme examples, andthat in fact, most cultures ought to berespected. But there are many examples ofcultures that seem to fail in various ways.Were the British really wrong in prevent-ing the New Guinean headhunters fromcontinuing in their cannibalism? Wouldn’tthe world be far better if the British hadsuccessfully conquered the whole ofFrance? A jest, but the point remains:There are some cultures that themselvesdo not respect pluralism or multi-cultural-ism or rule of law.
I would propose the following solution.We should respect all people (so long asthey respect us) and respect people’srights to adhere to whatever culture theywish. But we have no obligation to respectany particular culture or any particularsystem of beliefs of looking at the world ifwe have reason to believe it will lead togreat evil. To the degree that we live in apluralistic society where people are free tochoose how to live, we feel safe in ourcontention that our culture is superior,while remembering that our people arenot. There’s no sense in respecting some-thing just because it exists. We shouldn’tassert that all cultures are equal (andshould be respected as such) unless we’rewilling to accept everything that entails.
BRETT COHENPOLITE
CONTRARIAN
Should we celebrate Nazis in our classrooms?
Alan S. Zuckerman is a professor of politi-cal science and chair of the department.
Brett J. Cohen ’03 respects all people, butnot all cultures.
Why cultural relativism must have some reasonable limits
BY IAN CROPPIt was a pleasant Valentine’s Day for theBrown men’s hockey team (11-10-3, 9-7-2ECAC), and fortunately the affair lasted allweekend.
On Friday night, in front of a packedMeehan Auditorium, the Bears scored inthe final five minutes to earn a hard foughttie against No. 2 Cornell.
The following night, the Bears battledback from a two-goal deficit to score fiveunanswered goals and defeat Colgate 5-2.
The three points pushed Brown into athree-way tie for fourth place in the ECACand into a potential position to gainhome-ice advantage for the playoffs.
Although there was no scoring for thefirst half of the Cornell game, it wasn’t froma lack of scoring opportunities and physi-cal play.
“We knew we needed to play physicalagainst a big, strong team like Cornell,”said Head Coach Roger Grillo.
The Bears focused on containing theexplosive Cornell offense, which scoredfive goals when the teams met earlier inthe season. Grillo opted to start the 6’3”pairing of Gerry Burke ’05 and Vince Macri’04.
“Cornell is a strong defensive team, andwe are similar in that respect,” saidCaptain Tye Korbl ’03. “We play a tight low-scoring game and when we focus on thedefense first, the offense will take care ofitself.”
Yann Danis ’04 played a huge part in thedefensive effort, making many key savesthroughout the game, and holding Cornellto only two goals on 46 total shots. Manytimes he faced a lone Cornell player infront, but showed great composure andnever overcommitted.
Brown got on the board first, off apower-play goal by Brent Robinson ’04. Inwhat has come to be customary, power-play unit blue-liners Scott Ford ’04 andPaul Esdale ’03 exchanged the puck, andthen Esdale one-timed a pass to Robinson,
who fired the puck past Cornell goalieDave LeNeveu.
Cornell would notch their first goal ofthe game before the period ended andthen take the lead at 11:08 of the third. TheBears refused to throw in the towel andtheir continuous hard work paid off with4:28 remaining, as a wrist shot of the
CONSIDER THIS RECORDING I GOT afterI called Bud Selig’s office late last night:
“Hello baseball fans, you have reachedMajor League Baseball’s emergency hot-line. We are currently mourning the deathof 23-year-old Baltimore Orioles’ pitcher
Steve Bechler, whodied Monday dueto a fatal heat-stroke. Our heart-felt yet brief griev-ing period willconclude soon, atwhich point wehope to return toour normal busi-ness of buckingthe trend set byp r o f e s s i o n a lsports by tablingdrug policy until
another unfortunate incident occurs.Press 1 to speak with Commissioner BudSelig; press 2 to speak with players unionleader Donald Fehr; press 3 to speak withBechler’s widow; press 4 to speak with lateMinnesota Vikings tackle Korey Stringer’swidow; press 5 to be connected to yournearest GNC store.”
I pressed 1. “Hello, this is Bud Selig. Istand for all of Major League Baseballwhen I express my deep sorrow for SteveBechler’s family and friends. As his minorleague team’s radio announcer said, ‘Hewas everything that was good about base-ball. A solid ballplayer, and most impor-tantly a good husband and citizen. Hisunfortunate death will remain on ourminds for a very long time.’
What’s that you say? A death wasinevitable? Let’s not get ridiculous hereand forget that the legal drug ephedrinewas one of several possible contributorsto his death. Bechler had a minor untreat-ed liver problem and a history of border-line high blood pressure. Perhaps mostimportantly, he took three pills containingephedrine when the recommendeddosage is two.
“Baseball is firm on our policy of stop-ping harmful drug usage. In our opinion,ephedrine — when taken properly — doesnot fall into this category.”
I pressed 2. “Fehr here. As the leader ofthe players union, I’m supposed to be theone to protect the players, teach themhow to lead safe, rewarding lives as ath-letes and look out for their best interests.Drugs like ephedrine have drawn ourattention for years, and we have continu-ally disregarded the alleged possible con-sequences. It comes down to this: If play-ers use the drug correctly, they can onlybenefit from it. The fans win, the playerswin — Am I wrong?”
I pressed 3. “Hello. This is Kiley Bechler,widow of Steve Bechler. If you are callingwith your support, we appreciate yourkindness; feel free to leave a message. Ifyou are affiliated with Major LeagueBaseball, please hang up immediately, aswe’re not the biggest baseball fans rightnow. The league’s shamefully lacklusterpolicy, even if it were to be enforced, doesnot ban drugs like ephedrine that can trig-ger serious damage, or even death. I canhardly think about anything but Steveright now, but it needs to be said thatbaseball’s appalling lack of restrictionshas gone too far. Apparently, the promiseof stronger players and increased revenueoutweighs the undeniable risks associatedwith these drugs. Sure, baseball mighttake steps to get serious about drugs nowthat one of its players has died, just as italways reacts to bad news rather than pre-
SPORTS THURSDAYTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD
FEBRUARY 20, 2003 · PAGE 12
A dire call tobaseball’s Selig
ERIC PERLMUTTERPERL MUTTERS
W. hockey looks to avenge loss,earn home ice for first round
Danis ’04 earns ECAC Goalie of theWeek, as m. icers pick up three points
BY KATHY BABCOCK With playoffs looming, Brown women’sice hockey faces difficulties. LastWednesday the team dropped a 4-3 deci-sion to cross-town rival ProvidenceCollege.
The loss — the first time in five yearsthat the Friars beat the Bears — forced theBears’ record to 9-10-4.
“You are always disappointed with aloss,” said Head Coach Digit Murphy. “It isa question of executing the game plan,which we did not” manage to do.
Brown scored first with a power-playgoal near the 14-minute mark. KatieLafleur ’04 scored with an assist from KimInsalaco ’03. Four minutes later while theBears were short two players, DanielleCulgin retaliated for the Friars, assisted byJenn Butsch and Meredith Roth. By theend of the first period, the teams weretied 1-1, and power plays were the focalpoint for the rest of the game.
In the second period, Providence tookthe lead quickly when DarleneStephenson, assisted by Emily Gyrp,scored the Friars’ only non-power-playgoal.
Five minutes into the second period,Cassie Turner ’03 received the puck onthe right side from Insalaco and Karen
Thatcher ’06 and scored with a slap shot.In a strange series of events, the goal wascalled back but later allowed when aFriars goal was called back. Less thanthree minutes later, Providence’s RushZimmerman capitalized on a power playwith assistance from Kelli Halcisak.
With both sides shorthanded, theBears evened the score with a goal byInsalaco off of a pass from Katie Guay ’05.The game looked like it might be a repeatof the schools’ previous matchup as theteams entered the third period tied 3-3.
“They scored two or three power-playgoals against us. Take those goals away,and we win the game,” Murphy said. “Ifwe continue to make those mistakes, weare not going to win. I think that we needto learn how to be more mature in whento take penalties and when not to. We aregoing back to the drawing board.”
Five minutes and 43 seconds into thethird period, Stephenson scored on apower play assisted by Culgin andHalcisak. The Bears were unable to comeback, even though Providence’s AshleyPayton received a 10-minute penalty formisconduct at 14:15. Jana Bugden in goalfor the Friars made 33 saves, while
The wrestling team (9-10, 1-3 IvyLeague) suffered two severe lossesover the long weekend, 34-7 toColumbia on Friday and 33-3 to theCornell Big Red on Saturday.
Against the Lions, only two Bearscame away with victories — NickCiarcia ’04 and Mike Ashton ’06.Ciarcia came away with a 10-5 deci-sion in 184 over Columbia’s KirkDavis and Ashton recorded a 12-3win at 141.
Brown wrestlers were pinnedthree times by Columbia: Chris Ayers’03 fell at 4:59, Adam Santee ’04 fell at5:22 and Lucas Magnani ’06 fell 4:33.
Michael Savino ’05 lost 9-2 at 157,and Anthony Marconi ’05 lost 12-3 at133. Heavyweight Lee Beane ’06dropped a 2-1 decision in doubleovertime and Doran Heist ’06 alsorecorded a loss at 197, 10-4.
Against Cornell, Brown hadanother tough loss, 33-3. The BigRed, one of the strongest teams inthe region, came into Saturday’smatch ranked seventh in the nationand left with an Ivy League Title.
Clint Frease ’03, who is rankedeleventh in the country, was the onlyBrown wrestler with a victory, defeat-ing Cornell’s Byron Warner 3-1 at 141.
Dave Saadeh ’06, Sean Jenkins ’04,Magnani, Heist, Beane, Savino,Marconi and Ciarcia gave valiantefforts in the loss.
The Bears have one match left atHarvard on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 4p.m. before they compete in theEIWA Championships and then theNCAA Championships.
—Brown Sports Information
dspics
The men’s ice hockey team makes its final road trip of the regular season this weekendas it eyes the playoffs.The team heads to the University of Vermont and Dartmouth.
see PERLMUTTER, page 7 see W. HOCKEY, page 9
Wrestling sweptby Ivy rivals
see M. HOCKEY, page 9