by Nicole DuNgcaStaff Writer

“The very act of reading is an act of profound displacement and boundary-smashing, charting the central voyage that takes place incessantly at this institution,” de-clared Professor of Comparative Literature Arnold Weinstein in this year’s keynote Opening Convoca-tion address.

The highly esteemed Weinstein followed President Ruth Simmons in welcoming new students to the University’s 244th academic year.After the new students poured through the historic Van Wickle Gates, Simmons heralded the 2,105 new members of the Brown com-munity as a source of constant re-vitalization for a university that is always changing. The procession included 1,486 first-year undergrad-uate students, as well as Resumed Undergraduate Education students, transfer students and first-year stu-dents in the Medical School and Graduate School.

“Even for those of us that have been through this ceremony more than a few times before, it’s hard to miss the excitement and symbol-ism of that procession through the Van Wickle Gates to this opening convocation,” Simmons said.

The president touched on the various new additions to campus, mentioning the relocation of the Peter Green House, the tempo-

rary swim center and other proj-ects that were undertaken during a construction-filled summer for the University.

“There are new courses, new services, new buildings. Even the walkways and the sod under your feet are in many cases new, and

there is the promise of much more to come,” she said.

Simmons also spoke of “less vis-ible” changes on campus, such as research projects tackled by vari-ous professors and efforts from the

The Brown Daily heralDthurSday, September 6, 2007Volume CXLII, No. 62 Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

www.browndailyherald.com 195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com

INSIDE:

eDucaTioN cHieF ouTDirector of Education Out-reach Lamont Gordon ‘93 stepped down last month to focus on finishing his Ph.D.

caMPuS NeWS

5oPiNioNS

15MeDical MergerA proposed merger may soon bring two-thirds of the state’s hospitals under one operator.

SPorTS

16KiDNeyS For Sale?James Shapiro ‘10 propos-es that the national ban on buying and selling kidneys be lifted.

euroTriPThe women’s soccer team went to Europe this sum-mer to challenge some of the continent’s best.

MeTro

3

Courtesy of Jonathan McIntosh

BSR host Alex Svoboda was arrested and sustained a leg injury at an Aug. 11 protest.

Brown ‘will live with you forever,’ says convocation keynote

Protestors allege police brutality against BSR DJ

Deflecting sub-prime woes, U. endowment hits $2.8b

by caMeroN leeStaff Writer

An August protest against the Jacky’s Galaxie restaurant chain has proven to be a bittersweet victory for the Provi-dence chapter of Industrial Workers of the World. Though the IWW protes-tors, who were joined by members of Brown Students for a Democratic Society, had their demands met, IWW member and Brown Student Radio host Alex Svoboda suffered serious in-jury in circumstances that protestors allege constitute police brutality.

A Community College of Rhode Island student and host of the BSR shows “Bike Talk” and “Sound Bytes Your Ears,” Svoboda was marching down Mineral Spring Avenue toward one of the five Jacky’s Galaxie restau-rants in North Providence on August

11 with roughly 40 other protestors when complications arose, said IWW organizer Mark Bray.

Protestors planned to march from Brooks pharmacy on Mineral Spring Avenue to Jackie’s Galaxy, about 10 minutes down the street, Bray said. He said police told protestors to move from the street onto the sidewalk, but the protestors did not comply until a police car blocked their route, making further street travel impossible.

Most of the protestors had reached the sidewalk, and Bray was nearly there when he said he saw officers approach Svoboda, who was holding drumsticks and playing an overturned bucket around her neck. Bray says an officer then grabbed Svoboda’s upper arm and pushed her backward, at which point “she recoiled with a drumstick because

it’s rather scary.”Svoboda tripped backwards over

the curb and fell, Bray said, and Francesca Contreras ’10, a Brown SDS member and protest attendee, said she noticed shattered glass in the area where Svoboda fell. After she got up, Svoboda was tripped by a police officer, Bray said. “Her leg was bent backward in the opposite direction as she was knocked to the ground, then cuffed,” he said. The police called paramedics immediately, who arrived within some 25 minutes, explained Contreras.

After paramedics arrived and transported Svoboda to the hospital, the protestors continued onward to Jacky’s Galaxie, Contreras said.

North Providence Deputy Chief

by ireNe cHeNSenior Staff Writer

With the start of the school year always comes the need to furnish dorm rooms, buy supplies for the upcoming year and haul everything up College Hill — or, perhaps, pay a cab to lug it for you. But thanks to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s U-PASS program, Brown ID holders can now ride RIPTA buses and trolleys for free.

Surrounded by shopping bags, Courtney Smith ’10 and Megan Litrownik ’10 praised the now-free U-PASS system. The girls hopped on a bus to the nearest Wal-Mart — swiping their Brown cards instead of paying $1.50 — and returned back to a stop on Thayer Street.

“I’m really happy with it,” Litrownik said. “I’ve already taken it more times than I did all of my freshman year.”

“This means no more cabs,”

Smith said. “The only problem is the schedule, but once you get it down, the buses are always on time, and the bus drivers are generally really friendly.”

Faculty, staff and students now only need to swipe their IDs to ride all RIPTA bus and trolley lines. RIP-TA sends the University a monthly bill for the number of people riding the buses, but at a discounted rate. Annual total costs to the University are expected to be approximately

$200,000.Originally implemented in 2004,

the U-PASS program offered half-price tickets to the Brown commu-nity. University and RIPTA officials predict that the improved U-PASS program will double the number of Brown community riders.

Beth Gentry, director of business and financial services for Brown, said the program has been imple-

by MicHael becHeKSenior Staff Writer

The University’s endowment reached nearly $2.8 billion at the end of the 2007 fiscal year and survived this sum-mer’s subprime mortgage crisis be-cause the collapse was anticipated by many of the University’s investment managers, President Ruth Simmons told the faculty Wednesday.

In her report at the first faculty meeting of the academic year, Sim-mons also revealed that the Univer-sity was leaving open the possibility of renovating, rather than destroying, the damaged Smith Swim Center, saying that there was “some debate about whether to just put a new roof on the existing structure.”

The University’s endowment had a positive return of 0.6 percent in July, she said, because many investors had taken “overweight positions in inter-national and emerging markets” to offset losses in U.S. equities.

The S&P 500 suffered a 3.2-per-cent decline in that month.

Brown’s positive return in the month compares favorably with that of Harvard University, which lost $350 million, or about 1 percent of its assets, with the July collapse of Sowood Capital Management, a hedge fund. However, coming off a record year in which its endowment increased from $29.2 billion in 2006 to $34.9 billion in 2007, Harvard still made a gain of 0.4 percent in July, according to a Sept. 7 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Brown’s endowment ended the fiscal year at $2.8 billion, up from $2.2 billion at the end of fiscal year 2006. (The University’s fiscal year ends June 30.)

But Simmons warned that though Brown was “fortunate” not to have fared any worse from the economic conditions, “it appears that fiscal year

RIPTA service now free for students, faculty and staff

continued on page 4

Rahul Keerthi / Herald

The class of 2011 marched through the Van Wickle Gates (above) shortly before

President Ruth Simmons addressed new students (right).

continued on page 4continued on page 4

continued on page 6

ToDayPAGE 2 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

The Brown Daily heralD

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372Business Phone: 401.351.3260

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ACROSS 1 Further down6 Scurry

10 1975 summerthriller

14 Yellowish colour15 Noodle output?16 Russia’s __

Mountains17 Corporate

leader’s flyingfleet?

19 Kind of beads orhandles

20 Floors21 Wall St.

happening22 Focused on, with

“at”23 Mogul’s fancy

cars?28 Locker room

sprinkle30 Becomes less

cordial31 “__ to recall ...”33 “Rights of Man”

author34 Reviewer of

bks.?37 Cleric’s golfing

successes?40 G.I. mess crews41 Capture fully, as

one’s attention42 River part43 Sara Lee

employee44 Busy as __45 Plastic user’s

accumulation?51 Raipur royal52 Onetime

Burmesestatesman

53 With 45-Down,Advent symbol

56 Theater prize57 Theme of this

puzzle61 Kind of

therapeutic bath62 Fall preceder?63 Foolish64 Not cut out65 Like much

coastal weather66 Things to put up

DOWN 1 Hair piece

2 Cinco intocuarenta

3 Refs, at times4 “... __ darkness

comes on”:Bartram

5 Equip anew6 Honey __

dressing7 Orange drink8 Prepared9 Gives birth to

10 Groucho, atbirth

11 Redolence12 Have doubts13 Some coasters18 Place to unwind22 Radiant24 Clinched25 Fishermen’s

tools26 Floor support27 Super28 Very little time?29 “Pronto!”32 It’s not to be

believed33 Asphalt worker34 Cut from the

short loin35 Mod Squad pal

of Linc and Julie

36 “Off the Court”autobiographer

38 Company namedfor a goddess

39 Target43 Carefree45 See 53-Across46 Dominant

tendency47 Santa __48 Like many dirt

roads49 Serpent ending

50 Macabre54 “Rule, Britannia’’

composer55 Puts into action57 Degree of

considerabledegree

58 Dom Perignon,e.g.

59 She married Dicktwice

60 Animal with asilent first letter

By David J. Kahn(c)2007 Tribune Media Services, Inc. 09/06/07

09/06/07

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Thursday, September 6, 2007

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword PuzzleEdited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

C r o S S W o r d

S u d o k u

W e a t h e r

m e n u

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

© Puzzles by Pappocom

mostly sunny78 / 62

mostly sunny84 / 64

SHarPe reFecTory

luNcH — Cheese Tomato Strata, Wild Colonial Risotto, Vegan Tofu Pups, Louisiana-Style Calzone, Hot Ham on Bulky Roll

DiNNer — Spinach & Rice Bake, Oven Browned Potatoes, Cajun Corn & To-matoes, Spice Rubbed Pork Chops, Ice Cream Sundae Bar

VerNey-Woolley DiNiNg Hall

luNcH — Sloppy Joe Sandwich, Falafel in Pita Bread, Cauliflower au Gratin, Swiss Fudge Cookies

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aibohphobia | Roxanne Palmer and Jonathan Cannon

but Seriously | Charlie Custer and Stephen Barlow

100 years of Solipsism | Adrienne Langlois

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by SiMMi aujlametro editor

The University’s first director of edu-cation outreach, who in his 16 months at Brown centralized information about the University’s disparate ef-forts to aid Providence public schools, stepped down last month.

Lamont Gordon ’93 left the Uni-versity Aug. 3 to complete a Ph.D. in education at Harvard University, Kenneth Wong, professor of educa-tion and chair of the department, told The Herald.

A selection committee that in-cludes members of the education de-partment, the Office of the President and the Swearer Center for Public Service has already received nearly 40 applications for Gordon’s posi-tion, which is expected to be filled by Oct. 1.

Gordon’s departure will leave the University without an education out-reach coordinator for at least three months, but Assistant to the Presi-dent Marisa Quinn said she doesn’t consider his departure a setback to the University’s efforts to aid local schools.

In February, the Corporation cre-ated a $10-million fund for Providence public schools as part of its response to the report of the University Steer-ing Committee on Slavery and Jus-tice. The University’s highest govern-ing body also waived tuition for ten Urban Education Policy students or students working toward masters in teaching.

Quinn told The Herald that Gor-don’s efforts were a major first step in the University’s strengthened commitment to Providence public schools. “If we only did that, I think that’s an important aspect,” she said, adding that the University now has to evaluate the programs to learn what to do next as it reaches out to Providence public schools.

When Gordon came to the De-partment of Education at Brown in March 2006, Brown students and faculty were already volunteering in Providence schools, but no one knew exactly how many programs at the University aided local schools. Gordon began surveying the campus — talking to diverse groups such as neuroscience and computer sci-ence professors and the director of the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center — about what they were doing to help Providence students.

In March, Gordon delivered a report to the Brown University Community Council summarizing Brown’s involvement. He also began putting his catalog of information on a Web site, which launched in June, to inform Providence students and teachers about Brown programs and to inform Brown students and faculty about the schools they could work in.

In all, Gordon collected informa-tion about the 52 volunteer programs Brown leads in more than 20 Provi-dence public schools.

Gordon, who did not return a phone message seeking an interview

for this story, was working on his Harvard Ph.D. while at Brown, but he decided he wanted to focus only on his studies, Wong said. “He decided in the long run this would be the bet-ter thing for him,” Wong said.

Gordon also supported the UEP program, a year-long course of study designed to prepare graduate stu-dents to craft policy in urban public school districts. Wong credits the high employment rate of UEP gradu-ates — 6 out of 8 students in the pro-gram have found jobs since their May graduation — to a database Gordon created for UEP students.

The program’s operating funds paid for half of Gordon’s position, while the president’s office covered the other half. This spring, President Ruth Simmons decided to renew the pilot position’s funding for another year, Quinn said, adding that Sim-mons “thought it would be valuable to go forward” with the position.

But Wong said he hopes the posi-tion will prove so indispensable to Providence and Brown that the Uni-versity Resources Committee, which recommends the University’s annual budget, will eventually approve it as a permanent position. URC approval would ensure permanent funding for the position from the education department’s budget instead of from discretionary sources like the UEP program and the president’s office, Wong said. Gordon’s replacement could begin the process of receiving formal approval as early as January 2008.

MeTroTHuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 3

Lamont Gordon ‘93 (right), pictured here in March, served as Brown’s director of

education outreach until his resignation last month. While at Brown, Gordon cata-

logued all of the area schools served by Brown programs (see map above).

Chris Bennett / Herald File Photo

Courtesy of www.brown.edu

Gordon ’93 steps down as outreach director

Paul Marino declined to comment on the incident. “All I can state at this time is that we’re still investigating the matter,” he said. “We are still conducting our investigation and we will be turning it over to the Attorney General’s office for review.”

Charges were filed against Svo-boda, including “three counts of as-saulting a police officer, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest,” Bray said.

Svoboda has since undergone four surgeries and has returned from the hospital, Bray said. Her leg is in a brace, and she will need to undergo physical therapy, he added.

In an Aug. 16 Providence Journal article, Officer Mark Mastin gave his account of the incident: “(Svo-boda) pushed Patrolman (Jeffrey) Antonelli with both hands holding the drumsticks and said ‘(expletive) don’t put your hands on me.’ ” Mas-tin told the Journal he and Antonelli tried to grab Svoboda’s arms, but were prevented from doing so ini-tially by the crowd.

“Patrolman (William) Shurick and I grabbed a hold of the suspect and advised her that she was being placed under arrest. She pulled her hands away and started swinging the drumsticks screaming ... As I tried to grab her arms she swung the drumsticks hitting our arms. In fear of our safety, we immediately grabbed her arms again and tried to take her into custody,” he said.

Svoboda declined The Herald’s request for comment on the inci-dent. Her legal counsel, Robert Mann, also refused to comment, saying, “It’s a pending case.”

The protest was intended to pressure the owner of Jacky’s Gal-axie restaurants, Kin “Jacky” Ko, to discontinue purchasing supplies from a New York-based supplier, Dragonland, that was violating sev-eral New York labor laws, Bray said. These violations included paying workers $4.75 an hour, neglecting to pay overtime to workers and fir-ing workers for joining a union, he said.

Ko said after the Aug. 11 protest and other demonstrations that he had already stopped doing busi-

ness with Dragonland and later testified to a superior court that he had done so.

IWW is a national labor organiza-tion, self-described as a union, that seeks “workplace democracy,” Bray said. Founded in 1905, the IWW has experienced a recent resurgence in some areas.

A handful of Brown SDS mem-bers joined IWW for the Aug. 11 protest, Contreras said, adding that they marched under the umbrella group Providence SDS, which is comprised of SDS members from various Providence schools.

A rally was held at North Provi-dence High School on Aug. 26 to “bring awareness to the greater Providence area of the incident of police brutality, to demand that the charges against Alex and another member be dropped and that of-ficers responsible be brought to justice,” Bray said.

Contreras was among those who spoke at the rally, which drew an estimated 300 people and received local news coverage.

Yet despite Svoboda’s injury, Bray said he views the Aug. 11 protest as an achievement. “At least we did accomplish our goal of taking one of Dragonland’s larg-est customers,” he said. Since the protest, Bray said, “the (IWW) has gotten a lot more publicity around Rhode Island.”

Contreras said she hopes the incident draws more attention to oppressed workers and instances of police brutality. “We can’t forget that just because we go to Brown this stuff isn’t happening just down the Hill from us.”

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

mented by the University for a variety of reasons.

“The primary purpose of the program is to help address parking congestion on the East Side, particu-larly in close proximity to Brown by providing alternative modes of trans-portation,” Gentry said, adding that some parking lots were lost last year to construction. “Another side benefit is, public transportation is a more environmentally friendly approach than driving.”

Alexandra Cervenak GS, who just moved to Providence, recounted Col-lege Hill parking horror stories and said she’s lucky her Thayer Street residence makes using RIPTA easy. “It used to be $1.50, even if you were just going downtown,” Cervenak said. “I’m glad to have reliable, free public transportation.”

Programs like U-PASS exist across the country, but Gentry said Brown’s program is one of the first in Rhode Island to include faculty and staff in addition to students. Gentry hopes that the program, especially a new bus line slated to directly link Barrington and Thayer Street, will encourage staff and faculty living in that area to commute to work using public transportation.

The new program will also be ben-eficial to students who participate in activities beyond College Hill, such as research and community projects.

Alan Flam P’05, senior fellow at the Swearer Center for Public Ser-vice and senior associate University chaplain, has been taking freshmen around Providence to introduce them to possible volunteer opportunities around the community.

“Now I can tell them ... all you need is your ID and you can come back whenever you want,” Flam said.

Flam said the University is send-ing a good message to the community by paying for the U-PASS program.

“This represents a fairly significant source of revenue for public transpor-tation, which can only be good — just another way Brown is investing in its community,” Flam said.

Elizabeth Ochs ’07.5, who volun-teers at the Southside Community Land Trust and works with local ad-vocacy group People to End Home-lessness, said the program could fa-cilitate learning beyond the confines of Brown’s campus.

“Providence’s sites and people have a lot to teach us all,” Ochs wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. RIPTA and the University agreed to a two-year contract, but Gentry believes the program could continue.

The cost to the University is based on an expectation that Brown will meet increased ridership statistics, which Brown and RIPTA will closely monitor.

Mark Therrien, RIPTA’s assistant general manager for planning, said he believes that the partnership will benefit RIPTA as well as the Brown community.

Therrien said he thinks the switch from a discounted price to a fully sub-sidized pass will increase student rid-ership. “Students make their deci-sions quickly, so they usually haven’t planned to buy their passes,” Therrien said. “We as an organization have to react to their needs.”

Turn to Page 9 for The Herald’s guide to RIPTA.

continued from page 1

Brown ID holders can now ride RIPTA for free

2008 will be more challenging.”Simmons struck a confident and

ambitious tone in her remarks, an-nouncing that the Campaign for Academic Enrichment is ahead of schedule to reach its $1.4-billion goal. Last year saw several Univer-sity fundraising records, she noted, including $182.7 million in total cash receipts and $34.6 million for the an-nual fund.

She praised the work of the Uni-versity’s fundraisers, saying, “Our advancement operation is frankly one of the best in the Ivy League.”

Describing what she felt when talking to fellow university presidents, Simmons said, “I feel very much that we are part of the pack.”

“It’s important that Brown be seen as a competitor,” she said.

Responding to several faculty

members’ remarks expressing con-tentment at the sunny state of the University’s finances, Simmons said, “We need more.” She later added that she wouldn’t mind seeing the endow-ment reach “a robust $5 billion.”

There are still a lot of initiatives the University needs capital to un-dertake, Simmons said. Alluding to the collapse of a major bridge in Min-neapolis in August, Simmons said issues of decaying infrastructure had confronted the nation this summer and that as an institution “with 200-year-old buildings,” Brown should be prepared for these future costs.

In her report to the faculty, Sim-mons also announced the hiring of 43 new faculty members.

Provost David Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98 announced in his report to the faculty Wednesday that a task force to examine the University’s classrooms was created over the summer.

continued from page 1

Endowment hits $2.8bcontinued from page 1

IWW protestors allege police brutality

caMpus newsTHuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 5

Chris Bennett / Herald

A merger would include most Brown teaching hospitals, including Rhode Island Hospital.

CS prof aims to improves Internet privacyby aNDreW KurTzMaNStaff Writer

Few consumers realize how much of their personal information can be gathered by commercial Web sites that require users to create unique accounts and divulge personal infor-mation — or how easily databases storing such information can be hacked. But now, thanks to Assis-tant Professor of Computer Science Anna Lysyanskaya’s research into “zero-knowledge proof,” or ZKP, com-panies may soon be able to identify Web site subscribers without know-ing their real identities, dissociating the individual user from any usage data collected about him or her while logged in.

“My hope is that there will be

a standard for how authentication should be done online. (Companies) should never ask for more informa-tion than they need,” Lysyanskaya said. ZKP has the potential to reduce the amount of personally identifiable informa-tion collected by companies.

As an example of a simple ZKP, Lysyanskaya described holding a “Where’s Waldo?” puzzle behind a black sheet with a small, Waldo-shaped hole. By moving the puzzle behind the screen such that Waldo — and only Waldo — is visible through the hole, Lysyanskaya can prove that Waldo exists in the puzzle without revealing his location.

Similarly, a ZKP would allow users to show an online newspaper that they have subscription access to the Web site’s content without revealing

their identities to the newspaper.According to Lysyanskaya, the

best solution for true privacy on the Internet is to minimize the amount of information demanded of users.

“Everyone should get together and say privacy matters,” she said. “People should not give away infor-mation that they don’t have to.”

Lysyanskaya’s work in cryptogra-phy and ZKP began with her disserta-tion at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which she has continued to refine.

Her work is beginning to pay off. In its September/October 2007 issue, MIT’s Technology Review magazine recognized Lysyanskaya as one of the world’s “top young research-ers under age 35,” with work that is “changing our world.”

Hospital merger could relocate Butler, create medical conglomerate

Courtesy of brown.edu

Assistant Professor of Computer Science Anna Lysyanskaya

by KriSTiNa KelleHerSenior Staff Writer

Rhode Island may soon see two-thirds of its hospitals’ services un-der the control of a single hospital conglomerate known as Lifespan, which on July 27, announced its in-tention to merge the state’s two larg-est hospital groups — Lifespan and Care New England. The planned merger must still undergo federal and state reviews before ground can be broken on an envisioned south Providence medical complex akin to Boston’s Longwood Medi-cal Area.

Lifespan and Care New England came close to a merger in 1998 but withdrew the plans 23 months later, reported the Providence Journal on July 28. The same article said this merger would create the “biggest company of any kind doing busi-ness chiefly in Rhode Island.”

The organization’s annual pa-tient care revenues would near $2 billion dollars, and the new group would employ 17,600 workers, Lifespan’s Senior Vice President and Chief Physician Officer Arthur

Klein told The Herald.Klein sees the merger as a long-

term strategy for the hospitals to improve health care delivery in Rhode Island. The size of the con-glomerate would reduce the cost of business functions, allowing for more investment in clinical pro-grams, and in particular, for sys-temwide information technology upgrades, he said.

The envisioned south Provi-dence medical center would add to the current campus of Rhode Island Hospital and the Women & Infants Hospital by relocating But-ler Hospital to the site.

The hospitals’ plans, as reported in Lifespan’s July 27 press release, call for selling or developing the 110-acre campus of the current But-ler Hospital and building a new psy-chiatric hospital at the site, includ-ing a new brain-science institute. Klein is careful to point out that the state must approve Lifespan’s projected vision before any official planning will take place.

The new Lifespan organization would include the current Lifespan hospitals: Rhode Island Hospital

— including Hasbro Children’s Hospital — in south Providence, Miriam Hospital also in Providence, Bradley Hospital and Newport Hos-pital in Newport. The merger will also affect the current Care New England hospitals, including Kent Hospital in Warwick, Butler Hospi-tal and Women & Infants Hospital in south Providence, which shares a campus with the Rhode Island Hospital.

While the University has no official control over the merger, Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Eli Adashi said he “sees some possibilities” as a result of the proposal. The new Lifespan would include all but two of Brown’s affili-ated teaching hospitals — exclud-ing only the Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the in-dependent Memorial Hospital in Pawtucket — which would mean “less fragmentation” for the pro-gram, Adashi said.

Adashi, like Klein, foresees that the hospital consolidation is the first step toward the develop-

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PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

ment of a substantial biomedical complex in south Providence in the next five to 10 years. The University is considering plac-ing the Warren Alpert Medical School in the vicinity of this pro-posed complex in near future, he said, adding that the proxim-ity of the medical school to such a consolidated hospital complex could create a medical center akin to that of the Longwood Medical Area in Boston.

Adashi also imagines the consolidation could have far-reaching implications for the Providence cityscape, suggesting that the Jewelry District would attract biotechnology and medi-cal research firms and become “an attractive downtown area.”

The merger would also have long-term benefits for the state, Klein said. Strengthening the partnership between Brown and the new conglomerate is “critical to our mutual ability to attract biomedical business to the state,” which is in turn critical to its economic health, he said.

But first, regulators at the federal and state levels must sign off on Lifespan’s new vi-sion to improve the health care and economy of Rhode Island. “Once we’ve gotten the green light, we can start talking about planning and operation,” Klein said.

staff and volunteers that enabled the Campaign for Academic Enrichment to reach the $1 billion mark.

Simmons explained that the Uni-versity has never had a larger faculty — 43 new faculty members joined Brown this year.

“All of this effort and all of these improvements are in the service of one aim — to make possible at this university the highest level of schol-arship with the highest degree of integrity. … So your march through those gates and your presence on this historic green renews our enthu-siasm for the 244-year-old mission for this university,” she said.

Weinstein is entering his 40th year of teaching at Brown.

His address, “Reading Proust, Tracking Bears, at Brown,” was in reference to the literature of Mar-cel Proust and William Faulkner. His discussion on Proust resonated with first-year students, who were required to read “How Proust Can Change Your Life” by Alain de Bot-ton over the summer.

Weinstein’s speech, which de-tailed key scenes from both Proust’s “Remembrance of Things Past” and Faulkner’s “Go Down, Moses,” was an homage to books and the impor-tance of learning to read “the books of your culture,” he said.

He used a scene from Proust in which the narrator flashes back to foregone, idyllic memories to de-scribe how Brown will represent an indelible part of its students’ lives.

“All of you who are about to un-dertake a year of study at this institu-tion are on the threshold of the sets of experiences that will live within

you forever. … It will become a part of the living sediment of your brain and heart and memory,” Weinstein said.

His references to tracking bears came from Faulkner’s short story “The Bear,” in which the narrator learns to hunt bears through their tracks. Weinstein likened the tracks to words — they first seem like “cryptic markers” before you learn to read them, he said.

“The project of education itself is little more than learning to trans-late such markers into their fuller — sometimes unbearably fuller — dimensions,” he said.

“On this day when we celebrate the opening of this university, I wish you happy reading and happy hunt-ing,” Weinstein said in closing.

After Weinstein’s speech, Sim-mons asked the community to “take care to remember the many students who begin this year with the weight of loss, fear or isolation upon their shoulders.”

She referred to the campus of Virginia Tech, those still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, and those “shut down by war and censure.” She also mentioned campuses feel-ing “the sting of intimidation,” al-luding to her public condemnation of the suggestion by the Union of College and University Professors in Great Britain to isolate Israeli academics.

“Let us renew a commitment to be a community of rigorous inquiry, a community of mutual respect, a community that values academic freedom, a community that pays more than lip service to diversity and a community that returns some-thing to the public good,” she said.

continued from page 1

Proust marks ConvocationMedical merger may be in store

continued from page 5

worlD & naTionTHE BROWN DAILY HERALDTHuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 PAGE 7

Apple to drop iPhone price by $200by MicHelle QuiNNLoS angeLeS timeS

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Inc. on Wednesday dropped the price of its most popular iPhone by $200, a dec-laration that the company plans to play aggressively in the cell phone market.

The 8 gigabyte iPhone will cost $399, down from $599, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said. The com-pany plans to phase out the 4 gigabyte version.

“Apple wants to be more of a legiti-mate player in the mobile market than people thought,” said Gene Munster, senior research analyst for Piper Jaf-fray. “It will hurt them in profitability for the first few quarters, but it will boost the demand for the iPhone.”

Jobs said he wanted to “put iP-hones in a lot of stockings this holiday season.”

The company also unveiled an iPod that connects to wireless net-works, as well as a slew of other music and video products and services that most likely will accelerate Apple’s growing dominance in digital enter-tainment.

Jobs said Apple remained on track to sell its millionth iPhone by the end of this month. The product, a combi-nation cell phone, Internet device and digital entertainment player, launched June 29.

Among the new line of iPods is one called iPod Touch that, like the iPhone, operates via a touch-screen. Equipped with an Internet connec-tion, this iPod will sell for $399 for the

one with the most storage.IPhone users will be able to buy

ring tones for their phones from iTunes, and along with owners of iPod Touch they will be able to buy music from iTunes directly from the Internet, no longer having to first download to their home computers and then sync to the device.

In addition, Apple announced a partnership with the coffee giant Star-bucks. People in the coffee stores will be able to see the song playing in the stores on their iPhones or iPod Touch devices and buy it.

The announcements came after a week of speculation about what the Cupertino, Calif.-based company was planning to do next. Rumors, ranging from Apple adding the Beatles catalog to the introduction of a “Nano” phone, pushed up the stock.

Since it launched the first iPod in 2001, Apple has become the No. 3 music retailer in the U.S., behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Inc. Jobs said the entertainment market was rapidly evolving and that in 2006, 32 percent of all new U.S. releases were digital downloads, not on CD.

For the ring tones, available next week, Jobs said that iPhone owners would be able to pick from 500,000 participating songs. Customers will be able to buy the song for 99 cents and then spend an extra 99 cents to use the song for a ring tone.

Apple will begin selling video iPod Nanos later this week. The new video Nanos come in a 4-gigabyte version at $149 and an 8-gigabyte version at $199.

Experts doubt decrease in Iraq violenceby KareN DeyouNgWaShington poSt

WASHINGTON — The U.S. mili-tary’s claim that violence has de-creased sharply in Iraq in recent months has come under scrutiny from many experts within and out-side the government who contend that the underlying statistics are questionable and selectively ignore negative trends.

Reductions in violence form the centerpiece of the Bush administra-tion’s claim that its war strategy is working. In congressional testimo-ny Monday, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected to cite a 75 percent de-crease in sectarian attacks. Accord-

ing to senior U.S. military officials in Baghdad, overall attacks in Iraq were down to 960 a week in August compared with 1,700 a week in June, and civilian casualties had fallen 17 percent between December 2006 and last month.

Others who have looked at the full range of U.S. government statis-tics on violence, however, accuse the military of cherry-picking positive indicators and caution that the num-bers — most of which are classified — are often confusing and contra-dictory. “Let’s just say that there are several different sources within the administration on violence, and those sources do not agree,” Comp-troller General David Walker told Congress Tuesday in releasing a

new Government Accountability Office report on Iraq.

Senior U.S. officers in Baghdad disputed the accuracy and conclu-sions of the largely negative GAO report, which they said had adopted a flawed counting methodology used by the CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency. Many of those conclusions were also included in last month’s pessimistic National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.

The intelligence community has its own problems with military calculations. Intelligence analysts computing aggregate levels of vio-lence against civilians for the NIE puzzled over how the military des-

Oscar-winning actress Miyoshi Umeki, 78, diesby DeNNiS MclellaNLoS angeLeS timeS

Miyoshi Umeki, the Japanese-born singer and actress who be-came the first Asian performer to win an Academy Award, for her touching role as Red Buttons’ wife in the 1957 film “Sayanora,” has died. She was 78.

Umeki, who also was known for playing the housekeeper on the TV series “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” died of complica-tions of cancer Aug. 28 at a nurs-ing home in Licking, Mo., said her son, Michael Hood.

Umeki had been a singer and nightclub performer in post-war Japan, where she recorded popu-lar American tunes for RCA Japan under the name Nancy Umeki, be-fore moving to the United States in 1955 and signing with Mercury Records.

She was a regular on the musi-cal-variety show “Arthur Godfrey and His Friends” before she was cast in the role of Katsumi, the young Japanese woman who be-comes the bride of an American Air Force sergeant played by But-tons in the film version of James A. Michener’s best-selling novel

of romance and racial prejudice in post-war Japan.

Both Umeki and Buttons won supporting actor Oscars for their roles as the doomed new-lyweds.

Umeki also gained acclaim -- and a Tony Award nomination as best actress in a musical -- play-ing Mei Li in Rodgers & Ham-merstein’s “Flower Drum Song,” which ran on Broadway from 1958 to 1960.

In addition to her son, Umeki is survived by two grandchildren and extended family members in Japan.

continued on page 12

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THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 9

The Breakers Mansion #60, #67One of the largest summer mansions located

in Newport, it was originally purchased by Cornelius Vanderbilt II, who redesigned it to create a 70-room palazzo in an Italian Renais-sance style, inspired by 16th century palaces of Genoa and Turin. There are 11 mansions

with over 80 acres of gardens. Tickets can be purchased individually to tour each mansion,

and are also available in packages to visit more than one property.

InboundThe Herald Guide to Free RIPTA

BrisTol #60Check out Colt State Park, which is on Narragansett Bay and offers four miles of bike paths along the

bay. The park is over 464 acres large and offers picnic tables and large

playfields. There is no entrance fee. Or, there’s the Audubon Environ-

mental Education Center, with a 33-foot life size right whale, a tide

pool, the Narragansett Bay and other interactive exhibits. Situated on a 28-

acre wildlife refuge, the center also has walking trails with a quarter-mile boardwalk through fresh and saltwa-

ter marshes and is located near the East Bay Bike Path.

T.F. Green airporT #14, #20

NAVIGATING PROVIDENCE

In Providence, take advantage of the Green Line Trolleys that stop by the bus tunnel and the Thayer Street Starbucks every 20 minutes. One trolley has a circuit that goes from Kennedy Plaza, up past the bus tunnel and across the East Side, stopping at East Side Marketplace, and then heading back to Kennedy Plaza.

The other trolley makes the same circuit, but instead of starting and stopping at Kennedy Plaza, it continues on to Federal Hill.

Check the signs on the front of the trolleys for details on which trolley goes where.

Wal-MarT CransTon Rt. #19

roGer WilliaMs park Zoo #20The zoo is home to over 1,000 animals representing some

140 species, including polar bears, snow leopards, moon bears, giraffes and elephants. The park contains lots of

grassy areas and even a lake with waterfowl. A good adventure now that the sub museum sank.

narraGanseTT BeaCh #14, #64A popular beach among the college set —

though beware, they charge for admission.

Five Tips:

1. Bring your Brown I.D. and the University will pick up the tab.

2. For a fun day trip, take along your bike. You can put it on specialized racks on the front of the bus.

3. Don’t be afraid to get lost! All RIPTA routes end where they start, so worse comes to worst, you waste a bit of time and get a sightseeing tour of Old Rhody.

4. Use RIPTA’s Web site to look up schedules and a detailed system map. Remember, outbound routes are those headed away from Kennedy Plaza; inbound routes head back home.

5. You will meet some unique people on RIPTA, bus drivers included. It’s part of the RIPTA experience. Embrace it.

PAGE 10 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

British could allow creation of experimental hybrid embryosby ricK WeiSSthe WaShington poSt

WASHINGTON — Capping a months-long scientific and ethics review, British regulators Wednes-day said they were prepared to allow the creation of embryos that are part human and part animal for use in medical experiments.

The ruling by the Human Fer-tilisation and Embryo Authority, which oversees human embryo research in Britain, means that two previously submitted propos-als to create hybrid embryos — on hold while the authority considered whether it would even look at them — will now be considered in detail. Final decisions on those proposals, widely anticipated to be positive, are expected in November.

The prime goal of the research is to make embryos from which embryonic stem cells that may be medically useful can be extracted. The embryos would be made by in-jecting human DNA into cow or rab-bit eggs whose own DNA has been largely, but not fully, removed.

Until now, scientists making hu-man embryos for research have generally used human eggs from women treated with hormones, a procedure that poses medical risks and so raises ethical concerns.

But opponents have argued it is no less unethical to create partly human embryos solely to harvest

their stem cells, and some have raised the specter of rogue scien-tists growing the embryos into weird human-animal creatures.

The embryo authority Wednes-day acknowledged those concerns and promised to watch the field closely.

“This is not a total green light for ... hybrid research, but recogni-tion that this area of research can, with caution and careful scrutiny, be permitted,” the agency said in a statement.

Among the questions the group of scientists, philosophers and oth-ers struggled with was whether hy-brid embryos are “human.” Had the group decided “no,” it would have lacked control over the research under the terms of its charter.

Some organizations vocally op-posed the experiments, as did the nation’s chief medical officer, citing a lack of public support. But the British Medical Association and Britain’s major science funders, the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust, lobbied hard for a positive ruling, along with several Nobel laureates and others.

Although more than half of Brit-ish adults recently surveyed said they supported research using human embryos, only 35 percent supported the creation of embryos that are “mostly human and a small amount of animal genetic materi-als” — the kind of research being

proposed for now — and nearly half said they were opposed.

Many expressed concern that the work constitutes “meddling with Nature” and might lead to more-troubling experiments. Others said they feared that some hybrid embryos — which scientists call chimeras, after the mythical Greek creature with a lion’s head, a goat’s body and a serpent’s tail — might be transferred to women’s wombs, where they might develop.

British regulations demand that all human embryos used in research be destroyed within 14 days after their creation. Support-ers also point to research suggest-ing that chimeric embryos have little potential to survive beyond the earliest stages of development be-cause of incompatibilities between their human and animal strands of DNA.

“I know everyone’s worried about the `cow-man,’ but everyone needs to take a deep breath,” said Lawrence Goldstein, director of the stem cell program at the University of California at San Diego. “It’s un-likely in the extreme that you could get a viable organism this way.”

A few scientists in the United States have acknowledged efforts to make human embryos using cow or rabbit eggs, generally with mar-ginal success. Such experiments are legal in the United States if no federal funds are involved.

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THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 11

Youth suicide rates rose after decrease in antidepressant prescriptionsby SHaNKar VeDaNTaMthe WaShington poSt

WASHINGTON — Warnings four years ago that antidepressants were increasing suicidal behavior among young people caused a precipitous drop in the drugs’ use — a drop that coincided with an unprecedented in-crease in suicides in that age group, a new study has found.

From 2003 to 2004, the suicide rate among Americans younger than 19 rose 14 percent, the most dramat-ic one-year change since the govern-ment started collecting suicide sta-tistics in 1979, the study found. The rise followed a sharp decrease in the prescribing of antidepressants such as Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil after par-ents and physicians were confronted by a barrage of warnings from the Food and Drug Administration and international agencies.

The data suggest that for every 20 percent decline in antidepressant use among patients of all ages in the United States, an additional 3,040 suicides per year would occur, said Robert Gibbons, a professor of bio-statistics and psychiatry at the Uni-versity of Illinois at Chicago, who did the study. About 32,000 Americans

commit suicide each year.Thomas Insel, director of the

National Institute of Mental Health, said, “We may have inadvertently created a problem by putting a ̀ black box’ warning on medications that were useful.” He added, “If the drugs were doing more harm than good, then the reduction in prescrip-tion rates should mean the risk of suicide should go way down, and it hasn’t gone down at all — it has gone up.”

The new finding, published in the September issue of the Ameri-can Journal of Psychiatry, is the lat-est shoe to drop in a roller-coaster controversy spanning more than four years. In 2003 and 2004, the FDA issued a series of warnings that clinical trials had detected an increase in suicidal thinking among children and adolescents taking a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibi-tors (SSRIs), compared with those given sugar pills. In late 2004, the agency called for a “black box” warn-ing on the drugs to call attention to the potential risk, and expanded it last December to include young adults.

The warnings led to a broad de-

cline in SSRI prescriptions for all patients younger than 60, Gibbons said. Prescription rates continued to rise among those older than 60, and this was the only group in which suicides dropped between 2003 and 2004, his study found.

The study included the Nether-lands, which saw a 22 percent de-crease in antidepressant use between 2003 and 2005. The suicide rate among youngsters there increased by 49 percent in that period.

“We are seeing some clearly un-intended consequences, but these consequences have a huge price that is being paid,” Gibbons said.

The trend lines do not prove that suicides rose because of the drop in prescriptions, but Gibbons, Insel and other experts said the international evidence leaves few other plausible explanations. Previous studies have shown that U.S. suicide rates are lower in counties where antidepres-sant use is higher, and a study in July of more than 200,000 depressed veterans found that those taking an antidepressant had one-third the risk of suicide of those who were not.

The new study was largely funded by the federal government. Pfizer, which makes Zoloft, provided

some money for data collection, Gib-bons said, but was not involved in carrying out the study and did not review the results before they were published.

The FDA required the black-box warnings on the drugs’ labels to prompt doctors to closely monitor patients they put on antidepressants, because of some evidence that the risk of suicide is highest shortly after treatment begins. Gibbons said that the decision was misguided and that the situation called for better educa-tion of physicians, not warnings.

Thomas Laughren, director of the agency’s division of psychiatry products, said, “FDA is obviously concerned about possible nega-tive impacts of labeling changes but also feels a strong obligation to alert prescribers and patients to pos-sible risks associated with the use of antidepressants.” He added, “We will continue to monitor antidepressant use and suicide rates, and will take appropriate regulatory actions as new data become available.”

FDA spokeswoman Sandy Walsh said the agency probably would so-licit the advice of a committee of in-dependent experts before making any significant labeling change.

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PAGE 12 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

ignated attacks as combat, sectarian or criminal, according to one senior intelligence official in Washington. “If a bullet went through the back of the head, it’s sectarian,” the official said. “If it went through the front, it’s criminal.”

“Depending on which numbers you pick,” he said, “you get a differ-ent outcome.” Analysts found “trend lines ... going in different directions,” compared with previous years, when numbers in different categories var-ied widely but trended in the same direction. “It began to look like spa-ghetti.

Among the most worrisome trends cited by the NIE was the es-calating number of attacks between

rival Shiite militias in southern Iraq that have consumed the port city of Basra and resulted last month in the assassination of two southern provincial governors. According to a spokesman for the Baghdad headquarters of the Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF-I), those attacks are not included in the military’s sta-tistics. “Given a lack of capability to accurately track Shiite on Shiite and Sunni on Sunni violence, except in certain instances,” the spokesman said, “we do not track this data to any significant degree.”

Attacks by U.S.-allied Sunni tribesmen — recruited to battle Iraqis allied with al-Qaida — are also excluded from the U.S. military’s calculation of violence levels.

Report: Bad times in Iraqcontinued from page 7

be solved by giving a fat contract to a stud wide-out. That’s a great idea if you’re the Red Sox and have an infinite amount of projectile money to throw at players, but football has a salary cap. So after Oakland gave Moss roughly $8 million per year in both 2005 and 2006, their junior varsi-ty offensive line pioneered their 4-12 and 2-14 seasons. What happened after 2006? Moss complained about Oakland’s losing, a result in large part because they overpaid for his services, and decided to take less than half his current salary to join the Patriots, a team notoriously stingy for never paying contract holdouts (see: Deion Branch).

The odd part about all of these contract negotiations is that there is a conflict of interest not only between the player and the team, but some-times the player’s desire to win and his desire for money. When every team has equal resources, as they do in the NFL, the teams that spread their payroll most efficiently will have success. Everybody has the right to do whatever is in their power to get the contract they want, but once you sign it, don’t hold out. If you truly want to win, that’s bad for you and your team.

Ben Singer ’09 was holding out on writing this column until he realized

he wasn’t being paid.

continued from page 16

High Notes: NFL contract negotiations can be a headache

THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 13

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Action on climate changeby MicHael a. FleTcHerthe WaShington poSt

SYDNEY, Australia — One of the first agreements to emerge Wednesday from meetings between President Bush and Australian Prime Minis-ter John Howard was a pledge to take joint action to combat climate change.

It is an issue that neither leader has been closely associated with in the past. Both Australia and the United States failed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 United Nations-led effort that set goals for major industrialized nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming.

Bush and Howard have attacked the Kyoto treaty, with its binding goals for reducing emissions and its exclusion of developing countries, as making no sense for their countries or the environment. That stance led to widespread criticism, even in their home countries. But as the politics of climate change in both countries shifts — with a consensus forming to battle a problem now seen as urgent — so too have the public postures of Bush and Howard.

Now, both men are trying to posi-tion themselves as leaders of a new plan for battling climate change, relying not on mandatory goals but making it easier to share clean energy know-how with developing countries.

Climate change is one of the key issues on the agenda for the leaders of 21 Asian and Pacific na-tions gathering her for their annual summit. Howard, who is hosting the gathering, is pushing leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, called APEC, to agree to a climate change statement before the meeting ends.

Howard announced a domestic plan earlier this year to create an emissions “cap-and-trade” system for Australian industry that would place limits on greenhouse gas emis-sions by 2012. The systems create a financial incentive for reducing pollution, while protecting fossil-fuel-burning industries, by allowing them to essentially buy credits from other firms that do not exhaust their emissions caps.

Bush, meanwhile, has been push-ing for a climate change regimen that, unlike Kyoto, would include de-veloping nations and give countries a voice in setting goals for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

“This is not something you would have seen two years ago or three years ago,” said an Australian offi-cial, who asked for anonymity so as not to offend the United States.

Bush has invited the European Union and 12 countries — including rapidly developing nations such as China, India and Brazil that are not party to Kyoto — to a climate change meeting in Washington later this month. Bush hopes that meeting will set the stage for a larger U.N.-backed meeting to be held in Bali later this year.

“I know some say, well, since he’s against Kyoto he doesn’t care about the climate change,” Bush told re-porters. “That’s urban legend that is preposterous.”

Bush pointed out that United States last year reduced overall greenhouse gas emissions while growing its economy — a develop-ment that experts attributed to favor-able weather as well as the marshal-ing of new technology unrelated to government initiatives.

However, it is an achievement Bush hopes to build on and export. The agreement with Australia ad-heres to the kind of framework Bush

is pushing for combating climate change. Bush is advocating what his aides call a comprehensive approach that promotes new technology — in-cluding new types of nuclear power plants — discourages deforestation and encourages countries to move away from burning fossil fuels.

“What this statement shows is the common approach of the United States and Australia, and the intent to address the problems of climate change and energy security compre-hensively and in an integrated fash-ion,” said Dan Price, deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs.

But the divergent interests of fully industrialized and still-devel-oping countries are making it dif-ficult for negotiators who are still trying to win agreement from all the world leaders gathering here for the summit.

Many developing countries are reluctant to set even nonbinding tar-gets for reducing emissions — some-thing they believe could undermine their economic growth. Moreover, they say, more developed countries should take the lead on the issue.

But Bush and others say that cli-mate change efforts are rendered virtually meaningless if they do not include developing nations.

“If you really want to really solve the global climate change issue, let’s get everybody to the table,” Bush said. “Let’s make sure that coun-tries such as China and India are at the table as we discuss the way forward.”

The divide between rich and poor countries has hindered climate change efforts for years. But Bush administration officials are hoping that the growing urgency around the issue may prod countries toward agreement — if not here, then at the Washington conference, or in subsequent meetings.

“We’ve received a lot of questions about some of those proposals. And we anticipate a full and robust discus-sion,” said Jim Connaughton, chair-man of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “I think it will take some time beyond that.”

eDiTorial & leTTersPAGE 14 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

S t a f f e d i t o r i a L

A L E X A N D E R G A R D - M U R R A Y

Riding RIPTAIt may seem like a small measure, but Brown’s adoption of a free transportation arrangement with RIPTA is a smart move for many reasons, students’ habitual laziness and the pain of rising gas prices among them.

Of course, students could make trips downtown and to local sights and off-the-Hill spots before, but we’re glad the University realizes that the appeal to college students of free anything cannot be underestimated. The all-free, all-the-time U-PASS — which works on RIPTA buses with the swipe of a Brown ID — is a substantial upgrade from its previous incarnation as a 50 percent discount pass.

Brown isn’t the first school to wisely arrange free public transportation for its students — the University of Washington and several Chicago schools have recently done the same. It’s a good idea for any campus community, but especially one like ours, with a parking crunches that limits the use of student-owned cars.

And as gas prices continue to spike and major cities seem to perpetually increase public transportation fares, $200,000 for a year of free transportation for nearly 10,000 people strikes us as a good deal — one we hope will benefit dozens of faculty and staff . The new bus line slated to link Barrington — a popular hometown of choice for Brown professors — with Thayer Street is a great incentive for faculty to ride RIPTA.

In a state as small as Rhode Island, attracting as many riders as possible to the public transit system usefully vests in citizens concern for the future of their public transport system. Hey, it even promotes responsible energy use among Lil’ Rhody’s residents.

The interaction between our campus and surrounding Providence is bound to grow. As the University continues its physical expansion, students, faculty and staff will be shuttling between the Jewelry District and College Hill far more often.

But Brown technically has only agreed to a two-year con-tract with RIPTA, to be evaluated based on University par-ticipation. That’s why it is important, now, to get off the Hill and actually take advantage of U-PASS.

Plenty of interesting, quirky trips within Rhode Island are now at our fingertips, a handful of which are in our RIPTA guide on page 9. So head over to the bus tunnel and the Thayer Street stop — or grab one of the green trolleys that runs around campus — and venture elsewhere in Lil’ Rhody one of these Saturdays. There’s never been a better time to do it.

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C L a r i f i C a t i o n

An article in Wednesday’s Herald (“First-years test Banner registration,” Sept. 5) stated that first-year registra-tion took place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday. Online registration for freshmen in fact ended at 7 p.m.

Last year, 3,916 Americans died waiting for a kidney transplant. About 70,000 Americans are on the national waiting list for a kidney, and most of them undergo dialysis — a pain-ful, invasive, continuous and time-consuming set of medical procedures that temporarily treat kidney disease. The federal government should address these problems by lifting the ban on kidney sales immediately.

According to recent data, the median wait for a kidney transplant is four years. Thou-sands of patients don’t have enough health or good fortune to hold out for that long. There were about 17,000 kidney transplant surgeries performed in 2006, but far more than 17,000 new patients joined the waiting list during the same period. Furthermore, the waiting list un-derstates the actual number of needy patients since it excludes many indigent, elderly and unhealthy people.

The ban, implemented in 1984, makes it a federal felony to provide valuable compensa-tion to an organ donor. Yet monetary payment provides one of the most powerful incentives to donate. The restrictions have created a state-imposed purgatory for everyone suffer-ing from kidney disease. Patients, deprived of the opportunity to provide financial compensa-tion, will always outnumber willing donors by a wide margin.

In a legal kidney market, patients would compensate donors for the inconvenience and mild health risks associated with transplant surgery. Many people oppose kidney markets,

viewing them as exploitive or unfair. In reality, kidney sales would reduce exploitation and promote equity.

Critics of kidney sales often imagine grisly scenes in which rich patients harvest organs from the desperately poor. But studies of kid-ney donors indicate that the long-term health risks associated with kidney transplantation are nonexistent or minor. People normally have two functioning kidneys, but they only need one.

A 1997 study tracked 430 people who do-nated kidneys between 1964 and 1994. Not

a single subject died of kidney disease. A 1992 study compared the health of 57 donors and their siblings. The medical evaluations, conducted 20 or more years after surgery, indicated no significant health differences between the two groups.

Kidney donors do face a 0.03 percent chance of death or irreversible coma result-ing from the surgery, but that does not pro-

vide a compelling argument for a total ban on kidney sales. A commercial truck driver runs the same risk of death each year. Unless one also favors a total ban on commercial trucking and numerous other professions with tempting salaries but unhealthy effects (boxing, construction work, coal mining, pro-football, etc.) minor health risks cannot justify prohibition.

In all likelihood, the ban on kidney sales hurts the very people it aims to help. One recent study estimated that the legal market price of an American kidney would be about

$20,000. That sum would give donors the re-sources to buy a car, pay off debts, support their family or help pay for a house. These things will prove substantially more important to some adults than one extraneous append-age.

Instead of exploiting donors, an Ameri-can kidney market would forestall the truly exploitive transactions that occur outside of

the United States. Every year, droves of well-heeled travelers from Europe and the United States flock to Iran, Pakistan and Bulgaria to buy kidneys on the black market. These organs often come from unwilling victims. While American donors enjoy state-of-the-art, minimally invasive, low-risk surgery, for-eign “donors” are slashed down the side in a frequently debilitating and rarely hygienic procedure.

The exploitation of would-be donors is a powerful reason to endorse kidney markets, not reject them. But critics may still object that a kidney market does not offer equal ac-cess to treatment. The only patients who can buy a kidney on the market are those who can afford one.

As it turns out, kidney sales would make healthcare outcomes more equal. Chronic dialysis treatment costs about $100,000 more than the combined expense of a kidney, trans-plantation surgery and post-operative treat-ment. Whoever currently pays the bills for dialysis patients (most health care in the US is provided by third parties, not patients) would save millions of dollars per year by funding transplants for rich and poor patients alike. Right now the only people buying kidneys are those rich enough to travel abroad and acquire them from ethically suspect sources.

So why is the government banning con-sensual arrangements that would save thou-sands of lives, alleviate suffering, increase equal access to healthcare and give money to those who need it most? People are dying to know.

Former Herald Senior Staff Writer James Sha-piro ’10 will pay $50,000 for a heart.

Gentrification is the complex and inter-related consequences of people moving into a residential area and purchasing a property significantly more expensive than the proper-ties of the surrounding area. Gentrification is often associated with an increase in property values and rents as well as transformations to the neighborhood’s culture. Higher property taxes usually force the original residents of the communities to move out.

Yet, though gentrification displaces resi-dents from their communities, it does have some benefits. When new wealthier residents move into poor neighborhoods, crime rates often decrease, infrastructure improves and the neighborhood’s economy develops. The problem is that the benefits of gentrification unequally help the newer, wealthier residents, which in turn helps to raise property taxes even further and, ultimately, displaces even more of the original residents.

In an April 19, 2005, article in USA Today, Duke University economist Jacob Vigdor is quoted at saying that gentrification was not harmful to a neighborhood. He mocked the general attitude of gentrification opponents: “We were angry when the middle class moved out of the city; now we’re angry when they move back.”

Vigdor’s assessment is not only overly simplified — its implications are tinged with racism. Institutional racism ranging from the American slave trade to unequal educational

opportunities to the refusal of banks to give loans to families of color has made it extremely difficult for people of color to enjoy the same financial success as whites. Vigdor suggests that the poor people of color in underprivi-leged neighborhoods are irrational because they are upset no matter where middle class white people live. However, poor residents in cities are actually upset because, as history demonstrates, they are either marginalized or

displaced or both whenever white middle-class people want to move. When the white middle class abandoned urban areas, their absence and the loss of their tax base eroded inner-city public schools and greatly decreased available employment.

Now, more than 50 years later, gentrifica-tion is increasingly common, as many people

who moved to the suburbs want to move back to the neighborhoods they originally left. In some cases, people from the suburbs are mov-ing into more urban areas that never even experienced “white flight.”

Along with many other famous neighbor-hoods, such as Northwest Fort Lauderdale and Boston’s North End, my neighborhood in East Austin, Texas, has experienced a high level of gentrification. Most East Austin

residents are African-Americans and Mexican-Americans, largely due to past city policies that forced people of color to live on the east side of the city.

According to Rick Hampson, who wrote the article in USA Today, “In the predominantly Latino working class barrio of East Austin, the new Pedernales Lofts condominiums have

raised adjacent land values more than 50% since 2003. Last fall, someone hung signs from power lines outside the lofts saying, ‘Stop gentrifying the East Side’ and ‘Will U give jobs to longtime residents of this neigh-borhood?’”

In addition to concerns about displace-ment, some of the original residents of the neighborhood feel that the new white middle class residents will threaten the culture of the neighborhood. During a meeting in No-vember 2005, Susana Almanza, co-director of People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources, an East Austin based non-profit or-ganization, said that some of her new wealthy neighbors complain to the police that many of the original residents play their music too loud, say that they have “too many cars,” and condescendingly tell them that their children “run wild.”

The signs from Pedernales demonstrate legitimate concerns that a sudden influx of middle class residents will not solve the com-mon problems of the inner city. Gentrification forces poor people of color to find new ways to survive: new work, new schools, new con-nections and new homes — while the white middle class are able to live closer to work and enjoy their newfound proximity to the expen-sive downtown nightlife. Though resolving the problems of gentrification requires com-plex responses – not least the eradication of institutional racism – an immediate solution is for conscientious individuals to not move into neighborhoods where the average property value is significantly less than the property they intend to purchase.

Michael Ramos-Lynch ’09 is full of East Side pride.

opinionsTHuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD PAGE 15

BY JAMES SHAPIROopinionS CoLumniSt

Mi Casa No Es Su Casa

Rethinking kidney markets

Poor residents in cities are upset

because, as history demonstrates,

they are either marginalized or

displaced or both whenever white

middle-class people want to move.

Patients, deprived of the opportunity

to provide financial compensation,

will always outnumber willing donors

by a wide margin.

MICHAEL RAMOS-LYNCH

opinionS CoLumniSt

Gentrification in East Austin and Other Neighborhoods

by PeTer ciPParoNeSpor tS editor

Since the closing of the Smith Swim Center in January, Brown’s men’s and women’s water polo teams have gone through some significant changes. The closure forced the women’s team to finish its spring season at other pools, and the men’s team has practiced everywhere from Seekonk High School to Wheaton College in preparation for its regular season, which begins Saturday.

To cap it all off Brown intro-duced new Head Coach Felix Mercado on Aug. 22 to replace Jason Gall. However, Mercado made it clear that he’s planning on putting a stop to the sea of changes.

“I’m ripping up my resume,” Mercado said. “I think Brown’s looking for someone who’s dedi-cated to the program, and they’ve found someone.”

Mercado, who will coach both the women’s and men’s teams, replaces Gall, who departed to take a head coaching position at California State University, Ba-kersfield, on July 20. Immediately after being named to the position, Mercado started practice with the

men’s team.Mercado comes to Brown from

the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he oversaw the club program for both men and women. Last year, in his sec-ond year as head coach, he was named the College Water Polo As-sociation Division III Coach of the Year for the men’s season. When leading the women’s team, Mer-cado compiled a 30-3 record and reached the Club National Cham-pionships. Despite his success at his former school, Mercado was ecstatic to get the chance to coach on the Division I level.

“This is my dream job,” Mer-cado said. “The support here has been unbelievable, and the team has been on board with every-thing I’ve had to say.”

Amid the changes surround-ing the University’s construction of a temporary pool, Mercado is looking to provide some much-needed stability at the helm of the program. Todd Clapper coached the Bears water polo teams for four-and-a-half years but left in 2004, and Joe Linehan was named head coach in 2004. Linehan never coached a game before giving way to Gall in September of 2004. But Mercado has no plans to leave

anytime soon.“I think Brown was looking for

someone who would be commit-ted to the program and not use the job as a stepping stone to bigger programs,” Mercado said. “If the University wants dedication, they found the right person.”

Mercado’s biggest adjustment will be the elevated competition at the Division I level. His only coaching experience at the high-est level of collegiate play came this spring when he served as an assistant at Hartwick College, one of the women’s team’s main rivals, and helped lead the Hawks to a fifth place finish at the NCAA Championships.

But Mercado is no stranger to Division I coaches. He worked with Gall at camps when both had just moved to the Northeast. He said the two were “able to es-tablish a friendship with (each other) as new kids on the block.” Mercado seems to relish the op-portunity to work at a Division I level, saying that he enjoys having “more to work with as far as tal-ent” since his move to Brown.

This fall, the men’s team will have no home matches and will practice at other schools all sea-son as the temporar y pool is

scheduled to be completed in January, according to Mercado. The team will play numerous games at the Harvard pool in Cambridge, Mass., and will also travel to Eastern Collegiate Ath-letic Conference league games. But the new head coach is not making excuses.

“The guys definitely know what it takes to win,” Mercado said. “I expect us to compete for the ECAC title. We’re kind of the dark horse in the ECAC because of the pool situation, but we feel good about our chances. It wouldn’t shock us if we won the title.”

by WHiTNey clarKContributing Writer

On June 5, the women’s soccer team began a 13-day tour of Eu-rope, playing five games and a small tournament. Visiting four countries and stopping in almost a dozen different cities — includ-ing Rome, Munich, Venice and Mi-lan — the team competed against some of the top professional teams in Western Europe and took the opportunity to enjoy the cultural experience.

A day after arriving in Europe, Brown played G.S. Roma Femmini-le, a B-league team from Rome. With two goals from Lindsay Cun-ningham ’09 and one each from Jill Mansfield ’07 and Kellie Slater ’10, the Bears began their tour on a high note with a 4-0 win. Goalkeepers Brenna Hogue ’09 and Steffi Yellin ’09 contributed to the shutout.

After their short stay in Rome, Brown moved on to Florence, where it played Gioiello Firenze, a top A-league team. The Bears fell 1-0 in a game decided in the last two min-utes of regulation, thanks to a goal from a player on the Italian national team.

“They played a lot more in the air, and they were very accurate,” said co-captain Julia Shapira ’08 of the European teams Brown faced.

Many members of the team also said that the European women’s game was heavily influenced by the men’s style of play.

“You don’t see women taking dives in the U.S,” said Head Coach Phil Pincince. Some players com-plained that some fouls called in the European games would not have been called in NCAA games.

However, Brown adapted to the difference. Two days after their first loss, the Bears took a bus to Ber-gamo, Italy, to play Atalanta, another top A-league team. Although Brown had little time to recover from its previous game, it had enough en-

ergy to stage a comeback. Down 1-0 at halftime, Slater found the back of the net with her second goal of the trip, putting Brown back in the game with only 10 minutes left. Then, with only two minutes left, Melissa Kim ’10 gave the Bears the lead with a goal off of a direct kick from about 20 yards out.

Brown played its fourth game in Ragensberg, Germany, a town just outside Munich. Matched up against S.C. Rasenberg, one of the weaker

teams on the tour, Brown won in a blowout, 7-1.

The final game of the tour took place in Switzerland, the fourth and final country the Bears would visit on the trip. The game was held in Zurich and the Bears played FCC Zuchwil, coming out with their first tie of the trip, 1-1.

Brown then returned to Italy for a three-team tournament. Playing a pair of 45-minute games, the Bears beat the host team, Como 2000, 1-0,

but finished second in the tourna-ment after falling to Tourino by the same score.

Though the trip was exhaust-ing — the players had little time to relax between playing games and sightseeing — Pincince felt his team gained valuable experiences both on and off the field.

“There was definitely improve-ment,” Pincince said. “It allowed us to develop our players and gain confidence in each other.”

sporTs ThursDayPAGE 16 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THuRSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

Ashley Hess / Herald File Photo

Lindsay Cunningham ’09 led the women’s soccer team to a winning record on its tour of Europe over the summer.

Courtesy of Brown Sports Information

Felix Mercado

W. soccer tours Europe for competition and culture

New water polo coach in for the long-term

Let’s make a dealThe 2007 NFL season starts today, and wouldn’t you know it, JaMarcus Russell, the first overall pick of this year’s NFL Draft, is still without a contract.

This isn’t sur-prising. Ever y year, veteran NFL players dissatis-fied with their con-tracts and rookies frustrated with their prospective deals decide not to show up to training camp. For rookies,

this is a gamble. By not participating in camp, you might get your team to give you a more lucrative contract. But if the team doesn’t give in, not only are you stuck with whatever deal it chooses to give you, the time you spent away from training camp has reduced your value to the team. If your team ends up releasing you because you can’t agree on a con-tract, your value as a free agent won’t be helped by the fact that you have played in zero NFL games yet already have a track record of being tough to cooperate with.

But my beef isn’t with rookies. The fact that the NFL Players Association is utterly impotent doesn’t help them out. It is completely within a player’s right to argue for any contract he wants. Nor do I have anything against players who are given the franchise tag, which allows each NFL team to lock one of their would-be unre-stricted free agents into a one-year deal. In this case, the player has not signed a contract and is still forced into terms under which to play. Think about it — if you just finished the last year of a five-year deal with your job and you were hugely productive in your last year, you’d be ticked off if your company forced you to work another year before you could try and seek out other offers.

My problem is with players who have already signed contracts but who hold out because they think they aren’t being paid enough. Ev-erybody knows the key example of this: Terrell Owens. In 2005, he was set to earn $3.5 million as a wide re-ceiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. He thought this wasn’t enough given how he played the year before so he held out. Let’s say Owens had an abysmal year in 2004 — would the Eagles pay him less money in 2005 because he underperformed his contract? Absolutely not, because it’s a contract. It’s something you sign to guarantee a transaction of services (playing time) for compensation (money). If Owens or any other player thinks it’s within his rights to disobey his contract when his play exceeds expectations, he should be prepared to be paid less when he underperforms as well.

But aside from contract holdouts, there’s a deeper conflict that under-lies most players’ dissatisfaction with their salaries. Take wide receiver Randy Moss, for example. During his seven years with the Minnesota Vi-kings, he put up stellar stats and went to the Pro Bowl five times. But when it came time to renegotiate, Moss was displeased with the money the Vikings were willing to give him for a contract extension. But the Oakland Raiders, fresh off a swell 5-11 season, decided that their problems would

ben SingerHigh Notes

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