Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxliv, no. 51 | Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891
Columbus change spurs response UCS elections offer
By Lauren Fedor
Senior Staf f Writer
The faculty’s decision last week
to rename Columbus Day “Fall
Weekend” on the University cal-
endar has garnered more attention
both locally and nationally than the
average code revision, with Provi-
dence mayor David Cicilline ’83 and
Rush Limbaugh, the high-profile
conservative pundit, among those
decrying the move.
Though the faculty’s vote last
Tuesday seemed to reflect stu-
dent opinion — a recent Herald
poll suggested that the majority
of Brown students disapproved of
continuing to call the holiday Co-
lumbus Day — the resolution has
prompted a wave of criticism from
city leaders, who said the move
was hypocritical and disrespectful
to Italian-Americans.
“Brown University made itself an
example to the nation by carefully
exploring its ties to the slave trade
and using that process to promote
greater understanding,” Cicilline
said in a press release Thursday.
But the decision to “simply erase
the celebration of an incredibly sig-
nificant moment in world history
and Italian-American culture for the
sake of political correctness does
just the opposite,” he said.
Cicilline added that “as an Ital-
ian-American,” he took “particular
offense” to the decision.
U. to extend forgiveness
policy for preregistration
By Anne Simons
Senior Staf f Writer
The University has extended a
policy allowing students to pre-
register for fall classes regardless
of outstanding tuition balances,
according to an e-mail sent to stu-
dents Monday by Provost David
Kertzer ’69 P’95 P’98.
According to Kertzer’s e-mail,
students will be able to pre-reg-
ister for the fall semester even
if they have an unpaid balance
in excess of $1,000, which has
been the limit for pre-registration
eligibility in previous years.
Students will continue to ac-
crue late fees on their outstanding
balances.
The University changed the
existing policy last semester in
response to the concerns of some
families whose financial situation
was seriously changed by the eco-
nomic downturn, The Herald re-
ported in November.
“The economic challenges and
inside
News.....1-4
Metro........5
Spor ts...7-8
Editorial..10
Opinion...11
Today........12
www.browndailyherald.com
John Vanderlyn’s 1847 painting depicts Columbus landing on the West Indies island
called Guarnahani by the natives — which he named San Salvador — on Oct. 12, 1492.
Cicilline’s communications di-
rector, Rhoades Alderson, told The
Herald Monday that the mayor be-
lieves the role of higher education is
to “get at the truth” of “complicated
parts of our nation’s history.”
Brown “set the standard for do-
ing that” with its work exploring its
historical ties to the slave trade,
Alderson said, but Cicilline felt the
Columbus Day decision was done
“in the opposite spirit.”
uncertainties facing our students
and their families have not dimin-
ished in the intervening months,”
Kertzer wrote in his e-mail.
About 360 students benefited
from the changed policy last se-
mester, The Herald reported in
January.
Kertzer’s e-mail also reminded
students that financing options
are available for families who did
not qualify for University aid, in-
cluding federal loan programs.
“The Office of Financial Aid
is available to provide advice on
financing options to both aided
and non-aided families,” the e-
mail said.
The Herald reported in No-
vember that the University would
allow students with an outstand-
ing balance of up to $7,500 to
return to campus for the spring
semester, increasing the limit
from $5,000.
Kertzer’s e-mail Monday did
not say whether that specific
policy would be extended.
Metro, 5
mayor in the ’hood
Mayor Cicilline ’83 spoke to
College Hill residents about
the economy yesterday
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
Courtesy of Library of Congress
“It was just kind of deleting (the
event) from history, rather than us-
ing it to promote understanding,”
Alderson said.
Cicilline was not the only one
upset with the faculty’s decision.
Members of local Italian-American
organizations expressed their dis-
satisfaction in a Providence Jour-
nal article last week. The Italian-
continued on page 4
Sophomore cooks up cake, business
By Alicia Chen
Contributing Writer
In high school, her classmates’ par-
ents hired her to make cakes — but
it wasn’t until last semester that Kelly
Schryver ’11 created TillieCakes, her
own cake-baking company.
FEATURE
“Kids on campus cannot get cus-
tom cakes from scratch very eas-
ily,” Schryver said. “Either you go
to Coldstone’s or trek all the way
out somewhere.”
After developing a business
proposal in ENGN 0090: “Manage-
ment of Industrial and Nonprofit
Organizations,” Schryver started
her own company to make cakes for
birthdays, baby showers, holidays
and other occasions.
Schryver named TillieCakes after
the cook in the movie “Pollyanna.”
“There was this scene I loved
as a kid,” she said. “She has a cake
booth where she gives out giant
slabs of cake.”
Though her roommates some-
times pitch in, Schryver bakes and
fierce competition
By Ben Schreckinger
Senior Staff Writer
This year’s Undergraduate Council of
Students and Undergraduate Finance
Board elections are the most com-
petitive in years, with more candidates
contesting for more spots than in other
recent elections.
Five of 10 UCS and UFB leader-
ship positions are contested this year,
while a year ago only the races for
UCS president, UCS vice president
and UFB chair were contested. There
are four candidates running for UCS
president and three for vice president,
up from just two each in 2008.
The combined seven candidates
competing for UCS’ top two positions
are the most since at least 2005.
Twelve students are running for
six at-large seats on UFB. Those posi-
tions were uncontested last year, as
only five students ran. Two candidates
are running for UFB chair, unchanged
from last year, and the position of UFB
vice chair will be contested for the first
time since 2007.
“Usually — for UCS especially — a
lot of the races have been uncontest-
ed,” said Elections Board Chair Lily
Tran ’10, also the current UFB chair.
This year, races for the chairs of
the UCS Campus Life, Admissions
and Student Services and Student Ac-
tivities committees are uncontested.
“Pupcakes” are popular items from Kelly Schryver’s ’11 bakery business,
TillieCakes. Her “custom cakes from scratch” earn rave reviews, she said.
decorates all of the company’s orders
herself. Her creations — including
vanilla “pupcakes” with confection-
ary canines and a bold blue Obama
cake — have earned rave reviews
from her customers, helping her
business spread through word of
mouth, she said.
“I really like how she can custom-
ize it,” said Jessica Fadale ’10, recall-
Sports, 7
Quakers triumph
Men’s lacrosse falls to Penn
in a hard-fought match
plagued by bad weather
Read The Herald’s profiles of
the candidates for UCS and
UFB leadership Page 3
There are no candidates for UCS
treasurer or for head delegate to the
Ivy Council. Previously, Brown’s head
delegate to the Ivy Council has been
internally elected by UCS.
Tran said she hopes the increased
competition of this year’s races and
a greater number of active endorse-
ments announced by student groups
will translate into higher voter par-
ticipation. Just 1,346 ballots were cast
in last year’s election, representing
about a quarter of the undergraduate
student body.
The elections board has tried to
facilitate greater student interest by
introducing a debate for UFB candi-
dates, held at last week’s Brown Uni-
versity Activities Council meeting, and
moving the UCS presidential debate to
Wriston Quadrangle, Tran said.
Almost every candidate for UCS
president and vice president has
named Brown’s financial situation
or financial aid as his or her primary
focus for the coming year.
The elections board enforces a
complex set of rules governing every
aspect of campaigning. Candidates are
continued on page 3
Qidong Chen / Herald
ing a brightly hued cake that she
ordered for a friend’s birthday.
Schryver has about one cake or-
der a week, she said, and students
on campus often recognize her as
the “cake girl.” Schryver has even
seen one of her cakes as the back-
ground image of another student’s
continued on page 2
Opinions, 11
Court costs
Dan Davidson ’11 argues
it should be easier to pay
off court debt
herald@browndailyherald.com
Page 2 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Tuesday, April 14, 2009

C ampus N EWS “I watched a lot of Martha Stewart as a kid.”

— Kelly Schryver ’11, TillieCakes founder

Student’s made-from- Film Fest showcases Palestinian life

scratch cakes delight
continued from page 1
cell phone, she said.
Despite the growing popularity of
her baked goods, Schryver is hesi-
tant to call TillieCakes a full-fledged
business.
“The reason why I don’t entirely
call it a business is because the profit
margin is really slim. But I’m not
doing it for the money,” Schryver
said.
Schr yver calls herself a self-
taught baker. “I watched a lot of
Martha Stewart as a kid,” she said.
“Food Network’s my favorite.”
Schryver said she often impro-
vises decorative techniques to make
her unique cake stylings. One of her
favorites was a cake adorned with
President Obama’s face.
To create the Obama image,
Schryver said she experimented
with a variety of methods before
hitting on the innovative technique
she used to make the large decora-
tion. She first created the design in
royal icing on top of wax paper. After
she allowed the decoration to set,
she transferred the image — based
on Shepard Fairey’s iconic posters
— to the cake.
Schryver bakes all of her cakes
from scratch, without any shortcuts.
“The homemade aspect is very im-
portant to me,” she said.
She adds special ingredients,
like almond extract to her vanilla
buttercream frosting, to make the
cakes extra flavorful.
“In the end you’re eating a cake,
so it has got to taste good too,”
Schryver said.
Though her company has been
getting more recognition on cam-
sudoku
Qidong Chen / Herald
One of Schryver’s cake designs,
depicting the 44th president.
pus, Schryver said she is not sure
how much she wants to expand. She
juggles other activities like being a
tour guide and playing on the club
lacrosse team with baking for Till-
ieCakes.
But Schryver is experimenting
with other avenues to pursue her
culinary passion.
She has started filming a cook-
ing show for Brown Television and
is considering working at a pastry
shop this summer, she said.
Last Tuesday, Schryver could be
found in the Minden Hall ground-
floor kitchen, putting the final
touches on two cake orders. After
she spread buttercream frosting on
each cake and added piped borders
and other decorations, Schryver’s
unique culinary creations began to
take shape.
She plans to take TillieCakes
“one step at a time, testing out the
ropes and then taking it one step
further,” she said, as she carefully
fashioned a rose from pink butter-
cream frosting. “It’s right where it
needs to be right now.”
By Caitlin Trujillo
Contributing Writer
The inaugural Providence Palestin-
ian Film Festival wraps up Wednes-
day after a week of screenings
designed to draw attention to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Since it kicked off last Thurs-
day, the week-long festival has
shown three feature films, a series
of short documentaries and an
exhibit of photographs taken by
students at Palestinian universi-
ties. The event was sponsored by
Common Ground, a student group
dedicated to bringing “marginal-
ized and unique voices” about the
conflict to campus, according to
the film festival’s Web site.
Saturday afternoon in Carmi-
chael Auditorium, Nitin Sawhney,
a research fellow at the Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology, pre-
sented short films from his project
“Voices Beyond Walls.” The short
movies were made by Palestinian
children during storytelling work-
shops in refugee camps over the
last several summers.
The short films portray aspects
of chaotic Palestinian life, ranging
from the tragedy of a girl losing
her arms in a land mine explo-
sion to the joy another girl derives
from releasing a captured bird,
and encompass everything from
the intensity of a youth basketball
tournament between Palestine and
Jordan to the maturation of a boy
who learns to value his educational
opportunities.
Sawhney said in a discussion af-
ter the screening that the children
concentrated the stories’ narrative
focus on the compelling stories of
Palestinian lives, with the wide-
spread violence pressed into the
background. He said he learned
many lessons from the children
and hoped to extend the program
to Gaza and to spread awareness
of modern Palestinian life.
“This is really a crucial issue,
and the American psyche isn’t rec-
ognizing it as such,” Sawhney said
during the discussion.
Other screened documentaries
and shorts included the first two
of Mar yam Monalisa Gharavi’s
“Inessential” series, films that
attempt to illustrate how Israeli
government restrictions have
devastated fishing and farming
The Providence Palestinian Film Festival showcased films at the Avon
Cinema about the lives of modern Palestinians.
industries in the region, and Phil-
ip Rizk’s “This Palestinian Life,”
which documents the nonviolent
protests of some rural Palestinians
as they refuse to vacate their land
and homes.
On Sunday night, Avon Cinema
hosted the independent film “Salt
of this Sea,” in which a Palestinian-
American woman named Soraya
returns to her family’s homeland in
an attempt to regain her deceased
grandfather’s assets, which were
lost upon his 1948 exile. The film
explores the issues of Palestinian
treatment at the hands of Israelis
and the contrast between Soraya’s
desire to regain her history and
her friend Emad’s wish to leave
Palestine behind him.
Film festival co-chairs Joanna
Abousleiman ’09 and Chantal Ber-
man ’10.5 said they were inspired
by events like the Boston Palestine
Film Festival, which ran last Oc-
tober, and wanted to expand the
scope of featured films to include
lesser-known works and more re-
cent releases.
“We wanted to present a new
perspective,” Abousleiman said.
In order to support the festival
and help acquire the film rights,
Common Ground received a grant
from Brown’s Malcolm S. Forbes
Center for Research in Culture and
Media Studies, she said.
Jesse Morgan / Herald
“Film’s a great way to get
people interested in the issues,”
Berman said, adding that she
and other group members were
pleased with the turnout this year
and were hoping to be able to run
the festival again next year.
Monday night, also at Avon, the
festival screened part four of the
six-part documentary “Chronicles
of a Refugee,” which, like “Voices
Beyond Walls,” delves into the
lives of Palestinian refugees and
their dilemmas of identity and
citizenship. Director Adam Sha-
piro, a human rights activist, led
a discussion of the film after the
screening.
The festival began last Thurs-
day with a screening at Avon Cin-
ema of “Slingshot Hip Hop,” a 2008
documentary that follows a variety
of Palestinian hip-hop groups.
Last Friday Common Ground
also hosted an exhibit at the Cogut
Center for the Humanities of pho-
tographs taken by Palestinian stu-
dents. The artists are students at
Birzeit University, near Ramallah
in the West Bank, and An-Najah
University, in Nablus.
On Wednesday, the last day
of the festival, the film “Private”
will be shown at Avon Cinema at
9 p.m. It will be free and open to
the public.

Bookstore to search for new director

By Sydney Ember a personal situation, it’s not some- reached for comment, stepped in

Daily Herald
Senior Staff Writer thing we discuss,” she said. “He as director of the Bookstore in late
the Brown
did a lot when he was here. He’s November 2006, seven months after
The Brown Bookstore will begin not here anymore.” he resigned as director of auxiliary
Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372 | Business Phone: 401.351.3260 reviewing applications for a new The bookstore has been operat- services and campus services at
Stephen DeLucia, President Jonathan Spector, Treasurer director this week, said Assistant ing without a permanent director Wesleyan University, a position he
Michael Bechek, Vice President Alexander Hughes, Secretary Vice President for Financial and since Cunard’s resignation, though held for four years. According to
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serv- Administrative Services Elizabeth Gentry said the Bookstore’s man- the Wesleyan Argus, Wesleyan’s
ing the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday Gentry. Former director Manuel agement team has been under her student newspaper, Cunard re-
through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Cunard abruptly resigned in early guidance. Her position at Brown signed to pursue consulting work
Commencement, once during Orientation and once in July by The Brown Daily
Herald, Inc. Single copy free for members of the community.
February. oversees bookstore organiza- full-time and to visit his daughter
POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI Gentry and several bookstore tion, she said, adding that she is and granddaughter frequently in
02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Offices are located at 195 employees declined to comment on currently “standing in with the Virginia.
Angell St., Providence, R.I. E-mail herald@browndailyherald.com. Cunard’s sudden resignation. management team in place” until During his two-and-a-half year
World Wide Web: http://www.browndailyherald.com.
Subscription prices: $319 one year daily, $139 one semester daily.
“It’s not something to be dis- a new director is found to fill the tenure at the Bookstore, Cunard
Copyright 2009 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved. cussed,” Gentry said about Cunard’s vacancy.
decision to step down. “When it’s Cunard, who could not be continued on page 4
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Page 3

C ampus N EWS
Voting in UCS, UFB
Stiff competition for UCS, UFB elections begins today
Vote on mycourses.brown.edu beginning at 12 p.m. today. Voting ends Thursday at 12 p.m. But some candidates have found
continued from page 1
creative ways around the restrictive
UCS President allotted a certain number of points guidelines.
and a spending limit of $45 for their Supporters of UCS Student Ac-
Paris Hays ’10 campaigns. Table slips, events and tivities Chair Ryan Lester ’11 and
Hays wants to include underrepresented campus constituencies and improve even Facebook groups cost a certain Wertheimer, for example, have put
Brown’s image among peer institutions. The major internal change Hays would number of points. up campaign-themed profile pictures
propose to UCS is the implementation of task forces to follow through on impor- Violations of campaign rules also on their Facebook accounts.
tant priorities. cost candidates points. Campaigning ends and voting
Hays, from Los Angeles, is the only presidential candidate not already on UCS’s During this year’s campaign, a begins today at noon. Students can
executive board. He served as a general body member last year. He currently member of the elections board was vote online on MyCourses until noon
serves on Greek Council and has chaired the Ivy Leadership Summit. made an administrator of the cam- Thursday. Results will be announced
paign Facebook group of UCS Com- Thursday at midnight on the steps
munications Chair Clay Wertheimer in front of Faunce House.
Ryan Lester ’11 ’10, a candidate for UCS president. The candidates for UCS presi-
Lester says UCS does not need to improve its priorities as much as it needs to The r ules violation cost dent are Paris Hays ’10, UCS Vice
improve its ability to make change real. He is running a process-oriented campaign Wertheimer 15 of the 100 points President Mike MacCombie ’11,
“based on the idea that I know how to accomplish” the council’s goals, he says. allotted to UCS presidential candi- Lester and Wertheimer. UCS vice-
He would create a UCS “liason” to University committees and invite representa- dates, though, according to Tran, the presidential candidates are UCS
tives of those committees to UCS meetings for frequent consultation. elections board member “accidently member Evan Holownia ’11, UCS
Lester, who hails from Logan, Utah, currently serves as UCS Student Activities joined the Facebook group and was Treasurer Harris Li ’11 and UCS
Chair and has served as appointments chair. made an administrator by someone member Diane Mokoro ’11.
other than Clay.” Candidates for UFB Chair are
Tran said the system ensures current UFB members Salsabil
Mike MacCombie ’11 that each candidate has access to Ahmed ’11 and Jose Vasconez ’10.
MacCombie sees “the potential that UCS has to improve the lives of college equal resources, preventing any Vice-chair candidates are Neil Parikh
students in meaningful ways” and wants the council to be more responsive to unfair advantage. ’11 and Juan Vasconez ’10.
the student body. An advocate of the council’s “Ratty office hours,” he says the
dialogue with students resulting from the hours has shaped his platform. He plans
to continue to fight against pre-requisites and to improve advising.
MacCombie, from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, is the current UCS vice president, and
has served on the council for two years.

Clay Wertheimer ’10

“I love Brown,” Wertheimer says. Wertheimer says he has had “the quintes-
sential Brown education,” arriving as a student of the sciences before deciding to
concentrate in English literature and finally doubling up with economics.
Wertheimer says that of the candidates for president, he has “the strongest
relationships with administrators.” He cites his experience with internal reform
chairing a UCS assessment task force last year. Wertheimer, from Juneau, Alaska,
is the UCS communications chair.

UCS Vice Presidential Candidates: A transfer student, Evan Holownia ’11 served this year as a
general body member on UCS’ Admissions and Student Services committee. He wants to improve the
council’s “internal and external communication,” he says. He would like to see a stricter UCS attendance
policy and increased accountability for general body members’ individual roles in the council’s projects.
Harris Li ’11 says he would complement an administration-oriented president. He says he has the most
experience dealing with administrators and the personality to unify efforts across the council’s various
committees. Li, the current UCS treasurer, has served two years on the council. UCS has elected him
Brown’s head delegate to the Ivy Council both years. Diane Mokoro ’11 says she has not missed “a
single meeting” of UCS. “I know everybody’s name. I know the code like the back of my hand,” she says.
She says she will prioritize the University’s financial situation next year and work to preserve students’
Brown experience as well as retaining as many staff and faculty as possible. Mokoro serves on UCS’ com-
munications committee.
UFB Chair

Salsabil Ahmed ’11

“I’m running because I feel I owe it to the student groups to have a chair who
will listen to each student,” Ahmed says.
Ahmed would rely less on precedent and instead evaluate proposals “on a
case-by-case basis.” Ahmed, who hails from Connecticut, says she sees no room
for personal politics on UFB and writes in her platform, “I would not tolerate
block voting based on personal differences/alliances.” An at-large UFB member
and the board’s secretary, Ahmed has served for two semesters on UFB.

Jose Vasconez ’10

Vasconez, UFB’s longest-serving member at five semesters, plans to distribute
a list of guidelines to student groups to give them a more solid idea of how to con-
struct funding requests. “If groups knew how the board has historically funded”
different types of requests, they could “better prepare budgets,” he says. Vasconez,
from Northridge, Calif., cites his experience on both the financial and student
groups sides of campus affairs. He has served as UCS treasurer and Ivy Council fi-
nance chair and has been a member of the UCS student activities committee.

UFB Vice Chair Candidates: Neil Parikh ’11 wants to address the “frustration and distrust” with which
student groups view UFB, according to his platform. He believes the solution is to have UFB take a more active
role in the planning of student group events, to reach “a solution that benefits everyone.” Parikh is the president
of the Class of 2011. Vice-chair candidate Juan Vasconez ’10 is running because he wants to “help lead and
teach” a young UFB “to allocate money responsibly.” Vasconez, brother of Jose, says he would open a dialogue
to help student groups understand the hard decisions UFB has to make and to create an atmosphere in which
UFB is “not dictating policy, but creating policy with student groups.”
Vasconez has also served previously on UCS and raised $25,000 for Brown at the University call center.
By Ben Schreckinger, with additional reporting by Brian Mastroianni
Page 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Tuesday, April 14, 2009

C ampus N EWS “Are we going to stop Presidents Day because Thomas Jefferson had slaves?”
— Michael Hogan ’11, on Brown’s renaming Columbus Day

Columbus change spurs criticism

continued from page 1

American community has long Rush Limbaugh on the faculty’s decision

regarded Columbus — an Italian
explorer who made his first voy-
age to the Americas in 1492 — as
an important historical figure and
cultural icon.
“Columbus was the one that
opened up this part of the world
to Western civilization,” Raymond
Dettore, Jr., former president of the
Italo-American Club in Providence,
told the Journal.
Anthony Baratta, president of
to rename Columbus Day
“ Last month a Brown Daily Herald poll found two-thirds
of the spoiled, rotten little skulls full of mush with brains
that represent the arid expanse of the Sahara Desert sup-
ported changing the holiday’s name. ... ‘That’s right, Mr.
Limbaugh, you don’t want to admit it, but the multiculturists
have been right all along. This is because Columbus brought
syphilis; Columbus brought racism, sexism, homophobia,
environmental destruction.’ I know it’s funny, but it’s sad to
realize this level of idiocy is being rewarded. Next they’re

the Commission for Social Justice
of the group Sons of Italy, told the
Journal that Columbus Day is a
“patriotic” holiday. “I don’t know
why the faculty would have chosen
this route,” he said.
Bob Kerr, a columnist for the
Journal, said Monday that he
thought the faculty’s decision was
“a little detached” from the local
community, especially considering
that a large number of Providence’s
residents are of Italian descent.
Kerr wrote an opinion piece for the
Journal on Friday, headlined “Dif-
ferent ways of looking at the same
guy,” mocking the measure.
“I didn’t think it was a great
decision,” he said yesterday. “I’m
amazed that people at Brown
wouldn’t realize, ‘Whoa, wait a
minute, this is going to make us
look a little silly.’”
The story quickly reached the
national media. On Thursday, two
days after the faculty’s vote, radio
personality Rush Limbaugh at-
tacked the decision.
Referring to Brown students
who supported the faculty’s deci-
sion as “spoiled, rotten little skulls
full of mush with brains that repre-
sent the arid expanse of the Sahara
going to come along and get rid of Halloween.
— Radio transcript of April 9 episode of “The Rush Limbaugh Show”
Desert,” Limbaugh said the change
was “idiocy.”
“Next they’re going to come
along and get rid of Halloween,”
he said.
The Associated Press and Fox
News were among the national
media organizations to pick up
the story.
Meanwhile, most Brown stu-
dents continued to support the fac-
ulty’s move, despite the way it was
received outside College Hill.
“I definitely support the deci-
sion,” Avi Kenny ’11 said. Colum-
bus is “undeserving of a holiday,”
he said.
“What they teach us in elemen-
tary school is misleading — hero
worshipping,” said Josh Marcotte
’11, calling the faculty’s decision “a
progressive step.”
Araceli Mendez ’12 said she too
supported the change, but under-
stood why some groups, such as
Italian-Americans, might see it as
offensive. “It’s not that complicated
”
of an issue, but I understand where
they’re coming from,” she said.
Michael Hogan ’11 said he gen-
erally approved of the decision to
rename Columbus Day, but ex-
pressed some concern about the
precedent such a move might set.
“Are we going to stop Presidents
Day because Thomas Jefferson had
slaves?” he asked.
The faculty vote was preceded
by months of pressure from a small
group of students who wanted the
University to stop recognizing
Columbus Day. The students had
originally proposed that the Univer-
sity take a different day off, but the
months of dialogue ended with the
proposal to change only the name
of the holiday, in part because some
faculty and staff wanted the Univer-
sity’s October holiday to coincide
with that of local schools.
Columbus Day, obser ved
on the second Monday in Octo-
ber, has been a federal holiday
since 1971.
A line of toys designed by Brown and RISD students in a 2006 course
targets children with neuromuscular diseases and impaired motor skills.
Student-designed toys help
kids with motor disorders
By Matthew Scult
Contributing Writer
Ask a child if he would rather do
physical therapy or play with a re-
mote control car and the answer will
be obvious. But now researchers at
Brown and the Rhode Island School
of Design have designed a way for
him to do both, by creating toys
specially developed for children
with neuromuscular diseases.
The toys, originally designed
by students in a joint Brown-RISD
course, are meant to complement
the benefits of physical therapy for
children with Cerebral Palsy, said
Professor of Orthopaedics Joseph
Crisco of the Warren Alpert Medi-
cal School.
By using the toys, the children
Courtesy of Brown.edu
children with neuromuscular dis-
eases are unable to use the same
toys as their friends and siblings
because these toys frequently re-
quire the use of fine motor skills,
such as pulling a trigger or press-
ing a button. To overcome this
problem, Crisco’s students pulled
out the wires of common toys and
redesigned them to be controlled
through movements of the wrist
or arm.
The result is similar in concept
to the Nintendo Wii remote, Crisco
said, except that the new toys re-
spond only to movements made by
the forearm — which is enclosed in
a brace — rather than to full-body
and arm movement.
As the goal of the project was
to use the toys for “targeted joint

Search underway to fill bookstore position

continued from page 2
oversaw the store’s recent renova-
tions and the opening of the College
Hill Cafe.
Cunard has also held positions
at Wake Forest University, Loyola
University in New Orleans and Colo-
rado State University. He was the
executive director of the National
Association of College Auxiliary
Services, a support organization
that fosters information sharing and
the development of professional re-
lationships in higher education.
Gentry said the search for a new
director is currently underway.
“The position is open, and we are
accepting applications,” she said.
Though the final hiring decision
will belong to Gentry, she said a
search committee of people from
around campus will provide input
about the hiring. Her decision will
be based on the committee’s rec-
ommendation after applicants un-
dergo a formal interview process,
she said.
But Gentry said a final selec-
tion could take “another month or
two.”
She said it was unclear when a
new director would be in place.
effectively “have therapy for a much
longer period of time,” Crisco said,
adding that the key of the project is
to disguise therapy as play.
The development of the toys re-
sulted from a collaboration between
Crisco, Clinical Assistant Professor
of Clinical Neurosciences Karen
Kerman ’78, RISD Associate Pro-
fessor of Industrial Design Khipra
Nichols and students in Crisco’s
course, “Toys for Rehabilitation.”
Crisco said he and his colleagues
came up with the initial concept for
the product in the fall of 2006. His
students designed the actual toys
throughout the fall semester. The
students worked on several differ-
ent concepts, including specially
designed walking shoes to help
children with climbing disabilities
and remote-controlled toys for chil-
dren with hemiplegia, he said.
According to Crisco, many
therapy,” Crisco said, the designers
did not want the toys to respond if
the child were “standing on (his)
head.”
The researchers’ goal is to send
the toys home with the children to
augment their other therapy, Crisco
said, adding that the toys have data
logging capabilities which can tell
doctors how much the children
have been using them.
In 2008, the group received a
grant to develop prototypes of the
toy controllers and began conduct-
ing a small pilot study. Now the
researchers are applying for fund-
ing from the National Institutes
of Health to upgrade the toys to
commercial quality.
If the researchers get fund-
ing, Crisco said he would like to
involve students in further develop-
ing the toys and researching their
effectiveness.
Metro
The Brown Daily Herald
Cicilline, CHNA discuss local issues City faces deadline
By Anish Gonchigar
Staf f Writer
About 40 members of the College
Hill Neighborhood Association
turned out to discuss city and
neighborhood issues with Provi-
dence Mayor David Cicilline ’83 at
Moses Brown School last night.
The mayor emphasized the
ef fects of the recession on
Providence.
“It would be an understatement
to say that we’re in a really chal-
lenging budget time,” he said.
Cicilline said the city’s immedi-
ate focus should be on creating jobs
and laying the foundation for eco-
nomic recovery. He said the key to
rebuilding Providence’s economy
will be investing in knowledge-
based industries, adding that he
has been working in Washington,
D.C., to funnel stimulus money
to Brown and the Rhode Island
School of Design.
Cicilline also commended
the Providence Police Depar t-
ment for being a model city po-
lice force, saying “the police de-
partment is and continues to be
extraordinar y.”
Chief of Police Colonel Dean
Esserman, who was in attendance,
added that the Providence police
force is on the road to becoming
the first teaching police force in
the United States.
Another issue on the agenda
was the public school system.
Cicilline said he is working hard
with Providence Public Schools
Superintendent Tom Brady to ad-
dress key failings in the system.
A major goal, said Cicilline, would
be to work on bridging the per-
ceived separation between school
and after-school activities.
Members of the CHNA raised
concerns about graffiti. Cicilline
agreed that graf fiti is a serious
problem but said there is no solu-
tion other than to continue fight-
ing it.
Budget proposal unsigned by Carcieri
By Sara Sunshine
Senior Staf f Writer
Governor Donald Carcieri ’65 an-
nounced last week he would nei-
ther sign nor veto the Rhode Island
legislature’s budget-balancing pro-
posal, passed two weeks ago by both
houses. Without his signature, the
$7.2 billion plan became law last
week.
In a statement to state lawmak-
ers, Carcieri said, “I am allowing this
bill to become law, but without my
signature and noting my concerns.
For the sake of all Rhode Islanders,
I expect all these concerns will be
addressed by the end of the legisla-
tive session.”
Though the governor’s decision
drew criticism from state Repub-
licans, a veto would not have pre-
vented the budget’s implementation,
as there were enough votes in the
General Assembly to easily override
any veto, according to an April 8
Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83 spoke at a meeting of the College
Hill Neighborhood Association last night, covering issues from parking to
school vandalism.
Esserman said a majority of
vandals are high school students
tagging their own neighborhoods.
The police department is taking
new initiatives to prevent graffiti,
such as talking directly to parents
and school officials, he added.
A more divisive issue brought
up at the meeting was parking
enforcement. Cicilline said park-
ing complaints are split between
people claiming that parking en-
forcement is too strict and people
complaining that parking enforce-
ment is too lenient.
Providence Journal article.
The supplemental budget cuts
millions from municipal funding and
limits changes to the state’s public
pension system.
The plan also contains an addi-
tional $1-per-pack tax on cigarettes,
making Rhode Island’s the highest
such tax in the country.
The increased cost could lead
to a drop in sales, resulting in de-
creased revenue for Rhode Island
businesses, said Bill Felkner, ex-
ecutive director of the Ocean State
Policy Research Institute, a liber-
tarian-leaning group.
Rhode Island already has one
of the highest cigarette-smuggling
rates, Felkner added, and prohibi-
tively expensive cigarettes will only
cause that to increase.
The budget’s provisions about
labor contracts also caused some
concern among Rhode Islanders.
A stipulation requiring all con-
tracts be presented to the public
“The longer they wait, the worse it will be.”
— City Councilman John Igliozzi on the Providence budget supplement
Anish Gonchigar / Herald
“Everyone I’ve asked this ques-
tion to has strong views one way or
another,” Cicilline said, adding that
he is a big proponent of on-street
parking and that he is working on
pilot programs in several neighbor-
hoods to reform parking.
College Hill resident Alan Gore
told The Herald that this was his
first time attending a neighbor-
hood meeting, and he thought
the mayor seemed ver y on top of
things.
“I thought it was ver y informa-
tive,” Gore said.
before government approval, which
Felkner said would have saved the
state a significant amount of money,
was removed from the final budget,
he said. It was removed because
“the unions have a great deal of
control,” Felkner added.
In a press conference last week,
Carcieri said labor issues such as
“minimum manning” provisions that
were unaddressed in the budget are
still harmful to cities and towns.
But many legislators were con-
tent with the final budget. “Some-
times under ver y, ver y difficult
economic times, you have to put
aside your differences and move the
state forward, and I think this was a
very good first step,” House Finance
Committee chairman Steven Costan-
tino told the Journal, according to
the April 8 article.
But “a lot of the money… has
strings attached to it,” Felkner said.
“It’s not the financial relief it’s been
portrayed to be.”
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | Page 5
to solve budget woes
By Joanna Wohlmuth
Metro Editor
With less than three months re-
maining in the city’s fiscal year,
Providence must rush to close a
$16.1 million deficit resulting from
slashed state aid and unmet rev-
enue goals.
Ward 7 Councilman John Ig-
liozzi, chairman of the City Council
Finance Committee, said he hopes
to see a supplemental budget pro-
posal from the office of Mayor
David Cicilline ’83 by the council
meeting this Thursday.
But Igliozzi said city officials
seemed “noncommittal” about
their timeline for presenting bud-
get revisions when he last spoke
with them.
The City Charter requires that
the budget be balanced at the end
of each fiscal year, which runs from
July 1 to June 30.
Because of the procedural steps
required — including the certifica-
tion of the deficit and presentation
of a supplemental budget by the
mayor’s office, as well as multiple
votes and public hearings in the
council — the budget revision
process will likely take a month
to complete, Igliozzi said.
With only 11 weeks to make
up the deficit in Providence’s
$641-million operating budget for
the current year, the city will need
to work quickly. About 55 percent
of the total budget is allocated
for education with the remainder
going for city services, including
recreational activities, police and
fire departments, parks and snow
removal, Igliozzi said.
The deficit will not affect the
allocation of money to schools, so
the city must find a way to make
it up through savings elsewhere,
Igliozzi said. Due to Rhode Island’s
crippling foreclosure and unem-
ployment problems, raising taxes
is also not a possibility at this time,
he said.
Of the total deficit of $16.1 mil-
lion, about $7 million comes from
unmet city goals for revenue from
taxes, property sales and consolida-
tion of city departments, Igliozzi
said. The other $9 million was
cut from state funds allocated to
make up for lost revenues from
tax-exempt properties, such as
hospitals and institutions of higher
education, which make up about
52 percent of land in Providence,
he said.
“Some of it was self-inflicted and
some of it is something that wasn’t
in our control,” Igliozzi said.
Though Providence officials
have known for months that the
state may cut the city’s funding,
the exact amount was not known
until early April, when the General
Assembly voted to restore about
half of the state’s revenue-sharing
money for cities and towns.
There has been discussion of
selling city properties, consolidat-
ing city departments and seeking
concessions from unions, Igliozzi
said, adding that retroactive pay
raises given to nonunion employ-
ees may also be cut.
Cicilline’s director of adminis-
tration, Richard Kerbel, told the
Providence Journal last week that
closing the deficit will be a “signifi-
cant challenge.” The mayor’s office
is primarily focusing on conces-
sions from unions and nonunion
personnel to achieve a balanced
budget, he told the Journal.
The mayor’s office could not be
reached for comment Monday.
Kerbel is largely responsible for
drafting the supplemental budget
proposal, Igliozzi said.
Providence is already strug-
gling to fill the projected deficits
in the budget for the next fiscal
year, and the problem will only
be compounded by any lingering
deficits, Igliozzi said
“They are going to have to be-
come more frugal and put together
a serious financial plan on how to
run the city without the additional
$16 million for the next quarter,”
Igliozzi said. “The longer they wait,
the worse it will be.”
World & Nation
The Brown Daily Herald
U.S. appears set to Obama lifts sanctions against Cuba
boycott U.N. session
By Michael A. Fletcher
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The Obama
administration appears to be
standing by its decision to boycott
the World Conference Against
Racism next week in Geneva,
despite efforts to focus and tone
down language in a draft confer-
ence document viewed as hostile
toward Israel.
The preliminar y conference
document ran 45 pages and called
for reparations for slaver y, con-
demned the “validation of Islamo-
phobia,” and asserted that Israel’s
treatment of the Palestinians is
grounded in racism.
In response to objections
raised by negotiators from the
Obama administration, the docu-
ment has since been dramatically
shortened and many of its sharp
statements have been removed.
Still, the administration seems
uninterested in attending, stoking
frustration among activist groups
who have said that it is ironic that
the nation’s first black president
would choose that course.
“For his administration not to
be present at this global conver-
sation is a disappointment,” said
Imani Countess, senior director
for public affairs at TransAfrica
Forum, an advocacy group that fo-
cuses on U.S. foreign policy. “For
President Bush not to participate,
that would have been expected.
For Barack Obama’s administra-
tion not to participate sends a dis-
appointing signal. It says these
issues are not important.”
TransAfrica sent a letter to
Obama late last week urging him
to send a delegation to the United
Nations-sponsored meeting, say-
ing that to do other wise would
contradict his promise to engage
even with nations that hold views
that are contrar y to those held
by the United States. Moreover,
the letter said, U.S. participation
would send an important message
to the rest of the world.
“U.S. participation in the con-
ference is critical for both sym-
bolic and political reasons,” said
the letter, which was also signed
by other leaders, including Jesse
L. Jackson and the heads of the
Congressional Black Caucus
Foundation, the NAACP Legal
Defense and Educational Fund,
and the National Coalition on
Black Civic Participation.
“Nations are watching your
administration and will decide
either to withdraw, or to lower
the level of their participation,
if the U.S. doesn’t participate,”
the letter continued. “Reduced
global participation would mark
a significant setback to efforts to
overcome racial inequality around
the world.”
White House spokesman
Tommy Vietor said that although
progress has been made in re-
vising the draft text, concerns
remain. “We hope that these
remaining concerns will be ad-
dressed, so that the United States
can re-engage the conference ne-
gotiations in the hopes of arriving
at a conference document that we
can support,” he said.
The White House offered no
further details. But last week a
bipartisan group of House mem-
bers sent a letter to Obama con-
gratulating him for deciding to
boycott the meeting, which is
scheduled to begin Monday.
“We applaud you for making it
clear that the United States will
not participate in a conference
that undermines freedom of ex-
pression and is tainted by an anti-
Zionist and anti-Semitic agenda,”
said the letter signed by seven
members of Congress.
Israel and several Jewish ad-
vocacy groups have urged the
United States and other nations
not to take part in the conference.
Canada and Italy have said they
will not attend, and several other
U.S. allies, including Australia,
are considering not participating,
according to representatives of
several advocacy groups.
The week-long conference is
expected to bring together del-
egations from countries around
the globe and representatives of
hundreds of nongovernmental
organizations to take stock of the
progress made in fighting bias
since the last World Conference
Against Racism was held in Dur-
ban, South Africa, in 2001. At that
gathering, much of the discussion
focused on Israeli treatment of
Palestinians. The United States
walked out of that meeting to pro-
test an effort to compare Zionism
to racism.
The United Nations has been
working on next week’s confer-
ence for the past three years,
mostly without input from the
United States. After Obama took
office, he sent a delegation to
Geneva, raising hopes that his
administration would become a
full partner in the effort. Hopes
were lifted further when Obama
had the United States rejoin the
U.N. Human Rights Council.
But after sending the delega-
tion to a preliminar y meeting in
Geneva, the administration de-
clared the meeting’s document
unfocused, hostile to Israel and
essentially not salvageable. After
that, the document was heavily
edited. Its original length was cut
by half and specific mentions of
Israel and the need to pay repara-
tions for slaver y were deleted.
The new draft created a sense
among advocacy groups that the
administration would reverse its
decision. But the changes have
apparently not been sufficient to
win Obama’s support.
“This is a big blow,” Countess
said. “Given the high priority the
administration places on inter-
national engagement and multi-
lateralism, this is just a little bit
baffling.”
By Michael D. Shear
and Cecilia Kang
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — President Obama
Monday announced a series of steps
aimed at easing the U.S. relationship
with Cuba, breaking from policies first
imposed by the Kennedy administra-
tion and stepping into an emotional
debate over the best way to bring
democratic change to one of the last
remaining communist regimes.
White House officials said the
decision to lift travel and spending
restrictions on Americans with family
on the island will provide new support
for the opponents of Raul and Fidel
Castro’s government. And they said
lifting the ban on U.S. telecommunica-
tions companies reaching out to the
island will flood Cuba with informa-
tion while providing new opportuni-
ties for businesses.
Obama left in place the broad trade
embargo imposed on Cuba in 1962.
But just days before leaving to attend
a summit with the leaders of South
and Central America, he reversed
restrictions that barred U.S. citizens
from visiting their Cuban relatives
more than once every three years and
lifted limits on the amount of money
and goods Cuban Americans can send
back to their families.
He also cleared away virtually all
U.S. regulations that had stopped
American companies from attempt-
ing to bring their high-tech services
and information to the island.
“All who embrace core democratic
values long for a Cuba that respects
Navy SEALs end hostage situation
By Scott Wilson,
Ann Scott Tyson and
Stephanie McCrummen
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — As dusk be-
gan to fall Sunday, the Somali pirates
holding Capt. Richard Phillips were
growing edgy.
As they bobbed behind the U.S.S.
Bainbridge as it towed their lifeboat f
arther out to sea, one pirate radioed
the Navy destroyer and demanded
to know how far they had been taken
away from the sanctuary of Somalia’s
coast.
“Very far,” came the reply from
the Bainbridge, whose commander
had offered to pull them to calmer
waters.
“Thank you,” the pirate negotiator
responded, according to a U.S. mili-
tary timeline, his politeness masking
menace. “If we cannot (reach the) So-
mali coast, we will kill the infidel.”
Soon after, three shots rang out
from the Bainbridge in indistinguish-
able succession, felling the three pi-
rates in the lifeboat. Bound tightly,
Phillips could not move to celebrate
the end of his ordeal until Navy
SEALs climbed aboard the small
craft and set him free.
“It was pretty remarkable that
these snipers nailed these guys,” said
a senior military official familiar with
the details of the rescue operation
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | Page 6
the basic human, political and eco-
nomic rights of all of its citizens,”
White House press secretary Rob-
ert Gibbs said Monday in announc-
ing the new Cuba policy. “President
Obama believes the measure he has
taken today will help make that goal
a reality.”
Under the new rules, officials say,
there is likely to be an explosion of
new charter flights to the island, and
direct commercial flights could follow.
Gifts and money will flow freely from
U.S. relatives for the first time. And
the announcement could open the
door for the American information
revolution to enter the island nation —
in the form of Howard Stern on Sirius
radio, iPhones and Wikipedia.
The moves were hailed by many
advocates of greater openness toward
the regime, including the business
community, which sees new oppor-
tunities for commerce. But it was im-
mediately criticized by those on the
right and the left who said it either
went too far or not far enough.
Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-
Balart brothers and Florida Repub-
licans who are from Cuba, issued a
joint statement calling the move a
“serious mistake” that represents a
concession to a repressive regime.
They said the money flowing into
Cuba would reach communist lead-
ers, not the people.
“President Obama has violated his
pledge of January 20 by unilaterally
granting a concession to the dictator-
ship which will provide it with hun-
dreds of millions of dollars annually,”
their statement said. “Unilateral con-
who spoke on the condition of ano-
nymity. “You think of rough seas, 75,
80 feet away, and under darkness, and
they got them. Three pirates, three
rounds, three dead bodies.”
The precision volley culminated
a five-day confrontation on the pale
blue seas off one the world’s most
unstable nations, a place that still
haunts U.S. foreign-policy makers
with images of dead U.S. Army Rang-
ers being dragged through the capital
during a failed U.S. intervention in
the 1990s.
This time the Navy took the lead
against a force of four, and then three,
teen-age Somali pirates confined to
the cramped quarters of a cargo
ship’s lifeboat. But the challenge
of preserving the life of Phillips, a
53-year-old Vermont resident, loomed
large enough for President Obama’s
new national security operation that
he was briefed as many as five times
a day as three U.S. warships and an
18-foot dinghy squared off on the
Indian Ocean.
Three deft sniper shots ended a
drama that appeared initially as an-
other example of a muscle-bound U.S.
military unable to adapt to today’s
unpredictable security threats. In
the end, U.S. special forces easily
defeated lightly armed, untrained
men in a battle that U.S. officials say
will not end piracy.
The pirates had likely been track-
cessions to the dictatorship embolden
it to further isolate, imprison and bru-
talize pro-democracy activists.”
On the other side of the issue, Car-
los Pascual, director of foreign policy
at the Brookings Institution, praised
the policy shift as a good first step that
recognizes what he called 50 years of
failed policy toward Cuba.
But Pascual, who was born in
Cuba and came to the United States
at age 3, said democratic change in
the country will not come until the
U.S. trade embargo is lifted. Most
nations now have diplomatic relations
with Cuba, leaving the United States
virtually alone in its attempts to en-
force the embargo.
“It isn’t enough,” said Pascual,
who has been mentioned as a pos-
sible candidate to be U.S. ambassador
to Mexico. “In and of itself, it’s not
going to produce a radical change
in Cuba. But it’s a recognition that a
change is necessary.”
White House officials cast the
policy shift as the beginning of a
change in direction that Obama sig-
naled when he was a candidate. Dur-
ing the campaign, Obama promised
to ease travel restrictions and said he
was open to dialogue with the Castro
regime without “preconditions.”
Gibbs said the ball is now in Cu-
ba’s court.
“The president has made clear
that he is willing to talk to our ad-
versaries,” Gibbs said, adding: “I do
think there are steps that we would
— that the Cuban government can
continued on page 9
ing the Maersk Alabama for days
when on Wednesday four pirates in a
small craft tossed ropes and grappling
hooks from the shadow of the cargo
ship’s looming blue hull. They carried
pistols and AK-47 assault rifles.
The Maersk Alabama’s crew,
a mix of young men and veterans,
locked themselves in safe areas of
the ship as they were trained to do.
Some improvised.
One sailor, A.T.M. Reza, forced
one of the pirates into the engine
room, where he stabbed the pirate
in the hand. The crew then used the
wounded pirate as leverage to force
his comrades from the ship.
As part of the negotiations, Phil-
lips agreed to board the lifeboat with
the pirates, crew members said. The
deal called for him to swim back to
the Maersk Alabama once the lifeboat
was safely away. The pirates never
let him go.
By the end of Thursday, the pi-
rates’ lifeboat had run out of fuel.
The U.S.S. Bainbridge had by then
steamed more than 300 miles to arrive
on the scene. Aided by FBI agents,
the ship’s officers communicated
with the pirates by radio, eventually
persuading them to allow a boat with
provisions to approach.
According to Somali elders and
a pirate in the coastal fishing village
continued on page 9
SportsTuesday
The Brown Daily Herald

Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | Page 7

M. lacrosse team falls to Quakers W. water polo prevails

By Elisabeth Avallone
Sports Staff Writer
Saturday’s freezing temperatures,
heavy rain and strong winds made
the conditions for Brown’s matchup
against Penn (3-7, 2-4 Ivy) far from
ideal. The No. 11 Bears fell to Penn,
7-6, after two fourth-quarter goals
gave the Quakers the final edge.
The loss brings the Bears to 9-2
overall and 2-1 in the Ivy League.
First-half goals by Andrew Fein-
berg ’11 and Brady Williams ’09
gave the Bears an early 2-1 lead,
but Brown trailed Penn 3-2 at the
end of the first half.
A goal just over a minute after
halftime gave the Quakers a 4-2 lead,
but quad-captain Kyle Hollingsworth
’09 retaliated 17 seconds later with a
goal off of an assist from Feinberg.
But Penn maintained a 5-3 lead head-
ing into the fourth quarter.
With 8:52 left in the game, the
Bears rallied with goals by Hol-
lingsworth and Williams, tying the
game 5-5. But the Quakers answered
with two goals of their own, putting
the Bears in a 7-5 deficit late in the
fourth.
Reade Seligmann ’09 closed in on
the Quakers with a goal at 1:55 left
on the clock, but the Bears could
not catch up.
Head Coach Lars Tiffany ’90
complimented defenseman Peter
Fallon ’11 for his “exceptional” play.
Fallon shut down Penn’s Craig An-
drzejewski, who came into the game
as Penn’s leading scorer with 17
goals on the year. Fallon added five
The men’s lacrosse team narrowly lost to Penn amid unfavorable weather
conditions on Saturday afternoon.
ground balls and a few key steals to
his statistics to support quad-captain
Jordan Burke ’09 in goal.
“We are obviously pretty disap-
pointed with the outcome of the
game but happy to face Harvard
mid-week,” Fallon said. “We won
the ground ball battle and played
a really tough game, but a lot of
things didn’t go our way. We gave
up too many shots close to the net,
and need to force shots to the side
where we know Jordan will make
the saves for us.”
Burke posted 15 saves to keep
the Bears within reach throughout
the game.
Justin Coleman / Herald
“Saturday was a tough loss, but
we played hard and were happy with
the effort,” Burke said. “Wednes-
day night is a huge game — a must-
win game that we’re really excited
about.”
The Bears face Harvard (5-4, 1-2)
this Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Cam-
bridge, Mass.
“I think both teams have some-
thing to prove, and neither will be
willing to give an inch,” said quad-
captain Jack Walsh ’09, looking
forward to Harvard. “We will cer-
tainly have to earn everything in
the game and that is exactly how
we want it.”
over rival Harvard
By Meghan Markowski
Sports Staff Writer
The women’s water polo team (18-
12) battled rival Harvard again on
Saturday afternoon and pulled
out a close
Brown 7 victory, win-
Harvard 6 ning by one
goal, 7-6.
Sarah Glick ’10 led the team
with three goals, while Lauren Pre-
sant ’10 followed with two. Joanna
Wohlmuth ’11 and Rita Bullwinkel
’11 each added a goal. Wohlmuth
led the defensive effort with three
steals, while Glick and Presant
added two steals apiece.
It was the Bears’ second win
over the Crimson this season,
having defeated them 11-10 on
April 4.
“We would have rather it not
been so close,” said Wohlmuth,
who is a Herald Metro editor. “We
had a similar thing happen last
game, when we went up and then
allowed them to get back in the
game.”
Glick tallied Brown’s first goal
just 45 seconds into the game and
added her second goal with 3:49 left
in first quarter. Bullwinkel also had
a goal in the first quarter to give
Brown a 3-1 lead heading into the
second period.
The Bears’ scoring streak con-
tinued in the second quarter with
goals by Presant and Glick to in-
crease their lead to 5-1.
Harvard came right back in the
third quarter, scoring two goals
and keeping Brown at bay, cutting
Bruno’s lead to 5-4. Harvard had
many attempts to tie it up, but fell
short, as one shot hit the post and
Glick came up with a steal on an-
other attempt.
Wohlmuth put one in the back
of the net to start the final quarter,
but Harvard, down by two, came
back and tied it up, 6-6.
Presant wouldn’t let Harvard
take the lead, scoring the game-
winning goal with 1:55 left.
Despite the close finish, “I never
thought we were going to lose the
game,” Mercado said.
The Bears’ defense, led by goal-
ie Stephanie Laing ’10, who had 10
saves, and Katherine Stanton ’11,
came up big to capture the 7-6 win
for Brown.
“Harvard called a timeout after
we went up and a Brown player
was ejected, so we were in a man-
down defense. Harvard actually
got the ball to their post player,
but Kat (Stanton) made a steal,”
Wohlmuth said. “It was a bit of a
scary moment, but luckily Kat was
on top of it.”
“We are playing them again next
weekend at Northerns and we will
have another opportunity to have
things go smoother,” Wohlmuth
said.
Mercado added, “It is hard to
beat a team three times, but I think
we will prepare the same way we

Big Green too much for baseball Bears

By Benjy Asher
Spor ts Editor
Following an 8-6 win over Bryant on
Thursday, the baseball team trav-
eled to Dartmouth for a four-game
series against the Ivy League lead-
ers. The series began with three
close losses for Brown, but the
Bears closed out the series with a
12-9 win, in which they came back
from an 8-3 deficit.
With eight league games left in
the season, Brown’s league record
now stands at 8-4, three games be-
hind Dartmouth, which is 11-1 in
Ivy League play.
First baseman Pete Greskoff
’11 led the way for Brown in Sun-
day’s win with a triple and two
home runs, bringing his season
total to a team-high eight homers.
Co-captain Matt Nuzzo ’09, playing
in the designated hitter spot, went
3-for-4 — including a three-run
homer — and scored two runs.
“After losing the first three and
being down big in that last game,
we easily could have packed it in,
but we did a good job of coming
back and keeping the season alive,”
Greskoff said.
Brown 8, Bryant 6
Bryant got out to a 6-2 lead in the
third inning of Thursday’s game,
but Andrew Bakowski ’11 and Matt
Kimball ’11 kept the Bears (13-15-1,
8-4 Ivy) in the game, each pitching
two shutout innings of relief.
Nuzzo hit a two-run homer to
make it a one-run game in the bot-
tom of the seventh inning, and the
Bears tacked on three more runs in
the seventh to secure the 8-6 win.
Outfielders Dan Shapiro ’09 and
Daniel Rosoff ’12 led Bruno with
three hits each, and Rob Papen-
hause ’09 added three RBI.
Dartmouth 5, Brown 2
In the first game of Saturday’s
doubleheader, the Big Green (14-
10, 11-1) took a 2-0 lead in the bot-
tom of the first inning, but Brown
cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of
the third, when Greskof f’s RBI
single drove in outfielder Chris
Tanabe ’10.
After the rough first inning,
starting pitcher Mark Gormley ’11
retired eight consecutive batters
until, with two outs in the bottom
of the fourth, he surrendered a
solo home run, giving Dartmouth
a 3-1 lead.
Catcher Matt Colantonio ’11 led
off the fifth inning with a double
and later came around to score, but
the Big Green struck for two more
runs in the bottom of the sixth to
take a 5-2 lead into the final inning.
In the seventh inning, back-to-back
Dartmouth errors put runners at
the corners with only one out and
the heart of the order coming up,
but Dartmouth closer Ryan Smith
struck out Nuzzo and Greskoff to
“We got off to a 5-1 lead but Har- did and we are having a team meet-
vard is a good team and I knew ing to get the girls focused. They
they weren’t going to make things are very hungry and have a point
put the game away. easy for us,” said Head Coach Felix to prove to Harvard that the first
Mercado. two wins weren’t a fluke.”
Dartmouth 5, Brown 2
In Saturday’s second game, the
Bears had only one batter reach
base in the first four innings, and
Dartmouth took a 2-0 lead in the
bottom of the fourth on a two-run
triple. In the fifth inning, Rosoff’s
second double of the game drove
in Papenhause to cut the lead to
2-1, but the Big Green answered,
expanding the lead to 4-1 by the
end of the sixth inning.
They eventually held on for the
win, again by a score of 5-2.
“On Saturday, I think we forced
the issue a little too much,” Nuz-
zo said. “We didn’t play terribly,
but we had opportunities that we
could have capitalized on, and we
didn’t cash in on those, and they
got ever ything out of us that they
could.”
Dartmouth 14, Brown 9
In the first game of Sunday’s
doubleheader, pitcher Matt Boy-
lan ’10 struggled early, as the Big
Green took a 5-0 lead at the end
of the second inning — but then
the Bears’ bats suddenly came to
life.
Brown sent 11 batters to the
plate in the top of the third, capital-
izing on six hits and a Dartmouth
error to score seven runs, capped
continued on page 8
Page 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Tuesday, April 14, 2009

S ports Tuesday “We had more clutch hits on Sunday, and that’s really
what it came down to.” — Pete Greskoff ’11, first baseman

Dartmouth dominates 4-game set

continued from page 7

off by a two-run homer by center

fielder Steve Daniels ’09, which
gave Bruno a 7-5 lead.
But the Bears were unable to
maintain the lead. Dar tmouth,
trailing 9-6 going into the bottom
of the sixth, exploded for an eight-
run inning to take a 14-9 lead, and
Brown failed to produce any runs
in the seventh inning, losing its
third consecutive game.

Brown 12, Dartmouth 9

In the final game of the series,
Nuzzo gave the Bears an early lead
with a three-run homer in the first
inning, but Dartmouth countered
with three runs of its own in the
bottom of the inning, and by the
end of the third inning, Brown
trailed, 8-3.
But the Bears chipped away at
the lead, beginning with an RBI
single off Ryan Zrenda’s ’11 bat in
the top of the fourth. In the next
inning, Greskoff laced an RBI triple
to right field and later scored on a
ground ball, cutting Bruno’s deficit
to just 8-6.
Daniels hit an RBI triple in the
top of the sixth to make it a one-run
game, and in the seventh inning,
Justin Coleman / Herald
Greskoff and Shapiro connected Matthew Kimball ’11 pitched two shutout innings against Bryant Thurs-
for back-to-back homers to give day. The Bears beat the Bulldogs 8-6.
Brown a 9-8 lead.
Meanwhile, Bakowski held the “We had more clutch hits on Sun- in our hearts that we have a shot
Big Green in check, allowing just day, and that’s really what it came at this,” Nuzzo said. “All we can do
one run in three and two-thirds down to.” now is control what we do, winning
innings of relief. With the score After Shapiro reached base with these next eight games and taking
tied, 9-9, heading into the ninth a walk, Tanabe drove a double it one game at a time.”
inning, Nuzzo led off with a single, down the right field line to score
and Greskoff came through again, Shapiro, giving the Bears an in- The team will host a double-
drilling his second home run of the surance run, and Rob Wilcox ’10 header today against Marist, and
game over the right field fence to pitched a one-two-three bottom of will then travel to Storrs, Conn. to
put Brown ahead, 11-9. the ninth, capping off two-and-two- take on UConn tomorrow, before
“I think I just got a few pitches thirds innings of shutout relief. resuming Ivy League play with a
to hit in that game, and I took ad- “The team showed a lot of char- four-game home series against Har-
vantage of them,” Greskoff said. acter and heart, and we still believe vard (8-21, 6-4) this weekend.
Page 9
World & Nation
Three pirates killed in hostage resolution
continued from page 6
of Harardhere, the pirates were de-
manding $6 million in ransom and
safe passage to shore in exchange
for Phillips’ release.
But the negotiations collapsed
Friday over whether the pirates
would be arrested, the local elders
said. Sometime that day, a desperate
Phillips jumped from the lifeboat in
an attempt to swim to the USS Bain-
bridge, only to be hauled back on
board after the pirates opened fire.
From then on, Phillips was tied up.
In Washington that Friday eve-
ning, Obama received two national
security briefings on the situation.
Based on those reports, the White
House said, the president gave “the
Department of Defense policy guid-
ance and certain authorities to allow
U.S. forces to engage in potential
emergency actions.”
Defense Secretary Robert Gates
said Monday that the Defense De-
partment twice requested the author-
ity to use deadly force because two
groups of Special Operations forces
were involved in the operation. Each
required its own sanction. He said
that “the approval was given virtually
immediately in both cases.”
A senior administration official
said that the president did not deny
any operational request made to him
and that he knew the broad outlines
of the operation that the Navy had
planned. The official said that “our
people tried a variety of ways to re-
solve the situation peacefully, and
the guidance all along was that the
overriding interest was the captain’s
life.”
Gates said the four pirates involved
in taking Phillips hostage were 17 to
19 years old — “untrained teen-agers
with heavy weapons.”
By Saturday, according to U.S.
military officials, the pirates began
experiencing withdrawal after days
without khat, a mildly narcotic leaf
chewed for its stimulant effects. The
pirate whom Reza wounded in the
hand asked the USS Bainbridge for
medical attention, effectively sur-
rendering.
“They were realizing they were
in a no-win situation,” the senior mili-
tary official said. “They were floating
around in rough waters, they were
tired. ... These guys didn’t have their
chew with them.”
Rising weather whipped up the
seas, and the drifting pirates agreed
to allow the USS Bainbridge to tow
them to calmer waters. By then, the
USS Boxer, an amphibious assault
ship with 1,000 crew members, and
the guided-missile frigate USS Haly-
burton had joined the Bainbridge.
That evening dozens of Navy
SEALs parachuted from C-17 trans-
port aircraft into the sea, making
their way with inflatable Zodiacs to
the Bainbridge. The lifeboat, once
strung out roughly 200 feet from the
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Bainbridge, had been pulled to within
80 feet of the fantail, a deck at the
vessel’s stern.
The pirates appeared to be run-
ning out of options when they threat-
ened to kill Phillips over the radio.
Navy SEAL snipers, monitoring
the lifeboat through rifle scopes,
watched as two pirates raised their
heads out of a lifeboat hatch. Inside
the lifeboat, the third pirate moved
toward the captain, pointing his AK-
47 at his back.
Believing Phillips was about to be
killed, the on-scene commander gave
the snipers the order to fire. When
a Navy SEAL arrived at the lifeboat,
Phillips was bound, according to the
senior military official, who said the
captain “was anchored to the interior
of the boat.”
News of the rescue filtered out
to the crew on the Maersk Alabama,
docked at the Kenyan port of Mom-
basa, on Sunday evening.
With the 18 other members of the
crew around him, first mate Shane
Murphy said at a Monday news con-
ference that “right now, right this
minute, ships are being taken.” He
called on Obama to “end this pirate
scourge.”
In remarks Monday at the Marine
Corps base in Quantico, Va., Gates
said that “there is no purely military
solution” to a piracy problem he de-
scribed as rooted in Somalia’s poverty
and instability.
U.S.-Cuba agreements open
communication channels
continued from page 6
and must take.”
There are some indications the
Cuban leaders are ready to do that.
Last week, a delegation from the
Congressional Black Caucus visited
Cuba and met face to face with Fi-
del Castro, spending one-and-a-half
hours with him at his home.
According to Rep. Barbara Lee,
D-Calif., one of the three delegation
members, Castro told them Cuba
is open to talks with the Obama
administration “without precondi-
tions.” In an online column before
the meeting, Castro wrote that “we
are not afraid of dialogue with the
United States,” adding, “That is the
only way to achieve friendship and
peace between peoples.”
The Obama administration had
telegraphed for weeks that the travel
and money restrictions would be
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
lifted. But the new rules for telecom-
munications firms were a surprise
and sent stock prices of several com-
panies higher in trading Monday.
The changes do not alter the
Cuban government’s long-standing
efforts to hinder foreign companies
operating on the island. But U.S.
firms will no longer face American
restrictions against building under-
water fiber pipes or beaming satel-
lite signals to Cuba. Satellite radio
and television operators can now try
to bring their content to residents
there. And cellphone operators will
be able to pursue partnerships with
Cuba’s local network operators for
roaming contracts so U.S. custom-
ers can use their phones while on
the island.
The changes will challenge the
nation’s monopoly telecommunica-
tions service provider from Venezu-
ela, analysts said.
Editorial & Letters
The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Tuesday, April 14, 2009

e d i to r i a l

Wertheimer for UCS president

Several of this year’s presidential candidates are dedicated members of the
Undergraduate Council of Students who have served in leadership positions
and taken the lead on important initiatives. But of the four candidates in the
running, Clay Wertheimer ’10 is the best choice.
As the primary liaison between students and the administration, the presi-
dent’s most important function is to respond to student concerns and deal ef-
fectively with the administration. As communications chair for UCS, Wertheimer
has done an impressive job of keeping students informed and engaged.
The recent upswing in the council’s approval ratings owes in part to
Wertheimer’s achievements, including a revamped Web site, a widely dis-
tributed midyear report on UCS’ progress and an open membership policy.
By publicizing the council’s work, Wertheimer has helped to counter UCS’
image as a sometimes insular and opaque body.
Paris Hays ’10 offers an exciting list of ideas, but his lack of involvement
with UCS over the past year may hinder his efforts. Mike MacCombie ’11 and
Ryan Lester ’11 served this year as vice president and student activities chair,
respectively. Both of them have considerable experience working with the
council, but we question their ability to articulate a concrete vision.
Wertheimer’s platform is realistic and straightforward, if somewhat mod-
est. The elimination of course prerequisites and increased student input in
University spending decisions number among the more ambitious proposals,
in addition to smaller, more immediate suggestions for improving student
life. Out of all of the candidates, Wertheimer is in the best position to get his
agenda passed.
A le x yuly
Mokoro ’11 for UCS vice president
Diane Mokoro ’11, a UCS at-large representative, stood out among the
vice-presidential candidates. The vice president’s job involves keeping the
committees on track and on deadline. It helps to be outgoing and in touch
l e t t e r to t h e e d i to r s
with members’ concerns. Mokoro fits the bill. In particular, she will be able to
recognize and address sources of friction in UCS, given her work on an internal
review survey that gauged members’ satisfaction with the council.
Awareness of impact key to sustainability
Mokoro plans to better publicize UCS’ work and to expand Ratty office To the Editor: While Hermann suggests that interest in campus
hours, through which UCS members go from table to table soliciting feed- sustainability is only in “big, flashy, green ideas,” nothing
back about the council. These goals, along with her record of reaching out In response to Katherine Hermann’s column (“First is more important than making students aware of their
to students beyond the council, make Mokoro the most promising candidate things first — learn how to recycle a bottle,” Apr. 10): daily environmental impact. A campus energy monitor-
for vice president. Anyone who says that Brown students are not excited ing system can make a difference not because it will flash
about the small problems with sustainability does not in bright colors that Brown is sustainable, but rather
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to know the right Brown students. because it will clearly quantify for students the impact
editorials@browndailyherald.com. Not only do a large population of Brown students of simple steps such as turning off the lights in their
understand and practice correct recycling procedures, dorm rooms. The current problem with sustainability
the student group Beyond the Bottle is currently trying is that student are uninformed. Most are not recycling
t h e b r o w n d a i ly h e r a l d to eliminate plastic water bottle use at Brown altogether. capped bottles and leaving the light on in their rooms to
Editor-in-Chief Managing Editors Associate Editors Senior Editors By informing students and encouraging them to refill spite the environmentally conscious, but simply because
Steve DeLucia Michael Bechek Nandini Jayakrishna Rachel Arndt and reuse water bottles, this group is addressing sus- they don’t yet understand the impacts.
Chaz Firestone Franklin Kanin Catherine Cullen
Michael Skocpol Scott Lowenstein tainability by starting at the very root of the problem Efforts toward sustainability are not “failed”; rather,
editorial Business of wasted plastic. they are not yet finished. At Brown, everyone should
Ben Hyman Arts & Culture Editor General Managers Office Manager Another Brown group, Real Food Now, is working look a little harder before doubting the excitement about
Hannah Levintova Arts & Culture Editor Alexander Hughes Shawn Reilly
Sophia Li Features Editor Jonathan Spector to bring more sustainable, locally grown food options sustainability on campus.
Emmy Liss Features Editor Directors to Brown. Eating squash from the Ratty that is grown
Gaurie Tilak Higher Ed Editor Ellen DaSilva Sales Director
Matthew Varley Higher Ed Editor Claire Kiely Sales Director
on a farm only a few miles away significantly reduces Ana Heureux ’11
George Miller Metro Editor Phil Maynard Sales Director the gas required for transportation, making the food April 12
Joanna Wohlmuth Metro Editor Katie Koh Finance Director we eat on campus more sustainable.
Chaz Kelsh News Editor Jilyn Chao Asst. Finance Director
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Eunice Hong Photo Editor Sarah Rosenthal Opinions Editor An article in Friday’s Herald (“Panelists discuss being gay in the business world,” April 10) quoted Kyle Poyar
Kim Perley Photo Editor Editorial Page Board ’10 as saying that Brown University does not give medical coverage benefits to domestic partners. In fact, same-
Justin Coleman Sports Photo Editor James Shapiro Editorial Page Editor
Nick Bakshi Board member sex domestic partners are covered under the University’s Health coverage plan, “subject to meeting specific
production
Kathryn Delaney Copy Desk Chief
Zack Beauchamp Board member eligibility criteria,” according the the University’s Benefits Enrollment Decision Guide, as posted on the Human
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Resources Web site.
Marlee Bruning Design Editor
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Anna Migliaccio Asst. Design Editor Post- magazine An article in Monday’s Herald (“W. lax falls to No. 20 Cornell squad in Ithaca,” April 13) incorrectly stated that
Julien Ouellet Asst. Design Editor Arthur Matuszewski Editor-in-Chief goalie Maddie Wasser ’10 was put in at halftime and made only one save on seven chances. In fact, Wasser was
Neal Poole Web Editor Kelly McKowen Editor-in-Chief
put in the game 15 minutes into the first half, where she saved three of five shots. In the second half, she made
Marlee Bruning, Gili Kliger, Katie Wilson, Designers
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An article in Monday’s Herald (“Simultaneous Passover and Easter causes for celebration,” April 13) reported that
Nicole Friedman, Britta Greene, Sarah Husk, Brian Mastroianni, Hannah Moser, Ben the traditional seder hosted at Hillel on April 8 was presided over by Rabbi Mordechai Rackover. The traditional
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Opinions
The Brown Daily Herald
Student power for Palestine
Simon
Liebling
Opinions Columnist
Students at the New School withstood pep-
per spray attacks by police last week while
tr ying to force the ouster of their contro-
versial president, continuing the tradition
of a year of occupations as part of a national
campaign for accessible education. The be-
leaguered administrators they target could
almost be forgiven for thinking that the goals
of student power movements end where they
begin — on campus.
Tucked away in the demands of another
group of student occupiers, this time at New
York University — alongside investment
transparency and a tuition freeze — was a
call for annual scholarships for 13 Palestinian
students and NYU support for the recon-
struction of the University of Gaza. A few
weeks prior, students at Hampshire College
won a two-year campaign for their university
to divest from Israel. And at Brown, students
galvanized by Israel’s winter assault on the
Gaza Strip organized under the banner of
Break the Siege.
These emerging movements reflect a
rising consciousness among student activ-
ists that our universities are complicit in
the Israeli apartheid. As long as American
universities continue to energize the Israeli
apartheid economy with their investments,
our student power will mean that we retain
leverage over the situation in Palestine. We
Why R.I. reformed court debt
Dan Davidson
Opinions Columnist
A recent New York Times article highlight-
ed one of the ways that states, burdened with
massive budget shortfalls, are filling their
coffers. In Florida, Georgia, Michigan and
elsewhere, state judicial systems are crack-
ing down on people who owe fees and fines
to the courts.
Criminal convictions carry penalties be-
yond the sentence. In addition to any fines
assessed to individuals as a result of their
crime, going to trial can also involve fees to
help cover the cost of services like public de-
fenders or courthouse security.
Failure to pay court fees and fines can
result in jail time, often for several days and
sometimes for over a week.
The practice of incarcerating people for
failing to pay off their court debt is wrong on
several fronts. Its legality is questionable: it
sometimes causes states to lose money, and
in many cases it punishes people who legiti-
mately cannot pay what they owe, unneces-
sarily derailing their lives.
Under current law, states cannot imprison
someone for owing money. State authorities
claim, however, that when they incarcerate
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can reprise the student role in ending the
South African apartheid, working on our
campuses to answer the grassroots call for
BDS: boycott, divestment and sanctions.
BDS is designed to remove the interna-
tional economic dynamo that permits the
Israeli government to pursue policies of
apartheid. The BDS campaign is not a Pal-
estinian government initiative. “The call for
BDS came directly from Palestinian society,”
said Jesse Soodalter ’94 MD ’09, an organizer
around Palestinian issues on campus.
BDS is designed in recognition of the
As long as American universities continue to
energize the Israeli apartheid economy with their
investments, our student power will mean that we
retain leverage over the situation in Palestine.
fact that the powerful national governments
sympathetic to Israel are not going to come
to the aid of the Palestinian people. Com-
bined with the systematic dismantling of the
political and international leverage of the
Palestinian people through the destruction
of infrastructure and the exclusion of Pales-
tinian labor from the Israeli economy, these
political circumstances mean that only inter-
national grassroots initiatives can achieve
change.
Students nationwide are ramping up their
own efforts to support the BDS initiative,
people over court debt they are punishing
the violation of a court order, not the debt
itself. Technically a person who hasn’t paid
off his court debt is violating a court order.
But this argument is a weak justification for
jailing people over debt.
Admittedly, the fees that these states
have been aggressively collecting will help
them support their court systems. But im-
prisoning people for failing to pay their fees
cuts into the state’s earnings because of the
costs of incarceration. The cost of incarcerat-
ing someone for even a few days can negate
It’s a little ironic that states are jailing people
who have already “paid their debt to society.
any monetary gains from collected fees.
Imprisonment for overdue fees is a par-
ticularly unfair punishment given that those
who are apprehended have already served
out their sentence. It’s a little ironic that
states are jailing people who have already
“paid their debt to society.”
The policy is especially unfair because
many people imprisoned over court debt
don’t have the means to pay what they owe.
and historical precedent is on their side.
Divestment has proved a popular, feasible
and effective tool. The global movement
for divestment from Darfur, a cause behind
which Brown’s administration elected to
throw its weight, is only the latest example.
BDS programs were the international pres-
sure that broke down apartheid in South
Africa, and students and universities had a
major role to play in those initiatives.
And within the present BDS movement,
the student demands at NYU and divest-
ment at Hampshire College are part of a
much broader international campaign that
is well underway. An Amnesty International
leader has called on the United States gov-
ernment to end militar y aid to Israel. And
the faculty members who have signed on to
the academic and cultural boycott of Israel
represent 143 American universities.
But unlike Darfur or South Africa, Israel
is not a politically easy issue. There are
a lot more Zionists on campus than there
were pro-apartheid South African students.
Universities take more in donations from
Zionists than from the Janjaweed. And thus
When states incarcerate people for court
debt they are essentially punishing them for
their poverty.
These problems and others led Rhode Is-
land to reevaluate court debt incarcerations.
A 2007 report by the Rhode Island Family
Life Center found that 15 percent of the time,
debt-related incarcerations cost the state
more than it would have received from the
individual.
The study also found that many of the
incarcerated needed income assistance and
many were unemployed, homeless or dis-
abled. They simply could not cover their
debts and were locked up as a result.
A 2008 law reformed Rhode Island’s pro-
cedures for handling court debt and related
incarcerations. States that collect fees more
aggressively should first consider the rea-
sons for the law and the changes it made.
If states want to keep revenue from court
fees and fines flowing in, they should adopt
a more flexible approach instead of cracking
Tuesday, April 14, 2009 | Page 11
Brown, despite its historically progressive
stance on similar situations in South Af-
rica, East Timor and Darfur, remains re-
sistant when it comes to Israel. President
Ruth Simmons has publicly opposed the
academic boycott and Chancellor Thomas
Tisch ser ved on the publication committee
of Commentary, a magazine literally founded
around the Zionist cause.
So while students on campus must work
to prevent the University from throwing its
economic weight behind apartheid (it all
comes back to institutional transparency
and accountability, doesn’t it?), BDS ad-
vocates at Brown must also work to refute
the image that to be pro-Palestine is to hold
a taboo position. The recent international
coalescence around BDS is evidence that
it is, in truth, mainstream.
At Brown, those efforts begin with refut-
ing the idea, prevalent even on this campus,
that anti-Zionism is the same thing as anti-
Semitism, which reeks of the ver y ethnic
purity the Jewish community should have
learned to avoid. “Calling anti-Zionism or
BDS activism anti-Semitism is itself an act
of ethnic essentialism,” Soodalter said. “It
presumes to define Jewish identity as Zi-
onist. It attempts to erase the existence of
anti-Zionist Jews.” Like me.
Simon Liebling ’12 is Jewish (he
swears) and from New Jersey. He can
be reached at
simon.liebling@gmail.com.
down on debtors and throwing them in jail.
Courts should reduce outstanding bal-
ances for those who can’t afford to pay off all
of their debt in order to avoid unnecessary
imprisonment and increase the likelihood of
payment.
In Rhode Island, courts are now required
to consider an individual’s ability to pay
when assessing fees. Other states should
follow suit.
Additionally, states should make it as
easy as possible to pay off their court debt.
More flexible payment plans would help, as
would a greater number of locations where
people can pay.
States should carefully evaluate how
court debt incarcerations affect their citi-
zens before stepping up enforcement ef-
forts. The economic crisis might put states
already hampered by budget problems in an
even deeper hole, but it will definitely make
it harder for the those struggling financially
to meet their debt obligations.
The incarceration of people who can’t af-
ford to pay off their court debt taints the judi-
cial system. States should learn from Rhode
Island and end this unfair practice.
Dan Davidson ’11 is a political science
concentrator from Atlanta, Georgia. He
can be reached at
Daniel_Davidson@brown.edu.
 Today 5
to day to m o r r o w
Providence races clock to fix deficit
The Brown Daily Herald

Baseball earns one win, three losses

7
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
53/ 34 48/ 34
Page 12

t h e n e w s i n i m ag e s

4 1
c a l e n da r
today, april 14
4:oo p.m. — “Global Health and Hu-
man Rights: Time for Change,” Jim
Yong Kim, Andrews Dining Hall
7:00 P.M. — Sports and Media
Symposium Featuring Bill Russell,
Chris Berman ’77
7
comics
tomorrow, april 15
Cabernet Voltarie | Abe Pressman
7:00 P.M. — “Understanding the
Financial Crisis and Land Use: Is
Development Dead?” Barus and
Holley 153
8:00 P.M. — Mr. and Mrs. Brown and
Class Fashion Show, Sayles Hall

menu
Sharpe Refectory Verney-Woolley Dining Hall
Engima Twist | Dustin Foley
Lunch — Quinoa and Veggies, As- Lunch — Buffalo Wings with Bleu
paragus Spears, Fried Fish Sandwich Cheese Dressing, Shitake and Leek
with Tartar Sauce Quiche, Stewed Tomatoes

Dinner — Vegetable Frittata, Fiery Dinner — Chicken Ricotta Dijon-

Beef, Sticky Rice, Pork Stir Fry, Ginger naise, Vegan BBQ Tempeh, Parmesan
Sugar Snap Peas and Carrots Mashed Potatoes, Wax Beans
RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Los Angeles Times

c r o sDaily
s w oCrossword
rd Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
ACROSS 4 Mutt 40 Product with 56 Lion’s warning
1 E-junk 5 __ Jackson: earbuds 57 Mystique
5 Honshu port rapper Ice 41 Upper body 58 It may be
10 No.-crunching Cube’s birth strengthener ear-piercing The One About Zombies | Kevin Grubb
pro name 44 Crunchy 59 “Leave __ me”
13 Shakespearean 6 Jean of “Saint sandwiches 60 Plains native
betrayer Joan” 47 Most spiffy 61 Big Apple
14 Fancy calligraphy 7 Make __ for it 49 Speaks like Daffy enforcement org.
strokes 8 Relatives 50 Plundered 64 It’s used for
16 Wahine’s gift 9 Org. with Patriots 54 In a furtive way battering
17 11:00 a.m. and Jets 55 Mega- or 65 Flightless big
restaurant 10 Extended family giga- ending bird
patrons? 11 Animal hide
19 The whole 12 Has a bug ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
enchilada 15 Predatory lender
20 Ocean color 18 Plastic, so to
21 Em and Bee speak
23 Caboose’s place 22 Egg on
24 “I’m fuh-reezing!” 24 Out of shape?
26 Held title to 25 Made over
29 Fraternity nerd? 26 Like most movie
34 Ace the exam rentals
36 Caboose’s place
37 Deadlocked
27 Angler’s boot
28 Explosive stuff, web refresh
38 Banned bug killer briefly
39 Advice from the 30 Drive away
auto club? 31 Sidestep
42 Ginger __
43 Noun follower,
32 Went sniggling
33 Patched pants
Herald re-launches
often
45 Big oaf
parts
35 Livelihood
BrownDailyHerald.com
xwordeditor@aol.com 04/14/09
46 Crocodile hunter
of film
48 Whimsical The Herald debuted an upgraded Web
Barbie?
51 Future site Monday. The new site features an
sunflowers overhaul of the visual design as well as
52 Deadlocked
53 Fed. workplace several new features for users.
watchdog
55 Military bigwigs Registered users can now comment
58 Answer
62 “__ said it!” on content from the editorial and opin-
63 Quite ions sections.
small-minded?
66 Seasoned salt?
67 Patriot Adams Increased multimedia capabilities will
68 Organ knob allow for more videos and slideshows to
69 The Sixties, for
one accompany the text of articles.
70 Like dirt roads
after rain
71 Pigeon-__ A new Flyerboard system will host
student groups’ advertisements and
DOWN tableslips at no cost alongside paid
1 Bro and sis
2 Downsize local advertisements.
By Billie Truitt
3 Juanita’s water (c)2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.
04/14/09