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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVII, No. 53
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
Jury selection begins in Cianci corruption trial BY CHRIS BYRNES
Jury selection began in the corruption trial of Mayor Vincent Cianci in U.S. District Court Wednesday. Judge Ernest Torres addressed the 95 potential jurors shortly after 9:30 a.m. and instructed them to avoid watching the news and reading the newspapers. Only 21 were questioned Wednesday, and the others will be interviewed this week, the Providence Journal reported. Of the 21 jurors examined Wednesday, 16 were ruled "tentatively qualified," and five were rejected. Torres and lawyers for both sides questioned potential jurors to see if they were associated with Cianci or had any other possible bias. Numerous people had connections to police departments throughout Rhode Island, a major concern to both parties. Torres frequently asked jury candidates if their connections to police would lead them to consider police testimony any more — or less — credible than other testifiers. One man, a social worker who works in Massachusetts, had testified in numerous cases in which the state sought to claim custody of a child. His experiences testifying and his cooperation with local police departments in those cases contributed to his dismissal. A retired naval police officer said Cianci had attended his 25th wedding anniversary see CIANCI page 4 Josh Apte / Herald
Despite roadblocks, literature alive in Mexico, author Fuentes reports
The new Watson Institute for International Studies was designed by architect Rafael Vinoly, who spoke Wednesday night about crafting progressive structures to connect people to the cities in which they live.The lecture was part of the 2002 Brown/ProJo conference.
Celebrated Mexican author Carlos Fuentes and four emerging talents of the Mexican literary stage, Jorge Volpi, Ignacio Padilla, Pedro Angel Palou and Cristina Rivera Garza, discussed writing and Mexican literary culture Wednesday in the Rochambeau Library. Fuentes praised the writers with whom he spoke, saying their presence proves that Mexican literary culture is alive, and their writing will insure the culture's survival and continuity. The writers discussed the difficulties of writing in Mexico. "There is a profound editorial crisis in Mexico," Padilla said. At initial publication, only 2,000 copies of "serious" novels are normally printed, he said. Padilla also said the very low levels of book piracy in Mexico exhibit the "editorial crisis." The amount of bootlegged books is usually a reliable indicator of how much the public reads, he said. "It is not profitable to bootleg books," Padilla said of the situation in Mexico. Padilla criticized the Mexican literary tradition's failure to allow for sub-genres.
Internationally acclaimed architects Rafael Vinoly and Zaha Hadid spoke Wednesday about their different visions of modern city buildings. The joint lecture on progressive city architecture discussed how buildings should help connect people to the cities in which they live. Vinoly, a Uruguay-born architect who designed the newly opened Kimmel Center, home to the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra, and Brown's Watson Institute for International Studies, said he believes architects should produce innovative buildings that contribute to the progressive atmosphere of a city. But other architects think buildings should reflect the pre-existing structures in the city that already affirm the city's success, he said. He presented slides of five of his buildings and explained how each structure reflects his personal approach to architecture. In each design, Vinoly said he tried to blend public and private spaces. He said he sought to achieve "the combination of different functions of commerce and
see FUENTES page 6
21st-century skylines: 2 world renowned architects pitch visions of modern design high culture, which intersects the public's interests with conventionally private spaces." In the Kimmel Center, Vinoly said he created a lobby that is used by concertgoers and city dwellers. The one-lobby structure was used instead of scattering many lobbies throughout the building that people rarely use. This way, Vinoly said, the structure is not merely a concert hall, but a vibrant new aspect of city life, and it does not ignore the surrounding city. The external shape of the buildings he designs also makes the structures appealing to the surrounding city, Vinoly said. The Kimmel Center has a uniquely curved roof that "respects the orderly grid of the city and also captures the double scale between the low-rise and highrise buildings it is situated in-between," he said. Although the concert hall has a distinct and memorable shape, it respects and relates to the city around it, he added. Zaha Hadid, an internationally renowned modernist architect, spoke about her creative intention to "test the
I N S I D E T H U R S D AY, A P R I L 1 8 , 2 0 0 2 Rhode Island Hospital faces third power outage this month, looks for solutions page 3
Mayoral hopeful Keven McKenna says education reform is key to improving Providence page 3
Sofyan Sultan '03.5 says foreign relations understanding requires complex analysis guest column,page 13
boundaries of architectural design" in every building she creates and addressed the issue of construction on the site of the former World Trade Center. Hadid said she focuses on designing conventionally regular structures such as parking lots and car factories to test architectural boundaries. Hadid also talked about her design of Italy's Rome Museum of Contemporary Art. She said she designed the building by including wavy, river-like patterns to help create fluidity in the building plan. The museum linked Rome's ancient past with its new status as a contemporary, modern city, Hadid said. Hadid said that logistic and social problems complicate any possible reconstruction on the site of the old World Trade Center. But she added that it had the possibility to be an interesting and exciting project. She stressed the importance of "getting quite a few brains involved" in the planning of the new buildings on the site. Herald staff writer Katie Roush '03 can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
TO D AY ' S F O R E C A S T Camille Gerwin '03 says only peace will lead to establishment of a Palestinian state guest column,page 13
Men's golf takes 6th place at New England Division I Championships page 16
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THIS MORNING THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2002 · PAGE 2 Ted's World Ted Wu
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Abstract Fantasy Nate Pollard
CALENDAR CONFERENCE — "Geographies of Carlos Fuentes: An International Conference on Fuente's Work, Mexican Literature, and Intercultural Readings." John Hay Library and Rochambeau House, 9 a.m. PANEL DISCUSSION — "Education in the New Latino Diaspora: Policy and the Politics of Identity," Edmund Hamann, Education Alliance; William Beeman and Cynthia Garcia-Coll. Dining rooms 8 & 9, Sharpe Refectory, 11:30 a.m. COLLOQUIUM — "Educational Attainment and Labor Market Outcomes: Estimating Distributions of the Return to Educational Interventions," Karsten Hansen, University of Chicago, Zimmer Lounge, Maxcy Hall, noon.
!#$% Happens Peter Quon and Grant Chu
OPEN FORUM — Review of police and security operations with the Bratton Group. Carmichael Hall, noon. COLLOQUIUM — "Women's Ministries in Africa: Case Studies in Liberia and Lesotho," Judy Gay, Development Expert, Watson Institute 353, 4 p.m. DISCUSSION — "Class and Sexuality," Morris Lounge, 6 p.m. LECTURE — "Once More into the Melting Pot," Henry Cisneros, former secretary HUD. Salomon Center, 6:30 p.m. THEATER — "Our Town," by Thornton Wilder. Leeds Theatre, 8 p.m. RECITAL — Courtney Naliboff, soprano, Grant Recital Hall, 8 p.m. READING — Undergraduate honors/capstone candidates Natalie Chicha, Frank Lesser, Jennifer Miller, Judy Nee, Michelle Neimann and Kimberly Thalmann will read with Thalia Field. McCormack Family Theater, 8 p.m.
Cookie's Grandma is Jewish Saul Kerschner
CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Obvious flirt 6 Staff symbol 10 Jiffs 14 Turkish confection: Var. 15 Learn 16 Eastern nanny 17 Father of Jacob 18 Start to freeze? 19 Obsolescent currency 20 Resistance unit 21 Bother Bernhardt, either way? 24 It may be red 26 Pops 27 Literary device 29 Minute 31 Fall guy? 32 Insight 34 Payroll ID 37 Film parts 39 Japanese sash 40 "De-lish!" 42 In bed, maybe 43 Strengths 46 The Mekong forms part of its border 47 Sword handles 48 Use plastic 50 Jewish mystical doctrine 53 Plague 54 Sleepy Épée, either way? 57 Sought office 60 Director Meyer 61 Detail 62 O'Neill's field 64 Heckelphone relative 65 Fourth little piggy's share 66 The sky, maybe 67 Le __, France 68 Wanders restlessly 69 Noted lemon DOWN 1 Canton locale 2 It may need stitches 3 Where woolly beasts shop, either way?
4 Sister of Magda 5 Novelist Field 6 Doctor's request 7 "A Raisin in the Sun" heroine 8 Downs 9 Thrown disk 10 Regular compensation 11 Arab leaders 12 Jeweler's weight 13 Former Iranian monarchs 22 Tract 23 Bright 25 Gimlet flavoring 27 Indian garment 28 Pedestal figure 29 Den sets 30 Exude 33 Price tag 34 Clever NFL team, either way? 35 Clean Air Act concern 36 Source of many quotes, for short
38 Brigantine gear 41 __ Bator 44 Overwhelming with humor 45 Lasting impression? 47 Pitches heavily at anchor 49 Play preceder 50 PC drive insert 51 Island near Curaçao
52 Elementary particle 53 Development units 55 Greek colonnade 56 Proceed 58 Femme friend 59 Part of NAACP: Abbr. 63 Divest
Coup de Grace Grace Farris
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State reps look to amend Constitution BY CHRIS BYRNES
McKenna announces platform to face Cianci in mayoral elections Democratic mayoral candidate Keven McKenna likes to tell people he is the only person to beat Bill Clinton in a presidential race. McKenna, a campaign manager in college, steered the former U.S. president's opponent to victory in the contest for Georgetown University student body president. Over 20 years later, McKenna finds himself battling another political behemoth — embattled Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci, who is currently on trial in U.S. District Court on federal racketeering charges. McKenna's platform emphasizes crime prevention and education reform.The candidate told The Herald that "if you don't provide safety and education, you don't have a city. "Everyone's responsible, but no one's responsible," McKenna said, criticizing the source of Providence's school woes. His solution includes a three-semester school term and public education through the age of 20. He also suggested drawing on the resources of Providence's numerous colleges. He outlined a hard-line crime prevention platform that includes imprisoning drug users and fining people caught standing idle on public streets. A person cannot deal drugs if they cannot stop walking, McKenna said. McKenna maintains that Cianci can be beaten this November, saying the Mayor runs on a "cult of personality" and is not responsible for the downtown revival. McKenna said that a downtown development commission deserves credit instead. Cianci "had nothing to do with it. Zero," McKenna said. McKenna promised to become a people's mayor — calling himself a populist with his "conservative values and progressive ideals." — Chris Byrnes
URI graduate teaching assistants hold elections on unionization The National Labor Relations Board conducted a secret ballot election Wednesday to determine whether graduate students employed as teaching and research assistants by the University of Rhode Island will form a union. Though the results of the ballot have not yet been released, URI administrators expressed a willingness to work with a union. If the URI grad students vote in favor of unionization, they will join Graduate Assistants United, a unit of the URI chapter of the American Association of University Professors. The mission of GAU, which also represents URI faculty,"is to improve the working conditions faced by Graduate Assistants and to improve the quality of Graduate Education at URI," according to the URI Graduate Student Association's Web site. All 587 URI graduate research and teaching assistants are eligible to vote in the secret ballot. In order to unionize, a majority vote in favor of unionization is needed, even if all students do not vote. "URI is a collective bargaining environment," URI President Robert Carothers said in a statement."We have learned to make that system work effectively for us, and I believe we can make it work for graduate assistants, too." — Chloe Thompson
Rhode Island — a state that prides itself on its liberalism and its "Renaissance" capital city — has distinguished itself in a different way for almost 226 years: it is the only state not to have three separate and co-equal branches of government. Rhode Island does have executive, legislative and judicial branches, but it lacks the separation of powers that is found in the U.S. Constitution, said Peter Hufstader, research director for Common Cause Rhode Island, an organization that promotes clean government. Despite the results of a non-binding voter referendum in 2000 that urged legislators — by a 2-to-1 margin — to establish separate and co-equal branches of government, all bills that have attempted to create a separation of powers were voted down. Last week, a bill sponsored by five Republicans — spearheaded by State Rep. Nicholas Gorham of Coventry — was sent back to the judiciary committee for reconsideration. The vote came after the judiciary committee decided not to recommend the bill and Gorham tried to bring it directly to the House floor for debate. This is tantamount to "being sent to prison without a sentence," Gorham told The Herald. The bill would amend the Rhode Island Constitution to say the three branches of government are "separate and coequal, as under the Constitution of the United States." It also gives power of appointment, currently held by the legislature, to the governor and limits the scope of legislative powers. A bill identical to Gorham's, but sponsored by five Democrats — including gubernatorial candidate State Rep. Antonio Pires of Pawtucket and State Rep. Edith Ajello, Brown's representative — has also not left the House Judiciary Committee.
Gorham attributes the difficulty of passing the legislation to House leadership. "The leadership in the House — they don't want to debate it," he said. "How can you defend a position that is essentially 'We do not want the people to decide whether to have separate and co-equal branches of government? "We are willing and able to debate," he said. Gorham is currently attempting to bring the issue back to the House floor by exploiting a parliamentary loophole, he said. Speaker of the House John Harwood, D-Pawtucket, was out of town and unavailable for comment. In total, seven pieces of legislation address the separation-of-powers amendment. Gorham and Pires' bills each have identical versions in the Senate. State Sen. Mary Parella, R-Bristol and Warren, and Gorham sponsored bills in each chamber. Mayoral candidate and State Rep. David Cicilline '83, DProvidence, sponsored his own bill. While most of the bills are virtually identical, Parella's explicitly prevents legislators from serving concurrent terms in the executive branch. But none of the bills have had any success. There are many reasons for this stalemate, Hufstader said. He cited State Sen. Minority Leader Denis Algiere, RWesterly, as saying separation of powers is not a partisan issue — it's a good government issue. Legislators now have significant powers of patronage, Hufstader said. The Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader appoint 412 legislators and 250 members of the general public to seats on boards, according to a count last January, Hufstader said. see AMENDMENT page 7
RI Hospital suffers another power outage BY EMIR SENTURK
Rhode Island Hospital lost half its power supply Tuesday in the latest in a series of outages, forcing the hospital to cancel elective surgeries and rely on its co-generator for electricity. The electrical failure, one of many to affect the hospital in recent years, occurred when repair crews on I-95 and I-195 damaged an underground electrical cable. The damaged cable served as one of the power sources to the hospital, said Nancy Cawley, senior media relations officer at Rhode Island Hospital. The hospital is powered simultaneously by Narragansett Electric Company and its own co-generation plant, but it was forced Tuesday to rely solely on its co-generator, which also powers Women and Infants Hospital. As a result, the hospital scaled back its operations until full power was restored. "We cancelled elective surgeries today, but everything is back on schedule for tomorrow," Cawley said Tuesday. The hospital has taken similar precautionary measures in the past. "Our first priority is ensuring safe and appropriate patient care," Cawley said. Tuesday's failure was the third to affect the hospital this month. The installation of a new service cable caused power to fail for nearly an hour and twenty minutes on April 1. On April 10, an electrical circuit malfunction caused a partial power failure in the emergency department and operating rooms. Only the Davol Building, one of 33 buildings on the hospital's campus, was affected.
On both days, the hospital transported several inpatients and emergency patients to other hospitals until it was deemed safe for them to return. The Providence Fire Department also arrived on the scene with portable generators in case any extra power was needed. Cawley said the hospital's power troubles date back several years. A blackout in September 1999 knocked out the entire hospital's power supply and raised concerns that the power failure may have caused the inadvertent death of one patient. "There was an incident in 1999 when a man did expire during a power outage, but that cannot be directly linked to the power outage itself," Cawley said. The system failed again in January 2000, when several buildings became entirely dependent on the hospital's cogenerator, forcing the hospital to shut off all non-essential equipment. "A hospital of this magnitude and this size should not have these problems," Providence Mayor Vincent Cianci told the Providence Journal earlier this month. To ensure power outages do not pose as great a risk as they have in the past, the hospital has taken steps since the 1999 incident to improve its electrical system. "We are in the midst of an $11 million electrical upgrade, which we anticipate will be completed soon," Cawley said. The upgrade includes the addition of two two-megawatt generators. "I have a lot of confidence in R.I. Hospital," Cianci told see POWER page 7
Cianci continued from page 1 almost 27 years ago. When he said "I don't know who invited him," the court erupted in laugher. He said he didn't remember much about Cianci's presence, explaining "I was half in the bag" that night. Although he said he was a close acquaintance of a former law partner of one of the defense lawyers, Torres didn't dismiss him. A judge can dismiss a prospective juror if he determines, at the request of a lawyer, the person is incompetent or biased. Lawyers for each side receive a set number of peremptory challenges, which allow them to dismiss a specific juror without showing cause. The process of issuing peremptory challenges will commence after Torres selects enough qualified jurors. Twelve jurors and six alternates will eventually decide Cianci's fate. One potential juror's husband was once a tow-truck operator,
most recently for the Automobile Association of America. Because some of the charges against Cianci involve bribery in city regulation of the towing industry, Torres expressed concern over the potential juror. After the woman said she has no knowledge of the exact conditions her husband worked in or whom he was associated with, Torres ruled she not be dismissed. Many of the jury candidates, who came from all over Rhode Island, said they knew little about Operation Plunder Dome. One potential juror continually referred to Cianci's allegedly illegal membership to the University Club as the "health club" incident, and another woman said all she knew was that someone involved in Plunder Dome died recently. She was referring to Rosemary Glancy, a former city employee who was convicted on Plunder Dome charges and died in January 2001. Jury selection is expected to continue for the next few days, as both sides move toward the necessary number of tentative jurors. That number is believed to be in
Jury selection is expected to continue for the next few days, as both sides move toward the necessary number of tentative jurors — believed to be in the low 30s. the low 30s. Cianci is on trial for extortion, mail fraud, bribery and other corruption charges, along with codefendants Richard Autiello, a towing contractor; Frank Corrente, former Cianci aid; and Edward Voccola, a convicted felon who has a lucrative lease agreement with Providence schools. Herald staff writer Chris Byrnes '04 edits the metro section. He can be reached at email@example.com.
Seth Kerschner / Herald
Mayor Vincent Cianci was in U.S. District Court Wednesday, as defense and prosecution counsel began jury selection in his corruption trial.
Troy continued from page 16 of talent on the team. Eric Lindros, Theo Fleury, Peter Nedved and midseason acquisition Pavel Bure all were allstars at one point. Moreover, at one time or another, Lindros, Fleury and Bure could each have been considered the best player in the NHL. Lindros is a concussion away and Fleury is a drink away from the end of their careers, but the moral of the story seems to be that if you are a talented player, avoid the Rangers at all costs. The Rangers share MSG with the Knicks, whose story is almost as depressing. Although the trend of not making the playoffs is new to the Knicks, this season might well be the worst in the team's history. Their coach to start the season, Jeff Van Gundy, quit when the team was one game over .500. Currently, they are 20 games under .500 and are the third worst team in the Eastern Conference. But to show its management expertise, the team signed current coach Don Chaney to an extension. Either they believe that the losing is not Chaney's fault or that the team is going to be so bad for the next few years that it does not matter who the coach is. For some reason, I am betting on the latter. The Knicks' woes continue, as the salaries of Charlie Ward, Allan Houston, Latrell Sprewell
and Marcus Camby combine for over 35 million dollars. None of these four guys were all-stars this year, and only Sprewell may have any trade value. Apparently, no one other than the Knicks thinks that Houston is worth 100 million dollars. Maybe the Knicks' problems will be solved if former draft pick Fredrick Weiss, whose only career highlight was being the player Vince Carter dunked over in the Olympics, returns from France. At least it would give the team some size, as now only Camby, Travis Knight and Felton Spencer are over 6'9''. To recap, the payrolls of the Knicks and Rangers combine to be over 120 million dollars and the return on the hefty investment is not a single playoff game. Yet, undoubtedly, ownership will try to spin the respective seasons as not being utter failures and still may raise ticket prices for both teams. Unless Arthur Anderson is doing the accounting, it may be difficult for any fan not to see the teams as 2002's biggest disappointment. Ironically, both reside in what is supposed to be the "World's Greatest Arena." Maybe the circus will win a few games when it uses the arena over the summer. In the end, it may be too late for Mr. Dolan to put the teams back and just proceed to the checkout counter. Joshua Troy '04 hails from Stamford, CT and is a political science concentrator.
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Fuentes continued from page 1 There is no light summer reading, he said, adding that the rigid scheme of what is published does not allow for light reading. Fuentes said the Mexican government failed in its policy toward public libraries. There are more libraries in the state of Alabama than in the entire country of Mexico, he said. Fuentes also spoke about his upcoming book, "En esto creo" ("In This I Believe"), to be published in May. The book is Fuentes' personal encyclopedia — he goes through the alphabet and writes on people and concepts that are important to him. Fuentes said the words he found hardest to define were those beginning with the letter "z." Among the words he included in this chapter were Zacatecas, a Mexican state, and Zurich, where he met Thomas Mann at age 21. He expressed hesitation at calling the text an autobiography, saying that such a genre is very ambiguous, and clarifying that "En esto creo" covered matters
Fuentes said the Mexican government failed in its policy toward public libraries. There are more libraries in the state of Alabama than in the entire country of Mexico, he said. such as criticism, politics and his family. "This form has allowed for a marriage of genres," Fuentes said. Fuentes said his writing has been influenced by Cervantes' "Don Quixote," which taught him of "the possibilities of the novel," and Herman Broch's "The Sleepwalkers." "Don Quixote," Fuentes said, is both a Byzantine novel and a love story, something that had not been attempted before. "Don Quixote" "becomes the novel of novels," he said, adding that the work made him aware of the power and beauty of knowledge. The authors discussed the process of writing, as well as the process of reading. "Writing is the physical act of thinking," said Rivera Garza. "One writes to discover something while one writes. One thinks with one's body." "The novel does not exist until
the reader finishes reading it," Fuentes said, speaking of the symbiotic relationship between reading and writing. The writers also addressed how the writing process changes as a writer matures. Fuentes said one always writes best when one starts writing. "One is freer when one is young," Volpi said. As one grows old, one has more technique, he said, but that does not necessarily make for a better product. The roundtable discussion was a prelude for "The Geography of Carlos Fuentes," an international congress to be held at Brown this weekend. The congress commemorates the 40th anniversary of the publication of his novels "The Death of Artemio Cruz" and "Aura." Herald staff writer Juan Nuñez '03 can be reached at email@example.com.
Amendment continued from page 3 He said the power legislators can wield is "a remarkable aphrodisiac." Hufstader praised Gorham's legislation that was sent back to committee last week because it would make all U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding the separation of powers apply to Rhode Island, he said. Prior to this recent legislative
W. Rugby continued from page 16 couldn't get anything started as it was continually stymied by Brown's tackling and domination of scrums, rucks and mauls. Brown's final score of the day came from Hannah Thompson '02, who broke through a Smith
effort, politicians attempted to amend the constitution without legislation by calling for a constitutional convention. These efforts were dismissed by the House. Constitutional conventions occur frequently in the state, with the most recent one occurring in 1986. The constitution has been amended multiple times since then, including efforts in 1992 and 1994. Herald staff writer Chris Byrnes '04 edits the metro section. He can be reached at email@example.com.
lineout on Smith's own five-meter mark to touch the ball down. The last game of the season — the final one for the team's 17 seniors — is Saturday, Apr. 27, against Wellesley. A-Side kickoff will be at 11:00 a.m. with the B-Side game following at 12:30 p.m. on the field behind the OMAC. Liz Terry '02 plays for the women's rugby team.
I'm not going to lose faith in Rhode Island Hospital. It's one of the best hospitals in the country," he said.
continued from page 3 the Journal. "I know they're trying. They're certainly spending money.
Herald staff writer Emir Senturk '05 can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Matheson continued from page 16 many times I have seen Jordan soar over Ewing, dunking the ball on his head. It is as if Ewing became his favorite target. Many a Jordan poster has a bewildered Ewing underneath him. The only time that Ewing ever did get a whiff of a championship — the first time Jordan retired — he met another Hall of Famer, Hakeem Olajuwon, in the finals, and was even then a John Starks away winning it all. That was just it though; John Starks and a revolving door of other second tier players were Ewing's supporting cast. He never had a Pippen or a Kobe beside him, another reliable player to pass the ball to out of the constant double-teams. In his prime, the New York Knicks' front office had the uncanny ability to acquire ineffective players and coaches. There was always someone in Ewing's way, sometimes a teammate. Some may say that Ewing is to blame for his shortcomings. He certainly does not need our sympathy. The NBA has made him a multi-millionaire, yet there is more to this than money. He never did figure out exactly when that second defender was coming. Ewing was often criticized for shooting too many jump shots and not rebounding and defending like someone with his size and ability.
Golf continued from page 16 Women's Golf On the women's links, the Brown women's golf team placed seventh out of 17 teams this past weekend at the James Madison University Invitational in Harrisonville, V.A. Included in the invitational were Ivy contenders Princeton and Yale, who finished third and fourth, respectively. The Bears shot 318335 — 653 in the two-day event, 20 strokes above their rivals. The tournament got off to a slow start, with the women teeing off in the last slot in the midst of torrential rains. Still finishing strong, by the end of the first round Brown was in a dead tie with the Lady Tigers of Princeton. Though conditions improved
Olajuwon did get the better of him in the finals. These are all valid points. The facts remain, though, that in his prime, Ewing gave his all, putting those Knickerbocker teams on his back and always falling a little bit short. I will never forget that missed lay-up in the Conference Finals verses Indiana. During a game, no player sweats as much as Patrick Ewing. Afterwards, no player looked more dejected. Perhaps that was why he was so aloof to the media and the fans in New York. After working so hard, after being criticized so often and so vehemently, it is easy to see why he would rather stay silent than face the disparaging questions of unscrupulous reporters. I doubt he would have ever been good enough for them. The fans in New York had grown accustomed to winning. The Yankees were already in their renaissance and even the Rangers won a Stanley Cup. To this day, fans still harbor ill will towards Ewing for not coming through on his promise of a victory in the Eastern Conference Championships. After 15 seasons, Ewing was ushered out of New York with as much fanfare as the vagabond player at the end of the bench. The cheers for Ewing when Orlando played New York last week were too little too late. The past few years have not been kind to Ewing. He has
endured countless injuries, had his name dragged through the mud about sexual impropriety at an Atlanta strip club and gone through a painful divorce. It is time for Ewing to call it quits for good and end his painful career as a NBA icon, something for which he was never well suited. Perhaps because of the tremendous marketing success that Michael Jordan has achieved, we believe that every star athlete can glow in the limelight. This certainly is not the case for Ewing. Perhaps it is because he immigrated to America as a teenager that he did not grasp all the country's subtleties that resulted in his appearing so uncomfortable in front of the media and fans. The NBA still uses "I love this game" as its catch phrase. I am not sure Ewing could ever say that, especially later in his career. For him, playing basketball seemed burdensome as the sports world harbored on what he did not accomplish. The fans in New York took notice and antagonized him even more when they saw his heart was not in it, no matter how hard he worked on the court. It became hard to discern which came first, Ewing's malaise or implacable Knick fans. Ewing will go quietly, never quite achieving what was expected of him, never the graceful hero to the multitudes. Hopefully, for his sake, it will be sooner than later.
the following day, Brown's score did not. "We had trouble finishing," Tara Fiscella '03 said. "We're not pleased, but we learned from it. It was a good experience to play with some top schools, and it really helped us prepare for Ivies this weekend." Fiscella led the Bears and placed 12th individually out of 91 players with a two-day 156, shooting 76 on Saturday and 80 on Sunday. Elizabeth Carpenter '04 was also a top 20 finisher for the Bears, placing 18th overall after shooting 79-83162. Jennifer Bley '05 continued her strong season by finishing 30th individually, shooting a two-day 165 (80-85). Rebekah Alfond '02 shot 85-87, and Amy Behrman '05 shot 83-89. They tied for 63rd overall, carding a two-day 172. The culmination of the season, the Women's Ivy Golf
Championship, begins at 8:00 a.m. at Trenton Country Club in West Trenton, N.J. With 36 holes the first day and 18 holes on the second, the tournament marks the first year of the expanded 54-hole format on the women's side. "We are going to need to concentrate on every shot taken. Basically, we know we can compete," Fiscella said, "but if we can salvage pars over bogies, and bogies over double bogies—those strokes are going to add up." With two tournament championships behind them, the women are confident in bringing down Yale and Princeton, two teams that have alternately won the championship every year since 1997. "As a team we are going to need to put some good rounds together if we are going to win, but we can definitely do it," Fiscella said.
IN BRIEF Gas prices continue to soar WASHINGTON (Washington Post) — Gasoline prices, which have soared 27 percent in the last three months, are headed upward in coming weeks to perhaps the third highest level ever, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said Wednesday. U.S. gas prices may hit a summer-long average of $1.46 for a gallon of unleaded regular, with a one-week peak of $1.55 sometime in May or June, as families take to the roads in warmer weather, Abraham said. The national average price of a gallon of unleaded regular reached $1.41 Wednesday, up 30 cents since the beginning of the year. It has increased a variety of reasons. Chief among them is that the price of crude oil, which accounts for 38 percent of the cost of gas, has risen from about $18 a barrel a few months ago to about $25.94 Wednesday, in part because of cuts in production over the last year by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Moreover, the threat of war in the oil-producing Mideast and political turmoil in Venezuela, the U.S.'s third largest oil supplier, have pushed pump prices higher, as has the federally required seasonal shift to cleaner gas blends that occurs every year at this time to combat summer air pollution. There is a modest amount of good news, however: This year's summer-long mark is likely to stay below last year's average of $1.54, partly because petroleum inventories are higher this April than they were a year ago. Abraham said this summer's highest predicted peak of $1.55 a gallon is also lower than last summer's top weekly average of $1.70. Although nominally the average price of gas might be the third highest ever, after adjusting for inflation it would be substantially lower than it would have been two decades ago. But that's of little import to consumers who drive into gas stations once or twice a week and notice prices going up.
U.S. Soldier shot while shopping KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (L. A. Times) — A U.S. Special Forces soldier was shot in the face by a gunman who rushed up to him and three other Americans as they were shopping in the crowded downtown bazaar Wednesday in this southern desert city. The soldier was treated at the American military camp outside Kandahar and was in stable condition, a base spokesman said. Witnesses said the gunman escaped on foot through the warren of narrow alleyways and vegetable stalls in the Largo Gange market. It was the first reported incident of an American soldier being attacked in a civilian setting since the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan began Oct. 7. Combat, accidents, land mines and aircraft crashes have killed 37 U.S. military personnel since last fall. Ahmad Walli, a cotton merchant in the bazaar, said the soldier was examining an ammunition belt at the Insaf gun and ammo stall next door when a man emerged from behind a stack of yellow cotton bales. He shot the soldier in the corner of the mouth. An Afghan standing nearby was grazed, Walli said. The American had drifted away from three fellow U.S. soldiers, who were buying ammunition belts in a stall directly across the narrow dirt pathway. By the time the three soldiers reacted and came to the aid of the wounded man, Walli and other merchants said, the assailant had fled.
Powell ends Middle East visit, vows continued U.S. involvement CAIRO (Washington Post) — As Secretary of State Colin Powell ended his Middle East mission Wednesday, he left senior American officials behind and suggested he himself will return before too long, signaling the Bush administration plans to press on with its new involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But Powell also left behind widespread doubts about how hard it will press. He departed Jerusalem after six days without the cease-fire he had been seeking and unable to secure a withdrawal of Israeli forces from West Bank cities and refugee camps, even though President Bush demanded repeatedly and publicly that Israel end its invasion immediately. Apparently sensitive to the impression of failure, Bush hailed Powell's mission as a success and said during an appearance at the Virginia Military Institute that his envoy "made progress toward peace." Israeli officials also depicted the effort as a success — if a modest one — and hailed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pledge to end his West Bank offensive within a week as an accomplishment for Powell. But here in Egypt, officials had a different reading. After leaving Jerusalem, Powell flew to Cairo for brief discussions with Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and his Jordanian counterpart, Marwan Muasher. Powell had been scheduled to meet President Hosni Mubarak as well, but the Egyptian leader was unavailable. Egyptian and American officials said he was ill. But his decision not to see Powell was exceptional, leading some analysts in Egypt to suggest it was sign of Egyptian and Arab displeasure over Powell's diplomacy. Powell shook off the missed meeting. But the ability of
Israel to defy the United States could come with a cost to Bush's policy in the Arab world, where American prestige had already been taking a beating. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, as well as other allies, have been under mounting fire at home because of their ties to a U.S. government seen as supporting Sharon's tough policies. How Powell's mission affects his own standing remains unclear, particularly inside the administration. Powell made a strong case within Bush's inner circle for launching the initiative. But as he has conducted his most important mission as the United States' senior diplomat, he has also been careful, in frequent discussions with the White House and in public statements, not to get too far out in front of the president. "My appearance here has shown to both the people of Israel, the Palestinians, our Arab friends in the region and the world that President Bush is going to be playing a leadership role in this by sending his secretary of state over," Powell told reporters moments before leaving Jerusalem. "I have had his solid support." Unlike in the past, little daylight has shown between the White House and State Department in the last few days over how to proceed in the Middle East. But it could emerge anew if there is a disagreement over whether to lean on Sharon in addition pressuring the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. Already, there have been differences in tone. While Powell was pressing Sharon for a pull back last week and raising concerns about the conduct of Israeli soldiers in West Bank cities, for instance, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer was stressing that Sharon is "a man of peace."
S.C. resists plutonium shipments WASHINGTON (Washington Post) — A bitter dispute between the Bush administration and South Carolina over nuclear waste disposal broke into the open this week, as the Energy Department vowed to force the state to begin accepting cross-country shipments of plutonium next month. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham notified Gov. Jim Hodges, Democrat, late Monday that it was "essential" to begin the shipments around May 15 to meet a schedule for closing the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility in Colorado by 2006, as part of an agreement with Russia to simultaneously dispose of plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons. In all, 34 metric tons of plutonium from Rocky Flats and other facilities, enough to make more than 4,200 nuclear weapons, would be reprocessed at the Energy Department's Savannah River nuclear site, near Aiken, S.C., and then sold as fuel to commercial nuclear reactors. But Hodges renewed his threat to deploy state troopers or even lie down in the middle of the road if necessary to block the shipments until he receives a legally binding guarantee that the weapons-grade plutonium will not be permanently stored in his state. The governor met Tuesday with his public safety director and members of the state highway patrol and transport police to discuss the options regarding the plutonium. "Until there is a legally enforceable agreement that holds the federal government to its word, I will do everything at my disposal to ensure that plutonium does not enter South Carolina," Hodges said. Energy Department officials said Tuesday that the
administration has bent over backward to accommodate Hodges, meeting virtually every one of his demands — except the legally binding guarantee, which would essentially give federal courts authority over an international agreement. Joe Davis, a department spokesman, said the government intends to press ahead with the planned shipments out of a concern for national security, adding: "Armed confrontation serves no useful purpose." The controversy underscores the growing tensions between federal authorities and the states over the handling and storage of nuclear waste and the problems associated with safely transporting it over long distances. Just as Nevada officials are disputing Energy Department claims that it can safely transport and then store vast quantities of nuclear waste beneath Yucca Mountain, Hodges and other South Carolina officials say they fear the government's plans for reprocessing the plutonium might fall through, leaving the Savannah River site stuck with piles of unwanted plutonium waste. Some state officials also say that truckloads of plutonium traveling more than 1,500 miles through seven or eight states could become targets for terrorists. Abraham said the Energy Department "has gone the extra mile" in making concessions to ease the governor's concerns — including a pledge to limit the initial shipments this year to no more than 3.2 metric tons, a formal commitment to take the plutonium back if the reprocessing plant falls behind schedule or runs into funding trouble, and support for legislation to codify the agreement. But Hodges wants the terms of the agreement entered into an order from a U.S. district court.
Judge rules against Ashcroft on Oregon assisted suicide law LOS ANGELES (Washington Post) — A federal judge in
Portland ruled Wednesday that the Bush administration lacks the authority to overturn a voterbacked Oregon law permitting physician-assisted suicide. U.S. District Judge Robert Jones scolded Attorney General John Ashcroft, saying that the federal government was attempting to usurp the rights of a state when the Justice Department announced its intent to prosecute doctors who prescribe lethal doses of drugs to their terminally ill and dying patients. "The citizens of Oregon, through their democratic initiative process, have chosen to resolve the moral, legal and ethical debate on physician-assisted suicide for themselves by voting — not once, but twice — in favor of the Oregon act," Jones wrote in his order. Jones said Ashcroft attempted to "stifle an ongoing, earnest and profound debate in the various states concerning physician-assisted suicide," and that "with no advance warning ... fired the first shot in the battle between the state of Oregon and the federal government." Oregon is the first and only state to legalize physician-assisted suicide — an immensely controversial practice that raises ethical, medical and religious questions about the appropriate role for doctors in hastening or forbidding what advocates call "an early exit." Wednesday's decision was a clear victory for advocates of allowing doctors to prescribe drugs to hasten an inevitable death, but this will not end the debate in the courts, in Washington, and in hospital corridors. The Justice Department is considering an appeal, said Robert McCallum, an assistant attorney general. It would be heard by the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco, and the process would likely take about 18 months. Meanwhile, the Oregon law remains in force, and other states are considering similar measures. McCallum repeated the administration's contention that "assisting suicide is not medicine." "Terminally ill patients are among the most vul-
nerable members of our society," he said. "Medical studies make clear that these individuals often suffer from undiagnosed depression and inadequately treated pain. A just and caring society should do its best to assist in coping with the problems that afflict the terminally ill. It should not abandon or assist in killing them." Oregon voters first approved the Death With Dignity Act first in 1994, and then again three years later after a failed legal challenge. Under that law, a patient who seeks a prescription for lethal drugs must be shown to be mentally competent and must have, in the opinion of two doctors, less than six months to live. While doctors prescribe the powerful sedatives or narcotics, they are not allowed to actually administer them to cause death. If the patient is incapable of taking the drugs without aid, a friend or relative may help. In the past four years, some 91 people in Oregon have chosen to end their lives with the help of their physicians, according to records kept by the state. "The system has worked in Oregon," said Kathryn Tucker, one of the attorneys who defended the law in court and the director of legal affairs for the group Compassion in Dying Federation. Tucker said that the number of patients chosing suicide has been relatively low, and that there have not been allegations of abuse or coercion. Opponents of physician-assisted suicide, however, decried the court action. Burke Balch, a director of the National Right to Life Committee, said "the American people do not want their federal government to facilitate euthanasia." Balch said he was confident the decision would be reversed on appeal. Jan LaRue, a director of the Family Research Council, said, "medicine by definition is the art of treating and curing. Drugs are for curing, not killing." During the Clinton administration, thenAttorney General Janet Reno concluded that the federal government could not bar Oregon doctors from prescribing drugs to hasten death.
Lawsuit, book allege LAPD coverup in 1997 murder of rapper Biggie Smalls LOS ANGELES (Washington Post) —
More than five years have passed since the shooting death of superstar rapper Christopher Wallace, known as Biggie Smalls, on a busy Los Angeles street in front of dozens of witnesses, and still there have been no arrests, no suspects fingered. Now two separate documents — a lawsuit filed last week and a book published this month — make a similar allegation concerning the apparent lack of progress in the case: that the Los Angeles Police Department has deliberately ignored leads that implicate its own officers. Those leads, both documents argue, would take detectives into the scandal-plagued LAPD, and would link rogue cops with Death Row Records and its founder, convicted felon Suge Knight, who was engaged in a grudge match with Wallace's record company. The LAPD captain who is supervising the case denied the allegations and said his detectives were continuing to pursue an investigation. In the civil lawsuit — filed April 9 against the city of Los Angeles, Police Chief Bernard Parks and two former chiefs — lawyers for Wallace's family claim "deliberate indifference" to the rap star's death. "The defendants intentionally, willfully and recklessly prevented a full and thorough investigation regarding the murder of (Wallace)," the lawsuit states. "This delay was intended to protect the Los Angeles Police Department, the city of Los
Angeles and the individual defendants." Such allegations have appeared in published reports in the past couple of years. What's new is the degree of detail offered by both the book and lawsuit in support of their claims. The lawsuit contends that then-LAPD officer David Mack and his longtime friend Amir Muhammad (also known as Harry Billups) conspired to murder Wallace in March 1997, and it suggests that they did so at the behest of Death Row honcho Knight. According to the suit, Knight believed that Wallace's East Coast label, Bad Boy Entertainment, was responsible for the murder of Death Row star rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996 in Las Vegas. The complaint offers a list of clues to support its theory. Among them: Mack "was associating socially" with Death Row executives; his car matched the color and make of the one from which, witnesses said, the fatal shots were fired; a witness identified Muhammad from a police sketch of the suspected gunman; and a confidential police informant implicated Mack a day after the murder. Mack was convicted for a November 1997 bank robbery and is serving a 14-year sentence. Wallace, who recorded under the stage name Notorious B.I.G., was gunned down as he left a music industry party at an auto museum in a convoy of cars. He was 24. Capt. Jim Tatreau, who heads LAPD's robbery-homicide divi-
sion, called the lawsuit's central allegation of a coverup "ridiculous." "Do you think it's a possibility" that his detectives ignored viable theories? he asked. "It isn't. I'd be so happy to be able to develop any information to solve that case. If they were LAPD cops, so be it. Like we haven't taken hits before?" Tatreau was referring to the damaging Rampart Division scandal of the past two years, in which LAPD officers were found to have planted weapons and other evidence on suspects and to have perjured themselves in court. As a result, at least a dozen officers have quit or were fired from the force, dozens of convictions have been thrown out because of evidence tainted by police, and many millions of dollars have been paid by the city in lawsuits. The new book, "LAbyrinth," by journalist Randall Sullivan, alleges that the Rampart scandal was excessively investigated by the LAPD, while the Wallace murder was swept under the rug. In part, Sullivan says, this is explained by the racial politics of Los Angeles, which in the late 1990s was still trying to recover from the trauma of the Rodney King police beating and the O.J. Simpson murder case. Sullivan asserts that the department was unwilling to take a hard look at the Wallace case because the officers who would have been implicated were black. Nearly all the officers caught up in the Rampart scandal were white, and the department was not as reluctant to investigate them, he argues.
Bush administration defends actions in Venezuelan upheaval WASHINGTON (L.A. Times) — Bush
administration officials forcefully defended themselves Wednesday against criticism that they had interfered with the democratic process in Venezuela, saying they had done their best to respond to fast-moving events about which they knew little more than what they were seeing on television. Rather than supporting the selfdeclared government that temporarily seized power last week from President Hugo Chavez, officials said, they acted quickly to stem its excesses. Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich acknowledged the administration had contacted the Venezuelan businessman installed in Chavez's place last Friday. Reich said he had instructed Charles Shapiro, the U.S. ambassador in Caracas, to call Pedro Carmona that night to express concern over unconstitutional actions Carmona had taken, including the dissolution of the Venezuelan National Assembly. Shapiro repeated the message in a visit to Carmona on Saturday morning. "It would have been irresponsible not to do it,'' Reich said. He denied published reports that he had called Carmona himself or that the administration had advised the military and business leaders who seized control of the government. But whatever took place during last week's tumult, the overall result appeared to be a foreign policy setback for a White House already reeling from bruising events in the Middle East. It occurred in a part of the world that President Bush has said he feels closest to, and that he has declared to be among his administration's highest priorities. Not only has Chavez remained in power, but what had been a steadily growing drumbeat of domestic and hemispheric opposition to his increasingly undemocratic rule has likely been under-
mined, for the moment at least, by the anti-democratic tactics of those who tried to oust him. Long before last week, a number of administration officials had said they believed that Chavez eventually would fall from the weight of domestic, democratic opposition and that any U.S. involvement would only postpone that day by legitimizing his anti-American rhetoric. "We didn't wink, we didn't nod, we didn't insinuate and we didn't encourage any unconstitutional change of government in Venezuela in any way,'' a senior administration official said. But in the view of some informed observers, the administration fundamentally misread the balance of power in a region where it claims high interest and expertise, and believed the anticipated day of Chavez's demise had arrived. "There was a lot of self-fulfillment going on here,'' said a nonU.S. diplomat with long experience in the region. Although a number of Venezuelan military leaders had criticized Chavez in recent months, and a massive anti-Chavez strike had brought the country to a halt last week, the administration "vastly underestimated Chavez's residual strength,'' the diplomat said. Few Latin American officials believe the United States promoted the coup attempt. "Everybody understands that there wasn't a wink or a nod,'' said one. "But what there was was an initial certainty on their part that (the attempt) would succeed.'' Skeptics include members of Congress who have charged that at the very least the situation was handled amateurishly by appointed officials. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Foreign Relations subcommittee on Western Hemisphere affairs, said Tuesday that those handling the crisis lacked "adult'' supervi-
sion while Secretary of State Colin Powell was in the Middle East. Administration officials have been repeatedly asked why they so readily accepted the statement of senior military officers that Chavez had voluntarily resigned. At midday Friday, hours after Chavez had been seen leaving the presidential palace under military escort, and shortly after the resignation statement, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced his voluntary departure as fact. Asked what independent evidence they had, senior officials offered several explanations. "Mr. Chavez had been taken away. He was in custody,'' said one. "We had no evidence to the contrary. We were told he was going to be tried. ... We were told he was being spirited out of the country,'' most likely to Cuba. Later, however, the official said "even today, we don't have all the facts. ... I don't have any evidence for or against.'' Another high-level official said that Fleischer's statement was merely "sharing the information that was available,'' largely through the media. At the same time Friday, however, administration lawyers studying the Venezuelan constitution noted that presidential resignations are invalid until they are accepted by the National Assembly, which also has the sole power to install a new head of state. "We heard this new interim government was going to disband the Assembly and the Supreme Court,'' said another senior official. "We recognized this was in violation of the constitution and we could not work with them.'' By the time Shapiro had twice passed that message to Carmona, many in the military had also studied the constitution and switched sides, and he quickly resigned as Chavez supporters took to the streets.
Officer not to blame in Columbine death GOLDEN, Colo. (L.A.Times) — An inde-
pendent investigation released Wednesday found that a student slain during the Columbine High School massacre was not killed by a police officer, as his parents have long claimed. The report concluded that Daniel Rohrbough, 15, was shot by Eric Harris, one of two teen gunmen whose rampage killed 12 classmates and a teacher three years ago. The 1,200-page report by the El Paso, Colo., County Sheriff's Department contradicted the official Columbine investigation on several points. That report — issued by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department in May 2000 — has been the subject of intense criticism and spawned dozens of lawsuits. The controversy surrounding the investigation led to an unsuccessful recall effort against Jefferson County Sheriff John Stone. The El Paso County probe concluded that Denver SWAT officer Sgt. Dan O'Shea did not accidentally kill Rohrbough outside the school on April 20, 1999. It also said Rohrbough was not killed by gunman Dylan Klebold, as the Jefferson County report concludes. Rather, ballistics evidence shows that the bullet recovered from Rohrbough's
body was a "textbook match'' to Harris' gun, said El Paso Sheriff Wesley Anderson. In the worst school shooting in U.S. history, Harris, 18, and Klebold, 17, roamed Columbine High School, tossing homemade bombs and shooting scores of classmates. The pair eventually killed themselves in the school library. El Paso County officials met with the parents of Daniel Rohrbough for 2 1/2 hours Wednesday morning to review their findings. Brian Rohrbough and Sue Petrone said that while the new findings give them a glimpse for the first time of what happened to their son that day, it also reinforces what they say has been the incompetence of Stone. "We have been searching for the truth for three years,'' said Brian Rohrbough. "I think we finally got the facts that resemble the truth. The Jefferson County sheriff's office never, ever gave us access to this information. But I never gave up hope of finding out what happened. But if this is a victory, there's nothing to celebrate.'' Stone asked neighboring El Paso County last December to investigate whether Rohrbough was killed by a police officer. The results were presented April 10 to the Jefferson
County district attorney's office. The new investigation hired an independent ballistics lab in Maryland to retest the bullets fired from guns used by Harris, Klebold and O'Shea. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and a lawyer for O'Shea did not return phone calls. Rohrbough said Wednesday he regretted naming O'Shea in a lawsuit claiming the officer killed their son in a case of "friendly fire.'' The lawsuit, he said, was based on information provided by Jefferson County, much of which was contradicted by the El Paso County report. Barry Arrington, a lawyer for the Rohrbough family, noted that the Jefferson County report set Daniel Rohrbough's death at a time when O'Shea was known to be near the boy. That and other information led the family to believe the high school freshman was caught in a police cross-fire. In contrast, the El Paso County report concluded that Rohrbough was killed at least 36 minutes before O'Shea was even on the scene. It also accounted for three spent shell casings that came from O'Shea's gun that were found near the teen. The report said O'Shea was providing covering fire for two policemen who were checking on Rohrbough.
Dunleavy resorts to ad hominem attacks of author based on socioeconomic status To the Editor: I appreciated the uplifting and positive argument of Heather Dunleavy '03 in her column "A Non-Protestor's Protest Against Apathy" (4/17), in response to William Newman '04's column ("Less student activism, more getting laid," 4/11). However, I was disappointed with the unfair way in which Dunleavy dealt with the subject of Newman, the piece's author. In particular, I was upset with the passage where she states that she "looked up Newman's picture on the wonderful electronic facebook," and discovered that, "Surprise, surprise: Newman is a white male who attended an upper-class, private, Catholic high school." She then uses this "discovery" to try to discredit both him and the validity of his argument. First of all, Dunleavy is far too quick to generalize and very wrong to assume that Newman is the pampered, unencumbered prince that she seems to think he is. I certainly do not think that a person's entire socio-economic status can be deduced from their picture and 10-word profile in the Brown electronic facebook. And what if Newman actually is an upper-class white male? Why should this discredit him from having a legitimate point of view? I did not feel the need to look up Dunleavy in the facebook because I did not think that it was relevant. I applaud Newman for having the chutzpah to share his opinion with the Brown community. I can only hope that one day at Brown we'll have a more open, free discussion, where the speakers of non-majority views aren't subject to underhanded, personal attacks. Justin Slosky '03 April 17
Rowley distorts Rally on Monday aims of feminism, shows solidarity disrespectful to for State of Israel Editor: women and Jews ToOntheMonday, I was among more than To the Editor: Travis Rowley '02's inflammatory column("If abortion is not murder than nothing is," 4/17) attempted to demonstrate the immorality and ludicrousness of believing in a woman's ability not only to make choices in her personal life, but to achieve equality with men. Contrary to Rowley's views, feminists do not aim to gain "power over men"; rather, feminism aims for political, economic and social equality for women. Rowley notes that Sarah Weddington exhibited "typical feminist bitterness" because men claim that women are inferior to men. Please explain to your female professors, your female Supreme Court Justices and Congresswomen and your female friends that they are incapable of doing any job as well as any man could. I think it would serve Rowley to show respect and grant dignity to the women in his life by believing that each person can make life decisions in accordance with one's own beliefs, whether it concerns abortion or pursuing a career. Rowley states, "Believe it or not, there are those out there who will be so arrogant as to tell you when (life begins)." He should curb his own arrogance in assuming his own morals and self-righteousness are superior enough to force upon others. Also, I found Rowley's comparison of the pro-choice movement to Adolf Hitler to be a sick and offensive comment that displays incredible disrespect towards the millions of Jews who lost their lives in the Holocaust. Ultimately, I respect Rowley's right to his own opinion on abortion; however, I refuse anyone's imposition of his/her own values upon me in deciding what is right for my own body. Freedom of choice is about the fundamental belief that each person has the sound ability to make decisions in his/her life. Jaimi Gaffe '02 President, Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance April 17
150,000 Americans who rallied at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., in solidarity with the Israelis who are suffering from relentless Palestinian terror. In the past few months the terror has escalated to new levels of evil. The Passover massacre killed 27 Jews and maimed 150 more who were gathered at a seder on one of the most sacred and precious nights of the Jewish calendar. The Palestinian homicide bombers have murdered in synagogues, restaurants, cafés, supermarkets, bus stops and even in the calm, peaceful streets of Jerusalem. Yesterday, I rallied in support of Israel's reaction to the ongoing Palestinian killers. The Herald falsely reported the reaction to Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz's remarks ("Students Join Tens ofThousands at Rally in D.C. to Support Israel," 4/15) at Monday's rally. The Herald claimed that "the largest splash of the day" was Wolfowitz's comments regarding Palestinians who are suffering. His comment was hardly the highlight of the rally. I can say that there were several "large splashes" of the day. The rally, organized within six short days, brought well over 150,000 people together. Jews and non-Jews came from every corner of this country, from New York to Alaska, from Maine to Texas, to show their proud support of Israel and its Jews. A wide variety of speakers from all faiths and religions joined together to show solidarity with Israel. In these aspects lie the truly "large splashes" of the day. Another great splash was Netanyahu's apt observation that, "Arafat is nothing more than Osama bin Ladin with good P.R." To paraphrase from the Rally "as Palestinian terror knows no limit, so
must Israeli response know no limit." I am proud to be a Jew. Eliezer Greer '04 April 17
Zionism not racist, reflects national selfdetermination To the Editor: Brian Rainey '02's argument in "The Palestinian struggle is one against apartheid" (4/17) is flawed on many counts. First, he claims that opinions on suicide bombings should be disregarded if they are held by Zionists. Obviously it is easy to win an argument if you can diregard the other side's opinion. Second, he criticizes Zionists for trying to escape anti-Semitism instead of fighting it. That may be the high road in some abstract sense, but in the real world, anti-Semitism has been around for millennia. For a member of a threatened minority group, it is more realistic to accept its existence and protect oneself than to pretend it can magically evaporate. As for Rainey's accusation that Zionism is racist, Zionism is, in fact, a reflection of the principle of national self-determination that has been invoked by free nations for decades. Rainey's proposal would turn Israel into another Yugoslavia. It is easy to play holier-than-thou and say that creating separate states out of hostile nations only institutionalizes racism. I would argue that, if each side has the security of its own state, this is a far more effective road to a long-term rapprochement between these two peoples, a goal that I hope Rainey and I share. Aaron Sokoloff '04 April 17
Searching for both sides of the story Complexity in foreign relations is not for the faint of heart ONE OF THE TRAGEDIES OF POST- SEPT. ever before in mobilizing public opinion 11 United States is that a crass form of around government policy. Policy is thus reductionism has become the only accept- justified through a combination of bold able form of discourse on matters of foreign declarations about our essential benefipolicy. In part to mobilize the nation's emo- cence and through stereotypes that make tions for wartime, the folks on CNN and the the "other" out to be inherently untrustworthy and pathologically journalists at the New York hostile. After all, if the "other" Times created for us a neat little is made to seem insane, our world in which there are only SOFYAN SULTAN interaction with him is no two sorts of people: the good GUEST COLUMN longer the relevant factor in (us) and the bad (them). Before explaining his behavior toward our very eyes, distinctions were "us." Thus, the official line is effectively collapsed, categories expanded and the world suddenly polarized that those who hate United States hate her between those who were with us and those because of what she is, not what she has who were against us. This Manichean done. This has in turn exempted the worldview has crippled any meaningful United States from really reflecting upon analysis of the much more complex world its role on the world stage. It is imperative to understand that this we actually happen to live in. Furthermore, the overwhelming majori- sloppy reductionist approach not only ty of post-Sept. 11 debate in the United teaches us precious little about the real States has taken place within the stifling world, it also plays into a web of special parameters of two fundamental assump- interests as well. The present Israeli govtions: those of U.S. benevolence and the ernment, for instance, would like nothing pathological hatred that the "other" has better than to ignore the complex history always felt towards "us." For many years of the present conflict and focus instead there U.S. press has tended to perpetuate on how the Palestinians' gripe with them is the old orientalist stereotype of Muslims all in their irrational Arab heads. This and Arabs. With increasing American exploitation of racist stereotypes is sysinvolvement in the Muslim world, this tematically practiced by Israeli spokesmen stereotype has become more useful than who wax on "the Palestinian culture of death" in order to deflect attention away from the fact that such a culture, if it exists Sofyan Sultan '03.5 hails from Karachi, at all, was not created in isolation. These Pakistan. This is his first guest column for stereotypes create the impression that, The Herald.
"If the 'other' is made to seem insane, our interaction with him is no longer the relevant factor of explaining his behavior toward us." even if the Israeli government were to make the concessions that the Palestinians are demanding, it would do little to change the Palestinians' attitude towards them. Additionally, since the United States has now cast itself as a warrior against terrorism, states across the world have attempted to convey their own conflicts as battles in a global war against terrorism in order to earn U.S. sympathy and support. The handy term "terrorism" has been used to obscure realities that are far more complex than a battle of good against evil. Thus Israel, in line with its established policy of creating an association between itself and the United States, has now almost merged into the U.S. "us" and enjoys nearly the same sort of unquestioned approval from the United States that the United States gives itself. The heavily promoted model of
this conflict as yet another manifestation of a fundamental doctrinal clash, while politically useful, is entirely inimical to a real understanding of the issues involved. So, when Lev Nelson '04 speaks of the "propagandistic nature" of the Main Green posters and speaks of "selective inclusion and explanation of facts," ("Main Green posters didn't look at both sides fairly," 4/10) he should take note that such techniques have been practiced for years by nearly every major U.S. news organization — only the direction of the spin has been different. In the rest of the world both sides of the Mideast story are out there for all to see, but in the United States high political stakes have resulted in the absolute suppression of the Palestinian narrative. It has reached the point where hearing the "other side" of the story can be shocking to those who have no exposure to foreign or alternative media. Meanwhile, mainstream assumptions remain largely unchallenged. I have yet to hear U.S. news anchors draw the obvious analogy between the Taliban media policy and that of the Israeli government. Suicide bombings (used first by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka for those who think that it's some sort of Muslim thing) are heavily covered. However, there are no pictures of the corpses rotting on the streets of Jenin — unless one believes that the Palestinians made that one up as well. And if that is indeed what you believe, the question you must ask yourself now is why.
Palestinian state can be created only with peace The United States must be involved in Israel, both to negotiate for peace and protect Israeli interests I WAS APPALLED TO READ IN TUESDAY'S the very day after U.S. Secretary of State article some of the statements made by Colin Powell's arrived in Israel to begin Brown professors of the international peace talks, it becomes difficult to relations department ("Watson believe that these suicide bombings are Professors Debate U.S. Role in Israeli- simply motivated by feelings of desperaPalestinian Struggle for Peace"). tion. One could argue that perhaps the Palestinians do not see Professor Posusney's statePowell's visit as hope for the ment that "the current confuture, but suicide bombings flict would end if Israeli CAMILLE GERWIN have not gotten them any forces immediately withGUEST COLUMN further in achieving their drew and if the United States political goals and providing denied aid to Israel" showed a hopeful outlook. Hopmann particular bias and naiveté. She has failed to recall that each time is more correct in saying that the conIsrael has begun to withdraw her tanks, flict is a "terrible cycle." I also question Posusney's implicathe Palestinians have continued their suicide bombings. She shows no tion that Israel "forcefully" acquired the acknowledgement that, perhaps if the territory of a "powerless people," and I Palestinians stopped their suicide find her comparison of Israeli actions to bombings and acts of terror, then Israel those of Serbia's to be a hugely erroneous. When talking about Israel's would then withdraw its tanks. Israel has an obligation to protect its acquisition of territory, Posusney, no citizens against terrorism just as the doubt, is referring to the Six Day War in United States is currently trying to do May 1967. But to call it a forceful act for its own citizens. Is Israel simply sup- against a "powerless people" shows a posed to sit back and let terrorists blow lack of understanding about the historiup innocent men, women and children? cal facts. Perhaps a brief history lesson If the United States can go into other is in order. In May 1967, Egyptian, Jordanian and countries to root out terrorists and protect American citizens, then surely Syrian armies mobilized along Israel's Israel is not breaking "international borders in preparation for a massive law," as Posusney accuses, for going into invasion to eliminate the State of Israel. its own territories to search for terrorists King Hussein of Jordan launched his attack from his West Bank, while Syrian and protect Israeli citizens. Also, I disagree with Professor troops prepared to descend down the Hopmann's statement that "an absence Golan Heights mountain range into of hope for the future and a feeling of northern Israel. Israel was forced to defend herself desperation among civilians fuels conflict that has led to suicide bombings." and managed to win the war, thereby This is a very romanticized view of such acquiring Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Considering the fact that terrorist acts. When one reads the news and sees this war was brought on Israel by its that a suicide bomber killed six people neighbors, one can hardly say that Israel was acting "forcefully against a powerCamille Gerwin '03 is an international rela- less people." The roles were quite the opposite with the neighboring Arab tions concentrator currently studying countries acting aggressively against abroad in Paris.
Israel. I am all for the creation of a Palestinian homeland if it means that the two states, Palestine and Israel, can live as peaceful neighbors. I believe that Israel shares this sentiment, as it has offered the Palestinians Gaza and the West Bank, which the Palestinians rejected. Somehow, however, I doubt that this idyllic vision would become a reality with the creation of a Palestinian homeland, even if the question of Jerusalem were resolved. Why these doubts? Several reasons come to mind, my pessimism stems mainly from the Palestine Liberation Organization's charter. Article nine of the charter states: "Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine." A peaceful resolution of the conflict seems impossible, since the PLO has clearly committed itself to violence. Even more disturbing is Article 15, in which the PLO declares its aim to eliminate Zionism. Zionism is a movement for the creation and maintenance of the state of Israel, a Jewish homeland. Therefore, in essence, the PLO is calling for the destruction of Israel. Obviously it is not the PLO's aim to live peacefull, side-byside with Israel, but rather to eliminate it, which clearly presents a major roadblock in peace negotiations. On the panel of professors, some lauded the involvement of the United States in the conflict while others criticized U.S. support of Israel. I encourage the involvement of the United States, not only to negotiate a ceasefire and the possibility of a Palestinian state, but also to ensure the continued existence of Israel. People on the news, and even the professors on Brown's panel, refer to the innocent Palestinian lives taken during Israel's pursuit of terrorists. On the news, I see interviews with Palestinian children
and camera shots of searched houses. I, too, deplore the death of innocent people. But why does no one seem to show such sympathy for the innocent Jewish lives taken in bombing after bombing? I have yet to see interviews with Jewish children or parents whose families have been killed when they, too, were only minding their own business, eating in a restaurant, shopping or just riding a bus. While such interviews have failed to appear, what I have seen emerge during my semester in Paris is a growth of outright anti-Semitism. The violence has spread far beyond Israel. In these past few days a Tunisian synagogue was bombed and, much closer to me, Jewish teenagers practicing soccer in a suburb of Paris were attacked by assailants yelling "death to Jews." I, myself, have seen swastikas carved into desks and anti-Semitic graffiti. Even in class, where we were discussing the Holocaust imagery of a dance performance we had just seen, a French classmate spoke up, objecting to the class's interpretations, saying, "It's stupid how everything always has to be reduced to being related to the Holocaust. Get over it!" This French classmate actually brings up a good question: Why is the Holocaust such a frequent topic of discussion, art and education? Why would I even mention it in this article? The answer is simple: anti-Semitism still exists and thrives. The continued existence and even growth of anti-Semitism all over the world makes the need for a Jewish homeland all the more important so that history does not repeat itself. While we follow the conflict in the Middle East, which I am convinced will eventually lead to a Palestinian state, we must make sure that Israel, too, ends up secure and assured of its continued existence as a Jewish state.
Diamonds and coal A cubic zirconium to the reappearance of the Harley convention on Thayer. The sonorous mating call of revving engines heralds — no pun intended — the coming of summer and firmly establishes leather as a three-season material. A diamond to the young men and women who traveled from near and far to get a taste of college life in miniature for ADOCH. We promise it's not always this humid but feel that the bikers more than make up for the muggy weather. Coal to PPD Officer Baroni, badge number 802, for his callous yet jovial manner of parking-ticketry. Saying "too bad!" is really adding insult to injury, Officer Meanie. A diamond to Buddy Cianci for keeping his word and greeting prospective students on Wednesday, the eve of his trial. As he said, "there are 24 hours in a day"; thanks for giving Brown some of that time. A diamond to the fabulous round of speakers who have been on campus recently. Tom Wolfe and his dapper white suits, Sarah Weddington in her jaunty red blazer; who said style and substance could never be reconciled? Coal to Andrews Dining Hall for not having soft-serve. What, are we supposed to have our golden grahams straight-up? A diamond to those who made the trek to Washington, D.C, on Monday and those who will be heading down to the nation's capitol this weekend. You put the "act" in activism, baby. Coal to University climate control. Leaving the heat on until May 1 is a great policy… if you live in Reykjavik. A diamond to Franzia. Wine in a box: the concept is genius, combining the stackability of the box-form with the heady bouquet of cardboard. We hear that '02 was an excellent year, and compliments bulky carbohydrates very nicely. Coal to CH035 for scheduling a two-hour cumulative Organic Chemistry exam the Thursday after Spring Weekend, two weeks before the cumulative three-hour final. We know orgo is uninteresting, but does it have to be detrimental to one's social life as well?
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD EDITORIAL Beth Farnstrom, Editor-in-Chief Seth Kerschner, Editor-in-Chief David Rivello, Editor-in-Chief Will Hurwitz, Executive Editor Sheryl Shapiro, Executive Editor Brian Baskin, News Editor Kavita Mishra, News Editor Andy Golodny, Campus News Editor Bethany Rallis, Campus News Editor Elena Lesley, Arts & Culture Editor Juan Nunez, Asst. Arts & Culture Editor Jonathan Noble, Campus Watch Editor Chris Byrnes, Metro Editor Victoria Harris, Opinions Editor Sanders Kleinfeld, Opinions Editor Shana Jalbert, Listings Editor Maria DiMento, Listings Editor Marion Billings, Design Editor Stephen Lazar, Design Editor Stephanie Harris, Copy Desk Chief Jonathan Skolnick, Copy Desk Chief Josh Apte, Photography Editor Makini Chisolm-Straker,Asst.Photography Editor Allie Silverman, Asst.Photography Editor Grace Farris, Graphics Editor Nathan Pollard, Graphics Editor Brett Cohen, Systems Manager
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Josh Gootzeit, Jessica Morrison, Night Editors Daniel Jacobson, Copy Editor Staff Writers Kathy Babcock, Brian Baskin, Jonathan Bloom, Carla Blumenkranz, Chris Byrnes, Jinhee Chung, Julie DiMartino, Nicholas Foley,Vinay Ganti, Neema Singh Guliani, Ari Gerstman, Andy Golodny, Daniel Gorfine, Ben Gould, Nick Gourevitch, Stephanie Harris, Maggie Haskins, Christopher Hayes, Shara Hegde, Brian Herman, Shana Jalbert, Brent Lang, Elena Lesley, Jamay Liu, Jermaine Matheson, Kerry Miller, Kavita Mishra, Martin Mulkeen, Alicia Mullin, Crystal Z.Y. Ng, Jonathan Noble, Ginny Nuckols, Juan Nunez, Sean Peden, Bethany Rallis, Katie Roush, Caroline Rummel, Emir Senturk, Jen Sopchockchai, Anna Stubblefield, Brady Thomas, Jonathon Thompson, Joshua Troy, Miranda Turner, Juliette Wallack, Jesse Warren, Genan Zilkha, Julia Zuckerman Pagination Staff Bronwyn Bryant, Jessica Chan, Keunjung Cho, Iris Chung, Sam Cochran, Joshua Gootzeit, Michael Kingsley, Hana Kwan, Erika Litvin, Jessica Morrison, Caroline Novograd, Stacy Wong Staff Photographers Josh Apte, Makini Chisolm-Straker, Matt Rodriguez, Ana Selles, Allie Silverman, Vanessia Wu Copy Editors John Audett, Lanie Davis, Marc Debush, Daniel Jacobson, Harrison Quitman, Sonya Tat, Julia Zuckerman
LETTERS Charges of anti-Latino discrimination in Am. Civ. department unfair To the Editor: My colleagues and I were sad to read charges of antiLatino discrimination leveled against the Department of American Civilization in The Herald ("Panel addresses lack of Latino professors," 4/16) While it is true that the University has not done enough to recruit and retain Latino Studies faculty, the Department of American Civilization has been the one department on campus that has championed the cause of Latino studies. Latino studies was written into the very first strategic planning document that established the department. Professor Suzanne Oboler was the first hire that American Civilization made after it became a department. Many of the charges leveled at the Department of American Civilization misrepresent the facts. The difficulty Professor Oboler faced in the tenuring process came from the Committee on Faculty Retention and Tenure, which has been consistently hypercritical of scholars who do interdisciplinary work on race and ethnicity. (This has included Asian American studies as well as Latino studies.) The Department of American Civilization also enthusiastically supported Professor Pacini Hernandez for tenure and fought tenaciously until she was granted it. To our true regret, Professor Pacini-Hernandez accepted an offer at Tufts University for personal as well as professional reasons. Professor Pulido is a valued colleague who was hired this past summer as a one-year, visiting appointment to replace Professor Oboler, who had been granted a leave to explore an opportunity at the University of IllinoisChicago. Because Professor Oboler has not yet notified Brown of her intent to return, the Department asked for and was granted a dispensation to waive the requirements for a new search and to extend Professor Pulido's appointment for a second year. Unfortunately, Professor Pulido's home institution, Arizona State University-West, will not allow Professor Pulido to extend his leave there. The Department would be delighted to have professor Pulido stay for another year during which we would conduct a full search for a permanent replacement for Professor Oboler, if she decides not to return to Brown. We share Professor Pulido's frustration at the current circumstances. Nevertheless we feel obliged to correct the suggestion that the department is unwilling to retain more than one Latino studies professor at a time.
While professor Oboler was on campus full-time, the department also hired Professor Pacini-Hernandez. Although there remains a chance that Professor Oboler will return next year, the department began in December of 2001 to request of the administration that we nevertheless have a second Latino studies position for 2002-3. The recruitment and retention of Latino Studies scholars is a real problem at Brown, but the problem does not stem from a conspiracy to deny Brown students the best scholarship and teaching in Latino studies. Brown needs to plan and develop an ethnic studies program of world-class status, which will attract the best scholars to teach here, and Brown needs to provide them the supportive intellectual communities in which to pursue their scholarship. The Department of American Civilization has always and will continue to fight for this. Lynn Davidman Associate Professor, Interim Director Department of American Civilization April 17
Rainey represents Zionism as racism To the Editor: Brian Rainey's column "The Palestinian struggle is one against apartheid" (4/17) promotes a popular, although incredibly inaccurate, stereotype of Zionism as racism. It perpetuates the ignorant belief that most Jews in Israel are white and that the Israel-Palestine situation follows the standard U.S. power struggle of white vs. non-white. Anyone who has been to Israel knows this is false. Over half of the Israeli Jewish population has the same skin color as the Arabs and Palestinians, because many were expelled from Arab countries after 1948. While problems exist between these groups and a dominant European Jewish elite, they are not comparable to the racial struggles propogated by Western slavery and colonialism. The conflict is not a racial one, but an ethnic, religious and political one. The charge of racism against Jewish self-determination is ignorant at best and anti-Semitic at worst — as was the 1975 U.N. Resolution calling Zionism racism, which was revoked in 1991. Joshua Schulman-Marcus '04 April 17
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The importance of making time to respect each other Examining the never talked about, but ever-present, time crunch on campus YOU KNOW YOU'VE DONE IT. YOU'VE consequences of our decisions, but we are uttered that priceless phrase: " I don't have free and able to make our own decisions enough time." As college students, and about our own time. As we make our decisions, we should overachieving ones at that, it is our collective mantra. Do we ever stop and think each be fully cognizant of the conseabout what this phrase means? Do we ever quences of our choices; it is not that we "don't have time" for somerealize that not respecting thing, but rather that we each other's time is one of the would prefer to do something greatest sins we commit, as else (sleep, party, watch TV, students and as people? homework) instead. We might There are 24 hours in a day. choose to do something There are 168 hours in a week. pleasurable in the present in There are 744 in a month with lieu of saving the world, or we 31 days. There are 8,760 in a might choose to do certain year. This is true for every sinthings we don't enjoy (such as gle human being on this planunavoidable classes or et (the lucky few on Mars will exams) in order to reach longhave 16,464 hours in a year). If ABBY SHOBEN ABSTRACTION term goals. As long as we you are the busiest person in acknowledge our own priorithe world (and I am quite sure ties and decisions about our that you are not if you are readtime, it is our time to spend. ing my column), you will have When we then go shopping for what to 8,760 hours in a year, and if you are the least busy person in this world (again, I am "spend" it on, it is best that the "sellers" tell quite sure that you, dear reader, are not), us what is expected. Your body expects you to sleep so many hours a night and to eat you will also have 8,760 hours in a year. How we spend our 168 hours is up to us. for a certain amount of time each day. Very few college students at Brown have Generally, although you might shorttrue obligations (such as an offspring) that change your body, you know what it is askwe simply must devote some portion of ing of you. Classes and school are pretty our time to. We are all now old enough that much the same way. In an ideal class, you society entrusts us to make decisions get a syllabus during the first week, and by about our own time. Thus, nearly all the end of shopping period (pun intendBrown students have complete control ed) you have a good sense of the time over our time decisions. If we want to skip required for the course. We can each then class and go to the mall, we can. More choose whether or not to spend time on drastically, we are free to choose not to go that class. The same holds for extracurricto class at all, or to drop out of school and ular activities and, to a certain extent, live on Thayer Street. We may not like the social life. Obviously, emergency circumstances come up, and friends or family will sudAbby Shoben '02 didn't have enough time denly need more time; I would hope that to write a good column. Her columns most of us would choose to lose sleep or appear on alternate Thursdays.
"As we make our decisions, we should be fully cognizant of the consequences of our choices; it is not that we 'don't have time' for something, but rather that we would prefer to do something else instead." study time to help a friend in need. However, barring an emergency, the demands on others' time must be more of a concern when planning an activity, academic or otherwise. I had a teacher in high school who told me she always decided how to vote on a proposed activity for the students by determining whether or not it was going to cost us additional time. She would vote against even the most carefully constructed proposal for us to do something wonderful, like hear a world-renowned speaker, if we would not be compensated for our time (e.g. letting us out of one class). Her idea was that at the beginning of each term we were told how much time classes should take up and that it was unfair of the school to suddenly demand more from us. At the time, I disagreed with her because some of these extra activities would have been beneficial. However, now I think her emphasis on respect for her students' time was well placed, and all too infrequent in our society.
A second prong of this respect for others' time is a respect for how they choose to spend it. All too often we fall victim to determining who is "busiest." In this sense, busy people are the ones with all the activities, running around from class to lab to meeting to meeting to the library to meeting — you get the idea. We, as a society, think that this person is making better decisions about how to use his or her time than is a person who chooses to go to class, study hard and hang out with friends the rest of the time. College is a time for growth into fullfledged adult members of society, and we all recognize that different people have different skills to learn before entering the world. Some students may want to learn how to organize a large event, while others may want to learn how to foster a longterm, committed relationship. It is frequently said that the most important things learned at college are done so outside the classroom through interaction with peers. Sometimes it comes through deep, meaningful and philosophical discussions and sometimes through simply laughing and having a good time. Either mode helps us neophyte-functioning members of society learn about human nature and other people's perceptions of the world. Given this argument, shouldn't the person spending more time with his friends be perceived as at least equally busy as the one running around from activity to activity? As long as such time decisions are informed ones, and not made out of sheer inertia, they are equally valid. Rather than worry about how your neighbors are spending their time, be introspective and question your own use of the phrase, "I don't have time for that."
If masturbation is not murder, then nothing is Pleasure and male empowerment are no justification for the murder of innocent gametes I WRITE TO YOU NOW AS A FORMER then get rid of them whenever they liberal nonsensical pro-choice feminist become a pain in the ass. I believed that who, through the angelic eloquence of nothing was more important to a Travis Rowley '02 ("If abortion is not woman's liberty than the ability to have murder, then nothing is," 4/17), has seen an abortion of their non-voting nonthe light. I used to believe that saving adult adolescent post-fetuses. At this point, you may accuse trees was more important me of placing a hideously low than saving the life of an value on human life. But at that unborn fetus. In fact, I JONATHAN time, all the liberal radicalism used to spread liberal filth SALOMON GUEST COLUMN made sense. Some people would by the truckload. I was a argue that nobody knows when canvasser for a liberal prolife begins. However, Webster's choice lobby that pushed for abortion rights up to 216 months Dictionary includes the following in its after birth. My liberal views were simple: list of requirements for life: "reproducwomen needed the legal right to abort tion, and response to stimuli or adaptaminors if they were ever going to be able tion to the environment originating from to keep their jobs, keep their friends or within the organism." No child can reproduce before puberstay in school. Sarah Weddington said that, "women ty, so pre-adolescents are obviously not who become pregnant had no choice but alive and therefore free to be aborted to leave college and their jobs." As without any apprehension. However, Rowley pointed out, for women to suc- even during adolescence, children do not ceed in the corporate world, "they would count as fully alive. Many do not show have to ignore their natural urge to have significant response to outside stimuli. children." Yet at the same time, Rowley Everyone has at least one self-obsessed points out that, "the feminist movement dejected teenager in their lives. Have you despises women who leave their jobs to ever tried talking to one? No response to outside stimuli whatsoever. They are raise their kids." There is only one solution to this prob- obviously free to be aborted as well. The final and most demanding quality lem: allow women to have children whenever their "natural urges" hit, and for life is the ability to adapt to one's environment. A living human being must cope with rent payments, income, taxes, Jonathan Salomon '02 is a male student car payments, family, friends and many who had an abortion last week through some freak violation of the laws of physics, other challenges the environment poses. These are challenges to which only and who wishes to not be sued by Monty adults can adapt. There are laws in place Python.
for minors, who can't handle these things on their own. Therefore, anyone who is not a legal adult, over the age of 18, is not alive. Parents should be free to abort their minor, if he or she interferes with the parent's way of life. However, with the enlightenment I have received from Rowley, I now realize how wrong I was. I seriously asked myself: When a new beautiful child has just been born from my vagina, could I kill it? My answer was no! Could I kill it while it was still in my uterus? No! I kept going backwards through time, looking for when it would be okay to terminate the life of the child. And I found that there was never an okay time! Not even when the child was still a gamete in my testes! Rowley showed me the light. He said, "Nobody knows when life begins, so shouldn't we give life, our most precious gift, the benefit of the doubt?" One would think so, but instead we have millions of liberal men who commit the disgusting act of masturbation. These liberals intentionally terminate millions of potential lives they started for their own selfish reasons! Deep down, we all know that masturbation is wrong. None of us would masturbate in front of our parents. Forget all the liberal scientific studies you have heard on the subject of masturbation; the fact that we actively hide it from our parents proves the immorality of masturbation. It's just that some of us ignore our morals and some recognize them. Do you believe that pleasuring men is worth the risk of killing millions of
unborn children? There should be a resounding "No!" to this question. Selfpleasuring clouds judgment. A lot of prochoicers take their stand on the masturbation issue because they feel sympathy towards the man who masturbates. They teach their kids not to take responsibility for their filthy liberal actions. Don't worry about it. It's no big deal. That pentup sexuality can be fixed so easily. But it's time these liberal heathens realize that shit happens, and people get through it. We must be compassionate, but our sense of what is morally right must not be clouded. Is it worth risking the murder of millions of potential children because we feel pity for one horny guy? Pro-choicers are blind, liberal, insane psychos who could never admit they are wrong. Imagine having to accept partial responsibility for more unjust murders per ejaculation than Adolf Hitler, who killed lots of some minority group that I am too arrogant to even mention! They have made up their sick liberal minds, and I do not write this column for them. Most sane people realize the immorality of masturbation, but they are too embarrassed by liberal pro-choice propaganda to take the side in which truly believe in. These people need to be convinced of the worthiness of their cause: that every sperm is wanted, every sperm is good. Every sperm is needed in your neighborhood. Every sperm is useful, every sperm is fine. God needs everybody's: yours and mine.
Passing of a star: Time for Ewing to call it a career
Men's golf takes 6th at NE championships, women take 7th at James Madison invite
IN THESE WANING DAYS OF THE NBA regular season, few seem aware that a significant event could transpire. This is not surprising. There is definitely a lull in the NBA before the playoffs start. Eighty-two games make for a long season. The NBA season limps across the finish line unlike any other. One of the league's best players over the past decade and a half could possibly be playing his final professional game. JERMAINE MATHESON Does anyone GAME TIME care? Most of this season has been awash with the hype of Michael Jordan returning, and rightfully so. He is arguably the greatest player to ever step foot on the court. But another player who is also considered one of the 50 greatest players is pondering retirement — retirement for good. His name is Patrick Ewing. You might have thought he retired long ago, but, alas, he still dons a NBA uniform. It is not the same blue and orange he wore for 15 years as a member of the New York Knickerbockers. Now it is black and blue — somewhat fitting, as a reserve for the Orlando Magic. It pains me to watch Ewing end his career so poorly. His career is similar to the NBA regular season. It started off in dramatic fashion, full of promise, yet collapsed under the pressure of expectations that were probably set too high. For both, when it finally does reach its conclusion, there will be a sense of relief. No player was as highly touted at the end of his college career. Ewing is seven feet tall and, back then, was a ferocious defender. Everyone predicted he would be a Hall of Famer and, when drafted by the New York Knicks in the biggest media venue in the world, it looked like the beginning of a beautiful and prosperous relationship. Ewing will be a Hall of Famer. No one can deny him that. The rest, however, did not go as planned. Yes, he was good, winning the rookie of the year and being an 11-time All-star, but never good enough, always falling short of the true precipice of greatness — a championship. The natives, the fans of New York, became restless. The media became impatient. Ewing, never a charismatic figure, ran from it instead of defending himself. By the way, this other player I mentioned earlier, Michael Jordan, had something to do with it. Ewing had the misfortune of playing at the same time as his Airness, and in the same conference no less, meaning that only one could ever make the finals. More often than not — actually, each time — Jordan beat him. I can't tell you how
see MATHESON, page 8
SCOREBOARD Today's Games Away Softball at Fairfield. (DH) Baseball at Pace. Baseball at Army.
The Brown men's golf team finished sixth overall in the 19-team field in the New England Division I Championship held at the Triggs Golf Club in Providence. Posting the lowest score ever shot by a Brown men's golf team, as well as Sunday's lowest score, the men totaled 294 as a team in the second round of the tournament, finishing with a two-day team score of 613. "Everybody had first-day problems, but we came back and showed everyone how we can play," said Jason Ricketts '04. "This definitely gives us a confidence boost going into Ivies this weekend." Danny Wallis '05 had an excellent performance, recording the lowest score of the 95-man field and posting a two under par 70 at the par 72 course. Co-captain Ed Yoon '02 led the Bears and finished seventh overall with a two-day 151 (77, 74). Kevin Buchert '03 shot 73 on the final day and finished 22nd overall after posting an 81 on Saturday. Wallis finished 28th overall, shooting a two-day 156, recording over 40 putts on the
first day of play. Ricketts was next for the Bears, shooting 85-77-162 to place 51st, while Robert Chen '05 turned in a solid 81-81-163 to place 57th overall. With the Ivy League Men's Golf Championships taking place this weekend at Metedeconk National Golf Club in Jackson, N.J., the men will finally face the much anticipated Penn and Princeton golf teams. Though the team is hoping to bring home Brown's first ever championship, all five members of the team also have a shot to win an individual title. "We'll continue to practice and fine-tune, but we are really going to be focusing on relaxing, feeling confident and taking it one shot at a time," Ricketts said. Hoping to de-throne Princeton after their three-year championship streak, the Bears are confident going into the weekend. "If we play like we did on Sunday, then no one stands in our way," Ricketts said. "It's all going to come down to who shows up and plays the best."
see GOLF, page 8
The women's golf team took seventh out of 17 teams at the James Madison Invitational.
A-side women's ruggers drop Smith in close battle, B-side wins easily
'03 and Kathleen Pullum '03, managed to neutralize the Smith scrum which earlier in the game had been completely dominant. Solid tackling by props Ruth Lindberg '04 and Julie Wolfson '03 prevented Smith from moving downfield as it had in the first half. Despite several last surges from Smith, the Brown defense held strong and the Bears emerged victorious. The win proved that Brown could play a physical game while maintaining its strong teamwork. The B-Side took the field next and defeated Smith 17-0 in a well-played match. Once again, Brown came out ready to play. Led by the solid running of flyhalf Rebecca Davis '03.5 and wing Meredith Nelson '02, the Bears scored in the first five minutes. Nelson wove through several defenders before touching the ball down. She also converted the kick after, putting the score at 7-0. The Bears struck again when Megan Parker-Johnson '04 took a pass from wing Audrey O'Neill '04 and drove through the Smith defense to extend the lead to 12-0. The B-Side's defense was impenetrable from the start of the game. Smith's offense
HAVE YOU EVER BOUGHT ONE OF those "impulse items" as left the grocery store? It might have been a National Enquirer or a new lighter or a fuzzy rabbit foot key chain, but, in the end, you probably did not get a lot of use out of it. Still, it allowed you to experience the sense of throwing money away. Well, try to imagine buying 40 million fuzzy rabbit key chains, and you JOSH TROY might just undWIDE RIGHT erstand what it is like to be C a b l e v i s i o n's Charles Dolan and the other owners of Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers and the New York Knicks. The Rangers have the second highest payroll in the National Hockey League and yet failed to make the playoffs for the fifth straight year. To put this in perspective, 16 teams make the NHL playoffs every year, and somehow, the Rangers can't figure out how to be a part of that mix. In that time span, the Rangers have had three different coaches, and a fourth will be coming with Monday's firing of Head Coach Ron Low. The coaching job is now so undesirable that 40-plus, aging and injured former superstar Mark Messier would not even consider taking the job. The option of retirement is more pleasing to him than having to coach the team. Maybe if the team threw in the perks of a walker and promised to rename the arena Messier Square Garden he could be convinced. With coaching changes not seeming like viable reasons for the Rangers' failures, the next place to look would be the players. Sure, the team is composed of Messier, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter, who all appear to be hung over from the 1994 Stanley Cup win, but there is still a lot
see W. RUGBY, page 7
see TROY, page 5
The Brown women's rugby team swept Smith Saturday by playing some of the most intense rugby of the season. Both Brown sides were victorious as the A-Side pulled out a narrow 24-19 win while the B-Side dominated in their 17-0 victory. Playing in near perfect conditions, the ASide took the field knowing it would be a close match. Last fall, the Bears had beaten Smith 26-25 in the New England playoffs. Brown continued its trend of starting games on fire as the team jumped out to a 12-0 lead with two tries in the first seven minutes. Just three minutes into the game, the Bears won a scrum, then managed to move the ball downfield with some amazing passing. The ball passed through almost half the team's hands before scrumhalf Alexis Thompson '02 touched the ball down to give Brown the early 5-0 lead. Brown's teamwork continued and the team struck again only four minutes later. Quick ball movement from the backs allowed wing Lindsay Clarida '04 to find a wide-open Stephanie Bruce '04 looping on the outside. Bruce ran about 40 meters untouched for the score and converted the kick after to extend the lead to 12-0. Frustrated by Brown's early success, the Smith players dug in their cleats and began to fight back with an aggressive attack led by their scrum. Smith scored two tries in the next 15 minutes to pull even with the Bears at 12-12. Brown scored once more when Bruce found a hole between the Smith centers to take a 19-12 lead into halftime. Although the Bears started the second half off slowly, allowing a Smith score only five minutes in, they soon pulled themselves together. Seven minutes later, flanker Mary Vieira '02 scored what turned out to be the winning try off a handoff from Bruce, putting the score at 24-19. Despite the seesaw nature of the game, Brown finally began to dominate defensively in the second half, a shift that was the key to the victory. The line, made up of Bruce, Rebecca Vitale '04, Cecilia Kiely '04, Corrie Schankler '02, Clarida and Kristy Zamora '02 attacked the Smith backs with a ferocity that resulted in lost ground and dropped passes. The Bear forwards, led by hooker Jeanine Baillie '02.5 and second rows Lindsay Strunk
MSG keeps circus in town all year
Emily Hunt / Herald
The women's rugby team swept Smith College with victories on the A and B-sides, 24-19 and 17-0 respectively.
Published on Apr 18, 2002
The April 18, 2002 issue of the Brown Daily Herald