Daily Herald the Brown

vol. cxliv, no. 43 | Thursday, April 2, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891

2 students
missing
since break
By Ben Schreckinger
Senior Staf f Writer
Two Brown undergraduates trav-
eling together over Spring Break
“have not yet returned to campus,”
according to an e-mail message
sent to students late Wednesday
night.
According to the e-mail, from
Dean of the College Katherine
Bergeron and Vice President for
Campus Life and Student Services
Margaret Klawunn, University of-
ficials are “working with family,
friends, law enforcement officials
and other agencies to locate the
students.”
The e-mail provided no de-
Cutbacks,
renovations
alter lottery
calculus
By Katerina Dalavurak
Contributing Writer
With the first round of housing lot-
tery taking place tonight, changes
this year may make certain resi-
dence halls more — or less — de-
sirable.
Students should note that resi-
dents of Graduate Center will have
to clean their own bathrooms next
year, and Caswell and Slater Halls
will be renovated this summer,
said Residential Council Housing
Lotter y Committee Chair Ben
Herald File Photo Lowell ’10.
A group of students started a movement protesting the observance of ‘Columbus Day’ last fall. In addition, two singles in Vartan

Students favor scrapping ‘Columbus Day’

tails of the students’ identities or
where they were travelling, and
Klawunn, contacted by The Herald
late Wednesday night, declined
to elaborate on the e-mail’s con-
tents.
“In order to assist ef for ts to
locate the students,” administra-
tors wrote in the e-mail, “law en-
forcement has requested that we
not provide further information at
this time.”
“We will send more information
as soon as we can,” they wrote. “In
the meantime, we are all hoping for
their safe return.”
For Chinese students, ‘culture
By Sydney Ember
Senior Staf f Writer
More than two-thirds of Brown
students approve of changing
the name but keeping the date
of Columbus Day, according to a
Herald poll conducted last month.
A group of students began advo-
cating last fall that the University
stop obser ving Columbus Day
to protest historical inaccura-
cies they believe the holiday
On Mayor Cicilline,
celebrates.
The poll found that 67.2 per-
cent of students support chang-
ing the name of the holiday, and
45.6 percent of undergraduates
THE HERALD POLL
said they specifically favor chang-
ing the name to “Fall Weekend.”
About 27 percent of students
favored keeping the name and
date of the holiday the way it is,
though a larger percentage of
male students supported main-
taining the current label.
The gender divide was statisti-
cally significant — slightly more
than two-thirds of men favored
changing the name or did not in-
dicate a preference, as opposed to
a greater percentage of women,
78.2 percent, who said they did
not want to keep the current clas-
continued on page 2
Gregorian Quadrangle A will be
converted to doubles next year,
and five doubles in Barbour Hall
will become triples.
The new bathroom policy in
Grad Center is a result of budget-
ary and staffing cuts, said Senior
Associate Dean of Residential and
Dining Ser vices Richard Bova.
There are currently five custodians
responsible for maintaining Grad
Center, but two of those positions
will be cut, he said.
“I am happy to say this was the
only direct impact on students”
that resulted from custodial staff-
ing cuts, Bova said, adding that the
practice of having custodians clean
Grad Center bathrooms was aber-
rant and inefficient. Bathrooms in

shock,’ then adjustment Bruno draws a blank

Grad Center were the only in-suite
bathrooms on campus not main-
tained by students, he said, and the
By Anne Speyer Many students agreed that the By Melissa Shube personal belongings that students
Staf f Writer transition to a new language was Senior Staf f Writer Students on kept in the bathrooms made cus-
the hardest part of their adjust- Cicilline todians’ jobs difficult.
When Jiacui Li ’12 arrived on Col- ment to Brown. Though many Brown students “Brown is no stranger to the
lege Hill, it wasn’t just the size of “The language barrier is the have strong opinions on ever y- Do you approve or disap- broader financial crisis,” said
the campus that surprised him. biggest problem,” said Nancy Li thing from bottled water to Co- prove of the way David ResCouncil Chairman James Reed
“I thought ever ything Ameri- ’12. “For example, I can’t say the lumbus Day, a recent poll sug- Cicilline ’83 is handling ’09, but so far the Office of Residen-
can is 1.5 times the size of what names of streets correctly when gests they might not have much to his job as mayor of Provi- tial Life has remained “relatively
it is in China,” he said. “The cars, asking for directions. Ordering say about Providence politics. dence? unscathed.”
the food, the people.” food is kind of a problem and (so • Strongly approve: The designation of rooms for
Despite the lan- is) understanding METRO 4.7% higher occupancy in New Dorm A
guage difference and FEATURE people’s conversa- • Somewhat approve: and the conversion of three kitch-
the ever-increasing tions.” Results of a recent Herald 15.1% ens into housing in Caswell reflect
portion sizes of American food, Ben Zhang ’10 said he had poll indicate that most students • Somewhat disapprove: the need to add more capacity, Low-
many of the 26 first-year students trouble adjusting to the format are not following the actions of 6.4% ell said.
from China said they are adjust- of humanities classes. “American Providence Mayor David Cicil- • Strongly disapprove: The fall semester this year
ing well to life at Brown. students are really good at mak- line ’83, with an over whelming 2.8% began with an unusually severe
Webber Xu ’12 first came to ing arguments,” he said. “They 71 percent of students choosing • Don’t know/No answer: housing crunch, The Herald re-
the United States in 2005 to at- can think and talk at the same “Don’t know/No answer” when 71.0% ported last September, with some
tend the Hotchkiss School in time. I think first. … It’s hard to asked if they approved or disap- first-years living in upperclassman
Lakeville, Conn. “When I first got keep up with the pace of discus- proved of the way the mayor is approved, 6.4 percent somewhat residence halls and many older stu-
here, it was like a culture shock,” sion.” handling his job. disapproved, 4.7 percent strongly dents housed temporarily in kitch-
he said. Nancy Li said going to an Only 7.5 percent of students approved and 2.8 percent strongly ens and lounges.
Xu said the language differ- American university was “a little indicated they had a strong opin- disapproved. Caswell is one of the most popu-
ence proved especially challeng- dream” she has had ever since ion about Cicilline’s job perfor- Cicilline, a Democrat who has lar dorms for sophomores on cam-
ing. “I already spoke English she was young and she read a mance. ser ved as mayor since 2003, re- pus and “it’s great that the building
well,” he said, “but I wasn’t fluent, Of the students who answered,
especially with slang.” continued on page 3 15.1 percent said they somewhat continued on page 3 continued on page 2
inside

News.....1-3
Metro.....5-6
Metro, 5 Inside Opinions, 11
Spor ts...7-9
Editorial..10
Opinion...11
Today........12
the kids are alright
New bill will allow 16 and
17 year-olds to pre-register
to vote in Rhode Island
post- raises the Ruth, talks
snacks with Dude Food and
still loves Battlestar
my generation
Jeremy Feigenbaum ’11
encourages students to
reconsider plastic bags

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

Page 2 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
C ampus N EWS “Issues that are completely symbolic tend to bring out
strong feelings.”— James Drier, FEC Chair
news in brief
Changes on the way for housing
continued from page 1
will accommodate more people,”
Lowell said. The three new doubles
will probably be filled through the
summer assignment process, which
was previously known as the wait-
list, he said.
Another change to Caswell will
be renovations in the basement to
create a “larger and centrally lo-
cated” common area and kitchen,
Courtesy of Brown
Faculty favor neutral holiday name
continued from page 1
Transfer applications up 40 percent
sification.
Over 1,400 students submitted transfer applications “I think maybe women can tend
this year, an increase of about 40 percent from last year, to be more sympathetic and in tune
according to Director of Admission Annie Cappuccino. with the weight of language,” said
Transfer enrollment will also likely be slightly higher next Reiko Koyama ’11, who spear-
year than it has been in recent years, Cappuccino said. The headed the movement cosponsored
Office of Admission expects to enroll 80 transfers in the fall by Native Americans at Brown to
and 40 transfers in the spring. change the name of the holiday.
The University received 24,988 applications for the class “We as females realize the power
of 2013, the highest number in the University’s history. of words.”
Regular admission decisions, which were released March 31, Only 5.3 percent of undergradu-
set a record low acceptance rate for the University at 10.8 ates said they favored changing
percent. the name to “Tomato Day,” while
The University received 955 transfer applications last year 1.8 percent said they wanted to
and 1,050 applications the previous year. remove the name and not have a
Transfer applicants were able to apply online for the day off at all.
first time this year, Cappuccino said. That change may help Koyama said she was glad that
account for the spike, she said, but she is unsure exactly a majority of students said they
what factors are responsible. supported changing the current
“We’d like to think (the rise) is due to the popularity of name.
Brown,” she said. “It really is symbolically de-
Transfer applicants will likely receive their decisions in nouncing the name in the way that
mid-May, Cappuccino said. I hoped it would,” she said about
the preference for a neutral name
— Anish Gonchigar such as “Fall Weekend.”
But she said she was surprised
that some still said they wanted to
keep the name and date.
“I didn’t really see what the
sudoku reasoning could be for keeping
the name,” she said. “It definitely
exposes the need for increased
awareness.”
The initial movement included
a provision to end obser vance of
the holiday at Brown, establish an
indigenous week in October and
increase educational awareness
surrounding the historical context
of the holiday. But it now includes
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Reed said. The plan “sounds like
it will more than compensate”
for the loss of the three current
“small” kitchens in the building,
he added.
The designation of preexisting
rooms for higher occupancy fol-
lowed a yearly review and adjust-
ment carried out by ResLife, Lowell
said.
The doubles designated as tri-
ples in Barbour are more than 300
only a name-change after months
of dialogue with the administration
and faculty.
But even with the revisions,
approval for the motion has taken
longer than anticipated, Koyama
said.
“I really didn’t expect the re-
gional backlash and the dissent,”
Koyama said. But she acknowl-
edged that “any meaningful social
change will cause divisiveness, or it
would have already happened.”
Though the Faculty Executive
Committee said it favored chang-
ing the name of the holiday to one
honoring Native American heritage
instead of a neutral name, faculty
members at a faculty meeting ear-
ly last month ultimately approved
changing the name to “Fall Week-
end.”
But the vote did not officially
pass because the meeting lacked
a quorum. One hundred members
must be present for a motion to
pass, but only 43 faculty attended
the March meeting. The vote is set
to come up again next Tuesday, said
FEC Chair Jamie Dreier, a profes-
sor of philosophy.
Drier said the favorable student
response would probably not af-
fect the faculty vote next week. He
thinks many faculty members are in
favor of the proposal, he said, and
the motion’s passage will depend on
whether a quorum is established.
“I think some people are worried
about the public relations angle, and
they’re worried that some groups
might be upset,” Dreier said, add-
Thursday, April 2, 2009
square feet — “way beyond what
normal doubles are on campus,”
Reed said. Similarly, the singles
becoming doubles are more than
200 square feet.
The changes are “just one more
thing to discuss with your group”
when prioritizing and planning for
the lottery, Lowell said, adding that
the housing lottery Web site has in-
formation students should consider
before making their selections.
ing that he said he thought many
faculty members “kind of wish it
didn’t come up at all” because of
the controversial nature of the
proposal.
“It’s a symbolic issue and for
some reason, issues that are com-
pletely symbolic tend to bring out
strong feelings,” he said.
Many students said they sup-
por ted the name change even
if they did not necessarily think
changing the date of the holiday
was as important.
“I think that we should actually
have a day off,” said Brielle Fried-
man ’12. “But I also don’t think it
should be called ‘Columbus Day’ or
‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day.’”
“From an administrative per-
spective, I understand why they
want to keep the date,” said Osman
Ghani ’11. “But I also think there
needs to be a recognition of the
atrocities that were committed.”
The poll, conducted from March
16 through 18, has a 3.6 percent
margin of error with 95 percent
confidence. The information specifi-
cally about male respondents has a
5.1 percent margin of error and the
information about female respon-
dents has a 5.0 margin of error,
both with 95 percent confidence.
A total of 676 Brown undergradu-
ates completed the poll, which The
Herald administered as a written
questionnaire to students in the
University Mail Room at J. Walter
Wilson, outside the Blue Room in
Faunce House and in the Sciences
Library.
Thursday, April 2, 2009 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Page 3

C ampus N EWS “It’s a very comforting culture.”

— Jaicui Li ’12, on making the transition to life in the U.S.

Chinese students adjust to life in U.S.

continued from page 1
book about a girl who goes to
Har vard.
“To a little girl, that’s ver y in-
spiring,” she said.
Xu said he was attracted to
college in the United States be-
cause of the opportunities it would
provide.
“You get more resources for
research. You get a lot of resourc-
es for study abroad, which there
aren’t in China,” he said. “The
facilities here are excellent.”
“The people here are pretty
friendly, and it’s a very comforting
culture,” Jaicui Li said.
Nancy Li said the resources
Brown provided helped ease the
transition.
Herald File Photo
In a Herald poll, 71 percent of Brown undergraduate students say they “My academic advisor was very
have no opinion of Providence Mayor David Cicilline ’83, seen here. helpful, very nice and patient, will-
ing to answer ever y question,”
helpful in making the transition
smoother.
Started in 1999 by international
student Maithili Parekh ’02, the
program matches each incoming
international freshman with an
older international student.
“The (program) offers social,
academic and educational pro-
gramming to assist with students’
transition to Brown and the United
States,” Kisa Takesue ’88, associ-
ate dean of student life, wrote in
an e-mail to The Herald.
IMP hosted a “meet and greet”
in Februar y specifically for stu-
dents from China to welcome
them to Brown. “I think most
of us can gradually adapt to the
school by making some friends
with other United States students
or getting some help from the ad-
visors,” said Qidong Chen ’12, a
Herald photographer, adding that
the organization helped him with
logistical problems when he first
arrived in the United States. “A
bunch of Chinese graduate stu-
dents came and picked me up at
the airport,” he said.
But Zhang said he thinks
Brown’s support programs are
“not quite adequate.”
“It’s good, but I do think they
could be better,” he said. “In some
schools, they match incoming
international students with lo-
cal families. That would be ver y
helpful, just to know what it’s like
to live in an American family. It
would be a real opportunity to ex-
plore family life, the traditions.”
Zhang is currently in the pro-
cess of starting a student group
called Undergraduate Students
from China. He said the group
might be a way for students from
China to work together on proj-

Students unfamiliar she said. “People here are ver y

nice.”
Xu agreed.
the mentoring program “definitely
helped.”
Brown also has a chapter of
ects such as hosting lecture series
or organizing workshops open to
the entire Brown community.

with Cicilline, poll finds “Everything’s normal now,” he

continued from page 1
cently announced that he will run
for a third term in 2010.
Harrison Kreisberg ’10, presi-
dent of the Brown Democrats, said
the mayor’s focus has generally
been away from College Hill and
on the less prosperous areas of
Providence. “So in that sense, there
just hasn’t been that much on the
mayor’s agenda that has brought
him to the attention of Brown stu-
dents,” he said.
“You’ve got a lot of people who
are in from out of state and it
makes sense, I think, that people
aren’t quite sure what’s happening
locally,” Kreisberg said.
But students may become more
aware of local politics the longer
they spend on College Hill. While
81.1 percent of freshmen selected
the Don’t Know/No Answer option,
only 57.7 percent of seniors chose
that option.
“The more time you spend in
a place, the more you begin to
care about it,” said Sean Quigley
’10, president of the College Re-
publicans and a Herald Opinions
Columnist.
Arielle Balbus ’11 said she
hoped the results of the poll would
encourage students to get involved
locally. “I have a certain amount
of enthusiasm for any effort that
would encourage students, myself
included, to engage a bit more in
Providence politics,” she said.
“Students see College Hill as
being separate from Providence,”
said. “I’m making friends.”
Some students found Brown’s
the Chinese Student and Scholar
Association, which ser ves Chi-
nese-American students nation-
“We were all scattered,” he
said. “I thought it would be cool
to bring people together and work
said Meghan Short ’12. International Mentoring Program wide. Jaicui Li said members of together.”
Short knows students who do
volunteer work in the Providence
community, she said, adding that
trekking off campus “feels like a
trip away.”
“It just goes to show that there’s
a lot of work to be done to tie the
Brown community to the Provi-
dence area,” Kreisberg said.
Some students, however, felt
that students’ separation from
Providence politics might not be
such a bad thing.
“It’s probably a good thing that
we don’t get too heavily involved in
city politics, because our stake in
the community isn’t as permanent
as people who live here and pay
property taxes,” Quigley said.
“Most Brown students don’t live
here,” said Adrik McIlroy ’10. “It’s
probably not too bad that they don’t
keep up with the local politics.”
The poll, conducted from March
16 through 18, has a 3.6 percent
margin of error with 95 percent
confidence. The information specif-
ically about first-year respondents
has a 6.6 percent margin of error
read | share | remember
and the information about senior
respondents has a 7.6 percent mar-
gin of error, both with 95 percent
confidence.
A total of 676 Brown undergrad-
uates completed the poll, which
The Herald administered as a writ-
ten questionnaire to students in the
University Mail Room at J. Walter
Wilson, outside the Blue Room in
Faunce House and in the Sciences
Librar y.
Metro
The Brown Daily Herald
Change is coming to Hope
By Lauren Fedor
Senior Staff Writer
Hope High School will undergo sig-
nificant restructuring in the coming
months, a representative from the
Providence Public Schools Depart-
ment said this week.
Since 2005, Hope has been divid-
ed into three learning “communities”
— Arts, Leadership and Information
Technology. But at the end of this
school year, the Leadership wing will
close, and its students and faculty will
merge into the other two communi-
ties, said Christina O’Reilly, a spokes-
woman for the department.
The division, and other 2005
changes, resulted from a state-
mandated Consolidated Corrective
Action Plan aimed at ending Hope’s
history of unusually poor test scores.
Test scores have improved since,
and O’Reilly said the impending clos-
ing of the Leadership community
would not hinder the school’s overall
progress.
“The size of the student body in
total isn’t going to increase,” she
said, adding that the plan primar-
ily involves the consolidation of “top
level” administration.
The current model calls for three
principals, one for each learning com-
munity. Next year, just two principals
will lead the school. Scott Sutherland
will continue as principal of Hope Arts
and Arthur Petrosinelli will remain at
the helm of Hope Info Tech.
O’Reilly said the plan to close
Hope Leadership was crafted by
Sutherland and Petrosinelli after
Leadership Principal Wayne Mon-
tague retired earlier this year.
Since then, Sutherland and Pet-
rosinelli have been running the
Leadership community together,
O’Reilly said.
Neither Sutherland nor Petrosinel-
li could be reached for comment.
Though Arts and Info Tech have
“very specific” course tracks associ-
ated with them, the principals recog-
nized that the Leadership program
teaches skills that the school depart-
ment “would hope to impart” to all of
Hope’s students, O’Reilly said.
The skills could be absorbed or
incorporated “across the board,” she
The three learning communities that make up Hope High School will
merge into two.
said, adding that one of Leadership’s
main programs, the junior ROTC,
will continue in the two remaining
communities.
The principals’ suggestions were
well received by the school depart-
ment, O’Reilly said, because the two
“know the dynamics” of Hope. “They
know what works in the building,”
she said, adding that they will not
compromise the school’s culture of
individualized attention.
“It’s safe to say that the interaction
that a student gets day-to-day with
teachers in the building will be very
much the same,” she said.
Since learning about next year’s
changes, Leadership students have
begun a “choice process” through
which they can matriculate to either
the Arts or Info Tech communities,
O’Reilly said. If neither of the pro-
“It’s good public policy to get young people involved as early as possible.”
Herald File Photo
grams appeals to them, students can
bid into another high school.
But students are generally more
attached to the building than their
individual community, O’Reilly said,
and most are choosing to stay at
Hope.
All Leadership teachers will like-
wise be given the opportunity to re-
main at Hope.
John Day, president of Hope’s
Parent Teacher Organization and
the parent of a Hope Arts student,
said he is glad that few changes will
take place at Hope Arts.
“It doesn’t sound like courses are
going to be stopped,” he said. “All
the programs and the classes are
still going to be offered.”
“They just won’t have the iden-
tity of being Hope Leadership,” he
added.
— Matt Sledge ’08, Fair Vote Rhode Island
Thursday, April 2, 2009 | Page 5
Legislature votes to
let teens register early
By Monique Vernon
Contributing Writer
The Rhode Island General As-
sembly has voted to allow 16-
and 17-year-olds to pre-register
to vote.
Bills to change registration law
have passed in both the Senate
and House, and, once both bodies
sign off on reconciled legislation,
the measure will go to Gov. Donald
Carcieri ’65 for his signature.
In 2007 and 2008, Carcieri ve-
toed bills similar to the one cur-
rently on the table, but his office
could not be reached for com-
ment. In the past, the governor
has said the law would prevent the
state from keeping accurate voter
registration rolls and preventing
voter fraud.
Currently, citizens must be 18
years old by the next election in
order to register.
Information for pre-registered
teens would be entered into state
voter rolls with the designation
“pending,” and they would auto-
matically achieve voting status
on their 18th birthday, said Fair
Vote Rhode Island Director Matt
Sledge ’08.
“They go through the same
controls as anyone else who reg-
isters,” Sledge said.
Founded in 1992, Fair Vote RI
is a volunteer organization con-
cerned with improving the elec-
tion process. Sledge said it has
been advocating for this legisla-
tion for the past two years.
“It’s good public policy to get
young people involved as early as
possible in the democratic pro-
cess,” Sledge said.
A benefit of the bill, he said, is
that it will “close the registry gap
between young voters and the rest
of the population.”
In the 2004 election, less than
60 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds
registered to vote, but 81 percent
of those young people who regis-
tered turned out to vote, accord-
ing to Fair Vote RI.
“There is no universal regis-
tration in this country, so many
young people fall through the
cracks,” Sledge said.
Secretar y of State A. Ralph
Mollis has also endorsed the bill.
His platform promotes voter rights
with the inclusion of an “aggres-
sive high school registration pro-
gram,” said spokesperson Chris
Barnett. “We are capitalizing on
(high school voters’) interest to
make it easier for them to make
their voices heard in the voting
booth.”
State Senator Rhoda Perr y
P’91, who sponsored the Senate
bill, said the change would get
more people involved in the civic
process.
“The problem with our bill is
that the governor vetoes it,” Perry
said. But with greater support in
the General Assembly, she said,
the legislature will be able to over-
ride a veto. She said legislators
are planning early for a veto and
want the leadership to agree to
an override.
Sledge said the assembly may
be able to override a veto this year,
since “the margin just keeps grow-
ing and growing.”
A vote of three-fifths of the
legislature would be required
to override a possible veto. The
House passed its version of the
bill by a vote of 56 to 10, and the
Senate voted 32 to 2 in favor of
its version.
World & Nation
The Brown Daily Herald
U.S., Russia agree to cut nukes Assertive China
By Christi Parsons and
Megan K. Stack
Los Angeles T imes
emerges amid crisis
LONDON — President Barack
Obama and Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev agreed Wednes-
day to open negotiations on a treaty
that could slash their nuclear ar-
senals by one-third, part of what
they described as a step “to move
beyond Cold War mentalities” in
relations between the two coun-
tries.
The agreement to undertake
the most significant arms con-
trol talks in more than a decade
emerged from the first face-to-face
meeting between the two leaders,
and included a promise by Obama
to visit Moscow this summer to
pursue the talks.
“Over the last several years, the
relationship between our two coun-
tries has been allowed to drift,”
Obama said. “What I believe we’ve
begun today is a very constructive
dialogue that will allow us to work
on issues of mutual interest.”
The schism has developed over
issues such as NATO expansion
into countries once part of the So-
viet Union and soured even further
last summer when Russian troops
fought a war with Georgia, a U.S.
ally.
Wednesday’s consensus on the
need for new nuclear weapons talks
was the most concrete expression
yet of the Obama administration’s
decision to opt for improved re-
lations with Russia rather than
greater confrontation.
In turn, Medvedev said he was
prepared to cooperate on non- pro-
liferation, among other issues.
“It is important to note that
there are many points on which
we can work,” he said. “And indeed
there are far more points where
we can come closer, where we can
work, rather than those points on
which we have differences.”
For Russia, the push for a new
nuclear treaty has as much to do
with diplomatic clout as with stra-
tegic necessity, said Nikolai Zlobin,
director of the Russia program at
the Center for Defense Informa-
tion in Washington.
“This is an area where Russia
and the United States together can
force the rest of the world to ac-
cept their view,” he said. “It makes
Russia a global power again. Russia
feels like it’s back to old times.”
Although hailed by arms con-
trol experts, word of the agree-
ment was not seen as a surprising
development. Obama is on record
saying he favors beginning talks
,and Russian officials have been
eager to forge a new treaty to
replace the Strategic Arms Re-
duction Treaty, which expires in
December.
The current treaty, which took
effect in 1994, limits the world’s
two largest nuclear arsenals to
between 1,700 and 2,200 nuclear
warheads. A new treaty conceiv-
ably could cut arsenals to 1,500
warheads.
“This has been been on the
radar for quite some time,” said
Daryl G. Kimball, executive direc-
tor of the Arms Control Associa-
tion in Washington. “The fact that
they’ve put it front and center of
their bilateral agenda is impor-
tant.”
The two men met with the me-
dia after their meeting, laughing at
one another’s jokes — Obama said
he preferred not to visit Russia in
the winter — and smiling broadly
as they shook hands.But while the
two leaders struck a friendly tone
in the meeting, officials acknowl-
edged a series of obstacles to an
agreement that could be ready
when START expires.
Thursday, April 2, 2009 | Page 6
By Don Lee
Los Angeles T imes
SHANGHAI, China — At a time
when the United States and other
traditional economic powers are
weakening, China is flexing its
muscle, signaling it will seek a
more assertive role in shaping the
world financial order.
The apparent shift in Beijing’s
approach is likely to be displayed
at Thursday’s meeting of the Group
of Twenty Finance Ministers and
Central Bank Governors, as China
presses for changes in a global
finance system long dominated
by the United States and Western
Europe.
Leading up to the London gath-
ering of the heads of 20 major de-
veloped and emerging economies,
Chinese leaders have publicly criti-
cized the U.S. economic system,
raised concerns about the safety
of China’s massive holdings of U.S.
debt and, most recently, proposed
the creation of a new international
reser ve currency to replace the
dollar.
At the same time, China is
snapping up foreign oil fields and
mines, ensuring that its raw-mate-
rials cupboard will be well stocked
when the economy rebounds.
China has signed deals with Iran,
Russia and Venezuela for oil and
gas deals worth tens of billions of
dollars this year, and it has made
moves for stakes or outright pur-
chases of at least seven mining
companies.
Chinese companies also are
looking to buy high-profile West-
ern brands on the cheap, while re-
cruiting foreign talent to upgrade
China’s technology. China’s Geely
Automobile Holdings reportedly
has talked with Ford Motor Co.
about purchasing its distressed
Volvo unit.
And analysts on both sides of
the Pacific have floated the pros-
pect of a Chinese automaker ac-
quiring General Motors Corp.’s
venerable Buick line, if not the en-
tire company — something once
considered unthinkable.
China sees the global downturn
as a once-in-a-centur y opportuni-
ty — and it has the wherewithal
to seize the moment. Although
Chinese leaders are struggling
with shrinking trade and rising
joblessness, their economy is still
growing faster than those of other
major nations. Chinese banks are
more stable. And the Beijing gov-
ernment is sitting on the largest
stockpile of foreign reser ves in
the world, some $2 trillion.
“They have fairly clear objec-
tives of where they see their place
in the new world order,” said Oded
Shenkar, a management professor
at Ohio State University and author
of “The Chinese Centur y.” “They
see it’s time to position themselves
more assertively.”
China’s clout has increased as
it has surged to become the third-
biggest economy after the United
States and Japan. But even as re-
cently as November’s G-20 meeting
in Washington, Chinese leaders
kept a low profile and stated that
the best way for them to help the
world would be to focus on domes-
tic affairs.
As global financial problems
deepened, and China’s expor t
industries were pummeled by
slumping demand, Chinese offi-
cials recognized their economy’s
vulnerability.
“The capitalist system dominat-
ed by the West is stuck in serious
and deep crisis — and is bringing
disaster to the entire world,” said
Huang Jisu, a sociologist at the
Chinese Academy of Social Sci-
ences and co-author of a best-sell-
ing book, “Unhappy China,” that
lashes out at U.S. hegemony and
calls for China to take a stronger
hand in world affairs.
Other scholars worr y about
such nationalist fer vor and its in-
fluence on government policymak-
ing. Still, there appears to be broad
recognition and public support for
China’s rising voice.
“To ever yone’s surprise, China
made a break from its old way of
only emphasizing general prin-
ciples and instead raised lots of
detailed measures this time,”
said Shi Yinhong, a professor of
international relations at Beijing-
based Renmin University of China.
Although it may be too early to
describe it as a shift in policy, he
said, “I will call it a remarkable
increase in China’s sense of the
international role it can play.”
Shi and other analysts reckon
China’s bid to wield more clout in
global economic affairs will be met
with resistance from the United
States and other leading developed
nations.
Even so, U.S. and European
leaders are looking to cash-rich
China to bolster the International
Monetar y Fund’s resources, and
in that they appear to be moving
toward giving China and other
emerging economies an expanded
role.
Beijing has indicated a will-
ingness to inject money into the
IMF, but it has long been unhappy
with the Washington-based orga-
nization, particularly with the way
voting rights are assigned. China
wants a greater say in the fund
before adding to its coffers.
Last week the head of China’s
central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan,
raised the idea of creating a new
global reserve currency to replace
the dominant dollar — a kind of
super-currency made up of a bas-
ket of national currencies and con-
trolled by the IMF.
Exper ts agree it would take
years, if not decades, to design
and manage a truly global reser ve
currency that could supplant the
greenback.
SportsThursday
The Brown Daily Herald

Thursday, April 2, 2009 | Page 7

Hahn ’10: Softball goes 6-10 in month of March

MLB By Katie Wood son in Cornell and Princeton.

surprises
With the start of the 2009 MLB sea-
son approaching, it’s time for some
predictions. Everyone loves to be a
forecaster, and
though there Jonathan Hahn
Sports Columnist
are many fan-
cy projection
systems out on the Web, this Herald
sports columnist has a few of his
own. These are my predictions for
division winners, end-of-year awards
and future breakout teams.
American League
West: Oakland Athletics. It will
be close, but I’ll start off with a
surprise pick. Adding Matt Holliday
and other hitters, playing in the
spacious Coliseum with talented
rookie pitchers to throw at teams,
and getting to beat up on Texas
and Seattle? It adds up to a division
title. Sorr y, Los Angeles Angels,
but your style of small ball, lack
of on-base percentage and power,
Assistant Spor ts Editor
The softball team wrapped up a
grueling stretch of 16 games in
two weeks with back-to-back wins
over the University of Rhode Is-
land Tuesday. The frenetic finish
to March came after the Bears’ first
seven games of the month were all
cancelled due to rain.
The Bears opened up the
stretch with a win over Holy Cross
in their first home contest of the
season before heading to sunny
Florida for a week-long Spring
Break trip. Brown fared well in
the Rebel Spring Games in Kis-
simmee, Fla., as the team came
away with two wins and two one-
run defeats.
The Bears then took on Stetson
and Jacksonville, before facing a
North Florida team fresh off a win
over nationally ranked Florida
State. After a day off, the team hit
the road again to take on their first
Ivy League opponents of the sea-
The Bears returned home
Tuesday to defeat in-state rival
URI twice, 4-3 and 3-1.
Brown 12, Holy Cross 3
On March 18, the Bears were
ready to play in front of the home
crowd after an 18-day lay-off from
competition. Amanda Asay ’10,
Trish Melvin ’12 and Kate Stro-
bel ’12 led the way for the Bears
as each hit one out of the park,
accounting for seven of the runs
on the day.
Pitcher Michelle Moses ’09 put
together a solid all-around perfor-
mance, allowing three runs while
striking out three for the win. She
also knocked in two runs in the
third inning on a single to right.
“To come out on the field and
play strong, it was a really good
way to start our spring break,” said
Kelsey Wilson ’09.
Herald File Photo
The softball team had a busy two weeks, playing 16 games, including
continued on page 9
some far away in Florida.

Equestrian team competes in Regionals

an aging outfield and last year’s
over-performing pitching spell out
a year of disappointment.
Central: Cleveland Indians. It’s
a four-way flip between the teams Brown’s teams were spread out place finish in the Open Flat to the West Coast to compete in two finish on a three-round score of 230,
not named Kansas City Royals. This during Spring Break, some staying qualify for Zones, and Allegra Aron tournaments over the past week. followed closely by co-captain Conor
is less a pick based on Cleveland’s on home turf, with others crossing ’11 followed with a win in the Inter- The Bears opened their spring sea- Malloy ’09, whose third-round score
strengths and more a pick based on the country to compete for Bruno. mediate Flat, also earning a qualifi- son at the Cal Poly Men’s Intercol- of 75 gave him an overall score of
lack of faith in the pitching staffs of cation for Zones. Rounding out the legiate tournament on March 26 231, earning him 35th place. Joe
the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Equestrian selections for Brown was Kona Shen and 27, where they placed 11th out Rued ’09 shot a 237, and rounding
Tigers and the lack of a Minnesota On Saturday, the equestrian team ’10, who won the Walk Trot to qualify. of 12 teams, then competed in the out the lineup for the Bears were
offense with an injured Joe Mauer. competed at the Region 1 Champion- The Zone 1 Championships will take Western Intercollegiate tournament, co-captain Chris Hoffman ’09 and
When the dust settles, the midges ship, where Brown qualified three place at Mt. Holyoke on Saturday. where they finished last among the Michael Amato ’11, who each shot
will be back with a vengeance. riders for this weekend’s Zone 1 18 teams. a 238.
East: New York Yankees. The Championship. Men’s golf John Gianuzzi ’10 led Brown at
three best teams in the MLB (Yan- Liz Giliberti ’10 rode to a first- The men’s golf team travelled to Cal Poly with a 33rd-place individual continued on page 8
kees, Red Sox and Rays) are in the
AL East. The race will be exciting,
disgusting and at the end we’ll see
one 90-plus win team at home in
October. Even with the Alex Rodri-
guez injury, the Yankees’ offense
and pitching staff are too much to
handle — who cares if they can’t
play defense? Cry for Toronto and
Baltimore.
Wild Card: Boston Red Sox. As
much as it pains me to not pick my
defending AL Champion Tampa
Bay Rays who improved their line-
up and rotation in the offseason,
the Red Sox have a much better
offense and under-performed last
year. I’ll be praying for luck.
MVP: Grady Sizemore, OF,
Indians. Finally recognized, does
everything.
Cy Young: CC Sabathia, Yan-
kees. Media darling, workhorse,
book it.
Rookie of the Year: Matt Wi-
eters, C, Baltimore Orioles. Best
catcher right off the bat and for
years to come.
2010 Team: Texas Rangers.
Pitching will finally catch up with
a great offense, thanks to the best
farm system. Young hitting pros-
pects and flame-throwing pitching
prospects make the Rangers legit in
a year, but look for signs now.

continued on page 8
Page 8
S ports T hursday
Hahn ’10: Braves are back
continued from page 7
National League
West: Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sure, the rotation scares me, but
the NL West is pathetic. The Arizo-
na Diamondbacks might challenge
with a good balance of pitching,
hitting and a favorable home park,
while the San Francisco Giants will
do well with their rotation — but
both fall short. Gas is up!
Central: Chicago Cubs. An of-
fensive machine, solid pitching
— it won’t be close. Make these
precious chances count because
your window is closing fast with
aging hitters, terrible minors and
a payroll monster in two years.
Baaaaaa.
East: New York Mets. Con-
gratulations, you finally have a
bullpen, just don’t blow it, again,
times two. Third time’s the charm,
right? Sorry, Philadelphia Phillies,
no more September runs — you
over-performed like crazy last year,
so expect to regress, by a lot.
Wild Card: Atlanta Braves.
That’s right. After a three-year
hiatus, they’re back. Pitching ad-
ditions, solid hitting and elite pros-
pects who will be up this year. It
Thanks for reading, friend.
will be tight but I’ll go out on a limb
and say the Braves will surprise
in the NL.
MVP: Hanley Ramirez, SS, Flor-
ida Marlins. Sorr y Albert Pujols,
Hanley solidifies himself as the best
player for the next three years.
Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, San
Francisco Giants. He doesn’t ice
his arm for crying out loud.
Rookie of the Year: Cameron
Maybin, OF, Florida Marlins. Fu-
ture stud, if only the Marlins had
more everything.
2010 Team: San Francisco Gi-
ants. Since I already picked the
Braves to break out a year early, I’ll
pick the Giants instead. Premium
pitching prospects, solid young hit-
ting prospects and core, everyone
else in the NL West better make
this year count.
Sure, some of these predictions
are a little extreme, but we’ll just
blame whatever errors I make on
luck, or the World Baseball Classic.
Go watch baseball! Enjoy the 2009
season! I know I will.
Jonathan Hahn ’10 is ready to get
heckled in his Rays gear.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Thursday, April 2, 2009
W. Tennis sweeps Spring Break matches
continued from page 7
At the Western Intercollegiate,
Gianuzzi once again led Brown, fin-
ishing 61st with a 234. Amato was
second for the Bears with a 239,
while Hoffman shot 246, Malloy
shot 247, and Rued finished with a
score of 253.
The team will next compete at the
New England Divison I Champion-
ships on April 10 and 11 in Provi-
dence.
Women’s golf
The women’s golf team competed
at the UNC-Wilmington Lady Sea-
hawk Classic on March 23 and 24,
where it placed 11th out of 12 teams
with a team score of 983. Julia Rob-
inson ’11 led the Bears with a 240
over three rounds of play, for a 38th-
place finish. Heather Arison ’12 and
Carly Arison ’12 each shot a 248, and
Megan Tuohy ’12 was close behind Justin Coleman / Herald File Photo
with a 250. Sarah Guarascio ’11 was Cassandra Herzberg ’12 upset the 85th-ranked player in the nation
fifth for the Bears, shooting a 259 for with scores of 6-0, 6-0.
the tournament. 4-3 victory. Against Yale, Brown won two
The team will resume compe- Against Davidson, Brown swept doubles matches to secure the dou-
tition this weekend at the Brown the doubles matches and won five bles point, but dropped matches at
Invitational in Brockton, Mass. of six singles matches, all in straight No. 3 and No. 4 singles to fall behind.
sets, for the 6-1 victory. Against Fur- Bianca Aboubakare ’11 and Julie
Women’s tennis man, the Bears once again won all Flanzer ’12 picked up straight-set
The women’s tennis team earned three doubles matches, followed wins for the Bears at No. 1 and No.
wins in all three of its matches over by four singles wins, including a 6 singles, respectively, and Herzberg
spring break, winning 6-1 over Da- dominant win at No. 2 singles for locked up the win for Bruno with a
vidson on March 23 and 5-2 over
Furman on March 27, before upset-
Cassandra Herzberg ’12, who upset
the 85th-ranked player in the nation
4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles.
This weekend, Brown will travel
ting No. 45 Yale on Saturday with a with scores of 6-0, 6-0. to Penn and Princeton.
Page 9
S ports T hursday
Bears softball starts Ivy competition 1-3 over break
continued from page 7
Brown 5, Army 1
On March 20, Bruno played their
first two games of the Rebel Spring
Games, starting off with a 5-1 win
over Army.
Army tallied one run on the
scoreboard in the first before Brown
added two of its own in the bottom
half of the inning, when Melvin
knocked a two-run double to right
center. Moses shut down the Black
Knights’ offense for the rest of the
game and the offense added another
three runs to the board, as Kristie
Chin ’12 added a two-run single.
But the win for Brown also in-
cluded misfortune. Asay suffered an
ankle injury in the first inning that
will likely sideline her for much of
the rest of the season.
Iona 1, Brown 0
The win over army was followed
later that day by a narrow loss to
Iona, 1-0.
Jessica Iwasaki ’10 held Iona
scoreless for 6.2 innings, but ran into
trouble with two outs in the seventh,
leaving runners at the corners for
reliever Emily Chaddock ’11. Iona
scored the winning run on an ille-
gal pitch to get the 1-0 win over the
Bears, who were unable to muster
any run production despite a strong
game from Sandra Mastrangelo ’12,
who led the way for the Bears with a
3-for-5 performance at the plate.
Wagner 5, Brown 4
The Seahawks jumped out to
a 4-0 lead over the Bears, but the
Bears fought back with a four-run
sixth inning. Strobel and Wilson
each came up with an RBI single to
cut the deficit to 4-2, and Melvin hit a
two-run single to tie up the game.
But Wagner scored a run off of
www.browndailyherald.com
Moses, who came on in relief, to
secure the 5-4 win over Brown.
“You’re out there for seven in-
nings, you never give up and have
confidence that you can rally back,”
Wilson said. “We just fell short.”
Brown 2, Farleigh Dickinson 1
Strobel tallied the only runs on
the day for Bruno with a two-run
homer, and Melvin and Moses com-
bined for seven innings of one-run
pitching.
Stetson 8, Brown 0
Stetson built a commanding lead
with six runs in the first inning and
held on for the 8-0 win.
Jacksonville 11, Brown 1
Paced by two four-run innings,
Jacksonville handled Brown in the
first match-up, as the Bears could
not get their offense going, record-
ing only two hits.
Jacksonville 3, Brown 2
The Bears bounced back in the
second game, rattling off seven hits
while holding a 2-0 advantage for
the majority of the contest. Strobel
continued to produce as she brought
Mastrangelo home with a single, to
put the Bears up 1-0 in the top of the
fourth, and Jackie Giovanniello ’12
added to Bruno’s lead with an RBI
double in the seventh.
But the Dolphins’ bats came alive
in the seventh as they tied it up to
send the game into extra innings,
and Jacksonville went on to score
the winning run on a bases-loaded
walk by Chaddock in the eighth in-
ning.
“We played well leading up to
the final inning,” Wilson said. “We
didn’t close them out and could have
scored some more runs.”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
North Florida 2, Brown 0
North Florida jumped out to a 2-0
lead in the first inning, and though
Melvin held North Florida scoreless
or the remainder of the game, Bruno
could not fight its way back.
“It was positive that we were
hanging in with the teams, but on
the other side, it’s hard to lose the
close ones thinking we should have
won the game,” Wilson said.
North Florida 12, Brown 10
Game two featured two hot of-
fenses, as the two teams combined
for 26 hits and 22 runs. The Bears
gained a 4-1 lead in the second be-
fore the Lady Ospreys answered
with six runs to take a 7-4 lead.
Brown added another three runs
in the fourth inning, when Melvin
hit a two-run double, and eventually
scored on an illegal pitch to tie the
game, 7-7. After another three-run
fifth inning put the Bears up, 10-
8, North Florida cleared the bases
with a two-out three-run triple to
pull ahead for good.
Melvin went 4-for-5 from the
plate with two RBI, while Wilson
finished 3-for-3 with two RBI and
Giovanniello went 3-for-4 with three
RBI in the losing effort.
Cornell 11, Brown 0
Cornell began the day with an
offensive onslaught as the Big Red
tallied all eleven of their runs in the
first inning. Melvin gave up six of
the runs, while Iwasaki surrendered
the other five, before Chin came
in to pitch two shutout innings of
relief.
Cornell 6, Brown 0
The second game did not turn
out better for Bruno, as the offense
continued to struggle. Chaddock
led the Bears with an .800 average
over the two games, going 4-for-5
from the plate.
Princeton 8, Brown 2
The Bears started off strong, tal-
lying two runs in the opening three
innings while holding the Tigers
scoreless. The Tigers battled back
with six runs in the fourth inning
to take a lead they would never re-
linquish. Princeton tacked on two
more runs in the sixth to finish out
the game, 8-2.
Brown 2, Princeton 1
The Bears capitalized early again
in the second game, as they scored
two runs in the third inning. Iwa-
saki allowed one run in three and
two-thirds innings before Chaddock
came in to pitch two and one-third
innings of shut-out softball to earn
her first win of the season and the
team’s first Ivy win of the season.
“The win showed that we are ca-
pable of closing out a game,” Wilson
said. “We didn’t have a lot of offen-
Thursday, April 2, 2009
sive opportunities, but we were able
to capitalize on them.”
Elaina Atherton ’12 scored two
runs on the day while going 2-for-5
from the plate. Wilson added two
doubles and one RBI, while Strobel
contributed two hits and an RBI.
Brown 4, URI 3
Bruno scored three runs in the
first inning, when Wilson hit a sac-
rifice fly with the bases loaded to
tally the first run and Giovanniello
singled to right field to bring in two
more runs. In the third, Strobel dou-
bled to right field and Giovaniello
brought Strobel home with an RBI
single to give Brown a 4-0 lead.
A three-run double in the top of
the seventh cut Brown’s lead to 4-3,
but Moses closed out the game for
the win.
Brown 3, URI 1
The Bears took game two by a
score of 3-1 as Moses recorded her
first complete game of the season,
moving her record to 4-3. Strobel led
the offensive attack for the Bears
with a 4-for-6 performance, including
two doubles, while Giovaniello con-
tributed a team-high three RBI.
The Bears will host Penn and Co-
lumbia this weekend in Ivy League
action on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., fol-
lowed by a double header on Sunday
at 12:30 p.m.
Editorial & Letters
The Brown Daily Herald

Page 10 | Thursday, April 2, 2009

e d i to r i a l
So Unfortunate, But Unsurprising
The Student Union of Brown University has effectively died. We are
sad, but we are not surprised. The group was founded in the spring of 2006
with the intention of becoming an advocate for student interests and an
alternative to the Undergraduate Council of Students. However, the group
has not held a meeting which met quorum since the fall of last year, and
seems to be defunct.
SUBU’s mission — to create a space where all students have an equal
voice and an equal vote — is certainly a noble one. Undergraduate stu-
dents need a forum where they can voice their concerns and advocate for
their own interests. The traditional forums — student councils and the
editorial pages of newspapers — are typically controlled by a small group
of students who supposedly represent the whole. What SUBU tried to be
was a truly democratic group, one in which all students could participate
just by showing up.
Several factors have contributed to SUBU’s unpopularity at Brown: To
begin with, the structure of UCS was changed this year to include any
student who wants to join, attends two UCS meetings and can collect 150
signatures. This is a much more open and inclusive system than in earlier
years, and it has successfully worked to decrease student frustration with
the council.
Additionally, SUBU’s emphasis on a non-hierarchical structure may
have worked towards its demise. Since its organizers did not want to
impose any constraints on the meetings without the consent of the whole
union, students who showed up to the first meeting out of curiosity were
CHRIS JESU LEE
subjected to several hours of discussion and voting on organization forms
and rules, such as how many students would make up a quorum. While
the organizers had the group’s best interests at heart, this may not have
been the most auspicious beginning.
However, we should not let this group fade into memory so easily.
The time may come, next month or in a few years, when students need a
forum in which they can stand up and loudly voice their opinions, when
the power of UCS and of The Herald may not be enough to protect their
interests. A democratic forum is, sometimes, the only thing that works.
Though SUBU isn’t the most popular group on campus, we hope its orga-
nizers will keep it alive, at least in name, so it can be used more widely if
the need should arise.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments
to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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Opinions
The Brown Daily Herald
The future of Brown Webmail
JARED LAFER
Opinions Columnist
The kids nowadays are crazy about this thing
called e-mail. You see, it’s like mail, only you get
it through the Interweb. It makes you wonder
what the technophiles will think of next.
But e-mailing can be frustrating, especially
when the Webmail provider is obsolete and
difficult to use. Fortunately for us, Brown’s Web-
mail service is a shining exemplar of perfection.
(That was a joke.)
A recent editorial (“The Gmail Revolution,
5 years late,” March 17) expounded the ben-
efits of outsourcing the Brown e-mail server to
Gmail. I couldn’t agree more, and in this column
I will elaborate on some of the points raised
by the editorial, and mention several details it
neglected.
Brown provides its own webmail service
through Microsoft Outlook Exchange. The ser-
vice is a bit different depending on what Internet
browser you use; Safari, Mozilla Firefox and
Google Chrome users are condemned to the
Basic version, while Internet Explorer users
have the choice between Basic and Advanced,
the latter of which is somewhat more tolerable
than Basic.” Nevertheless, since most people do
not use Internet Explorer (if you do, immediately
uninstall), I will just address the Basic version.
As the name suggests, the application is very
basic. It’s sufficient for composing and send-
ing e-mails, but inadequate for everything else.
Organizing and deleting e-mails is extremely
Reduce, reuse, return to Eastside Marketplace
BY JEREMY
FEIGENBAUM
Opinions Columnist
Whenever I empty my garbage in Caswell’s
basement, there are plastic bags in the trash
bins. And most days, as I walk down Thayer
Street to Grad Center, I come across bags
lying on the sidewalk. I never used to pick
them up. I assumed that these light objects
could do little damage.
As part of a project for ENVS1410: “En-
vironmental Law and Policy,” four of my
classmates and I conducted research on
legislation that seeks to reduce plastic bag
litter. To write about the bill, I had to study
why it was necessar y in the first place. I
quickly learned that plastic waste causes far
greater problems than I had recognized.
There is always the obvious issue: An
average plastic bag will fill up space in a
landfill for thousands of years. Since Earth
has finite space and the human population
is growing rapidly, unnecessary waste is a
real concern.
The disposal of plastic bags not only
consumes more space in landfills, but also
spurs the production of more bags. This
has an immediate impact on human health
because plastic manufacturing releases car-
time consuming, you can only control a handful
of settings, when I look at the color scheme I
feel like vomiting — I could go on, but I’m sure
someone more tech-savvy could do a far better
job. Simply put, this application is terrible.
And a number of students have taken the
hint. A 2007 article (“U. considers outsourcing
student e-mail,” Sept. 8, 2007) reported that, as
of mid-August of that year, 849 undergraduates
used a third-party application, 651 of whom used
Gmail. I assume the numbers haven’t changed
much since then.
On the other hand, if that’s true, scores of
Brown students must still use Outlook. While I
It’s Brown’s responsibility to ensure we have
satisfactory University webmail, and at that it has
completely failed.
won’t pretend to know their real reasons, I can
only surmise it’s either for convenience’s sake
or ignorance of far better alternatives. However,
these reasons don’t cut it. Brown Webmail is no
more convenient than any other Webmail ser-
vice, and its relatively laughable system should
have driven them away a long time ago.
Of course, I can’t completely blame the stu-
dents. It’s Brown’s responsibility to ensure we
have satisfactory University Webmail, and at
that it has completely failed. But there is a way
for Brown to live up to its responsibility — adopt
Google’s Apps for Education Edition.
Several universities (such as the University
cinogenic benzene gas into the air. Just as
problematic, the creation and transporta-
tion of plastic bags — frequently from Asia
— usually employs fossil fuels and thereby
contributes to global warming and makes
it difficult for the United States to become
energy independent.
Beyond carbon emissions and carcino-
gens, littered bags pose other serious prob-
lems. Plastic bags are often blown great
Plastic bags, which most people frequently use
but rarely think about, have deadly impacts on
the environment, animal populations and human
welfare.
distances, due to their light weight. They end
up in state parks, on lawns and in waterways
and oceans.
In the water, bags kill animals by suffocat-
ing or immobilizing them, or by interfering
with their digestion. According to the United
Nations, thousands of pieces of plastic coat
the surface of every square mile of ocean.
Plastic bags, which most people frequent-
ly use but rarely think about, have a deadly
impact on the environment, animal popula-
of Southern California, Vanderbilt University,
Arizona State University, George Washington
University, Northwestern University, etc.) have
already espoused Google’s Apps for Education
Edition which, as per its Web site, is a free suite
of hosted communication and collaboration ap-
plications designed for schools and universities.
The package of applications is rather expansive,
so I will just focus on its Gmail component in this
column, but rest assured, its other applications
are just as remarkable.
Why adopt Gmail? Google lists 10 reasons
on its Web site, which are applicable to Brown’s
webmail in several important ways.
First, and perhaps most important, there is a
major financial incentive. According to search-
storage.com, ASU apparently saved “$350,000
per year in storage, maintenance and person-
nel costs.” This change would be a very easy
way for Brown to save money during troubling
economic times.
Second, unlike Brown’s Webmail, Gmail’s
server is not centralized, so you are safe from
the kind of unforeseeable accidents that a previ-
ous column envisioned (“Backing up Brown,”
March 2).
Third, currently Brown students are only
allotted 50 MB of storage space on the server.
tions and human welfare. People should start
cutting back on their use of new plastic bags
immediately. Thankfully, Rhode Island has
already made rapid change possible.
Last year, the state legislature passed the
Plastic Bag Recovery Act of 2008. This bill
mandates that large retail establishments
selling goods and food in the state allow
customers to return any plastic bag to them
— even if the store did not dispense that
bag. These stores must maintain collection
barrels for plastic and then send what they
receive to nearby recycling plants. Residents
only need to bring back their old bags the
next time they go shopping; the state has
taken care of the rest.
Some of the stores closest to Brown are
participating in this program. There are four
stores near campus that take back bags:
Carcieri’s Market, Eastside Marketplace,
Shaw’s and Stop & Shop. Brown students —
Thursday, April 2, 2009 | Page 11
With Gmail, each student would get over 7 GB,
which means no more annoying messages from
the administrator saying you’ve exceeded your
storage quota or e-mails bouncing back to the
sender because your mailbox is full.
Fourth, you get to use a Webmail service
that is not only at the head of the pack, but lead-
ing the way in innovation. With organizational
features such as labels, filters, folders and con-
versations, a chat function that has both text and
video capabilities and the power of the Google
search engine, once you go Gmail you’ll never
turn tail.
Fifth, with Gmail you get the massive technol-
ogy support team of Google, which means easy
access to assistance. Knowing Google, however,
you won’t need it often anyway.
Sixth, you get the same security Google uses
to protect google.com, which, no offense to CIS,
is probably far more advanced than Brown’s
security. This coincides with Google’s serious
emphasis on privacy protection, which you can
read about at its Privacy Center online.
Seventh, you get to keep the domain name
“@brown.edu,” so you can flaunt your education
to all your friends.
The bottom line is that Gmail is vastly supe-
rior to Brown’s Webmail, and the opportunity to
freely implement the service across the student
body should be seized immediately. And accord-
ing to the aforementioned editorial, this may be
a reality soon enough. Until then, you can always
forward your Brown inbox to Gmail.
Jared Lafer ’11 is a philosophy concentrator
from Manhattan. He can be reached at
jared_lafer@gmail.com
especially those who are regular customers
— should start bringing their plastic bags
with them.
But there is an even more effective op-
tion: Bags can be reused. After I brought
my textbooks to Caswell at the beginning
of this semester, I threw the bags out. But
I went back to the bookstore three times (I
had trouble choosing classes) and could have
used those bags again. Even though plastic
bags might not seem like a necessity, there
are often opportunities for reuse.
Most important, however, is the need to
stop using disposable plastic bags altogether.
The Brown Bookstore sells reusable cloth
bags and even gave some away to students
who made large enough purchases. Cloth
bags are clearly the best option in environ-
mental terms.
Reduce, reuse, recycle is an underappreci-
ated mantra. Nearly everyone can recite it,
but few truly practice it. Government initia-
tives are important — and we’re lucky that
Rhode Island has taken the lead in this area
— but individual changes are necessary too.
Reducing the use of plastic bags is easy and
beneficial. Why not start now?
Jeremy Feigenbaum ‘11 is a political science
concentrator from Teaneck, N.J. He can be
reached at
Jeremy_Feigenbaum@brown.edu.
 Today
The Brown Daily Herald
5 7
c a l e n da r
April 2, 2009
5 P.M. — Romano Prodi, ”Italy Today:
Priorities, Politics and Prospects,” Wat-
son Institute
5:30 P.M.— Donald Tong, “Hong Kong
& the Global Economic Crisis,” Salo-
mon 101
menu
Sharpe Refectory
Lunch — Cheese Tomato Strata, Zuc-
chini Pie, Hot Ham on Bulky Roll, Garlic
and Butter Infused Rice
Dinner — Spinach and Rice Bake,
Beef Saute with Cumin, Spice Rubbed
Pork Chops, Oven Browned Potatoes
crossword
3
to day to m o r r o w
Transfer applications on the rise
Softball hits the road over break
7 58 / 42
Thursday, April 2, 2009
56 / 44
Page 12
the news in images
7
post-
April 3, 2009
7 P.M. — “Civil Sex by Brian Free-
man,” Churchill House
8 P.M. — “Brown University Gilbert
& Sullivan Present Iolanthe,” Alum-
nae Hall
Verney-Woolley Dining Hall
Lunch — Hot Sausage Sandwich,
French Bread Pizza, Cauliflower au
Gratin
Dinner — Baked Chicken, Shells
with Broccoli, Garlic Bread
comics
Enigma Twist |Dustin Foley
The One About Zombies | Kevin Grubb
Cabernet Voltaire |Abe Pressman