THE BROWN DAILY HERALDAn independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

J A N U A R Y 3 1 , 2 0 0 5

Volume CXL, No. 4 www.browndailyherald.com

M O N D A Y

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TODAY TOMORROW

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BY BEN MILLERSPORTS EDITOR

Lawrence William Rubida ’05 passed awayat 2:30 a.m. on Saturday after a nine-monthbattle with an aggressive form of bone can-cer. He was 23 years old.

“He had a lot of friends and loved life,”said football Head Coach Phil Estes. “Hereally was one of the guys that loved to stickup for the little guy. He really felt that if hebelieved in something, he would stand upfor what his values were.”

“On the field, if you could have 11Lawrence Rubidas on either side of the ballyou would win every game,” said formerteammate Brent Grinna ’04. “He didn’t allowyou to ever take a day off. He was no-non-sense all the time. He never lost that drive towin.”

Rubida’s drive and determination helpedhim both on the football field, where heearned second team All-Ivy status in 2002,and in the classroom, where he concentrat-ed in political science and psychology. Hewas also a loyal friend — always honest,upfront and willing to do anything for thoseto whom he was close.

“One of the biggest things to me was thekind of friend he was,” said former team-mate Dan Startsman ’02.5. “The springbreak of his junior year … Lawrence justpopped in his car and drove out to see me(in Ohio). That’s one of those things that justtouch me. He gave up his spring break andcame out here just because he hadn’t seenme in a while.”

Startsman spent nearly two weeks inJanuary with Rubida at his home inArlington, Va. The two ate Chinese food andEgg McMuffins, both of which Rubida loved,and just hung out, playing video games,watching movies, but most importantly,playing cards.

“We were just doing the things he liked todo,” Startsman said. “We played rummy forhours at a time.”

Rubida was diagnosed with Ewing’s sar-coma, a rare form of bone cancer, in May

2004. He began treatment at StanfordUniversity’s Lucile Packard Children’sHospital.

Back in Providence, the team formed theLawrence Rubida Trust to help offset theenormous cost of Rubida’s treatment andraise money for further research intoEwing’s sarcoma. The trust was formallyunveiled in an emotional ceremony duringhalftime of the Harvard game Sept. 25. The

team also announced it had raised $25,000as a starting contribution. Other Ivy Leagueteams continued to chip in throughout theseason.

In December the team started sellingbrown bracelets engraved with the words“Never Quit,” similar to the popular“LiveStrong” bracelets. The proceeds from

Piano rocker Ben Folds will play at SpringWeekend this year, Brown ConcertAgency Chair Randi Siegel ’05 said Friday.

Folds, who has toured without anyaccompanying musicians recently, willplay with a backup band on the MainGreen Saturday, April 23. Because BCAdoes not yet know its final budget, Foldsis the only act booked so far, Siegel said.

While Spring Weekend will consist ofits usual Thursday and Saturday shows,BCA may only book four acts instead ofsix this year. “We don’t want to spreadourselves too thin and end up with actsnobody’s ever heard of,” Siegel said.

Folds will cost $35,000 plus backline,which means BCA will need to supplyinstruments for Folds and his band. Intotal, Folds’ performance should costabout $40,000, Siegel said.

BCA typically waits until the entireweekend’s lineup is booked before mak-ing an announcement, but Siegel con-firmed Folds’ appearance to The Heraldwhen the date appeared on Folds’ Website. A similar situation occurred last yearwhen Bela Fleck and the Flecktones putSpring Weekend on their tour dates page.

The April 23 date comes three daysbefore the release of “Songs for Silver-man,” Folds’ first full-length studioalbum since 2001. Since then, Folds hasreleased a live album and three five-songEPs.

Folds had his first commercial successas part of Ben Folds Five. The band’sbiggest success was 1997’s “Whateverand Ever Amen,” which featured the hitsingle “Brick.”

The show will come at the end of astring of college dates for Folds, who lastweekend had scheduled dates at DukeUniversity, Dickinson College andSyracuse University.

— Herald Staff Reports

Spring weekends past, page 4

Nick Neeley / Herald

Lawrence Rubida ’05 was an All-Ivy football player as well as a double-concentrator inpolicitcal science and psychology.

Juliana Wu / Herald

Increased safeRIDE ridership is a result of restricted on-campus parking and improvedshuttle accessibility.

Ben Folds to playSpring Weekend,BCA confirms

BY STEPHEN NARAINCONTRIBUTING WRITER

More Brown students are using safeRIDEand Rhode Island mass transit as alterna-tives to driving, according to recent rider-ship statistics from the TransportationOffice.

Decreased University parking com-bined with increased student familiaritywith the safeRIDE program has led toincreased student usage in the past year,according to Abigail Rider, director of realestate and administrative services.

“SafeRIDE ridership has increasedacross the board,” Rider said. “Riders nowunderstand how these services work (and)are more comfortable in using them.”

Last semester, the week ending Nov. 14saw a peak of over 6,000 rides for allsafeRIDE services.

SafeRIDE onCall, which arranges ridesfrom Brown and Rhode Island School ofDesign campus buildings to a rider’s off-campus residence in the prescribed cover-age area, peaked at 1,698 rides for the weekending Dec. 12 compared to 932 rides thatsame time last year. RISD students made

up 60 percent of those riders. RISD pays itsshare of onCall’s cost based on the propor-tion of RISD student use.

The BrownMed/Downcity service hasseen ridership increase five-fold sincemore shuttles became available between1-3 a.m. In addition to serving Brown’shospital affiliations, this route transportsstudents to Kennedy Plaza, Ship Street andthe Jewelry District.

With increased use, the TransportationOffice is working to ensure that wait times,especially in winter, are kept at a mini-mum.

“We monitor where we are getting ridesto and from,” Rider said. “There is atremendous demand and we have to con-tinuously re-evaluate our coverage area.”

Beginning last semester, Brown’s sub-sidy of RIPTIK ticket packs for RhodeIsland Public Transit Authority busesallowed half-price bus fares for Brown stu-dents, faculty and other staff. Subsidiesincreased ridership by 250 percent,according to an advertisement placed in

With university parking cuts, students turn to safeRIDE

see SAFERIDE, page 4

Rubida ’05‘Never Quit’

see RUBIDA, page 4

A THEATER FEASTCannibalism, men in dresses, andreally long words: Sock & Buskin,P.W. will “Measure” up this season

A R T S & C U LT U R E 3

WINTER OF OUR BOREDOMJoshua Lerner ’07: Brown shouldgive its students something tolearn in January

O P I N I O N S 11

CAGERS IN SYNCIn first full Ivy weekend, m. and w.basketball teams both beat backthe Tigers but drop the Penn

S P O R T S 12

Editorial Phone: 401.351.3372

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Jonathan Ellis, President

Sara Perkins, Vice President

Ian Halvorsen, Treasurer

Daniel Goldberg, Secretary

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD, INC.

C R O S S W O R D

THIS MORNINGTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 · PAGE 2

ACROSS1 Soccer great Mia5 Book of maps10 Coagulate14 Prefix with

distant15 Bloodsucker16 Tick off17 Hardly a short

film20 Convince of21 Toys on strings22 Classic opener?23 Merry escapade25 It’ll help you find

a lost dog’sowner

29 Sly look30 Tony Blair and

others, briefly33 A or AA, in

footwear37 “Confound it!”38 Burr who dueled

Hamilton39 Cologne that

soundsforbidding

40 “60 Minutes”piece, e.g.

43 Enzyme ending44 Vintage cars45 Lipinski leaps46 Spanish artist

Joan47 Pale49 Chef protector52 Starts the

football game57 Fun-loving

fellow60 Author __

Stanley Gardner61 Rolls’s partner62 Afternoon

socials63 Pipe part64 MasterCard

alternatives65 Ten percenters:

Abbr.

DOWN 1 Test the weight

of2 Turquoise

relative3 Ponder4 Vitamin D source5 Coeur d’__

6 6:50, vis-à-vis7:00

7 Toy blocks brand8 “It’s all an __”9 “No talking!”10 Swindler11 Ancient Roman

historian12 Miscellany13 Golfer’s

pocketful18 Legalese is one19 Biblical resin23 Strung along24 State Farm

competitor25 Gandhi’s nation26 Stitches27 Sports page

news28 “Laugh-In”

comedianJohnson

29 Turkish coins30 Moon stage31 It merged with

Exxon32 Horton the

Elephant’screator

34 Give the plantsa drink

35 “Yippee!”36 River of Hades41 Crime scene

smudge, maybe42 Sri __46 Computer

device47 Good witchcraft48 Feels sore49 Quite a while50 Coastal city51 Part in a play

52 Florida isles53 Caracas lass:

Abbr.54 Designer

Cassini55 Royal decree56 Come clean,

with “up”58 Sportscaster

Cross59 Miss Piggy, to

Miss Piggy

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16

17 18 19

20 21

22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

33 34 35 36

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S E W S G I A N T P A N D AA V O N O N Y O U R F E E TD E M O O N E A N O T H E RI N B R E D S H E P I R AE S T E E M S S I M S

T O R N O U T N E T T L EB E T Y O D E L N O H O WA V O W D A N E S P E T ER E M A P N O V E L R U RE N B L O C R E V E R E S

T R A M R E D A T E SS O W S C A B N A T H A NT R E N C H C O A T T E T EA L L T H E R A G E A R E AB Y T H E D O Z E N N E R D

By Lila Cherry(c)2005 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

01/31/05

01/31/05

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

Chocolate Covered Cotton Mark Brinker

Jero Matt Vascellaro

Penguiner Haan Lee

Coreacracy Eddie Ahn

Homebodies Mirele Davis

Raw Prawn Kea Johnston

W O R L D I N B R I E F

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

WASHINGTON — Election day in Iraqbrought a rare dose of favorable newsfor the Bush administration’s effortsthere, but left unanswered whetherother such days will follow.

At home, where support for the warhas fallen to fewer than half ofAmericans, the image of Iraqis riskingtheir lives to cast ballots was likely toincrease public sympathy. Abroad,where the U.S.-led effort has been wide-ly questioned, there were signs thatallies would judge the election positive-ly, possibly providing international legit-imacy that has been a top goal for theUnited States.

But U.S. officials stopped shortSunday of calling the vote a turningpoint, perhaps remembering how thejubilation that followed the capture ofSaddam Hussein in December 2003melted in a few months as the insur-gency raged on. While exulting in theelection turnout Sunday, President Bush

also said,“There’s more distance to trav-el on the road to democracy.”

Despite the exhilaration, the electionmay do little to win international sup-port, assure development of a friendlygovernment in Baghdad and preventthe spread of civil strife.

World leaders usually look to theUnited Nations to help them makesense of elections in troubled parts ofthe world. The U.N. election team forIraq is already making clear that it con-siders the balloting fair — even thoughIraq was too dangerous to permit thepresence of international observers.

“They’re voting for the day whenthey’re going to take their destiny inhand,” U.N. Secretary-General KofiAnnan said.

Such judgments could serve to softenpublic opposition in Europe and theMiddle East to the U.S. presence in Iraq.

For more on the Iraqi election page 6.

Outlook brightens in Iraq, but no quick fix

T O D A Y ’ S E V E N T S

ISRAELI AND INTERNATIONALFOLK DANCING7:30 p.m. - 9 p.m. (Hillel House, 80Brown Street) —Israeli and international folk dancestaught -- for beginners throughadvanced

"WHAT’S IN A WORD? 'FEDE' ANDITS DOUBLES BETWEEN MACHI-AVELLI AND LUTHER."3 p.m. - 6 p.m. (Annmary BrownMemorial)—Albert Ascoli, Gladys Arata Professorof Italian Studies at UC Berkeley, willspeak on his research into EarlyModern faith and ideology, with asubsquent discussion centered oncantos 21 and 44-46 of Ariosto’sOrlando furioso.

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 · PAGE 3

ARTS & CULTURETHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

BY LISHAN SOH STAFF WRITER

One sunny afternoon in December 2004, Charles Longand his assistant dragged one of his sculptures through ariver on a shopping cart, then sat on the grass, had a pic-nic and watched the birds poop on it. “And it was fin-ished,” Long said.

The piece is now on display in the David Winton BellGallery, part of “More Like a Dream Than a Scheme,” anexhibit featuring the latest works from the Los Angeles,Calif. native and professor of art at the University ofCalifornia — Riverside.

Students, faculty and members of the public packedthe List Art Center auditorium Friday evening to hearLong speak at the opening of the exhibition. The 47-year-old artist was pleasantly surprised by the favorableresponse, opening his lecture with an admission that he“had only expected no more than 12 people to show up.”

Long said his earlier pieces were more evocative of thebody, flesh and sensory pleasures, often created while hewas “wrapped up in mind games” and complex psycholo-gy. He described his latest work as the product of “realexperience,” making them more “intuitive and poetic.”

The collection — a series of 23 freestanding assem-blages and suspended sculptures — seeks to create a spa-tial environment in which the play of light and shadowselicits the feeling of a magical otherworld. The sculpturesthat hang from the ceiling and walls are made of plaster,wire and light bulbs; those on the ground are constructedof junk, steel, plaster and papier-mâché.

The junk used in the pieces was scavenged from theLos Angeles River behind Long’s home. Calling there a“source of sustenance,” Long said he often wades in theriver in search of discarded articles to use in his sculp-tures. Packing foam, a shopping cart, coconut fiber andvarious containers, most covered with white plaster, fea-ture widely in the exhibition. Before his lecture, the audi-ence was treated to footage of Long dragging his piece,

“We Wait a Long Time to See You, to Beat You,” throughthe river.

The bare lights from suspended pieces throughout thegallery are strategically placed to “penetrate the otherpieces,” Long said. Describing the play of light and shad-ows as “irresponsible” and “playful,” Long emphasizedthe need for viewer involvement with his work and for vis-itors to interact and be creative with their interpretationsof his art.

Citing the writing of 13th-century Persian poet Rumi aswell as the drawings of his 9-year-old son as inspiration,Long replicates his son’s scribbles in some of his art. Hedisclosed a particular fondness for a metal sculptureresembling satellites, which hangs near the galleryentrance. Called “The Good Friend of Forever,” after a linefrom a poem by Rumi, it is modeled after one of his son’spictures.

Much of Long’s work in “More Like a Dream Than aScheme” is metaphorical. The stark whiteness of the plas-ter that coats most of his work, coupled with his very spo-radic use of color, gives the exhibition an ethereal feel.This is one of Long’s aims in the piece “The SlaveChemist,” which features 32 miniature figures stuck tosteel rods emerging from a broad, round table base. Thefigures encircle an amorphous mass of papier-mâché.

“The physicality of this world is represented by thetable base,” Long said, “and the figures are elevated toanother level, the world of the pretend, the make-believe.”

Even the title of the exhibition is metaphorical. “MoreLike a Dream Than a Scheme” not only describes thephysical appearance of the gallery and Long’s art, but alsorefers to his pieces, which are unpremeditated and com-pletely open to viewer interpretation.

“I just want my viewers to have fun, live passionatelyand think creatively,” Long said.

“More Like a Dream Than a Scheme” will be on displayat the David Winton Bell Gallery through March 6.

Artist Long creates ‘playful’ exhibitBY LAURA SUPKOFFCONTRIBUTING WRITER

This semester’s theater lineup features everythingfrom Trey Parker’s take on cannibalism to gender con-struction in William Shakespeare. Four plays of spe-cial note are the Sock and Buskin productions“Measure for Measure,” “Compleat Female StageBeauty” and “bobrauschenbergamerica,” and theProduction Workshop performance “Cannibal: TheMusical.”

Sock and BuskinMuch goes into selecting the plays that will be fea-tured each semester. After the long process of readingthrough hundreds of plays, the Sock and Buskin com-mittee, made up of both students and faculty, decidesupon six to produce.

“It’s probably the most exciting season I’ve seen inmy four years,” said Allison Posner ’05, chair of theSock and Buskin board.

Two of the Sock and Buskin plays will be directedby faculty members, and the third, “Measure forMeasure,” will be directed by Adam Immerwahr ’05.

Immerwahr presented his production idea to theboard and was chosen to fill the senior slot, a produc-tion reserved each year for a member of the seniorclass.

“It’s about some really contemporary issues,”Immerwahr said. It is concerned with “how women’sbodies are constructed in society, sexual harassment,the role of morality and how society legislates inter-personal issues.”

This adaptation incorporates dance, whichImmerwahr explained was intended to further the

Spring theater preview

see THEATER, page 4

PAGE 4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005

The Herald by Brown and RIPTA.The University has also

launched transportation initia-

tives for commuter employees,staff and visitors. In addition tosupport for carpooling, the“Guaranteed Ride Home” programensures employees who use masstransit can take a taxi in case ofemergency.

In response to the city’s con-

cerns about congestion on CollegeHill, Brown reduced the number ofavailable overnight parking spacesin 2000 and 2004. The remaining500 parking spaces allotted toundergraduates are assigned by aseniority-based lottery every April.

Brown is in the process of find-ing ways to replace lost parkingcapacity over the long-term, Ridersaid. But with limited space avail-able on campus to create parkinglots, future parking spaces for stu-dents may end up in remote areas.More centrally-located facilitieshave been planned for guests andvisitors to the University.Benchmark figures for parkinggarages hover around $20,000 perspace, she said.

She said plans for resolvingparking issues, especially forundergraduates, will focus onreducing the demand for spacesby immediately providing trans-portation alternatives while alsoincreasing the supply of parkingspaces over the longer term.

safeRIDEcontinued from page 1

the sales went toward the trust.In the meantime Rubida had

responded well to treatment, anddoctors eliminated the initialtumor on his hip. But on Nov. 6,the doctors discovered anothertumor, this one above the knee onhis right leg. In a few days it hadgrown tenfold. The news got worsein mid-December when tumors

were discovered in his lungs.Rubida ended his treatment andmoved back to Virginia to be withhis family.

“He wanted to go home,”Startsman said. “He wanted to bein his own bed in his own bed-room.”

Rubida was especially hurt bythe death of his good friend RickyWhelan ’04, who passed away Jan.11. Although he was in a great dealof pain, Rubida made the trip upto Merion, Pa., to attend the serv-

ice.“He fought this thing for eight

months and he never anticipatedgoing to one of his friend’s funer-als,” Grinna said. “He took itextremely difficultly.”

The next weekend Rubidaattended the NFC championshipgame at Philadelphia’s LincolnFinancial Field. Lawrence, alongwith his girlfriend Kim Highlund’04, his father, Kirk Rubida, and afew former teammates sat in a lux-ury box provided by RichardDresdale ’78. According to an e-mail sent out to friends and team-mates by Tim Goobic ’04, Rubidashouted “Do it for Ricky” when theEagles ran onto the field.

The next day, Rubida’s healthtook a turn for the worse. Thetumors in his lungs had grown tothe point where he was having dif-ficulty breathing. He checked intothe Halquist Memorial Hospice

near his home in Arlington. Laterin the week, Estes and OffensiveLine Coach Frank Sheehan flewdown to Virginia.

“He looked as well as you couldhope,” Estes said. “They had himupright to help him breathe. Hewas able to open his eyes andsmile. He mumbled a few things. Iam glad that we were able to saygoodbye to Lawrence and tell himthat he fought a good fight.”

“I’m proud that I was one of theguys that he wanted to say good-bye to,” Sheehan said. “He was inand out of consciousness, but heknew we were there. He cracked asmile. He said he knew we werecoming, and he was going to waitfor us.”

Rubida did not make it throughthe night. He passed away at 2:30a.m., surrounded by his family andHighlund.

“All I can do about Lawrence is

try to get through the grief andremember all he taught me,”Sheehan said. “He taught me a lotabout myself and about coaching.I thanked him for allowing me tocoach him, but he was more than aplayer to me.”

Even though he was in a lot ofpain, Rubida still never put him-self first.

“The last impression that I haveof Lawrence is how at the end hecontinued to care for how peoplewere feeling,” Grinna said. “He wasin a lot of pain, but he alwayswanted to know how you weredoing. His ability to care stuck withhim.”

Rubida is survived by his fatherKirk, his mother Sara and his sisterKatherine. Services are beingplanned for this coming weekendin Virginia with a memorial serviceto be held at Brown in the next fewweeks.

Rubidacontinued from page 1

story and fill in what contempo-rary viewers would deem gaps inShakespeare’s original.

“Measure for Measure” will beplaying at Leeds Theater fromFeb. 24-26 at 8 p.m. and on Feb.27 at 3 p.m.

“Compleat Female StageBeauty,” directed by ConnieCrawford, adjunct lecturer in the-ater, speech and dance, focuseson a time when women began tofill female roles previously occu-pied by male actors.

The relatively new play focus-es on Ned Kynaston, an actorfamous for his portrayals ofwomen in London in 1661.

Written by Jeffrey Hatcher, a

contemporary playwright andscreenplay creator, this look intoa historical change in theater willbe playing this March at StuartTheater. Performances will befrom March 10-19 at 8 p.m. andon March 20 at 3 p.m.

Visiting Professor of Theater,Speech and Dance SteveBuescher will direct the final Sockand Buskin play.

“Bobrauschenbergamerica” isa play created in the style of artistRobert Rauschenberg, who con-tinues to create unconventionalpieces, taking real objects out oftheir normal context. CharlesMee’s play presents ideas about“interpersonal relations, the rela-tionships between thought andaction, how materials interrelate,past to present, people andplace,” according to a Sock andBuskin press release.

These contrasts can be viewedat Leeds Theater, April 14-23 at 8p.m. and April 24 at 3 p.m.

Production WorkshopStudent-adapted and -directed“Cannibal: the Musical” was cre-ated from the screenplay writtenby Trey Parker, co-creator ofSouth Park.

Director Benji Samit ’06pitched the show to ProductionWorkshop after receiving therights to turn Parker’s screenplayinto a script for the theater.

The play is a spoof on the truestory of the only person convict-ed of cannibalism in the UnitedStates. “What you see here is very,very faithful to the movie,” Samitsaid.

The first PW play of the semes-ter, “Cannibal” will show at T.F.Green Hall from Feb. 11-14.

SPRING WEEKENDS PAST

2004: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Blackalicious, Reel Big Fish, Jurassic 5, Sleater-Kinney, Sue Generis

2003: Luna, The Donnas, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Lisa Loeb ’90, Ozomatli, The Wallflowers

2002: Saves the Day, The Get Up Kids, DJ Spooky, Rufus Wainwright, Dar Williams, The Roots

2001: Violent Femmes, They Might Be Giants, M. Doughty,Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, Jurassic 5

2000: Wyclef Jean, Kelis, Product, G. Love & Special Sauce, TheSamples, Melissa Ferrick, MC Paul Barman

1999: Busta Rhymes, Common, Wilco, Vic Chesnutt, Black Star, DJ Maseo

1998: KRS-One, Rakim, Grandmaster Flash, Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Luna

1997: Bob Dylan, Bo Diddley, The Toasters, Jazz Mandolin Project

Source: Brown Concert Agency

Theatercontinued from page 3

BY CAMDEN AVERYSENIOR STAFF WRITER

Blacks need to shed stereotypesand work more as a community,keynote speaker Brenda Verner.said at Friday’s Black HistoryMonth convocation in Salomon101.

More than 100 students con-gregated forthe event,which

addressedthe theme of this year’s BlackHistory Month — “What is Black?Addressing Our Divisions,Embracing Our Identities —Unifying Our People!”

Verner spoke about herresearch on stereotyping in themedia industry with earnestnessand a sense of humor that keptthe audience in hysterics.

Introducing herself, Vernersaid, “I’m a media researcher, Ispecialize in stereotypingresearch, and I’s black.”

Her concern with black iden-tity is linked to the stereotypesrepresented in pop culture, shesaid. “My goal is to extract youfrom the grip of American popu-lar culture,” she added.

Citing television shows like“Amos and Andy,” Verner saidthat a generation of young blackpeople has consumed a dishon-est cultural stereotype, and hasbegun to “regurgitate” thatstereotype’s image through theiractions.

She cited a statistic that about80 percent of black children areborn out of wedlock, demon-strating that the lives of blackshave come to reflect the stereo-types that misrepresent them inthe media.

The struggle, she said, lies indeciding whether to embrace thecultural image or to chase afterthe American dream.

Stereotypes, Verner added,“are at the core of why we haveproblems coming together as acommunity.”

She criticized the behavior ofthe black community for seekingvalidation as disparate groups:“If we cannot tolerate differenceamong us, then we really do notwant progress.”

She said that blacks need toembrace the “fight for humanity”through calm rationale insteadof anger.

“I think it’s time we stop sulk-ing in the corner over our mal-treatment, and start making aninfluence,” she said. “We have tobe able to see what we do wrong,and fix it.

“We do have the authority tochange things,” she said.

The evening opened with an

introduction by Chandra Singh’05 and Basirat Ottun ’05, wholaid the groundwork for thetheme of black identity.

“Racial identity is a reallycomplex concept that symbol-izes different things for differentpeople,” Ottun said. She addedthat the evening was devoted toinspiring “conversations anddialogues” about confrontingracial identity. “We see thepotential of us coming togetherand working on these issues” topromote change, she said.

Both Ottun and Singh, like thespeakers who followed them,emphasized the continued needto work for progress, which theysaid can be achieved by con-structing a more widely encom-passing concept of what itmeans to be black.

Ottun ended her openingstatement by urging, “Let us notbecome complacent with theway things are.”

The convocation’s introduc-tion was followed by the BlackNational Anthem performed byShades of Brown, then by com-ments by a first-year and a seniorspeaker.

Graham Browne ’08 focusedhis comments on how onebegins to identify as black andwhat makes someone black. Heasked, “Is it about feeling black,or thinking black? Is it aboutbeing seen as black by others?”

Ultimately, Browne said, “Ihope that others, too, will exam-ine themselves this year, thismonth and this evening,” inorder to confront their racialidentity.

Lynnette Freeman ’05, theevening’s senior speaker, openedwith a reading about black iden-tity from Jamaican poetMutabaruka. She went on toexpress the struggle of coming toconclusions about racial identi-ty, and of “being torn betweenwho we are, and who we areexpected to be,” specifically inreference to her experience ofidentifying as both Jamaican andAfrican.

Freeman, like the speakersbefore her, commented on theconstructive quality of identify-ing a broader range of people asblack — even as differencesamong blacks are celebrated —saying that no individual in thediaspora is “blacker” than anoth-er. She added, however, thatwhile a connective thread doeslink people identifying as black,this should not pressure them todepart from another kind ofidentity.

Our children, she said, “will(eventually) no longer have to

ask themselves who they are, butonly who they want to be. …What my college experience hastaught me is, the only person Ican be is me.”

Joseph Edmonds Jr. ’00expanded on the theme of avoid-ing complacency with the statusquo of blacks’ position in society.

“I am convinced,” Edmondssaid, “that I was called here tonourish discontentment (and)disgust with this status quo.” Helater pleaded with the audienceto “usher in new moments of dis-sonance.”

Edmonds quoted a presidentof Morehouse College, saying,“There is discarded geniuseverywhere.” The black commu-nity, he said, “must move beyondthe malaise of mediocrity …(and) forge new identities” torefuse being subsumed by com-placency.

The ceremony ended with amusical selection by JohnnyBraithwaite, including songsperformed before a photomon-tage backdrop displaying imagesof lynchings, chain gangs, free-dom marches and TommieSmith and John Carlos raisingblack-gloved fists at the 1968Olympics.

BY ALLISON WHITNEYCONTRIBUTING WRITER

A team of Brown Universityresearchers recently created astir in the field of molecular biol-ogy by discovering a new waythat a cancer-causing moleculeis activated. This findingexplains why current cancertreatments are not always effec-tive and opens the way for creat-ing better drugs to fight the dis-ease.

The molecule, STAT3, is a pro-tein normally found dormant inadult cells. However, in prostateand breast cancers, it is unusual-ly active. Like a machine whosepower switch is jammed in theon position, the protein in manypatients is always turned on,allowing cells to divide uncon-trollably.

Chemotherapy drugs used totreat these cancers attempt tocontrol STAT3’s activity by turn-ing it off but are not always suc-cessful. This is because scientistswere unaware of a second way inwhich the molecule can beturned on. A recent paper pub-lished in Science, one of theworld’s most prestigious scien-tific journals, describes the wayin which Brown researchers dis-covered the second pathway.

With this new discovery,drugs targeting both STAT3pathways can be developed,which will more efficiently de-activate the protein, improvingcancer treatment.

Eugene Chin, an assistantprofessor of surgery who headedthe research team, said thatmany scientists had believedthere was a second on-offswitch, but were unable to findconclusive evidence for it. Heand Paul Yuan, a post-doctoralresearch fellow in Chin’s lab, per-severed and finally discovered asingle amino acid in the proteinwhich was reversibly taggedwhen STAT3 was turned on andoff.

Proteins are made of chains ofhundreds of amino acids joinedend-to-end. Yuan identified theamino acid by painstakinglymutating a series of 19 individ-ual links in the chain until hefound the one mutant in whichthe on-off switch was missing.

“Paul … he has magic hands.That’s all I can say,” Chin said.“Faculty, professors … have theidea, and students and post-docs have very nice hands.”

According to Chin, their find-

Brown researchers discovercancer ‘on-off switch’

see CANCER, page 6

Black History Month kicks off

BLACK HISTORYMONTH 2005

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 · PAGE 5

CAMPUS NEWSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

BY PATRICK J. MCDONNELLLOS ANGELES TIMES

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Millions ofIraqis defied violence, calls for aboycott, and a legacy of despot-ism to cast ballots Sunday in thenation’s first multi-party elec-tions in half a century.

Some Iraqis traveled longdistances to get to their pollingbooths, enduring multiplecheckpoints and several search-es by U.S. and Iraqi troops. Theywaved fingers dipped in blueink after casting ballots for a275-seat parliament that will beentrusted with forming a transi-tional government and writing aconstitution by year’s end.Election officials expect prelim-inary poll results in a week andfinal results in about 10 days.

Some voters said they sawthe election as an act of libera-tion. Others said the vote repre-sented their opposition to theinsurgency gripping largeswaths of the country. A fewvoters said they hoped theirballots would speed a U.S. pull-out from Iraq.

At least 44 people were killedin nine suicide blasts and insur-gents’ mortar attacks, but it wasnot the nationwide bloodbaththat many feared. About 10British troops died when a

British C-130 military transportplane crashed north ofBaghdad, scattering wreckageover a large area. Authoritieshave not determined the causeof the crash, which occurredabout 30 minutes after pollsclosed.

A U.S.-enforced lockdown ofthe capital and other areas suc-ceeded in averting the kind ofhigh-casualty strikes that couldhave scared off voters anddoomed the entire effort.

Election officials estimatedthat 60 percent of the 14 millionregistered voters participated inthe poll, but it remained unclearif turnout would reach the 50percent mark widely regarded asthe standard of success.

As expected, Shiite Muslimsand Kurds turned out in over-whelming numbers, while SunniArabs who ruled the countrybefore Saddam Hussein’s ousterlargely stayed away. Voters inthree predominantly Sunni Arabprovinces — Al Anbar,Salahuddin and Nineveh, thelatter including the city of Mosul— appeared certain to be under-represented in the final count.

Kurds and Shiites proudlydisplayed their ink-stainedindex fingers, proof that theyhad been part of a day many

considered momentous. InShiite Najaf and the Kurdishnorth, the challenge was findingsomeone who had not voted.

“Today is a day of celebrationthat makes me forget the sonsthat I lost,’’ declared SayyidAbbas Shubbar, who wept as hecast his ballot inside a middleschool in Najaf’s Judayda neigh-borhood. The 65-year-old saidSaddam’s government executedhis four grown sons.

Some voters broke into songand dance that seemed to over-shadow, at least for themoment, this nation’s recenthistory of mass murder, execu-tions, a shattered infrastructureand chronic shortages of gaso-line and power.

“This is a historic day forIraq,’’ declared Abdul MunaimAbdul-Karim, a 63-year-oldengineer and secular Shiite whowore a Russian fur hat and saidhe and his wife trekked six milesto find their polling place inBaghdad’s middle-class Karradaneighborhood. “We feel we arereally doing something good.’’

President Bush hailed theelection as a “resounding suc-cess.’’

“The world is hearing thevoice of freedom from the cen-ter of the Middle East,’’ Bush

said in televised commentsfrom the White House. “By par-ticipating in free elections, theIraqi people have firmly reject-ed the anti-democratic ideologyof the terrorists.’’

The Bush administration ishopeful that the transitionprocess will eventually sap sup-port from the insurgency andallow for a substantial reduc-tion of the 150,000 U.S. troopsstationed here.

U.N. Secretary-General KofiAnnan, who has clashed withthe Bush administration overIraq, released a statement say-ing the “success of the electionaugurs well for the transitionprocess.’’

U.N. officials helped organ-ize the election and Annan onSunday offered more U.N. helpin future elections and the writ-ing of the Iraqi constitution,saying that “this is a time forreconciliation on all sides.’’

Slates representing thenation’s Kurdish and Shiiteleadership are certain to havegarnered many votes, analystssay. There was also widespread

agreement that the slate headedby interim Prime Minister AyadAllawi did well.

The banning of most vehi-cles on the streets denied insur-gents their most sensationalweapon, the car bomb. Scoresof checkpoints, barricadedroads and heavy troop deploy-ments curbed insurgents’mobility, especially in the capi-tal.

Large-scale roundups of sus-pected insurgents in recentweeks, including the arrests ofseveral purported leaders of thenetwork of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant,may have weakened the rebels’ability to strike.

Voters were told to opentheir jackets, a precautionagainst suicide vests, beforeapproaching the first line ofpolice officers. Most pollingplaces were in schools.

About 150,000 Iraqi forceswere deployed near the pollingbooths, with U.S. troopspatrolling farther back. U.S.fighter jets and helicoptersbuzzed overhead.

PAGE 6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005

ing is so startling because itunites two processes that werepreviously believed to be sepa-rate. STAT3 has two jobs in thecell — it carries messages fromthe surface of a cell to the nucle-us and turns on genes in thenucleus. While both of thesefunctions were previouslyknown, the newly discovered on-off switch was never before asso-ciated with a molecule that car-ries messages. Chin said that thismay mean other messenger pro-teins could be activated by thismechanism.

The discovery has broughtChin and Brown attention. “Wereceived more than 100 e-mailsfrom the whole world,” Chinsaid.

Wendy Lawton, the senior sci-ence writer for the Brown NewsService, often handles the mediacoverage for Brown researchers’discoveries. She said that while

there have been no articles inmajor newspapers or magazinesabout the research, the newsrelease has received attention ina large number of science-relat-ed blogs.

Chin said he hopes to collabo-rate with drug maker Pfizer todevelop a new drug that targetsboth STAT3 switches.

In addition to developing thedrug, Chin said his lab will alsolook into STAT3’s effect on can-cer metastasis, the process bywhich a cancer migrates fromone organ in the body to anoth-er. He also recently received agrant to study anti-cancer com-pounds found in the soybean.

Chin, originally trained in tra-ditional Chinese medicine, seesthe on-off switches of STAT3 asrepresentations of the yin andyang. “According to Chinese tra-ditional philosophy, the wholeworld is balanced. And this isvery true of molecular biology,”Chin said. “I think it would beperfect for my lab to study alter-native medicine, especially incancer.”

Cancercontinued from page 5

Millions vote in historic election, but at least 44 killed

their advisor, RandallCounselors, sophomore deans,Advising Coordinator SheilahColeman, and departmentalconcentration advisors.Additionally, the CareerDevelopment Office is offering

two two-part workshops oncareer planning for sophomoresstarting Feb. 4 and Feb. 10.

Sophomore year can be a timeof anxiety but most studentshave put the experience in per-spective. Caroline Mailloux ’07summed up the sentiment ofmany who participated in theconference: “It’s nice to be ableto sit back and think, I’m 20; I’mstill a baby in the world.”

Sophscontinued from page 7

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 · PAGE 7

CAMPUS NEWSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Former Harvard dean to liaise with faculty

BY KIM STICKELSCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Eric Leung graduated from Brown in 1977 with anA.B. in history. He went on to become an analyst forthe CIA specializing in the Middle East, decided togo to law school at Northeastern, later became acomputer technical consultant and is currently astructural software engineer for a Providence-based company.

His was just one of the many stories recounted in“Sophomore Explorations,” a pilot advising pro-gram designed to help sophomores explore possi-ble concentrations and careers. The fluidity anddiversity of Leung’s career was held up as an exam-ple for sophomores who may feel anxious about theconnection between their possible concentrationsand their later paths.

“It used to be that people got one job; they werecompany people. Now, people move from career tocareer, and you have to be flexible,” said AriMatusiak ’99, who majored in political science andnow works at the Rhode Island Foundation, a cen-ter for philanthropy.

According to Andrea O’Leary, assistant directorof the Career Development Center, the goal of theprogram was to help sophomores gain “a betterunderstanding of yourself, your strengths and thevariety of academic and future options available.”

Program organizers sought to lessen the rigiditythat some students feel accompanies the choice ofa concentration and a career. “We want to dispelthe myth that what you want to do as a career iswhat you should concentrate in at Brown,” saidJonathan Waage, professor of biology and associatedean of the college, who co-chaired the event.

“Students at Brown are encouraged to be archi-tects of their experience,” said Kimberly Delgizzo,associate dean and director of career development,the other event co-chair.

According to Waage, “Students have to becomegood advice seekers … when you need us, we’rehere.”

Approximately 80 sophomores attended the pro-gram, a joint effort of the Office of the Dean of theCollege and the Career Development Office, onSaturday. Originally scheduled for Jan. 24, the eventwas postponed due to the weekend’s snowstorm.

The program was anchored by two workshops,“Where are you?” and “Where do you go from

here?” and featured a faculty and alumni panel anda reception.

“Where are you?” focused on self-reflection andbrainstorming in small groups. Each student pre-sented his or her talents, interests and values andthen other students suggested possible options andopportunities at Brown and beyond.

Students agreed that the suggestions of the otherstudents and facilitators were useful. Some sopho-mores even learned about new opportunities fromtheir peers. “I heard Pixar is coming (to Brown), andthat coincides with my interests,” said JustinFabrikant ’07.

The afternoon workshop, “Where do you go fromhere?” focused on helping students develop ideasfor courses and concentrations, discover co-curric-ular activities and formulate an action plan.

Panel participants echoed the idea of exercisingflexibility in one’s decisions regarding careers andconcentrations. “Life comes at you, and you justhave to be ready to go with it,” said Elizabeth Taylor,director of Brown’s expository writing program.

“Spend time articulating and thinking about thequestions that keep you up at night, and in someway they will propel you in a certain direction,”Matusiak advised.

Students, alumni and faculty also reflected onBrown’s educational opportunities and its philoso-phy of a liberal education. Eugene Mahr ’77 said thegreatest asset of Brown students is their “ability tosort from many different options and to be able toconstantly reinvent themselves and chart a newpath.”

“Brown is one of the most interdisciplinary uni-versities in the country because students havemade it that way,” Waage said. He cited as an exam-ple the environmental studies concentration,which started out as an independent study project.Steven Cornish, associate dean of the college, char-acterized a liberal education as “preparation forappointments not yet made.”

With the creation of the “SophomoreExplorations” program, the Dean’s Office andCareer Development center hope to address theperceived weakness in sophomore advising.Current resources available to sophomores include

BY JONATHAN SIDHUSTAFF WRITER

Elizabeth Doherty, a former associate dean of Harvard College, came tocampus last week following her appointment as director of faculty affairsat the start of the semester. Though the responsibilities of her positionhave not yet been clearly defined, Doherty said, she looks forward toworking “directly with faculty members and with academic depart-ments.”

Doherty served at Harvard for more than 10 years in a number ofadministrative and faculty roles: assistant dean of freshmen, assistantdean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for academic affairs, director ofthe freshman seminar program and associate dean of Harvard College.

Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service, told the HarvardCrimson in December that Doherty will serve as an interface between thefaculty and the Office of the Dean of the College, overseeing appoint-ments of new faculty and tenure issues. Last week, Nickel declined tocomment to The Herald on her specific responsibilities at Brown.

Doherty said she is “looking forward to getting to know a broad rangeof members of the faculty as I work with them on specific issues or meetthem through work with faculty committees.” Citing her previous experi-ence in working with faculty at Harvard, Doherty said she intends to meetwith department chairs and hopes ultimately to reach out to faculty ineach department.

“The strong relationships that I’ve formed with faculty have been oneof the real pleasures of my time at Harvard, and I’m eager to get to knowmy new colleagues at Brown,” she said.

“I enjoyed what I was doing at the office of academic affairs (atHarvard) and wasn’t explicitly thinking of moving until I learned of theposition (here),” she said.

She said the University’s undergraduate focus motivated her move.“I’ve always been interested in Brown. It is more focused on undergradu-ate education and less on professional schools than Harvard is. Once Istarted talking to people, it became clear that Brown was an exciting placeto be,” she said.

At Harvard, Doherty has been credited with expanding the freshmanseminar program significantly, in addition to teaching in the program.

“I don’t honestly know whether, or to what extent, I’ll be interactingwith students,” she said.

In light of the Plan for Academic Enrichment’s faculty expansion ini-tiative, Doherty hopes to play a significant role in appointing new facul-ty. “There’s no more interesting role for an administrator than to feel thatone is playing a key role in the institution, and making excellent facultyappointments is central to the strength of any college or university,” shesaid.

“When I saw the opportunity to move to Brown to work on just theseissues, and at a time when Brown is making such a remarkable effort toexpand its faculty, the position of director of faculty affairs was instantlyappealing to me,” she said.

Dean of the Faculty Rajiv Vohra P’07 and Associate Dean of the FacultyEric Suuberg could not be reached to comment on Doherty’s position.

Herald Open H ouses

195 Angell Street

— coming soon —

Career paths need not belinear, U. shows sophomores

see SOPHS, page 6

PAGE 8 THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005

scored six straight points, includ-ing a layup off a nice lob passfrom the top of the key by JackieVocell ’06, to tie the score at 43-all with 1:39 remaining.

The Bears had a good chanceto take the lead after a steal byKelly, but a layup attempt byRobertson was off the mark. TheQuakers didn’t miss as theyworked the ball into centerJennifer Fleischer, who hit ashort jumper to retake the leadwith 22 seconds left.

Fleischer was a difference-maker all game for the Quakers,grabbing 16 rebounds and 13

points. Her defensive rebound-ing helped limit the Bears to onlyone shot each possession.

“She totally destroyed ourinside game, especially on theboards,” Burr said of Fleischer.“We got outplayed on theboards.”

After calling timeout with 10.9seconds left, the Bears inbound-ed the ball to Sarah Hayes ’06,who had a good look at the bas-ket but was unable to bury theshort jumper. Fleischer grabbedthe rebound, and Penn calledtimeout. Brown then fouledMonica Naltner, who sank twofree throws to put the game outof reach.

Although the Bears playedstellar defense in limiting theQuakers to just 47 points, what

ultimately did them in was poorshooting. Brown made just 29.1percent of its field goals and only16.7 percent of its three-pointattempts.

“Shots just were not falling.That happens sometimes,”Hayes said. “Our defense was stillstrong. That has been our breadand butter all year. Tonight theymade a couple more shots thanwe did.”

While Burr was not happywith her team’s offensive produc-tion, she did find the defensiveplay heartening.

“We played tremen-dously consistent D,” Burr said.“That’s a sign of a championshipteam. As much as we struggledoffensively, we never let down ondefense.”

W. hoopscontinued from page 12

shot the ball well the entire gameand made plays.”

Unfortunately for the Bears, thetables were turned the followingnight against Penn. Forte led theBears with 15 points, while theonly other Bear in double figureswas forward P.J. Flaherty ’07 with11.

As well as they had shot onenight before, the Bears seeminglylost their touch somewherebetween New Jersey andPennsylvania. They shot only 38.6percent from the field, with Forteand Ruscoe combining to go 7-for-25.

“We played horrible,” Ruscoesaid. “Not to take anything awayfrom them, they played very well,but we just didn’t come to play atall. Of course, it didn’t help thatthey shot 76 percent in the firsthalf, but we just did not play well.”

Sophomore forward SteveDanley led Penn with a career-high 22 points, making all sevenshots he took in the first half. TheQuakers took a 44-23 lead intohalftime and never looked back.

The Bears were able to fightback and close to 12 points withjust over 13 minutes remaining,but the deficit was too great, andPenn eventually pushed the leadback over 20.

When asked whether he feltplaying the top two teams in theleague on the road and on back-to-back nights might have con-tributed to the loss to Penn,Ruscoe said it made no difference.

“It is difficult playing two toughteams on the road on back-to-back nights, but that’s no excuseat all,” he said. “Fatigue sets in, butthey’re tired as well because theyplayed the night before like wedid. We just didn’t play well — itwas very disappointing.”

Despite the tough loss, theBears returned home fairlypleased with the results of theweekend. With a 1-1 Ivy Leaguerecord and a victory overPrinceton on the road in hand,Bruno is very much in the runningfor the Ivy League championship.

“We’re definitely happy with asplit,” Ruscoe said. “1-1 is a goodresult. We wanted to get at leastone win, and hopefully whenPenn has to come up here inFebruary, it will be a differentstory.”

M. hoopscontinued from page 12

BY STUART SILVERSTEINLOS ANGELES TIMES

LOS ANGELES — University ofCalifornia - Los Angeles fresh-man Karina Hernandez doesn’trecall ever encountering dis-crimination as a Hispanicwoman, and says she isn’t espe-cially concerned with the issueof race and ethnic relations.

“For me, the racial bound-aries are not there,’’ saidHernandez, an 18-year-oldplanning to major in aerospaceengineering.

Hernandez provides oneexplanation for a key conclusiondrawn from a new survey of U.S.college freshmen: They are lesspreoccupied with race and eth-nicity.

The survey, being releasedMonday by UCLA researchers,found that a record high 22.7percent of freshmen said racialdiscrimination is no longer amajor problem in America.

UCLA researchers said fresh-men who have had encouragingexperiences such asHernandez’s — growing up withfriends of different racial andethnic backgrounds — partlyexplain the diminished concernabout racial issues.

“Their comfort level hasdeveloped with people who aredifferent from them, and they

carry those relationships intocollege,’’ said Sylvia Hurtado,director of UCLA’s HigherEducation Research Instituteand a coauthor of the surveyreport.

But Hurtado said a dramati-cally different factor alsoappears to play a major, andprobably even more important,role in the survey findings. Shesaid many freshmen whoattended largely segregated highschools, particularly whites,haven’t been exposed to racialinequities that could generategreater concern about race rela-tions.

On balance, Hurtado said, thefreshman views on race weretroubling. “There are differentgroups in society experiencinglife differently in the UnitedStates, and that’s always histori-cally been the case,’’ she said.“If they don’t see these issues asimportant, we won’t be able tochange that.’’

Student leaders and otherundergraduates offered varyingreactions to the results.

Diana Flynn, editor in chiefof the student newspaper at theflagship campus of theUniversity of Connecticut, saidundergraduates feel less appre-hensive than their parents didabout dealing with people of

other races and ethnicities.“Our comfort level has

increased, so race is somethingwe’re not as conscious of any-more,’’ said Flynn, who is white.

However, the UCLA surveyalso found that the percentageof entering freshmen who indi-cated that chances were “verygood’’ that they would socializewith someone of a differentracial or ethnic backgroundduring college had declined to63.1 percent. That was downfrom 66.2 percent a year earlier,and was the lowest level sinceUCLA’s poll started includingthe question in 2000.

In addition, opinions dif-fered significantly betweenwhites and minorities on race-related questions. For instance,though 23.5 percent of whitefreshmen characterized helpingto promote racial understand-ing as essential or very impor-tant, 54.8 percent of blacks and43.6 percent of Hispanics feltthat way.

Amber White-Davidson, ajunior at Emory University inAtlanta who is vice president ofthe campus’ Black StudentAlliance, said she was shockedat the rising percentage of stu-dents who believe that racialdiscrimination is no longer aproblem.

Study looks at students’ view of race

EDITORIAL/LETTERSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 · PAGE 10

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This weekend, Brown University lost another member of itscommunity much too soon. Those who knew Lawrence Rubida’05 remember him as one of the hardest-working members ofthe football team: always prepared and always loyal. ThoughRubida didn’t play a single down of football his junior seasondue to an ACL injury, his teammates had enough respect forhim to name him a captain the following spring.

It is human nature to ask, “Why him?” after losing someoneof Rubida’s character. But those kinds of questions are useless toask. Instead we need to look at what lessons we can take fromhis life.

Rubida compared his odds of beating cancer to his odds ofgetting into Brown, saying if he could beat the 10-percent oddsto get into the University, he could beat his 15-percent odds tolive. Rubida was not delusional — he realized that once the can-cer spread to his lungs he needed to enjoy the time he had left— but his outlook on fighting a disease that had an enormoushead start by the time it was diagnosed is awe-inspiring.

On road trips, Rubida’s teammates said he would often be offwatching film on the next day’s opponent while they were relax-ing and watching movies on Friday nights. If you want to see theface of a focused man, find a picture of Rubida on game day.This focus helped Rubida earn All-Ivy honors as a sophomore. Italso must have helped him get through an arduous treatmentschedule that successfully eradicated the original tumor.

After Rubida was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, his team-mates and friends wasted no time in setting up the LawrenceRubida Trust to help pay Rubida’s enormous medical bills,which amounted to about $100,000 a month. They organized abench-press-a-thon during intense summer workouts, raising$25,000. They sold and wore proudly the “Never Quit” braceletsyou’ve seen around campus.

These friends should be lauded for their efforts. Certainly see-ing that outpouring of support made Lawrence’s last monthsless difficult. That Rubida moved those around him to such lev-els of support is further evidence of his importance to thosewho knew him.

After the death of Rubida’s friend Ricky Whelan ’04 on Jan. 11,Rubida was understandably shaken. When he attended the NFCchampionship game in Philadelphia, he apparently spent theentire game happily talking about Ricky with friends. That hecould spend time talking about Whelan while his time was run-ning so short shows what kind of friend he was.

Unfortunately, Rubida rejoined Ricky on Saturday morning.To those who knew Lawrence, now is a time to remember thetimes you had, much like he did that day in Philadelphia. Andeven for those who did not have that privilege, we can all learn athing or two about determination from Lawrence.

Lawrence Rubida ’05

C O R R E C T I O N

An article in Thursday’s Herald misstated the previous early admission policy of the Officeof Admission. The Class of 2005 was admitted under a multiple-choice early action policy.

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OPINIONSTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2005 · PAGE 11

A winter break J-term?

DONALD TETTO

I think general sentiment around this campus is thatBrown’s winter vacation is incredibly long.

Many other colleges and universities offer opportu-nities for travel and continuing education during theprotracted January weeks, yet Brown makes little effort.

The University offers one of the longest winter breaksaround, but fails to adequately support its students infinding productive programs to fill that space. Somefind productive ways to fill the expanse of time. Othersdon’t.

This school prides itself on having a liberal under-graduate curriculum, which is great. Here, “liberal”translates into “freedom for students.” There are norequirements, besides those necessary to complete aconcentration; faculty advisors are only required for thefirst year, after which students can choose to go at theirremaining three years alone. As a result of this dedica-tion to liberal policy, students often develop a great dealof personal motivation and resourcefulness in order tonavigate their way through their own education.

Motivation and resourcefulness are, of course, won-derful attributes to have. But within Brown’s liberal pol-icy, a fine line develops: to what extent should theschool interfere by providing guidance to its students,and to what extent should it leave things up to the stu-dents to make the best of their time here?

Whatever the answer, it’s dangerous to lose sight ofthe fact that a good school should provide consistentsupport for its students — support that includes oppor-tunities for education throughout the whole of the aca-demic calendar.

That means January, too. Here’s what an optional January term might look like

at Brown. Departments could offer educationallythemed abroad trips for two- or three-week stints:Psychology might sponsor animal research in Australia,while Classics could investigate ancient Greece. Or stu-dents could set up their own travels through theUniversity — a shorter alternative to a semesterabroad.

Domestically, Brown could sponsor one- or two-week-long intensive seminars in special topics. I’m surethere are at least a few professors out there who would-n’t mind instructing a small team of dedicated studentson a subject of particular interest. Or students could

return in January for short, independent projects oftheir own creation: a sort of J-term GISP for those whocan’t fit one into later semesters.

To pay for these events, Brown would have to enact apolicy similar to those in place at many other collegesand universities: students would, of course, have to payto go on a trip abroad, or pay for short-term housing ifthey were to take a course during January. Ideally,efforts would be made to reduce the price tags on thesetrips through fund raising, grant proposals or dona-tions. And, of course, scholarships would be madeavailable. Setting up an effective J-term would only befair if all students had the means to attend.

To be sure, Brown does offer some activities over theJanuary break, but they are not well-publicized and arelimited in selection. For example, there is “Winter Breakin Hawai’i,” a week-and-a-half-long trip to study coralreefs on the Big Island. More locally, the Swearer Centerorganizes the long-running Breaks Projects, a serviceand learning week held in Providence.

I took part in the Breaks Project this year for the firsttime. During the week, I heard many city officials andnonprofit members remark on how dedicated we were,sacrificing free time over winter vacation to engage insuch a project. What these people didn’t know is thatmost of us were thinking how good it was to be backfrom the January abyss. We didn’t deserve so much cred-it for not liking boredom, and finding a way to combatit.

It’s up to the students to spend their break the waythey want to — Brown shouldn’t be a January baby sit-ter. If all I want to do over January is sit in a dark roomand watch old John Cusack comedies for five weeks, Ican’t hold the University responsible. In the end, that’smy choice.

But what I can do is request that this school set up aprogram to further enrich the educational experience ofits students — because that should always be its goal.Winter break currently stands as a wasteland in themidst of formal academic pursuit, and Brown should betaking steps to change that. Ultimately, Brown shouldnot feel obligated to set up an optional J-term program;it should want to.

It’s time to make January count.

Joshua Lerner ’07 looks like John Cusack.

Flouting international law at Guantanamo Bay

JOSHUA LERNER

Brown needs to offer its students

more options.

With little fanfare earlier this month, the Bush admin-istration floated potential solutions to what one couldcall the “detainee problem” — that is, what to do withthe hundreds of prisoners of war being held indefinitelyat Guantanamo Bay in open violation of internationallaw since 2002.

Largely from Afghanistan, these prisoners are com-prised of alleged members of the Taliban or al-Qaida,and other suspected terrorists captured in the ongoingWar on Terror.

According to the Third Geneva Convention, any cap-tured enemy soldier or civilian who spontaneously tookup arms in the protection of his or her home is classifiedas a prisoner of war. By its fifth article, any prisoner ofwar must be afforded certain protections, includingfreedom from violence and intimidation, “until suchtime as their status has been determined by a competenttribunal.”

Yet the Bush administration flouted these decreeswith rhetorical slight-of-hand, classifying the inmates atGuantanamo Bay not as prisoners of war, but “enemycombatants,” a category afforded fewer protections thanprisoners of war. This decision took place without thetribunals required by the Geneva Convention to makesuch a judgment.

Though the Bush administration argued that the con-stitution has no jurisdiction over the Guantanamo pris-oners, who are located in Cuba, the Supreme Court ruledin June that detainees have rights to the U.S. court sys-tem. This ultimately led to the creation of theCombatant Status Review Tribunals in order to classifythe prisoners under the Geneva Conventions.

Though the last of these tribunals was held last week,the internees at Guantanamo Bay remain classified asenemy combatants under rulings of dubious nature —rulings based, for instance, on “secret evidence” towhich the prisoners were denied access.

In fact, of Guantanamo’s 545 prisoners, many whohave been interned for more than three years, only fourhave actually faced criminal charges — and even thosetrials are on hold pending an appeal of a November U.S.District Court decision, which ruled that the military tri-bunals at Guantanamo Bay fail to meet American stan-dards for justice.

But let us suspend our disbelief for a moment, andassume that the prisoners truly do not qualify for pris-oner of war protections, and that their trials — replete,again, with secret evidence — were entirely fair. Still,that leaves hundreds of “enemy combatants” who havebeen imprisoned for years without a charge levied

against them — which brings me back to the “detaineeproblem.”

The current impetus for change comes not from theSupreme Court, concern for international law, or fromthe Red Cross report that found practices atGuantanamo that are “tantamount to torture.” It comesinstead from the Pentagon and CIA, which have jointlypressured the White House to attempt to reach a long-term solution to the day-to-day problem.

“Since global war on terror is a long-term effort, itmakes sense for us to be looking at solutions for long-term problems,” a Pentagon spokesman told theWashington Post. “(W)e are at a point in time where wehave to say, “‘How do you deal with them in the longterm?’”

Unfortunately for those interned, the answer is moreof the same. Much more.

One proposed solution would see the transfer ofAfghan, Yemeni, and Saudi prisoners to new U.S.-builtfacilities located in and operated by their home nations.Another, backed by the CIA, would send the detainees togeneral facilities located in Egypt, Jordan, andAfghanistan.

And then, most frighteningly, there is the Pentagon’sproposal: the creation of Camp 6, a $25 million state-of-the-art detention facility constructed specifically for theinternment of Guantanamo prisoners.

Modeled on U.S. prisons, the proposal claims thatCamp 6 is in the detainees’ best interest, allowing forinmate socialization and offering more comfort andfreedoms, while ensuring adherence to internationalhuman rights standards. This ostensible concern forhuman rights, however, is laughable in the face of Camp6’s reality: the facility is to be set aside for those prison-ers that the United States does not have enough evi-dence to try. According to the Bush administration, thesolution to the “detainee problem” — the indefinitedetention of prisoners — is to permanently detain themwith or without just cause.

It is clichéd at this point, of course, to compare thecurrent administration to a certain historical movement,or to a certain dystopian novel, or a certain recently dis-posed regime. The subversion of international law andour own constitutional protections speak for them-selves. So I won’t say what I think this proposal is, butonly what I know it is not: it is not representative of anation — or an administration — that has any concernfor liberty and justice.

Donald Tetto ’06 is a poet, not a punk.

The Pentagon’ssolution to the

“detainee problem.”

SPORTS MONDAYTHE BROWN DAILY HERALD

JANUARY 31, 2005 · PAGE 12

BY BEN MILLERSPORTS EDITOR

The women’s basketball teamsplit two close games this week-end, defeating Princeton, 63-62,on Friday night but falling to theUniversity of Pennsylvania thenext night, 47-43. The loss toPenn snapped a five-game win-ning streak for the Bears (11-6overall) and dropped them to 3-1in the Ivy League.

On Friday night the Bearswere anchored by inspired playfrom Colleen Kelly ’06. Kelly hadbeen playing limited minutes asshe continued to recover from aknee injury, but there was nosign of any weakness against theTigers. Kelly was deadly frombehind the arc, connecting onfive of seven shots. She also hadfour assists and two steals to goalong with her game-high 21points.

“It was so good to have herback,” said co-captain AndreaConrad ’05. “She hasn’t missed abeat. Her poise was remarkable.The team feeds off of her energy.”

At the outset Bruno seemedready to run the Tigers right outof the Pizzitola Center. Browninitially dominated the boardson the offensive end and shutPrinceton down defensively.Kelly started out hot, pouring in11 points in the first 11 minutes.A free throw by Holly Robertson’05 gave the team its biggest leadof the night, 26-10, with just overseven minutes remaining in thefirst half.

The Tigers, however, got hotfrom three-point range andended the half with an 11-0 run

to cut the deficit to two, 29-27. The second half seemed to

mimic the first as the Bearsjumped out in front, only to havePrinceton come back and tie thegame, 43-43, with 13:01 left.Brown managed to push the leadto five with less than four min-utes remaining, but Princetoncame back to tie it at 62 with 8.2seconds left. With the clockwinding down, Ashley King-Bischof ’07 caught the ball atmidcourt, drove toward the bas-ket and dished it off to Conrad,who was fouled with 2.4 secondsleft. Conrad hit the first freethrow and missed the second,but Kelly was there to scoop upthe rebound and seal the victory.

“I felt a little pressure, but myteammates gave me words ofwisdom and told me to relax,”Conrad said.

Head Coach Jean Marie Burrwas pleased with the win,despite her team’s 17 turnovers.

“We did the little things well,”Burr said. “We did turn it over,but when we did, we did not let itrattle us. Then, once we gotthings going, we executed well.”

The next night featured ameeting of two teams that hadboth won their last five games. Itwas again a defensive battle, asneither team was able to get intoa rhythm of offense. The Bearstrailed for most of the game, butPenn was never able to go up bymore than seven points.

Trailing 43-37 with just oversix minutes to go, Bruno turnedto Robertson. The senior center

Friday, January 28

Men’s Ice Hockey: Brown 5, Yale 3Men’s Basketball: Brown 57, Princeton 52Women’s Basketball: Brown 63, Princeton62Men’s Squash: Brown 7, Williams 2Women’s Squash: Brown 5, Williams 4Wrestling: Army 19, Brown 18

Saturday, January 29

Men’s Tennis: Brown 7, Hartford 0; Brown7, Lehigh 0Men’s Ice Hockey: Brown 4, Princeton 2Women’s Ice Hockey: Princeton 4, Brown 3Men’s Basketball: Penn 83, Brown 60Women’s Basketball: Penn 47, Brown 43Women’s Swimming: Brown 196, Cornell107; Brown 169, Columbia 129Gymnastics: Yale 191.25, Brown 184.25Men’s Track: 2nd of 3 (Cambridge, Mass.)Women’s Track: 2nd of 3 (Cambridge,Mass.)Wrestling: Lehigh 27, Brown 10

Sunday, January 30

Men’s Squash: Trinity 8, Brown 1; Brown9, Bowdoin 0Women’s Squash: Trinity 8, Brown 1;Brown 8, Bowdoin 1

B R O W N S P O R T S S C O R E B O A R D

Two close games result inweekend split for w. hoops

Nash has suns running ahead of the pack

M. hoops earns road win overPrinceton, downed by Quakers

Want to write sports? Come to the Winter SportsMeeting, 7 p.m. tonight at 195 Angell Street

see W. HOOPS, page 8

BY STEPHEN COLELLISPORTS STAFF WRITER

The men’s basketball team playedtwo games on the road this week-end and let the Ivy League knowthat Brown plans on fighting forthe league title this season. OnFriday night, the Bears upset pre-season Ivy League favoritePrinceton, 57-52, with 17 pointsand six rebounds from co-captainJason Forte ’05. Saturday night, inBrown’s seventh straight roadcontest, the Bears succumbed tothe University of Pennsylvania atthe Palestra in Philadelphia, 83-60.

Brown has not played at thePizzitola Center since a Dec. 21loss to Holy Cross. Since then,Bruno has gone 4-3, including thebig win over Princeton.

“It’s not the ideal way to startout, but that’s how it is,” said co-captain Luke Ruscoe ’06. “It’stough to be on the bus for so long,but you can’t do anything aboutit.”

In the Princeton game, the IvyLeague opener for both teams,Forte and Ruscoe combined tobreak open a close game early inthe second half, as Brown openedup a seven-point lead to start theperiod. Princeton cut the lead toone, 42-41, with 10 minutesremaining, but Brown was able topull away again and hold off a latePrinceton rally.

“We had a good game plan for(Princeton),” Ruscoe said. “Theyhave a great system in place, andthey play it extremely well, but weknew they haven’t been shootingthat well, so we wanted to avoid

letting them run their offense andget easy layups.”

Princeton’s shooting woes con-tinued — they shot only 42.6 per-cent from the field — and theBears’ hot shooting carried themthrough to victory. Brown went asizzling 22-of-37 from the field,including 6-of-12 from behindthe arc. Princeton struggled torun its patented offense againstBrown’s stingy defense.

“Our team defense was solid,”Ruscoe said. “We played more ofa sagging defense, trying to helpeach other out and close off the

passing lanes. We felt that wecould do that against them.”

The defensive intensity gavethe Tigers their first loss in anIvy League opener since 1996.The loss also matchedPrinceton’s Ivy League total forall of last season.

“You have to give Brown cred-it,” said Princeton Head CoachJoe Scott. “They have some confi-dence in this building after win-ning here two years ago and play-ing well here last year, and they

Judy He / Herald

Jason Forte ‘05 keyed Brown’s second road win against Princeton inthree seasons with 17 points and six rebounds.

see M. HOOPS, page 8

BY MIKE ANTHONYTHE HARTFORD COURANT

Lacing up his shoes Friday beforethe Suns-Celtics game at theFleetCenter, Amare Stoudemirewas asked about offense.

“It’s all about defense,” hesaid. “We’re only going to go asfar as our defense takes us. We’vegot to be able to shut guys down.”

Stoudemire made seven of hisfirst eight shots and scored 42points in the Sun’s 128-119 victo-ry. He had 16 of his team’s 40points in the first quarter. SteveNash finished with 15 assists, 10in the first half. QuentinRichardson made 7 of 9 three-pointers and had 23 points. SixSuns scored in the latest show-case of one of the most potentoffenses in recent history, onethat averages 109.4 points andhas scored at least 120 in its lastthree games.

By the time the Celtics gath-ered their wits, Nash and Co. hadbreezed to a 74-48 halftime lead.It didn’t stop in the second.Phoenix scored 54 more points.But the Celtics, using a smalllineup that gave Suns CoachMike D’Antoni fits — “I didn’teven know where to put guys,” hesaid — slowly found their ownway to the basket, scoring 71points to make the game closerthan it should have been.

“The first half was about thebest we can play,” D’Antoni said.“That’s what happens. We fal-tered down the stretch. I wasmore nervous at halftime than Inormally would be if we were upfive points. I knew it was going tobe a dogfight in the second. I canhandle winning, but we still haveto learn from it. We have to con-centrate.”

If Phoenix aspires to more

than being remembered as aflashy offense that came of agewith the departure of StephonMarbury and the signing of Nash,players understand a little moreis required without the ball.

With the way Phoenix scores— a 15-second shot clock would-n’t rattle this team — it’s no won-der opponents are averaging 101points, second-highest in theleague. They simply get the ballback enough. Nash says that isn’tnecessarily a sign of defensivestruggles, even if there is roomfor improvement.

“Our goal is never to keepopponents under 100 points,” hesaid. “We just have to do a betterjob keeping field goal percent-ages down, picking up the openman and rebounding.”

All in all, the Suns (35-10) areflying after going 29-53 last sea-son. They won 31 of their first 35

games before a six-game losingstreak that Nash missed half ofwith a thigh bruise and backspasms. Their 47.7 shooting per-centage is second in the league toMiami’s 48.4 percent, and Nashand Stoudemire are MVP candi-dates, their partnership becom-ing the face in what has been theNBA’s season of scoring.

“He passes first,” Stoudemiresaid of Nash, who averages 15.6points and 11.0 assists. “That’s it.That’s all it is. It’s a mentality.”

His passing options areRichardson, Stoudemire, ShawnMarion, Joe Johnson and sixthman Jim Jackson. Every starteraverages more than 15 points, ledby Stoudemire’s 26.1.

“I knew we would have achance to win some games thisyear,” Stoudemire said.

see NASH, page <#>