THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013 since 1891 vol. cxlviii, no. 50 INSIDE no post- Look for our Spring Weekend edition next week! Vexing vote UCS members discuss new online voting platform Page 4 Meta media Husted ’13 argues that we can’t expect unbiased media Page 7 POST 45 / 41 TOMORROW 47 / 39 TODAY D aily H erald THE BROWN By SARAH PERELMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER President Christina Paxson assembled an ad hoc committee of six Corporation members to discuss whether the Uni- versity should divest from coal, Paxson wrote in a guest column slated to run in Monday’s Herald. e Advisory Committee on Corpo- rate Responsibility in Investment Policies recommended to Paxson last week that the University divest from coal compa- nies included in the 15 protested by the student group Brown Divest Coal. In the past, the University president has recommended divestment aſter AC- CRIP endorsed divesting from holdings in tobacco, HEI Hotels and companies profiting from Darfur. Donald Hood SCM’68 Ph.D.’70, a member of the Corporation’s Board of Fellows, will oversee the committee. e committee’s other members include Corporation Trustees Alison Cohen ’09 and Laurence Cohen ’78, Fellow Samuel Mencoff ’78 P’11 P’15, Trustee Steven Price ’84 and Fellow Maria Zuber SCM’83 Ph.D.’86, Paxson wrote. “We want the Corporation to vote yes on divestment in May,” said Emily Kirkland ’13, a member of Brown Divest Coal. e group hopes “this committee is just a way to make sure that the vote is as informed as possible,” she said. Several representatives from Brown Divest Coal will “speak about the reasons that divestment is important” with the ad hoc committee in the next couple of weeks, she said. e group will continue to demon- strate throughout the semester and has planned an event next week with student and professor protestors, Kirkland said. Christopher Bull, senior lecturer in engineering and a member of ACCRIP, declined to comment on the formation of the committee, as did Ian Trupin ’13.5, a student member of ACCRIP and former Herald opinions columnist. “I can’t say much as I just got this job and just got the report,” Hood wrote in an email to e Herald. He could not be reached for further comment as of press time. Paxson forms Corporation committee to talk divestment A new committee will advise the Corporation and the issue could be put to a vote next month By TONYA RILEY SENIOR STAFF WRITER Signaling the start of a $160 million campaign to develop the School of En- gineering, the University announced Wednesday morning the school’s receipt of two giſts totaling $44 million. New engineering facilities will be built adjacent to Barus and Holley, where the School of Engineering is cur- rently housed, said Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, at a press conference. No new facilities for the school will be built in the Jewelry District, a location the University had previously considered for expanding the School of Engineering, Quinn said. eresia Gouw ’90, a Corporation fellow, and Corporation trustee Charles Giancarlo ’79 and his wife, Dianne Giancarlo, donated $35 million. Anony- mous donors contributed $9 million, according to a University press release. “We believe the best place for (expan- sion) is on College Hill next to adjacent facilities,” Quinn said. e University hopes to raise the $160 million for the School of Engineering before launching its broader capital cam- paign, Quinn told e Herald. ough the University still needs to raise a substantial amount in order to meet that goal, administrators hope to reach $80,000 by the end of this calen- dar year to meet the requirements for selecting an architect for the building expansion, Carey said. Dean of Engineering Larry Larson said the University is committed to fos- tering local economic partnerships in developing the engineering program. rough the technology transfer office, the school will develop corporate affiliates to connect research to industry, he said. “Technological advances that come out of universities can really have an impact,” Larson said. He cited several current University research projects, such as a federal contract awarded to a team led by Assistant Professor of Engineering Shreyas Madre to harness tidal energy in Rhode Island. Plans for expansion include redesign- ing how the school’s existing buildings are used, increasing the number of faculty members from U. launches $160 million campaign to expand engineering The new School of Engineering facilities will be on College Hill, administrators said By BRITTANY NIEVES SENIOR STAFF WRITER e annual housing lottery’s first night saw scenes of both excitement and disappointment yesterday evening as rising juniors and seniors chose hous- ing for the next academic year. e event began promptly at 6 p.m., with the goal of getting through 130 lottery numbers per hour. Students crowded the doors of Sayles Hall in preparation for the lottery to begin. Residential Life members were also present to answer last-minute ques- tions. Students with the first 10 lottery numbers made their way to the front and waited by the side while Cody Shulman ’13, housing lottery commit- tee chair for Residential Council, made reminder announcements regarding suite fees and rooms already taken by squatters and Residential Peer Lead- ers. e first two lottery picks were Vartan Gregorian Quad B 405C and 405B. Singles in Minden and Slater Halls followed soon aſter in the top five lottery numbers. is year, Residential Life officials offered the option of a “fake build- ing,” meant for students who decided to study abroad or take time off next semester aſter already committing to a lottery group. Juniors snatch singles in lottery The Residential Council created a ‘fake building’ for students planning to study abroad By KATE NUSSENBAUM SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR Eating at Venda Ravioli will not exactly transport students to Italy, but on a nice day it is worth the 10-minute bus ride to Federal Hill — unless you are on a low-carb diet, that is. e establishment is not just a res- taurant. Most of the space is devoted to an Italian market with glass cases full of savory-looking meats, cheeses and prepared foods like fried eggplant, pasta salads and marinated mozzarella balls that put the Sharpe Refectory’s to shame. e market also boasts homemade fresh pasta and ravioli — the perfect “home- cooked” meal to impress a date. A small bakery area in the back of the store offers a moderate selection of gelato and baked goods, but other bake shops in the neighborhood of- fer more mouth-watering options and larger varieties. Surrounding the display cases of food are several tables where custom- ers can sit and order lunch from Venda Ravioli’s cafe menu. But do not make the mistake of sitting inside — request a table on the outdoor patio. Nestled next to one of Federal Hill’s charming plazas, the outside tables offer ample opportunities for people-watching or enjoying the sunshine. e menu is simple and classically Italian, with pasta dishes starting at $10 and entrees Venda Ravioli offers classic Italian fare and more The restaurant and market serves up simple pasta and entrees from its Federal Hill storefront EMILY GILBERT / HERALD The campaign’s goals include expanding and changing use of facilities and increasing its ranks of faculty members and graduate students. File Photo. KATE NUSSENBAUM / HERALD Venda Ravioli, located at 265 Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill, has a fresh Italian market and a simple cafe menu. / / Ravioli page 3 EMILY GILBERT / HERALD Divest Coal will continue to demonstrate on campus for the rest of the semester and is pushing for a Corporation vote in May. File photo. / / Expand page 2 / / Lottery page 2
Transcript
THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013 since 1891vol. cxlviii, no. 50
INSIDE
no post-Look for our Spring Weekend edition next week!
Vexing voteUCS members discuss new online voting platform
Page 4
Meta mediaHusted ’13 argues that we can’t expect unbiased media
Page 7
POST
45 / 41
tomorrow
47 / 39
today
Daily HeraldTHE BROWN
By SARAH PERELMANSENIOR STAFF WRITER
President Christina Paxson assembled an ad hoc committee of six Corporation members to discuss whether the Uni-versity should divest from coal, Paxson wrote in a guest column slated to run in Monday’s Herald.
The Advisory Committee on Corpo-rate Responsibility in Investment Policies recommended to Paxson last week that the University divest from coal compa-nies included in the 15 protested by the student group Brown Divest Coal.
In the past, the University president has recommended divestment after AC-CRIP endorsed divesting from holdings
in tobacco, HEI Hotels and companies profiting from Darfur.
Donald Hood SCM’68 Ph.D.’70, a member of the Corporation’s Board of Fellows, will oversee the committee. The committee’s other members include Corporation Trustees Alison Cohen ’09 and Laurence Cohen ’78, Fellow Samuel Mencoff ’78 P’11 P’15, Trustee Steven Price ’84 and Fellow Maria Zuber SCM’83 Ph.D.’86, Paxson wrote.
“We want the Corporation to vote yes on divestment in May,” said Emily Kirkland ’13, a member of Brown Divest Coal. The group hopes “this committee is just a way to make sure that the vote is as informed as possible,” she said.
Several representatives from Brown Divest Coal will “speak about the reasons that divestment is important” with the ad hoc committee in the next couple of weeks, she said.
The group will continue to demon-strate throughout the semester and has
planned an event next week with student and professor protestors, Kirkland said.
Christopher Bull, senior lecturer in engineering and a member of ACCRIP, declined to comment on the formation of the committee, as did Ian Trupin ’13.5, a
student member of ACCRIP and former Herald opinions columnist.
“I can’t say much as I just got this job and just got the report,” Hood wrote in an email to The Herald. He could not be reached for further comment as of press time.
Paxson forms Corporation committee to talk divestmentA new committee will advise the Corporation and the issue could be put to a vote next month
By TONYA RILEYSENIOR STAFF WRITER
Signaling the start of a $160 million campaign to develop the School of En-gineering, the University announced Wednesday morning the school’s receipt of two gifts totaling $44 million.
New engineering facilities will be built adjacent to Barus and Holley, where the School of Engineering is cur-rently housed, said Marisa Quinn, vice president for public affairs and University relations, at a press conference.
No new facilities for the school will be built in the Jewelry District, a location the University had previously considered for expanding the School of Engineering, Quinn said.
Theresia Gouw ’90, a Corporation fellow, and Corporation trustee Charles Giancarlo ’79 and his wife, Dianne
Giancarlo, donated $35 million. Anony-mous donors contributed $9 million, according to a University press release.
“We believe the best place for (expan-sion) is on College Hill next to adjacent facilities,” Quinn said.
The University hopes to raise the $160 million for the School of Engineering before launching its broader capital cam-paign, Quinn told The Herald.
Though the University still needs to raise a substantial amount in order to meet that goal, administrators hope to reach $80,000 by the end of this calen-dar year to meet the requirements for selecting an architect for the building expansion, Carey said.
Dean of Engineering Larry Larson said the University is committed to fos-tering local economic partnerships in developing the engineering program. Through the technology transfer office, the school will develop corporate affiliates to connect research to industry, he said.
“Technological advances that come out of universities can really have an impact,” Larson said. He cited several current University research projects, such
as a federal contract awarded to a team led by Assistant Professor of Engineering Shreyas Madre to harness tidal energy in Rhode Island.
Plans for expansion include redesign-ing how the school’s existing buildings are used, increasing the number of faculty members from
U. launches $160 million campaign to expand engineeringThe new School of Engineering facilities will be on College Hill, administrators said
By BRITTANY NIEVESSENIOR STAFF WRITER
The annual housing lottery’s first night saw scenes of both excitement and disappointment yesterday evening as rising juniors and seniors chose hous-ing for the next academic year.
The event began promptly at 6 p.m., with the goal of getting through 130 lottery numbers per hour. Students crowded the doors of Sayles Hall in preparation for the lottery to begin. Residential Life members were also present to answer last-minute ques-tions.
Students with the first 10 lottery numbers made their way to the front and waited by the side while Cody Shulman ’13, housing lottery commit-tee chair for Residential Council, made reminder announcements regarding suite fees and rooms already taken by squatters and Residential Peer Lead-ers. The first two lottery picks were Vartan Gregorian Quad B 405C and 405B. Singles in Minden and Slater Halls followed soon after in the top five lottery numbers.
This year, Residential Life officials offered the option of a “fake build-ing,” meant for students who decided to study abroad or take time off next semester after already committing to a lottery group.
Juniors snatch singles in lotteryThe Residential Council created a ‘fake building’ for students planning to study abroad
By KATE NUSSENBAUMSCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR
Eating at Venda Ravioli will not exactly transport students to Italy, but on a nice day it is worth the 10-minute bus ride to Federal Hill — unless you are on a low-carb diet, that is.
The establishment is not just a res-taurant. Most of the space is devoted to an Italian market with glass cases full of savory-looking meats, cheeses and prepared foods like fried eggplant, pasta
salads and marinated mozzarella balls that put the Sharpe Refectory’s to shame. The market also boasts homemade fresh pasta and ravioli — the perfect “home-cooked” meal to impress a date.
A small bakery area in the back of the store offers a moderate selection of gelato and baked goods, but other bake shops in the neighborhood of-fer more mouth-watering options and larger varieties.
Surrounding the display cases of food are several tables where custom-ers can sit and order lunch from Venda Ravioli’s cafe menu. But do not make the mistake of sitting inside — request a table on the outdoor patio. Nestled next to one of Federal Hill’s charming plazas, the outside tables offer ample opportunities for people-watching or enjoying the sunshine.
The menu is simple and classically Italian, with pasta dishes starting at $10 and entrees
Venda Ravioli offers classic Italian fare and moreThe restaurant and market serves up simple pasta and entrees from its Federal Hill storefront
EMILY GILBERT / HERALD
The campaign’s goals include expanding and changing use of facilities and increasing its ranks of faculty members and graduate students. File Photo.
KATE NUSSENBAUM / HERALD
Venda Ravioli, located at 265 Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill, has a fresh Italian market and a simple cafe menu./ / Ravioli page 3
EMILY GILBERT / HERALD
Divest Coal will continue to demonstrate on campus for the rest of the semester and is pushing for a Corporation vote in May. File photo.
/ / Expand page 2
/ / Lottery page 2
university news2 THE BROWN DAILY HERALDTHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013
11 A.M.
Relay for Life Green Games
Wriston Quadrangle
8 P.M.
UCS/UFB Debate
Metcalf Auditorium
8 P.M.
Pirates of Penzance
Alumnae Hall
9 P.M.
Scrabble Tournament
Faunce
SHARPE REFECTORY VERNEY-WOOLLEY
LUNCH
DINNER
Lemon Grass Beef, Thai BBQ Chicken. Braised Caramel Pork, Ginger and Green Tea Ice Cream
Meatloaf with Mushroom Sauce, Artichoke and Red Pepper Frittata, Mashed Red Bliss Potatoes
Shefali Luthra, PresidentLucy Feldman, Vice President
Samuel Plotner, TreasurerJulia Kuwahara, Secretary
The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. POSTMASTER please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily. Copyright 2013 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
Members of the Undergraduate Coun-cil of Students expressed concern at the council’s general body meeting Wednesday that the new voting sys-tem — Qualtrics — being used for this year’s student government elections could decrease voter turnout.
Students will vote this week through a survey on the online data collection software Qualtrics instead of on the MyCourses website, said Bran-don Tomasso ’13, UCS vice president. Tomasso said he sent a campus-wide email Tuesday containing the link to the Qualtrics survey.
The “drawback” of the new sys-tem is that students cannot vote if they delete the email with the link to the survey, Tomasso said. “You have to save that email. It’s not like it’s always
up on a website,” he said. “My concern is that people will de-
lete that email, and then meet a candi-date they like and develop an interest in the elections,” Tomasso added. “Then they go back and they can’t vote.”
Tomasso could resend the email containing the survey at some point during the voting period, said Abigail Braiman ’15, chair of the Committee for Admissions and Student Services. He could also restrict recipients of the second email to students who have not yet voted, said Todd Harris ’14.5, UCS general body member and presidential candidate.
The Council also approved A Better World by Design’s appeal to become a Category 3 student group.
Council members had previously rejected the group’s request to move to a Category 3 group from an umbrella organization of Engineers Without Borders, The Herald reported at the time.
Allowing an umbrella group to by-pass the typical categorization process and jump to Category 3 status would set a “dangerous precedent” that other
umbrella groups would want to follow, Jon Vu ’15, UCS alumni relations liai-son, said at the time.
Representatives from A Better World By Design allayed council mem-bers’ concern by arguing against the notion they were setting a precedent.
“Ivy Film Festival broke off from an umbrella group and directly became a Category 3 group, and when that hap-pened all hell didn’t break loose,” said Daniel Goldberg ’13. “Other umbrella groups didn’t try and become Category 3 groups.”
Having Category 3 designation will allow A Better World By Design to more effectively hold its annual con-ference without the “red tape of being an umbrella organization,” like having to work through Engineers Without Borders to sign contracts with spon-sors, said Hannah Bebbington ’14, a member of the group.
The council also elected Gregory Chatzinoff ’15 and Stanley Stewart ’16 — the latter of whom is not a mem-ber of UCS — to the Undergraduate Resources Committee. The council selected Vu as an alternate.
New online voting system vexes UCSA Better World By Design was also designated a Category 3 student group at the council meeting
45 to 60 and increasing the number of graduate students by 50 percent over the next decade, Larson said.
The framework for expansion in-volves a net addition of 100,000 square feet, Carey said. Keeping expansion within a 10-minute walking radius of other campus buildings would be the least disruptive for students and professors, he added. Peer institutions, such as Harvard, employ a similar scale, he said.
“It’s a great idea they’re going to build around Barus and Holley,” said Zuleyka Marquez ’15, an engineering concen-trator, adding that engineering students were concerned about a potential move to the Jewelry District.
A focus on expanding the graduate program will make it more appealing to potential applicants, Marquez said.
The central location of Brown’s engi-neering facilities on campus and the abil-ity to easily take classes in other depart-ments attracts applicants, engineering concentrator Divya Sahajwalla ’15 said.
The addition of faculty members and graduate students in the school will provide more research opportunities for undergraduates, she added.
Engineering was one of a number of priorities identified at the end of the Uni-versity’s last capital campaign, Carey said.
That campaign, led by former Presi-dent Ruth Simmons, raised $1.61 bil-lion, more than any other campaign in University history.
The University has already met with the city council, mayor, governor and community groups about the plans, Quinn said. Any expansion in the Hope Street area will respect the “historic na-ture of the community,” she added.
/ / Expand page 1
It is a way to “opt out of your group without penalizing your group,” said Richard Hilton, associate director of Residential Life, and was meant to make the night more efficient.
“I think it makes a lot of sense, es-pecially for people who entered into a big group,” said Jenna Ditto ’15, who is studying abroad next semester and took advantage of the fake building option.
Olivia Connetta ’14, a former Her-ald copy desk chief, said though the fake building option eased stress, the reduced number of singles this year may have a negative impact. “It might be harder for (rising) juniors to get what they really want,” she said.
James Tran ’15 said it was “ridicu-lous” that the Graduate Center had been taken out of the sophomore pool and is now part of the junior and se-nior pool.
“A lot of us may have to stay there,” he said. The new set-up is “really nice to rising sophomores,” said Diego Mo-rales ’15, also part of Tran’s housing group.
Last night was Megumi Tsuda’s ’13.5 first housing lottery experience. “It’s pretty stressful,” Tsuda said. “I’m stressed because everyone else is stressed.”
Samantha Gay ’14 received a lottery number within the top 50 this year and successfully got her top choice, a single in the Vartan Gregorian Quad. “I’m happy that for my last (year) I got a good one,” Gay said. “My list was really anal and organized. I was prepared for any situation.”
Despite the stress, the lottery had its lighter moments. At lottery number 26, the housing lottery had its first no-show, which was met with applause and cheers from the crowd. Subsequent no-shows were met with similar en-thusiasm. As time went on, the cheers became more plentiful and more pas-sionate for these announcements.
“That’s more like it,” Shulman re-sponded to an especially zealous ap-plaud from the crowd.
Rising upperclassmen displayed an evident preference for singles. All singles in 315
/ / Lottery page 1
/ / Lottery page 5
university news 3THE BROWN DAILY HERALDTHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013
by about 50 percent during the reces-sion, as opposed to an about 15 percent decline for white households, according to a study from the Pew Research Center, Simms said.
Lecture attendees expressed surprise at a 2011 Institute for Women’s Policy Research study Simms cited showing blacks were slightly more optimistic than whites about components of their economic futures, like the prospect of finding a good job and financial advance-ment. One audience member suggested this difference in optimism may be at-tributable to blacks’ greater propensity to support the Democratic Party, which held the White House at the time the study was conducted. Simms countered that while it may be possible to attribute the difference to political leanings, the findings could also be a result of differing definitions of the factors contributing to economic advancement between blacks and whites, such as what constitutes a good job.
Welfare programs, like the Supple-mental Nutrition Assistance Program, and federal stimulus projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvest-ment Act helped families recover from the recession, Simms said. But they did not do enough to alleviate dispropor-tionately affected demographic groups and geographic areas, she said, adding that the Obama administration should have done more to curb the adverse ef-fects of the housing foreclosure crisis, which disproportionately affected blacks.
Administration officials took the cor-rect initial steps by infusing the economy with significant federal funding, but “in
terms of getting additional funds to keep things moving and to increase the rate of job expansion,” they were blocked two years into the president’s term, Simms said. The administration currently “could pay more attention to those who are be-ing left further behind in this slow expan-sion” of the economy, she added.
Director of the Taubman Center and Professor of Political Science Marion Orr said he invited Simms to speak at the University due to her nationally recog-nized expertise on demographic dimen-sions of economic policy and interest from faculty members and students in Simms’ area of study. “African Ameri-can women are an important part of American social and economic life,” Orr said, adding that black women deserve
society’s attention due to the recession’s disproportionate effect on them.
Jonathan Cox ’13, who attended the lecture, said it is important to be aware of Simms’ area of study. “When these economic programs are being enacted, the effect is supposed to serve all types and all demographics,” he said, adding that it was interesting to see the unin-tended effects of the policies mentioned in the lecture.
Gabriel Schwartz ’13 said he found the lecture of particular interest because it relates to his senior thesis, adding that he hopes greater awareness of this re-search will eventually lead to change. “If people see research like this, they are much more likely to get involved,” Schwartz said.
ALAN SHAN / HERALD
Margaret Simms broke down the effects of the recession on demographic groups such as women and minorities.
priced from $12 to $15. There are plenty of options for vegetarians, pescetarians and carnivores alike, including fresh octopus and veal medallions. For those interested, there is also a wide selection of wines.
The waiters are kind and attentive, but be prepared for a leisurely dining experience. Simple pasta dishes take nearly 30 minutes to arrive, but the bread basket and its free refills makes the wait more bearable.
The bread itself is a good indica-tor of the food to come — good, but not spectacular. Though fluffy with a nice crust, it would have been better warm, and the olive oil accompanying it would have been better with herbs or parmesan.
The pasta dishes are similarly en-joyable but not superb. Served with fresh mozzarella and a simple tomato sauce, the gnocchi are soft but slightly
too heavy. The sauce, while tasty, does not demand the bowl be licked clean.
The ravioli is cooked perfectly al dente and filled with a ricotta-like cheese blend that is flavorful but not overpowering and pairs well with the tomato sauce. The tortellini Bolognese is similarly well-balanced, with small pieces of carrots contributing to the sauce’s authentic Italian flavor.
One measure of a good Italian meal is whether the customer leaves feeling overstuffed, having eaten just a bit too much of rich, heavy food. Venda Ravioli will not induce this feeling. The portions are moderate rather than generous, and the flavors are not distinctive enough to justify overindulgence.
Still, that is not to say the restaurant is not worth a trip down College Hill. If you have an hour or two for lunch, the patio provides a great setting for lounging and eating moderately priced, moderately delicious Italian food with friends.
/ / Ravioli page 1 / / Lecture page 8
By CAROLINE FLANAGANSTAFF WRITER
When Betty Anne Waters was 29, her older brother Kenny was wrongfully accused of murder and sent to prison. She spent the next 18 years fighting for justice, enrolling in community college and then going to law school so she could one day prove his innocence in court. Waters spoke to students about her ex-periences with injustice in the criminal justice system yesterday evening as the keynote speaker for Hillel’s Moral Voices Initiative’s year-long focus on wrongful conviction.
About 40 people came to hear Waters’
story in Friedman Auditorium in Metcalf Chemistry and Research Laboratory. The keynote address by Waters culmi-nated Hillel’s Moral Voices Initiative’s first year on campus. Over the course of the year, the initiative has hosted a number of speakers to discuss wrong-ful convictions, including the cases of a police detective who unwittingly aided a wrongful conviction and of Dennis Maher, an exoneree who spent 20 years in jail after a wrongful conviction on charges of rape.
Waters explained that wrongful con-victions are sometimes due to police in-competency, but 70 percent are because of witness misidentification.
Waters’ story reached a wider audi-ence after the release of the film “Con-viction.” The film involved Waters in the production process and is based on her life.
Waters, the
Hillel keynote addresses wrongful convictionsBetty Anne Waters spoke of her experiences with injustice as part of Hillel’s Moral Voices Initiative
/ / Voices page 4
university news4 THE BROWN DAILY HERALDTHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013
fourth of nine children, grew up in the small town of Ayer, Mass. She was close to Kenny growing up as he was only one year older.
“People used to say they never saw a family closer than ours,” Waters said.
In 1980, Waters was shocked to hear about the brutal murder of a neighbor in her hometown. She returned home and learned her brother had been questioned, though he had an alibi. Timecards from the diner he worked at confirmed he had been there at the time. The case seemed to go cold.
But two years later, Waters said she learned that her brother had been ar-rested for the murder. The case had been
reopened by Nancy Taylor, a clerk, dis-patcher and secretary who had not yet graduated from the police academy at the time. Kenny’s ex-girlfriend had come forward and said Kenny had not gone to work on the night of the murder and had confessed to the murder before they broke up. The timecards that confirmed his alibi had been lost by the police de-partment, Waters said.
Though the ex-girlfriend’s testimony was the only evidence, Kenny was con-victed, to the shock and horror of his family, she said. He also lost his appeal two years later.
Waters said she visited her brother after the appeal and found him in seg-regation at his prison, because he had tried to commit suicide. Desperate for his
survival, Waters asked what she could do.“Betty Ann, the only way I’m going to
make it in here is if you go back to school, go to law school, become a lawyer, prove me innocent and get me out of here … If you say you’ll do it, I know you will,” she said he told her.
Waters enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island, believing that she was keeping her brother alive by pur-suing her education. After she graduated, she was accepted at the Roger Williams Law School. As a single mother of two, she struggled to balance her studies with her family life.
She became fascinated by DNA iden-tification and was eventually approached by the Innocence Project, a group that works to exonerate the wrongfully con-
victed.Waters tracked down evidence from
the crime scene, traveling all the way to Florida where it was in storage, and paid $10,000 for DNA tests. Results showed that blood found at the crime scene did not belong to Waters.
“After 18 years, five months, and three days, Kenny walked out of prison a free person. As bad as it was that he was found guilty, that day was one of the best days of our lives,” Waters said.
After the case, Waters discovered that there had been evidence from the beginning proving Kenny’s innocence, including fingerprints taken the day of the investigation that were lost when the officer who lifted them retired.
Waters said Taylor knew of the evi-dence proving Kenny’s innocence but pushed the case forward anyway and told Kenny’s ex-girlfriend that her children would be taken away if she did not testify against him. Waters said she suspects that Taylor was trying to further her career in a police force dominated by men.
In a devastating accident, Kenny died from a head injury sustained during a fall six months after his release.
Today, Waters continues to volunteer for the Innocence Project and is a co-
owner of Aidan’s, a pub in her hometown of Bristol.
At the end, Waters answered ques-tions from the audience, focusing on the plight of the wrongfully convicted.
According to Waters, over 22 percent of cases from 2002-2004 had to be closed because evidence was lost or destroyed, eliminating any opportunity for exon-eration.
Waters said organizations such as the Innocence Project continue to fight for the wrongfully imprisoned. Three hundred and five cases have resulted in exoneration since 1989 and 170 of those exonerations were through the Inno-cence Project, she said. Eighteen of the exonerated had served time on death row.
“It was the perfect culmination of the entire year,” said Wendy Ginsberg ’15, a member of the Moral Voices’ student committee.
“If you save one life, it’s as if you saved the whole universe,” said Marshall Ein-horn, executive director of Brown-RISD Hillel, citing a Jewish proverb.
“I think (Moral Voices) has caught the campus’ attention. We’ve seen increased interest and we’re hopeful that there’s more traction to generate in future years,” he told The Herald.
/ / Voices page 3
city & state 5THE BROWN DAILY HERALDTHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013
Lonely Zoo | Daniel Moraff and Rachel Himes
CO M I C
tural differences and family history to determine whether the program is particularly beneficial for certain house-holds, Wong said. By adding 500 to 600 families over the coming years, there will be a lot of data available to see how
effective the program is at supporting both children and their families, Wong said.
Since the problem of childhood literacy is a “national phenomenon,” Providence Talks could be effective in cities across the country, Shepherd said. Though the program is still in its plan-
ning stages, it could be replicated on a national level if it is affordable, sup-portive of cities’ existing infrastructure, ably delivered by the service providers doing home visits and encouraged by parents, Tyler said. For now, it is “an exciting partnership between the city and Brown,” Wong said.
in response to McLaughlin’s comments. “They can make a mistake,” he added. “We as a state have compassion for that, and we don’t need to be incarcerating any more people for marijuana pos-session.”
McLaughlin could not be reached for comment.
Edwards said he was inspired to introduce legislation decriminalizing marijuana by an incident that occurred before he was elected as a representa-tive. When he worked at a construction company, Edwards saw co-workers who had been arrested for marijuana pos-session in their youth restricted from certain opportunities because of their
criminal records.The important question is whether
decriminalization leads to “explosive use,” said David Lewis, professor emeri-tus of community health and founder of the Center for Alcohol and Addic-tion Studies. Data from states that have already decriminalized marijuana in-dicate that decriminalization does not lead to higher usage rates, he said.
According to a report by the MPP — which used data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — no corre-lation exists between decriminaliza-tion laws and higher rates of marijuana usage. MPP reached this conclusion by comparing usage data from states
with decriminalization laws in effect to statistics from neighboring states that maintain criminal charges for mari-juana possession.
Lewis said the law brings medical benefits because it promotes discussion about the health effects of marijuana use.
“The very fact that we passed the law will focus attention on all the health risks of marijuana because it creates a public debate,” he said.
There are currently 15 states with decriminalization laws, 18 states where medical marijuana use is permitted and two states — Colorado and Washington — where marijuana is legal. Washing-ton, D.C. also allows medical marijuana use.
With Rhode Island joining Con-necticut, Massachusetts and Maine in decriminalizing marijuana possession, Edwards said he hopes Vermont and New Hampshire follow suit for “regional equity.”
Tvert said he has high hopes for the pending decriminalization bill in Vermont, on which hearings began last week. A vote on the bill could be held as soon as this week.
MPP predicts another three states to adopt bills that permit medical marijuana use soon, Tvert said. New Hampshire is likely to pass such a bill this year, while Minnesota and Illinois are expected to do so during the current legislative session, which lasts two years in both states, he said.
Tvert cited Maine as a particularly exciting prospect for more aggressive reform in marijuana policy. A bill that would tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol was introduced in the Maine Legislature in March with bipartisan sponsorship from 35 legislators, he said.
A similar bill — which Edwards is co-sponsoring — was proposed in Rhode Island by Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence, in February.
Tvert said it is difficult to tell wheth-er the legislation will pass this year, but he said he is encouraged by the sup-port of Rep. Brian Newberry, R-North Smithfield, the House Minority Leader.
“There’s still work to be done” in Rhode Island, Tvert said. “The time has come to regulate marijuana.”
/ / Pot page 8
/ / Talks page 8
Thayer, Vartan Gregorian Quad, He-geman and New Pembroke were gone within the first hour of the lottery, and unlike the no-shows, this was not met with a positive reaction.
“I know I’m going for a single in Grad Center,” said Freddie Yuan ’15, adding that his strategy was simple — “as long as it’s a single.”
The lottery in its entirety was “very smooth,” Hilton said.
Some upperclassmen said the new housing changes, which moved dorms like Grad Center to rising juniors and seniors and Perkins Hall to rising soph-omores, worked to their disadvantage.
“It was a little difficult for juniors overall,” said Rudy Chen ’15. The changes “worked at the expense of upperclassmen.”
The lottery concluded with number 535, a no-show in a long line of passes and no-shows. The second round of the lottery will take place April 16.
/ / Lottery page 2
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editorial & letter6 THE BROWN DAILY HERALDTHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013
L E T T E R TO T H E E D I TO R
C O R R E C T I O N S P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.
C O M M E N TA R Y P O L I C YThe editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.
L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R P O L I C YSend letters to [email protected]. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed.
A D V E R T I S I N G P O L I C YThe Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.
CES changes reflect community inputTo the Editor:
We are writing in response to the recent article and opin-ion column about the environmental studies and environ-mental science concentrations and to bring the community up to date on the latest curricular revisions (“Environmental studies program changes face protest,” March 18 and “Doug-las ’13: A message to Paxson about CES,” April 8).
The Committee to Review the Environmental Stud-ies Concentration was convened in August as part of the ongoing review of concentrations by the College. A group of twelve faculty members, students and staff members worked through the fall semester to reconsider the con-centration’s curriculum in light of national trends and new faculty strength at Brown. They produced a draft plan in February that was circulated to faculty and students from the Center for Environmental Studies and the Environ-mental Change Initiative, who, in turn, worked to revise and complete the recommendations. The new proposal is
posted on the CES website. The proposed curriculum is a structured, flexible pro-
gram that allows students to work on critical environmental problems. Students will be able to channel their interests through a number of tracks — among them is a track on “Land, Water and Food Security,” which has been refined and renamed directly in response to student demand. The new curriculum, which must be approved by the College Curriculum Council, will affect only those students who declare the concentration next academic year.
We want to thank everyone who contributed to this process — students, faculty, staff and alums — for their thoughtful and passionate engagement.
Katherine BergeronDean of the College
Janet BlumeAssociate Dean of the Faculty and Interim Director
of the Center for Environmental Studies
E D I TO R I A L C A R TO O N b y i v a n a l c a n t r a
“I’m stressed because everyone else is stressed.”— Megumi Tsuda ‘14
See lottery on page 1.
E D I TO R I A L
In five days, undergraduates will have the opportunity to fulfill their civic responsibility as members of the Brown community. But the real-ity is that little of substance seems to happen during the election for the Undergraduate Council of Students and Undergraduate Finance Board. And candidates running for these positions need to do little to secure a position of leadership, compromising the electoral process.
A strong culture of apathy undeniably exists among the Brown under-graduate body when it comes to student government. This sentiment is, in turn, reflected in the election itself. One bright note will be the race for the UCS presidency, which is and should be by far the most exciting component of the election season. A total of three presidential candidates, Todd Harris ’14.5, Afia Kwakwa ’14 and Daniel Pipkin ’14, will take the floor and presumably set the tone of the election in tonight’s Herald co-sponsored UCS/UFB debate.
But other races for leadership in student government are hardly con-tested, let alone competitive. The UCS Vice President, the second highest position in UCS, is uncontested. Most pitiful is the nonexistent race for UFB Vice-Chair, where not one student has even bothered to run. While the democratic process is widely heralded as the supreme method of maintaining positions of leadership, most of these UCS elections suggest that standing in the Sharpe Refectory for 30 minutes to collect signatures may very well be the golden ticket to winning a UCS election.
There is no single person or group to blame for the lack of student inter-est. Many of these candidates run based on their perceived best interests for the student body, and several candidates, especially those running for higher positions, are extremely well-versed with issues pertaining to the student body. One factor that could be to blame is the brief nature of these positions themselves. Because students are elected to terms that last only one academic year, their individual legacies in student government cannot always reflect permanent, sustained changes, leading to student disillusionment about UCS’s capabilities. Unlike the faculty, UCS is not a formal voting power of the University — though it can pass resolutions or statements, those do not directly translate to University action. With these factors, it becomes less difficult to identify the apathy’s source. The student body’s expectations thus can often exceed or not align with the Council’s capabilities, rendering it difficult to expect a sustained and active connection between both parties.
We urge both the student body and the potential candidates to examine the roots behind student apathy. With still several days to go before the election, current candidates — especially presidential ones — can take the first step towards restoring relations between UCS and the rest of the student body. Students will vote for candidates who do not consider themselves liaisons between students and administration but rather true representatives for students and their concerns. We call for student leaders who not only speak on the issues we actually care about but who will make our votes count toward substantive action. We hope someone will step up to the challenge and make student elections meaningful.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editor, Dan Jeon, and its members, Mintaka Angell, Samuel Choi, Nicholas Morley and Rachel Occhiogrosso. Send comments to [email protected].
As I was reading The Herald during the time of gun control controversy, a seemingly innocuous letter caught my eye. Evan Stern ’16 wrote in to express his approval of An-drew Powers’ ’15 column (“Common-sense gun control,” Feb. 4). Stern said he found The Herald’s coverage of gun control to be rather “one-sided” and concluded by stat-ing, “It is important that all voices be heard — this is the essence of democracy” (“Let-ter: Gun control discussion must consider all sides,” Feb. 5).
Stern’s comments certainly apply to in-dividuals and even institutions as they en-gage in public discourse in the United States. Should any true democracy protect free speech? Of course. Should we expect our media outlets to give equal coverage to all of these different points of view under the pre-tense of fairness? Absolutely not.
But many would argue that we should. For every liberal point of view on an issue, there is, after all, a conservative one. We de-ride Fox News for being too conservative — though it claims to be “fair and balanced” — and we criticize MSNBC for being too lib-eral — though I am not sure it makes simi-lar false claims. But people generally expect trusted news from agencies like the New York Times or CNN to present both sides of any argument. In fact, balance seems to be
part of the reason they are trusted.While on the surface this seems an admi-
rable goal, is it always fair to represent both sides of everything that gets reported? Most things in news are actually reported without balance at all, like the weather, official news bulletins or sports scores — namely facts or “best predictions.” The trickier question when it comes to articles that must report beliefs becomes: Where do we draw the line between good and bad beliefs? This is where balance can go from being an effective tool to a “trap” that distorts the truth.
One oft-cited example of this “balance trap” comes from climate change report-ing. When the issue first came into the me-dia spotlight, it was reported as if a fact. Cli-mate change skeptics responded by putting together a group of “experts” to challenge this idea. Journalists then felt obligated to deliver “both sides” of the issue. According to an overwhelming majority of scientific evidence, climate change is, in fact, real. It is only through manipulation of the media that this fact turned into a belief. Today, the U.S. is one of the few places you can turn on a television and see a debate about whether climate change is even real.
A much less tired example of the “trap” comes from articles about marijuana regula-
tion. A typical article may taut all the poten-tial benefits of ending the “war on weed” but end with a warning from detractors about health and safety concerns — this lets both sides get in a punch. As a journalist, how do you deal with views about marijuana that are based on myth or misconception, espe-cially when health groups or government agencies propagate them?
For example, USA Today came out with an article in December in which the Nation-al Institute on Drug Abuse said that marijua-na use was associated with respiratory prob-
lems and long-term cognitive impairment. The first of these myths has been called into question by studies that show regular users actually experienced increased lung func-tionality. The second was disproved entirely by a study in the journal Addiction. Both of these studies would have been widely publi-cized — a mere Google search away — for the eager writers to cross-verify their sourc-es.
The article went on to quote a member of NIDA stating, “There are many people who go into treatment to get over an addiction to marijuana” in support of the idea that mari-juana addiction is pervasive. In reality, many people in centers for marijuana “addiction” were coerced into going instead of facing jail
time. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, more than one-third of people admitted to these programs hadn’t even smoked in the thirty days prior to treatment.
So before reporters simply include any statements in their articles, it is impera-tive that they ask: Who delivers them? Do institutions at risk have something to gain by making them? The NIDA certainly does when it comes to marijuana policies. As such, it would be good to point out conflicts of interest in articles or simply avoid includ-ing them, even if they come from an “ex-pert.”
Assisting in the dissemination of beliefs that are untrue is a grave crime in the jour-nalistic profession. I do not think that all journalists fall prey to this trap on purpose. Sometimes it just becomes easy to treat sources with official badges as “reliable.” But a healthy dose of skepticism — and per-haps some training reading journal articles — would certainly help to cleanse the dirty news palate of this country.
There are plenty of issues that need to be debated. And as far as a democracy goes, all voices should be given a forum to be heard. But it is the media’s duty to weigh these voic-es carefully, to avoid taking the loudest one by virtue of its volume and to make sure the ones that we can hear are — at the least — true.
Lucas Husted ’13, thinks that facts shouldn’t be debated in the opinions sec-
opinions 7THE BROWN DAILY HERALDTHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013
Avoiding the ‘balance trap’
Should we expect our media outlets to give equal coverage to all of these different points of view under
the pretense of fairness? Absolutely not.
Had you put half the focus you did in your Wall Street Journal opinion column into your high school career and college applica-tions, maybe you would have had a fighting chance in the college admission process. In fact, many have pointed out that this would make one hell of a satire piece, if only you meant it as such. But on to everything with which I disagree in your column.
First off, your descriptions of what you should have done comes off as offensive. You cannot simply throw insults at gay or lesbian individuals and minorities in America be-cause you are not one of them. It’s not edgy and honest — it’s mean. You shouldn’t have said, “Show me to any closet, and I would have happily come out of it.” It’s offensive enough to assume that coming out of the closet is something people do for attention, but do you honestly think that being gay will get you into college? That is absurd and completely unsympathetic toward a signifi-cant population of the United States that fac-es immense discrimination. While you were applying to college, some were out on the streets protesting for the right to get married in this country, which, if you ask me, is a lit-tle more important than college acceptances.
And yeah, it can suck to be white as Won-der Bread sometimes. You didn’t ask to be born into the majority, and now the odds of
getting into college seem to be against you. But do you know what can also suck? Be-ing in a minority group that is constantly the victim of bigotry and hate. Just the way you didn’t ask to be white, the Native Ameri-cans didn’t ask to be kicked out of their lands and black people didn’t ask to be overlooked when hailing taxicabs because of the color of their skin. And — news flash — minority groups are still minority groups when they get to college. Even if it seems like they had an advantage in the admission process, the
number of valuable and deserved opportu-nities created by affirmative action do good that outweighs the bad of granting arguably undeserved admission to the few who are le-gitimately unqualified.
And don’t wish for a “Tiger Mom.” Real-ly? You wish a racial stereotype had constant-ly breathed down your neck and punished you when you didn’t get As in junior high? This is similar to the statement about com-ing out of the closet — you don’t know how tough it is to live with these circumstances. You couldn’t possibly know because you are not in that situation, and this isn’t your fault, but please watch your mouth when you wish
for something.And as a general rule, don’t make light of
starving children in Africa. Just don’t.Secondly, your condescension toward
volunteer work, internships and extra-cur-ricular activities in general is unfair. What one person deems as fake, the next per-son could deem as very useful and sincere. Of course there are some people who write down BS charities and the likes on their ap-plications, but once again, those cases don’t hold a candle to the hard work done by the
majority of people building their resumes for college. Don’t discourage people from try-ing to make a difference because you didn’t think of a cool idea for a non-profit organi-zation.
Suzy Lee Weiss, I’m sure you don’t mean to belittle everyone in an Ivy League institu-tion, but that’s how your column reads. Some of us, and I mean the vast majority of us, worked really hard to get here. Whether we overcame real adversity or our “over-privi-leged backgrounds,” we worked very legiti-mate jobs, studied hard for our tests and put every drop of sweat we had into our school work and extra-curriculars, so please don’t
make the assumption that there is some pre-prescribed method of playing the admis-sions offices that gets you into a top college.
You said yourself in your interview with the Journal that you felt you had all the pre-requisites for a top school, so clearly that doesn’t work. That’s because prerequisites are bullshit, and of course you have to quali-fy with certain SAT scores and whatnot, but I for one would like to believe that it really does come down to the strength of one’s in-dividual character.
What hurts me the most about this opin-ion piece isn’t that you are attacking the sub-stance behind those who attend Ivies — I am hurt for all of the people who also didn’t get into a top college that you’re silencing with your overblown bitterness. There are amaz-ing applicants every year who get turned down from every school to which they ap-ply because they just fall through the cracks. By complaining that self-proclaimed medi-ocrity just didn’t get you far enough, you are insulting all of the outstanding minds out there that had awful luck or — gasp — didn’t have the resources to afford SAT tutoring and play the college admissions gamble. That is the worst crime of all, because unlike you now, those kids don’t get Journal interviews and opinions columns.
Caitlin Dorman ’16 actually participated in no volunteer work throughout high
school because she felt that it was not her calling and would be glad to continue this
You cannot simply throw insults at gay or lesbian individuals and minorities in America
because you are not one of them. It’s not edgy and honest — it’s mean.
daily heraldTHE BROWN
city & stateTHURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2013
By MICHAEL DUBINSTAFF WRITER
Legislation decriminalizing marijuana in Rhode Island went into effect last week. First introduced in 2010 by Rep. John Edwards, D-Tiverton and Ports-mouth, the bill passed in the General Assembly last year.
Individuals possessing less than one ounce of marijuana will be fined $150 instead of facing criminal charges. If the same individual is caught three times in an 18-month period, he or she will be subject to the original charges — a $500 fine and up to one year in prison.
The first version of the bill was just two paragraphs — “probably not a great piece of legislation at the time,” Edwards said. The final version was much more expansive and included additional information from a study commission organized by Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, the Senate bill’s primary sponsor, he said.
Opposition to the legislation steadily declined from the time it was first in-troduced in the General Assembly. The bill ultimately passed by a margin of 50-24 in the House of Representatives and 28-6 in the Senate last June.
Though legislators told Edwards last year that passing a decriminalization bill during an election year was unfeasible, he worked diligently with outside help
to pass the bill, he said, calling Brown students “instrumental” in that effort.
The Marijuana Policy Project — a lobbying organization that aims to change drug policies across the country — spearheaded the effort in support of the bill this year, said Mason Tvert, director of communications at MPP.
“This is a great step forward toward a more sensible marijuana policy in Rhode Island,” Tvert said. “It’s great that adults in Rhode Island will no longer face criminal penalties simply for possessing a less harmful product than alcohol.”
“That’s really going to change peo-ple’s lives,” said Natalie Van Houten ’14,
president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Marijuana possession is a “crime without a victim,” she added.
Van Houten said decriminaliza-tion will save the state money because it will not have to devote police and legal resources to making arrests and prosecuting cases.
But decriminalization legislation may convey to teens that marijuana use is acceptable, said Rep. James McLaugh-lin, D-Cumberland and Central Falls, the Associated Press reported last week.
“I think it sends the right message to our teens. It tells them that we’re not going to ruin their lives permanently,” Edwards said
R.I. pot decriminalization takes effectThe measure, which eliminates criminal penalties for possession, was passed last year
Domestic violence Under legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Michael
Marcello, D-Cranston, state courts would be permitted to order certain convicted domestic violence perpetrators “to wear an electronic monitoring device,” according to a General Assembly press release.
Marcello’s legislation would reinforce the current policy of issuing “protective orders.”
“Some individuals, especially in the cases of domestic violence, continue to be harassed and bothered and even abused by the individual against whom the protective or no contact order has been issued by the court,” Marcello said in the release. “The court should have the discretion to take further steps if there is reason to believe that merely issuing an order is not going to achieve its intended purpose.”
If an offender is found to be “tampering with, damaging or destroying ”the monitoring device, he or she will face five years in prison, according to the release.
Benefit corporations In the House, Rep. Teresa Tanzi, D-South Kingstown and
Narragansett, introduced legislation to institute legal protection for “for-profit” corporations that maintain “social and environmental missions,” according to a General Assembly press release. The bill offers the opportunity for corporations to clarify whether they are “for-benefit” — meaning they engage in some altruistic mission in addition to their business goals — and consider factors other than profit when making decisions.
“This is a great way we can give entrepreneurs more options and attract socially-responsible or environmentally-driven businesses to the state,” Tanzi said in the release.
Tanzi’s bill would require corporations to rally shareholder support to formally “convert into benefit corporation status.” With this status, a company commits to a transformation of their mission. According to the release, these types of corporations would have the responsibility to uphold both of their missions and shareholders would have the duty to remove any leader “devoting too much effort or expense on something that does not result in higher profits,” according to the release.
Similar laws already exist in 12 states across the country, including neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Freshman caucus Rep. John Lombardi, D-Providence, called for development of
a “freshman caucus” in the House in response to the new crop of 16 representatives in the General Assembly — 21 percent of the body’s composition.
The group would aim to preserve the stamina and creativity of new legislators while educating them on policy and structures, according to a General Assembly press release.
“A caucus of this type can help build camaraderie among the group that can live on long after these individuals stop being freshman legislators, even if they do not always agree on every issue,” Lombardi said in the release.
BY S O N A M K R T TC H I A NC I T Y & S TAT E E D I TO R
S P OT L I G H T O N T H E S TAT E H O U S E
By KATE KIERNANCONTRIBUTING WRITER
Providence has set a 2014 start date for Providence Talks, the program for which it won a $5 million grant from Bloom-berg Philanthropies in March. The city will work with a Brown research team to collect data, monitor the program’s progress and assess its effectiveness in improving the vocabulary of young children.
By the time children in low-income households turn four years old, they have heard approximately 30 million fewer words than their peers from wealthier backgrounds, according to Providence Mayor Angel Taveras’ web-site. By exposing children at a younger age to a larger vocabulary, the program’s organizers hope to correct this discrep-ancy and improve children’s reading levels.
The Mayors Challenge was orga-nized by Bloomberg Philanthropies, New York City Mayor Michael Bloom-berg’s charitable foundation that do-nates to education initiatives among its other causes, according to the founda-tion’s website. Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and Santa Monica, Calif. also received $1 million prizes to execute their own education programs, accord-ing to the mayor’s website.
The Mayors Challenge encouraged cities to come up with programs to im-prove early childhood literacy rates. The program had submissions from 305 cities in 45 different states. When de-signing their programs, the cities were required to adhere to four criteria — the policy’s goal, feasibility, effectiveness and ability to be reproduced in other cities.
In Rhode Island, nearly one-third of kindergartners read at levels below national proficiency standards based on state-administered assessments, accord-ing to the Huffington Post. Less than half of fourth grade students scored at or above the national benchmark, the Providence Journal reported. Through Providence Talks, Taveras hopes to raise reading proficiency to 70 percent for rising fourth grade students by 2015, the Journal reported.
Providence Talks has partnered with the LENA Research Foundation to use a recording device to measure the number of words a child hears, The Herald reported last month. Coaches will visit children and families enrolled in the program to encourage the use of a broader vocabulary, according to the mayor’s website. Providence can create a “verbal landscape” for young children through innovative use of this technol-ogy to address social problems in ways that are still being explored by education policymakers, said John Tyler, professor of education.
Mentors will work with children from infancy until about their second birthdays, identifying families inter-
ested in participating through the state’s universal newborn screening process, said Toby Shepherd, Taveras’ deputy director of policy. Since the “word gap is geographically neutral,” families will be offered an opportunity to participate based on an assessment of “different developmental and biological risk fac-tors,” he said.
Since the challenge required every city to design their programs within a $1 million budget, the mayor anticipates that the additional grant money will en-able the city to implement Providence Talks more quickly and with more participating families than originally planned, Shepherd said. The city intends to begin work with the first families as soon as early 2014.
A research team at Brown — led by Professor of Education Kenneth Wong — is working with the city to independently assess the effectiveness of Providence Talks. The team will ex-amine whether the program increases children’s vocabulary and if others with similar backgrounds would benefit from such additional tutoring, Wong said.
The evaluation will have to balance informing participating families about the importance of collecting data from the program while respecting confiden-tiality and obtaining reliable informa-tion, Wong said. The team will assess the information from the electronic record-ing devices by working with LENA to see how many words children absorb. It also will be looking at social influences, such as the parents’ education level, racial and cul-
Literacy program schedules start dateProvidence Talks, which aims to expand low-income students’ literacy, is slated to start in 2014
/ / Pot page 5
/ / Talks page 5
By ALBERT ANDERSONCONTRIBUTING WRITER
The recent recession in the United States has had a noticeably different impact
across racial and gender demo-graphics, said Margaret Simms, an economist and
fellow at the Urban Institute in Washing-ton D.C., at a lecture yesterday.
Simms used economic data to ad-dress the Obama administration’s re-
sponse to the recession and economic relief efforts for families at her lecture, which was held at the Taubman Center for Public Policy and attended by about 25 people.
Simms said the recession’s differen-tial impact on various demographics highlights “the need for attention to differential policies in order to make everybody financially secure.”
Data from numerous studies show that blacks, especially black women, were disproportionately affected by the reces-sion, Simms said.
One Urban Institute study found that during the recession, black women had the lowest median income when com-pared to black men,white men and white women. The wealth of the average black household fell
Economist discusses impact of recession on minorities
/ / Lecture page 3
UNIVERSITY NEWS
HERALD FILE PHOTO
Marijuana decriminalization — passed with a 50-24 vote in the House of Representatives and a 28-6 vote in the Senate — went into effect last week.
Black women have been most significantly affected by the economic downturn, Simms said
