Local peace activist Mark Stahl is apparently experiencing a little pushback for some critical remarks he made about the Brown pie-tossers. He relayed these comments to me via e-mail this past week, and I thought it was important to include his gist in the related story by Ariel Werner:

“I totally reject this action as an absurd and unwelcome attack on freedom of speech. I wonder how we would react if a speaker at one of our peace events was peppered by a pie. If we don’t support the principles of free speech and civil discourse, then we might as well shut down our organizations.”

Stahl believes that stunts such as those performed by the pie-tossers are “particularly counter-productive when the increasing inroads against civil liberties in this country make it all the more important for us to take a principled stand in support of freedom of speech.”

The pie-tossers view the situation differently:

From Brown students to conservative columnist Michelle Malkin (who deemed the pie-throwers “enviro-nitwits”), commentators have portrayed the incident as the latest example of liberal intolerance at Brown. But Little says that she and the Colonel aimed to provoke that very notion. 

“What we were trying to draw attention to is the subtle hegemony of free speech on a campus where certain speakers — mainstream and right-wing speakers — get brought to campus and other voices aren’t heard or are silenced."

I'm with Stahl in this one. Where does one draw the line, for instance, between throwing pies and rocks, or otherwise interfering with what people have to say in a public forum? Anyway, Mark copied me on a followup e-mail he sent, and publishing it here seems in keeping with the spirit of the related discussion:

Dear friends,

A question has been asked as to why I sent a copy of my statement about the pie-throwing incident to the Providence Phoenix. I guess the answer is simple enough, I was hoping they would publish it! In the immortal words of Cicero, Cum tacent, probant! ("When they are silent, they approve.")

This incident has been widely covered by the national media, and the clip on YouTube has been viewed over 76,000 times.  I intended my comments to be a public response to a very public incident. This is what democracy is all about, people being free to express their opinions without fear of retribution.

I appreciate the lively debate on this issue, as I know Molly does. One thing I would like to comment on is the idea that this was a "non-violent" action. Having viewed the clip on YouTube I do not regard it as non-violent. The protesters knew the missiles were harmless custard, but Mr. Friedman did not.

He instantly recoiled from the assault, with an instinctive reaction of fear. He could have easily lost his balance and slipped on the custard that was splattered on the floor, and injured or broken his leg. People have been seriously injured during what were intended as pranks or harmless actions.

Perhaps more important, this incident represented an assault on his dignity. Some may believe that he deserved it, as is their right. But in my opinion as a pacifist, assaults on human dignity are never justified, and never contribute to the creation of a more just and peaceful society. 

Mark Stahl
Providence, RI

In a story about how one person can make a big difference, the Phoenix reported last year on how Caitie Whelan, a senior at Brown, has been aiding the Merasi, a community of lower-caste musicians in India.

Under the Hindu caste system, the 15,000 Merasi in Jaisalmer District, Rajasthan, are members of the lowest strata within the untouchable caste, “the lowest of the low,” according to Whelan. In Rajasthan, one of India’s most conservative states, this means that they have little access to education, political representation, and steady employment.
 
These problems are compounded by India’s rapid modernization, which is stripping the Merasi of their sole means of income and social value: music. “They are the gatekeepers of a 37-generation musical legacy,” says Whelan, with traditions that describe “local folk history and the genealogy of the region.” As modern capitalism replaces traditional forms of exchange, the Merasi can no longer support themselves through their music. Children go to work instead of learning the musical traditions of their elders, Whelan says; as a result, those traditions are “on the brink of eradication.”
 
In 2006, Whelan traveled to Jaisalmer with Folk Arts Rajasthan to record Merasi music and create an archive of their folk legacy. But the community indicated that it needs more to preserve their singular cultural identity — its members need the opportunity to improve their lot through education.

Now, as Whelan writes to tell N4N, a group of the Merasi are set to perform tomorrow at Brown:

The Merasi, a community of marginalized Untouchable musicians from the deserts of northwestern India, will be performing an explosive medley of haunting music and intoxicating dance from their 800 year old artistic legacy right here at Brown University!

 

The Finer Points:

When: Friday, May 2nd, 6-8pm

Where: Salomon 101, Brown University

Tickets: Free! Reservations highly recommended; RSVP to this email or pamela@brown.edu

Suggested Donation: $5, all proceeds benefit Folk Arts Rajasthan (www.folkartsrajasthan.org, FAR) and FAR's educational programming, The Merasi School (http://merasischool.org), launched by Brown Grad Caitie Whelan.

 

Hear the songs, see the dances, and contribute to the creation of a more equitable Merasi future!

 

. . .  Also, feel free to check us out on Facebook and invite ALL your friends!

Speaking of green stuff and Brown . . .

Students at Brown University have organized a two-day conference to promote environmental sustainability. The conference brings together a wide range of environmental leaders, including Ira Magaziner, chairman of the Clinton Global Initiative; U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse; Gov. Donald Carcieri; and Adam Werbach, global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi.

 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The Brown is Green Initiative (B.I.G.), a student-led coalition of campus-based environmental organizations, will host a two-day colloquium around the theme of environmental sustainability on April 25-26, 2008. “Brown is Green: Strategies for a Sustainable Future” will bring together a wide range of leaders in the environmental field, including academics, activists, politicians and business leaders. This event is free and open to the public; advance registration will be available online and is encouraged.

 

Topics include climate change, sustainable building, alternative and renewable energy, policy solutions, environmental justice, and employment opportunities in the environmental field. The conference kicks off with a donation of plastic water bottles for recycling in exchange for receiving an environment-friendly reusable water bottle. It includes a screening of the feature film, Into the Wild. Both events will take place on the College Green. The conference concludes with a dinner prepared with ingredients grown on local farms.

 

“Right now there is a remarkable sense of energy at Brown around the issue of a creating a sustainable environment,” said Lauren Kolodny, a Brown senior and one of the conference organizers. “We wanted to capture that enthusiasm and build on it by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas on a topic that is of such universal concern.”

 

The goal of this event is to foster dialogue and connections between students, staff and faculty as well as community members and government and business leaders who are trying to understand environmental problems and craft solutions to those problems. The roster of conference speakers includes:

• Ira Magaziner, chairman, Clinton Climate Initiative;

• Sheldon Whitehouse. U.S. senator from Rhode Island;

• Adam Werbach, global CEO, Saatchi and Saatchi, and former president of the Sierra Club;

• Donald Carcieri, governor of Rhode Island;

• David Cicilline, mayor of Providence;

• Frank Caprio, state treasurer Rhode Island;

• Stephen Schneider, professor of biological sciences, Stanford University.

 

A full schedule of events is available online at www.brown.edu/big.

 

Brown University has demonstrated a commitment to environmental sustainability in all facets of University life. Students pursue coursework in the field and faculty members are engaged in environmental research and innovation in alternative energies and global climate change. In January, the University announced an aggressive and comprehensive plan that will reduce campus greenhouse gas emissions from existing facilities to 42 percent below 2007 levels by 2020. Brown also implemented a requirement that emissions will be reduced by up to 50 percent for all newly constructed and acquired facilities.

Perhaps she should be sentenced to a solitary section of a vegan collaborative household.

BeloBlog reports:

PROVIDENCE -- New York Times columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman says he'll leave it for Brown to decide what to do with a student who threw a green whipped cream pie at him during a speech earlier this week.

Friedman says he isn't pressing charges against Margaree Little, a 22-year-old English literature major.

Little says she's undergoing disciplinary action by the dean's office and expulsion is ``not off the table.''

Little and an unidentified man threw pies at Friedman as he opened an Earth Day speech Tuesday at Brown.

She says they were protesting Friedman's support of biofuels, although Friedman has written about taking a careful approach to biofuels to ensure biodiversity. She also says they were hoping to open up a dialogue about what it really means to have free speech on an elite college campus.

Darrell West, who came to Rhode Island in 1982 and is departing in June for a job at the Brookings Institution, also stopped by the Newsmakers' set today. Like journalists, West has had a rich vein of fodder here, and he says the Ocean State will stay with him after he moves to DC.

Among the highlights of his exit interview:

-- Rhode Island remains handicapped by a lack of long-term economic planning. The General Assembly habitually responds to the governor's budget at the last-minute and in a frenzied fashion. It will not be surprising if the state experiences another fiscal crisis another 10 or so years down the road.

-- Rhode Island remains a place with a high quality of life and where the economic base has grown more multi-faceted since the sharp decline of the old industrial base in the '80s.

-- Bruce Sundlin's airport expansion was controversial in the early '90s, but now looks like a genius idea.

-- The jury is out on Buddy Cianci's impact as a radio talk-show host. West says that although Cianci has a platform with which to criticize David Cicilline, the mayor's office is generally a stronger position from which to operate.

-- The jury is out on Governor Carcieri's record. While Carcieri exhibited an early strong suit in communication skills, he has gotten bogged down by taking on too many different fights and by not having more of a single-minded focus on budget issues, West says. The governor has had some success, the professor adds, in changing the discussion on budget-related topics.

-- It remains a challenge for some Rhode Islanders, including those elected as reformers, to overcome the "insider" mentality once in office, but the state has strong ethics laws for use in responding to the situation. "You can not reform human nature," West says, who also referred to Elmer Cornwell's observation that the Ocean State is marked by "the politics of intimacy."

-- Asked what he would leave as a gift to Rhode Island, West says it would be a greater emphasis on regionalization.

The show will be broadcast Sunday, at 5:30 am on Channel 12, and at 10 am on Fox 64. 

This about nails it.

From the BDH:

To the Editor:

I was disappointed, but not surprised, when a law school classmate forwarded me the Providence Journal blurb about the silly pie-throwing stunt at the Thomas Friedman lecture the other night. People should not be too quick to dismiss the antics as the work of a couple overzealous individuals. Such incidents are only the symptom of a culture of intolerance for dissimilar views at Brown among many of the more active advocacy groups. In my time at Brown I witnessed in many of the politically-active circles an unwillingness to show basic respect for other's viewpoints, to the point that many of these Brown students think some viewpoints do not deserve the right to be voiced. Vocal students at Brown should ask themselves - if I'm not even willing to let those I disagree with speak, why in the world do I expect anybody to listen to me?

Matt Lawrence '06
April 23

The quote of the day comes from New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who was targeted with two mostly errant green-colored pies during his address yesterday at Brown University (h/t RI's Future):

Mr. Friedman quipped, "Ten years in Beruit and Jerusalem, who thought I'd meet my end in Providence, Rhode Island."

According to Natalie Garcia's report in the ProJo:

Not everyone agrees with Friedman’s vision that innovation is the path to climate and energy salvation. Just seconds into his speech, he was interrupted by two environmental activists, who stormed the stage shortly after Friedman stepped up to the microphone, tossing two paper plates loaded with shamrock-colored whipped cream at him.

Friedman ducked, and was left with only minor streams of the sugary green goo on his black pants and turtleneck.

He stood in bewilderment and mild disgust as the young man and woman bolted from the stage and out the side door, throwing a handful of fliers into the air to relay the message they apparently were not going to deliver personally.

“Thomas Friedman deserves a pie in the face…,” the flier said, “because of his sickeningly cheery applaud for free market capitalism’s conquest of the planet, for telling the world that the free market and techno fixes can save us from climate change. From carbon trading to biofuels, these distractions are dangerous in and of themselves, while encouraging inaction with respect to the true problems at hand…”

After five minutes, Friedman returned to the stage undeterred, with only faint traces of the green cream on his clothing.

Lots of activity at Bruno Uno tomorrow:

-- Global Climate Change

Brown's Political Theory Project presents the Janus Forum Lecture “Global Climate Change: The End of the World as We Know It?” at 3 p.m in Alumnae Hall, 194 Meeting St. The speakers are Bjorn Lomborg of Copenhagen Business School, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist; Robert Mendelsohn of Yale University, author of The Impact of Climate Change on the United States Economy; and Michael Shellenberger of the Breakthrough Institute. After a 15-minute presentation, each speaker will engage the audience in a Q&A (though not a debate).

-- Deconstructing Sport: The Intersection of Sport and Human Rights

Is the right to play sports as inalienable a right as freedom of expression and the entitlement to a fair standard of living? This two-day series of film screenings, lectures, and panel discussions will explore the role of sport in society from a diverse range of perspectives: education, sociology, economics, public health and medicine, and public policy. Sponsored by the Roosevelt Institution and the Royce Fellowship for Sport and Society, events are free and open to the public. A full schedule is available online.

-- Norman G. Finkelstein

The Brown University Arab Club welcomes Norman G. Finkelstein, scholar of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the politics of anti-Semitism and the author of such works as “Beyond Chutzpah” and “The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering.” An extensive Q&A will follow Finkelstein's lecture, which is at 7 p.m. in List Art Building, room 120, 64 College St.

Another coup for the Bristol-based law program:

BRISTOL, R.I., April 4, 2008 – On Monday, April 7, Associate Justice Antonin G. Scalia of the U.S. Supreme Court will spend a day at the Roger Williams University School of Law, meeting with student leaders, faculty and alumni, as well as members of the state bar and judiciary, participating in a question-and-answer session with students—even teaching a full Constitutional Law class.

 

Justice Scalia’s visit marks the latest highlight in an extraordinary “Supreme Semester” of Court-related events at the School of Law, offering students no fewer than three rare opportunities to interact with justices of the high Court (including Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., in February, and Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., later this month, in addition to Justice Scalia).

 

As part of his visit, Justice Scalia will host a Q&A session with approximately 175 law students who earned entry to the event via a lottery system. Members of the media are encouraged to attend this portion of his visit only—scheduled from 2 to 3 p.m.

Kudos and congrats to the longtime observer of Rhode Island politics:

Darrell West, currently director of the Taubman Center for Public Policy and American Institutions at Brown University, is joining the Brookings Institution as vice president and director of Governance Studies, Brookings President Strobe Talbott announced today.

 

Dr. West also directs the Taubman Center's public opinion laboratory and holds the John Hazen White Chair as a professor of public policy and political science. During his eight years as director of the Taubman Center, the institution's budget increased from $400,000 to $1.5 million and West raised over $10 million in endowment funds. He has been a member of the Brown political science department faculty for over twenty years, where he has served as chair.  Dr. West was a Brookings research fellow in 1980-1981.

 

West will join Brookings July 1, replacing Pietro Nivola, who will remain the Douglas Dillon Senior Fellow.  Dr.  Nivola has served as director of the program since 2004.

 

"We are incredibly pleased that Darrell will be back at Brookings after a wonderful career at Brown University," Talbott said.  "Darrell's track record in building the Taubman Center covers the full range of challenges facing American politics.  He is the perfect person to build upon Pietro Nivola's legacy of making Brookings the go-to place for strengthening America's democratic institutions." Talbott focused on Governance Studies work in addressing growing political polarization, fixing troubled electoral systems, promoting reform in Congressional processes and in finding ways to advance civil discourse.  "We feel that under Darrell's leadership, we are poised to have even greater impact in helping our political institutions address the major challenges facing the nation."

 

"I am delighted to be joining Brookings," West said.  "Governance Studies has first-rate scholars committed to improving American democracy and the overall functioning of our political system.  The United States faces many challenges and it is important that our political institutions function effectively."

Governor Carcieri entered a long-running debate about the value of the early-education program Head Start this week. Here's what he said in a story yesterday by the ProJo's Steve Peoples:

“Show me empirical evidence that Head Start has done anything,” he said. “I think it’s been the biggest waste of money, frankly.”

I took a quick look via Google to seek indications of Head Start's impact. There are a lot of positive reviews, but also some more critical ones. At minimum, considering the research, the governor engaged in a rhetorical over-reach. (The US Department of Health and Human Services has a detailed look at the research here.)

Here's one of the positive reviews that I found:

The Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) is a longitudinal study, meaning the same group of children (cohort) is folowed over several years. FACES provides key findings related to children’s outcomes and program quality. FACES proves Head Start’s ability to help narrow the gap between disadvantaged children and other children in the areas of education and social behavior. According to the survey, most children entering Head Start had early academic skills that were below national norms. However, by the end of the program, Head Start children showed gains in vocabulary, early math, writing skills, and other literacy-related areas. Head Start children also showed growth in their social skills which better prepares them for cooperative classroom learning.

Not only has Head Start proven to help children early in their schooling, it also has an effect on their later schooling as well. According to an issue brief (pdf) drafted by the National Head Start Association, “Reliable studies have found that Head Start children have increased achievement test scores and that they experience favorable long-term effects on grade repetition, special education, and graduation rates.”

Here's another:

A recent rigorous national evaluation of the impact of Head Start on three- and four-year-olds, the Head Start Impact Study, found gains for Head Start children in pre-reading, pre-writing, vocabulary and literacy skills.¹ Children assigned to participate in Head Start also had fewer behavior problems, better overall physical health, less hyperactivity, and more access to dental care. More positive effects were found for children who entered the program as three-year olds than as four-year olds.² Another study found that four-year olds participating in Head Start did better in receptive language and phonemic awareness than four-year olds of similar backgrounds who were wait-listed for the Head Start program.³ Other studies find that children who attended Head Start are more likely to stay in school, and have lower rates of grade retention in early elementary school.⁴ Head Start participants were also more likely to have been fully immunized⁵ and to have better access to health care.⁶

Head Start programs may also have benefits for the parents of the children attending. In comparison to a group of families with similar backgrounds, parents of children attending such programs are more likely to report good health and safety practices than are parents of children not attending.⁷ First-year findings from the National Head Start Impact study also found that parents of children attending Head Start were more likely to read to their children frequently, less likely to use physical punishment, and more likely to engage in educational activities with their children. However, in this study, parents were not significantly more likely to use better safety practices.⁸

The Heritage Foundation says this:

Since its inception, there has been controversy over Head Start's effectiveness. Early research from the Westinghouse Learning Corporation in 1969 showed cognitive gains of the program's participants faded away within a few grades, at which point the cognitive abilities of Head Start participants are indistinguishable from their nonparticipating peers.

In 1985, the Head Start Synthesis Project, a meta-analysis of over 210 studies and reports, found:

Children enrolled in Head Start enjoy significant, immediate gains in cognitive test scores, socioemotional test scores, and health status. In the long run, cognitive and socio-emotional test scores of former Head Start students do not remain superior to those of disadvantaged children who did not attend Head Start.

A few studies indicated that Head Start participants were less likely to be enrolled in special education or to be held back a grade. Head Start students also received more dental and health screenings.

The Goldwater Institute says:

[T]he Head Start Impact Study—in which children who attended the program are being compared with those who did not—began in 2002 and is continuing. Its control group is made up of children who could not get into the program because all the slots were filled after a lottery, explained Nicholas Zill, the director of the Child and Family Study Area at Westat, a Rockville, Md.-based research organization.

Initial results released in 2005 showed “modest” gains for the Head Start children in pre-reading, pre-writing, and vocabulary skills. But improvements were not found in oral-comprehension or math skills. Results after the children’s kindergarten year are being analyzed and will be released later this year.

Officials with the Bush administration noted that the preliminary findings showed that children in the program still lag behind their peers, while Head Start advocates used the results to boast that the children are making progress.

Linda Borg's recent ProJo story, enumerating the reasons for Superintendent Donnie Evans's impending departure, told us a lot about the state of the Providence schools:

Mary Sylvia Harrison, executive director of the College Crusade of Rhode Island, worries that the change in leadership will further disrupt a district already roiled by stalled contract negotiations and successive years of budget cuts. When a leader leaves, institutional memory is lost, she said. Projects get delayed while everyone waits for a new superintendent.

“Old beliefs and attitudes resurface and cynicism begins to run rampant,” Harrison wrote in a letter to Cicilline last week. “If we remove Donnie or fix the ‘leadership’ problem, we are still left with the other parts of our school community that also need fixing. If Donnie is the problem, he isn’t the biggest or the only big problem we have and no new superintendent will be a panacea.”

While Harrison didn’t name names, she said that the Providence schools are controlled by a unique culture, one that she calls “potent, formidable and toxic.”

Now comes the word, via BeloBlog, that Tom Brady, interim superintendent in Philadelphia, has gotten the nod as Evans's successor.

Brady, 57, is a retired Army colonel with more than seven years experience in school administration, including top positions with the Washington, D.C., and Fairfax County, Va., school systems.

Brady spent 25 years in the Army, landing his first school administrative school position in 1999 in Fairfax County. He is married with five grown children and five grandchildren.

Brady will take over the state's largest school system, whose officials say is teetering on the edge of a financial crisis.

At a meeting last night, the district's financial officer Mark Dunham said that the $322.9 million proposed budget for 2008-9 includes a shortfall of $9.7 million -- which Dunham said he did not know how would be made up.

It's probably the understatement of the year to note that improving Providence's schools is a formidable challenge -- a vital one for the future of the state. Brady will need all the help he can get.

Who knows the exact reason why Donnie Evans has decided not to seek another term as school superintendent in Providence. The bottom line is that Providence students are the big losers of this continued turnover in the top position.

When Evans came in, he was supposed to represent an end to the revolving doors represented by his predecessors, Diana Lam and Melody Johnson. Perhaps, as some city councilors believe, he was not the best person to run the school system. Yet he reportedly faced a hostile reception from a number of councilors even before his MIA performance during the December 13 snow debacle.

Dan Barbarisi and Linda Borg report on the story today:

Evans offered little insight into the reasons for his departure, saying in his resignation letter that he was leaving for “personal and professional reasons to pursue other opportunities.”

“My decision to leave was not made lightly. I want you, as well as every employee, student, and family in this district to know that my experience in Providence has been both rewarding and challenging,” Evans wrote to the School Board. He did not return calls seeking comment last night.

BRISTOL, R.I., Feb. 27, 2008 – Daniel Ayalon, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, will visit Roger Williams University tonight in a presentation titled “Prospects for Peace in the Middle East.”

 

During his time as ambassador from 2002 to 2006, Mr. Ayalon played a lead role in deepening strategic, political and economic ties between Israel and the U.S. His extensive experience in foreign relations administration at the highest levels has helped foster a unique perspective on the variety of challenges affecting the Middle East.

For all the gun fans and phobes, and legal buffs, out there:

Roger Williams University School of Law is hosting a debate on the meaning of the Second Amendment featuring two nationally known experts, Harvard Law Professor Mark Tushnet and Roger Williams Law Professor Carl Bogus. The debate will be this Wednesday, February 20, 2008, at 12:00 p.m.in Room 262 at the School of Law, Ten Metacom Avenue, Bristol. The event is open to the public.

 

Professor Mark Tushnet is the William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.  He has authored 18 books, most recently Out of Range: Why the Constitution Can't End the Battle Over Guns, in which he critiques the traditional "individual rights vs. collective rights" debate. Professor Tushnet argues that the Second Amendment reflects our sense of ourselves as a people, and that the answer to the debate will not be found in a "holy writ," but in our values and our vision of the nation. He will sign copies of Out of Range following the debate.

 

Professor Carl Bogus is a national expert on the meaning and history of the Second Amendment.  He is the author of several articles including,

"What Does the Second Amendment Restrict?  A Collective Rights Analysis and The Hidden History of the Second Amendment." Bogus is the editor of the book, The Second Amendment in Law and History: Historians and Scholars on the Right to Bear Arms.  He argues that historical studies and legal precedent both demonstrate a Second Amendment guarantee of a collective right to bear arms – but only within an established militia.

 

The debate comes one month before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments in District of Columbia v. Heller, the first Supreme Court review of the Second Amendment since United States v. Miller in 1939.

 

This event is being co-sponsored by the Roger Williams University School of Law chapters of the American Constitution Society and the American Civil Liberties Union.

 Considering Brown University's already liberal reputation, those on the other side of the political spectrum will likely have fun with this, yet the chance to study in a foreign country remains a potentially valuable experience.

From the Brown Daily Herald:

Though the average American can't travel to Cuba, 10 Brown students will have the opportunity to spend next semester in Havana studying with 10 Cuban students at the Casa de Las Americas, taught entirely by Cuban professors.

"This is the perfect opportunity to look at the past, present and future of Cuba while sitting next to Cuban nationals," said Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs and associate dean of the College. Brostuen began working with the Center for Latin American Studies a year and a half ago on this program, which may be an option for Spanish-speaking students every fall semester. The program- which will charge Brown's tuition plus $1,000 for room and board - has already generated a lot of student interest, and Brosten said he expects it to be competitive.

Brown has a license from the Department of the Treasury authorizing semester programs in Cuba for its students, Brostuen said, meaning students can travel only by going through Brown's program. There were once more University programs that allowed students to travel and study in Cuba, Brosuten said, but the Treasury tightened the restrictions on Cuban study abroad programs in 2004. Many schools could not maintain their programs due to these changes, and now only a handful of schools, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Harvard and Sarah Lawrence College have programs for students in Cuba, Brostuen said.

Brostuen said the University adheres "scrupulously" to the restrictions, informing the Treasury when faculty or graduate students travel to the country. Adrian Lopez-Denis, a postdoctoral fellow in international humanities who was born in Cuba and came to the United States in 2000, said Cuban study abroad programs flourished during the Clinton administration but became harder and harder to maintain during the Bush administration.

Those who've followed the controversies involving the Providence Public Library in recent years may be interested in this event tonight, sponsored by the Library Reform Group, at Knight Memorial Library, 275 Elmwood Avenue, Providence, from 6-7:30 PM.

Two noted library directors will participate in a public forum at Knight Memorial Library entitled “How Libraries Raise Money.” They will discuss the development strategies they have used and reflect upon what has worked and what hasn’t and why. Their experiences and insights will provide an invaluable perspective as Providence city officials, PPL trustees and library supporters consider PPL’s future options. 

 

Director Kathryn Taylor has led Westerly Public Library for the past ten years, after nearly twenty years as Littleton NH public library director where she earned that library an "Excellence in Rural Libraries Award." Since becoming WPL director, Ms. Taylor has increased the library’s visibility in the community, thereby increasing public support for fund-raising as well.  

 

The Westerly Public Library has one of the highest circulation figures in the state of Rhode Island and it is currently in the midst of a multi-million dollar capital campaign to raise money for space reallocation in the library and renovations to the adjoining Wilcox Park.  With strong support from surrounding communities, committed public officials and an impressive number of library advocates, the fund-raising campaign is making so much progress that it has been highlighted by Act for Libraries. 

 

Having spent many years as a librarian in affluent suburbs, Louise Blalock took on the challenges of heading a large urban library system in a city confronting economic distress when she became chief librarian of the Hartford Public Library in 1994. Her achievements at HPL have resulted in her selection as Librarian of the Year by the Library Journal in 2001. 

 

Hartford Mayor Michael Peters has asserted that she “created a new, modern, urban model focused on the diverse needs of the many cultures that represent our city and has forged strong partnerships with the schools and neighborhoods.” Paul Shipman of the HPL board has been equally impressed with her achievements, noting that “while difficult economic times in the 1990s could have resulted in belt-tightening at the library, [she] galvanized government and public support [and] not only preserved all nine branches but succeeded in starting a multimillion-dollar campaign to upgrade several branches and nearly double the size of the Central Library.”

 

Both Kathryn Taylor and Louise Blalock have undertaken a variety of successful fundraising campaigns, using diverse approaches and tactics and enlisting the aid of public officials, library patrons, donors, board members, and corporate sponsors. They have also learned to be realistic, to be aware that some efforts are likely to be more effective than others, to understand that sometimes libraries can’t raise enough money to support all the programs, services and building upgrades they might wish for--but also to know that one mustn't aim too low, either.

David Segal and Matt Jerzyk yesterday used a ProJo op-ed to outline a progressive vision for Rhode Island.

They focused on three important needs: efficiency through regionalization, and creating a predictable funding formula; building the Green economy; and delivering criminal-justice reform.

THERE’S LITTLE disagreement that Rhode Island’s budget needs savings, that our property taxes are too high, or that our economy could use a boost. Sadly, the conventional political wisdom offers only untenable answers: Cut taxes, precisely for those who are already doing best; slash public-school funding and block cities from raising these funds on their own; use tax breaks to swipe business from other states; de-fund social services, and so on.

Further, Governor Carcieri has chosen the “you’re with us or you’re against us” mentality that has governed policy-making in the Bush administration. In his world, Democrats, labor unions, immigrants, single mothers and the poor are enemies to be chastised through press releases and on talk radio.

Alternatively, we’d suggest that our problems can be solved by bringing people together and thinking broadly in ways that rely on our state’s strengths, maintain fairness and fill real needs. We write to offer a progressive vision for this legislative year.

The three focal points emphasized by the authors make a lot of sense. And while Governor Carcieri has been more vocal in citing a desire to turn Rhode Island into a leader in alternative-energy sources, the governor and the legislature, together, seem to have done little to advance the ball on the other two fronts.

On the contrary, given the potential to save money through criminal-justice reform, the state wastefully back-tracked last year with the misguided try-juveniles-as-adults-to-save-money thing.

As some others have suggested, the bright spot in the state's current budget crisis -- if we're lucky -- could be a sufficient degree of motivation to reinvent government in Rhode Island.

Representative Victor Moffitt (R-Coventry) is shaping up as one of the bolder legislative voices in responding to the budget crisis.

Following on the heels of his recent proposal to lower the sales tax, the rep just called for Rhode Island's schools to be divided into four districts:

The rationale behind consolidating the current 36 school districts into 4 school regions is the potential for significant savings in the areas of administration and purchasing. 

 

“For a small state like ours, that is suffering through such difficult financial times, to stand pat and accept the status quo is a mistake,” said Rep. Moffitt. “There is no need for our taxpayers to be paying for 36 separate school administrations, when they could be consolidated into four. Not only would such a reorganization result in considerable savings in personnel costs, the purchasing power of the newly created four school regions would be far greater than that of the current individual school districts.”

 

This legislation calls for the immediate creation of the four school regions; North, South, East, and West.  The composition of each region is such that each has a relative balance considering the number of students, the ratio of towns and cities, and total tax levies.

Regionalization seems to remain the third-rail of Rhode Island politics. I recall that Buddy Cianci talked up the concept in the time before the start of his federal prison sentence.

Would it save money?

It would seem that there has to be a more efficient way of doing things, although Robert Walsh, executive director of the National Education Association Rhode Island, speaking yesterday on ABC6 On the Record with Jim Hummel, said the savings of regionalization are less than some would suspect.

Bottom line: the state needs a better way of doing things.

Battles involving janitors are nothing new at Providence College, and supportive members of the PC community plan to march in support of the workers today at 3. According to PC's Student Labor Alliance:

Providence College students will hold a rally to encourage the creation of an inclusive, beloved community on campus, and in support of a just contract for the contracted janitors at Providence College. In the spirit of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, the rally will embrace the nonviolent message preached by Dr. King, and his "objective (of) a truly brotherly society, the creation of the beloved community." Students regard this opportunity for justice for contracted janitors at Providence College another step in creating the beloved community, one that is founded on the values shared by its people, including the realization of the dignity of workers.

 

Contracted janitors reported that they have been facing harassment and intimation from their supervisors at the workplace. Students, especially due to their strengthening unity with janitors, believe that a just contract cannot come from a climate of fear at work. As Martin Luther King said when supporting the sanitation workers in Memphis, "We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are... determined to be people. We are saying that we are God's children. And that we don't have to live like we are forced to live." Contracted janitors at Providence College are invaluable to the functionality, but more importantly, the spirit, of the campus community.  Their work has been undervalued, but the Providence College community has been presented with an opportunity to see change.

 

As clearly stated in its mission, Providence College "encourages the deepest respect for the essential dignity, freedom, and equality of every person."  In keeping with the mission of the College, all workers -- students, faculty, and Hurley janitors alike -- deserve the dignity that is essential to being human.

Following my post yesterday about Anthony Lewis's new book, Kim Ahern tells me that the former NY Times columnist is slated to visit Roger Williams University's School of Law on March 19.

Thanks to a recommendation from Matt, I recently read The Last Liberal: Justice William J. Brennan Jr. and the Decisions that Transformed America. It's a fascinating account of the former Supreme Court justice, who, although little known by most Americans, played a huge role in advocating for free speech and civil liberties.

These obviously remain vital topics, and thanks to Kim for sending along word of a timely discussion this week at Roger Williams University Law School:

The US Supreme Court is ruling on wiretapping, detention, executive power, the 2nd Amendment and much more.  And now with a conservative majority.  But what does it mean? Hear from two national experts:

----------------------

Should the U.S. Supreme Court be Conservative?

Join us for a Liberal and Conservative perspective of the Supreme Court's Shift to the Right.

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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Lunch beginning at 12:00, event from 12:30PM - 1:30PM

At Roger Williams University School of Law (Room 262) in Bristol, RI

 

From the Left: Nan Aron, president and founder of Alliance for Justice, a national association of public interest and civil rights organizations, serving as the country's voice for a fair and independent judiciary. Her notable accomplishments include helping to defeat Robert Bork's nomination to the Supreme Court in 1987 and supporting the nomination of Roger Gregory, the first African-American judge in the Fourth Circuit, in 2001.

 

From the Right: Ronald Cass, president of Cass & Associates, and chairman of the Center for the Rule of Law, an independent, non-profit center of international scholars analyzing rule of law issues. He served Presidents Reagan and Bush as Vice-Chairman and Commissioner of the U. S. International Trade Commission. He is Dean Emeritus of Boston University School of Law, and serves on the Roger Williams Law Board of Directors.

 

Presented by: American Constitution Society, the Federalist Society, Women's Law Society, Multicultural Law Students Association, and Association of Public Interest Law.

Not that this has much to do with anything, but I've heard Hillary speak twice in person, once in Boston with Marian Wright Edelman when Bill was president, and then when she was in Rhode Island almost 10 years ago, helping, as I wrote at the time, to fan fears about school violence:

Hillary Rodham Clinton smiled frequently and sported a tasteful brown pantsuit when she visited Cumberland High School earlier this week, but she might as well have been wearing a fright mask. Basking in an exuberant reception from hundreds of students gathered in the gym, Hillary quickly set to fanning fears about school violence. "Except for war-torn places around our globe, we are among the most violent of any societies," the first lady intoned. Speaking one week after a 13-year-old was charged with shooting and injuring four classmates at a middle school in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma, she added, "Thirteen young people die every day from gunshot wounds." By the time Hillary's rap session ended an hour later, it was hard not to conclude that youth violence is pervasive and getting worse.

In fact, despite the Columbine massacre and the relatively new phenomenon of school shootings, the number of homicides by 14-to-17-year-olds has plummeted in the last six years, according to figures from the Clinton administration's own US Justice Department. And schools -- which have actually gotten less dangerous during the same period -- remain a safer environment for kids than the streets and even their own homes, according to the US Education Department. But you're unlikely to hear Hillary or other candidates acknowledge this reality, because it doesn't serve their political interests.

Although American society is violent, our concern about the impact of gunplay varies sharply with the socioeconomic status of the victims. There were relatively few outpourings of concern by politicians -- and little middle-class hand-wringing -- when the crack epidemic of the late '80s and the widespread availability of handguns sparked an unprecedented level of youth violence in predominantly minority neighborhoods in Providence, Boston and other cities. But Columbine, and the resulting wave of copycat threats, served notice to suburban America that our kids might be in danger.

That's why, even at this early point in the campaign season, making at least a token expression of protest about school violence is a staple for candidates on the stump. Context remains the missing ingredient. As a longtime advocate for children, Hillary surely knows better. But what she failed to mention about the 13 kids who die each day from gunshots is that they typically suffer the violence not in schools, but on the streets of America's poorest neighborhoods.

Darrell West, a professor of political science at Brown University, expects rhetoric about school violence to intensify as the 2000 campaigns get going in earnest. "Everyone wants to talk about school violence," he says. "It's a subject that's very much on the minds of voters, but I haven't seen any spirit of bipartisanship to try to grapple with the issues. Politicians are more interested in scoring political points."

The average observer has good reason to be confused about this situation. Violent crime has dropped sharply through the '90s in most cities, and Americans are less likely to die from gunfire than at any time since the '60s, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in November. But the school shootings that started to erupt in recent years indicate deeper problems in our culture and serve as a blunt reminder of how violence can flare unexpectedly. The disproportionate amount of media attention given to these attacks -- once again, without context -- results in an exaggerated sense of menace and anxiety.

The December 6 shooting in Oklahoma, for example, was the most prominently displayed story the next day on the front of the Providence Journal and scores of other newspapers across the country. Prominently played on the Journal's jump page were a box highlighting nine school shootings since 1997 and a story about the teenage boys who, after assaulting one counselor and tying up another, fled a wilderness camp in Utah for troubled youths. Both stories are legitimate, but without any perspective on the extent of teen violence, the implicit message remains: the youth are out of control.

In reality, the frequency of homicides by 14-to-17-year-olds tripled from 1985 to 1993, from 10 per 10,000 people to 30 per 10,000, before dropping to 18 per 10,000 in 1997, according to the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. The overall rate of school-related crime for students, ages 12-18, fell from 164 crimes per 1000 students in 1993 to 128 per 1000 in 1996, according to the Department of Education.

It's telling that a random selection of Cumberland High students who spoke with the Phoenix before Hillary's arrival expressed no concerns about danger at school. "Generally, I think they've done a good job of making the kids feel safe," said Jonathan Sun, a 16-year-old senior, in a typical remark.

For her part, though, the first lady-turned-New York senate candidate tried having it both ways, praising young Americans as "the best young people in the world and probably the best we've ever had." But then she happily picked up the thread when a student paraphrased one of his teachers and anxiously asked, "If schools are this bad now, what will it be like in 10 years?"

If the threat of school violence is really as dire as Hillary suggested, one wonders why her Secret Service detail focused their energy in searching the camera bags of print and broadcast photographers, rather than in screening the students from nine communities who were invited to the carefully choreographed event.

Click here to read the whole thing.

Exciting news from Jack Templin and our friends at RI Nexus:

BREAKING NEWS: MIT Media Lab's John Maeda to become RISD's new president

Posted on December 21st, 2007
By JackTemplin

In Rhode Island's info-tech & digital media (ITDM) community 2007 is going out with a bang - this morning RISD announced that John Maeda will become the school's 16th president. Simply put, Maeda is a giant at the intersection of design and technology.

In 2008, we'll be following this news and the implications for the state's ITDM sector closely. In the meantime, feast on these links:

• RISD Press Release (includes a specially produced video featuring Maeda - a must see)
• Maeda's blog: Simplicity
  
• MIT Media Lab profile on Maeda
• Wikipedia article on Maeda

Happy Holidays, All! We just received a fantastic present.