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Crtmtp Cttpob VOL. XCVII NO. 15 PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS OF TRINITY COLLEGE SINCE 1904 FEBRUARY 16,1999 Trinity Student Detained by INS legalities out before he left the \ BY SARA GETMAN country, the misinformation he News Writer received led him to this prob- lematic situation. Samer Yahya is a Trinity Col- "After being strip-searched, lege Theater and Dance major fingerprinted, photographed, in his twenties who, like the and handcuffed to a wooden majority of the Trinity student bench in an immigration office body, went home last summer. overnight, he was placed on a However, Samer is not being al- plane and sent back to Rome," lowed to return. According to according to an open letter to Writing Center Lecturer Robert the Trinity community from Peltier, Samer is "more than a several members of the faculty. student. He volunteered at Samer arrived in Rome and Cinestudio... and I got to know was told to go to the American him as a person: a decent, ethi- Embassy. At the American Em- cal, and caring person." Born in bassy, individuals are assigned West Africa to a Lebanese fam- to a person who acts as their ily Samer applied to Trinity's caseworker. Samer met with his ANDYSHEPARD IDP program and was admitted caseworker and was told that in 1999 Mead Lecture after a summer of study at Trin- order to return to the United Last Wednesday evening, Trinity College hosted the 1999 Mead Lecture with guest speaker ity. States to finish his education, he Blanca Silvistrini, a prominent Puerto Rican historian. In a bilingual presentation, Silvestrini After calling the Immigra- would have to prove to the discussed issues affecting women in Puerto Rico and America. The lecture was translated tion and Naturalization Service caseworker's satisfaction that he by Assistant Professor of History Luis Rgueroa. in Hartford and checking with would return to Lebanon when the Office of International Pro- he got his degree from Trinity. grams and Educational Studies He was not told how to do this here at Trinity to have his pa- and just told to have letters writ- Students Address Diversity pers reviewed, he was told that ten and to somehow prove his everything was in order. Unfor- case Samer Hooded the Amen- alse from Lebanon. For a week, he rassed. President Dobelle ad- quickly turned from commend- too late. went to the American Embassy % BY SARAH JOYCE dressed a letter .to the Trinity ing Trinity's strides, to pointing, Samer spent the summer in to plead his case every day. His News Writer community expressing his dis- out areas where the college still Lebanon with his family and Brother and Mother both wrote pleasure at the incident and en- falls short, One senior noted also visited Rome on his way. and explained his situation. He The semester's first Town couraged attendance at the that "...rather than doing things back to Trinity. When Samer got letters from Trinity faculty Hall forum met on the night of meeting organized by Rev. in the community, Trinity returned to the United States members and had numerous Thursday, February 10, to dis- Steven Charleston. .should become a part of the and landed atKennedy airport people working on his behalf. cuss issues that affect the Trin- Reverend Charleston intro- community." That led to the in New York, immigration offi- The caseworker was not satis- ity campus, most notably the duced "A House Divided; Diver- pressing question: is Trinity cials immediately arrested him fied with this "proof," and even- question of diversity within the sity at Trinity" as the topic of helping to renew the surround- for violating the agreements of tually told Samer that he would community. Reverend Steven conversation for the Forum and ing neighborhood for selfish his student visa. Though Samer not be allowed to return to Trin- Charleston moderated the fo- asked the room: "How do you see FOR UMon page eight thought he had checked these see STUDENT on page seven rum, which was held in think Trinity is doing based on Rittenburg Lounge and at- your own experience?" As a tended by approximately 30 general consensus, many members of the Trinity com- people felt that Trinity's diver- Campus Construction and munity. The Town Hall Forums sity and community involve- are a project of Student Services ment had improved over the Renovation to Begin Soon created in order to provide a last five or ten years. One '91 more tolerant, respectful com- grad noted: "Trinity's commu- Early Phase of Project 2002 Scheduled for Late Summer nal awareness is rising. It is so struction, Urban Strategies, residence halls along Summit munity. At the forums, students RENAY SMALLCOMB much better than when I came whose role is linking campus Street near the Connecticut professors, administrators, and News Editor alumni are encouraged to speak to Trinity." People also noted construction to the surround- Public Television building. Two in an atmosphere conducive to that students are participating ing neighborhood and William' buildings will be constructed honest conversation. more in their community than Trinity College is quickly Rawn, who serves as architec- to provide housing for approxi- Many who attended the fo- they were five years ago. Trin- moving forward with its plans tural advisor. mately 180 students. One rum were concerned about a re- ity is definitely making strides for campus renovation as out- Included in the plans are new see PROJECT on page nine cent incident in which Asian that were unprecedented before. lined in the Master Plan for students were verbally ha- However, the conversation campus construction and initi- ated by "Project 2002." Started several years ago by Inside This Week's Issue Trustees, the Master Plan was developed to examine the con- Professor HelenLangrecognizedfor scholarship struction needs of Trinity in a News • • ""••• •*• z6 strategic manner. "Evan [Dobellel wanted a plan to ad- A Study of the behavior patterns of the New England WASP dress the infrastructure of the Opinions '. pg college itself," stated Jim Mullen, Executive Director of Dispelling myths about South Africa Project 2002. "We are trying to Features V& set a high standard for all con- struction, for all building on Lectures, Performances, Alt. Bev. and more campus from here on." Announcements • According to Mullen, the new plans are designed to act as "a Review of Yeates' Etudes and Purgatory template through to the year Arts -P&13 2020" Several firms are in- volved, including Cooper- Women's Basketball goes into Overtime against Bowdoin Robertson, which is responsible The Trinity College Library is one of ANDYSHEPARD Sports.. : -Pg-22 for the coordination of con- the sites designated for renovation. PAGE 2 OPINION THE TRINITY TRIPOD —FEBRUARY 16,1999 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Beware Of Deflecting Racial Concern To the Edicor: ulty members? I don't think so and Ian Lang <99 Jennifer Antoniazzi l99 without evidence, no one should think so. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR [ write to ask The Tripod to follow up on allegations of racism in the Could you ask Professor Euraque decision to replace Raymond Baker either to provide evidence that his NEWS EDITORS BUSINESS MANAGER as Dean. statements are accurate or, if he can- Kristen Burns '02 Renay Smallcomb '00 RocioHerrera'99 In your issue of January 26, Pro- not, to consider retracting them? fessor Euraque isquoted as explain- In the face of the recent, very real, racist incidents on campus, what FEATURES EDITORS BUDGET DIRECTOR ing that a number of senior faculty members were displeased that appears as Professor Euraque's fan- Dan Berman '01 Devin Pharr '00 Chad M. Bennett'00 "uppity, younger, minority faculty ciful response to a policy decision he were in places they had never been dislikes may only deflect attention OPINION EDITORS SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER before." The article suggests that from the problems of racism at hand. James Griffith '99 Andrew Weiss '01 . Andrew Pearl '01 these faculty members were instru- mental in shaping the decision to replace the Dean. Sincerely, SPORTS EDITORS ONLINE EDITOR Is this true? Did the President act Kathleen Kete Colin Ruane'01 Stark famend '01 John Akin '01 Owen Tripp '01 on the racist urgings of senior fac- Associate Professor of History ARTS EDITORS ANNOUNCEMENTS EDITOR Stand Up For Yourselves [ BethGilligan'Ol Virginia Lacefield'00 ; Katherine Kimber '02 To the Editor protect themselves from rapists, and they should not feel guilty if PHOTOGRAPHY EDITORS As a Women Studies' major and they cannot. But what if there was Katie Bryant '01 Andrew Shepard '01 co-editor of the Women's Center a community of women for support Newsletter, 1 gather information to fall back on? What would hap- SENIOR EDITORS: Ernesto C. Anguilla '99, Julianna Bogdanski '99, Jason Gabriele '99, Lisa about women's safety and experi- pen if a group of women had a sig- • Harrison '99, Katie Kurz '99 ences here at Trinity. One friend nal to give each other when a man was making one of them feel un- COPY EDITORS:Brian Price '99, Terry Kifkin '99, Justin Smith '99 expressed concerns that fraternity brothers were taking the blame for comfortable? What if your guy non-brothers who would come to friends stepped in when you looked their parties and cause trouble. An- uncomfortable with someone's at- other friend told me about a football tention? (My girlfriend and 1 used Establishing The Vision player who told her he knew about to tug our left earring when we were sexual assaults committed by cornered by guys at bars or parties. friends but didn't do anything We would always keep an eye on President Evan Dobelle's recent annual speech to the faculty outlined, in a com- about it.