Professional Documents
Culture Documents
February 19, 2009 Issue
February 19, 2009 Issue
February 19, 2009 Issue
vol. cxliv, no. 20 | Thursday, February 19, 2009 | Serving the community daily since 1891
By Ben Schreckinger Corporation’s final approval at its former Chancellor Stephen Robert ’62 welfare programs, energy initia- headed on the “wrong track.”
Senior Staff Writer meeting this weekend, she said. She P ’91 and will be named for him. tives and housing investments. More than half of voters, 66
did not indicate when construction Huidekoper also provided more The stimulus is also set to extend percent, said they knew a friend
The University is preparing to build the might begin on the swim center. details on plans to pare projected bud- unemployment insurance and pro- or family member who recently
new Creative Arts Center and proceed Huidekoper disclosed the new gets by a combined $60 million over vide tax relief for families and small lost a job.
with planned renovations of Faunce construction details in a briefing at the next five years, suggesting at one businesses. A strong majority, however,
House despite financial woes, Execu- the UCS general body meeting that point that job cuts were a possibility. The major spending bill, which said it believed the stimulus pack-
tive Vice President for Finance and included a broad overview of the Uni- And she gave some hints of the came after weeks of haggling be- age would have a positive effect
Administration Beppie Huidekoper versity’s current financial situation. University’s investment strategy going tween Democrats and Republicans, on the nation’s economy. Of 451
told the Undergraduate Council of University administrators have forward. Faced with market tumult, promises to offer a lifeline to a state registered voters surveyed, 74 per-
Students at its meeting last night. said they expect to delay some capital she said, the University has begun that his been hit hard by the cur- cent said the stimulus will make
A donor has also bequeathed funds projects and scale back others as part to withdraw some endowment funds rent recession. the economy “a little better” or “a
for a new swim center, most of which of efforts to tighten budgets in coming from alternative investment vehicles A poll conducted earlier this lot better.”
are expected to be in hand by June, years. But those projects that have such as hedge funds, in order to re- month by the Taubman Center for In a press conference on Tues-
she said. All told, the bequest will enough earmarked donor funding will duce its exposure to risk. Public Policy found that 82 percent day, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who
cover more than half the cost of the probably proceed, without auxiliary Continuing to carry out the Plan of Rhode Island voters rated the voted in favor of the bill,called the
proposed pool, Huidekoper told The funding from the general budget, Hu- state’s economy as poor, and about
Herald after the meeting. idekoper said at the meeting. The new continued on page 4 the same number said the state was continued on page 6
Engineers to design drinking Look out below: Skydiving club seeks money
water solutions for India By Caitlin Trujillo
Contributing Writer
By Alicia Chen concentrator and international
Contributing Writer projects coordinator for Brown’s Drew Smith ’10 has never skydived
chapter of Engineers Without Bor- or started an official student group.
In the summer of 2007, Christina ders, is in charge of the technical But if he has his way this semester,
Tang ’09 traveled to Kuttanad, aspects of the project, while Tang he’ll do both in one fell swoop.
Kerala in southwest India with the works directly with community Smith’s Brown Skydiving Club is
M.S. Swaminathan Research Foun- groups both in the United States hoping to be granted official student
dation to help conduct a water and India. group status and receive funding to
quality and management study. A diverse group in Providence, facilitate jumps for interested stu-
The environmental studies including industrial design and dents.
concentrator found the water architecture students from the Smith, who said he has wanted
system there in desperate need Rhode Island School of Design to try skydiving for some time, con-
of repair. The canals where most and civil engineering and bio- ceived the idea after learning of a
people in Kuttanad gathered their medical engineering students similar group at Brandeis University
water were contaminated, tap wa- from Brown, is also involved in from a friend. Because the Brandeis
ter flowed only sporadically and the collaboration, Boyer said. group only served Brandeis students,
the well water was too acidic. Of Improving the water supply Smith contemplated a similar club
all the sources analyzed, rainwater is important to keep up with the for Brown over winter break. Courtesy of Aaron Mazel-Gee
had the lowest E. coli counts. growing population in Kerala and A month later, he has drafted and A new club may help more students join Aaron Mazel-Gee ’09 in the sky.
Now, two years later, Tang is to ensure its continued develop- revised a constitution for the club University funding, but Smith said Smith said he plans to bring a
the initiator of Rainwater for Hu- ment, Boyer said. and is currently in the process of he has so far collected the signatures handful of supporters with him to
manity, a project meant to provide “The project is a combination gauging interest in the group. of 242 students who have expressed pitch the club to the Committee on
sustainable, clean drinking water of a design issue and a sustain- The Undergraduate Council of interest in the group. He has also cre- Monday, adding that he expects
by harvesting rainwater for over able implementation problem,” Student’s Student Activities Commit- ated the “Brown Skydiving Initiative” them to grant the group Category
700,000 people in Kerala. Peter tee requires a minimum of 15 mem- group on Facebook, which boasted
Boyer ’09, a civil engineering continued on page 3 ber signatures for a club to receive 60 members Wednesday night. continued on page 3
inside
News.....1-4
Inside Sports, 7 Opinions, 11
post-
Metro.....5-6
Spor ts...7-9 has a five letter word for one and two cool aid
Editorial..10 baller and gets mighty The women’s hockey team Nick Hagerty ’10 says
Opinion...11 saucy, wink wink. beat last-place Union but expanding financial aid
Today........12 dropped two more games. beats a tuition freeze.
C ampus N EWS “This is going to help illuminate how these genes work together functionally.”
— Justin Fallon, professor of medical science
Daily Herald
the Brown
C ampus N EWS “I always wonder about what kind of society allows people to write on the
sides and walls of their church.” — Eugene Cruz-Uribe, on ancient graffiti
C ampus N EWS “There may be some situations where people will lose their jobs.”
— Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration
M etro “The money must now be spent quickly and responsibly in order to be effective.”
— Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who voted for the economic stimulus package
e d i to r i a l
Transcript reveals too much
The Banner Web Internal Academic Record — the “Academic Transcript”
option on Banner — got a makeover on Tuesday. Alas, the new look exposes
more blemishes than it covers up. While we appreciate the aesthetic improve-
ments, we regret that the “enhanced” version of the Internal Academic Record
displays dropped courses along with a warning that the document is “not for
transcript purposes.” Dropped courses still do not appear on a student’s official
transcript, though they were visible on the internal record before Banner’s
implementation. Their revival is a major step backward.
Students often use the Internal Academic Record as an unofficial transcript,
though administrators discourage the practice. The updated version reflects
their disapproval by omitting the “unofficial transcript” label that appeared in the
previous internal record. “If employers really do want an official transcript they
should be asking for an official transcript,” said Registrar Michael Pesta.
But many companies either don’t request official transcripts or only ask for
them after students have already submitted an unofficial transcript as part of the
application process. Major employers including the Boston Consulting Group,
McKinsey and Company, Goldman Sachs and the Congressional Budget Office
have applicants upload or e-mail transcripts. Brown should provide students
with a serviceable, unofficial transcript for electronic submission in order to
help them apply for positions at these companies and many others.
Electronic transcripts offer several advantages for students applying to
companies that request them. Official transcripts, the alternative option,
take several days to process and can’t always arrive by the deadline. They’re
also expensive, running $4 apiece plus $2.25 for delivery. Worst of all, official alex yuly
transcripts are unavailable to students whose families have outstanding bal-
ances with the University exceeding $100, according to the Bursar’s Office
Web site.
The Internal Academic Record is currently intended for use as an advising
tool, according to Pesta. While we agree that advisors should be able to see
when their advisees are struggling, we feel that the University could better
satisfy this need by providing an alternative academic record, or by merely
alerting advisors whenever a student drops a course toward the end of a
semester. Pesta noted that the Office of the Registrar may look into using a
vendor to send secure copies of transcripts as PDF files, but no such service
is currently available to students. Unless and until the University provides
a means for students to submit grade information online, it should change
the Internal Academic Record to conceal dropped courses and serve as an
unofficial transcript.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. Send comments to
editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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TODAY, February 19 FRIDAY, February 20
menu
Sharpe Refectory Verney-Woolley Dining Hall
Dinner — Spinach and Rice Bake, Dinner — BBQ Chicken, Pasta and
Oven Browned Potatoes, Spice-Rubbed Tomato Bake, Risotto Primavera, Corn
Pork Chops, Beef Saute with Cumin O’Brien, Brussel Sprout Casserole
crossword
comics
Enigma Twist | Dustin Foley