T U E S D A Y FEBRUARY 4, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 10
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
ARTS & CULTURE
Administrative reorganization in the works
Famous sculptures grace campus thanks to art committee
BY PHILISSA CRAMER
BY STEFAN TALMAN
A committee will examine the structure of Brown’s administration in the first phase of a possible reorganization, said Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Elizabeth Huidekoper. The University’s goal is to rearrange its administration to best support Brown’s academic mission and goals, she said. Huidekoper said an eight-member advisory group will spend the winter and spring interviewing administrators to find out what they like about the existing organizational structure, as well as any challenges or problems they have experienced. Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Janina Montero said some administrators are anxious about the process but understand its necessity. An undertaking like the administrative reorganization “doesn’t come without some apprehension and change,” she said. Huidekoper said the group plans to make recommendations by the end of the semester. But she said any changes that arise from the process will not happen until after the senior administration discusses them. “I don’t know if there will be significant changes, but clearly there are areas where people think we can be more efficient,” Huidekoper said. She said the committee’s investigation will not target any specific areas of the University’s administration. “There is no grand design that anybody has in mind,” she said. Huidekoper said the timing of the administrative reorganization is not explicitly related to the budget crisis, but she said it does have a relationship to the hiring freeze for all non-academic personnel instituted on Dec. 23. “We’ll have more latitude to effect some change because of the hiring freeze,” Huidekoper said. Montero said the administrative reorganization process has a purpose similar to that of the hiring freeze. The hiring freeze “argues for a very careful look at any new positions to make sure that anybody new ... (fills) a position consistent with the direction of the reorganization,” she said. Huidekoper said the administrative reorganization is also consistent with other ongoing processes at the University, including the recent restructuring of the Faculty Executive Committee, which concluded last semester with major organizational changes to the faculty governance structure. “There are a lot of hardworking, dedicated, skilled people (at the University) who want to make sure their energy is used for important things,” she said. Huidekoper said any administrator can volunteer to be interviewed, in addition to certain vital administrators the committee already plans to contact. All University personnel received a memo asking for their input in the process, she said. She said the names of the steering committee’s members and the administrators they interview will remain confidential until after the committee has made recommendations to the senior administration to encourage openness about the University’s possible shortcomings.
Far stranger than the recent appearance of a large stone obelisk on the Main Green was the silence that followed. No fanfare, no ribbon cutting, no balloons appeared to announce and explain the sculpture. It simply arrived one morning, sitting on a bed of rocks. During the fall semester, two sculptures had already materialized, slightly more off the beaten path. One, a colorful ode to pop art, arrived in the lobby of List Art Center, eventually migrating to the lobby of the Watson Institute for International Studies. The other, a large, black, box-like cross, appeared on a bed of rocks outside List, this time eventually accompanied by similarly-sized wooden sculptures echoing a similar theme in the building’s lobby. Where are these works of art coming from? The Public Art Committee of Brown inaugurated its Sculpture on Campus Program last semester, working to facilitate the long-term loans of works by well-known artists. The committee is composed of President Ruth Simmons, Chancellor Emeritus and Committee Chairman Artemis Joukowsky ’55, Chair of the Department of Visual Art Richard Fishman, Bell Gallery Curator Jo-Ann Conklin and University Curator Robert Emlen. The most recent work brought to campus by the PAC, a large stone obelisk on the Main Green, is Isamu Noguchi’s “To Tallness” (1981), lent to the University for the next three years by the Isamu Noguchi Foundation. Noguchi (19041988) was born in Los Angeles and spent most of his childhood in Japan. Though formally trained in New York, he was also greatly influenced by the work of Constantin Brancusi, a pioneer of abstraction, with whom he studied in Paris in the late 1920s. Throughout the 1930s, Noguchi traveled extensively through China and Japan learning about calligraphy, garden and ceramic design. Combining this influence with the avant-garde styles of his training, Noguchi often crossed boundaries, mixing art and architecture, creating public spaces — like plazas and gardens — across the world. Noguchi also worked in stone and wood from his studio in Japan — the body of work from which “To Tallness” emerged. Installed in front of List, British artist David Nash’s “Box Cross” (2002), a charred oak sculpture, rests upon a bed of stones. Born in 1945 and currently working in North Wales, Nash uses trunks from fallen trees that he carves and chars
Herald staff writer Philissa Cramer ’05 can be reached at pcramer@browndailyherald.com.
Kimberly Insel / Herald
The Public Art Committee of Brown helps bring work like Isamu Noguchi’s “To Tallness” to campus.
No preventing Norwalk at Brown; virus proves inevitable part of communal living on campus BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZ
Like dorm bathrooms and cramped quarters, susceptibility to the Norwalk virus plaguing campus this week is a nearly inevitable part of communal living, physicians say. This winter, the Northeast has seen a surge in incidences of the virus, which causes 24 to 48 hours of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, said Dr. Herbert Rakatansky, clinical professor of medicine. The worst hit have been dense residential communities, such as nursing homes and universities, he said. A nursing home Rakatansky visited yesterday has posted signs warning visitors of an outbreak of the virus. Once multiple incidents occur, there is little a community can do to prevent the virus from spreading, he said. Rather, because the virus is spread by small amounts of fecal matter, it is the responsibility of individuals to be vigilant about washing their hands, agreed Rakatansky and Dr. Edward Wheeler, director of Health Services.
I N S I D E T U E S D AY, F E B RUA RY 4 , 2 0 0 3 RISD and Bryant College run new design-based business incubator page 3
Up for grabs: $25,000 from the Campus Life leadership and community funds page 5
see PAC, page 4
John Brougher ’06 says younger generations must conquer bigotry in America column, page 11
Nevertheless, some Harvard University dining halls have taken precautions against the Norwalk virus, including changing utensils every half-hour to prevent contamination, the Harvard Crimson reported on Friday. University Food Services representatives were unavailable for comment, but Rakatansky was unsure about the effectiveness of constantly replacing utensils. Most people are only contagious during the period that they are ill, he said, and the most effective means of prevention are good hygiene and common sense. There is no treatment for the Norwalk virus, but both Wheeler and Rakatansky emphasized the importance of remaining hydrated. And after 48 hours, “if you haven’t gotten better, you should see someone to make sure that it isn’t something else,” Rakatansky said. Herald staff writer Carla Blumenkranz ’05 can be reached at cblumenkranz@browndailyherald.com.
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Brown should adopt intermediate grades, says Schuyler von Oeyen ’05 column, page 11
Women’s icers fall short in comeback effort against UConn, 3-2 sports, page 12
rain/wind high 46 low 26