F R I D A Y OCTOBER 3, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 85
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
UCS working to bring back Ratty newspapers
Brown in first phase of capital campaign drive
BY ELISE BARAN
BY CARLA BLUMENKRANZ
Early rising first-years do not know what they have been missing. Last year, The New York Times and the Providence Journal greeted students who shuffled into the Ratty for a morning meal. But this year, “All the News That’s Fit to Print” has not found its way into campus dining halls. The Newspaper Readership Program, run by USA Today, gave Brown the idea to put newspapers in dining halls. USA Today ran a three-week trial last year where they distributed their paper, the Times and the Providence Journal. This influx of information received an overwhelmingly positive response. After the trial, USA Today tried to sell a subscription for these papers to the Undergraduate Council of Students. UCS discussed the idea and found that it would be cheaper to create a program through Brown Student Agencies. Timothy Bentley ’04, communications coordinator for UCS and a class representative, helped lobby the offices of Residential Life and Student Life for funding last year. UCS secured funding from the two offices and the Undergraduate Finance Board for a pilot year. Although the program was well received, it did not receive renewed support from the UFB. UCS is now working to bring the program back permanently, Bentley said. Student government representatives are working with the Office of Student Life and Office of Campus Life and Student Services, as well as the UFB, to help fund the project, said Ari Savitzky ’06, UFS chair of the Campus Life Committee. It will cost $4,000 per semester to have one New York Times and one Providence Journal on each table in each dining hall, Savitzky said. The two administrative offices involved have offered half the money needed for the semester. If the UFB provides the rest of the funding, newspapers should be back in dining halls in two weeks, he said.
and World Bank for bringing his country out of financial crisis within a year of becoming prime minister in 2001, said Cape Verde — a 10-island nation off the western coast of Africa — is an example for other African countries in shaping a democratic government. Neves, who gave his speech in Portuguese, spoke through a translator. Africa “has no other choice but to become an active participant in the global marketplace,” Neves said. “Globalization has intensified at the end of the 20th century. It is an undeniable phenomenon of our time,” Neves said. Neves explained the recent switch in style of leadership in African governments over the last few years. Prior to the new millennium, “we witnessed the emergence of dictators who clung to power for years with iron fists, repressing liberty, hopes and the energy of their people,” he said. After the turn of the 21st century, there began a “new enthusiasm among African leaders that is being translated into action in multiple ways,” Neves added. He gave examples of bloody conflicts throughout Africa — including Somalia, Liberia and Congo — that have proven that countries cannot rely
The University is currently in the quiet phase of its long-anticipated capital campaign, with the official launch of the campaign forthcoming, according to Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper. The campaign’s goal will be in the “billion dollar range,” President Ruth Simmons told The Herald in November 2002. “We’re in what we call the ‘quiet phase’ now,” Huidekoper told The Herald on Thursday. Up until this point, members of the administration had been hesitant to acknowledge the start of the capital campaign. During the quiet phase of a capital campaign, an organization typically solicits advance gifts from major donors, in preparation for a public announcement and more general call for donations. The University has been laying the groundwork for a major campaign since she arrived at Brown. In April 2002 Brown hired Ronald Vanden Dorpel as vice president for university advancement, who oversees the coordination of the campaign. Previously, Vanden Dorpel had organized a campaign at Northwestern University that yielded $1.4 billion. When the campaign officially begins, it will follow a year of growth for Brown’s endowment, with total returns of $86.1 million at a rate of growth of 6.5 percent. The endowment now stands at $1.46 billion, up from last year’s $1.4 billion, Huidekoper said. This growth bodes well for the capital campaign, as strong returns tend to encourage larger gifts, she said. And major gifts to the endowment are crucial to fulfilling the campaign’s goals, as well as those of the Initiatives for Academic Enrichment the campaign is intended to fund. Although the endowment performed well this year, Brown is “under-endowed as an institution, relative to our peers,” Huidekoper said. This year, Harvard’s endowment earned 12.5 percent on its investments, climbing to $19.3 billion, according to the Harvard Crimson. Yale’s endowment had strong returns as well, rising to $11 billion, with an 8.8 percent return, the Yale Daily News reported. But these schools were the exceptions this year. Among universities with the 50 largest endowments — including Brown — the average total return was 3.6 percent. And Dartmouth, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, among other schools, saw lower returns than Brown. Huidekoper attributed the endowment’s relatively successful returns to a recently diversified asset allocation model, developed by Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Cynthia Frost. Under the model, 37 percent of the endowment is invested in public equities and 34 percent in hedge funds, Frost said. Each of these asset categories is invested
see CAPE VERDE, page 4
see CAMPAIGN, page 7
Alex Palmer / Herald
VIVA CABO VERDE: Prime Minister of Cape Verde Jose Maria Neves said Africa "has no other choice but to become an active participant in the global marketplace."
African leaders must love continent, Neves says BY GREG MAZUREK
To be successful, African leaders must have a love for the continent and confidence from their people. By this definition, outlined in his Thursday night speech to over 200 Brown and Providence community members, Prime Minister of Cape Verde Jose Maria Neves has both. Neves, who earned commendations from the International Monetary Fund
see TIMES, page 8
Community wellness initiative will bring body awareness to campus BY JOANNE PARK
For students who get lost in the stress of college life, there may be a weekly solution. The Community Wellness Initiative — a program that brings body awareness to campus — kicked off Thursday night at the new T.F. Green dance studio. The program was constructed by Brown students and the Health Education office, said Sasha Rubel ’06, a student organizer. Students at the event meditated and participated in improvisational dance. “One of the big values in meditation is being able to be in the present moment,” said Jeff Birdsall, who led the
meditation exercises. “At a place like Brown, it is pretty easy to get lost in the activities and to lose our grasp of the present moment,” said Birdsall, who has worked for the Office of Student Life and has taught summer studies courses at Brown. The meditation exercises began with a 20-minute session in which participants, ranging from beginners to intermediates, sat in a circle. Prior to the session, Birdsall recited the words of Thich Naht Hanh, in which the Buddhist monk calls for people to take security in the present see WELLNESS, page 4
I N S I D E F R I D AY, O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 0 3 Director of “O” Tim Blake Nelson ’86 discusses his path through Hollywood arts & culture,page 3
Columbia sophomore says Brown, as his university’s new rival, is vastly inferior column,page 11
Start of Iranian democracy teaches lessons in policy, says Arta Khakpour ’05 column, page 11
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Understaffed w. cross country takes fifth at last week’s Iona Championship sports, page 12
M. ruggers defeat BU Terriers 41-14 in league opener, scoring quickly in the first half sports, page 12
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