F R I D A Y OCTOBER 31, 2003
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVIII, No. 104
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Presidential hosts get paid to schmooze BY JUSTIN ELLIOTT
Students trying to make money around campus know their basic options. Serve pizza at the Gate. Swipe cards at the Rock. Or attend parties with President Ruth Simmons and visiting dignitaries at the president’s house. The presidential hosts program, a littleknown job opportunity, offers students a chance to do just that. The University Events Office coordinates presidential hosts for a wide range of duties, including attending alumni events, parties thrown by Simmons during Corporation visits and official ceremonies and lectures. Marisa Quinn, assistant to the president, described the hosts, who are currently all upperclassmen, as “a group of students that really get called upon to be ambassadors for the University.” At the Governor’s Cup football game between Brown and the University of Rhode Island, Simmons held an open house for members of the community and elected officials. The presidential hosts made nametags, provided directions to the stadium and mingled with guests. As host Brienne Walsh ’04 explained, “we sort of schmooze the whole time.” Another host, Katherine Bacuyag ’04, said the program, which started in 1998, has gone from “pretty much taking coats” a year ago to having “a stronger sense of purpose today. “We now have the responsibility to be up-to-date on what’s happening on campus to adequately introduce visitors to Brown,” Bacuyag said. Students face a rigorous application process to gain a spot in the program, Quinn said. A dean or member of the faculty must first nominate the student. The University Events Office staff then conducts two rounds of interviews before final decisions are made. Besides mingling with prominent guests at University events, the job has other perks, like unrivaled access to the president as an undergraduate. The hosts ate lunch with Simmons in September and, when they attend functions at the see HOSTS, page 5
Liz MacLennan / Herald
Presidential Host Katherine Bacuyag ’04 has worked her charm with President Ruth Simmons, visiting dignitaries and others in one of Brown’s cushier student jobs.
Elizabeth MacLennan / Herald
GIRL POWER: The Brown Tae Kwon Do club demonstrated its moves onstage at SPEC's Live on Lincoln Thursday night.
UCS creates excellencein-teaching awards BY ELISE BARAN
The Undergraduate Council of Students will recognize four professors for their contribution to undergraduate education with the first UCS Awards for Excellence in Teaching. The Council decided it was important for Brown to recognize certain faculty members at a time other than graduation, said Charles Cummings, chair of the Academic and Administrative Affairs committee. It is also important to UCS that the award comes from the students, not the administration, he said. Four professors will be honored at a dinner in early December. Two professors will be honored for their excellence in lecturing and two for being outstanding seminar leaders. Cummings said UCS wanted to make sure the instructors who teach smaller classes will be honored as well as those who lecture to a larger audience. Professors will receive small gifts and recognition for their work. A student not affiliated with the Council will give a speech to honor the recipients. Both President Ruth Simmons and Dean of the College Paul Armstrong have been extremely supportive of the Council’s endeavor, Cummings said. Armstrong said the award is “a wonderful idea” and “very much a Brown thing.” He said it was important that the student-given awards recognized both seminar leaders and lecturers. “There is no other award for this kind of distinc-
tion,” he said. Next week, all students will have the opportunity to nominate professors. The AAA committee is defining a lecture class as a class that has more than 40 people and a seminar class as a class with less than 40 people. The ballot explains the purpose of the honor: “To be awarded to those teachers who most epitomize the values of a Brown education, emphasizing learning for learning’s sake, displaying an outstanding ability to communicate with
Pulitzer Prizewinning poet W. S. Merwin pays homage to Welsh poets arts & culture, page 3
Cecilia Kiely '04 wants you to join in on the scrum this weekend column, page 7
BY SHEELA RAMAN
Biology students hoping to engage in rewarding research with faculty might be out of luck this summer. Undergraduate research opportunities in biology may be jeopardized by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s decision to not renew its grant to the University in 2002. Brown administrators attributed the decision to a change in the HHMI’s leadership. The HHMI invites universities to apply
see AWARD, page 4
see GRANT, page 5
Brown investment clubs shoot high BY ALEXANDRA BARSK
The members of Brown’s student investment clubs may not be walking around campus in business suits and carrying briefcases, but that doesn’t mean their heads aren’t brimming with thoughts of stocks, market sectors and P-E ratios. Invest Together, also known as the Brown Investment Club, was founded in 1999. The University gave the club between $45,000 and $50,000 of Brown’s endowment to invest in the stock market. Today the club has about $42,000 invested, said Andrew Sheets ’04, Research Director of the Brown Investment Club and a Graphics Editor
I N S I D E F R I D AY, O C T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 0 3 John Hay Library exhibition celebrates 125 years of Brown football arts & culture, page 3
Loss of Bio grant puts research, programs in doubt
for The Herald. When it began in 1999, the Brown Investment Club invested over half of its money in stocks of the members’ choosing and held approximately $10,000 in cash. They invested the remaining money in stocks that mimicked the S&P 500 and NASDAQ and would therefore fluctuate with the market. Sheets said the club’s loss in holdings “was just a reflection of bad timing.” When the market cratered in 2000, “immediately a bunch of stocks we bought fell dramatically,” Sheets said. see INVESTMENT, page 4
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Sarah Chiappinelli '06 thinks you need to focus on the treats this Halloween column, page 7
Men’s cross country prepares for heptagonal championship in New York sports, page 8
mostly sunny high 66 low 49