T U E S D A Y NOVEMBER 9, 2004
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXIX, No. 106
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
Crew ’71 hosts Monday discussion of documentary
Talent Quest program targets disadvantaged high school BY ANNE WOOTTON
Simmons, who in turn makes a recommendation to the Corporation, Zimmer said. URC hopes to report to Simmons by mid-December in advance of the Corporation’s February meeting, he said. URC, composed of administrators, faculty and students, has met behind closed doors since it replaced the Advisory Committee on University Planning in 2003. Monday’s questionand-answer session allowed about 15 community members to learn more about URC’s operations. “Brown really needs to move to a different economic model, where our level of revenue goes up dramatically” from donations and grants, Zimmer said. While budgeting within the framework of Simmons’s Plan for Academic Enrichment, URC is “thinking about what to do to generate the type of excite-
As it enters the final year of its three-year trial period, the Talent Quest program is showing promise as a mechanism to make students from high schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas aware about the accessibility of an Ivy League education — specifically one at Brown. Many people involved with the program agree, though, that there are still many improvements to be made, and some student volunteers said they were given little guidance after Brown asked them to help with recruiting at their high schools. Talent Quest began in mid-2002 as a collaborative effort among members of the Undergraduate Council of Students, the Office of Admission and Alumni Relations. The program aims to establish strong relationships with high schools in socioeconomically disadvantaged parts of the country that are historically underrepresented at Brown. The program encourages students to consider pursuing an education at Brown — or anywhere else, particularly selective institutions like Ivy League schools. Without Talent Quest, these students might not realize they have such a choice. One of the foremost priorities of Talent Quest is to form lasting relationships with the targeted high schools. For this reason, Talent Quest targets younger students instead of juniors who are already starting the college application process. Associate Director of Admission Andrea van Niekerk created an initial list of 500 potential schools in 2002 by taking into account suggestions from alumni and students and relying on statistics from the admission office about matriculation rates from high schools around the country. Eventually, she pared it down to the 120 schools that the program currently targets. The list of targeted schools, some of which still lack school chairs, covers a wide range — it includes urban, suburban and
see URC, page 6
see TALENT QUEST, page 4
BY ANNE WOOTTON
Spencer Crew ’71 emphasized the importance of giving “a human face to slavery” at a screening of the PBS documentary “Unchained Memories” and discussion sponsored by the Committee on Slavery and Justice Monday night. Crew, the executive director of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, is speaking tonight at 7:30 in Salomon 001; his lecture is titled “The Fight Against Slavery: The Story of the Underground Railroad.” The documentary, which is narrated by Whoopi Goldberg and includes readings by other African-American celebrities, features slave narratives collected in the early 1900s but not discovered by historians until the mid-1950s. Despite the common conception then that oral histories were untrustworthy sources, these narratives — along with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s — helped to change slavery’s depiction in history books forever. The documentary tells the stories of African-American men and women from around the country who were slaves. Most were in their eighties when they
see CREW, page 6
First Amendment scholar to speak tonight BY PHILLIP GARA
One week after President George W. Bush won reelection, reviving widespread concern about a perceived erosion of civil liberties since Sept. 11, 2001, Geoffrey Stone, a First Amendment scholar, will give a speech this evening titled “Civil Liberties in Wartime.” Stone, the Harry Kalven Jr. Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago, will discuss some of main points in his recent book “Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime, From the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism.” Stone’s career has been wide-ranging, distinguished and at times controversial. In the late 1970s, he helped represent the Nazi Party in its suit against the town of Skokie, Ill., which denied the group a permit to hold a demonstration. He also represented former President Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones case and as recently this year wrote an amicus curiae brief opposing the Bush administration in the Guantanamo Bay case. He has been dean of the University of Chicago Law School and provost at the University of Chicago. Earlier in his career, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice William Brennan. The lecture is being sponsored by Provost Robert Zimmer, who worked with Stone as the deputy provost at Chicago while Stone was the provost. Zimmer said he decided to invite Stone because he feels that “the issue
see STONE, page 4
Juliana Wu / Herald
Indie artist Pamela Means rocked Andrews Dining Hall Monday night during a free concert sponsored by the Sarah Doyle Women’s Center and Queer Alliance.
Provost says ‘bolder and riskier’ budget will spur donations BY JONATHAN ELLIS
In an effort to attract more donations and grants, the University is channeling funding into areas that will generate publicity and excitement rather than spreading money around, Provost Robert Zimmer said at a University Resources Committee public forum Monday night. The University is taking “a much bolder and riskier approach to budgeting than Brown has in the past,” Zimmer said. Working under the belief that increased investment now will bring more cash inflow in the form of donations and grants in the future, URC is assuming that the endowment will jump $400 million by 2009, said Zimmer, URC’s chair. “(2009 is) just around the corner, especially when you have a number like $400 million,” he added. URC offers budget analysis and recommendations to President Ruth
South Asian Identity Week brings variety of speakers, events BY ROBBIE COREY-BOULET
Coordinators of South Asian Identity Week are hoping to broaden the appeal of the program by involving different groups on campus and hosting a former CNN bureau chief, several acclaimed authors and experts on South Asia for a variety of lectures and forums. The cultural week, which is in its third year, features lectures, information sessions and discussion forums centered on this year’s theme: “South Asia: Assembling the Mosaic.” Bharati Kalasapudi ’07, a co-coordinator for the week’s events, said programmers tried to schedule a variety of activities to expose Brown students to the diversity of the South Asian region. “One of the goals is to highlight the differences and similarities on the subcontinent,” Kalasapudi said. “We hope it helps (students) develop a dialogue … and share experiences.” Coordinators said they also hope the
week’s events will raise awareness about the search for a South Asian history professor. Filling the position “is a goal for many South Asians on campus,” Kalasapudi said, adding the University currently lacks a faculty member who can adequately fill this role. “South Asian studies have been neglected here at Brown,” said Vidyasri Putcha ’07, who is the week’s other cocoordinator. “We want to show the University that there is interest in these activities.” While some events are open to the entire Brown community, other activities are designed primarily for a South Asian audience, Putcha said. One of these forums, scheduled for later this week, will address gender and sexuality from a South Asian perspective, she said. The week’s events began last Thursday with a convocation ceremony that featured Ravi Kalhan ’96, whom Putcha described as instrumental in the
It’s time for Americans to worry about their rights, according to Tristan Freeman ’06 arts & culture, page 3
City Council reps David Segal and Miguel Luna think there’s a way to help Providence residents column, page 11
development of Third World programs through his work as a Minority Peer Counselor coordinator and promoter of other events on campus for students of color. Author Suketu Mehta gave a keynote speech that evening, focusing on the “search for home” and identity, a topic that resonates with minorities and South Asians in particular, Kalasapudi said. Mehta recently garnered literary acclaim for his new book, titled “Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found,” which was published in September. Mehta’s diverse upbringing and eagerness to speak about the assimilation of immigrants into American culture made him an effective speaker, Kalasapudi said. The South Asian Brown students in attendance, many of whom have parents who are first-generation immigrants or are first-generation
see SOUTH ASIAN, page 4
W E AT H E R F O R E C A S T
I N S I D E T U E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 9 , 2 0 0 4 Local radio stations battle for Rhode Island listeners in the midst of financial distress metro, page 3
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Even with three key players injured, women’s ice hockey manages victories in weekend play sports, page 12
Despite absence of director, intramural program gets off to a strong start, thanks to students’ efforts sports, page 12
TUESDAY
sunny high 41 low 25
WEDNESDAY
sunny high 42 low 34