Friday, December 3, 2004

Page 1

F R I D A Y DECEMBER 3, 2004

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXIX, No. 120

An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891

www.browndailyherald.com

Four decades after inception, Brown-Tougaloo relationship undergoes reinvigoration BY CAMDEN AVERY

Forty years ago, Brown began a relationship with Tougaloo College, a historically black college in Jackson, Miss. The connection was forged in 1964 as a cooperative experiment in academia, a product of the Civil Rights Movement and its fallout of political activism. Now, after 40 years of modifications and varying degrees of success, the schools continue to participate in an exchange program that, like the relationship itself, is now in the midst of another reevaluation, according to University administrators. Associate Professor of History James Campbell said the group of committees concerned with the Tougaloo program “is in the process, again, of reconsidering how to do what it does better.” The relationship between the two schools is being “reinvigorated,” rather than revised, according to Valerie Wilson, executive director of the Leadership Alliance and leader of the BrownTougaloo exchange. “It is a critical truth that longstanding relationships must be reinvented constantly in order for there to be relevancy in the programs,” she wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. “Last February there was a meeting of individuals who have some sort of relationship with Brown and Tougaloo,” she said in an earlier phone interview. “They met to consider a series of questions about the relationship,” such as how it should be developed. The meeting resulted in a decision to reinvigorate the Brown-Tougaloo relationship, Wilson said. She said the program’s historical importance and renewed interest from the schools’ new presidents, both of whom were hired less

Nick Neely / Herald

Executive Vice President for Planning Richard Spies serves a pastry to one of many attendees of the dessert social Thursday afternoon in Sayles Hall.

Semester’s rapid pace a trick of the calendar, not of the imagination BY CHRIS HATFIELD

At this time of year it’s common to hear students complaining about how finals snuck up on them or wondering how the semester could be almost over. But if it seems more students were caught off-guard by finals this semester than usual, there’s a good chance that’s the case. Due to the structure of the University’s academic calendar, the fall semester was almost a week shorter this year than last year. This loss of class days in the fall occurs every five or six years. Under the principles governing the academic calendar, the fall semester begins the

see TOUGALOO, page 4

Tuesday after Labor Day and ends on Dec. 20, or Dec. 19 if Dec. 20 falls on a Sunday. Because the first day can be any day from Sept. 2 to 8 but the end date is static, the fall semester can be anywhere from 64 to 69 days long. Last year, the fall semester was the maximum of 69 days. With this semester down to only 65, the University lost almost a week’s worth of class. No such problem occurs in the spring, when both the start and end of the semester are based on sliding dates that keep the number of class days at 68. “It does affect how the classes go,”

see CALENDAR, page 4

With new dean and expanding faculty, Division of Biology and Medicine sees new research opportunities ahead FACULTY EXPANSION THREE YEARS IN

BY KIRA LESLEY

Long lagging behind peer institutions in terms of funding and resources, the Division of Biology and Medicine stands to become one of the largest beneficiaries of President Ruth Simmons’ Initiatives for Academic Enrichment. Brown’s Division of Biology and Medicine comprises the Program in Biology, the Medical School and the Program in Public Health. Each year, about 2,600 to 3,000 undergraduates — including 300 concentrators — are enrolled in one of the courses of the five biology departments. The biology departments also enroll about 130 graduate students each year. As part of the Plan for Academic Enrichment and the bio-med division’s own expansion, the Division of Biology and Medicine will soon have between 30

fifth in a five-part series and 40 new faculty members, according to Associate Dean for Research Peter Shank. Some of these positions have already been filled, including five of six in brain sciences and two of six in genomics and proteomics, Shank said. The ecology and evolutionary biology department will also be receiving two new faculty members, and molecular pharmacology, physiology and biotechnology will also receive one new faculty member, according to Interim Dean of Medicine and Biological Sciences Dr. Richard Besdine. The addition of faculty will benefit all students taking classes in the bio-med

division, Shank said, because all faculty members teach both graduate and undergraduate classes. In addition, more faculty members will translate into more research opportunities for undergraduates. “The effect (of adding faculty) is huge because undergraduates in the bio-med department do a research project with a faculty member and these are the faculty with whom they’ll be doing research,” Besdine said. In keeping with the increased focus on research expansion, the University announced Wednesday that Dr. Eli Adashi, formerly of the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, will be taking over for Besdine as dean for medicine and biological sciences. Adashi, who boasts a prolific research career,

Chez Lenore’s “lease” is legal, even though it was just a simple handshake, according to lawyers metro, page 5

UFB opens presentation portion of meetings, sees better student-group proposals campus news, page 5

BY ANNE WOOTTON

President Ruth Simmons has spent much of this semester away from Brown, raising funds in the “quiet phase” of the University’s capital campaign. Before leaving to look at a mock-up of the Life Sciences Building, Simmons took time on Wednesday to speak with The Herald about her overarching vision for the Plan for Academic Enrichment, plans for the capital campaign’s official launch, the University Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice and what it’s like to ask for a $100 million donation. Simmons’ next trip will take her to California in January, followed by Oregon; Denver, Colo.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Florida, Detroit, Mich.; Houston, Texas; and Atlanta. She will travel to Paris over the summer and to Asia next year. Herald: Everyone is most curious about the plan, and how you think it’s going. Simmons: The plan is — well, it’s amazing. We started the first year doing a very abbreviated plan just to get started, and in that first year we announced the major things. They included need-blind admissions, an expansion of the faculty and changes in graduate school support. The second year, we started a much

see FACULTY, page 8

see SIMMONS, page 7

W E AT H E R F O R E C A S T

I N S I D E F R I D AY, D E C E M B E R 3 , 2 0 0 4 Brownbrokers’ “Psyche” mixes musical styles successfully, uses talented cast well arts & culture, page 3

Looking back and ahead: Simmons reflects on the semester and U.’s future

Rob Sand ’05.5 thinks John Kerry ripped of some Democrats during the presidential election column, page 11

Re-turfed OMAC field should help alleviate scheduling crunch for club and intramural teams sports, page 12

FRIDAY

rain / snow high 42 low 24

SATURDAY

mostly sunny high 41 low 33


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Friday, December 3, 2004 by The Brown Daily Herald - Issuu