Monday, September 24, 2007

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The Brown Daily Herald M onday, S eptember 24, 2007

Volume CXLII, No. 74

Since 1866, Daily Since 1891

All study abroad programs will now require full tuition By Rachel Arndt Senior Staf f Writer

Chris Bennett / Herald

RISD President Roger Mandle and President Ruth Simmons signed an agreement Friday to launch a dual degree program.

Brown, RISD presidents ‘consummate’ union By Michael Skocpol Senior Staff Writer

With the trappings of an international peace conference and the jovial atmosphere of a wedding reception, President Ruth Simmons and Rhode Island School of Design President Roger Mandle officially signed an agreement Friday afternoon to launch the new Brown/RISD dual degree program. The two presidents met at the University Club on Benefit Street — neutral territory, of course — to swap friendly words and affix their signatures to an official memorandum of understanding at a brief ceremony attended by roughly 30 people from both universities. The program — slated to bring its first students to campus in Fall 2008

— will enable a select group of up to 20 students per year to earn both a bachelor of fine arts from RISD and a bachelor’s degree from Brown. Their studies will be split evenly between the two campuses over the course of five years, with students taking all of their classes in a given semester on one campus in order to avoid conflict between the two schools’ differing calendars. After an introduction by RISD Provost Jay Coogan, Simmons and Mandle, seated side-by-side beneath a painted cityscape of College Hill, signed three copies of the binding legal document — one for each president and one for the lawyers — then punctuated the signing with a handshake and a kiss on the cheek as the cluster of onlookers — faculty and administrators involved in plan-

ning the program and three students who provided inspiration for it — applauded. “Brown and RISD are both known for both independent thought and multidisciplinary inquiry,” Simmons said in her remarks. “I think this program will ... harness the strengths of both RISD and Brown to provide students with a wider knowledge base and a wider campus for exploration.” “We can’t wait to see what exciting results this marriage will produce,” Simmons added, broaching a theme that would become an extended metaphor — and a source of banter between the two presidents — throughout the ceremony. “ Marriage is about a lot of things,

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Christie Hunter ’06 was selected as Bermuda’s Rhodes Scholar for 2007 and will soon be headed to Keble College at Oxford University. Hunter, who came to Brown from Bermuda in 2002, decided to go back to the small island nation after her graduation and worked as a human capital consultant at Deloitte Bermuda, an advising, tax and consulting organization. Hunter did not decide to apply for the Rhodes Scholarship until after she graduated from Brown. Ever y year, Bermuda selects one Rhodes Scholar in a process that is independent from the Rhodes Scholarship for U.S. applicants. Applicants submit an application that includes essays and recommendations and attend an interview consisting of a round-table discussion with eight Rhodes representa-

INSIDE:

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ARTS & CULTURE

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tives. “You go in there blindly and you don’t know anyone in there,” Hunter said. “It’s really intense. They really examine your reasons for study.” The round table asks questions mainly on politics, including both domestic issues in Bermuda and international issues. “They really want people who are aware of their surroundings and the world,” Hunter said. In order to prepare for the interview, Hunter came back to the United States to receive interview training at Brown’s Career Development Center. The Rhodes Scholarship is among the many awards and recognitions that Hunter has won over the years, including the 2001 Bermuda Institute of Chartered Accountants’ Outstanding Student continued on page 4

“BRUSHSTROKES” OUT The beloved Roy Lichtenstein sculpture in Sciences Park will be departing College Hill on Nov. 6.

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Persian instruction awaits permanent funding, faculty By Gaurie Tilak Contributing Writer

Ten students are studying Persian this fall in a Group Independent Study Project while the University looks for money to fund a permanent program in the Middle Eastern language, which is spoken in Iran. Last year, a group of students filed a request to start a course in Persian, but the University was unable to secure enough funding to hire a permanent faculty member to teach the language. “Adding a faculty spot is both a political and an economic de-

cision,” said Merle Krueger, associate director of the Center for Language Studies and the faculty sponsor for the GISP. New positions are typically created only when there is strong and consistent student interest, Krueger said. He said the provost’s office searched for a donor to fund the program but was unable to find one. When that initial plan fell through, the students submitted a proposal for a GISP that was approved by the College Curriculum Council last spring. continued on page 4

br o w n o u t

Hunter ’06 wins Rhodes By Aditya Voleti Contributing Writer

The class of 2010 will be the first students required to pay Brown’s full tuition while studying abroad, regardless of the host university’s fees, boosting costs to students and putting Brown among a growing number of universities charging home-school tuition for study abroad programs. The University made the switch to the new fee structure to avoid running a deficit, said Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs and an associate dean of the College. Last year, 572 students studied abroad, with about half participating in University-sponsored programs. Other private colleges, such as Brandeis University, Haverford College and the University of Pennsylvania, have already

instituted similar policies. Under the previous policy, students studying abroad had to pay the University’s higher tuition only if they were attending Brown programs. Now, students attending both Brown programs and approved alternative programs will automatically pay the regular Brown tuition. The change, which is par t of a formal shift in University study-abroad tuition policy made in March 2006, replaces the fee that students paid to Brown in addition to the foreign tuition. For instance, under the old system, students studying in a Brown-approved program in Argentina for the academic year would pay the $1,913 fee to Brown plus $20,400 for the program itself. But under the new policy, students must pay Brown tuition, increasing the cost

CAMPUS NEWS

Ashley Hess / Herald

Hundreds of Brunonians made the trip to Cambridge on Saturday evening to see the football team take on Harvard in the first night game in the history of Harvard Stadium. The Crimson beat the Bears 24-17. see sports page 12

T-SHIRTS FOR ALL The East Asian Studies department had free T-shirts made for its concentrators and professors.

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OPINIONS

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

BIN LADEN AT BROWN? Jacob Schuman ’08 and Nicholas Swisher ‘08 say bin Laden and Lex Luthor should speak on campus.

12 SPORTS

CRIMSON POWER The football team falls to Harvard, 24-17, but Brown’s fans showed spirit and a willingness to travel.

News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com


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