The Brown Daily Herald T uesday, N ovember 27, 2007
Volume CXLII, No. 115
Brown loves Ruth: Simmons’ approval rating still sky-high By Emmy Liss Staff Writer
A cult of popularity seems to form around President Ruth Simmons. From T-shirts declaring “I Love Ruth” to acts of devotion on Facebook, Brown students cannot get enough of their beloved president. According to a Herald poll conducted earlier this month, almost 85 percent of students said they approve of the job Simmons is doing, with 43.2 percent of polled students strongly approving. But when asked for justification, few students interviewed by The Herald were able to cite specific reasons as to why they support Simmons and the work she is doing. “She has done a really good job (and) responds pretty well to student opinion,” said Craig Auster ’08. “But I don’t really understand why people are so obsessed with her.” Recently hailed by U.S. News and World Report as one of America’s best leaders and by Glamour magazine as a woman of the year, Simmons is a “star among college presidents,” said Paul Fain, a staff reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education who focuses on university presidents. The job of university presidents has changed significantly in the last few decades, Fain said. Once purely an academic figure, the president of today must be a fundraiser, politician and lobbyist and still maintain ties to the world of academia. In regard to these qualifications, Simmons “really embodies everything that colleges are looking for in a president,” he said. An important nuance of a successful 21st-century university president is approachability, something that was never necessary before, said Sheldon Steinbach, former vice president and general counsel at the American Council on Education. “(Simmons) has obviously tapped into the culture of Brown (and) does play in well with the current Brown student body, who admire, accept, embrace her,” Steinbach said. Among Simmons’s various attributes, Fain cited her ability to appeal to a “ridiculous range of people” — including 19-year-olds, over-involved parents, lawmakers, the media and continued on page 4
Simmons’ approval rating don’t know / no answer strongly disapprove 0.8% 10.8% somewhat % disapprove 3.5 strongly approve 43.2% somewhat approve 41.7%
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Early Brown-RISD applications is a ‘sea of unknowns’ By Rachel Arndt Senior Staff Writer
The college admission process is always filled with mystery, but the first round of applications to the Brown-Rhode Island School of Design dual-degree program is a “sea of unknowns,” said RISD Director of Admissions Edward Newhall. Brown received 75 early-decision applications for the program
by its Nov. 1 deadline, and RISD has received about 45 for its early-action program, though its deadline is not until Dec. 15. The recently announced dualdegree program is currently accepting its first applications for the 2008-09 academic year. Before applicants are considered for the program, they must be accepted to both Brown and RISD and complete a supplemental essay explaining
“why they think this curriculum is well suited to their interests and their goals,” Newhall said. “We’re working out some of the knottier details of how many people will be in the group,” he said. Dean of Admission James Miller ’73 said the program hopes to enroll as many as 20 students. RISD uses a non-binding earlyaction application system unlike Brown, which has a binding early-
o v e r n i g h t par k i n g o n c o ll e g e h ill ?
decision program. Because the RISD deadline isn’t until December 15 and decisions aren’t made until mid-January, the two schools won’t discuss early dual-degree candidates until late January, Newhall said. Candidates being reviewed for the dual-degree program “will already have coming to them or continued on page 6
Earlier than ever, students head north for campaigns By Joanna Wohlmuth Staf f Writer
morning for his test for any reason, he loses a year of eligibility in his sport. Fiore said in the past, the NCAA has given 24 to 48-hour notice for the tests, but that the 48-hour period of notification is much more reasonable. Every spring, fall or summer the NCAA randomly selects schools for drug testing. Fiore said testing at Brown usually occurs twice a year.
As the nation prepares to kick off its earliest presidential primary elections ever, political groups on College Hill are heading to New Hampshire to get involved. By state law, the Granite State holds the nation’s first primary, making it an important indicator of how candidates will fare later, and its proximity to Rhode Island makes it a destination for campus political activists. This year’s primar y will be held on Jan. 8 — the earliest in New Hampshire histor y — when most students will be home for winter break. Other states have also pushed for earlier primaries this year. And as early as Feb. 5, known as Super Tuesday for its large number of primaries, now being called Super Duper Tuesday by some, the parties may have their nominees — nearly half the nation’s primaries will now take place that day. The time changes are impacting campus political groups’ plans, causing them to reschedule canvassing trips and take time out of winter break to get involved. The national compressing of
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Chris Bennett / Herald File Photo
At a recent meeting, the College Hill Neighborhood Association discussed the potential for granting residents on-street overnight parking permits. A straw poll on the issue taken at the meeting resulted in a tie.
See Metro, Page 3
NCAA has athletes on call for pop drug tests By Jacob Tower Contributing Writer
Russell Fiore is not happy with the way the National Collegiate Athletic Association is conducting its drugtesting program. Brown’s head athletic trainer said that this fall, the NCAA has been giving Brown only 24-hour notice of drug tests, forcing Brown officials to scramble to contact athletes for the early-morning tests. This prompted Fiore to recently
write a letter to the association, complaining of the short notice. Fiore, who works with the NCAA and Brown’s athletic compliance coordinators to administer the tests, has to enlist help from anyone who might know the athletes to find them so they can be notified about their test the next morning. They find themselves with “a lot of people helping to locate a lot of athletes” in not a lot of time, Fiore said. If an athlete cannot show up between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. the next
After complaints, CAB will taxi into next school year By Anna Millman Staf f Writer
In response to complaints from students and advisers, the Registrar’s Office will reintroduce the printed Course Announcement Bulletin for the 2008-2009 school year after discontinuing it last year. The CAB will be available to all students, and course updates will be published before pre-registration both semesters, University Registrar Michael Pesta said. The CAB was discontinued last year as part of the University’s transition to Banner, Pesta said. When Banner was introduced, the decision was made that all course
WELCOME ARNOLD After tearing down the Cranston homeless shelter, the state has decided not to use the space as planned.
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information would be online. “It seemed that this information was so widespread that the Course Announcement Bulletin was not necessary anymore,” Pesta said. Pesta said the Registrar’s Office started planning to re-introduce the CAB mainly in response to complaints from advisers who said Banner’s format made discussing classes with freshmen difficult. “Advisers said, ‘It’s much easier when we have a book to flip back and forth rather than from screen to screen,’ ” Pesta said. Pesta added that though advisers are interested in the entirety of the curriculum, upper-year students are more focused on concen-
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tration requirements and can easily find desired course descriptions on Banner. Pesta said the University will print enough CABs for all students. “We can’t publish just for some people,” he said. “We can’t publish just for advisers or just for freshmen.” Michelle Nor worth ’10 said that she is happy the CAB will soon be available again. “I liked having a hard copy, and just the (Banner) listing wasn’t enough. ... The one that they made gave better information and had concentration descriptions and requirements,” she said. Lauren Fischer ’08, said she TV WRITERS OFF AIR Alison Schouten ’08 is turning off her television, logging off iTunes and supporting writers on strike.
thinks the printed CAB makes it easier to browse courses. “I like having the actual packet in my hand,” she said, “and there’s just something comforting about having all the options right there.” In order to save money, the registrar will try to limit the CAB to fewer than 180 pages. Section, lab and independent study details will not be included, and students will instead be directed to Banner. “For example, it will simply say that students need to register for a lab, and the advice will be to go to Banner to look up the information and register,” Pesta said. continued on page 4
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W. Hoops FALLS Twice Women’s basketball loses to the University of Rhode Island and American University over the break.
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