The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, F ebr uar y 20, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 19
U. courts big donors
M.I.A., Lupe Fiasco to headline Spring Weekend By Franklin Kanin News Editor
By Michael Bechek News Editor
With less than three years to go in the Campaign for Academic Enrichment, at least nine projects still to be completed and an economy inhospitable to fundraising, the development office — the University’s fund-raising arm — has its work cut out. But it is hoping that a select handful of individuals could make paying for all that a lot easier. The development office is in talks with a number of prospective benefactors, hoping to find “singledonor solutions” to a number of the University’s biggest planned endeavors, said Ronald VandenDorpel MA’72, senior vice president for University advancement. Those projects include the Walk, the already-underway greensward that will connect Lincoln Field to the Pembroke campus; the renovation of J. Walter Wilson Laboratory; and an 80,000-square-foot building to consolidate the cognitive and linguistic sciences, psychology and brain science programs, he said. For each of the projects still on the agenda, the University’s planners have set a fundraising goal — a fraction of the project’s total cost that they hope gifts will supply. (Most of the remainder is financed continued on page 6
Brown campus second-safest among Ivies By Max Mankin Senior Staff Writer
Following the spree of recent violent incidents on college campuses around the country, campus safety has returned to the forefront of the nation’s attention. The March issue of Reader’s Digest features a ranking of campus crime around the country, in which Brown ranked 144th safest out of 291 colleges surveyed. In the crime survey, which looked at publicly available statistics on campus crime from college police departments of all 291 colleges surveyed, Brown earned a “moderate” rating in terms of crime, making it the second-safest Ivy — behind only Cornell, which was ranked 71st. The report also consisted of a campus safety survey, in which only 135 of the 291 invited schools participated. It compared 19 attributes of each school, including ID checking, emergency response and preparedness, closed circuit camera monitoring, campus police and education on rape, drugs and alcohol. The University declined to participate in the safety survey, though Brown would probably have placed in the top ten, said Vice President of continued on page 4
3
HIGHER ED
¡BIENVENIDOS! After a dramatic decline following Sept. 11, international students are returning to U.S. schools
www.browndailyherald.com
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Courtesy of Janette Beckman / William Morris Agency Inc.
Maya Arulpragasam, better known as critically acclaimed hip hop and grime artist M.I.A., will headline this year’s second Spring Weekend concert.
Spring Weekend will be headlined by rapper Lupe Fiasco and Sri Lankan music sensation M.I.A., the Brown Concert Agency announced today. Mashup artist Girl Talk, cardiganwearing indie rock darlings Vampire Weekend and the progressive rock jam band Umphrey’s McGee will also perform. David Horn, BCA’s booking chair, said the performers were chosen based on a variety of factors including availability, cost and student preference. “We also tried to come up with acts that were really amazing live shows,” he said. Horn added that the headliners were ranked at the top of the poll BCA conducted on WebCT last fall. M.I.A., whose real name is Maya Arulpragasam, was chosen in part to help satisfy another goal of BCA — “to bring more diversity to the Spring Weekend line-up,” Horn said. “We think it’s a huge deal that M.I.A. is not only a woman that can command the stage but also comes from Sri Lanka and London and can bring diversity and represent all these cultures that haven’t been represented at Spring Weekend in the past.” The concerts will be held over
a two day period, with Lupe Fiasco and Vampire Weekend performing on Friday, April 11 and the others on Saturday, April 12. Tickets will go on sale starting March 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students can buy tickets for both shows for $20 during the first week of sales. After that, Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students will be able to purchase tickets for $12 for Friday’s show and $15 for Saturday’s. Non-students can pay $15 and $20, respectively. BCA has been in discussions with Director of Student Activities Ricky Gresh, Associate Vice President of Campus Life and Dean for Student Life Margaret Klawunn and other campus administrators in an effort to hold all concerts outside on the Main Green, said Cash McCracken ‘08, BCA’s administrative chair. Horn said he is very excited for the lineup this year, especially because of the pressure to match last year’s performers, The Roots and The Flaming Lips. “One of the positive challenges that we faced coming into this was having such a successful year last year — how do you follow up the Flaming Lips?” he said. “I can’t imagine being the producers of the Mighty Ducks having to come up with a sequel to that — but D2 was awesome.”
Brazilian diplomat analyzes U.S. relations at Watson By Christian Martell Staff Writer
Brazilian Ambassador to the United States Antonio Patriota spoke to a full Joukowsky Forum Friday, Feb. 15. Patriota emphasized the common policy efforts shared by Brazil and the U.S., especially on regional matters and the environment. At the same time, he underscored that Brazil expects to be a leader on the world stage, perhaps by taking a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council, and that it does not support the Iraq war. Patriota’s visit joins this year’s lineup of highly noted Latin American public officials, as seen by the recent visits of ambassadors from Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela, as
well as an upcoming visit by Bolivian President Evo Morales on Feb. 26. This University focus on Latin America comes as the Center for Latin American Studies celebrates its 25th year as a department and 35th year as a concentration. After an introduction by James Green, associate professor of history and the center’s director, Patriota began his speech, entitled “Brazil-U.S. Relations: The Bilateral, Regional and Global Agendas,” by noting three “myths” that he said he usually heard when others spoke of Latin America — that the U.S. fails to pay Latin America proper attention, that the U.S. may be “losing Latin America” because of that continued on page 4
Min Wu / Herald
Antonio Patriota spoke to a packed Joukowsky Forum at the Watson Institute for International Studies Friday.
Medical funding flatlines, pressuring University coffers Limited federal dollars could drive away researchers By George Miller Senior Staff Writer
Brown researchers apply for grants all the time. But this year limited federal funding is increasing competition for medical research grants and potentially having effects outside the lab. Though federal funding for physical science researchers continues to increase steadily, funding for the biomedical sciences is stagnating — and putting pressure on administrators
5
CAMPUS NEWS
paying for costs associated with research. Limited funding could also affect how the University attracts researchers, administrators said. When faculty members apply for grants from federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, they also ask for a certain amount of money to cover costs associated with research. Brown pays up front for these costs — everything from lighting and heating to building maintenance and administrative support — and is later reimbursed by the federal government in a process called indirect cost recovery. Since research awards total in the
STUDY SENSATION Friedman wins yet another award for its design, but some students aren’t so taken with the center
11
OPINIONS
hundreds of millions of dollars every year at Brown, indirect costs form a significant portion of the University’s budget — about 5 percent, according to Elizabeth Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration. The federal government negotiates an indirect cost rate with schools every few years, and a complicated process determines how the government actually applies that rate to reimburse the University for research costs. Brown administrators should complete negotiations of the rate, which are currently underway, by this summer, Huidekoper said. Research funding for the Univer-
SHUTTLE TO AL FORNO Adam Cambier ‘09 thinks Brown’s parking solution is so great it should serve as a model in other areas
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
sunny, 32 / 19
sity could get smaller in the coming years, as federal funding from some institutes has not increased as much as researchers would like. Funding for researchers from the NIH, for example, has stagnated recently. “It’s getting more difficult for researchers in general to get federal funding,” said Tim Leshan, Brown’s director of government relations and community affairs. In the short term, Leshan said, that affects faculty morale. A sustained drought of grants, however, wouldn’t just pose dangers to the University’s continued on page 4
tomorrow’s weather Better than today’s ...unless tonight’s lunar eclipse heralds the Apocalypse. Find out at 8:43 p.m.
News tips: herald@browndailyherald.com