The Brown Daily Herald T hursday, O ctober 9, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 88
So soon? Spring classes up on Banner by Sarah Husk Contributing Writer
Although the Nov. 4 registration deadline for the second semester is still nearly a month off, Spring 2009 courses have now been added to Banner. According to Lora Rossi, associate registrar for course information, Banner was updated Oct. 1 to include next semester’s schedule of courses. Despite some student frustration with Banner, Rossi said the office had encountered no problems using the new system. In terms of the timeframe for updating Banner with the next semester’s courses, about a month in advance of registration is “probably going to be our normal procedure from here on out,” Rossi said. The popular alternative to Banner among students, Mocha, which is not officially supported or managed by the University, has yet to be synchronized with the new data for Spring 2009 courses. Adam Carb ’07, a programmer at Mocha not directly involved in updating the Web site for next semester, said students can expect to see the spring semester’s courses on Mocha soon. “We’ll put the spring courses up ASAP,” he said. “We were waiting for them to go up on Banner.” For some students, the Banner continued on page 4
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
UCS wants young alums on Corp.
Now on land, flagpole once raced at sea By Connie Zheng Staf f Writer
The flagpole on the Main Green doesn’t typically inspire romantic flights of fancy in the students studying on the grass next to it.
Chancellor tells council he supports the idea
FEATURE Yet the flagpole, a campus mainstay since 1939, is as much an historical artifact as it is an overlooked lawn fixture. A closer inspection of the pole reveals an index-card-sized bronze plaque near its base that reads, “This flagpole was formerly the mast of an American racing yacht and was presented to Brown University by its owner, C. Oliver Iselin.” The 50-foot-tall landmark comes from not just any dinghy, but — according to letters in University archives — from the Columbia, the first vessel to win the prestigious America’s Cup twice in a row, and only one of three yachts in the history of the 157-year-old race to do so. Charles Oliver Iselin was a banker who crewed the Columbia to its first victory in 1899 with his wife, Hope Goddard Iselin, daughter of former Chancellor William Goddard 1846. After the Columbia crushed Britain’s Shamrock that year, the schooner — owned by Iselin’s friend and colleague J.P. Morgan — took home the trophy again in 1901, defeating Britain’s Shamrock II. Though the Iselins did not participate in the 1901 race, Hope Iselin had already made her mark in sailing history as one of
By Mitra Anoushiravani Senior Staf f Writer
she said, the group was unable to get either space or funding for the endeavor. Stricker said his preliminary efforts to find space have been similarly frustrated. He has asked around both inside and outside the University, but to no avail. “The best offer that has been given is a tent outside of Blue State (Coffee),” he said. Stricker said he gathered between 300 and 400 signatures in support of the bicycle co-op at the Student Activities Fair last month, and that he has been approached frequently by students interested in his proposal. If given a workspace for the co-op, Stricker said he’d like to first start an informal program that would build and repair bikes for students. In time, he said, the co-op might give rise to a bike exchange program of the kind Sieff proposed. The exchange program would keep a supply of bicycles at various locations around campus for students’ use — for example, to
The Undergraduate Council of Students has written a preliminar y proposal outlining its interest in creating a permanent position for a recent graduate on the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, in hopes that the alum would be able to add a youthful perspective. UCS has presented the current proposal to a few members of the Corporation, including Chancellor Thomas Tisch ’76. Tisch has told the council he is committed to making the issue a top priority, UCS President Brian Becker ’09 said. The proposal, drafted in March, includes three suggestions for how the Corporation could add young alumni members. For example, one proposal would put three young alums on the Corporation’s Board of Trustees, which has 42 members. The young alums would be chosen every other year and serve six-year terms. The recent graduates would “not be beholden in any way to UCS or any other student organization on campus,” said Melea Atkins ’10, a former corporation liaison for the council. “The point of this is not that they are a representative of the current student body, (but) instead that they would offer the perspective of a student and have the full powers of a trustee.” “The young alum will be a Corporation member like any other,” Becker said. “This isn’t about getting someone on the Corporation for our sake. It’s really about making the Corporation better,” said former UCS Vice President Zachar y Townsend ’09.5, who worked on the proposal in its early stages. “It’s about giving the Corporation the ability to have more information while they’re making decisions.” The UCS proposal does not include a course of action on creating the position. Becker said that it is not up to UCS to decide how a young alum will be selected to ser ve on the Corporation. Now that UCS has drafted a proposal, members will continue to advocate for it. But Tisch must bring the proposal to the Corporation in order for its members to take action, Becker said. Atkins said council members hope the Corporation will discuss the proposal before the end of the academic year. Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, senior vice president for corporation affairs and governance, said in a presentation to the Brown University
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Min Wu / Herald
The 50-foot-tall flagpole on the Main Green was the mast of a champion yacht.
the first women to participate in the male-dominated sport. The Columbia’s life of fame and glory came to a halt when she lost to the Reliance in 1903, and she suffered further humiliation in 1904 when businessmen
considered converting her into a restaurant. Those plans never came to pass, and in 1913, she was cut up for scrap at Hawkins Yard in City Island, N.Y., accordcontinued on page 4
Since bikes are everywhere, one wonders, can’t we share? By Riley Blanton Contributing Writer
Brian Kelly / Herald
Meghan Short ‘12 biked past Keeney Quad. There is some support for a bicycle co-op.
Postspends Columbus Day weekend with Zac Hanson and finds a new center www.browndailyherald.com
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METRO
With bicycles locked to railings and trees all around campus, adequate amenities for bike owners are noticeably absent on College Hill. But Joseph Stricker ’10 thinks he has the solution. Stricker, who transferred from Vassar College a year ago, would like to introduce a bicycle co-op — which already exists at Vassar — that would build new bikes from used or abandoned parts and provide inexpensive repairs. “There’s a pretty big bike culture at Brown,” Stricker said. “It seems like Brown is itching for this type of program.” Indeed, the campus might seem to have an itch — and last year the Brown Outing Club made efforts to scratch it, according to Carly Sieff ’09, a student leader of the group. The club made proposals to both the Student Activities Office and the Undergraduate Finance Board, she said, to create a bike sharing program that would allow students to borrow bikes on a short-term basis. Unfortunately,
embarking on a big plan Providence has a plan to plant 40,000 trees in the city in the next 12 years
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CAMPUS NEWS
crime log: smoked out Buxton House residents in trouble after unwittingly setting off the smoke alarm
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
12 SPORTS
BLESS MY HEART Field hockey finds a way to win again, edging Sacred Heart, 3-2 on the road
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