Daily
Herald
the Brown
vol. cxlvi, no. 80
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Faculty discuss ROTC, athletics
Since 1891
News in brief
McCormick case moves back to R.I.
Mather, associate registrar for enrollment services. Though official transcripts are currently issued in hard copy, the registrar’s office hopes to launch an electronic transcript service by the spring, said University Registrar Robert Fitzgerald. Many companies, such as Google, want applicants to provide official electronic transcripts sent directly by their schools, he said, rather than through intermediaries like the CareerLAB. The $4 fee was set by the Corporation in 1971, Fitzgerald said. The price tag covers auxiliary costs including the watermark, security paper and postage, he said. Fitzgerald said the additional $2.25 processing fee was introduced in 2007 when the registrar’s office paired up with National Stu-
Evan Thomas / Herald
William McCormick’s lawsuit against the University and two alums was transferred to its sixth judge yesterday. The case was transferred back to Rhode Island from New Hampshire and will be heard by Rhode Island District Federal Court Judge John McConnell ’80. McCormick motioned to have the case returned to McConnell Sept. 16, citing the cost of conducting the litigation in New Hampshire. The University and the alums both filed motions opposing transfer of the case to McConnell. McConnell’s confirmation as a federal judge this year was held up by Republicans in the U.S. Senate for over a year. Republicans based their opposition in part on the claim that McConnell’s history as a plaintiffs’ lawyer would make him partial toward plaintiffs in cases against powerful defendants, a charge which he denied. McCormick, a former member of the class of 2010, claims he was falsely accused of rape in 2006 and unjustly forced out of the University in part because of the influence of his accuser’s father, a prominent donor and fundraiser for the University. McCormick is suing the University, his accuser and her father for unspecified damages. The defendants have all denied wrongdoing. The case was first brought to Providence Superior Court in 2009. It was then transferred to federal court. The first federal judge to hear the case recused himself in January after his daughter applied to Brown. A second federal judge recused himself after it came to light that one of the alums’ lawyers had represented him when he was accused of judicial misconduct in the 1980s. Rhode Island District Chief Judge Mary Lisi then recused herself, presumably because she is married to one of the defendants’ other lawyers. At the time, because McConnell had not yet been confirmed, there were no federal judges in Rhode Island able to hear the case, so it was sent to a judge in New Hampshire. McCormick and his accuser are both scheduled to be deposed later this month.
continued on page 2
Some students applying for jobs through CareerLAB find sending out official transcripts costly.
— Herald staff
By Shefali Luthra Senior Staff Writer
President Ruth Simmons solicited input at yesterday’s faculty meeting about the report released Sept. 7 by the committee tasked with reexamining the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps’ relationship with the University. This was the faculty’s first opportunity to comment on the report. Simmons also addressed last year’s Athletics Review Committee report, and Provost Mark Schlissel P’15 discussed the search for a new director for the Watson Institute for International Studies. Simmons told faculty members she hopes to make a recommendation to the Corporation at this month’s meeting regarding ROTC. Because the committee determined ROTC to be an extracurricular program, the faculty lacks authority over its status, but Simmons said the University is still interested in its recommendation. Gregory Elliott, professor of sociology, suggested the ROTC committee release a “minority report” becontinued on page 5
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The Greek Council has received little information about the University’s security service search, a representative said.
Possible security shift rankles some By Sarah Mancone Staff Writer
With the impending expiration of Brown’s contract with Green Horn Management to provide security at Greek and sporting events, the University is weighing contracts with other companies. But students involved in Greek life and athletics have made it clear that a new firm would not be welcome. The University will reevaluate its security service and assess pricing of competing security companies before the contract expires this year, wrote Ricky Gresh, senior director for student engagement, in an email to The Herald. The Student Activities Office and the Department of Athletics, in consultation with other offices including
the Department of Public Safety, will make final vendor recommendations, Gresh wrote. Currently, Brown is employing C.C. Security Corp on a trial basis at athletic games and events, he wrote. “All potential vendors,including GHM, will be invited to compete for Brown’s business,” Gresh wrote. For now, GHM is still the University’s primary security service. Though the University must garner student input before making a final decision as part of the formal search procedure, Greek Council representatives have received little information about the process, said Araceli Mendez ’13, chair of the council. The Greek system has no complaints with GHM and does not want to see the com-
pany go, Mendez said. If GHM is replaced, the decision will not go unnoticed, said Jon Land ’79, alumni adviser to the Greek System, alumni president of Delta Phi Fraternity and vice president of the Brown Football Association. “Plenty of people are going to notice, and plenty of people are going to care,” he said. GHM has been providing security at sporting events for 10 years and at Greek events for five, said Land. During this period, GHM has not received any student complaints, though it dealt with problems of sexual abuse, Emergency Medical Services and fights, he said. The security company itself has continued on page 2
By Ben Kutner Senior Staff Writer
inside
Mark Sabbagh ’12 was shocked when he found out he would have to pay for his official transcript. When he applied this summer to medical school programs, he had to pay $6.25 to send an official transcript to each school, on top of an already expensive application process. Official transcripts from the Office of the Registrar are only available in paper form and are not released without payment. Whether a student is applying to a graduate program, an international study abroad program or a job, transcripts costs $4 with a $2.25 processing fee for each recipient, even if the transcript is issued directly to the student. “We have students occasionally unhappy about it,” said Lisa
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