Daily
Herald
THE BROWN
vol. cxlviii, no. 85
since 1891
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2013
Search for replacement dean of the College underway By MICHAEL DUBIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Last week’s naming of an interim dean and the members of the search committee marks the start of the process to identify Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron’s long-term successor. Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn will serve as interim dean from January until a permanent dean assumes the post, The Herald reported last week. The permanent dean will likely be in place by July, and Klawunn will not be a candidate for the position, said Provost Mark Schlissel P’15. Schlissel will chair the 13-person search committee, which includes faculty members from each academic division — two from the humanities, one from the social sciences, two from the life sciences and one from the physical sciences — and three current students. Schlissel said he selected the faculty members from a list of
recommendations submitted to him by the Faculty Executive Committee. He made the committee selections with an eye toward disciplinary balance so the committee would be “broadly representative” of the faculty’s interests, he said. The three students on the committee have similarly diverse academic backgrounds. Amelia Armitage ’15 concentrates in history, Abishek Kulshreshtha ’15 concentrates in physics and Emma Dickson ’16 said she intends to concentrate in political science. The committee’s first task will be to solicit opinions from “key members of the community” on what the committee should look for in the next dean, Schlissel said. Specifically, the committee will want to hear what personal characteristics the dean should possess and with what issues he or she should be familiar. This outreach will help shape the “experience profile” before the committee begins looking for candidates, he said. The committee will then conduct a nationwide search for candidates both within and outside of Brown, Schlissel said. The University will not employ a search firm but will “advertise the position in venues that get a lot of readership in the academy,” as well as amongst Brown’s faculty, he said.
HERALD FILE PHOTO
Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn (right) will serve as interim dean starting Jan. 1 and will not be a candidate to replace Dean of the College Katherine Bergeron (left). Schlissel said he thinks there is at least a 50 percent chance a current Brown faculty member will be selected “because it’s so important that whoever takes the job understands Brown and its culture.” Because the dean of the College is an “academic leadership job,” the
Former pres. adviser talks debt default woes Donilon addressed topics including the debt ceiling, international relations and nuclear proliferation By KIAN IVEY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Talk of the government shutdown and American foreign policy dominated a Monday evening event that featured Pres-
ident Obama’s former adviser Thomas Donilon — with Donilon saying a prolonged government shutdown could severely damage the country’s economy and credibility. In a conversational format, Donilon, who previously served as National Security Adviser, answered questions posed by Richard Locke, director for the Watson Institute for International Studies. Donilon touched on U.S. foreign policy around the world, including the Middle
ALAN SHAN / HERALD
inside
Donilon, former National Security Adviser to the Obama administration, visited campus as part of the Watson Distinguished Speaker Series.
East, North Africa and Asia. A mix of students, local and national political figures and Providence residents listened intently and later engaged with Donilon in a question-and-answer session. Donilon provoked laughter from the audience when he referred to the current government shutdown as “the goings on in Washington.” He continued to examine the effects the shutdown could have and is currently having on U.S. foreign policy and relations. “One of the fallouts of failing to adopt a budget is that the president wasn’t able to take this trip that Secretary of State Kerry is on,” Donilon said of a trip to negotiate a trade deal that could involve up to 60 percent of the world’s gross domestic product. “It would have been better for him to be there,” Donilon said. When asked by an audience member about the potential effects of an extended government shutdown, Donilon said the United States has never defaulted on its debt, and “that’s important for the trust that the world has in the (United States) and its currency.” Were the United States to default, it would increase the cost of borrowing and send the nation’s economy back into recession, Donilon said, adding that defaulting would be “a deeply disturbing thing to do to the world.” Donilon also spoke of conflict in countries such as Syria, saying, “The situation in Syria is a really incredible » See DONILON, page 3
position must be filled by either a tenured Brown faculty member or a candidate from another university who is “a scholar of the caliber that would be tenured here,” Schlissel said. He said he hopes to have a new dean lined up several months before the individual would be expected to begin,
both for logistical reasons — such as allowing an external hire ample time to relocate — and because there will be a learning curve regardless of whether an internal or external selection is made. “People who are here already have an advantage because they would have » See DEAN, page 2
Speakers highlight issues of R.I. elderly population The lecture called attention to Alzheimer’s and demanded greater youth engagement By JOSEPH ZAPPA CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Director of the Rhode Island Division of Elderly Affairs Catherine Taylor called on students and local residents to boost local awareness about Alzheimer’s disease and other issues facing the elderly in a lecture Monday night. Stephen Gresham ’83, adjunct lecturer in public policy, urged those in attendance to consider that Alzheimer’s kills twice as many people as breast and prostate cancer combined each year. But the funds afforded to researchers combating Alzheimer’s, he added, are less than those afforded to cancer researchers. The first step in raising awareness and activism about issues facing the elderly and those with disabilities, Taylor said, is to “get us all thinking of older people and people with disabilities as ‘us’ and not ‘them.’” Taylor said young people need to respect the elderly and put
CITY & STATE
Not up to par
Race pace
Teacher talk
Bruno finished eleventh in the Macdonald Cup held on Yale’s course
Bruno finished in the middle of the pack at the Paul Short Invitational
Lonergan ’72 discussed the fate of professors in an era of online course offerings
SPORTS, 4
SPORTS, 5
COMMENTARY, 7
weather
A 13-person committee chaired by the provost will conduct a nationwide search for the next dean
themselves in senior citizens’ shoes. “Think about yourself,” she said. “Where would you like to live when you’re 85 years old?” Providence resident Greta Abbott, a senior citizen who has been involved in community volunteer work since she was a student at Columbia, encouraged Brown students to also volunteer. “I learn about other communities, other worlds because I’ve volunteered,” she said. “All of it has so much to contribute to you.” Student volunteer work may help to combat problems the Rhode Island elderly face. For example, “Rhode Island is woefully short on tools to deal with dementia,” Taylor said. While acknowledging ongoing efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, Taylor said it is important to “deal with folks who have Alzheimer’s and families helping them now.” Students in Gresham’s course, PPAI 1701D: “Aging and Public Policy,” made up about half the audience and voiced their concerns for the elderly as well as interest in advancing Taylor’s cause. Young people should consider the problems confronting the elderly, especially since the baby » See ELDERLY, page 2
t o d ay
tomorrow
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