Daily
Herald
THE BROWN
vol. cxlviii, no. 122
U. to undertake more direct investments Limiting the role of intermediaries will allow U. finance offices more flexibility with funds By KATE KIERNAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The University plans to increase the portion of its endowment that it invests directly, limiting its reliance on intermediary financial managers in an effort to enhance the University’s flexibility with its assets and grow its cash holdings, wrote Chief Investment Officer Joseph Dowling in an email to The Herald. The University will still employ financial managers to help invest money from the endowment. But under Dowling’s supervision, the Office of Investment will look to independently manage more of the endowment, giving the University greater control over its funds. The Office of Investment and the Investment Committee manage the endowment under the supervision of Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Beppie Huidekoper, Dowling wrote. The Office of Investment currently plans to use 5 percent of the endowment for direct investments, but that number could grow “based on the investment opportunity set, performance of direct investments and resources of the investment office,” Dowling wrote. The changes came when Dowling was appointed last May, bringing with him experience in seeking out new investment opportunities, Huidekoper said. Dowling formerly worked at Narragansett Asset
since 1891
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2013
Management, an investment firm he founded in 1998. The University has been “very satisfied” with the third party financial managers it has used for investing the endowment, Huidekoper said, and it will continue to use those financial intermediaries in conjunction with direct investments managed by the Office of Investment. The endowment contributes about 16 percent of the University’s income and is its third largest source of revenue, Huidekoper said. Undergraduate tuition is the University’s largest income source, Huidekoper said. The endowment is a revenue source and investment tool to help universities to pay for operating costs instead of increasing student fees, according to a Sept. 27 Bloomberg News article. The University currently has about 1 percent of its endowment in cash assets, according to a statement from the Office of Investment. Available cash serves as an immediate source of funds for “times of stress” when the stock market plummets, Dowling wrote. It also gives the University more flexibility to acquire assets if new investment opportunities become available, he wrote. Total equity, including public stock, private equity and real assets like real estate holdings, make up 89 percent of the University’s assets. Since these assets are tied up in investments, they are less accessible than cash holdings. The remaining 10 percent of the endowment is invested in fixed income assets, which provide a more stable income stream, according to the Office of Investment. » See INVESTMENT, page 4
F R O M G AT E TO CO M M O N S
COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
Andrews Dining Commons, imagined above in a University rendering, will feature a study space for 125 students and a food service area. It is slated to open for the first week of classes in January. See andrews, page 2.
RISD president resigns
Though his contract lasts to 2015, John Maeda will leave in January to work at a venture capital firm
The Herald previously reported. Maeda announced his decision via a video compilation of clips of students and faculty members, during which he reflected on RISD’s evolution over his six years as president. In the video, Maeda said technology use helped RISD become a preeminent design school, crediting the “artists, designers and scholars of RISD” as the force for change at the school. Maeda came to RISD in the fall of 2008, following the resignation of then-President Roger Mandle. Maeda previously served as a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and associate director of research at the MIT Media Lab. Esquire Magazine included Maeda among its “75 most influential people of the 21st century,” according to the » See RISD, page 4
By KATE KIERNAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
John Maeda, the 16th president of the Rhode Island School of Design, will resign at the end of the semester, according to a RISD press release. Maeda will leave RISD to become a design partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byer, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, in January. He will also chair the recently formed eBay Design Advisory Board, according to the release. Maeda’s contract was renewed March 2012 to last through June 2015,
Poll: Students split on role of testing Females, whites and humanities/arts concentrators were less likely than other students to say they support standardized test scores playing a major role in graduation requirements. Question: “How much of a role should standardized test scores play in public high school graduation requirements?” NO OPINION SIGNIFICANT
MODERATE
SMALL
NONE
41
40
12
2
12
2
12
2
All students 5 Male 8
42
37
Female 2
41
43
White 4
38
42
Non-white 7 Arts/humanities 4 Other fields 5
46
15 38
35
44 44
38
2
2
10 2
GREG JORDAN-DETAMORE/ HERALD
inside
By KATHERINE LAMB SENIOR STAFF WRITER
8 1 15
Many said they believe standardized testing gives certain groups of students unequal treatment
About four-fifths of undergraduates support standardized test scores playing either a small or moderate role in public high school graduation requirements, according to a Herald poll conducted Sept. 30 – Oct. 1. About 12 percent of respondents said standardized test scores should play no role in public high school graduation requirements. The responses come on the heels of significant state debate surrounding
CITY & STATE
a recently implemented state-wide requirement that students score at least “partially proficient” on the New England Common Assessment Program test or demonstrate substantial improvement between test cycles to receive a high school diploma. Of the 80 percent of respondents who supported a small or moderate role in public high school graduation requirements, about half were in favor of a moderate role and half were in favor of a small role. Natalie Tarr ’14, who volunteers for Algebra in Motion, an after school tutoring program at Hope High School, said she strongly opposes high-stakes standardized testing. At Hope High School, only 19 percent of students passed the math portion of the NECAP, and approximately 80 » See TESTING, page 4
Post-
No secrets
Baby brains
bds, Brussels sprouts, and banalization. buh-bye!
A pair of panels investigated NSA programs, delving into privacy and security
A lecture examined the link between action and problem-solving in infants
INSIDE
UNIVERSITY NEWS, 3
SCIENCE & RESEARCH, 8
weather
Mixed opinions on the role of standardized tests
Teach-in recounts history of activism Students said past protests have informed current experiences both inside and outside the classroom By JOSEPH ZAPPA STAFF WRITER
Activism boils down to the “creation of tension,” said Kenneth McDaniel ’69 P’13, a participant in the 1968 protests over Brown’s diversity, during a Wednesday teach-in on student activism throughout the last 50 years. The teach-in, attended by about 75 people in Barus and Holley 168, was organized by a group of students in light of student activism this semester, said event coordinator Anselmo Fuentes ’16, who introduced the panelists. Robert Lee ’80 P’15, chair of the Department of American Studies, said discussions of activism should focus on current challenges amid progress made by past collective actions. “We need to think of these gains that we have made as ongoing sites of struggle,” he said. “They need defending. They need expanding.” Understanding the history behind activism provides a “blueprint on how to act now,” said Paul Tran ’14, who is conducting research on student activism as part of a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship in history, Africana studies and ethnic studies. The fact that undergraduates have » See ACTIVISM, page 5 t o d ay
tomorrow
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