The Chronicle f I
Friday, October 18,2002
Sunshine
High 63, Low 45 www.chronicle.duke.edu Vol. 98, No. 40
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Wolfpack Attack The Blue Devils prepare to take on an undefeated
N.C. State football team Saturday in Raleigh. See page 11
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
Faculty react Athletics opens Cameron for concert to options for A&S budget By ALEX GARINGER The Chronicle
By WHITNEY BECKETT The Chronicle
After the Arts and Sciences Council Budget Task Force recommended several options last week for resolving the Arts and Sciences budget deficit, professors are reacting primarily with frustration. The task force’s charge was two-fold: to evaluate whether a substantial budget shortfall was likely in the near future and to conduct a “fairly limited investigation of cuts” in faculty and research support, said Professor of Public Policy Studies Philip Cook, who headed the task force. Many faculty, including Cook, questioned the narrow target of the latter .
Philip Cook
charge. “The way the
report was created was as though all the other considerations were taken in and then the University gave Arts and Sciences its
budget last,” said Arts and Sciences Council Chair Ronald Witt. “The faculty looked at it from the other side: The heart and soul ofthe University is Arts and Sciences, and that should be the first thing taken into account.” Specifically, the budget task force considered faculty size, compensation and research support, as well as doctorate research support, “Of the very unfortunate set of possibilities, the least unfortunate would be to cut the faculty size,” Cook said. “But that is worst case—[offsetting the deficit] could be done in a variety of
The Dead, Dylan and the Doobie Brothers have all jammed there. Santana, the Allman Brothers and the Boss have packed the house. And Feb. 7, another band will add its name to the list of those who have played to thousands of screaming students in Cameron Indoor Stadium. As part of “K-ville Kares,” a benefit event for the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program, the basketball stadium will open its doors to its first major concert since 1996. Organizers have yet to select a band or artist, but said the size of Cameron will enable them to bring in an act that typically asks for between $30,000 and $60,000 per show. More than 4,000 tickets will be offered for between $25 and $4O, with a fundraising goal of $50,000. Campus Council, Duke Student Government, the Graduate and Professional Student Council and the Duke University Union are co-sponsoring the event, which is their first-ever joint venture. “We were able to find a space where it could fit in,” said Director ofAthletics Joe Alieva, who gave the go-ahead this week after meeting with organizers before fall break. “It seems like the whole University community is behind this project, and we thought it would be nice to try to make it happen.” In years past, availability of the stadium, protection for its new floor and the overall expense were all hurdles in booking Cameron. University officials
JANE HETHERINGTON/THE CHRONICLE
CAMERON CRAZIES cheer at a basketball game against Virginia last year. Students may soon go crazy over music instead of basketball at a concert in Cameron Indoor Stadium planned for February.'
basketball season. I have no problem with an event being in here after basketball season.... I am not opposed to
having concerts, but I have to protect the basketball programs.”
By ANDREW COLLINS The Chronicle
Financial constraints at university presses across the country may mean more challenges for humanities faculty seeking to publish books as a prerequisite for tenure, but administrators say the University is taking a wait-and-see approach. Many university presses have struggled mightily in recent years. Ken Wissoker, editor of Duke University Press, blamed the publishers’ financial difficulty primarily on the dwindling market for scholarly books at libraries and bookstores —many of which are experiencing financial crunches themselves. In the past, said Provost Peter Lange, approximately 800 libraries regularly purchased every book published by leading university presses. But that number has dwindled to 250 libraries in recent years, depriving the presses of a major
like construction —that the task force was not charged to consider.
Instead of cutting faculty resources, Department of History Chair John Thompson agreed he would prefer that Arts and Sciences spend less than its current $71.1 million payment for the University’s “allocated costs.” “I’m discouraged there was so little reference to the University’s mission,” he said. “[The report] hardly seemed
source of income.
The result ofthis decrease in demand has been a more competitive environment where more academics are struggling to get published, particularly those seeking tenure. Assistant professors in the humanities are generally expected to publish at least one book as a basic requirement for tenure, Lange said. He said the publishing squeeze is worst for junior faculty
like something that came from Arts and Sciences—it sounds like something that came from upper management.” Because the $6 million budget shortfall is forecasted to occur in three years, Cook said faculty size may have to be reduced by up to 17 positions per year until then, which will result in a 10 percent smaller regular-rank faculty size. Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sci-
I flSid S
See CONCERT on page 9
Publishing crunch hurts younger faculty
ways.” He suggested raising tuition or making cutbacks in non-faculty areas—-
See BUDGET on page 10
Many of the logistics of putting together the concert have yet to be worked out. Organizers need to obtain corporate and University sponsors, find a place to store the more than $30,000 worth of plywood needed to cover the floor, and arrange security, ticket distribution and concessions. But the possibility of a concert in Cameron and the potential donation to the cancer program motivated students
are calling the February concert an
“experiment” to determine if such events can be profitable and if Cameron can be protected. “The acoustics in Cameron are bad, and it’s an enormous expense to cover the floor and protect it,” Alieva said. “This is a basketball venue and this is
members because their books—often based on their dissertations—are generally targeted at a smaller audience and are therefore less appealing for a publisher seeking big sales. “It’s definitely making it more difficult,” said Assistant Professor of English Robert Mitchell, who has not yet published a monograph.
UNIVERSITY PRESSES across the country are facing financial difficulties that make publishing scholarly books harder for junior faculty.
The North Carolina State Fair of tens today in Raleigh and will run until Sunday, Oct. 27, feal :uring rides, concerts and an international smorgasbord of food. See page 4
Two religious demonstrators preaching to students about eternal damnation and criticizing other religions were asked to leave campus by police officers. See page 5
See PUBLISHING on page 9
Angier B. Duke Scholars enjoy traditional activities, but are trying to increase the number of opportunities for group interaction. See page 6