Friday, February 28,2003
Partly Cloudy High 47, Low 33 www.chronicle.duke.edu Vol. 98, No. 109
The Chronicle I
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Duke diops FSU Alana Beard slightly sprained both ankles in Duke’s 70-49 win over FSU Thursday night. See page 11
THE INDEPENDENT DAILY AT DUKE UNIVERSITY
A&S predicts Board mulls flat growth in future
strategic plan funding By KEVIN LEES The Chronicle
Facing increasing economic pressures and slumping income from investments, the Board ofTrustees may cut or postpone up to 10 percent of the funding for the University’s long-range strategic plan at this weekend’s Board meeting, administrators said this week “Building on Excellence,” a five-year map for the University’s academic priorities and initiatives, was passed by the Board two years ago and came with a price-tag of $727.1 million in a time of heady economic activity. With the nation’s economy now in a two-year slump, Provost Peter Lange and Executive Vice President Tailman Trask will jointly lead a presentation on the plan’s financial options at the Trustees’ retreat in WinstonSalem’s Graylin Conference Center.
� The Board of Trustees is expected to approve a tuition increase of around 5 percent at its meetings this weekend. By KEVIN LEES The Chronicle
Continued budget woes and a spike in financial aid costs will keep Arts and Sciences at least at flat growth for the foreseeable future, despite a likely 4.9 percent increase in tuition next year. As the budget picture has become clearer throughout the spring, Dean of the Faculty
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The Board of Trustees will pick Chair Harold “Spike" Ws successor at its weekend meeting. See page 3
Arts and Sciences William Chafe and other administrators have begun to float a proposal to department chairs and faculty governance leaders for the future that ineludes markedly William Chafe less growth in Arts and Sciences than in the 1990s but without massive faculty cuts. The likely tuition hike, greater than last year’s 3.5 percent increase and the 4.1 percent increase the year before, is See A&S on page 7
CONSTRUCTION FORGES ON at the Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering Medicine and Applied Sciences, one of the centerpieces of the strategic plan.
been very successful in ‘keeping our eye on the ball’ in terms of where we invest our resources of time, energy and creative thinking President Nan Keohane wrote in an e-mail. “It has helped us be more strategic in every sense of the word, and the impact on the campus... has been visible and very positive”
“We devised a moderate conservative model in a period of enormous expansion,” Lange said. “With the sustained character of the downturn and the possibility that it may go on longer, we have to look at current and out-year projects in a changed context.” Those projects could include facilities or programs that span any of Building on Excellence’s nine goals, although administrators declined to give specifics in advance of the meeting. 'The $727.1 million was planned for the 2001 to 2005 fiscal
See STRATEGIC PLAN on page 9
See TRUSTEES am page Hi
Officials: Planned academic initiatives on track By ANDREW COLLINS The Chronicle
With the Board of Trustees undertaking a review of the strategic plan this weekend, many top officials believe the University is rapidly progressing toward its goals and thatthe document, entitled “Building on Excellence,” has
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been comprehensive and useful. “I do indeed feel that the plan has
Wang hopes to rid DSG of ‘inefficiency, ineffectiveness’ This is the fifth story in a five-part series profiling this year’s candidates for Duke Student Government president. By MARGAUX KANIS and JODI SAROWITZ The Chronicle
More than likely, Shaomeng Wang has let your Craven Quadrangle friends into their locked rooms at three o’clock in the morning. Now, the two-year residential adviser and Duke Student Government presidential hopeful thinks he has the key to fixing the campus’ primary governing body. /V / Although he has only one y S year of experience as a legislator in DSG’s academic affairs committee, Wang said he is capable of serving as president and cited a need for structural change in the organization. “In my first year in DSG, I’ve seen how it operates; I’ve seen its weaknesses,” the junior said. “I thought the things we do in DSG don’t mean anything. We give opinion, but no physical things are being done by DSG.” Wang, a biomedical engineering and economics double major from Elko, Nev, said he plans to legitimize DSG’s existence by leading the organization beyond words and into serious action.
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“I’m an engineer. I’m a problem solver,” he said. “DSG currently has problems of inefficiency and ineffectiveness, and I hope to bring my logical problemsolving skills to the table in DSG.” Wang said he decided to run after discussing the shortcomings of DSG with current president Joshua Jean-Baptiste. Despite DSG’s inefficiencies, Wang said, the organization has initiated discussion on possible internal changes—such as Jean-Baptiste’s restructuring proposal—which he hopes to see to fruition if elected. “The executive] board should be more cohesive and not necessarily free from differing opinion but free from dissent from personal tiffs,” Wang said of the plan, which would create a ticket format for electing
top officials. In addition to making the executive board more cohesive, Wang said he hopes to expand DSG’s role with student groups. “Smaller organizations may need the manpower and organization of DSG* he said. *|ln addition to appropriating funds,] DSG should have a more proactive role in planning .and funding:..... [and} help smaller organizations if there is no puticijpaliMk Vice President for Academic Affairs Lyndsay Beal, whose committee Wang sits on as a legislator,, said she shares Wang’s outlook on DSG involvement with stu-
The DSG vice president for student affairs race features two sophomores W ho are looking to improve student services. See page 3
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JUNIOR SHAOMENG WANG wants to create a more cohesive executive board and increase DSG’s involvement wih student groups.
Arianna Huffimgton, a syndicated columnist, decried envh ronmental apathy and the fleeting nature ot front-page news in a speech Thursday night. See piQi 4
A new slittenl group known as the Duke University Greening Initiative aims to reform campus planning around environmental protection. See page 5