I n d ep en d en t
Issue no.
S t u d e nt
V o ic e
o f
B o is e
S tat e
Sin ce
1933
54
April
4
2013
Volume 25
w w w.arbiteronline.com
Boise, Idaho
First issue free
Top Stories
Zombies!
Students can’t get enough of The Walking Dead.
page
4
Is tenure oudated?
CODY FINNEY/THE ARBITER
Professors should be evaluated yearly.
page
Financial firms invest money from Boise State’s endowment fund. Some question whether the university makes responsible investments.
5 Boise State investments lack environmental responsibility Ryan Thorne Staff Writer
Davis Cup
Boise gets ready to host the Davis Cup at Taco Bell Arena.
page
6
Weather Today
Last November, students at Harvard University voted to restructure the investments of the school’s financial endowment in an effort to fight climate change. 72 percent of students who voted asked Harvard officials to refrain from investments in fossil fuel companies, but were rejected. Harvard would continue to invest in diverse financial markets, many of which contain fossil-fuel-related shares. According to the university web site, Harvard’s endowment was recently ranked the largest in the country at over $30 billion. Like Harvard, Boise State holds an endowment—of $80 million—and also like Harvard, Boise State invests in petroleum companies. Profits from the investment are used by the university to spend as it sees fit. In a fashion similar to Harvard, Boise State endowment officials do not plan to change their investment practices in regards
to petroleum products. The Boise State endowment is comprised of donations from prominent community members and businesses that the university entrusts to a handful of financial firms for investment in global stock markets. "They (Boise State) have an external foundation committee. It’s made up of people from the community: business professionals, that sort of thing,” said Boise State finance professor Harry White. “Then inside the foundation board, they have an investment subgroup and they go through the process of choosing the professional investment management firms out there.” Boise State has taken initiatives to promote green energy through geothermal power and has built newer structures like the Micron Business Building with the most up-to-date energy saving technology. The university has not applied anti-fossil fuel initiatives to its endowment investments and officials cite the common-
ality and financial stability of fossil fuel stock on the market. According to Chris Anton, Chief Operating Officer of the Boise State Foundation, it is difficult to avoid dealing in petroleum products when attempting to achieve a profitable return on the school's investments. Most major financial strategies involve investment in a variety of markets and do not specifically exclude petroleum company stock. “Part of the challenge is most of the funds that are available on the market today don’t have those screens or filters,” Anton said. “We don’t really have, built into the policy, any provisions for any sort of green initiatives." Anton and his associates are concerned with obtaining a steady return for the university and do not see socially responsible investments achieving the long-term goal: securing a reliable profit for the university. According to Anton, financial strategies that exclude fossil fuel stock are not nearly as
profitable as investment plans that include them. “(Some) are available that do the screening that we’ve talked about. For one, their fees are considerably more and their performance to be honest, hasn’t been that great,” Anton said. Some students, like senior economics major Sebastion Lopez, feel Boise State is doing its best to fight climate change and should continue to focus on investments that can help the university grow. "I don't believe that it would be fair to say that Boise State is being hypocritical in any way because Boise State is doing (its) best to lessen (its) environmental impact by making sustainable buildings and things like that," Lopez said. "They are definitely trying to in no way contribute any further to their own footprint." Gregory Hahn is the associate vice president for Communication and Marketing and is responsible for public relations at Boise State. Hahn doesn’t feel the university is against the idea of socially
responsible investing; it's just that nobody is making any suggestions. “It is kind of a new topic here on campus with most people,” Hahn said. Unlike other universities, Boise State has not seen a large student interest in responsible investment practices. “After talking to most of my colleagues regarding the subject, many hadn’t even considered the idea or even fielded complaints from concerned students,” Hahn said. “I think the Board of Directors that oversees the endowment would be more than happy to hear ideas from students if they decide to voice any.” Freshman English major Malia Poole feels Boise State's investment practices may be hypocritical and worthy of criticism but Boise State endowment investments should not go green at the cost of losing green for students. "I mean, it's kind of a double standard, but then again, if we didn't have the money, we would complain that we have no money," Poole said.
“I hope that the students will gain a sense of history, and they will also see what a genius Langston Hughes was, and they will gain an appreciation for jazz music,” McCurdy said. But the poem, as is true with many poems, is more than just a concert. “One of the primary things,” McCurdy said. “This poem is Langston’s commentary on the struggle of Africans and African-Americans striving for equality, for civil rights and freedom.” “Ask Your Mama” makes several references, including some to Harlem, and to the giants of the jazz world. “I’m hoping (students) will walk away with a better
sense of tolerance for each other; that’s the whole idea of this poem,” McCurdy said. English professor Jeff Westover, Ph.D helped to bring “Ask Your Mama” to Boise State after having seen a performance of it while working at University of Nevada Reno 10 years ago. “It is exciting to hear how Dr. McCurdy interprets the musical cues in Hughes's poem, which is quite wonderful for its celebration of black culture all across the world, not just the U.S.,” Westover said. The performance will begin at 7 p.m. in the Special Events Center this Friday, April 5.
Cloudy
71º high
10%
chance of precipitation
Tomorrow
Partly Cloudy
63º high
20%
chance of precipitation
Saturday
Few Showers
61º high
30%
chance of precipitation
What’s Inside News Briefs
page
News
page
Opinion
page
Sports
page
The Arbiter
2 3 4 6
The Langston Hughes Project coming to SPEC Zoe Colburn Staff Writer
Langston Hughes is one of the best-known American poets. His poetry is read and discussed by thousands of students, as well as by poetry lovers all over the world. After a performance in the Newport Jazz Festival in June 1960, Hughes wrote a 12-part poem and musical accompaniment entitled “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods
for Jazz.” On April 5, Ron McCurdy, Ph.D, will bring a multimedia performance of this poem suite to Boise State. This performance will be brought to campus in part by the Idaho Jazz Society. Fifteen years ago when McCurdy, the director and spoken word artist of the production, found the jazz-poetry suite after being asked to set up a performance at University of Min-
nesota, he only planned to perform it once. “The response was so positive, we decided to do it again and again,” he said. In true form with Hughes’ poetry, there is a strong sense of history and social justice behind the poem, and the multimedia aspect of projecting images along with the poetry and music adds context and helps to place the people and places referenced in the poems.
arbiteronline.com