W E D N E S D A Y NOVEMBER 20, 2002
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Volume CXXXVII, No. 118
An independent newspaper serving the Brown community since 1891
www.browndailyherald.com
Grad school requests more funds from ACUP
Budget woes have Univ. considering staff layoffs
BY LISA MANDLE
BY JULIETTE WALLACK
Dean of the Graduate School Karen Newman and Vice President for Research Andries van Dam asked the Advisory Committee on University Planning for additional funding on Monday but did not present proposed budgets for the upcoming fiscal year. The meeting was closed to the Brown community and to the press. Assistant Provost Brian Casey and Associate Vice President for Budget and Planning Andries van Dam Susan Howitt reviewed Newman’s and van Dam’s presentations with The Herald on Tuesday. Newman reviewed this year’s $26 million Graduate School budget and requested an unspecified amount of additional funds for Fiscal Year 2004 to cover health care and insurance costs. Van Dam presented an overview of the newly created Office of the Vice President for Research and requested an unspecified amount of funds for new staff positions in research administration and the intellectual property and technology transfer offices. At the meeting, Newman cited rising health care costs and an increasing admission yield due to improved stipends and the weakened economy as pressure points on the Graduate School budget, Casey said. The University began covering full health care expenses for graduate students this year, he said. The Graduate School will receive an additional $2 million this year as part of the Initiatives for Academic Enrichment fund and expects to receive an additional $1 million each year for the next two fiscal years, Casey said. Newman plans to use the funds available during the 2003-04 academic year to increase first-year fellowships, increase summer support for students and to support additional teaching assistantships and additional dissertation completion fellowships. Other funds would be used to increase travel funds for students and increase money spent on recruiting, Casey said. Newman intends to use Initiative Funds for Fiscal Year 2005 to increase stipends, teaching assistantships, dissertation fellowships and summer support, he added. Casey said the Graduate School is moving closer to providing five years of support for all doctoral students. The newly-created Office of the Vice President for Research coordinates the groups involved with research at Brown. The office manages compliance with University policy and governmental laws related to research. It is also responsible for intellectual property agreements and
Predicted budget shortfalls may force the University to cut staff, but the implementation of the Initiatives for Academic Enrichment will not be delayed, Executive Vice President for Planning Richard Spies said Tuesday. Spies cautioned that though the University is still in the “early stages” of looking at what can be done to balance the budget, “there probably will be” staff layoffs or cutbacks. But he affirmed that funding for President Ruth Simmons’ Initiatives for Academic Enrichment is not in jeopardy, and the University’s timetable for implementation is on track. An article in Monday’s issue of the Dartmouth cited Mark Nickel, director of the Brown News Service, as saying funding problems and a poor economic outlook had delayed the beginning of Simmons’ initiatives. Nickel told The Herald on Tuesday that is incorrect, and the plan is still on schedule. “There’s no question of the University’s continuing commitment,” he said. Laura Freid, executive vice president for public affairs and University relations, echoed Nickel’s sentiment, saying the University is still “moving forward on the academic enrichment initiatives.” The initiatives, which the Corporation approved in February, call for sizeable investments in faculty expansion, network upgrades, graduate programs, library improvements and need-blind admission. Need blind is still on track to begin for the Class of 2007, Freid said, and departments have begun more than 40 searches for new faculty members. Though departments are using some of those 40 searches to look for professors to fill open spots, others are for new positions. In an effort to get Simmons’ initiatives on track, the University recruited 33 visiting faculty for this academic year, Freid said. It’s “too early to predict how many of those (searches) will be completed” during this academic year, Freid said, which is why the faculty expansion has a general five-to seven-year timetable. “We know by practice that searches take time, and it is important not to rush things,” she said. The University wants to “get the top people in the field. … I think the academic enrichment is our first priority, and every department is working to make sure we move forward on elements of the program.” The expansion of the computer network has not been delayed by fiscal concerns, and more network upgrades are scheduled for next summer, Freid said. But the focus on the Initiatives for Academic Enrichment has not erased other financial concerns at the University. With the recent economic downturn, there is no question that “things are less favor-
Seth Kerschner / Herald
Nelson Kiang, professor at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, joined a discussion Tuesday night about scientist Wen Ho Lee.
Profs consider ramifications of US vs. scientist Wen Ho Lee BY SARA PERKINS
The 1999 espionage accusations against Wen Ho Lee were a U.S. attempt to cast China as the world’s next great enemy before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks supplied new anxiety, speakers suggested Tuesday. Associate Professor of American Civilization Robert Lee and Nelson Kiang of Harvard University and MIT discussed the political, economic and racial causes and implications of the 1999 Wen Ho Lee espionage case in a discussion sponsored by the Brown Taiwan Society. The Taiwanese-born scientist was accused of giving information on the W88 Nuclear Warhead to Chinese scientists, fired by the Department of Energy and incarcerated in solitary confinement for nine months before eventually pleading guilty to one count of mishandling information, a felony. The discussion was preceded by two video clips — a Today Show interview with Wen Ho Lee after his release from prison and a 60 Minutes piece on then Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson’s factual inaccuracies in his prosecution of the Los Alamos scientist. The latter compared the accusations and claims made by Richardson, who was elected Governor of New Mexico this year, to the facts later established in the case. The Clinton administration, under attack for its close economic ties to
China, was suffering an “immediate political crisis” at the time of the trial, Robert Lee said. “You see the kind of political corruption that Secretary Richardson was willing to engage in to circle the wagons around the idea of (the administration) being tough on China,” he said. Kiang, the son of a Chinese consul to the United States, said the case was “very reminiscent of Franz Kafka’s ‘The Trial.’ … Wen Ho Lee is clueless about who was after him.” With the FBI so focused on prosecuting Lee, it missed the actual spy — if there ever was one, Kiang said. “If there was a mole in Los Alamos, that mole still exists,” he said. Both professors touched on the idea that China was built up in the mid1980s to be a major enemy. “Now that the Soviets are no longer a danger, who are the next candidates whom we have to knock off to remain No. 1?” Kiang asked. The shift, he said, was hastened by the 1985 conviction of CIA Deputy Section Director Larry Chin on charges of espionage, conspiracy and tax evasion. Now the United States needs China’s cooperation in the war on terror, Kiang said. Meanwhile, China has become a center of education to rival the United see CHINA, page 4
see ACUP, page 9
see BUDGET, page 4
I N S I D E W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 0 2 AIDS Center wins $7.5 million grant to continue, intensify its research page 3
Anna Lappe ’95 says ‘thought traps’ prevent progress on the world’s hunger problems page 3
Union Rep. Jim Riley takes Wal-Mart to task, previews Thursday’s ‘Day of Action’ page 5
TO D AY ’ S F O R E C A S T Chris Senio ’04 says United States should not take lead role in the ‘war on terror’ column, page 11
Women’s hockey ties Minnesota-Deluth in rematch of last year’s national title game sports, page 12
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