The Brown Daily Herald Wednesday, O ctober 22, 2008
Volume CXLIII, No. 96
Questions on spending, income have plans up in air
Since 1866, Daily Since 1891
Son of former Soviet leader talks Georgia
r u l e s o f att r act i o n
By Kelly Mallahan Contributing Writer
by George Miller Senior Staff Writer
Uncertainty is the name of the game for the moment, as the University’s long-term strategic plans are being held hostage by the health of the economy in the coming months and years. With growing demands on expenditures — including higher interest payments and expanded financial aid allowances — even as the economy threatens giving to the University and the growth of the endowment, tough decisions about slated construction projects and other academic goals may be on the horizon, administrators said. “Until everybody has a higher level of confidence, it’s very hard to imagine making firm plans,” said Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning. The University will “prepare for every possibility,” he added. At its meeting this past weekend, the Corporation decided to complete a number of physical projects — including utility upgrades, renovations to comply with fire codes and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and renovations to labs and classrooms, according to Elizabeth Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration. continued on page 6
cially aware that the crisis won’t only affect Wall Street, but also College Street. But among the sizable number of students studying abroad, many cannot help but feel disconnected. “I feel very removed from it actually,” said Lauren Santiago ’10, who is studying in Madrid this semester. “Even though it’s a global crisis.” Meredith Curtis ’10, who is studying abroad in Cuba this semester, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald that the state of the economy
Sergei Khrushchev, son of former Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and senior fellow in international studies at the Watson Institute for International Studies, analyzed the recent Russia-Georgia conflict last night in a lecture to an over-capacity Salomon 001. The lecture was the first of the year for the Brown International Organization lecture series, co-sponsored by the Watson Institute. Khrushchev used the histor y of the Caucasus and the Balkan Peninsula to give the conflict a context beyond perceived Russian expansionism. He started by recounting the history of both the Caucasus region, where Georgia is located, and the Balkan Peninsula, beginning with the schism between Roman Catholicism and Christian Orthodoxy. In light of the various empires that have ruled the two respective regions, Khrushchev asked, “Who has the right of independence? Or do we preser ve borders? Whose borders?” Americans and Russians often consider only their own interests in Georgia, he said, not considering internal conditions in the region. Analysis of the Russia-Georgia conflict “is part of our reflection on ourselves,” Khrushchev said. “In reality,” Khrushchev said, “We don’t know who is the master of this game. Is it the great countries giving orders to the governments of small countries? Or is it the small countries manipulating the great powers?” The rest of his lecture focused on the histor y of the highly disputed region of South Ossetia. “About 100 percent of South Ossetians became Russian citizens” following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev said, but “Georgia wants to take ... (South Ossetia) back under their control.” But the issue is further complicated because “South Ossetians are not united with North Ossetians,” and the leader of South Ossetia does not wish to join with Russia.
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Courtesy of Anjali Sridhar
Students attended the Interracial Dating Forum last night in the DeCiccio Family Auditorium in the Salomon Center.
Man Man, Islands to play at fall show BY Melissa Shube Senior Staff Writer
Man Man, a group that plays what the Brown Concert Agency describes as “vaudeville,” “tribal” and “gypsy ska,” will headline the BCA’s fall show on Nov. 7. The indie pop group Islands will open for them in Alumnae Hall. Man Man plays “a contrast of jostling rhythm and bittersweet
melody,” according to a BCA press release. The Philadelphia-based band is known for their “unbelievable” live performances, said Daniel Ain ’09, BCA’s booking chair. “They’re crazy,” he said. The band members, who like to perform in white suits and facepaint, go by the names Honus Honus, Sergei Sogay, Pow Pow, Critter Crat and Chang Wang. The
BCA has tried to bring them to Brown in past years, Ain said. Islands, who hail from Montreal, are “a little more traditional indie pop,” he said. Since most of the BCA’s budget funds Spring Weekend shows, the agency tends to choose bands with less mainstream appeal in the fall. “We wanted to follow in continued on page 6
Abroad, not feeling the crisis By Ben Schreckinger Contributing Writer
Min Wu / Herald File Photo
Students studying abroad have not felt the effects of the economic crisis as acutely as the ones on College Hill.
From the news and market tickers, one is led to believe the financial downturn is affecting not only Wall Street, but Main Street, College Street, Thayer Street and every other street. But for Brown students studying abroad in foreign countries or away in other parts of the United States, it is harder to notice that much of the world is frantic. Because Brown feeds many of its graduates into the financial sector, students seem to be espe-
Brown students bring fun to middle school newsroom By Connie Zheng Staff Writer
The mainstream media are saturating their airwaves, broadsheets and bandwidth with the nation’s economic and political dramas, but at least one Providence newsroom has managed to steer clear of such stories by playing to its demographic. This audacious publication is far from conventional, with students
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HIGHER ED
filling the pages of the Saint Pat- ists and cartoonists who assemble rick Tuesday Journal with op-eds every Tuesday to work on an issue on the nutritional value of candy of their paper. True to the name of their puband detailed analyses of recently instituted gum-chewing bans — all lication, eight Saint Patrick’s stuin time for dinner. dents and six Brown Organized as a colstudents congregated FEATURE laborative after-school at 3 p.m. Tuesday for program between Brown students the semester’s first meeting, in a and Saint Patrick’s School in down- classroom on the second floor of town Providence, the Tuesday Jour- the Smith Street Catholic school. nal provides a creative outlet for Sporting sharp green sweaters and the budding columnists, journal- white collared shirts and ranging
veritas squad An arm of a conservative think tank funds programs like Brown’s Political Theory Project
www.browndailyherald.com
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CAMPUS NEWS
ITCH TO TALK Brown researchers find some people get facial rashes from cell phones
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OPINIONS
from fifth to seventh graders, the aspiring journalists spent an hour and a half tossing back and forth ideas and jokes with the volunteers from Brown. “You can write stories about pretty much whatever you want,” Lindsay Southworth ’09, the project’s leader, said to the students after she and the other volunteers introduced themselves. The content continued on page 4
reason for suspicion Conservatives should be skeptical of community organizing, says Anish Mitra ’10
195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island
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Courtesy of Brown.edu
Sergei Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet leader, talked about Georgia.
SCRUMDEFEATED! Women’s rugby finishes their season unbeaten after a 10-5 victory over Dartmouth
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