Daily Herald the Brown
vol. cxlv, no. 67 | Friday, September 10, 2010 | Serving the community daily since 1891
7 psych sessions now free
U. returns to target rate for endowment payout By Brigitta Greene Metro Editor
The University will draw from its endowment at a significantly lower rate this year, reducing payout by about 20 percent from the last fiscal year, said Beppie Huidekoper, executive vice president for finance and administration. Last year’s payout rate — a combination of endowment returns and new gifts to the University — stood at over 6.5 percent of the endowment’s market value. Administrators project that this year’s rate will be closer to 5.1 percent. Payout is additionally measured as a percentage of the endowment’s average value over the previous three years. Administrators tr y to keep this rate between 4.5 and 5.5 percent, Huidekoper
said. Last year’s payout rate, when measured as a percentage of the endowment’s three-year average, stood at the upper limit of this window, at 5.5 percent. But for fiscal year 2011 — the current year — the payout rate will be closer to 4.5 percent of this three-year average. Endowment returns are an important income source for the University’s budget, and administrators aim to draw at rates that allow for the fund’s continued growth. Last year’s exceptional 6.57 percent payout rate was a response to financial strain following the endowment’s significant decline in 2008 and 2009. Even with this decline, Huidekoper said, the endowment will have increased in value by an average of 5.9 percent between July 2001 and June 2011, exclud-
By Emily Rosen Staff Writer
Facilities in 2000 when a 100-yearold elm tree located outside the Watson Institute died from Dutch elm disease. With the help of Fishman and his students, the tree was turned into works of art and furniture now exhibited around campus. Various exhibitions, performances and creative projects by both Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students have since been conducted, including the Elm Tree Project, which attempts to “document, reflect upon and work to continue (the tree’s) legacy,” according to its website. Dutch elm disease is a condition spread from tree to tree through the root systems or by the European or North American bark beetle, explained Patrick Vetere, the Uni-
In order to increase its services to students, Psychological Services has hired a new psychotherapist, Laura Sobik ’00. The new hire allows students to have up to seven free sessions with a psychotherapist each year. Students were previously limited to five visits per year. The decision to hire a new psychotherapist came last December after a New England Association of Schools and Colleges report which noted that Brown’s Psych Services resources appeared to be lower than those of its peers. Director of Psych Services Belinda Johnson said she thinks the report was mainly referring to the limit of five free sessions with a psychotherapist per year for each student, which was in place at the time the report was released. “I’m delighted that we have been able to make this hire,” said Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Margaret Klawunn. She said hiring an additional psychotherapist was a high priority because of the recommendation by the NEASC committee to increase the number of appointments available to students on campus. Starting this academic year, students will be allowed seven free sessions with a psychotherapist before receiving a referral to a clinician off-campus for additional sessions. Appointments with a Psych Services psychiatrist for medication purposes do not count toward the seven session limit, Johnson said. Johnson also said she hopes the time students have to wait for appointments will decrease with Sobik joining the staff. But she pointed out that during most of the academic year, students only have to wait at most one week for a first appointment and that Psych Services will accommodate students who need immediate attention. Last spring, a committee including Johnson and three others conducted a national search for the new psychotherapist. Candidates were interviewed by the committee members and were also brought to campus to meet students and other staff members. “Everyone was very enthusiastic about Dr. Sobik,” Johnson said. Sobik received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Univer-
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Julien Ouellet / Herald
ing gifts. Brown’s payout rate is “ver y similar” to peer institutions, she said. The general goal across the board is to maintain an average rate of about 5 percent, though she added that there are “many dif ferent policies about how to get there.” Brown’s 20 percent decrease in payout for the current year follows
a 1 percent decrease in fiscal year 2010. In comparison, Dartmouth and Stanford reduced payout by between 10 and 15 percent last year, allowing them to make a less abrupt reduction for the current year, Huidekoper said. Most institutions — including Brown — also of fered a voluncontinued on page 2
Miller shower hit by ‘peeping Tom’ in August By Alex Bell Senior Staff Writer
An unidentified person looked over a shower curtain in Miller Hall’s first-floor bathroom Aug. 30 at approximately 8 a.m. No suspect was apprehended, according to Senior Associate Dean of Residential and Dining Services Richard Bova. Bova said he did not know the
gender or description of the peeping tom. He would not identify the student who was in the shower at the time. The student filed a police report and the incident is still under investigation by the Department of Public Safety, Bova said. He did not know of any subsequent peeping problems in Miller. The incident occurred in a bathroom which the floor’s residents
has designated as gender-neutral. The bathroom had originally been a men’s room. Bova said the residents of the first floor held a meeting after the incident to discuss mutual concerns. “I think it’s a good opportunity for people to think about being aware of who is in our community and continue to be vigilant,” Bova said. “When somebody looks like they’re not part of our community
but walking around there, we need to pay attention to that.” Bova encouraged students to notify the Department of Public Safety of suspicious people. If a student is implicated in the incident, Bova said, the University will evaluate its options carefully by speaking with the student, assessing the student’s threat level, and making appropriate referrals including, but not limited to, disciplinary action.
If a tree falls on the green, is it still Quiet? 75-year-old elm to be student art By Casey Bleho Staff Writer
Courtesy of Richard Fishman
inside
A fallen elm tree has been turned into wood that can be used for art projects, following its removal from the Quiet Green.
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Over the summer, Brown lost one of the campus’s 86 elm trees, a 75-year-old located on the Quiet Green, to Dutch elm disease. In collaboration with the Department of Visual Arts, Facilities Management removed the affected tree in such a way that the wood could be used for student art projects, coordinated by Richard Fishman, professor of Visual Arts. Fishman began working with
News, 2
Arts, 3
D & C, 6
Opinions, 7
cable Access denied Students are left without conventional television access this summer
danger at Doyle The bond between a circus performer and her tigers becomes complicated
Diamonds and coal Diamonds to the “high” undecided vote, mStoner and Pauly D
‘Corporate culture’ Simon Liebling ’12 questions the priorities Brown values most
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