Bates College SCARAB The Bates Student Archives and Special Collections 2-1-2012 The Bates Student - volume 141 number 10 - February 1, 2012 Bates College Follow this and additional works at: https://scarab.bates.edu/bates_student Follow The Student @batestudent all Wednesday, Feb. 1 for tweets about the BCSG executive council candidates, #stayinformed and for live campus updates the rest of the year. WWW, BATESSTUOENT.COM VOLUME 141, ISSUE 10 WEDNESDAY, February 1, 2012 LEWISTON, MAINE The Bates Student THE VOICE OF BATES COLLEGE SINCE 1873 Cable explains Colby Professor College finances disects the “Arab Spring” at BCSG forum DANIELA REICHELSTEIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF IZZY MAKMAN MANAGING NEWS EDITOR In just one hour, Professor John Turner of Colby College skillfully sum¬ The annual cost to the college of marized the labyrinth of events rapidly educating a single student is between an unfolding in the Middle East’s “Arab estimated $65 thousand and $66 thou¬ Spring” before an audience of Bates stu¬ sand according to interim President dents and faculty on Wed., Jan. 25. The Nancy Cable in a forum on Monday, lecture, titled “The Promise and Perils of Jan. 30. However, the actual tuition the Arab Spring” was organized by Stu¬ that is charged is usually lower by al¬ dents for Peace and Justice in Palestine most $10 thousand, with the differ¬ (SPJP), and almost resembled a podcast. ence comprising funds from a variety of It objectively outlined the differences sources including donations, grants and and similarities between each country’s the Melon and Ford Foundations, she protracted struggle. said. Turner appealed to audience mem¬ The forum was hosted at the weekly bers’ imaginations, requesting that they Bates College Student Government In an evening of traditional and modern song and dance celebrating Asian culture, the annual Asia recall the events that occurred one year (BCSG) meeting and aimed to break Night, among other notable numbers, featured a Bollywood Dance staring close to 50 Batesies, ago. “A mass of people moved down to down and explain the College budget Tahrir Square and said, ‘enough;’ they and financial planning. Cable explained CRISTINA SIMA/THE BATES STUDENT had had enough of dictatorships,” Turn¬ the cost of educating students, how tu¬ er described. “This is fascinating be¬ ition is spent and methods to raise more cause it was unthinkable two years ago: revenue for the College. The goal of the more services and better facilities but tuition. The Bates Fund and other a lack of fundraising in the economi¬ what we thought were firm edifices that forum, according to Cable, was to “pres¬ don’t want to pay the extra money,” she gifts from alumni and parents account cally prosperous decades of the 1980s were going to last forever were suddenly ent issues to students to build trust be¬ said. “The price for private higher edu¬ for 6.1 percent of revenue, while the and 1990s, the College’s endowment dismantled.” tween students and faculty”. cation has consistently cost the same as endowment contributes 12.5 percent was surpassed by peer schools. Conse¬ Turner’s talk emphasized the inad¬ With a comprehensive fee of a midsized Chevy. The difference is that of annual revenues and other miscel¬ quently, the College had less money to equacy of the title “Arab Spring” for its $51,300 in 2009, the Department of a car is a depreciating asset while your laneous programs, such as the College invest and therefore the endowment failure to account for the gaping differ¬ Education (DOE), in fulfillment of the education is an appreciating asset”. Un¬ bookstore and walk-in Commons din¬ had smaller capital gains. Incoming ences between each of the uprisings. “I 2008 Higher Education Act, released a employment for non-college educated ners, account for 9.2 percent of income. president Clayton Spencer has plans to hate the term ‘Arab Spring,”’ said Turn¬ report that listed Bates as the most ex¬ Americans is roughly 13 percent, while All of these sources combined resulted immediately embark on a capital cam¬ er. “The diversity of everything that pensive school in the nation. “It was a the rate for college educated people is in an annual operating budget of $90 paign to increase the size of the endow¬ is happening gets washed out by this media nightmare during my first few less than four percent. million for last year, of which 62.8 per¬ ment, according to Cable. name. It ignores the differences in how days on the job,” Cable said. However, In order to prevent an increase in cent was allocated for staff and faculty Cable addressed the issue of “need each of these revolutions is playing out.” upon further investigation, it was dis¬ the sticker price, the College must make salaries, 24 percent for non-personnel blind,” a policy where a prospective After establishing that each conflict covered that this ranking counted Bates’ up the difference of the cost of educa¬ operation including the purchase of student’s financial status is not fac¬ has its own idiosyncrasies, the professor comprehensive fee as a tuition charge, tion in other ways. One option would computers, 4.1 percent for utilities and tored into admissions decisions. Bates’ stated that the remainder of his lecture comparing it with schools whose tu¬ be to increase revenue by increasing the three percent for repair and replacement financial situation allows the College would focus on the continuity of the ition and room and board are all sepa¬ number of students. However, with a of buildings. 5.8 percent of the annual to be “need blind” through Early Deci¬ phenomenon- the characteristics shared rate. After recalculating the prices, the total enrollment of 1,720, the school budget was allocated for debt service or sion (ED) I and ED II applications and by certain movements that helped coin DOE produced a second list of the most will not pursue this option. “We are at the payment of borrowed money, in¬ through the first round of regular ad¬ the term, “Arab Spring.” expensive schools in the country where maximum head count,” said Cable. cluding $ 13 million in loans to renovate missions. However, the school is forced A couple of key factors sparked Bates ranked 14th, below Sarah Law¬ Instead, the College aims to slow Hedge Hall and Roger Williams. to be “need aware” when dealing with the two revolutions in Egypt and Tu¬ rence, Landmark College, Columbia down the growth of tuition with a Relative to other peer NESCAC international students and applicants nisia followed by the civil war in Lib¬ University, Wesleyan College, George¬ multi-faceted attack, using increased schools, the College’s endowment of on the wait list, Cable said. ya and the uprisings in Bahrain, Syria town University and New York Univer¬ fundraising and government grants. roughly $230 million is relatively mod¬ “We are never going to be an in¬ and Yemen, according to Turner. First sity. This plan would also aggressively con¬ est. Bowdoin, for example, boasts an en¬ expensive school, that’s not the model and foremost, Turner pointed to the “We can’t keep raising our prices,” trol costs, through a more effective use dowment of one billion. However, there that we have. We have small classes, situation of “crony capitalism” that has said Cable. She explained that tuition of college facilities during the summer are several reasons to explain this size we are generous with financial aid, we plagued the unstable states’ economies prices have been rising faster than infla¬ and a more efficient physical plant to difference, according to Cable. hand pick you in admissions. It’s very for over a decade. tion rates since the 1950s, attributable help decrease energy use and curtail Primarily, the College decided not precious, what you’re experiencing, and In the late nineties, the majority of to the demand for renovated, up-to- maintenance costs. to raise tuition prices in the 1970s and you can’t put a price on that,” Cable regimes in the Middle East faced im- date facilities and services. “People want Currently, the college derives about 1980s, when the school could have concluded. 72 percent of its annual revenue from brought in more revenue. Coupled with See ARAB SPRINGS, PAGE 4 News » Campus College to adopt “Google Apps for Education” email, calendaring platform At the urging of senior leadership Aside from the new approach GARDINER NARDINI from various College operations, includ¬ Google takes to email and personal cal¬ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ing the President and the Deans, White endaring, the platform also opens up and Kimmel began shopping around for possibilities for how public events, spac¬ “Have you ever thought we could do a new online communications system in es and resources are scheduled. “The a better job communicating as a campus fall 2011. Though a few platforms were new system will allow you to do things community?” asked an announce email considered, Google Apps came out on that the current system, which came sent last Monday, Jan. 23 by Director top because it’s proved reliable and costs Google online in 2004, does not” White ex¬ of User Services Andrew White . “Have nothing, the message explained. plained. “These include making changes you ever thought that the technologies “It works and it’s free. Available or updates to a space reservation via the we use to communicate could be more choices for an integrated email/calendar web, integrating campus events with effective? You are not alone.” service are Microsoft Outlook, a system your personal Google Calendar, and According to the e-mail blast, called Zimbra, and Google. Microsoft easy promotion of your event to cus¬ which was co-authored by Assistant Outlook costs more than $100,000 an¬ tomized campus calendars.” VP for Communications Meg Kimmel nually; reports from schools that adopt¬ To cope with any challenges the and White, the College webmail and ed Zimbra are not favorable” the e-mail College may face during the transition calendar services are officially “going said.