|
Dear Friends: This is our second issue of Brown in the Community. Since our first issue, Brown University has been involved in many activities in the community including a major environmental conference, activities in the schools, and the release of the College Hill Parking Task Force report. Beyond these e-newsletters, I also encourage you to visit the Government Relations and Community Affairs website for periodic updates. Again, please feel free to contact our office if we can be of service to you or the community. 
Tim Leshan  
THAYER STREET IMPROVEMENT There are many projects taking place on Thayer Street. Please visit our website for progress updates. Useful Links
|
June 2008
|
The Brown is Green Initiative (B.I.G.), a student-led coalition of campus-based environmental organizations, hosted a two-day, colloquium around the theme of environmental sustainability on April 25 and 26th, 2008. “Brown is Green: Strategies for a Sustainable Future” brought together a wide range of leaders in the environmental field, including academics, activists, politicians (Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Treasurer Frank Caprio, and Mayor David Cicilline) and business leaders. Topics included climate change, sustainable building, alternative and renewable energy, policy solutions, environmental justice, and employment opportunities in the environmental field. Beyond this meeting, the University has made a strong commitment to improve its environmental impact and reduce its carbon footprint. Read more ... 
College Hill Parking Task ForceParking Task ForceThe College Hill Parking Task Force is a broad-based coalition of College Hill institutions (including Brown), neighborhood groups, city departments, and RIPTA who have collaborated over the course of 2007 and early 2008 to find workable solutions to improve parking and traffic conditions in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence, RI. The Task Force Report and its recommendations, which were submitted to the City, can be found at this link. 
Brown University’s College Advising Corps Team to Expand Thanks to Nearly $600,000 from AmeriCorpsThe National College Advising Corps at Brown seeks to increase the number of low-to moderate-income high school students who enter college and earn bachelor’s degrees. College Guides (recent graduates of Brown and URI) work full time in the schools with guidance staff, principals, teachers, and others to increase the awareness, preparation, and college-going disposition of underserved students. Brown University undergraduate volunteers provide individual and group SAT-prep, essay-writing, and financial aid programming at a subset of the schools. The new grant will allow the program to place full time Guides at 12 schools around the state. The initiative is funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Rhode Island Service Alliance, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. A College Guide, and two students and a school guidance counselor from Providence were recently featured in a “Dan Rather Reports” special on college admissions. Read more ... 
New Nanotechnology Program OpensOn May 5 to 7, 2008 Brown hosted a major Nanoscience Forum to highlight the opening of its new Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation (IMNI). Many of society’s most pressing problems — the search for clean energy, the availability of safe drinking water, rooting out the biomarkers of diseases — depend on the study of matter at the molecular and nanoscale level. Brown researchers are studying “green” nano particles that will be more environmentally friendly. As part of the IMNI meeting, the office of Government Relations & Community Affairs organized a public policy panel discussion including representatives from the federal government, industry, and the Brown faculty, to explore the policy issues associated with this emerging technology and field of research. Read more ... 
Hopkins Day at BrownOn April 9, 2008 Brown students and staff hosted 80 middle school students and 12 teachers and administrators from Esek Hopkins Middle School for, “A Day at College.” Brown students from the Swearer Center for Public Service, Latin American Students Organization, and Master of Arts in Teaching and Urban Education Policy Masters programs led groups of ten students on tours of the entire campus. The 8th graders asked members of the Brown community questions about tuition and financial aid, courses and career pathways, and what it was like to live in a dorm. Perhaps their quietest moments occurred as their eyes widened upon walking into lunch at the “Ratty.” As they ate lunch, many were mesmerized by the hundreds of titles in course catalog and learned for the first time about the breadth of courses available at the college level. Women’s head basketball coach, Jean Marie Burr, paused her practice to speak with two different groups of students about the value of persistence. She encouraged the Hopkins students to pursue their own passions in school and in athletics with dedication and persistence. The students also met a professor who spoke with them about his work in robotics. At the end of the day, several of the teachers said how moved they were by their students’ maturity and engagement throughout the day. Read more ... contact: grca@Brown.edu | 401-863-2552 | www.brown.edu | www.brown.edu/grca |
