The Chronicle Board of Trustees closes door on media access by
Chelsea Allison THE CHRONICLE
The Board ofTrustees has taken a criticaleye to its practices in the past year, and the conclusions of an internal evaluation will result in fewer people taking a close look at them. When the Trustees gather this weekend, all parts of the meeting will be closed, from the plenary session to a press conference that once gave media an opportunity to ask questions ofPresidentRichard Brodhead and Board Chair Robert Steel, Trinity ’73. ‘Just to be frank, when you have an open session, what it means in effect is that the Trustees are no longer engaged in the kind of confidential conversation about open questions of the University,” Brodhead said, adding that the Trustees hope to improve efficiency, given the limited time weekend meetings afford them.
Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, said there was no particular impetus for the changes, apart from a desire to assess how the Board could best operate. He noted that such evaluations are typical of nonprofit boards, and in general can be driven by external events that highlight a need to increase oversight or otherwise evaluate how well a board is serving its purpose. “I think it was found there were parts of the meetings that work extraordinarily well and parts that work less well,” Brodhead said. Of those parts determined to work less well, Schoenfeld said the governance review found that perhaps too many people were present during some of the sessions. “It didn’t facilitate the kind of discussion, the give-andtake we would like,” he said. “It was too crowded, and oftentimes too distracting.”
Richard Chait, a Harvard professor who studies university management and governance, was brought on as a consultant for the internal governance review, but Chait said he could not comment on the review without the permission of Brodhead, Steel or University Secretary Richard Riddell. In September 1991, the Board announced changes to the composition of its sessions. The changes, recommended by an ad hoc committee formed to analyze Board business, barred everyone but voting committee members and people expressly invited from attending meetings. Board members had reportedly expressed concerns that discussions were stilted in part by overcrowding in the board room. Just a few days later, however, the Trustees overturned its closed-door policy. Former president Terry Sanford helped broker an SEE TRUSTEES ON PAGE 5
Markets tumble as bailout fails DukeEngage Students react to Citi’s changes its application
purchase ofWachovia by
Emmeline Zhao THE CHRONICLE
Citigroup Inc. agreed Monday morning to acquire the banking operations of Wachovia Corp. for about $2.2 billion in a government-aided merger that pulled the Charlotte, N.C.-based company out of its worsening financial situation. The intervention occurred after federal officials decided that Wachovia’s poor performance threatened to exacerbate the already fragile U.S. economy. Citigroup will inherit up to $42 billion of Wachovia’s $312-billion loan portfolio, and the government will absorb the remaining losses in exchange for $l2 billion in securities. The announcement was made just before the U.S. House of Representatives rejected a $7OO-billion bank bailout that would have helped banks unload bad loans from their balance sheets. The finance industry’s recent turmoil has also carried over to students seeking jobs after graduation. Some said the effects of the sudden acquisition on their future employment have yet to be determined. “It’s really unfortunate for [students] seeking jobs and everyone who’s had offers—they don’t know if those offers still stand because many of those firms don’t exist anymore or exist under different names,” said senior Matt Miniat, president of Network for Future Executives. “It’s just a really tough, uncertain time.” Seniors Keah Kalantari and Jane Zhao interned at Wachovia over the summer and were both offered full-time positions post-graduation. Following Monday’s sale, however, Kalantari and Zhao said they had not been contacted regarding their employment statuses. “Today was obviously a rough day for me SEE WACHOVIA ON PAGE 6
by
Julia Love
THE CHRONICLE
House Minority Whip Roy Blunt speaksMonday in Washington, D.C. after the Housefailed to pass the bailout bill.The vote came as markets took a battering and Citigroup bought a majority ofN.C.-basedWachovia.
House defeatsbill; Dow sees largest-everdrop by
Julie Davis
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON In a vote that shook the government, Wall Street and markets around the world, the House of Representatives Monday defeated a $7OO billion emergency rescue for the nation’s financial system, leaving both parties’ lawmakers and the Bush administration scrambling to pick up the pieces. Dismayed investors sent the Dow Jones industrials plunging 777 points, the most ever for a single day. ‘We need to put something back together that works,” a grim-faced Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said after he and
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bemanke joined in an emergency strategy session at the White House. On Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders said the House would reconvene Thursday, leaving open the possibility that it could salvage a reworked version. Senate leaders showed no inclination to try to bring the measure to a vote before they could determineits fate in the House. President Bush, meanwhile, was scheduled to make a statement on the rescue plan Tuesday morning, reported White House officials. All sides agreed the effort to bolster SEE BILL ON PAGE 5
Students who had pencilled Duke Engage into their summer schedules may need to flip back a few pages in their planners. The summer service program will undergo several changes to the application process in its second year. Students interested in group service programs must apply to just one domestic site and one international site by Dec. 15, and the deadlinefor individual projects will Be Jan. 23. All applicants will be interviewed. Last year, students could apply on a rolling deadline to three group projects with no quota for domestic sites or limitations- 1 to international site applications. Interviews were conducted on a site-by-site basis. The modifications to the application process are part of an ongoing effort to SEE APPLICATION ON PAGE 5
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Students applying to Duke Engage must do so by Dec. 15for groupprograms and Jan. 23 for individual ones.