NOUNS WE LIKE | LOOKING BACK AND LOOKING FORWARD | SEE FORUM, PAGE 4
STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 VOLUME 129, NO. 43
Administration sees little increase in needbased scholarships BY BEN SALES NEWS EDITOR Despite a rise in Washington University’s endowment this year, the administration will not significantly increase the amount of money allocated for need-based scholarships. While the University’s endowment at the end of last fiscal year totaled $5.66 billion, only $500 million of that money was used for scholarships. According to Bill Witbrodt, director of student financial services, donors to the University control how their money is spent. Thus, the University may only spend parts of the endowment on scholarships after finding out how much money was allocated for that purpose. Scholarships not paid for by the endowment come from the Washington University Operations Fund. “There is never enough endowment income to cover all of the scholarships we’ve awarded,” said Witbrodt. “We spend as much of the endowment as we can.” Barbara Feiner, vice chancellor for finance, added via e-mail that the University spends a large portion of the endowment on employee salaries and academic departments. “This keeps total costs down to all students as a result, supporting, in a sense, financial aid to all enrollees,” said Feiner. Scholarship funding issues are especially relevant now, as the University will announce the tuition for the coming academic year on Friday. Even if the tuition rises, Witbrodt says it will not affect how the University distributes financial aid. “If the tuition goes up, the
scholarship will go up,” he said. “If the parents’ ability to pay stays the same and the cost increases, the financial aid award will increase.” Accountability to the donor’s wishes is one reason the University still awards merit scholarships. This trend comes in contrast to other private universities, such as Harvard, which now only awards funds based on economic need. According to Feiner, some of the University’s peer institutions take more than 50 percent of their scholarship money from the endowment. Only 19 percent of the University’s financial aid funds come from its endowment. Witbrodt says, however, that some of the money designated for merit-based scholarships ends up going toward needbased funding. “If a student applies for merit and also applies for [financial] aid, the [merit] tuition is covering that student’s need,” he said. “Just because a student has received a merit scholarship does not mean that that are not getting need[-based aid].” Feiner added that most applicants for merit-based scholarships also apply for need-based aid. “If a student receives a merit scholarship, chances are he or she also qualifies for a needbased award, even if the scholarship received is from a merit scholarship program,” she said. Nanette Tarbouni, director of admissions, sees merit scholarships as an additional financial value to merit scholars in that they help lower- to middle-class students. “An academic scholarship sometimes allows us to recruit
outstanding students whose families are caught in the middle,” said Tarbouni. “They just miss qualifying for need-based aid, but they still need a little help.” Some students, however, see an inherent value to merit-based scholarships. “The emphasis should be on need-based, but we can’t get rid of merit-based,” said freshman Evan Freedman. “Need-based [scholarships] are more important, though.” He added that students who perform well might deserve recognition.
“Certain people should be rewarded for being excellent students,” he said, “but we’re at a school where everyone is an excellent student.” Although only a small part of the endowment is used for scholarships, Witbrodt said that the University is encouraging donors to designate more funds for financial aid, in an effort led by Chancellor Mark Wrighton and the development office. “It doesn’t happen overnight, but I know that there is a com-
See SCHOLARSHIPS, page 2
Students in the Hurd and Myers dormitories returned from winter break this week to find their dorm rooms transformed into crime scenes. As a result of more than 13 separate incidents in the two dorms, the Washington University Police Department (WUPD) is actively investigating the chain of burglaries. “I walked in a couple of days early and thought someone had just moved our TV,” said sophomore Chrystal Okonta, a Myers resident whose suite was robbed. “[The situation] was just bad.” According to students whose suites were affected, burglars entered the suites by jimmying the external balcony
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£9.35 for 240 mL ($28.40 for 12 oz.)
SAM GUZIK | STUDENT LIFE
doors and, in at least one case, a ground floor window. The police believe that burglars entered the suites between
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£8.99 ($17.62)
£7.99 for 400 mL ($13.89 for 12 oz.)
sources: chemistdirect.co.uk and cvs.com
RACHEL NOCCIOLI | STUDENT LIFE
Because of the falling cost of the dollar, students studying abroad are spending more on basic consumer goods.
See ABROAD COSTS, page 2 Student Life takes a look at some common prices.
The Lady Bears have their mind on the ball and are showing their confidence on the court. Their four game winning streak is paving the way for an exciting UAA season. Sports, Page 6
As Iowa caucus-goers and New Hampshire primary voters cast their ballots in the year’s fi rst presidential contests, firsttime and college-age voters came out in force to express a desire for this year’s campaign buzzword: change. In Iowa, among the Democratic candidates, Illinois Senator Barack Obama stunned the political world with a convincing victory over then-frontrunner and current New York Senator Hillary Clinton. While he carried nearly every major demographic in the caucus, Obama benefited most from the support of young people. According to CNN entrance polls, voters between the ages of 17 and 29 comprised 22 per-
This common room in Myers bears the marks of a crime scene, with both its missing television and marks on the wall where police dusted for fingerprints. Over winter break, there were more than 13 separate incidents in the Hurd and Myers dormitories, resulting in over $6600 worth of personal items reported as missing.
but in the UK, they might cost:
Get’cha head in the game
STAFF REPORTER
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
In the US, these items might cost... $8.49 for 12 oz. of contact solution
BY JEREMY ROGOFF
BY SAM GUZIK
BY PERRY STEIN NEWS EDITOR
Young voters weigh heavily in primary season cent of the Democratic electorate, and 57 percent of this group voted for Obama. Kevin Wolfe, a sophomore who heads the volunteer effort for Obama at Washington University, attributes Obama’s youth support to his candor and straight talk on the campaign trail. “A large part [of the support for Obama’s message] has to do with the Bush administration, and a large part has to do with the Iraq war,” said Wolfe. “[In addition to the ongoing war] students are thinking about education and health care, and Obama, from the start, addressed those concerns directly.” Young voters in Iowa appeared to value his call for change over the experience-
See YOUNG VOTERS, page 2
A rash of dorm burglaries prompts police investigation
Low value of dollar increases study abroad costs With the value of the dollar at its current low, it makes sense that senior Laura Ingwer spent about $7000 on food and amenities alone during her junior year abroad in London. Even so, Ingwer said that her experience was well worth the money. “It was the most amazing year of my life. As long as you’re careful [with your money,] it’s still a great experience,” said Ingwer. Although exchanges rates are at a record low, Associate Professor of Economics Gaetano Antinolfi said that economists anticipated the rapid decline of the dollar’s value. “The United States imports a lot more goods from abroad than it exports,” said Antinolfi. “[The lower value of the dollar] is a way to close the gap between the mismatch of quantity imported and exported.”
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Best Year Ever: 2007 The year 2007 may be out of sight but certainly not out of mind. Turn to Cadenza to find our picks of the best and worst music releases... crank dat anyone? Scene, Page 7
December 21 and December 28 when the residence halls were largely empty. “The glass was not broken
out of the balcony doors,” said Don Strom, chief of the University Police. “In some cases, people self-reported that the doors were unlocked and in others it seems the doors were unlocked from the outside.” As a preventative measure, the facilities staff placed wooden and metal dowels in the tracks of sliding doors and windows to prevent them from being opened; the dowels were placed on January 11. According to the department media log, as of Monday, more than $6,600 worth of personal items were reported missing, including several television sets, DVD players and two video game consoles. In one case, residents in a Myers suite found their sto-
See BURGLARIES, page 2
Wolff donates $20 million for biomed research BY PUNEET KOLLIPARA NEWS EDITOR St. Louis businesswoman Edith Wolff recently donated $20 million to the Washington University School of Medicine to support biomedical research at the school; the donation will establish the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Institute and will fund research in the prevention, treatment and cure of diseases. “The money is specifically earmarked to support promising research opportunities that depend on interdepartmental collaboration that lack other major sources of funding,” said Don Clayton, associate vice chancellor and executive director for medical affairs. “The whole idea is to translate basic research findings into advances in medical treatment.” The institute’s goals will reflect those of BioMed 21, the
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University’s multidisciplinary biomedical research initiative, whose goals are to fund multidisciplinary research and rapidly convert discoveries in medical science into effective medical treatments. “Mrs. Wolff’s commitment to the School of Medicine will enhance research efforts within many of our departments and have a profound positive impact on the School of Medicine’s research mission,” said Larry Shapiro, dean of the medical school. “I’m thankful for her generosity, which will enable interdisciplinary research that is so essential to progress in modern biomedical science.” Mrs. Wolff and her late husband Alan have been involved in real estate investment and development for more than 60 years. In the 1940s, Mr. Wolff found-
See BIOMED, page 2
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