# The Year in Review: ## ### Oct. 23 Budget decisions Deficits dominated much of this year, as the University strug gled to cope with its $43 million budget shortfall. A 12-page statement released in October announced budget reduction targets for the Univer sity's schools and administrative areas, along with decisions on "central initiatives" such as over seas campuses and financial aid. The year-long discussions involved everyone from the Facul ty Senate to the Council of Presi dents, and were the focus of a number of faculty, staff and stu dent forums. But many directly affected by the proposed cuts thought their voices had been ignored. When a proposal surfaced to cut the arts in early November, more than 600 people jammed White Plaza to protest. While their efforts staved off total elimi nation of drama and music, the departments were still the hard est hit by cuts. Other areas facing significant reductions over the next two years include the humanities, the libraries and administrative staff support. The deficit — caused primarily by a combination of the indirect cost controversy and the recession — also forced the University to abandon its pledge to limit tuition hikes to 1 percent above the rate of inflation. "We made a commitment about holding down costs, but we have made a much more fundamental commitment to maintain the qual ity of a Stanford education," said former Provost James Rosse in announcing the 9.5 percent increase in tuition. "We have found that we can no longer meet both of those commitments at once." But this year's $43 million deficit does not signal the end of Stanford's budget woes. Universi ty President Donald Kennedy warned the senate in February of "substantial" additional deficits in the next two years — perhaps as much as $10-15 million. — Howard Libit Jan. 21 Provost steps down Winding down a 25-year career at Stanford, Provost James Rosse announced in January that he would leave Stanford in April to become president and chief execu tive officer of Freedom Newspa pers, a Southern California media chain. University President Donald Kennedy chose Statistics Prof. Gerald Lieberman, a veteran fac ulty leader, to succeed Rosse. Lieberman, who has chaired the Faculty Senate and oversaw Stanford's Centennial Celebra tion, is expected to serve several months into the tenure of Stan ford's next president. Rosse's announcement took the campus by surprise; though most faculty members had expected him to resign in the next year or so, they thought he would likely stay at provost to himself guide the transition to a new administration. Respected by faculty members for his integrity and hard work, Rosse was considered a master of process, adept at designing proce dures by which the University navigated some of its most diffi cult decisions, including the debates over the Reagan Library and the creation of the Cultures, Ideas and Values program. More recently, Rosse conceived and led the process by which the University decided how to cut $43 million from its operating budget. — Steve McCarroll Jan. 29 Cost hearing held A year-long series of new alle gations — including another con gressional hearing — demonstrat ed that Stanford was not the only university with indirect-cost problems. A second hearing revealed a "systemic" problem in the way the federal government reimburs es universities for indirect costs. "The subcommittee has been dismayed to discover the depth and breadth of the indirect-cost abuses at universities," said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., chair of the House Subcommittee of Over sight and Investigations. Other schools such as the Uni versity of Michigan, Syracuse University and UC-Berkeley were also found by government audi tors to have included inappropri ate charges as indirect costs. But despite the inclusion of other universities in the indirect cost controversy, Stanford's situ ation continued to show little sign of improvement. In November, the University appealed the Navy's abrupt reduc tion of its 1991 indirect-cost rate to the Armed Services Board of Con tract Appeals. The legal process is likely to take at least 18 months. A study released in early Jan uary by the Defense Contract Audit Agency alleged that the University overcharged the gov ernment by at least $310 million during the 1980s, although the agency's conclusions assume that approximately 100 cost account ing agreements signed during the decade are retroactively canceled. Perhaps the only bright spot for the University came in Febru ary, when Paul Biddle, the contro versial on-campus Navy regula tor, announced his resignation to pursue a run for Congress. Meanwhile, Stanford contin ues to negotiate with the govern ment for a new indirect-cost rate. The current default rate of 55.5 percent is costing the University more than $25 million per year. — Howard Libit Jan. 30 Thomas sentenced Senior Stuart Thomas was sen tenced for two misdemeanors — statutory rape and providing alco hol to a minor — in the conclusion of a case that sparked a campus debate on acquaintance rape and the boundaries of consent. Thomas received two years of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine as punish ment in a Santa Clara County Supe rior Court hearing that was covered by two local television stations and about half a dozen newspapers. In addition, the Stanford Judi cial Council determined last month that Thomas — who earned enough units to graduate fall quarter — violated University policy. Thomas' de gree could be held for a designated number of quar ters or it could never be granted, among other pun ishments. The final decision will probably not be come public until ■ i ivniua i — this fall, according to Judicial Affairs Officer Sally Cole. A 17-year-old freshman woman had reported to Stanford Police Sept. 23 that Thomas raped her the day before in her Stern Hall dormitory. When Thomas was arrested nine days later, he was not charged by the district attorney with forcible rape or with six related counts recommended by the Stan ford Police's investigating officer. Experts said the district attor ney's reluctance to charge Thomas with forcible rape showed that the D.A. believed the woman's lack of consent would be difficult to prove under the cir cumstances of the case. The woman told police that Thomas had not threatened her, but said she did feel a " certain coercion," mentioning Thomas' physical size, the persuasive man ner in which he spoke to her and the impairment of her judgement due to alcohol. Thomas, at 6-foot-7, is a foot and half taller than the woman. Accord ing to the police report, he gave the woman — who had drunk alcohol only once before — one-half can of beer and eight drinks of Peppermint Schnapps in less than two hours. Members of the Stanford com munity applauded the woman's courage in reporting the rape and following through on the long, dif ficult process, and said her exam ple would encourage other women to report rapes. "When a case in this socio political environment comes to this end, that's a message," said Gail Prichard, coordinator of the Campus Sexual Assault Response and Recovery Team. "Hopefully, we can use this as a springboard for sexual assault education." — Peter Robison Feb. 3 Anti-gay comments When first-year law student Keith Rabois directed anti-gay remarks toward the residence of Otero Resident Fellow Dennis Matthies, the Stanford community responded — mostly through fly ers, posters and letters to The Daily — for more than a month after the incident. The question of free speech on campus — espe cially at Stanford, which has been accused of sup pressing ideas through "politi cal correctness" — was debated, along with issues related to homo sexuality and homophobia. Dean of Students Michael Jackson said that since Rabois had not violated the Fundamental Standard, he could not be pun ished. Instead, the University responded by publicizing the inci dent, Jackson said. Rabois defended his remarks by saying that he was testing the Fundamental Standard and try ing to break the "very regimented orthodoxy" that he believed Matthies promoted in Otero. Some Law School community members responded by sending a letter detailing Rabois' comments to a law firm that he had hoped to work for. About 400 law students signed a petition condemning Rabois' comments. Several posters with Rabois' picture on them appeared in the Law School after the incident was publicized, asking students to write down their reactions. But others complained that the responses were personal attacks on Rabois, rather than valid views of the free speech issue. Rabois and Matthies later agreed to discuss the incident with callers, but not each other, on the February 19 premiere of "Talk Back," a weekly radio pro gram broadcast on KZSU. —Juthymas Harntha Feb. 5 Bookstore perks Senior employees at the Stanford Bookstore enjoy a host of lavish perquisites unheard of elsewhere in the college-bookstore industry, The Daily reported in February. The perks included luxury automobiles, use of a motor home, and use of a vacation home in central California, which the Bookstore rents from a consulting firm owned by its two senior man agers, Eldon Speed and Philip Chiaramonte. The Daily reported in March that the Bookstore also lost $1.8 million in investments which one member of its board of directors described as "rather speculative." The disclosures led to an inves tigation by the California attor ney general, likely to finish late Al Green - Daily file MARCH 21 — University President Donald Kennedy embraces incoming President Gerhard Casper while introducing him at a women's basketball game in Maples Pavilion. Casper was named Stanford's ninth president March 17 after a highly secretive, six-month search. l_ Thomas Rajiv Chandrasekaran — Daily file MARCH 4 — Office of Naval Research resident representative Paul Biddle prepares to leave his office. Biddle, who alleged that Stanford had massively overbilled the federal government for indirect costs, quit his job to run for Congress in Stanford's district. Rabois Rajiv Chandrasekaran — Dally file OCTOBER 1 — Protesters upset over Gov. Pete Wilson's veto of a gay-rights bill confront police at the Centennial convocation. Wilson spoke In the Quad despite the efforts by nearly 300 protesters to drown him out.