University of Rhode Island - Renaissance / Grist Yearbook (Kingston, RI)

Page 30 text:

For six years, URI President Frank Newman has captained the great ship URI through both calm and stormy waters. From atop the modern struc- ture of the Administration Building, he charts out various courses for the University to take. Day and night Newman carries out the job of presi- dentmg over a sea of 12,000 students. It’s very difficult to enjoy a job like this if you don ' t feel at home with it,” Newman said. And home is a place Newman doesn ' t get to see very often, though he does find time for his wife, Lucille and his son, Mike. He said he can always count on his family for support, and sometimes they can be friendly critics. But, on some occassions they are on the other side,” Newman said, though he prefers to keep those (in- stances) in the family.” This year has been the hardest for Newman, but he ' s satisfied with the way things are currently going. The University is just beginning to get itself together, he said, and added that a lot of frustrations came out during the strike and nego- tiations, and the University is finally pulling itself back together. I think there is a way to solve the University ' s problems, but it’s not a magic solu- tion. Newman said. Things aren’t going to happen without a lot of hard work. 26 People assume if I was only committed, all the problems would disappear, Newman said. How- ever, the problems will be dismissed only if we work together,” he added. If you look beneath the surface, we ' ve made enormous progress. For example, Newman referred to the improved fire alarm system, the renovated landscape of the Memorial Union, and the new Information Center. “There ' s still a lot to be done,” he said, and it ' s frustrating that it happens so slowly.” One source of frustration is fighting for the Uni- versity at the state level. It’s a never-ending task to get the resources for this school, the President admitted. Recently, he said, the Board of Regents was given a tour of the underfurnished labs. While Newman seemed to think the Universi- ty may get some extra much needed-funds from the state, he ' ll still be ready to fight again next year. Part of the reason Newman is fighting, is for the students. Newman said he enjoys talking to them and playing football with them and his son on Sunday afternoons. A large majority of students are fun to be with, he said. While most students recognize the president on sight, Newman chuck- led, occassionally I run into someone who doesn’t know me. According to Newman, the students here are tough. At any other university, he explained, if a course requirement is to parachute into the Ama- zon, the students will ask if the university will have a station there to help them out. Tell a URI student to parachute into the Amazon for this class, and he ' d say, Okay, what time? and I ' ll be there!’” Just as the students are tough, so is the Universi- ty. We should be very tough with ourselves, Newman said. And he said there is a need for a tough judicial system for students. If a student doesn ' t want to follow the rules, he shouldn’t be at the University, Newman said. On the issue of security, Newman admits to having made a mistake. We would have been a lot better if we continued to run the old security plan. Here he was referring to mistakingly let- ting the evening manager program die down to the low numbers. We should have made a deci- sion and moved into them, he said. In an operation this size we make mistakes, the president said. “We have to learn from (them). Considering the future, Newman is presently working for his PhD in History. As to the question of when he ' ll take his leave of URI, Newman replied, I’ll worry about that next year. by Rob Rainville