Campus briefs
Student center construction postponed indefinitely
Plans to start construction on the Locatelli Student Center have been put on hold, said Joe Sugg, assistant vice president of university operations.
'»¿"We don't have a firm start date yet," said Sugg. "We're in the decision process right now on when we might possibly start again, but the president has the final say in the decision."'»¿
According to Sugg, the estimated $9.5 million student building and locker rooms were supposed to be partly funded by a donor who had committed to giving $7 million, but that money has not yet been received.
'»¿ '»¿"In healthier economic environments, we might go ahead and start the building anyhow and carry the debt internally until money comes in," Sugg said. "But with the current economic environment, there is a stress to reduce the demands for cash so that we would have enough for other things like financial aid.'»¿"
The target start date for the construction of the building had previously been April, but the date was postponed before construction started, said Sugg. The facility should take an estimated 11 months to build.
Is natural intelligence enough?
The ethics of cognitive enhancement drugs will be discussed at Ethics at Noon today.
Hank Greely, a Stanford University law professor, will discuss a recent article written by him and some of his colleagues that called for "a presumption that mentally-competent adults should be able to engage in cognitive enhancement-using drugs."
In the article, titled "Towards responsible use of cognitive-enhancing drugs by the healthy," Greely and his colleagues argued that students that use drugs like Adderall or Ritalin "are early adopters of a trend that is likely to grow."
Greely specializes in new biomedical technologies and is co-director of the MacArthur Foundation Project on Law and Neurosciences. He also directs the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics' Program in Neuroethics.
The Ethics at Noon Series is a year-long series that allows members of the campus community to discuss ethical issues during an hour-long lunch program.
"Brain-boosting drugs and the ethics of cognitive enhancement" will take place from 12 to 1 p.m. today in Kennedy Commons.
Cisco CEO to speak at undergraduate graduation
John Chambers has a long list of accomplishments. He was listed as one of Time Magazine's 2008 top 100 people, as the best boss in the world by 20/20 and under his leadership Cisco was named one of the top 50 performers six times by Business Week.
"Whenever my parents said, 'This will build character,' I went, 'Oh, no' because I knew it was going to last a long time and be very painful. But this is what builds values and character," he told USA Today in 2004.
He'll be sharing this type of wisdom and experience at the 2009 Commencement Ceremonies on June 13, university President Michael Engh, S.J., announced in an e-mail.
The university will also award Chambers an honorary degree.
From staff reports. E-mail news@thesantaclara.com.