URI's College of Business Administration
to launch magazine

Rhode Island Citizen to chart new course
for state's economy

KINGSTON, R.I. -- Dec. 13, 2000 -- The University of Rhode Island's College of Business Administration will launch a new magazine in January that will be "dedicated to making Rhode Island work."

The Rhode Island Citizen, a full-color, 32-page magazine, will be a supplement in Rhode Island Monthly's January issue, and will also be mailed separately to the business college's alumni, state officials, and business and non-profit leaders.

To be published in January and September, the magazine will address quality of life issues in Rhode Island and their relationship to the economy, said Edward M. Mazze, dean of URI's College of Business Administration and the Alfred J. Verrecchia Leadership Chair in Business.

"Each magazine will cover economic and policy issues that the state faces and how they affect the daily lives of Rhode Islanders," Mazze said.

In the first issue, readers will find articles on a balanced economy for Rhode Island, turning ideas into jobs, the history of manufacturing, how poverty affects children, the information age and a book review on Bowling Alone: the Collapse and Revival of American Community.

Maling Ebrahimpour, associate dean of URI's College of Business Administration, who is co-executive editor of the publication with Maureen Moakley, URI professor of political science, said the new magazine is different from other business school publications, which tend to focus on developments at the schools and their alumni.

"We want to take note of our alumni success stories," Ebrahimpour said, "but we also want to help Rhode Islanders understand what's happening in our state. The magazine will help Rhode Islanders stay informed about the economic impact of the College of Business Administration and the University as a whole."

Ebrahimpour emphasized, however, that the Rhode Island Citizen will not be an academic research journal. "The articles will often be based on research, but they will be lively and easy to understand."

Moakley said the magazine will deal with a wide array of topics, and rely heavily on the talents of URI faculty, faculty at other Rhode Island colleges and other leaders in the state for articles.

"We want to present issues for the well-informed citizen," Moakley said. "The response for articles has been great, and I've already lined up four for the next issue. Informing the citizenry so that we have enlightened voters is a critical part of our public service mission."

In his message to readers, URI President Robert L. Carothers says that as the state's public research university, an important part of URI's mission is to provide a forum for public discussion, debate and education on important public questions.

"This state is alive with activity, and a publication that represents many disciplines can provide timely and useful information," Carothers says. "Through these pages, you will find a unique collection of research, opinion and data from a wide variety of sources ­ academic, corporate, governmental, human services, individual and more."

Bob Sauber, public issues coordinator at URI's Feinstein College of Continuing Education, who had produced several televised town meetings for the college, came up with the idea for such a publication. Mazze said during discussions involving Sauber, Christopher Bergstrom, executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, and members of the media, they decided that a magazine to continue many of the town meeting discussions and initiate new ones would be a great tool for Rhode Islanders.

The founding partners are the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, the United Way of Southeastern New England and the URI College of Business Administration. Fleet Boston Financial Corp. is a major sponsor.

For Information: Edward M. Mazze 401-874-4438,
Dave Lavallee 401-874-2116