SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLVIII, ISSUE 43
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
WHAT’S INSIDE
METRO
Demonstrators protest end of R-Line pilot program SEE R-LINE PAGE 4
METRO
Advocates demand solitary confinement reform in R.I. prisons SEE PRISONS PAGE 4
ARTS & CULTURE
Brown Film Magazine fills gap in campus film scene SEE FILM MAGAZINE PAGE 12
SCIENCE & RESEARCH ASHLEY CAI, KAIOLENA TACAZON & ALEX NADIRASHVILI / HERALD
Community Coordinators held a rally on the Main Green Tuesday for their proposed union — which the University intends to recognize pending a review of authorization cards.
U. to voluntarily recognize community coordinators union Third party will be hired to review union authorization cards BY SAM LEVINE UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR The University is prepared to recognize a proposed union of Community Coordinators — live-in residential assistants employed by the University’s Office of Residential Life — pending a check of their signed union authorization cards, Vice President for Campus Life Eric Estes wrote in a letter to organizers Friday that was reviewed by The Herald.
Organizers with the Labor Organization of Community Coordinators announced their intent to unionize in a Sept. 29 press release and stated that a “strong majority” of the approximately 140 Community Coordinators employed by the University had signed authorization cards giving the proposed union the right to bargain on their behalf, The Herald previously reported. The group later delivered a letter requesting voluntary recognition from the University at a rally held last Tuesday and had requested a response from administrators by Monday at 12 p.m. “The University is prepared to rec-
ognize LOCC provided that a review of signed union authorization cards shows that LOCC has majority support among the Community Coordinators,” Estes wrote. “The University will respect the choice made by students as demonstrated in signed union authorization cards and we will not engage in, or tolerate, any conduct which interferes with or seeks to inappropriately influence student choices.” LOCC organizers are currently working with the University to hire a third party to independently review the signed authorization cards and verify that they represent majority support among Com-
munity Coordinators, organizer Elijah Puente ’26 wrote in a statement to The Herald on behalf of LOCC organizers. If majority support is confirmed, LOCC will become a part of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals/American Federation of Teachers Local 6516 along with the Graduate Labor Organization and the Teaching Assistant Labor Organization, which won its union in a vote held last March. “We believe this is a win for not only LOCC, but all organized labor and student workers on campus,” the statement from LOCC organizers reads.
PROVIDENCE
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LIFE
City approves voluntary payments agreements between U., Providence
Students react to removal of paper towels, air purifiers from on-campus housing
U. set to pay average of $8.7 million annually to city before possible deductions
Students cite concerns about hygiene, accessibility, sustainability
BY KATY PICKENS MANAGING EDITOR City Council voted in favor of two voluntary payment agreements between nonprofit colleges and Providence last Thursday night on a 9-1 voice vote. Through these agreements, Brown will pay over $174 million to the city over the next two decades, or an annual average of $8.7 million before potential deductions. The University’s two previous agreements with the city expired in 2022 and 2023. Nonprofit universities, including Brown, do not pay property taxes on their institutional properties. A 2022 report from the Providence Finance Department estimated that Brown would
pay $49.3 million to Providence if all of the University’s properties were taxed at their full value. The first new agreement is a memorandum of understanding between the city and Brown, the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College and Johnson and Wales University. Under the MOU, the four schools will pay $177 million to Providence over 20 years, with $128.7 million from Brown. The second, a separate memorandum of agreement solely between Brown and Providence, outlines $46 million in payments to the city over the next 10 years. Contributions from all Universities in both agreements will total $223.5 million. These agreements set “Providence on a stronger financial path forward and (make) our city a national example
SEE PAYMENTS PAGE 15
BY ANIYAH NELSON UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR As students returned to the University for the start of the fall semester, they were greeted by a new reality — no paper towels or air purifiers in their dorms. The Department of Facilities Management did not respond to requests for comment on the removals. For Jonathan Green ’25, the new change sparked confusion. “I noticed that the bathrooms didn’t have any paper towels … but I thought it was just a problem with our floor,” he said in an interview with The Herald. “(When I was) going to other floors and other people’s dorms, I realized that (the University) had removed all of the paper towels.”
“I was annoyed and a little angry,” he said. “I just didn’t really understand the point of the decision.” Aidan Blain ’25 explained that it actually took a little while for him to notice that the paper towels were missing. “You just kind of assume that when you come back (to campus), things are going to be the same,” he said. “As you go to the bathroom more and more times, you’re like ‘where are the paper towels?’” According to Green and Blain, the only available alternative left in their respective bathrooms were low-quality hand dryers. “My biggest problem is the fact that the hand dryers that we have in the bathroom don’t work,” Green said. “They don’t dry your hands … and I think the biggest implication is a decrease in student hygiene.”
SEE REMOVAL PAGE 3
New EEPS course takes students beyond U. campus SEE EEPS PAGE 14
ARTS & CULTURE
SEE PAGE 12
SPORTS
SEE PAGE 6
PAGE 2
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
TODAY WEEK IN HIGHER ED:
1
Five injured in Morgan State shooting, victims unintended targets, police say
A shooting at Morgan State University last week left five individuals — four of whom were students — injured. Police believe that the shooting, which occurred during a dispute between two groups, was not targeting any of the students who were injured. Since then, Morgan State has announced plans for a campus wall.
2
Calif. governor signs laws compelling universities to report on progress of return of Native American remains
Two new laws aim to compel California’s public university systems to advance their state-mandated return of Native American remains and artifacts. Multiple reports and news articles showed that universities have failed to return the vast majority of the remains and artifacts in their possession.
3
Harvard president condemns Hamas, separates university from student groups
After more than 30 Harvard student groups signed a letter stating that they “hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” Harvard president Claudine Gay released a statement condemning Hamas. KAIOLENA TACAZON AND TALIA LEVINE / HERALD
THIS WEEKEND Bruno Family Breakfast Buffet College Green Saturday 8:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Brown Football vs. Princeton Brown Stadium Saturday 12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Brown Volleyball vs. Harvard Pizzitola Gymnasium Saturday 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
The Louisville Brass Grand Recital Hall Sunday 3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
NEXT WEEK SPH Food Truck Feast Memorial Park 10/17 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Chemistry Careers with Pfizer Geochem Building 10/18 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Straw Dogs of the Universe Brown Bookstore 10/19 5:00 p.m.
Intl. Women’s Series Mixer Sarah Doyle Center 10/19 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
REMOVAL FROM PAGE 1 “If you’re not going to have paper towels, at least spend some money on good hand dryers,” Blain said. “Don’t (remove) paper towels and also have hand dryers that don’t work.” While Green noted that the paper towels can cause the garbage cans to overflow, he explained that removing the paper towels entirely doesn’t address the issue of cleanliness. “Now the bathroom is just messy in another way in that it’s just soaking wet everywhere,” he said. “It replaced one problem with another.”
PAGE 3
“It’s incredibly inconvenient and not hygienic either,” he added, noting that now, “there’s no way to clean up after yourself.” Green also cited the potential concerns surrounding accessibility given the recent change in on-campus bathrooms. “If you want to dry your hands, you’re gonna have to spend money on paper towels, which not all students can afford to do,” he said. “That’s not fair either.” Blain summarized his thoughts on the recent change, noting that “my jeans have effectively become the new paper towel.” Air purifiers have also disappeared
UNIVERSITY NEWS
from University dormitories. While walking through campus in July, Christopher Vanderpool ’24 stumbled upon an unexpected scene: dozens of air purifiers in a dumpster. “That was my first (piece of) knowledge that we probably weren’t going to have air purifiers again,” he said, adding that he “expected some sort of communication from the University.” Vanderpool noted that, in his opinion, the air purifiers contributed to community health and safety for students living on campus. “(The air purifier) kept the room feeling a little fresher, and I knew there
was clean air coming out of it,” he said. “There are still people who are immunocompromised who take a lot of precautions when it comes to COVID, and I think the air purifiers are an important tool for people to feel as comfortable and safe as possible.” Blain similarly described the absence of air purifiers as “strange,” adding that there should be an opt-in system available for students who would prefer having one in their on-campus housing unit. “I’m sure there are some people who are still concerned about COVID and want clean air in their rooms,” he said.
After discovering that the air purifiers had been thrown away, Vanderpool recalled reflecting on the University’s manner of disposing of them. “I think there’s a better way to dispose (of) electronics, especially air purifiers,” he said. “I don’t think the proper way is to just toss them away in the dumpster like that.” Overall, Blain said the disposal of air purifiers was “wasteful.” “If you’re going to remove the option for Brown students to have them, I’m sure that there are people in the wider Providence community who could make use of the air purifiers,” he said.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LIFE
Hazing Prevention Coalition expands StopHazing partnership with mandatory online modules Partnership aims to expand hazing awareness, build healthy social communities
this information to students so that they have the skills and information needed to identify hazing behavior and develop alternatives for community building and safe traditions,” said Joie Steele, senior
couple members of a group to complete an online hazing module is going to change anything,” she said. According to Purdy and Steele, this module is just the beginning. The coalition
BY JULIANNA CHANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER
associate dean and director of student activities and co-chair of the coalition. Liana Haigis ’24, a Herald podcast editor, completed the module as a business manager for the Ursa Minors, one of the University’s a cappella groups. Haigis noted that the module made her “more aware of checking in with all of the group members about our policies, norms and activities to make sure that nobody feels pressured to do anything they don’t want to do.” “I think some people will take it upon themselves to check in with their groups, and that may afford some people the opportunity to speak up if they’ve been uncomfortable,” she said. “I don’t think that if there were hazing issues on campus, the course would fix it, but I think it’s a good preventative measure.” Elsa Block ’24, one of the music directors for the Ursa Minors and the co-president of the Intergalactic Community of A Cappella, expressed doubts about the impact of the module. “It’s a bit naive and optimistic to assume that forcing a
plans to implement similar anti-hazing programs for a variety of campus communities — students and staff alike. In August, the coalition added information on hazing to the mandatory new student training, and the coalition’s partners in the Office of Residential Life implemented anti-hazing initiatives for all members of Greek organizations and Program Houses in late September, according to Purdy. She added that new “educational interventions” will be developed for all athletes and staff members involved in campus life this spring. Purdy noted that each module will be unique to its target audience and give each group “an opportunity to think through how they want to establish connection within their (specific) communities.” According to Purdy, the University hopes that its partnership with StopHazing will continue to “provide more and more opportunities for students to think creatively within those boundaries about how they’re going to establish connections and create traditions.”
The University is requiring all student group primary and secondary contacts to complete a new anti-hazing module this fall, the latest expansion of its partnership with the anti-hazing group StopHazing. In 2019, the University joined the third class of StopHazing’s Hazing Prevention Consortium. Although the three-year program ended last year, Brown has continued to expand the partnership through online courses for students and staff and a variety of new initiatives. Tanya Purdy, director of BWell Health Promotion and co-chair of the University’s Hazing Prevention Coalition, wrote in an email to The Herald that the partnership seeks to “provide a venue and an opportunity for students to find new ways to connect and understand the harm caused by perpetuating” unhealthy traditions. StopHazing defines hazing as “any activity expected of someone joining or participating in a group that humiliates, de-
AVERY GUO / HERALD
grades, abuses or endangers them, regardless of a person’s willingness to participate.” Brown is no stranger to hazing incidents. In 2017, the University investigated the men’s swimming and diving team for alleged hazing, and the Sigma Chi fraternity was suspended in 2019 due to violations of the University’s hazing and alcohol policies, the Herald previously reported. “Pre-pandemic, we were noticing some trends and maladaptive behaviors (in which) students were seeking connection and belonging and using strategies that we now know of as hazing,” Purdy said. This year, StopHazing launched the StandUp to Hazing module, an online, research-based course on hazing pre-
vention. The course takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and focuses on “building healthy groups, leadership development and bystander intervention,” StopHazing Operations Manager Meredith Stewart said. On Sept. 8, the Student Activities Office sent an email to the primary and secondary contacts of all recognized student organizations mandating the completion of the module by Oct. 2. Senior Associate Dean and Director of Student Activities Joie Steele, the other co-chair of the coalition, emphasized that the module is “specifically designed for student organizations.” “Our ultimate goal is really just to get
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SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD 1133RD EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Will Kubzansky Managing Editors Katy Pickens Alex Nadirashvili
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PAGE 4
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
METRO
CITY & STATE ACTIVISM
Demonstrators protest end of fare free R-Line pilot program Rally organized in collaboration with Rhode Island Transit Riders, Sunrise Brown BY ANISHA KUMAR SENIOR STAFF WRITER Demonstrators gathered outside the Rhode Island State House Monday afternoon to protest the end of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s fare-free R-Line pilot program. The program, which was intended to run from Sept. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023, allowed any rider to board the R-Line, RIPTA’s highest-ridership bus line, for free instead of paying the $2 fare. The pilot program was funded by $2.5 million of one-time federal American Rescue Plan Act funds set aside by the Rhode Island state legislature in 2022 and was extended through the end of September this past summer. Cristy Raposo Perry, a representative for RIPTA, directed The Herald to a press release from Aug. 9. “The actual cost of this pilot program exceeded this allocation,” the press release reads. “Given the annual cost of this pilot and RIPTA’s current budget outlook, it is not financially feasible for RIPTA to continue this program indefinitely.” Dally Dixon, an environmental studies major from Rhode Island College, organized the rally in collaboration with Rhode Island Transit Riders, Sunrise@Brown and the Rhode Island College Environmental Club.
ANISHA KUMAR / HERALD
Groups in attendance at the rally included Providence Urbanist Network, Kennedy Plaza Resilience Coalition and Direct Action for Rights and Equality “I see public transit as the number one first step in dealing with the climate crisis,” Dixon said. “The fossil fuel and automobile industries are the driving factors of climate change, and public transit is the key to remedying that. So here we are.” According to Dixon, participants were advocating for full funding for RIPTA on state and federal levels, including a reinstated fare-free R-Line. They also demanded better pay for bus operators and called for a solution to the RIPTA’s increasing fiscal cliff. RIPTA is currently $33 million in debt due to financial losses sustained during the pandemic, Dixon said. Transportation authorities in Rhode Island are struggling to revive ridership even as the emergency relief funding provided by the federal government is close to running out, they added. By 2024, RIPTA’s deficit is projected to reach $40 million, jeopardizing the transit system’s future, Dixon said.
“There’s currently no solution for this on a state level,” Dixon said. “We’re in trouble.” Senator Meghan Kallman PhD ’16 (D-15), who was the original sponsor for the fare-free R-Line in the Rhode Island Senate, also spoke at the rally. “Transit funding is at the intersection of a whole bunch of things—climate, sustainability, emissions reductions, transportation, justice, housing, accessibility and mobility,” Kallman said. “The data has really shown that free fare arrangements boost ridership in small systems like ours.” She emphasized the importance of creating a long-term funding model, rather than a “patch,” to secure RIPTA’s future. “Аt the end of the day, this is something we need to have a plan for consistently,” Kallman said. “So that two years from now, we’re not back in the same boat going, oh crap — how do we fund this bus system?” Former state Senator Robert Kells,
vice chair of the RIPTA board of directors, encouraged protesters to “keep up the good fight.”
that serves all Rhode Islanders.” The Transit Master Plan is part of the Long Range and Metropolitan
“It’s very important that you stay in touch with your legislators,” Kells said. “Make sure that they understand the way you feel and how important (public transit) is to this economy, to transit riders, to people in the state of Rhode Island — we cannot lose any of it.” Also in attendance were members of the Providence Urbanist Network, the Kennedy Plaza Resilience Coalition and Direct Action for Rights and Equality. Public school teacher Aaron Hill, a member of PUN, said he was attending the rally in hopes that the state would recognize the fare-free program’s impact, both environmental and personal. “I take the R-Line a couple times a week at least, certainly when it’s farefree,” said Hill, who is a resident of Providence but teaches in Massachusetts. “A public school teacher doesn’t make a whole lot of money, so those couple bucks on just transit make a huge difference.” According to a RIPTA press release from March 2023, the R-Line saw a 40% increase in ridership in the pilot program’s first six months. “The first half of the program has shown that when we invest in our transit system, positive results follow,” RIPTA CEO Scott Avedisian said in the release. “The popular R-Line service, free-fare pilot and other elements of our Transit Master Plan will contribute to building a world-class transit system
Transportation Plan released in 2020 by the Rhode Island Department of Administration Division of Statewide Planning. Other initiatives include RIPTA’s proposed construction of a new transit hub at the intersection of Dorrance and Dyer streets. Randall Rose, a representative from the Kennedy Plaza Resilience Coalition, spoke at the rally and called for RIPTA to redirect efforts on the new transit hub toward revitalizing the Kennedy Plaza hub and keeping the R-Line farefree. Terri Wright, Tenant & Homeowner Association staff organizer for DARE, raised concerns about how the reinstatement of the fare would affect disadvantaged communities in Rhode Island. “We’re thinking about folks with disabilities, about our unsheltered and homeless communities,” Wright said. “When programs are taken away, it’s a slap in the face.” “A consistent source of funding would enable us to realize this whole plan, not just try to keep the train on the tracks for the next year, two years, three years,” Kallman said. “Transit should exist because it is something that we need in cities. It’s part of what we pay taxes for — infrastructure that meets the needs of people.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 10, 2023.
CITY & STATE ACTIVISM
Advocates demand accountability, reform after seven deaths in R.I. prisons Protestors demand investigation into ACI conditions at PVDFest celebration BY YAEL SARIG SENIOR STAFF WRITER On Sept. 9, excited party-goers mingled inside the CIC Providence Building at a private event hosted by Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, ringing in the start of the City’s annual art festival. Then the coffins arrived. Over 60 individuals marched to the building, carrying seven wooden coffins and demanding that the state stand accountable for what the protestors asserted to be unlivable conditions in Rhode Island’s Adult Correctional Institutions. Brandon Robinson, community organizer for STOP Torture RI Coalition, said the goal of the protest was to get the attention of Gov. Dan McKee and demand both internal and external investigations into the deaths of seven individuals at the ACI this year. McKee was not in attendance at the event. According to Olivia Darocha, press secretary for the governor, McKee and his senior policy advisor have met with a “group of advocates” regarding concerns around the ACI. “Our policy team is looking into the issues raised and have plans to circle back with the individuals in that meeting,” Darocha wrote in an email to The Herald. Smiley did not answer repeated asks from protestors of whether he would support an external investigation into the seven deaths, but said that “any death at the ACI deserves to be investigated.”
RHEA RASQUINHA / HERALD
The seven individuals who died at ACI this year include 64-year-old Carol Pona, who died of liver cancer following a three-month detention period for allegedly violating her probation; Derek Ashworth, who died Aug. 2; and 27-year-old Brian Rodenas, who died in solitary confinement on May 22. Robinson alleged professional negligence or malpractice was involved in many of the cases. He claimed that Ashworth was denied medicine despite correctional officers knowing he was seizure-prone, and added that Ashworth was placed in a top bunk despite being medically required to be on a bottom bunk. Andira Alves, an organizer for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, echoed the claim that Ashworth was denied medication. “He had a seizure in the middle of the night and fell off his bunk onto the floor, and his roommate (along with other incarcerated individuals) kicked the door for 20 minutes to wake the (correctional officer) up,” Robinson said. “When the (cor-
rectional officer) finally got the door open, he did not perform life-saving measures.” In Rodenas’s case, Robinson alleged that Rodenas had told correctional officers he couldn’t take solitary confinement any longer and pleaded with them for help. Robinson claimed these pleas were ignored. The National Commission of Correctional Health Care recommends that “non-acutely suicidal inmates are monitored by facility staff at unpredictable intervals with no more than 15 minutes between checks.” Robinson said officers failed to follow necessary protocol, leading to Rodenas’s suicide. In an email to The Herald, J.R. Ventura, chief of information and public relations officer for the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, wrote that “all deaths that occur inside our facilities are investigated internally by our Special Investigations Unit as well as externally by the R.I. State Police.” The Rhode Island State Police is independent of RIDOC, instead falling under
the jurisdiction of the state’s Department of Public Safety. RIDOC is unable to comment on specific cases under investigation, Ventura added. According to Robinson, the protest was meant to bring members of the government and community face-to-face with the reality of the deaths in Rhode Island’s prisons. “We wanted to send them a clear visual message with seven clear caskets,” Robinson said. “That’s seven bodies, seven human beings.” The number of deaths this year is not atypical. From 2017 through 2022, there have been an average of just over five deaths per year in the ACI, according to Ventura. But Robinson said ACI conditions weren’t always so drastic. Since 1972, Rhode Island has had a set of rules known as the “Morris Rules” which govern how prisons may discipline people who are incarcerated. These rules include provisions about the use of solitary confinement, which the Morris Rules originally limited to 30 days. But in 2005, the Department of Corrections changed the Morris Rules, allowing people who are incarcerated to be kept in solitary confinement for up to a year. Robinson, who spent 15 years in the ACI and 90 days in isolation, said that the extended solitary confinement would cause people to hallucinate and engage in behaviors that pointed towards a decline in their mental well-being. According to Ventura, individuals who exhibit self-isolation behaviors receive a clinical evaluation to determine if treatment is needed and what treatment is
most appropriate. “None of this happens in a vacuum,” Alves said, pointing to a social culture that permits conditions in prisons that would be “totally unacceptable” in workplaces, schools or neighborhoods. Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, said the ACLU has been involved for decades in dealing with conditions at ACI facilities, including a major class-action suit originating in the 1970s that lasted over three decades. The suit challenged the physical conditions at the ACI and the policies in place at the facilities. Steven Brown added that the lawsuit led to improvements in ACI conditions, but there is still work to be done. The ACLU remains highly involved in ongoing litigation attempting to improve the use of solitary confinement in Rhode Island prisons and recently saw a preliminary victory: On July 31st, amendments were made to the state solitary confinement policies that restored the prior 30-day limit. Nonetheless, activists say that government officials have been continuously unwilling to discuss prison reforms. According to Robinson, RIDOC has historically been unwilling to meet with STOP Torture R.I. to talk about their demands for solitary confinement reforms. But Interim RIDOC Director Wayne Salisbury recently met with the coalition, and Robinson is hopeful that further compromises can be reached. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 9, 2023.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 5
METRO
ENVIRONMENT
McKee approves $2.6 million spending plan to implement R.I. Act on Climate Governor endorses spending plan funding various environmental projects in the state BY MAYA KELLY CONTRIBUTING WRITER Gov. Dan McKee endorsed a spending plan allocating $2.6 million to support the implementation of Rhode Island’s Act on Climate on Sept. 29, according to a press release. The plan, crafted by the state’s Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council, known as EC4, will fund a wide array of green projects statewide. The council, consisting of 13 member agencies, received its first substantial round of funding from the General Assembly this year, EcoRI News reported. Established by the Resilient Rhode Island Act of 2014, EC4 is charged with planning the state’s route to substantive emissions reductions — 45% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 80% below 1990 levels by 2040 — and tracking its progress. EC4’s plan allocates funding to projects ranging from urban tree cover to climate vulnerability assessments. The bulk of the plan’s funding, coming in at $1.1 million, has been designated for the implementation of electric vehicle and e-bike incentive programs. The Office of Energy Resources will use the fund-
ing to continue its DRIVE EV program and Erika Niedowski Memorial E-Bike Rebate Program. “There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for climate change in R.I.,” wrote Elizabeth Stone ’96, environmental policy analyst for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, in an email to The Herald. “Hence, our investments must be multifaceted.” Low-emission transportation is “crucial in Rhode Island’’s climate change fight,” Office of Energy Resources Communications Coordinator Natalie Bishop wrote in an email to The Herald. According to Bishop, zero-emission vehicles like the e-bikes incentivized in these programs can have a significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The Department of Environmental Management also received a total of $220,000 from the spending plan. The funding will be used for two projects: the buildout of urban tree canopies and implementing the work of the R.I. Chief Resilience Officer. According to Stone, Rhode Island has not had a Chief Resilience Officer since November 2022, when the position was a part of the R.I. Infrastructure Bank. The position was moved to the Department of Environmental Management in May through an executive order, and final interviews are currently
being conducted for the position, Stone wrote. The new CRO will allocate $100,000
seize all the federal money that’s available … as well as Governor McKee’s vision
of the plan’s budget to implement the projects they develop, Stone wrote, allowing them to work “alongside cities and towns to implement resilience programs and projects.” Some investments also will go into outreach: $200,000 will fund the Department of Commerce with the intent of promoting dialogues with the business community as they navigate incentive programs and aim to lower greenhouse gas emissions, according to the budget. The Department of Labor and Training will also receive $150,000 to create a grant program centered around environmental education, apprenticeships and professional development. Continuing Rhode Island’s shift towards career options focused on the environment, oceans and renewable energy could be “transformative,” said John Willumsen, chief economic and policy analyst for the Department of Labor and Training. For Willumsen, investing in “green and blue economies” — the latter phrase is defined by the World Bank as economic activity focused on the “sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth” — “is a chance to
to eliminate non-renewable energy sources.” Other funds in the budget will go to the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission for work on dockets related to the Act on Climate, the Department of Health for investigating the relationship between flooding risk and contamination, OER to help municipalities participate in state energy programs and the Division of Statewide Planning for climate vulnerability assessments. Other unmarked funds will fund grant applications for federal climate programs and work to encompass “climate change considerations into public building investments.” For the Department of Labor and Training and other departments receiving funding from the plan, the next step is ensuring the success of their projects, Willumsen said. “It’s a limited resource universe. You don’t want to misfire on your investments,” he said. “You want to find the places where you are actually
SITA PAWAR / HERALD
going to help people get a job or find a better career.” Stone explained that the EC4 crafted the plan in collaboration with a broad array of departments, making sure to “directly connect with each agency.” Statewide change will require a statewide effort, she noted. The EC4 “looks forward to providing additional funds in future months as more funding (becomes) available to spend,” she wrote. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 10, 2023.
THAYER
Third annual Taste of Thayer event helps raise funds for R.I. Food Bank Thayer Street’s ticketed-entry showcase featured 25 restaurants, five retail stores BY CIARA MEYER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Thirty businesses participated in this year’s Taste of Thayer event, offering food samples and retail discounts to ticketed attendees in an effort to draw attention to Thayer’s businesses while supporting the Rhode Island Community Food Bank. This year, 20% of revenue from ticket sales went directly to supporting the food bank’s mission. Beyond their support for the R.I. Food Bank, the Thayer Street District Management Authority sought to more broadly expand and improve the event, which is now in its third year. This year’s Taste of Thayer featured live music from Brown student artists, an “early bird” discounted ticket sale and a notably larger number of participating businesses than in previous years. Den Den Fried Chicken was a new participant in the event. “We wanted to participate throughout the years, but each time we had some incidents,” said store owner Min Cheung. “This year, finally, everything settled down and we are very happy to participate.” For their inaugural year at the event, Den Den served their signature spicy and soy garlic chicken.“In Korea, this is actually soul food. It’s not a Westernized food at all, it’s a very traditional Korean food,” Cheung said. “We want people to understand what Korean fried chicken is.” Aroma Joe’s — one of the event’s sponsors — participates primarily to help bring the Thayer community together, said Regional Manager Meredith Williams.“We are big on doing events and trying to involve the community.”
“It’s been a very good experience,” said Chris Vanderpool ’24, who came to the event for the first time this year. “It’s fun to see everyone here (and) have the space open to walk through.” Anna Ryu ’25 and Vanderpool sampled everything from samosas to apple cider sangria, and said they both loved getting a taste of new places. “I’ve been able to try things that I don’t want to buy otherwise,” Ryu said. “It’s been nice.” Tickets cost $15 for students this year, while adult and children’s tickets were $23 and $7, respectively. “The discounts were pretty substantial, especially with the student discount,” said Donna Personeus, executive director of the TSDMA. “What we found with last year’s event (was) a lot of students came, but they came (at the) last minute.” Personeus noted that students have seemed “receptive to the percentage of their ticket going to the food bank.” First-time event attendee and Rhode Island resident Kim Nikolaidis said she came to help fundraise for the food bank. “I worked in the (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance) program,” she said. “Food insecurity is a very important thing in Rhode Island.” For the R.I. Food Bank, the funds raised from Taste of Thayer will make a difference. “We rely on the support of our donors to ensure we can meet the growing need for food assistance,” wrote R.I. Food Bank Director of Communications Kate MacDonald in an email to The Herald. With one out of every three households in Rhode Island being classified as food insecure, the R.I. Food Bank is needed now more than ever. “Rhode Islanders are experiencing food insecurity at a higher rate than even at the height of the pandemic,” MacDonald wrote.“Currently, the Food Bank distributes food to over 75,000 people per month. Last fiscal year, we donated 16.2 million pounds of food.”
To Personeus, collaborating with the food bank was a natural extension of the TSDMA’s work. “We wanted to do something different,” she said. “We thought because the event was food-based, what better way to bring awareness to the issue of hunger in Rhode Island.” Aroma Joe’s has participated in Taste of Thayer for three years but said there was added appeal to the event this year due to the food bank partnership. “We like that it’s doing some good and donating. We also try to donate products from our store” with food drives and more, Williams said. While this year has had a special focus on the food bank, the awareness brought by the event also helps Thayer’s local businesses. “What this allows you to do is have a taste at some establishments you wouldn’t have had a taste at before,” said Personeus. “It comes down to exposure and an opportunity to engage with customers.” By the time this year’s “early bird” window closed, the event had already nearly matched its total ticket sales from last year. Personeus said Taste of Thayer is “definitely growing,” offering bigger and better opportunities for businesses and the community as a whole.
CLAIRE DIEPENBROCK / HERALD
The event has grown each year, with ticket sales and participation from Thayer establishments increasing from the first event in 2021.
PAGE 6
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
SPORTS
WOMEN’S SOCCER
MEN’S SOCCER
Women’s soccer downs Penn 2-1 Men’s soccer ties against Harvard Bears extend unbeaten streak against Ivy League opponents to 25 consecutive games BY DENNIS CAREY SENIOR STAFF WRITER Goals from Brittany Raphino ’23.5 and Ava Seelenfreund ’23.5 pushed the No. 21 women’s soccer team (8-1-2, 4-0 Ivy) to a 2-1 victory over Penn (5-6-2, 0-3-1 Ivy) at home Saturday night. The Bears also won a midweek contest against Yale (5-4-3, 0-3-1) by a score of 4-1 in New Haven last Wednesday. Raphino posted a hat trick against the Bulldogs, and on Monday she was named Ivy League Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. The pair of wins add to Bruno’s now 25-game unbeaten streak against Ivy opponents dating back to 2018. Over the course of the streak, the Bears have won 23 and drawn two matches. “It’s really unheard of and we’re in a really good position to never have lost a game,” said Seelenfreund. But “every game we’re going to face in the Ivy League is a game where that’s going to be tested because the league has been so elevated.” The Bears opened the game in a high press, keeping the ball mostly on the attack. The Bears would manage to win five corner kicks in the first 11 minutes of play, three of which were taken in succession, though no goal came from the spell of set pieces. Bruno needed a fast start this weekend after their previous two weekends: Yale jumped out to an early lead in Wednesday’s match and Brown didn’t score until the second half in their match against Princeton Sept. 30. “We really talked about … starting on the front foot, which I think we did,” said Head Coach Kia McNeill. “We had five corner kicks in the first 15 minutes of the game and I think that shows you some of the attacking prowess that this team has.” Seelenfreund opened the scoring in the 30th minute after Sheyenne Allen ’23.5 launched a long ball which Raphino headed into the path of Seelenfre-
und. Seelenfreund’s strike, an off-balance half-volley into the bottom left corner, marked her first of the season, breaking a prolonged scoring drought for the 2022 All-Ivy First Team forward. “It’s a testament to all the work I’ve done and all the support (from) the team,” said Seelenfreund. Penn managed to find the back of the net in the 40th minute, pulling even with the Bears and leaving the game knotted at one apiece entering halftime. But it wasn’t long into the second half before Raphino netted her goal, a corner from Allen which deflected off Seelenfreund before landing for Raphino’s routine touch into the back of the net. That goal marked Raphino’s ninth of the season and sixth in the last three games, the most over such a span in her career. “I wouldn’t be able to be in these positions and wouldn’t be able to dominate if I wasn’t going against the best defenders and the best teammates during practice,” Raphino said. “Kia always emphasizes iron sharpens iron, and that’s definitely what helps me be as successful as I am.” Raphino’s goal and assist in the game marked her 92nd and 93rd career points for the Bears, tying her at second overall in program history with Debbie Ching ’83. Theresa Hirschauer ’89 holds the program record with 162. While Raphino’s goal would ultimately conclude scoring for the day, Penn attempted to mount a late comeback attempt, shooting three times in the last five minutes. But Bruno’s defense held firm and the Bears were able to secure the victory. “We got away from what was working for us early on in the game,” McNeill said. “I thought we were doing a good job connecting and keeping the ball and then … we were giving away a lot of unforced errors and turning the ball over in moments where we probably shouldn’t have.” Bruno looks forward to a spell of three matches against Ivy opponents, including away games against Columbia Oct. 14 and Cornell Oct. 21 before returning home to play against Dartmouth for their final game of the regular season. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 9, 2023.
KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
The pair of wins adds to Brown women’s soccer team’s now 25-game unbeaten streak against Ivy League opponents, which began in 2018.
Draw gives Bears five points in first three Ivy League games BY NICHOLAS MILLER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
For the second straight season, there was nothing to split the Brown men’s soccer team from its closest Ivy League rival. On Saturday night in Cambridge, Bruno (3-4-3, 1-0-2 Ivy) fought to a nil-nil draw with Harvard (2-3-5, 1-0-2 Ivy) — just as they had in last year’s game in Providence. “We left that win on the table,” Head Coach Chase Wileman said. “But a point on the road in the Ivy League is a good point. We just need to find that little extra to get the win.” In the first half, the Bears were dominant, recording 12 shots to the Crimson’s one. But poor finishing combined with five saves from Harvard goalie Lucian Wood kept the game scoreless, and while a more even second half saw each team take seven attempts at goal, neither side could find the back of the net. “I think we deserved the three points,” said midfielder Langdon Gryglas ’26. “We just lacked a bit of extra quality to finish off our chances. Although, it’s never easy to go on
the road in the Ivy League and you have to give credit to the opponent. We played well in the match and, despite not getting the win, a point on the road is a decent result.” “I think we let them off the hook. We could have scored, especially in the first half, and a good save kept them in it,” said goalkeeper Hudson Blatteis ’24. “Overall, though, I think we played some of our best soccer so far with great buildup play, and always happy to get a clean sheet and a result on the road.” The scoreless draw marked the first career clean sheet for Blatteis, who entered last weekend’s game vs. Cornell after an injury to starter Henrik Weiper ’26. The Brown defense has tightened significantly since an early stretch of the season that saw the Bears concede a goal in each of their first six games, including a loss to Fairfield University in which they allowed six goals. Bruno has allowed just one goal so far in Ivy League play, giving them the best defensive record in the conference. The game against the Crimson continues the Bears’ solid run to begin conference play, having drawn 1-1 last weekend with Cornell — a program frequently ranked in the top 25 nationally — and beaten Columbia 4-0 at home to open Ivy play. Brown now stands tied with Harvard and Yale at second place in the
conference with five points. The Bears have already surpassed their point total from last year, when they failed to win a single game, recording only three draws to finish bottom of the Ivy League. This season is the first in which the Ivy League will have a postseason tournament, giving the top four teams in the standings a chance to be named conference champions and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. While the Bears currently stand in a good position, they still have work to do. In previous years, teams have typically needed around nine or 10 points to finish in the top half of the standings. That means Brown will likely need to get multiple results in its final four Ivy games to qualify for the postseasontournament. After a midweek game against the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the Bears will host defending Ivy champions Penn next Saturday. “I think we have performed very well in the Ivy League thus far,” Blatteis said. “We’re in a great spot, with the league tables all being extremely tight. It’s important to take it one game at a time, but a win against Penn this Saturday will put ourselves in a great position going into the back half of the league (schedule).” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 9, 2023.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 7
SPORTS
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Volleyball picks up Ivy League wins against Columbia, Cornell on weekend trip Brown sweeps Columbia, ekes out win in evenly-matched affair over Cornell BY BEN GOLDBERG CONTRIBUTING WRITER This weekend, the volleyball team (123, 3-2 Ivy) made it through a trip to New York unscathed: After dispatching Columbia (2-12, 0-5 Ivy) 3-0 on Friday night, the Bears traveled up to Ithaca to play Cornell (4-10, 2-3 Ivy) on Saturday afternoon. In a tight 3-2 match, Brown came out on top 15-13 in the final set. Coming off their first Ivy victory of the year over Penn at home the previous weekend, Brown went to New York City and breezed past Columbia in three sets to open the road trip. “Traveling to far schools (and) playing in different atmospheres and gyms is always a challenge,” Cierra Jenkins ’24 wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “We did a great job finding rhythm very early in the Columbia match, from being smart with our offensive decisions to expecting scrappy plays that allowed us to hustle during chaotic moments.” After jumping out to a 7-1 lead to open the first set, Bruno never looked back. A Columbia error and two kills by Beau Vanderlaan ’25 closed out the set 25-14. Brown continued dominating, winning nine of ten points in the middle of the second set to once again win by a score 25-14. Two aces by Victoria Vo ’25 capped off the third set and a third consecutive 25-14 victory for Bruno. Brown hit .359 for the match and
COURTESY OF EMMA C. MARION / BROWN ATHLETICS
Brown hit .359 during Friday’s match against Columbia and improved their hitting percentage throughout the contest, peaking at .474 in the third set. improved their hitting percentage throughout the contest, peaking at .474 in the third set. A balanced attack led by nine kills for Vanderlaan, eight for Kate Sheire ’24 and six for Maria Sidorova ’26 proved key in Brown’s decisive victory over the Lions. The next day, Brown traveled upstate to take on the Big Red in Ithaca. Saturday’s “match against Cornell was definitely a thrilling and intense experience,” Jenkins wrote. “Cornell played a great match and really challenged us to start playing along the edge.” The Bears got off to a slow start, trailing the Big Red 15-10 in the opening set. But a 5-0 run to tie it up was punctuated by kills from Vanderlaan, Sheire and Kayla Griebl ’25. The set remained close until, tied at 20, Brown won five of the next six points to snatch a win.
After dropping the second set 2518, Bruno responded at the start of the third by racing out to a 7-1 advantage. The Bears were able to maintain this advantage, holding off a Cornell squad that won six straight points when down 23-11. After Brown won the third set 25-17, Cornell roared back to life. Capturing an early lead, the Big Red were able to take the fourth set 25-14 to set up a decisive fifth set. In the tiebreaking set played to 15 points, Cornell took a 7-5 lead. After a back-and-forth battle, a kill by Gabby Derrick ’25 tied the score at 13. Brown was able to force two errors from Cornell to close out the match and secure the victory. “It felt like our team played a bit inconsistently. Throughout the second and fourth set, it felt like we were timid and didn’t go after it like we usually do,”
Jessie Golden ’26 wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “However, in the fifth set, we were all fired up, especially toward the end.” Jenkins and Golden each made key contributions that helped keep Brown in the match: Jenkins filled up the stat sheet with 37 assists, 10 digs and eight kills, while Golden totaled 26 digs. “The block makes my job easy — when they are set up well, it makes reading the hitters much easier, and getting digs comes more naturally,” Golden wrote. “I always try to pursue for my team because I know they’ll have my back if I get a touch.” In what was essentially a deadeven match, these individual contributions, especially in pivotal moments, proved to be the difference. The Bears hit .215 to Cornell’s .214. Each team had an equal number of kills (56) and aces (eight). Brown had 4 more digs (62-58) but had five fewer assists (46-51) and one fewer block (8-9) than Cornell. “This weekend was a huge opportunity for us to learn more about our strengths and what we need to work on,” Jenkins wrote. “We left New York feeling very proud and excited to get back into the gym to play the sport we do best.” “Friday night was a very clean match for us (and) we controlled the tempo both offensively and defensively all night. Saturday was a bit more of a battle, (but) we ultimately earned ourselves an opportunity to play a fifth set, and we took advantage of that,” Head Coach Taylor Virtue wrote
in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “Overall, the team played well, and we will continue to shore up the areas we need to improve.” Brown will continue Ivy League play this weekend at home at the Pizzitola Sports Center against Dartmouth (6-8, 3-2 Ivy) on Friday and Harvard (11-3, 4-1 Ivy) on Saturday. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 9, 2023.
Brown Bears
BY THE NUMBERS
15-13 Volleyball won its final set against Cornell 15-13 to seal a 3-2 victory.
6/11 Men’s tennis took four of six singles matches and six of eleven singles at the Brown Invitational Saturday.
0-0 Men’s soccer tied in a goalless game against Harvard, marking the second year that Bruno and the Crimson finished in a stalemate.
MEN’S FOOTBALL
Football falls to University of Rhode Island 34-30 in 41st Governor’s Cup Bears outpaced Rams with season-high 172 yards on ground, 272 in air BY LINUS LAWRENCE SPORTS EDITOR Football (2-2, 0-1 Ivy) came up just short in the 41st Governor’s Cup to the No. 22 University of Rhode Island Rams (4-2, 2-1 CAA) on Saturday afternoon at Brown Stadium. With a hard-fought 34-30 loss, the Bears now hold a 1922 record all-time in Governor’s Cup matches. “I think there’s a lot to build off of,” Head Coach James Perry ’00 said in a press conference following the game. “I’ve got a locker room full of guys who really sweat and worked who are disappointed they didn’t win the Governor’s Cup, but I made sure that they know that I’m proud of them, and I think they’re proud of themselves.” The Bears’ ground game rushed for 172 yards, blowing past their previous season high of 81 at Harvard. Three different players — Ian Franzoni ’24, Stockton Owen ’25 and Jordan DeLucia ’25 — each rushed for at least 45 yards, with Franzoni and Owen picking up touchdowns as well. Brown has previously relied primarily on their elite pass offense led by quarterback Jake Willcox ’24, whose 345.3 yards per game ranks first by far in the Ivy League. “Establishing the run this past weekend was very important for the success of
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
A catch from Wes Rockett ’23.5 earned him the #1 spot on ESPN’s College Football Final’s top plays. our offense moving forward,” Franzoni ball and run hard, we are confident that wrote to The Herald in a message via we will continue to find success for the Brown Athletics. “Over the course of remainder of our schedule.” the first three games, we struggled (to “For us to move the ball, it takes five get) the run game going, so it was a huge guys working together and making those point of emphasis during last week’s seams,” Perry said. “As we look forward, preparation.” (with) those guys up front working like “We stressed the fact that if we were they are, Stockton and the three backs able to find success on the ground, it all working the way they are, we’ll have would make our offense that much more a lot to build off of there.” dangerous,” Franzoni added. Willcox, meanwhile, racked up 272 Franzoni and Perry stressed the yards — a season-low, in itself a testaimportance of Brown’s offensive line ment to his performance thus far. in creating the running backs to have While the Bears’ outperformed the success. Rams both on the ground and in the “The O-line did an incredible job this air — and had over 13 more minutes of past weekend opening up holes for us possession time — they allowed their backs to run through,” Franzoni wrote. first two interceptions of the season and “They definitely made our job easy … struggled to defend against big plays. As long as we practice the way we have After an early Brown field goal, the been and continue to take care of the rivals entered a back-and-forth first half
battle, trading five touchdowns. With the score 13-10 in URI’s favor in the middle of the second quarter, wide receiver Wes Rockett ’23.5 — fresh off 148- and 147yard performances in his previous two games — capped off a Bears drive by executing a mesmerizing leap on a reverse play, bypassing multiple defenders and barely grazing the corner of the endzone. “It was my first time in college…that I had the ball in my hands with the option to throw,” Rockett wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “As I saw the opening, it closed fast, and I wasn’t sure if (I) was still in legal passing position behind the line of scrimmage so I just had to stick to running it and the cornerback went low, so I decided to jump to try to get over him and inside the pylon. Luckily it worked out.” No stranger to highlight-reel catches, the play earned Rockett the #1 spot on ESPN’s College Football Final’s top plays. “He’s a talented kid being able to contort his body those ways,” Perry said about Rockett. “I think he and Jake have a good rapport because both of them approach the game that way, and I’m confident that they’re only getting better.” But the Rams wasted no time responding to Rockett, pulling off a 95-yard kick return to retake the lead 20-17. “Everybody knows, that kickoff team knows, we could do a lot differently,” Perry said. Before the end of the half, Bruno tacked on a field goal to even the score at 20-20. After each side added a touchdown in the third quarter, a 50-yard rush from URI gave them a 34-27 advantage. At
the start of the fourth, Bears kicker Christopher Maron ’25 completed a 47-yard field goal kick to bring the score to 34-30. A URI missed field goal attempt near the end of the quarter gave the Bears the ball with 58 seconds left on the clock. After earning two first downs and advancing to the Rams’s 39-yard line with 14 seconds to go, Willcox’s pass was picked off, effectively ending the contest. “It’s not like we played a perfect game and came up short,” Perry said. “We played a very imperfect game against a really good team.” The Bears now embark on a stretch of six straight games against Ivy opponents to close out the season, starting with a family weekend home match-up against Princeton on Saturday at 12 p.m. “With the six week in-conference run coming up, it will be about consistently playing our brand of football through the last whistle,” Rockett wrote, citing the team’s model of attempting to play fast, “outlast teams and play our best football late in games.” “We know as a team what we are capable of, and we are nowhere near satisfied with the way we have performed through the first four games,” Franzoni wrote. “Our mindset has always been to win an Ivy League Championship and now that we are getting into the meat of our schedule we have a heightened focus on taking each game one week at a time to try to accomplish our goals.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 10, 2023.
PAGE 8
UNIVERSITY NEWS
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
ADMISSIONS & FINANCIAL AID
Test scores, early decision, legacy: A deep dive into the class of 2027’s applications Herald poll data analyzes admission policies, applicant demographics
High school type and international status did not show any significant impact on score submission.
BY OWEN DAHLKAMP SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Who applies early decision In 2001, the University switched from a non-binding early application process to a binding early decision process after debates over which policy would be most equitable and reduce the workload of admission officers, The Herald previously reported. Now, the policy is under consideration again. One of the most salient factors in applying early was legacy: Nearly 80% of respondents with a parent or sibling who attended Brown applied through the binding program. 65% of respondents who attended private high schools applied early decision, compared to 49% of respondents who attended public schools. Parental education was also indicative of these trends, with increased parental educational attainment increasing the likelihood of applying early. Sara Harberson, an independent college counselor, noted that applicants may be concerned about applying early because they cannot compare financial aid packages among prospective schools, she added. Respondents who receive financial aid were much less likely to have submitted their application via the binding program. Just 38% of students receiving grants covering all costs applied early decision. Logan Powell, associate provost for enrollment and dean of admission, wrote that the University’s financial aid program has allowed the Office of College Admission “to attract a remarkably diverse and talented applicant pool.” Given this, “the diversity of our early decision admitted cohort is almost identical to that of the overall student body, both in terms of racial diversity and first-generation status,” he wrote. The ad hoc committee is “exploring the impacts of our existing practices” and will “make data-informed recommendations,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark said.
In The Herald’s first-year poll conducted this summer, respondents were asked, among other topics, about the content of their applications to Brown, their personal backgrounds and how they navigated the college admission process. As a University ad-hoc committee considers legacy status, test scores and early decision, the poll — not a complete representation of the firstyear class, but a snapshot of more than 700 students — offers insights into how those elements interacted with the backgrounds of first-years. While the poll does not entirely align with institutional demographic information, its proportion of respondents who received financial aid and submitted standardized test scores mirrors the University’s actual demographics. The Herald examined how backgrounds differed among students who submitted standardized test scores, applied early decision, took advanced or college-level courses, submitted video introductions and hired independent SAT or ACT tutors and college counselors. Test score submission In recent years, application rates of low-income students have increased at schools with test-optional policies, a handful of surveys have found. The University has followed a test-optional policy for the SAT and ACT since the 2020-21 application cycle, but poll respondents from different backgrounds reported different rates of score submission. Recruited varsity athletes who responded to the poll, for instance, were almost twice as likely to not submit scores as students who are not varsity athletes. And roughly half of first-generation respondents submitted test scores, compared to four-fifths of non-first-generation respondents. Respondents who receive grants from the University covering all costs were four times as likely to not submit scores as those not receiving financial aid. 92% of respondents with a sibling who has attended Brown submitted test scores, the highest rate of any demographic. Parental education was also indicative of submission: Respondents whose parents hold advanced degrees were more likely to submit test scores than respondents whose parents did not. Independent standardized test tutors, which some families hire to prep students for the ACT and SAT, represent another piece of the puzzle. Respondents who used these consultants were most likely to be legacy students whose parents attended the University, non-first-generation students, students not receiving financial aid, students who attended private high schools and those whose parents attained advanced degrees.
College-level courses, video introductions When considering an applicant’s academic credentials during the review process, the Office of College Admission “focuses on admitting students who demonstrate excellence in context,” Powell said in an interview with The Herald. But this context can differ based on the type of high school a student attended. Respondents who attended private high schools were far more likely to indicate that their school did not offer Advanced Placement or dual enrollment courses — which allow high school students to take courses at colleges — than their peers who attended public schools. Public school students also took far more advanced courses when offered. Private high schools that do not
offer AP classes “know that their students are not disadvantaged in the admissions process because admissions officers are truly trained to look at what the student took advantage of at their high school,” Harberson said. “In each case, we consider the rigor of coursework an applicant has taken relative to what is available to them,” Powell wrote. Another element of applications is the video introduction: After the permanent elimination of alumni interviews last year, the University still offers students the option to submit a two-minute video as part of their applications. The Office of College Admission encourages applicants to use this component to “tell us more about yourself, in your voice, beyond the information you provided in your application.” Over 80% of respondents chose to submit a video, with respondents who applied through early decision or who have legacy ties being especially likely to submit one.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
STAFF PROFILE
PAGE 9
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Ali Sethi starts as artist in residence at Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia Sethi will host study group on ragas for University students beginning in October BY NEIL MEHTA UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR This fall, Pakistani singer-songwriter Ali Sethi joined the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia as its inaugural artist in residence, the center announced in a September Instagram post. Sethi, whose single “Pasoori” with fellow singer Shae Gill became the most-streamed song on Spotify in Pakistan last year, performed at the Saxena Center’s inauguration last September. As the artist in residence, he will run a three-part study group on ragas — the melodic systems of classical music from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. As artist-in-residence, Sethi looks forward to “setting up a very unorth-
odox classroom in which we imbibe by sharing with each other,” he wrote to The Herald. “That and using the
with “Pasoori” being described as “stealthily subversive” by the New Yorker and his latest album “Paniya”
cafeteria!” he added. According to Saxena Center Director Ashutosh Varshney, the new position reflects the center’s shift from its original “heavily social-science based” focus to one that will “include the humanities more fully.” Varshney wrote in an email to The Herald that Sethi was chosen because of his “hugely popular concert” and talk delivered at the University last year. “The (Center’s) Steering Committee thought he would be an excellent artist to conduct a study group, where students could interact with him,” he wrote. Sethi describes his artistic style as “rooted in tradition but looking towards the future.” “It’s what we call ‘Nataak’ in masala flick lingo,” he added. His music earned critical acclaim,
labeled by Popula as securing “Sethi’s place as the modern-day maestro of ghazal.” Ghazal — an Arabic and South Asian poetry form dealing with themes like longing and love — inspires some of his own music, he told the audience at his 2022 performance at the University. Sethi recalled his own musical training, writing that he hopes to replicate the type of mentorship he received by interacting with students. “I really hope that I can impart the kind of pleasure through this course that I experienced in studying music in a traditional apprenticeship,” he wrote. “I hope that I can help the students find their inner voice.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 10, 2023.
COURTESY OF UMAR NADEEM VIA ALI SETHI
Ali Sethi describes his artistic style as “rooted in tradition but looking towards the future,” he wrote to The Herald. “It’s what we call ‘Nataak’ in masala flick lingo.”
CAMPUS EVENTS
Indigenous academic-activists discuss experiences in modern-day Russian state Panel addressed environmental disasters, Ukraine invasion, international doctrines BY SAM LEVINE UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR Students and community members filed into Rhode Island Hall Tuesday evening for a presentation from Vera Solovyeva and Pavel Sulyandziga, two U.S.-based academics from Indigenous communities in Russia’s Siberian and Far East regions. The presentation detailed the experiences of their peoples in modern-day Russia, particularly the context of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. Solovyeva, a postdoctoral student at George Mason University, said that while much of the world may regard Russia as a monolithic country of “blond people with blue eyes,” Russia is actually a federation of federal subjects home to 40 federally recognized Indigenous groups in Siberian, North and Far East Russia. Solovyeva, who is from the Sakha people of the Republic of Sakha, spoke in her presentation about the impacts of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine on Indigenous communities across the country. According to her research, many of the federal territories with large Indigenous populations have the highest rates of per capita deaths from the war in Ukraine. “People in ethnic regions, they see (the) opportunity to go to war as escaping from the poverty cycle,” Solovyeva explained. “They don’t have (the) opportunity to work anywhere, but they see that military schools are an opportunity to find good work.” When Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine in February 2022, many Indigenous people of Russia were sent to the front lines of the conflict, Foreign Policy has reported. Solovyeva shared anecdotes of relatives and friends who were mobilized to join the offensive with limited notice and scrambled to gather belongings and say goodbye to loved ones. The mobilization of young Indig-
ANISHA KUMAR / HERALD
Vera Solovyeva, who is from the Sakha people of Eastern Siberia, highlighted how many of the federal territories with large Indigenous populations also have the highest rates of per-capita deaths from the war in Ukraine. enous men has been a “big tragedy” for their communities, Solovyeva said. “Who will take care of our elders? And who will take care of our land?” In his presentation, Sulyandziga, Chairperson of the Board of the International Development Fund of Indigenous Peoples in Russia and a former member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, shared four stories of different Indigenous groups in Siberian, North and Far East Russia. Each story illustrated the triumphs and challenges Indigenous people have faced in demanding self-determination and fair treatment from the Russian federal government. Among these stories was one of his people, the Udege, who are native to
the Primorsky and Khabarovsk krais, two regions in the far eastern part of the country. “The last 30 years of our history has been defined by fighting for our rights, and it has been defined by war,” Sulyandziga, currently a visiting scholar at Dartmouth and the University of Maine School of Law, said in a speech translated from Russian. Also on the panel was Charles Norchi, a professor at the University of Maine School of Law. Norchi provided an overview of the international legal doctrines underpinning the right to self-determination, along with the Russian Federation’s commitments under international law and its own domestic law to protect Indigenous
peoples. The panel ended with a performance from Pavel Sulyandziga Jr., who wore traditional Udege dress and performed a song in Udege and Russian that had been composed by his father. The panel was organized by the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative and the Department of History, and was moderated by Bathsheba Demuth, associate professor of history and environment and society. The University is hosting Solovyeva as a Dean’s Visiting Professor in the Humanities and will return in November to continue engaging with
students and leading workshops, Demuth told The Herald after the panel. According to Demuth, she and Amanda Lynch, professor of environment and society, decided to organize the panel to bring more attention to the issue of Indigenous people in Russia being sent to fight the war in Ukraine. The panel was a “way to keep the ongoing conflict in Ukraine present in people’s minds and then to increase what people understand about the dimensions of a conflict,” Demuth said. “It’s complicated within Russia, and it’s complicated outside of Russia.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 11, 2023.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
COMMENTARY
Hudes ’27: How will we respond to yet another call to climate action? Upon my arrival at Brown, I was met with a call to climate action — as was every member of the class of 2027 who attended convocation. Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Kim
globe. Many may look to implement daily sustainable practices like recycling or installing solar panels as their way to take individual responsibility in
room for improvement — and student groups who criticize Brown for its failure to take extreme climate action have seen growth in recent years. But if our own job outcomes are any indication, we are
carbonizing industry. But even for those who reject the idea that we are responsible for keeping track of our individual emissions, the obligation to work in a decarbonizing industry is still compelling. If
Cobb, the director of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society and a member of the White House’s Intelligence Advisory Board, spoke passionately about the sense of urgency that our generation should act with while facing our climate inheritance. After hearing her powerful words, I was left wondering whether the average Brown student meaningfully engages in climate action at all. We need to recognize our individual — in addition to institutional — obligations to work toward greater environmental stewardship. But this means more than just participating in sustainable practices; it means going into decarbonizing industries. This includes companies that are approaching economic growth through sustainable pathways and have imbued reducing societal carbon emissions into the company’s core goals — companies such as energy data company Arcadia, the emissions tracking platform Watershed and First Mode, a company focused on decarbonizing heavy industry. This may seem drastic, but so is the reality of anthropogenic climate change. If we can’t acknowledge this and commit more to reducing emissions, can we really say that these calls to climate action have been answered — let alone heard — by the Brown community? So where do these individual obligations come from? Philosopher and economist John Broome argues that our moral obligations as individuals stem from how our current treatment of the climate will affect future generations; we owe it to them to reduce carbon emissions and slow climate change. Our personal contributions to climate change will impact the future in a way that, as human beings, we can’t extricate ourselves in the way institutions or corporations can. It is easier for institutions to ignore their moral responsibilities to future generations because the responsibility is dispersed
addressing the climate crisis. While these actions are critical in reducing individual emissions, they can only get us so far in fostering societal sustainability. We must be committed to further action — choosing to work directly in decarbonizing industries is the next step. By committing your career to
not consistent about prioritizing the environment in the pivotal decisions we make in our own lives. While some individuals may lack the financial stability to enter high-risk and sometimes low-paying environmental jobs, the vast majority of students at Brown do not. If we demand that Brown serious-
an industry that helps to reduce emissions, you’re giving yourself a chance to substantially affect environmental frameworks and promote collective change, in addition to any moves toward reducing your own carbon footprint. It is only by devoting our livelihoods to reshaping the larger systems that dictate our climate future that we can meaningfully shift unsustainable patterns and fulfill our moral responsibilities to future generations. So, are Brown students already doing this? Some are, but not many. Statistics provided by the Center for Career Exploration say that only 1% of those who responded (71% of the total graduating class of 2021) went into “Environment/Sustainability.” Additionally, for the classes of 2017 through 2021, only 53 individuals (out of the 75-84% of
ly work toward a sustainable future, we must hold ourselves accountable for doing the same. One common argument against individual responsibility is articulated by philosopher Walter Sinnott-Armstrong. Citing a simple joyride he might take in his SUV as an example, Armstrong deems individual carbon emissions as inconsequential with respect to the overall climate catastrophe. Armstrong claims that his trip wouldn’t directly result in the suffering of a future individual — that blame lies with society as a whole. As a result, he argues that his action is morally permissible, and environmental obligations should be placed solely on governments. In my eyes, Broome has the stronger argument and the more persuasive standard for environmen-
we truly want institutions to bear responsibility for resolving our environmental crisis, we must fortify them with our individual participation. Decarbonizing industries can only remain viable if we support it. The industry is inherently committed to advancing sustainability — as individual members of society, we must help it fulfill its potential to create collective change. In this respect, we are still the true actors capable of contributing to widespread progress. With this in mind, even if an institution or industry drives impact (as argued by Armstrong), individuals are still responsible for populating these industries and harnessing them to foster action. Some may perceive going into a decarbonizing industry as just finding another institution (like Brown) to project climate obligations onto. Regardless, if you insist on denying individual culpability, you ought to at least support decarbonizing industries as the key collection of institutions that fight the climate crisis. Professor Cobb’s call to action does not only apply to the minority that will choose to study environmental science — we must all live up to her articulated expectation: “As a Brown student, you are now part of a community that over many decades has continually redefined climate, environmental, sustainability and social justice leadership in higher education.” Our obligation to choose sustainable careers is one that we cannot and should not want to escape. To those who will soon depart Brown, lead by example as not just graduates of a sustainable university, but as a strong community of morally responsible agents fulfilling their obligations to future generations.
across the entirety of the company. As an individual, your obligation to the environment falls solely on you. This makes you uniquely positioned to counteract the moral issues created by a warming
students who reported each year) indicated they had plans to work in “Environment/Sustainability” within nine months of graduation. Brown’s institutional policies around climate change have
tal ethics. Based on his arguments, we hold an individual moral responsibility to reach net-zero carbon emissions, encompassing both the obligations to practice daily sustainability and to work in a de-
“ If we truly want institutions to
bear responsibility for resolving our environmental crisis, we must fortify them with our individual participation.
Paul Hudes ’27 can be reached at paul_hudes@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald. com.
Aizenberg ’26 : Taylor Swift should not be considered one of the greatest musicians With the widespread success of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, many are rushing to crown her as the greatest popstar of all time. Obviously, Taylor Swift’s music is good. It’s catchy. It’s a fun listen. Furthermore, she is prolific, having sold albums in record-breaking numbers, maintaining a position as one of the top artists on Spotify and filling stadiums all over the world in her recent Eras Tour. Evidently, she has created a brand to which Swifties are incredibly devoted. But many musical artists are capable of making catchy, popular and enjoyable music. What separates a good musician or band from a great one? A truly great musician sets themself apart in ways that transcend selling albums or making popular music. They excel in dimensions that mean more: variety of song topics, experimenting with different sounds and recording methods and making music with a meaningful message. These things have a real social impact, becoming bigger than the music itself, and push forward the development of culture as a whole. For all of Taylor Swift’s success, analyzing her by the criteria I have proposed tells me that she is good, but not great. Most of Taylor Swift’s songs do not vary much in composition. This prevents her from introducing new sounds that advance modern music, challenging listeners and perhaps even converting skeptics into fans. She has a notably large number of melodies that stay on a single note for long periods. Some may argue that this simplicity allows listeners to focus on the words and the meaning of the song, but I trust that most can understand a song’s message without being distracted by a complex melody.
For example, despite Childish Gambino’s “This is America” having many pace and tone changes, surely few listeners miss its strong political message. In fact, the complexity of the song strengthens its message because it forces listeners to pay attention and conveys the changing emotions behind each verse. Moreover, Taylor Swift’s songs display an unwillingness to try new sounds and produc-
Swift’s creative direction is one that resonates with millions of fans, but part of a great artist’s job is to introduce their fans to new sounds and genres. For instance, an element of the Beatles’ greatness was their innovation on songs like “Helter Skelter,” whose unprecedentedly noisy guitars are sometimes invoked as a precursor for the genre of heavy metal. Swift has even less variety in song topics
“ I am saying that Taylor Swift is
not a truly great musician. She is held back by a lack of risk in her musical compositions, repetitive song topics and a lack of social message.
ers. For example, Bob Marley — an artist I would consider great —helped create reggae, a new genre fusing soul, R&B, rock, ska and rocksteady. He did so by collaborating with many different producers at different studios. By contrast, many of Swift’s songs were recorded and produced by a single producer, Jack Antonoff. Obviously, this is not inherently bad, but it shows that she was content with proceeding in the same creative direction for a long time.
than she does in song compositions. Taylor Swift famously writes many songs about breakups. I do not fault her for writing songs about this specific topic — I am sure it is healing for her to sing about them, not to mention the comfort it brings to fans going through similar hardships. However, it is a bit disheartening that a single topic dominates so much of her output, especially a topic that plays it so safe. From Aretha Franklin’s challenges to sex-
ism and racism to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s songs railing against war and elitism, truly great musicians use their music to speak truth to power and comment on the current state of the world. Music is a powerful tool to make the world a better place. Unfortunately, Taylor Swift’s music does not seek to bring social change or comment on the world. Years ago, she notably said, “I don’t talk about politics because it might influence other people.” She later began to express some political views cautiously, but she still has relatively few songs about social issues, and none of these songs have an explicit message. Moreover, none of her most recent output comes close to touching on social issues. A single Instagram post of hers helped a nonprofit register more than 35,000 new voters – imagine the impact a hit song about voting could have. To reiterate, I am not saying that Taylor Swift is a bad musician. Her music is extremely well-liked and popular, and it makes many people happy. Rather, I am saying that Swift is not a truly great musician. She is held back by a lack of risk in her musical compositions, repetitive song topics and a lack of a social message. Ultimately, like other good artists, her music serves no purpose outside of being enjoyable to listen to — which is okay. Benjamin Aizenberg ’26 can be reached at benjamin_aizenberg@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@ browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 11
COMMENTARY
Noa Brown ’26: Brown’s parental leave policy leaves employees behind As a student interested in Reproductive Justice, I know that comprehensive paid parental leave is essential to the well-being of families. Brown’s policy, just six weeks of paid leave, is grossly inadequate.
most vulnerable. Union staff members encompass the highest concentration of staff of color at Brown, with large chunks of workers in hourly positions. With hourly employees receiving some of the lowest
stated. A 2019 study found that parents returning to work at least 12 weeks after childbirth experience lower rates of depressive symptoms than their colleagues who return to work sooner. Physical health
ment caused her to miss months of work. When she finally gave birth, there were more complications: a retained placenta which, weeks later, would lead to infection and hemorrhaging. Miraculously, my mom
It is time the University adopts a new policy that will serve all members of our community — with six months of paid leave, an additional six months of paid lactation breaks and child care subsidies of up to $13,000 based on income. Parental leave is critical for infant health outcomes. A 2005 study showed a 10-week extension of paid leave decreased post-neonatal mortality by a staggering 4.1%. Part of the increase in positive health outcomes may be attributed to higher rates of immunization, since inflexible work schedules are often cited as barriers to childhood vaccination. Notably, a 2012 study across 185 countries found that a mere 10% increase in the number of weeks of paid leave led to a 22 and 25% increase in polio and measles vaccinations. Other improvements can likely be attributed to increased rates of breast and chestfeeding, which is widely understood to promote overall health in infants and is similarly correlated to paid parental leave. An extended policy at Brown — up to six months, per UNICEF’s recommendation — could mean the difference between sickness and health. Brown’s current policy is not just dangerous in its insufficiency; it’s discriminatory. Financial pressure to return to work has historically stripped low-income families of their ability to breastfeed and chestfeed. Because race and class are highly linked in the US, the rates of chestfeeding in many communities of color are lower than in white ones — negatively impacting the overall health of newborns of color, especially Black newborns. In addition to paid family leave, Brown must institute a new policy that works against the national trend by also implementing an additional six months of paid at-work lactation breaks. Opponents of expanding Brown’s policy might point out that under the Rhode Island Parental and Family Medical Leave Act, employees can extend their parental leave an additional seven weeks un-
compensation at the University, the notion that all employees can choose to extend their leave is more fantasy than fact. And with the estimated average cost of infant care in Rhode Island being $13,696 annually, only a select group of highly compensated (and likely white) employees can afford to extend their leave beyond the paid six weeks. A $13,000
improves under extended parental leave as well; in Norway, a four-week extension of leave improved pain levels and rates of exercise among new parents. Comprehensive, paid parental leave policies save lives and promote well-being. To maintain a policy that falls short of this lacks reason and, frankly, is cruel.
stipend for child care in addition to paid leave would ensure that parents are prepared to meet these new costs, in addition to their existing cost of living. Given the historic and present entanglement between gynecology, obstetrics, enslavement and racially discriminatory healthcare, for Brown to uphold a policy that disproportionately affects women of color is more than ignorant; it’s racist. In addition, the U.S. government has a history of depriving communities of color, especially Indigenous and Black parents, of their parenthood. While different in its extent and intensity, the threat of a missed paycheck means that many women of color employed by Brown may be missing out on important early parenthood experiences because they are financially forced to return to work after six weeks — a time when babies have only just started to socially smile.
Those who oppose a more expansive leave policy might suggest that such a plan would cost Brown tremendously. But this resistance is short-sighted. The reality is that employers paying workers at all income levels have repeatedly found that comprehensive paid leave reduces attrition of women in the workplace, and, in one report, it was shown to increase productivity by 70% and morale by more than 80%. Simply put, when employees feel cared for, they want to do their jobs, and they want to do them well. This, at least, was my mother’s experience when she was pregnant 24 years ago. To this day, she feels tremendous gratitude for the generous parental leave that saw her through the arrival of my older sister. Having had most of her cervix removed after a bout of cervical cancer, my mom was considered high-risk from the start. Then she experienced a
was fine. And, perhaps more miraculously, she was paid through it all. I wish we lived in a country where this was the standard of care for parenting employees. But the reality is that my mom was privileged by her dual-income household, access to comprehensive insurance and a supportive family. She had so much going in her favor — and yet still reflects on these times as some of the most challenging in her life. What if she hadn’t been so lucky? What if she had needed to race back to work to make ends meet? That is the position in which Brown’s current policy risks putting many of their employees. And it’s a position that we know, independent of health conditions like my mom’s, puts lives in danger. It’s no secret that Brown has a reputation as a beacon of progressivism. It makes broad commitments on issues ranging from net-zero emissions to wrestling with its complex ties to enslavement. It imagines itself as a leader in Reproductive Justice too — in its discussions centering Reproductive Justice and scholarship and in its offering of a concentration in Reproductive Health to interested medical students. But these offerings are not enough. Reproductive Justice requires the fundamental human rights of dignity, health care and a living wage that supports the well-being of families. If Brown wants to do more than talk the talk, the University must start with an equitable parental leave policy that uplifts all community members. Brown has the resources it needs to make profound changes in the lives of the parents it employs and to be the leader in Reproductive Justice that it claims to be. It’s time for students to hold the administration accountable. It’s time for Brown to walk the walk.
paid. But unpaid leave does little to promote positive health outcomes for the parents or children who are
The positive impact of extending paid parental leave on the health of all parents cannot be over-
number of complications that landed her on bedrest for 23-and-three-quarters hours a day. Her treat-
“ Reproductive Justice requires the
fundamental human rights of dignity, health care and a living wage that supports the well-being of families.
Noa Brown ’26 can be reached at noa_brown@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
Rahman ’26: Medical students face an undue burden of debt According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average physician today graduates with about $200K worth of medical student loan debt. While physicians, who are amongst society’s highest earners, can undoubtedly bear these costs, we ought to consider rethinking how we finance medical education in order to diversify our medical workforce and improve patient outcomes. Brown must do more to provide adequate financial support for medical students in order to continue to attract the next generation of physician leaders. It’s no secret that the United States currently faces a shortage of doctors across specialties. This deficit is felt most acutely in primary care specialties, which provide some of the most cost-effective care in the American system. However, given lower starting salaries and equivalent amounts of educational debt, the current system disincentivizes and places a disproportionate financial burden on those who pursue this noble field. Furthermore, while diverse practitioners provide better outcomes for patients, more than half of medical students hail from families with income levels in the top 20% and the racial demographics of medical students do not reflect that of the nation more broadly. Shifting the cost burden from individual physicians to society at large will provide access for students from historically underrepresented groups and create pathways to pursue, lower-paying careers in primary care or research unburdened by medical debt. This increase in diversity and change in specialty choice will directly augment patient care. Additionally, medical debt is an equity issue as Black and brown students are disproportion-
ately burdened by it. Furthermore, reducing loan expectations will also likely help address burnout and substance abuse among medical students. Medical schools, such as Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School, have a tremendous impact on the communities in which they reside. In the state of Rhode Island, about 8% of physicians are Alpert graduates and 59% of in-state practitioners are affiliated with the school. Additionally, the University’s Division of Biology
Rhode Island legislature, our affiliated healthcare systems and other stakeholders ought to internalize medical school costs by offering more loan forgiveness and funding for the state’s medical institutions. While state and federal funding are critical to ensure the continued supply of new physicians, the University on its own can play a role in lessening the financial burden. While Warren Alpert does currently provide financial aid to medical students, it does not meet 100% of
“ Healers play an important role in society, and medical education is a public good that deserves to be funded as such.
and Medicine draws in more than $55 million yearly in external research funding, some of which is put toward advancing groundbreaking cures for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, ALS, and cancer. By keeping the cost of medical school high, Warren Alpert and comparable institutions fail to account for the benefits that come with attracting a more diverse and potentially better-qualified student body, who would ultimately bring advanced care, innovative research and jobs to the state. Therefore, the
demonstrated need and the school expects students to take out a base loan before providing aid. This results in an average debt burden of $170K which is much greater than Columbia’s $98K, Cornell’s $105K, Yale’s $106K, Harvard’s $108K and Penn’s $128K. To remain competitive, Brown ought to fundraise aggressively to improve the state of financial aid at Alpert. We should follow the lead of Columbia, Cornell and Yale in removing base loan expectations or that of Penn in providing full-tuition merit schol-
arships to a significant number of its students. In order for Alpert to live up to its promise as a top medical school, we need to reign in costs for students in order to attract the best and brightest providers to Rhode Island. Medical school, much like undergraduate education, should not be open only to those who can afford it. Students in the Program in Liberal Medical Education, Brown’s eight-year baccalaureate/MD program come to Brown on the promise of generous financial aid during their undergraduate years and are left shocked when faced with the high loan burdens at Alpert. Building on the success of its BrownTogether fundraising campaign and realizing the vision to expand our research footprint, Brown has a unique opportunity to make its medical education more accessible and improve the well-being of its students and the communities they will serve. Freeing doctors from the burden of debt, creating opportunities for diverse practitioners and giving them the ability to enter fields like primary care, will improve the quality of care offered within the state. But this effort will require coordination and collaborative investment from government, community partners and medical schools alike. Healers play an important role in society, and medical education is a public good that deserves to be funded as such. Tas Rahman ’26 can be reached at tasawwar_rahman@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
ARTS & CULTURE
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LIFE
Brown Film Magazine sparks conversations about film theory on campus Student group publishes semesterly issue, aims to expand campus film scene BY RYA VALLABHANENI ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Formed about a year and a half ago, Brown Film Magazine is one of the youngest student-run publications on campus. BFM currently publishes weekly online content and a semesterly digital magazine, with articles ranging from film reviews and deep dives into directors to examinations of film theory. In starting the publication, Editors-in-Chief Will Havens ’25 and Dillon Sheekey ’25 sought to add something new to Brown’s already robust film scene, which includes groups like Brown Motion Pictures and the Ivy Film Festival. “Brown has so many amazing publications but none of them were filtered through the lens of entertainment and film,” Sheekey said. Building on the University’s “thriving” film community and the theory track of the Modern Culture and Media concentration, Sheekey added that BFM aims to provide students a “space where people who are interested in journalism and interested in film can combine those interests.” “We saw BMP as the club exten-
HEE WON CHUNG / HERALD
sion of the production track, but there were so many students that were interested in theory — part of it was just giving them a space,” Havens said. BFM is currently comprised of about 20 staff writers, nine designers and five editors, according to Sheekey. Building the magazine’s staff from scratch was “hectic at first,” Havens said. But eventually, all of the necessary systems and structures began to fall into place. “It takes a while to build your
core community and group of people,” Sheekey added. Staff Editor Mayrav Estrin ’25, who joined BFM last semester, sees the publication as a continuation of the work they have already been doing for years. “I have my own film blog and I’ve had that since I was a junior in high school,” Estrin said. “I usually write about movies that I like that just made me think deeper.” The last piece Estrin published for BFM focused on the 2006 film “Little Miss Sunshine” and its ex-
ploration of the winner-loser effect, which Estrin said remains relevant “even though that movie is more than ten years old.” Last semester, Estrin also wrote about her experience attending the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. While her participation in the program occurred independently of BFM, she was able to bring some thoughts on the event back to the magazine. In the future, Havens said that he would like to try to acquire free passes to local film festivals so that
other writers have the chance to publish their experiences attending such events. To further diversify the content of the magazine, he added that he also “wants to push more interviews this year.” Being a relatively new student organization, BFM still lacks the funding to produce a print edition of its semesterly issue, which is one of the publication’s main goals. According to Havens, this can pose challenges to keeping the club’s members engaged, as “people really like to have something physical that they can show off that they worked on.” Nonetheless, Sheekey pointed out that the magazine still shares a lot in common with print publications. “Even if we don’t have print yet, just making a publication that resembles a print one, and putting it out there on our website keeps that dream alive — and allows … designers to create really cool spreads,” he said. Publishing solely in a digital format also makes the magazine available to a wide readership — “it’s so accessible — anyone can read it,” Estrin said. The submission deadline for BFM’s fall 2023 semesterly issue is Oct. 29, with a tentative publication date in early December. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 9, 2023.
FILM REVIEW
‘My Sailor, My Love’ lacks subtlety, presents surface-level characters Family drama fails to make substantial impression, lacks meaningful narrative
the characters are presented as both vague and general. Cliched moments are all too common, which further contributes to this lack of subtlety. When picking apples, for example, Howard and Annie awkwardly graze their hands along the same piece of fruit that’s been plucked from a tree — they exchange a bashful glance, meant to hint at their blossoming love. Except, it’s not a hint,
BY NED KENNEDY SENIOR STAFF WRITER Content warning: This story mentions suicide. It’s as much a love story as it is a story about falling out of love. Though Klaus Härö’s 2022 film “My Sailor, My Love” capitalizes on melodrama to create an emotionally charged narrative, the film shot on an island off the Irish coast lacks a specificity that ultimately renders it vague and a bit cliched. Howard (James Cosmo), an older man and retired sailor, lives alone in a grand house overlooking the Irish coast — he spends his days mostly alone, occasionally weaving and frequently sitting in his dark living room in front of the fireplace. His house is disheveled: Framed photographs cluster the walls, dishes pile up in the sink and dust accumulates on tabletops. It’s clear that Howard is unfit to adequately care for himself. Howard’s daughter, Grace (Catherine Walker), visits her father often to help with his household obligations — but it’s help that is certainly not welcomed. Grace’s efforts are met with biting hostility from Howard, who resents her for making the effort to care for him. It’s an agonizing relationship that deeply affects both parties. Their relationship is made worse by the negligence of Howard’s sons, who make little effort
COURTESY OF SIGNATURE ENTERTAINMENT
Throughout the film, a question looms over Howard and Annie: What do the two main love interests see in each other? to care for their aging father. At best, it’s an uncomfortable dynamic to watch on screen. Eventually, Grace places an advertisement for a housekeeper on the bulletin board of a local pub — an extra set of hands to help care for her father would allow her to put greater effort into her failing marriage. It’s Annie (Bríd Brennan) who answers Grace’s call. Like the lifting of fog on an Irish morning, the film’s earliest moments are characterized by a haziness that clings to each shot. Particularly inside Howard’s house, the hazy shots prevent the audience from getting a clear sense of the interior’s makeup: Shadows cling to corners and faces appear almost as silhouettes. The filming presents a facade that initially prevents viewers from seeing the characters clearly. Hazy shots are contrasted by wide-sweeping panoramas of the Irish
coast. These shots come to appear regularly throughout the film, yet they add little to the plot. Apart from gesturing towards Howard’s past life as a sailor, these shots generally appear arbitrary and break with the film’s focus on the mundane. Eventually, Annie arrives for her first day of work at Howard’s home with a bright enthusiasm. She goes about the house merrily, completing chores with lightness. She makes dinner for Howard at the end of her shift — as the bitter man he is, he takes one bite and refuses to eat the rest. He orders her to leave. Howard’s rudeness is rectified by a simple apology the next day when he goes into town with a bushel of yellow flowers for Annie. She accepts his apology all too quickly, agreeing to return to his home for work in the coming days — an exchange that lacks believability. It’s on these uneasy grounds that the plot
begins in earnest and their romantic relationship begins to emerge. Just as Howard begins to love anew, Grace’s marriage is jeopardized. She refuses to talk with her husband who, by all accounts, expresses concern for her mental wellbeing. Grace is an obstacle to herself, the care she directs toward her father impeding her from connecting with her husband. Her past trauma — having to care for her late mother before she committed suicide — proves another plot point that restricts Grace from empathizing with her husband. All the while, Howard falls in love with Annie. She gives him a new lease on life. Before long, Grace begins to express contempt for her father’s new relationship. The juxtaposition between the two relationships exemplifies the overwraught nature of the film. Most scenes lack subtlety. Even in the peculiar circumstances the film presents, most of
but an explicit tell. A question hangs over the film: What does Annie see in Howard? The general lack of knowledge about each protagonist makes it hard to gauge the answer. Sure, their love is special because they’re both old — but what is there beyond that? A positive attribute of the film lies in its motif of photographs. Howard is connected to his past life — his deceased wife, absent sons and Grace. The photographs — alongside the trinkets and artifacts that intersperse the home — serve as a record of a crumbling family that is put in contact with a new, emerging one. It’s interesting to watch Annie and Howard’s relationship develop in the presence of these memories. It’s perhaps even more interesting to witness the conflict that defines the second half of the film in their presence. While “My Sailor, My Love” is entertaining throughout, the film’s lack of subtlety renders it less impactful. It’s a decent watch for fans of melodrama and Irish cinema, but offers little for everyone else. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 4, 2023.
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ARTS & CULTURE
MUSIC REVIEW
Success, lust attempt to fuel Doja Cat’s new album ‘Scarlet’ Singer’s latest record moves away from old style, lacks memorable tracks BY DAPHNE DLUZNIEWSKI SENIOR STAFF WRITER Earlier this year, Doja Cat mocked her fans for enjoying her old “mediocre pop” music, suggesting that she had plans to start moving away from the genre in her future projects. Since then, fans have been eagerly awaiting to discover what Doja Cat’s next album would sound like. After great anticipation, Doja Cat released “Scarlet” on Sept. 22. And while it’s certainly stylistically distinct from her previous releases, the album lacks the infectious, stuck-in-your-head allure that made her records “Hot Pink” (2019) and “Planet Her” (2021) so popular. Doja Cat’s half-baked attempt to escape the confines of pop music is commendable, but her new songs do not impress enough to justify this shift. The songs on “Scarlet” can be divided into two categories: bold confrontations of Doja Cat’s haters and softer reflections on her satisfaction with life. In toying with these disparate themes, she had the potential to make a dynamic album, but many of the tracks are indistinguishable from each other, making it difficult for listeners to tell where one track ends and the next begins. Doja Cat opens the album with “Paint the Town Red,” which still has the poppier quality of her earlier work. The song was
released as a single Aug. 4 and features a sample of Dionne Warwick’s “Walk on
like we don’t give a s––” over and over again.
By” looping in the background. With the lyrics, she defends her fame and embraces her status as a wildly successful musician. While the song is catchy, its lack of variation makes it drone on without any interesting developments to keep listeners hooked. Doja Cat basks in her accomplishments and shuts down her critics in the next two songs. But again, the tracks sound quite similar to each other. In “Demons,” Doja Cat taunts these critics by asking, “How my demons look / Now that my pockets full.” She then flaunts these full pockets in “Wet Vagina,” using her wetness as a metaphor for the fact that she is “dripping” with wealth. While the song signals her attempt at a more rap-oriented style, it ultimately ends up being a lesser-than, girl-bossified version of Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP.” The album turns Doja Cat’s defenses outward at her competition in the following tracks, “F*ck the Girls (FTG)” and “Ouchies,” in an attempt to establish her stark independence from everyone around her. The energy slows with “97,” whose mellower, R&B tune is overshadowed by how the singer repeats “Looks
The theme of the album switches completely with “Gun.” Full of sexual innuendos — some more subtle than others — the production of the track is rem-
iniscent of the upbeat, effervescent style of her song “Kiss Me More” from “Planet Her.” The next songs, “Go Off” and “Shutcho,” continue this lightness with their airy vocals and easygoing rhythm. Certain to be one of the most popular tracks from the album, “Agora Hills” is a dreamy anthem about wanting to show off her lover, a stark contrast from the satanic themes Doja Cat embraced for this album’s promotion. By adopting a
valley girl-esque intonation during the first verses and inserting cheesy voicemails throughout, Doja Cat almost takes on a brand new persona with this song. Love continues to drive this segment of the record with “Can’t Wait,” in which she sings about all of the things she will do to remain close to her lover. Her hypnotic vocals elevate the chorus, but the song falls into the trap of being too long and too repetitive once again. Next up on the album are “Often” and “Love Life,” laid-back, rhythmic tracks that successfully satisfy Doja Cat’s goal to break away from pop. But while they may be different from her other discography, there is not enough of a contrast between the two songs. The energy picks up slightly with “Skull and Bones,” the intrigue of which lies beyond the catchy beat and floaty instrumentals. In the lyrics, Doja Cat addresses criticisms that she has sold her soul to the devil to achieve her fame. Dispelling these conspiracy theories, she sings: “The only thing I sold was a
record.” “Attention,” which was released as a single June 16, follows with glittery instrumentals and hypnotic vocals. With this track, Doja Cat seems to be addressing listeners when she says, “You follow me, but you don’t really care about the lyrics.” Earlier this summer, Doja Cat stirred up controversy after scoffing at her fans’ parasocial relationships with her. And after losing almost 200,000 followers on Instagram, she posted that she now felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her. The title, then, is almost seeping with irony — she really wouldn’t mind doing without the attention. The penultimate track “Balut” is somewhat of a boring wind-down for the album. It joins the monotony of “Often” and “Love Life” and leaves listeners abandoning whatever excitement they may have generated with the previous few songs. She attempts to bring this energy back with “WYM Freestyle,” which revives the confrontational attitude from the start of the album. But what she might have intended to be an explosive finale to her proposed musical revolution ends up just mimicking the same styles of the earlier “Scarlet” tracks. Pared down, “Scarlet” could have made its mark as an innovative triumph in Doja Cat’s discography, but as it stands now, there are too many tracks that get lost in the weeds. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 4, 2023.
CLUB FEATURE
Undergraduate publication Brown Journal of Medical Humanities highlights personal narratives within medicine
After publishing first issue, BJMH hopes to receive new submissions, expand community BY ISABEL HAHN SENIOR STAFF WRITER There is no shortage of undergraduate-run publications on campus, covering everything from public health to poetry. Now joining their ranks is the Brown Journal of Medical Humanities, a publication covering the intersection of medicine and the arts. The journal published its inaugural issue last spring. This year, its editors continue to work toward publishing their second issue and expanding BJMH’s reach across campus. Focusing on human narratives within the field of medicine and healthcare, the BJMH aims to be a literary platform for interdisciplinary student work that unites storytelling and health-related sciences. Topics that fall under medical humanities include medical anthropology, health politics and disability justice, according to the journal’s website. In BJMH’s past issue, published work included creative nonfiction essays detailing personal experiences in the medical field, interpretive artwork and poetry offering abstract expressions of tangible sciences. The journal was founded to fill what co-Editor-in-Chief Byron Butaney ’25 thought was a gap in the
types of medical journals on campus. “A lot of them were very STEM-focused and not a lot of them addressed the intersection between medicine and the various humanities,” he said. “There’s a lot of important aspects of medicine beyond the physiological or the biological, (especially) how humans relate to healthcare and their experiences with it,” said Adeline Allen ’25, the BJMH’s chief of staff. “We look at humanism and creativity, and building a community (as) some of our main goals.” The BJMH prioritizes diversity in the genres and subject matters of the submissions they publish, staff told The Herald. “We had a lot of art, some poetry … we even had some comic strips,” Allen said. “We also had more nonfiction personal narratives and stories about projects that students have conducted with the medical humanities.” One example is Annika Coleman ’24’s “Snapshots,” an essay featured in the first issue. Coleman, a senior double concentrating in Biology and Hispanic Studies, described her essay as “field notes with commentary.” The piece connects what Coleman was seeing in her work at the Rhode Island Free Clinic to her knowledge of cultural health and related topics discussed in her Spanish classes, she said. “I’m super interested in how much science can learn from humanities
(and what) humanities can learn from science,” Coleman said. She also emphasized her passion for “expressing and talking about experiences of illness and making medicine more human.” The BJMH is sponsored by the Cogut Institute for the Humanities, which supports scholars and departments across the University working between different humanities disciplines, according to the website overview. According to Gregory Kimbrell, communications manager at the Cogut Institute, the Cogut team helps manage funding and printing for the BJMH and coordinates special events. “(Many people) overlook the value of the humanities to ongoing conversations in the world,” Kimbrell said. “Talking to the people who are most impacted …is actually important for finding the right kinds of solutions. The Brown Journal of Medical Humanities is very much about
bringing to the medical conversation perspectives that have not historically been brought to the table.” As of now, the BJMH is actively seeking student submissions, with their submission window open until mid-November. “We really want to try to get our name out there, so that we can have people from a wide variety of backgrounds submit,” Butaney said. “We’re really trying to get a diverse set of experiences.” In addition to finalizing their second issue, the BJMH team hopes to foster a closeknit comm u nity with a shared passion for health-
care and the humanities. “We work really hard to make an amazing product that we’re all very proud of and can’t wait to share,” Allen said. “But we want to make sure that everyone feels really integrated along the way. We’re focusing a lot of our initiatives on furthering that community feeling.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 5, 2023.
JULIE WANG / HERALD
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SCIENCE & RESEARCH
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
‘Hidden gems’: Students explore terrain of state in new EEPS course ‘New England Field Geology’ teaches geological mapping, hands-on skills to ‘read rocks’ BY ELISE HAULUND CONTRIBUTING WRITER Armed with waterproof notebooks and an “underlying assumption that things are worth investigating,” students in a new geology course at the University are traveling to the far edges of Rhode Island to observe, measure and map rocks, according to Eben “Blake” Hodgin, assistant professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences. EEPS 1250: “New England Field Geology” is teaching hands-on fieldwork skills to 11 students over the course of nine field trips during the semester. Taught by Hodgin, the class is open to both undergraduate and graduate students. The course covers a range of geological topics and how they can reveal the history of New England, Hodgin said. A field trip to Narragansett Pier in southern Rhode Island emphasized granite outcrops, and a trip to Nahant, Massachusetts exposed students to rock structures that contain evidence of some of the earliest fossils. An upcoming field trip to Block Island, southwest of Newport, will allow students to study deformed Pleistocene glacial strata. “There’s a lot of folks who, if they’re out there and they can make an observation that resonates with them, then it’ll stick with them,” Hodgin said, speaking to the importance of fieldwork. The central purpose of developing hands-on skills for geological fieldwork caught the interest of Kaiyuan Wang GS, a first-year graduate student in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. “Textbooks become tangible,” Wang said. “You can apply what you learn from a textbook, from classroom settings, into the
real world and it equips you with knowledge to read rocks, to interpret landforms (and) to really know the physical environment that shapes human society.” The primary field skill of the class is geological mapping — the sometimes-challenging process of labeling rock types and formations — Hodgin said. The course also fosters an awareness of surroundings and problem-solving skills that can be applied to an array of careers in the geoscience field, such as environmental consulting. “A lot of people who take this class aren’t going to end up making geologic maps (for) a living, so a lot of it is trying to develop skills that are used for other things,” said Isaiah Olds-Campanile ’24, the course’s teaching assistant. “Being able to go out in the field and identify properties of things and how they behave can be applied” to other professions. “New England Field Geology” is not the only class on campus based around field trips. BIOL 0940D: “Rhode Island Flora: Understanding and Documenting Local Plant Diversity” also takes students to different sites across the Ocean State. This type of hands-on study “gives students a different window into why they may or may not want to be a scientist,” said Will Malloy ’25, the BIOL 0940D teaching assistant. But because space in these courses is limited and terrain is often physically inaccessible, the opportunity for this hands-on experience might be exclusive, Malloy pointed out. For those who do get to experience it, the geology of New England is a “hidden gem,” Olds-Campanile said. The region has many distinctive, unique features, “even if it doesn’t hit you in the face as much as the Grand Canyon or the Sierras,” Hodgin said. It takes “a little more imagination to fully appreciate some of the geology.” One unique feature of New England the course investigates is evidence of the Great
Unconformity, a period of time missing in the rock record, along the Appalachian Trail. Another process preserved in the region is the Wilson Cycle, which describes the openings and closings of oceans during the assembly and disassembly of supercontinents. Hodgin and Olds-Campanile worked together over the summer to put together the course syllabus and select field trip sites. The pair narrowed the options to the final nine on the syllabus after visits to numerous sites and input from professors at other universities in the area. The terrains carry a certain degree of danger, Hodgin said. Wang recalled falling into a river when a branch he was holding onto broke, but he treats “this little injury as a mark of honor.” The recent rainy weather hasn’t helped. “Once we go into the middle of woods, with a heavy layer of organic debris, it’s kind of not too nice to walk on if it’s soaked in water, full of earthworms,” Wang said. “The soil is slippery. By the end of the day, most people have their socks soaked.” Squelchy socks aside, Wang said knowing about his surroundings has helped him better enjoy them. “Before moving down to Rhode Island and Providence, I was thinking ‘Wow, I’m gonna move to a boring place. The state is so flat, so boring,’” he said. But the class has changed Wang’s mind. “Now, when I go out — even if it’s a little bit flat — if I see a rock, I can read the history of the rock,” he said. “It’s like a good book. I know what has happened in this place in the past, hundreds of millions of years ago. And that aspect of the course, of learning about Earth history in New England, makes me better appreciate this place.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 3, 2023.
COURTESY OF KAIYUAN WANG
Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences undergraduate Gabriel Traietti ‘25 poses on rocky cliffs at Lodge Park, in Nahant, Mass., on September 17.
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UNIVERSITY NEWS
INSTITUTIONAL EQUITY
A look into Brown’s Native American and Indigenous collections Library collections highlight history of Native American and Indigenous people BY FINN KIRKPATRICK ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR While the John Carter Brown and John Hay libraries have housed Native American and Indigenous materials within their collections in the past, there had never previously been a cohesive curation to them. That was until Kimberly Toney, the inaugural coordinating curator for Native American and Indigenous collections, was brought on board in July 2022 to help the libraries expand this field of knowledge on College Hill and beyond. Currently, most of Toney’s work at the two libraries centers around contextualizing the materials already at the University rather than acquiring new ones. “It’s not necessarily about reconfiguring the collection or even adding to the collection,” Toney said. “I’m here to sort of help think through what exists here, how it’s described here, how folks do or do not feel like they have equitable access to the materials here and how we think mindfully about stewarding them or taking care of them.” The JCB’s Native American and Indigenous collections, which primarily focus on American materials up to the mid-19th century, were mostly written by non-Native voices — usually missionaries or ar-
PAYMENTS FROM PAGE 1 of what is possible when communities and their major anchor institutions work together,” Mayor Brett Smiley said in a press release. The agreements have drawn criticism from student activists, who believe the University should pay more to the city. Over 60 undergraduates attended a public hearing Sept. 26 to dissent against the agreements’ terms. “I watched the University snap up properties in the Jewelry District, taking them out of the tax base, and then asking the city … to (think) $8 million a year… is enough,” Isaac Slevin ’25, Sunrise Brown hub coordinator, testified. Students also took issue with the “Credits Against Payments Condition” stipulation in the MOA, which provides paths for the University to reduce its annual voluntary payments.
NATHAN GOLD / HERALD
chitects of land deals, according to Toney. These works largely “deal with histories of indigenous populations that suffered under the violence of settler colonialism,” Toney said. Toney hopes the curated works will open up conversations about the relationship between Native American and Indigenous history and forces of settler colonialism — a relationship that brought about institutions such as Brown. Because the JCB is open to the general public, the collections provide new opportunities for those outside the University community to critically engage with these materials. “We want to think about how we take care of those things in a way that (gives access to) communities who are here today and are still connected to these materials,” Toney said. Part of this community-engagement initiative comes in the form of the recently announced JCB Research Fellowship for Indigenous Communities, which “supports community-prioritized and community-based research that would benefit from research time in the JCB’s collections, that could be undertaken, for example, by Native or Indigenous scholars, Elders, Tribal librarians or archivists and knowledge keepers,” according to the library website. The fellowship is not restricted to academics working in traditional institutions of higher education, but rather open to the general research community
of Native and Indigenous scholarship. Toney’s new curatorial role opens up opportunities to bring voices with personal attachments to the materials into the University. “I’ve invited my own Nipmuc relatives and Narragansett relatives and Wampanoag folks to come and just sit and talk about things and think about things without any kind of need to generate paperwork,” Toney said. They “think about how these materials might be used by a community that’s connected to them or not, (and) how we might think about them in the institution or talk about them and describe them.” “The way people represent themselves, want to be represented, talk about themselves, want to share things or do share things, is, I think, directly related to or can be directly put into conversation with what that means for how we’ve talked about people or for people for a long time in these institutions,” she added. Toney showed The Herald some of the materials in the JCB’s collection — a bible, land deeds and documents from the U.S. Boundary Commission. Known as “Eliot’s Indian Bible,” the bible was first published in British North America. While its intention was entirely for religious conversation at the time, it has since become a crucial text for preserving the language it was written in — a generic form of the Algonquian languages, according to Toney. The existence of the text highlights a
crucial question Toney says she continues to work through — how to actively understand the Native experience through the lens of colonial publications. Toney sees their abstract existence as immeasurably crucial, in spite of the means they were created for. Toney said that once she learned about the book’s production by “real Native people” and its capturing of “the languages that they were speaking to each other,” she became more comfortable with its existence. Toney added that while she is sad the Bible was written with the intent of furthering colonialism, she sees her community, the people that she connects with and the importance of learning language in the book. “I’m glad that we have access to what lives in these pages,” she said. Other materials in the collection include two land deeds, one of which was for the land that would eventually become Warwick. These documents show firsthand the methods colonizers took to seize land in the 17th century. They also show the cultural barriers that were exploited. For example, since the Native tribes in the area were not writing cultures, the members who signed these documents did so with pictographs instead of written words, Toney explained. These documents remain pertinent today when considering the land we all walk on, Toney said, particularly at an Ivy League institution. “I often try to stay very
grounded in place when I’m here, so that, for me, is definitely tied to land and how we think about land and how we relate to land, how we occupy land.” The final shown material was a book from the collection of John Russell Bartlett, a former librarian at the JCB in the 19th Century as well as U.S. Boundary Commissioner. It is a collection of backand-forth letters about the work of the Boundary Commission, including watercolor drawings. The work shows the attitudes of the U.S. government influenced by beliefs in manifest destiny and demonstrates the reach of JCB’s collection beyond the Northeast. Outside of the JCB, collections are also housed in the John Hay Library. These materials are complementary to what is in the JCB and include work from contemporary Indigenous voices — including comics, zines, poetry and other modes of expression. The Hay also houses growing collections focused on language and food sovereignty. Comparing more contemporary materials with what is in the JCB, Toney said: “Supporting the voices of contemporary Native folks can do a lot to help us think about how that is or is not happening in the earlier sources, and what that looks like.” For Toney, both collections are “critical for us understanding each other, or sort of shaping a world — a way of viewing the world but also a way of being in the world and relating to each other.”
Brown can qualify for reductions to its annual MOA payments by funding or contributing to taxable development projects or selling institutional property, which would return tax-exempt property to the tax roll. For either case, reductions would be valued at 50% of the new tax revenue, The Herald previously reported. Brown can also reduce its annual voluntary payments by the complete value of direct investments into the city. Financing development projects such as workforce housing, childcare or public parks in collaboration with the city or a private and public sector partner would qualify the University for this credit. Brown will also acquire four city blocks through the MOA in the Jewelry District — a block on Cushing Street that was in the initial deal was not included by Thursday. The MOA also includes the extension of a parking agreement outlined in the now-expired 2012 MOA.
“I do firmly believe that this agreement is a valuable opportunity to foster a predictable but also fair and sustainable financial relationship with these institutions while promoting the continued growth of the city of Providence,” Councilor John Goncalves ’13 MA’15 said at the City Council meeting Thursday evening. Three of the four institutions — Brown, RISD and Johnson & Wales — in the MOU are in Ward 1, Goncalves’ ward. “It is no secret that I have been very vocal about our large tax-exempt institutions paying their fair share to the City of Providence to alleviate the burden on people across our city, as things become increasingly more unaffordable,” Goncalves wrote in a message to The Herald. “We pushed internally for the best possible agreement. We didn’t get everything that we wanted and pushed for but negotiations come with compromises.” “On a night when President Paxson
discussed the importance of honest leadership with former prime minister Jacinda Ardern, Brown’s shameful PILOT deals passed through City Council,” Slevin wrote in a message to The Herald on behalf of the Brown Activist Coalition. “Instead of demonstrating principles of integrity and equity, Brown shepherded through agreements that deprive the city of funds, help the school take more land out of the tax base and limit Council’s ability to regulate Brown until 2043.” “Amid a $3,000,000,000 capital campaign, Brown couldn’t scrounge up the dollars or dignity that our city deserves,” Slevin added. “This agreement, while not perfect, establishes a mechanism that does forge a greater partnership with these institutions to provide, again, reasonable contributions to the greater Providence community,” Goncalves said. Goncalves commended Smiley and the four institutions for “good
faith” negotiations since the spring. “In spite of pressures to compel Universities to do more, our lack of legal authority and/or leverage do make these voluntary agreements an important step in the right direction for the taxpayers of Providence, and we couldn’t afford to squander this critical agreement. The work continues,” Goncalves wrote. “We’re proud to have cemented Brown’s investments in the success of Providence for decades to come,” said President Christina Paxson P’19 MD’20 in a press release. “The agreements are rooted in a spirit of partnership and a commitment to helping the city and its residents thrive. We’re excited to expand significantly upon the myriad ways in which Brown makes a meaningful and positive impact in our local community.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 5, 2023.
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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2023
UNIVERSITY NEWS CAMPUS EVENTS
Former New Zealand PM discusses optimism, leadership during tumultuous times Jacinda Ardern addresses Brown community in 102nd Ogden Memorial Lecture BY OWEN DAHLKAMP SENIOR STAFF WRITER Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, captured the attention of staff, students and community members as she reflected on her time serving in public office in a Thursday lecture. In the Pizzitola Sports Center, a crowd gathered to hear her speak at the 102nd Stephen A. Ogden Jr. ’60 Memorial Lecture on International Affairs. While leading through the COVID-19 pandemic, an Islamophobic mass shooting and the looming climate crisis, Ardern still managed to maintain her optimistic attitude through her tenure. Ardern was adamant that she never intended to become prime minister. Before her professional career, she was involved in student government during secondary school, implementing changes to the uniform dress code. Early in her career, she worked for former PM Helen Clark and had a close-up look “observing her as a prime minister.” Working as an aide reaffirmed her feelings that “not only was being a member of Parliament not for me, being prime minister was for no one.” She left New Zealand soon after. With a change of heart, Ardern re-entered Kiwi politics years later in 2008 as a member of Parliament. As she climbed the ranks of leadership, she remained assured that she had no desire to become the PM. Then the leader of her party, Andrew Little, resigned seven weeks before the general election, leaving her to lead the party and assume
TALIA LEVINE / HERALD
Under Jacinda Ardern’s leadership, New Zealand outlawed all military-style semiautomatic weapons and assault rifles. the position of prime minister. “There was not a day when I woke up and I thought ‘I should be prime minister,’” she said. “I woke up one day, and I was prime minister.” Assuming office in 2017, Ardern faced no end to challenges that caused self-doubt. In March 2019, a gunman opened fire in two New Zealand mosques, killing 51 people. The massacre was live-streamed on Facebook and subsequently circulated on other platforms. Ardern described a national period of “complete shock, grief and disbelief” before the country quickly moved onto “a state of anger.” Briefed by government officials, she learned that the guns used in the shooting were obtained legally. “I remember just feeling sick when I heard that,” Ardern said. But she decided to seize the moment and make change. Working with members of all parties, New Zealand outlawed all military-style semiautomatic weapons and
assault rifles. One year later, the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread around the world. In response, Ardern and her government shut down their borders to prevent the spread. Ardern emphasized the need for transparency about what they did and didn’t know about the virus as they worked to address it. “Conceding that we had knowledge gaps wasn’t just the truth,” she said. “It was a critical path to building trust.” Under her leadership, citizens were only under lockdown for approximately 70 days. Still, her first reaction when the vaccines arrived was: “Now it gets hard.” “Over 90% of our population was vaccinated,” Ardern said. But a vocal minority resisted the vaccines. “There’s no question that disinformation played a role,” she said. Subsequently, the former PM’s focus turned to a topic she still studies: misinformation. “Humans are so inclined to form natural tribes,” Ardern said. “My
optimism tells me that creating a sense of tribalism can be used negatively, but it can be used for good too.” Fear “is one of the quickest and easiest pathways to blame” in a politician’s toolbox, she said. “I do not believe that people’s natural instinct is to reach for fear and blame.” Instead, Ardern thinks that humanity is predisposed to reach for “hope.” The climate crisis was also at the top of Ardern’s list of priorities as she focused on the agricultural sector’s emissions. Using coalition building and consulting with industry leaders, her leadership was integral to passing New Zealand’s key climate legislation. “Human nature often has us resist change,” she said. She cited the collaborative creation of policies as key to the act’s adoption. Ardern described herself as riddled with doubt about her leadership abilities. “I thought I was too sensitive,” she said. “I didn’t think I had the competency to do it. I thought that I would buckle under
the pressure.” President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 also asked her about grappling with imposter syndrome. Ardern recalled a history teacher she admired, describing his struggles with the feeling. Once she saw her role model struggling with self-doubt, “I saw it everywhere,” she said. Looking back, she wishes someone had told her that “it’s all going to be OK.” Despite her doubt, Ardern succeeded. Among her accomplishments were increasing gender diversity in government entities, banning semi-automatic weapons, decriminalizing abortion, extending paid parental leave, supplying free menstrual products in all schools and cutting greenhouse gas emissions, among a slate of others. “You have no idea what you’re capable of” until you try, Ardern said. “Leadership can be self-fulfilling.” Her advice resonated with students in attendance. “She’s actually one of the first people to come to Brown that I’ve been truly inspired by,” Carson Bauer ’26 said. “It’s good that even someone like that has self-doubt and questions,” Andrew Rovinsky ’25 noted. Ardern closed the discussion by predicting that as students reflect upon their future careers, they may feel forced to perfectly match the personalities of others in their field. In her view, this can cause aspiring leaders to think that they either “won’t succeed or … have to change.” “Neither of those things can be true,” she added. “We need more people who are willing to carve that fresh path for different styles of leadership.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 5, 2023.
INSTITUTIONAL EQUITY
Campus survey finds 17% of faculty do not feel respected by Brown administration Survey finds lower reported “sense of belonging” among LGBQ+ faculty members BY NEIL MEHTA UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR On Friday, the University announced the results of its 2023 Campus Climate Survey, which collects information related to diversity and inclusion on campus. The survey, administered throughout the month of April, asked respondents about their personal experiences with bias, perceptions of the University’s diversity and equity efforts, awareness of Brown’s Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan and feelings of belonging on campus. One survey question asked respondents to rate whether they agreed with the statement that they are “respected by administration.” Among faculty, 17% said they “Strongly Disagree” or “Disagree” with the statement, 59% responded “Strongly Agree” or “Agree” and 24% were neutral. This figure was higher for faculty who identified as LGBQ+ and members of a historically underrepresented group. 23% of LGBQ+ faculty — compared to 13% of heterosexual faculty — reported not being respected by administration.
NEIL MEHTA / HERALD / SOURCE: OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH
Overall, respondents said they felt a “sense of belonging” within their department or school, though 23% of faculty — the largest proportion among all respondent groups — disagreed with that sentiment. These figures were lower among
LGBQ+ faculty — 29% said they disagreed with the statement that they felt a “sense of belonging” in their department or school. Most respondents — including 90% of faculty, 92% of staff, 90% of undergraduates, 86% of graduate students
and 89% of medical students — said Brown was “Very Committed” or “Somewhat Committed” to diversity, equity and inclusion, while the rest said it was “Very Uncommitted” or “Somewhat Uncommitted.” In a Today@Brown announcement,
Vice President for Institutional Equity and Diversity Sylvia Carey-Butler said senior leaders and department chairs will receive reports based on the survey for their divisions. In an interview with The Herald, she added that departmental diversity committees will be able to address survey findings and make appropriate recommendations. These actions, she said, will “help to improve the campus climate.” While around one-third of all faculty and nearly two-thirds of staff responded to the survey, fewer than 20% of students responded, including 18% of graduate students, 15% of undergraduates and 14% of medical students. Carey-Butler told The Herald the student response rate was “disappointing.” On April 24, a week before the survey’s closure, then-Interim Dean of the School of Public Health Ronald Aubert wrote that the response rate among SPH members is “far lower than I had hoped to see.” Carey-Butler added that the declining response rates are part of a larger trend among surveys at Brown. Only 25% of the student body responded to the Enrolled Student Survey last semester, The Herald previously reported. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 9, 2023.