SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLVIII, ISSUE 46
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
WHAT’S INSIDE
SPORTS
Brown football beat Penn last Friday with score of 30-26 SEE VICTORY PAGE 6
ARTS & CULTURE
Britney Spears shares story in memoir “The Woman in Me”
SEE MEMOIR PAGE 12
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Center THE HERALD’S FALL 2023 POLL Pandemic to host screening of KAIOLENA TACAZON / HERALD
Between Oct. 10 and 12, Herald staffers surveyed over 1,100 undergraduate students
questions are selected by Herald editors, and the data analysis and design are conducted with the support of The Herald’s Tech Team.
BY CHARLIE CLYNES, SAM LEVINE & RHEA RASQUINHA UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITORS AND METRO EDITOR
Have you ever been rejected from a club/student group at Brown? Nearly half of all respondents reported having been rejected from a club or student group at Brown. Some students have called for campus student groups to be more inclusive, citing what they characterize as inequitable factors in club applications, as well as the professional advantages that membership in student groups can bring. This sentiment is not confined to Brown — students at Cornell, Penn and Yale have also criticized the exclusive club culture at their respective institutions.
Welcome to The Herald’s fall 2023 poll. Between Oct. 10 and 12, Herald staffers surveyed over 1,100 undergraduate students on topics ranging from demographics and lifestyle to support for campus and national leaders. Some of the poll’s notable findings are highlighted below. You can explore the data further using our interactive site. The Herald conducts a campus-wide poll each semester to identify trends in student opinion and experiences. Our
How often do you take the RIPTA? Nearly 30% of poll respondents re-
CAMPUS LIFE
ported that they had never used the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority’s network of buses and other public transportation services. A similar share of respondents said that they rarely use the system, and an additional 33% reported they take the RIPTA either a couple times per semester or a few times a month. Seven percent said they take the RIPTA weekly, and less than 1% reported using the RIPTA daily. Brown faculty, staff and students can ride for free on the RIPTA system using their Brown ID. RIPTA tracks these swipes and bills the University on a monthly basis, according to the University’s website. Brown is one of nine higher education institutions in the state that participate in RIPTA’s University Pass Program. The share of students reporting never taking the RIPTA was 10 percentage points higher among those who do not
receive any financial aid from the university, as compared to those receiving grants covering some or all costs. Eleven percent of respondents receiving grants covering all costs reported taking the RIPTA weekly, compared with only 6% and 7% of students receiving no financial or grants covering some costs, respectively. Beyond Brown students’ use of RIPTA, organizations like Sunrise Brown have protested RIPTA’s decision not to continue its fare-free pilot program, which removed the fare from the R-Line, RIPTA’s highest-ridership bus line. RIPTA spokesperson Cristy Raposo Perry previously told The Herald the pilot cost the agency $5.7 million in total, exceeding the $2.5 million allocated to the program by the state’s General
BY SAMANTHA CHAMBERS SENIOR STAFF WRITER Beta Omega Chi celebrated its 10year anniversary on campus during Black Alumni Reunion, inviting affiliated alumni and current undergraduates to come together and commemorate a decade of the organization, officially marked a month prior. BOX — a Brown-based Black fraternity founded in September 2013 by undergraduates Andrew Gonzales ’16, Ahmed Elsayed ’16 and Cedric Kuakumensah ’16 — aims to “serve the Black men of Brown’s campus as they (navigate) the Ivy League,” according to the organization’s website. An anti-hazing and philanthropic organi-
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Brook Street Dorm residents reflect on amenities SEE DORMS PAGE 16
POST-
SEE POLL PAGE 15
METRO
BOX celebrates 10 years at Crossroads R.I. kicks off construction of new housing Black Alumni Reunion Alumni, undergraduates reflect on origins of Brown-founded fraternity
“Shot in the Arm”
SEE DOCUMENTARY PAGE 14
zation, the fraternity currently serves 18 undergraduate members and several affiliated alumni, according to BOX public relations team member Ethan Gardner ’23.5. “BOX, to me, is a safe haven and a community,” Gardner said, citing the organization’s commitment to fostering “family, education, loyalty and legacy” among its members. After BOX was first conceptualized, organization members worked to expand their legacy on campus, gaining formal recognition from the State of Rhode Island in 2014 and a residential allotment in Olney House in 2016, according to a 2016 Blognonian interview. “Part of the reason why we got recognition is the hard work and … people saw what we were doing,” El-
SEE BOX PAGE 3
Development to include 176 permanent supportive housing units BY SANAI RASHID CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Oct. 6, Crossroads Rhode Island, a nonprofit organization that provides housing services to individuals within the state experiencing homelessness, broke ground on a new permanent supportive housing development at 94 Summer St. The new housing development will include 176 apartments for formerly unhoused adults, according to the Crossroads website. Unlike shelters, which are meant to be temporary housing solutions, permanent supportive housing is a “model that combines low-barrier affordable housing, health care, and supportive services to help individuals and families lead more
stable lives,” according to the National Health Care for the Homeless Council. The 94 Summer St. unit will feature one-bedroom studios with a private bathroom, kitchen and living area for each resident. To facilitate community within the development, each building floor will also have a common gathering space. Residents can also use the outdoor green space the property offers. Residents of the new development will also have access to on-site case management and other support services to help them maintain their new homes. The building will “include accessibility and usability features for people with a wide range of physical and cognitive abilities,” the project page reads. Crossroads R.I. predicts that nearly all Summer Street tenants will be Providence residents, most of whom are ten-
SEE CROSSROADS PAGE 4
SEE PAGE 8
ARTS & CULTURE
SEE PAGE 12
PAGE 2
TODAY
1
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
WEEK IN HIGHER ED
FAFSA overhall to simplify application, expand aid to low-income students
2
Grand Canyon University fined $37.7M for deceiving students about doctoral degree costs
The Free Application for Student Aid is undergoing several changes, including fewer questions and the replacement of ‘Expected Family Contribution’ with a new ‘Student Aid Index’ metric.
The federal education department has fined Grand Canyon University $37.7 million for lying to studetns about doctorate program attendace costs. This fine is the largest ever of its kind imposed by the department.
The 2023-24 school year application will release in December, as opposed to October, as a result of this overhaul.
GCU President Brian Mueller accused the Education Department of conspiring with other federal agencies to unfairly target the school.
3
HERALD FILE PHOTO
Yale professors accuse colleague of misrepresenting sources in book
Five peer reviews from Yale professors accuse Assistant Professor of History Maura Dykstra of misrepresenting sources and mistranslating documents in her recently published book, “Uncertainty in the Empire of Routine.” Dykstra’s book was published by Harvard University Press on Aug. 16.
THIS WEEKEND A Conversation with Frederick Wiseman - American Filmmaker Nov. 3, 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Watson Institute
Career and Internship Fair School of Engineering Nov. 4, 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Engineering Research Center
For the Love of Physics: A Celebration of Music, Art and Nature Nov. 3, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sayles Hall
TRUE WEST by Sam Shepard Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. Pell Chafee Performance Center
NEXT WEEK Thomas Graham — Getting Russia Right Nov. 6, 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Watson Institute
The Precarity of African Spectacle Film Series Nov. 6, 6:00 p.m. Granoff Center for Creative Arts
Nicholas Kitchen Chamber Music Masterclass Nov. 6, 7:00 p.m. Grant Recital Hall
Persian Poetry Reading Group, Center for Language Studies Nov. 7, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Virtual
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 3
UNIVERSITY NEWS
CAMPUS LANDSCAPE
Facilities works to preserve Main Green’s leafless American elm Historical Main Green tree under stress, recent tests do not indicate diseases BY HALEY SANDLOW SCIENCE & RESEARCH AND UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR As Rhode Island settles into the colors of a New England fall, students and community members may notice one exception to the emblazoned foliage on campus: the American elm tree on the Main Green. The University Hall-adjacent tree, which the Department of Facilities Management’s groundskeeping department estimates to be between 80 and 120 years-old, has been without leaves since the start of the semester. According to Assistant Vice President of Facilities Operations Paul Armas, that’s a sign of stress. “The American elm tree is feeling the effects of age, global warming with extreme temperature swings these past few years, and compaction and environmental stresses due to its size and specific location on the Main Green,” Armas wrote in an email to The Herald. Last year saw regional record-break-
BOX FROM PAGE 1 sayed shared in the 2016 interview. “Now that we have a house, we can operate at a level that we’ve never been able to operate (at) before.” BOX Alumni Association Co-President Jabril King-Mahdi ’20 — who arrived on campus during the fraternity’s first official residential semester in fall 2016 — also noted the significance of the movement to Olney in an interview with The Herald. “We learned a lot from the older guys about the work they had to put
ing warm days throughout November. This summer was the world’s hottest on record. Facilities Management has not yet decided on whether to remove, replace or maintain the tree, citing logistical challenges presented by the tree’s size and setting. “While we’re not optimistic about the potential for the tree to return to a healthy state, removing or replacing the tree is something we’ll consider only as a last resort, when it’s clear there are no prospects for recovery,” Armas wrote. While photos from fall 2022 show the tree’s yellow ombre of leaves, Facilities Management noted the tree’s decline that season. This fall, the department requested a test of the tree’s tissue, but it did not indicate any specific diseases, Armas wrote. Potential diseases include Dutch elm disease, which has severely impacted New England’s elm population since the 1930s. Brown’s campus was not spared and a prominent American elm tree on Thayer street was removed in 2003, followed by the removal of two smaller American elms on the Quiet Green in 2013. Still, Brown is home to one of the largest institutional American elm
tree collections in North America. To preserve such a collection, Facilities Management has been treating all trees with a pesticide injection program. The leafless American elm is going through a special program to increase water and
fertilization, inject it with micro-nutrients and air spade its roots to alleviate soil compaction, according to Armas. “These historic trees are important to Brown from both an environmental standpoint and in terms of what they
mean to community members,” Armas wrote. “We’ll make every effort to preserve them.”
in to gain that kind of recognition and privilege,” King-Mahdi said. “To see how (current members) have taken their space and made it their own is just really rewarding.” This October, King-Mahdi returned to campus to commemorate the fraternity’s 10-year anniversary, along with several other affiliated alumni and undergraduate students. BOX Alumni Association Co-President Kobina Johnson ’20 called the event a “momentous occasion.” “It’s a really meaningful experience to be back on campus for Black Alumni Reunion … and to celebrate
such a historic event for our organization,” Johnson said. The 10-year celebration was organized to coincide with the Black Alumni Reunion to boost attendance, according to Johnson. The weekend’s events included the dedication of Churchill House, a gospel celebration event and a networking symposium. In addition to the Black Alumni Reunion programs, BOX members conducted ceremonial events including a community lunch and a fraternity-wide community service event.
“It was nice to be able to participate in the community, and to give back a little bit of what Brown has given to us,” Johnson said. Derek Irby ’25, current head of public relations for BOX, also expressed the significance of the decennial celebration, calling it a “tremendously fulfilling experience.” “It was amazing seeing the career endeavors the alumni at BOX have been engaging in since they have left this campus,” Irby said. “I take pride in being a part of an organization where so many mem-
bers are now making such positive contributions to society.” For Gardner, the 10-year milestone is significant given the fraternity’s origins. BOX “started in the basement of Sayles begging for space on campus. Now we host parties, have our own lounge and are involved in various events on campus,” he said. “For me, it is a monument to (not only) how far we’ve come, but how much work there is left to do.”
LILA QUINN / HERALD
According to Facilities, the tree’s current lack of foliage is a signal of stress, although the tree presently does not have any diseases. The department has made no decision at this time to remove or replace the tree.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 26, 2023.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 31, 2023.
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PAGE 4
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
METRO
CROSSROADS FROM PAGE 1
ants from other Crossroads housing units who are now eligible to live in a renovated and updated living situation, according to the organization’s website. “94 Summer St. is, in my opinion, the most impactful, affordable and supportive housing underway in Rhode Island,” Crossroads CEO Karen Santilli said at the ceremonial groundbreaking for the development project, NBC 10 News previously reported. A wide range of housing officials across private, public and nonprofit sectors, including Crossroads staff and Gov. Dan McKee, attended the ceremony. “We are building 176 apartments, 176 homes and 176 reasons for hope,” Santilli said. Other speakers also emphasized their optimism for the project’s ability to support the unhoused community in Providence. According to a study prepared for the Rhode Island Foundation, the state has one of the slowest per capita rates of housing production in the country, ranking 38th in the nation over the last decade. HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University also recently released a 2023 Housing Fact Book that found that the number of people in Rhode Island
ZOE FLORIDA / HERALD
experiencing homelessness in Rhode Island has increased by 72% since 2019, The Herald previously reported. As part of its 2023 Point-In-Time Count, which counts the number “of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in a single night in January,” The Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness found that 1,810 people were without housing.
“Most folks who are making a meager salary cannot afford to live in our cities with or without roommates,” Senator Tiara Mack ’16 (D-RI) told The Herald. In 2022, The National Low Income Housing Coalition found that “full-time Rhode Island workers” needed to make “at least $24.32 an hour to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment at fair market rent in the state.” Currently, Rhode Island
minimum wage is $13. As of April 2023, almost half of all Rhode Island renters were cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing. “This achievement is monumental and signifies everything. Having a roof over their heads (and) knowing they will sleep here every night in their own bed surrounded by their personal belongings will make an immeasurable difference
in their lives,” said State Representative Grace Diaz (D-Providence). Tenants “will experience security enabling them to concentrate on all the other aspects of their lives they deserve,” she added. According to their website, Crossroads believes that people can only tend to needs such as finding employment, managing their finances and addressing mental health concerns once they have found housing. Juan Espinoza, communications and development manager for The Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness, said that while 94 Summer St. is a Crossroads development, he understands the project as a manifestation of all the hard work housing justice organizations have spearheaded throughout the city. “It’s an all-hands-ondeck effort,” he said. In addition to the development at 94 Summer St., Crossroads plans to renovate its former residences, including its main property on 160 Broad St. The organization also hopes to create Rhode Island’s first permanent supportive apartment unit designed “specifically for medically vulnerable adults experiencing homelessness by 2025.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 26, 2023.
ENVIRONMENT
BioBlitz creates community through scientific exploration of the natural world During BioBlitzes, volunteers have 24 hours to identify plant, animal species BY JULIA VAZ METRO EDITOR Back in 2000, when then–Brown PhD candidate David Gregg PhD’00 was reading the Providence Journal over his fiancée’s shoulder, a small invitation caught his eye: The Rhode Island Natural History Survey wanted volunteers to join their first ever BioBlitz, a whole day of counting animal and plant species at Roger Williams Park. Gregg, a former “insect kid” and continuing enthusiast of the natural world, decided to join in a heartbeat. “I stayed overnight and counted moths and beetles,” Gregg recalled. “I joined right then and there as a member.” Now, as executive director of the NHS, Gregg is getting ready for his 25th BioBlitz with the organization. A BioBlitz is a volunteer-based effort to count as many species of plants and animals as possible on a specific piece of land within the span of 24 hours. According to Gregg, such events gained popularity in the early 2000s. “And this teeny, tiny nonprofit in Rhode Island recognized that (the BioBlitz) embodied a lot of the same ideas that (it was) formed around,” he said. While Gregg recognizes that BioBlitzes are limited in the amount of scientific information they can collect, they serve as community-building, educational tools. Bioblitzes, he said, “are a really good idea in terms of just putting people together so that they can communicate.” When selecting the location of a BioBlitz, the NHS considers two main criteria: The land should be under some type of conservation and its host should be “energetic.” According to Gregg, the BioBlitz directly benefits conservation efforts. Having so many people present to enjoy preserved land “elevates that whole (conservation) project for the whole
COURTESY OF DAVID GREGG / RINHS
A BioBlitz is a volunteer-based effort to count as many species of plants and animals as possible over a 24-hour period. community,” he said. The concept of participating in BioBlitzes as teams was proposed in 2008 when Gregg pitched the BioBlitz for coverage by the WBRU sports radio program. But when the show’s producer decided to record the event, Gregg said he quickly had to come up with a way to “make it sound like a game.” Suddenly, Gregg said, the BioBlitz gained a new structure: “Can you beat last year’s butterfly record, and can the moth team beat the beetle team?” Ac-
species,” Gregg said. In 2008, the NHS also secured a sponsorship from the Roger Williams Park Zoo, granting the organization increased funds and, as a result, the flexibility to explore new locations. “The first BioBlitzes were organized in places where there were nature centers and built infrastructure for us to use,” Gregg said. The funding enabled them to “rent a tent, tables, chairs, a generator (and) porta potties” and host BioBlitzes in locations “that had almost
in the world.” And while it has gained more funding and structure, Stillwell said that “the most remarkable part about it is what hasn’t changed.” While the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHS to make adjustments, the Survey’s BioBlitz persevered. In 2020, the event was to be located at the Mercy Woods Preserve in Cumberland, but it was postponed until fall 2021. “The pandemic was a downer that required us planners to rethink … refocus and reorganize the event to pull it off,
cording to NHS Program Administrator Kira Stillwell, this addition proved auspicious, as it required more engagement and coordination between participants and led to more robust inventories. Now, the teams go beyond taxonomic categories and include groups dedicated to art, creative writing and journaling. There are “so many ways that we learn important information about where we are besides a list of
no support.” The zoo continues to serve as the major sponsor for the NHS’s BioBlitz. The event’s mission to connect people with wildlife and promote community engagement with science aligns closely with the goals of the zoo, according to Lou Perrotti, the zoo’s director of conservation programs. According to Gregg, the NHS’s event is the “longest-running annual BioBlitz
but we did,” Dave Newton, director of the Cumberland Land Trust, wrote in an email to The Herald. According to Newton, “approximately 120 scientists, naturalists and volunteers” joined the event and identified nearly 800 species at Mercy Woods, which offers a “variety of habitats to inspect,” including pine forests, meadows and small wetland areas. “I still get goosebumps when I think
of (that) great time and experience,” he wrote. BioBlitz’s 25th-anniversary event will return to a familiar site: the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown, which hosted the second-ever Rhode Island BioBlitz. The sanctuary will also be celebrating its 75th anniversary. “The sanctuary has protected native wildlife, provided environmental education programming on campus and in classrooms across Rhode Island, hosted iconic events … and offered sanctuary and community to thousands of nature-lovers from around the world” since 1949, wrote Anna Turner, research and collections coordinator at the sanctuary, in an email to The Herald. “What is especially exciting about the BioBlitz being held at (the sanctuary) is our many diverse habitats that are ripe for exploration — we have salt marshes, ponds, forests, meadows, dunes, ridges, fields, gardens and orchards,” Jolie Colby, the sanctuary’s director of education, wrote in an email to The Herald. Before the quarter-centennial celebration, which will take place on June 7 and 8, the sanctuary plans to host a “Spotlight on BioBlitz” event on Nov. 15 introducing attendees to the program. Beyond providing an updated “biodiversity inventory that will inform land stewardship at (the sanctuary),” the 25th-anniversary celebration will introduce the sanctuary “to a wider community of naturalists,” create “opportunities for inter-generational engagement” and provide meaningful encounters with nature — “an opportunity that’s increasingly rare these days,” Colby wrote. Gregg hopes to see more resources made available for the conservation of native Rhode Island wildlife. For him, efforts such as BioBlitz are crucial to building communities that care for the environment. “We have this really well-educated population,” he said. “So if we could only leverage what they know, then that would help to fill the gap that the state resources don’t fill.”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 5
METRO
ENVIRONMENT
New R.I. special legislative commission hopes to address declining quahog population Legislators, researchers, environmentalists, fishermen meet to discuss depletion factors
fisherman is catching — (is) nearly half of what it used to be.” Save The Bay — a local environmental advocacy organization concerned with conservation in Narragansett Bay
BY TOM LI SENIOR STAFF WRITER A new state joint legislative commission studying the recent decrease of the Narragansett Bay’s harvested quahogs — a hardshell clam native to Rhode Island — held its second meeting Oct. 24. The Special Legislative Commission to Study and Provide Recommendations on the Issues Relating to the Reduced Catch of Quahogs in Narragansett Bay, established earlier this year, is co-chaired by State Rep. Joseph Solomon Jr. (D-Warwick) and State Sen. Alana DiMario (D-North Kingstown, Narragansett, New Shoreham). The commission consists of 13 members, including representatives from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Rhode Island Shellfisherman’s Association, professors at the University of Rhode Island and Roger Williams University and industry and environmental organization members. The commission grew out of constituent concerns earlier this year about the quahog population, according to Solomon. “We sat everybody down — from environmental management to shellfishermen (to) the University of Rhode Island — and we discussed what was going on,” he said. “No one was 100% sure as to what was causing it,” Solomon said. “At that point, we decided that it’s really necessary to create a study commission to get to the bottom of it.” The commission’s first meeting was held on Sept. 19. At both sessions, members presented general information about the gradual quahog depletion in Narragan-
EMILY SUONG / HERALD
sett Bay and research findings related to various hypotheses explaining the decline. David Borkman, principal environmental scientist at the RIDEM’s Office of Water Resources and a Quahog Commission member, told The Herald that multiple factors are contributing to quahog depletion. “It’s easier to think in a one-dimensional model of ‘This goes in, quahogs come out,’” he said. “In reality, it’s a pretty complicated ecosystem.” The amount of nitrogen in Narragansett Bay and its relation to hypoxia — low concentrations of dissolved oxygen in the water — is one of the primary factors the commission is examining, according to Borkman. Research points to potential correlations between nitrogen concentrations and rates of hypoxia. Quahogs in the early stages of development are especially
vulnerable to low-oxygen environments, he explained. “When they’re in the water and settle, if they don’t have sufficient oxygen, they’ll die and never have time to grow into an adult, harvestable (and) edible-size quahog,” Borkman said. Hypoxia may also help quahog populations. Quahogs are “not going to move a heck of a lot,” Borkman said. “They’re in the mud, and they can move slightly, but they’re not going to migrate away from predators.” Low concentrations of oxygen in water can reduce the number of predators searching for quahogs. Other factors contributing to quahog depletion include climate change and warming waters, Borkman said. Warmer water temperatures have caused phytoplankton, a plant plankton and quahog food source, to be eaten by other marine
life earlier in the season. Borkman also pointed to changes in other species as another determinant in the decline of quahog populations. In particular, he noted the increasing abundance of blue crabs, which feed on smaller, fingernail-sized quahogs before they reach maturity. Michael McGiveney, president of the R.I. Shellfisherman’s Association and a member of the Quahog Commission, noted his first-hand experiences with the quahog decline. “The lower Bay, the West Bay, places that used to be very productive for the industry are now not reproducing at all,” he said. “We’re the canaries in the coal mine, basically,” he said, adding that people are unable to stay in the industry due to the declining quahog population. “The catch per unit effort — what the individual
— has also been involved in the Quahog Commission, according to Narragansett Baykeeper Mike Jarbeau, Save The Bay’s representative on the commission. As part of his role as baykeeper, Jarbeau monitors environmental developments in the bay. Jarbeau said that, as a large advocacy organization, he sees Save The Bay as bringing a general public perspective to the commission. “We care about the quahog as a traditional, important species in Rhode Island, but we also care about the health and well-being of Narragansett Bay in general,” he said. Solomon highlighted the urgency of proactively addressing environmental issues in the bay. According to Solomon, the commission hopes to meet every two months until early next year to be able to introduce legislation on the issue before the end of the next legislative session. “If there’s something that we can do legislatively … before it becomes a major problem, then we have to because we have to preserve (the Narragansett) Bay for generations ahead,” he added. Borkman said he hopes that the commission can create a list of short and longterm goals that can be implemented by both state agencies and other stakeholders in the fishing industry, particularly given the clam’s significance to the state. “The quahog is iconic in Rhode Island. It’s a big part of Rhode Island culture,” and has been for centuries, he said. “It’s an important cultural symbol in addition to being an important fishery and good food.”
ENVIRONMENT
Carbon reduction strategy draws backlash for focus on highways Carbon Reduction Strategy for federal funding focuses on highway projects BY MAYA KELLY STAFF WRITER On Oct. 3, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation published its Carbon Reduction Strategy and opened the document’s public comment period, which is scheduled to close Friday. The plan, which is required for states to receive funding from the Federal Highway Administration’s Carbon Reduction Program, is due Nov. 15. The plan aims to “support implementation” of the emission reduction goals outlined in the 2021 Act on Climate, as well as “identify funding priorities,” form “a framework for the future of carbon reduction planning at RIDOT” and assess “the carbon impacts of the transportation sector in Rhode Island,” according to the document. “The CRS is a practical, data-driven strategy that recognizes both the need to meet demands of commuters and provides tactics to reduce greenhouse gasses,” Charles St. Martin, chief public affairs officer for RIDOT, wrote in an email to The Herald. Once the plan is submitted, RIDOT is eligible to receive over $35.7 million from the federal government to spend
on carbon reduction projects. According to the plan, RIDOT will use two-thirds of those funds to implement the State Transportation Improvement Program. A large portion of those funds will go towards abating “carbon emissions by means of congestion reduction.” That includes $6.3 million for upgrades to signals in “congested corridors” and $4 million for a bridge overpass — out of $15.8 million total for congestion management. Eligible projects that RIDOT’s estimates show would reduce emissions include the opening of the Cranston Canyon, Route 146 reconstruction and completion of the I-95 Missing Move and Quonset connector ramps. Two of those projects — the Cranston Canyon and the I-95 ramps — will add new highway lanes. John Flaherty, deputy director of Grow Smart R.I., said he is skeptical. Because highway expansion projects often induce demand for cars, RIDOT should explore the “elimination of strategies that rely on costly highway capacity expansion projects to reduce congestion,” he said. Extended highway capacity serves as an “incentive for more people to use (cars), so it goes right back to the same level of congestion that you had before,” he said. “It’s not a long-term strategy.” Emily Koo ’13, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island program director for the Acadia Center, said the state needs a much more aggressive push toward
shifting modes of transportation and the reduction of vehicle miles traveled in order to achieve its Act on Climate targets, which call to reduce emissions 80% from 1990 levels by 2040 and to net-zero by 2050. “There is a glaring disconnect between the scale of emission reduction needed to move the needle and the investments proposed in RIDOT’s Carbon Reduction Strategy,” Koo wrote in an email to The Herald. St. Martin agreed that meeting the state’s 2040 and 2050 goals is impossible without a significant expansion of current policies and projects. Inadequate public transportation infrastructure — as well as difficulties in convincing commuters to use that infrastructure — present obstacles in reaching those goals, he said. “In order to meet the goals set out in the governor’s 2050 emissions reduction plan, you would have to have a major cultural shift and change in the way people move around the state,” he wrote. “We do not see that happening.” “Our strategy reflects these realities and puts forth workable solutions in the areas where we can actually implement and make a difference in reducing” greenhouse gasses, St. Martin wrote. In contrast, RIDOT’s plan presents highway projects as an effective way to reduce carbon emissions. It’s “disappointing that this strategy is not doing more to incentivize mode
shift away from cars and toward public transportation and active transportation,” Flaherty said, especially when “we have a vision for that.” This vision includes the Bicycle Mobility Plan and Transit Master Plan. Both plans project reductions in carbon emissions if implemented. The Bicycle Mobility Plan, developed in 2020 for the Rhode Island Statewide Planning Program, presents strategies to encourage bicycle use by improving bicycle infrastructure statewide. The carbon reduction strategy calls to allocate $1.5 million to the plan, with more money included for bike lane design. But “that’s not going to go very far,” said Flaherty. The Transit Master Plan, also published in 2020 by multiple state transportation agencies, strives to improve mobility for residents by enhancing the state’s public transit network, including rail and bus routes. Sweeping expansions and improvements proposed in the plan have not come to fruition — instead, RIPTA faces a potential budget cliff as soon as the 2025 fiscal year. “In the absence of project-level emissions reductions analysis (or public engagement), we must assume that RIDOT’s process for identifying and prioritizing projects and strategies is based solely on ‘RIDOT’s internal priorities and logistical capacities’ — in other words, the
way things have always been done,” Koo wrote. RIDOT held a stakeholder workshop in Sept. 2023 to identify strategies and priorities while crafting the strategy. Grow Smart R.I. and the Acadia Center each had one representative at the workshop. According to Flaherty, it was “a very uplifting two-and-a-half-hour workshop … the process resulted in a lot of really exciting proposals and suggestions.” While these projects are listed in the CRS, they have not been allocated any of the $35.7 million, he said. According to St. Martin, beyond the CRS, “RIDOT is spending nearly $1.5 billion over 10 years outside that program in funding areas for rail, bicycle, pedestrian, transit, safety, electric-vehicle infrastructure and ferry projects.” The month-long public comment period is a chance for state residents to comment on the CRS. Flaherty hopes residents will use the public comment period to “demand more of our state DOT, to adopt a more forward-looking vision that truly reduces emissions.” After the comment period, RIDOT will have just under two weeks to revise its plan before the due date. “I just hope that they make some effort to change it,” Flaherty said. But with the quick turnaround time, he’s “not that hopeful.”
PAGE 6
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
SPORTS
FOOTBALL
‘Playing fast and playing fun’: Football upsets Penn 30-26 COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Late interception by Isaiah Reed ’25 helps seal victory against Quakers BY DREW LERNER STAFF WRITER In a nationally televised game in Philadelphia Friday night, the football team (4-3, 2-2 Ivy) beat Penn (5-2, 2-2 Ivy) 30-26 after defensive back Isaiah Reed ’25 secured a key interception late in the game, squashing the Quakers’ hopes of mounting a comeback. Prior to the game, Penn’s overall record of 5-1 tied Harvard for the best in the Ivy League, and the Bears historically had won just 25 of 90 games against the Quakers, The Herald previously reported. Bruno’s win against Penn is their second in a row following their 34-31 victory in 2022. “A win like this is big for sure. Coming down to the wire, the defense’s back against the wall, we had to step up, and we did,” Reed said in a postgame interview. “Our offense was putting up points all game, and we really stayed together. We really had to fight, and it’s a great win
going into next week.” “It was a great opportunity — we played an unbelievable team, and we showed the resilience that we have,” quarterback Jake Willcox ’24 said in a postgame interview. “It means the world to the team, and we’re going to keep on building.” Coming off a difficult 36-14 loss to Cornell last week, Head Coach James Perry ’00 emphasized the importance of veteran leadership. “We (have) great leadership,” he said in a postgame interview. “As coaches, you don’t try to do too much — let the kids take care of it and they did. It was a player-driven effort, all week in practice, and then obviously tonight.” “We definitely had to shake off last week’s game. Coach really drilled that into us,” Reed said. “We had to go out, play our game, and once we do that, we can show that we are a really good team and hard to beat.” Through the first quarter, the Bears’ offense remained relatively stagnant, getting on the board with a field goal from kicker Christopher Maron ’25 on the team’s first drive. From there, the Quakers proceeded to answer back with a
75-yard drive that ended with a five-yard rushing touchdown courtesy of sophomore backup quarterback Liam O’Brien, bringing the score to 7-3 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Brown’s offense got back on track, starting with another field goal before Reed got his first interception of the night. Bruno failed to capitalize on the turnover and was forced to punt, but cornerback Aubrey Parker ’24 quickly recorded the Bears’ second interception of the night. Brown then marched down the field, recording a touchdown on a pitch from Willcox to running back Stockton Owen ’25, putting the Bears ahead 13-7. Penn’s next drive ended in a field goal, cutting Bruno’s lead to three with just over five minutes remaining in the half. Brown’s offense responded with a 75-yard drive ending in a 29-yard connection from Willcox to wide receiver Mark Mahoney ’24 to give the Bears a 20-10 lead. But with under a minute left in the half, the Quakers managed a quick drive ending in a touchdown pass from quarterback Aidan Sayin to make the score 20-17 at halftime.
After the Brown defense forced its first punt of the night at the start of the second half, the Bears converted a crucial fourthand-4. Bruno scored another touchdown when receiver Solomon Miller ’26 ran untouched into the endzone off a jet sweep. Maron soon added another field goal to make the score 30-17 in Brown’s favor. After an 80-yard touchdown drive by Penn, both offenses began to struggle. Down 30-24 with only a minute left in regulation, the Quakers managed to work their way deep into Bears territory. On third-and-goal at Brown’s eight-yard line, Sayin launched a pass into the endzone but was picked off again by Reed, his second interception of the game and third overall this year. Reed is “just always working. Even when they get a completion, he makes it hard,” Perry said. “He’s just one of those kids you can count on to keep playing hard.” The Bears took a safety on the subsequent drive, bringing the score to 3026 and giving Penn the ball. But Bruno’s defense held firm to lock down the win. Willcox, the Ivy League’s leading passer, had another strong night, putting up
249 yards while completing over 70 percent of his passes and throwing for three touchdowns with no interceptions. He also collected 47 yards on the ground. “Jake’s played really good football all year, but to play it on the road, against that defense, I mean that’s very impressive,” Perry said. “He made really good decisions, and he did a lot with his feet.” “I trust my teammates, obviously my offensive line played unbelievably today. I (have) the best receivers in the league, so they make my job really easy,” Willcox said. “The trust we have in each other is the biggest thing.” The Bears now hope to take the momentum from Friday’s win into next week’s home matchup against the Yale Bulldogs (4-3, 2-2 Ivy). “Regardless of (the) result, I love seeing these guys just playing hard and showing who they are,” Perry said. “To me, more important than … anything else is we need to (get) back to playing Brown football, playing fast and playing fun — and they did it.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 29, 2023.
CROSS COUNTRY
Cross country trails pack in Ivy League Heptagonal Championships
Men’s, women’s teams both finish last in weekend competition in Boston BY LYDELL DYER STAFF WRITER On Saturday, the Brown men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships. For the first time in the event’s history, the tournament was held at Franklin Park in Boston. The men competed in the eight-kilometer race, finishing in eighth place with an average time of 26 minutes, four seconds. Averaging a time of 22 minutes, 28 seconds in the six-kilometer race, the women placed last among all Ivy teams as well. Apart from individual results, both teams improved as a whole compared to last year’s Heps performance: The men, on average, were 23 seconds faster, while the women’s team improved by 17 seconds on average. Miles Mullins ’25 spearheaded the Bears’ efforts with a time of 25 minutes, 20.4 seconds. He “has been a constant
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Both teams improved as a whole compared to last year’s performance at Heps: On average, the men’s and women’s finished 23 and 17 seconds faster, respectively. leader for our team in big meets and did the same on Saturday,” Men’s Coach Collin Zeffer wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “He was patient early and really raced from 5k on,” finishing the race strong. Despite being held back by an illness, as Mullins later informed The Herald, he did his best to “position the team for a good day.” Finishing as Brown’s fastest runner and securing the 32nd overall position, he did just that. “Our team dynamic is very support-
ive, and we care a great deal about one another,” Mullins wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “When you have this type of relationship with your teammates, it definitely spills over on race day. Racing for the team, and for what we can accomplish together, is often more satisfying than an individual result.” Further helping the men’s team was Geordie Young ’23. Crossing the finish line in a personal-best time of 26 minutes, 2.2 seconds, Young finished second amongst Brown athletes and 57th
overall. Sam Colton ’25 followed, with a time of 26 minutes, 5.1 seconds placing him in 60th. On the women’s side, Olivia Fraga ’27 delivered a standout performance, finishing in 22 minutes flat. Despite not repeating her season-best time of 21 minutes, 28.4 seconds, her 30th-place finish garnered her the top position among the Bears. “Going into my first Ivy Heps, I was extremely nervous,” Fraga wrote, “but my coach, John Kenworthy, prepared me for this competition very well. I had a great experience running with my teammates and (we pushed) each other during the race.” “We have done a really good job racing consistently as a group,” Kenworthy wrote of the Bears’ chemistry in a message via Brown Athletics. “We have a large group of women who can contribute and that has been our strength.” Following just a second behind Fraga, Nimrit Ahuja ’26 finished in 33rd place with a time of 22 minutes, 1.5 seconds. Stephanie Kriss ’24 came in at 22 minutes, 30.1 seconds, placing third among Brown women and 45th overall. Despite the ultimate last-place result for both teams, Kenworthy and Zeffer
remained optimistic about the future. “As we look to build through the league, the first goal is for us to show up and run to our abilities consistently,” Kenworthy wrote. “I think we did a good job at that this weekend, and ultimately we put three finishers ahead of where our first was last year.” “Even though there weren’t significant changes on the results sheet compared to last year, I’m proud of the way the athletes carried themselves,” Zeffer wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “I’ve seen a lot of progress … and I see positive trends in the way (the team) approaches the sport and the hunger they have to compete.” Ultimately, the Bears’ key to success is “consistency,” Zeffer wrote. “We really need to live and become driven by competing against those teams and athletes that are better than us. I think our team has a great energy so it’s my job to maintain that.” The cross country teams will compete next in the NCAA Northeast Regionals in New York on Nov. 10. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 30, 2023.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 7
SPORTS
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Women’s volleyball splits weekend games against Penn, Princeton Bears improve to 6-4 in Ivy play with four games remaining BY DENNIS CAREY SENIOR STAFF WRITER This weekend, the volleyball team (15-5, 6-4 Ivy) split away games with a win against Penn (3-17, 1-9) and a loss against Princeton (10-8, 7-3). Despite suffering a pair of defeats in their matches against Princeton and Yale this season, the Bears have dominated all other Ivy opponents so far. Friday night’s matchup for the Bears was a sweep at the Quakers’ home court in Pennsylvania. Two Bruno players — Jilienne Widener ’24 and Mariia Sidorova ’26 — reached 12 kills, with Sidorova adding an ace. “The key to winning the battles at the net comes down to confidence in myself and trust in my teammates,” Widener wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “I am not afraid to swing in high-pressure situations because I know I have spent countless hours preparing for those exact moments.” The kills were supplemented by 29 assists and six kills from Cierra Jenkins ’24. Jenkins “is an incredible setter and puts up a hittable ball no matter where she is on the court, so a lot of my success is attributable to her athleticism and amazing sets,” Widener wrote. Despite winning the first set and the subsequent powerful offensive performance, the Bears didn’t have immediate
control of the attack. Bruno won five points off Penn errors and was outhit .361 to .255 despite out-killing the Quakers 17 to 15. The Bears had two service aces, a high point of this set. In the second set, the Quakers began a back-and-forth with the Bears. Despite trailing 15-18, a run by the Bears commanded by Jenkins from the serving line gave Bruno a late 20-18 lead. From then on, the Quakers never retook the lead, pushing the score to 22-20 but losing three straight. The third set featured a crushing performance from Bruno. After the Quakers displayed life in the second set, the Bears outscored the Quakers 25-12, out-killing them 16 to eight with a hitting percentage of .382 compared to Penn’s dismal .086.
The set was at 3-2 when Kayla Griebl ’25 stepped up to the serving line, sparking a run of eight straight points for the Bears, which included an ace for Griebl and six kills for Bruno as a team. Saturday, the Bears made a trip to Princeton, looking for revenge for the 1-3 defeat they suffered at the hands of the Tigers in September. Despite their best efforts, history repeated itself and the Bears fell 1-3 again. The first set was all Brown. The team came out swinging with a hitting percentage of .417, converting on 13 of the 24 attacking attempts, whereas the Tigers only hit .087. The story of the first set was the aces. Victoria Vo ’25 opened the match with a two-point run of two aces, and Bruno finished the first set with five overall. “Serving has been a strength of ours
all year,” wrote Head Coach Taylor Virtue in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “Extending that type of service pressure throughout a match comes down to consistency and trust. When we are able to trust ourselves from the service line, we create difficult situations for our opponents, which in turn puts our defense in a position to succeed.” The Bears continued the early push and went up 9-3 on the Tigers, but Princeton quickly pursued a comeback and cut the lead to 10-9. From then on, the Bears didn’t lift their foot off the gas, winning four straight, then three straight, then three again and closing the set 25-16 on a four-point run. The Bears couldn’t maintain this power through the next three sets, failing to achieve a hitting percentage above
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 31, 2023.
SCORES RECAP WOMEN’S
TAMAR KREITMAN / BROWN ATHLETICS
Despite suffering a pair of defeats in their matches against Princeton and Yale this season, the Bears have dominated all other Ivy opponents so far.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Women’s hockey sweeps weekend match-ups at Meehan Auditorium The Bears bring record back to .500 with home win against Harvard BY LINUS LAWRENCE SPORTS EDITOR The women’s hockey team (3-3-0, 2-2-0 ECAC) swept two games at Meehan Auditorium over the weekend, dominating Dartmouth (2-3-1, 1-3-1 ECAC) by a final of 7-1 Friday night and besting Harvard (0-5-0, 0-5-0 ECAC) 2-1 Saturday evening. “The two games were sources of pride in very different ways,” Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi wrote in a message to The Herald via Brown Athletics. “Friday’s contest was a display of clean execution as a team from start to finish,” she wrote. “Saturday’s game wasn’t nearly as well executed, but equally important to find a way to win in a game that wasn’t going our way.” In Friday’s trouncing, the Bears got off to a fast start, scoring four goals in nine minutes during the first period. Jade Iginla ’26 was the first to get the Bears on the board. Cassidy Piersiak ’24 later recorded the first goal of her collegiate career, alongside first-years Margot Norehad ’27 and Sam Broz ’27. Overall, the Bears recorded 27 shots on goal while limiting the Big
.250 for the rest of the match. Despite coming close to winning in the second set, going up 23-21 off the back of a four-point run, they lost four straight and the Tigers were victorious. Princeton led the entirety of the third set and edged out the Bears 25-21. The Tigers then went on to hand the Bears a crushing 25-12 defeat in the fourth, when the Bears had a hitting percentage of 0.0 to the Tiger’s resounding .344. “I generally don’t buy into momentum being the reason a team wins or loses. Each moment is a new moment, each point is a new point,” Virtue wrote. “The ability to compartmentalize a competition that way is important and also extremely difficult. We will keep working to find success regardless of where the momentum is with.” The Bears will continue their long road trip this weekend as they head to Harvard Friday night and Dartmouth Saturday. Both games will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Green to 15, with goalie Kaley Doyle saving all but one. “We wanted to get to Dartmouth early, build a lead and play our game,” Ruzzi wrote. “After being shut out the previous weekend, it was important that we prove to ourselves that we can put pucks in the net, and we did that,” she added. “The most impressive element of that game was the unselfish nature of the offense.” On Saturday, the Bears and Crimson held each other scoreless through the first period before each team struck in the second, with Anna Shelden ’24.5 scoring Bruno’s goal on a power play. The score remained locked at one apiece until Doyle allowed a single Harvard success in 19 on-goal chances. With just under six minutes on the clock, India McDadi ’26 flipped the puck into the top of the net to provide the game-winning shot. It was her third goal of the weekend. “Going into the weekend, I found a new level of confidence, which I think was a huge factor in my performance,” McDadi wrote. “The energy and positivity surrounding the team, too, was very important … I don’t think the scoring would have been possible without my teammates and their high level (competition) and play.” After dropping the first two games of ECAC play the weekend prior on
FIELD HOCKEY VS. PENN ICE HOCKEY VS. DARTMOUTH VS. HARVARD RUGBY VS. DARTMOUTH SOCCER VS. DARTMOUTH VOLLEYBALL VS. PENN VS. PRINCETON
MEN’S
FOOTBALL VS. PENN ICE HOCKEY VS. YALE VS. STONEHILL SOCCER VS. DARTMOUTH WATER POLO VS. PRINCETON VS. LIU VS. IONA
L 2-1 W 7-1 W 2-1 L 22-10 W 2-0 W 3-0 L 3-1
W 30-26 L 3-2 W 7-2 W 1-0 L 14-7 W 18-9 W 15-10
SPORTS
BY THE NUMBERS
3 TAMAR KREITMAN / BROWN ATHLETICS
India McDadi ’26 scored three goals across the two games. the road against Quinnipiac University and Princeton, the Bears were able to bring their conference record back to .500 and regain momentum as the season ramps up. “After last weekend, we went straight back to the drawing (board),” McDadi wrote. “We knew what we had to work on, and held ourselves to it all week in practice.” “We definitely reclaimed momentum and confidence,” she added. “We are just getting started and it’s nice to see the pieces come together.” October league games have the “same importance as those in February in terms of standings,” according to Ruzzi. “The team knows that the regular season is all about playoff position, and each game is an opportunity to
solidify our identity and build chemistry,” she wrote. “Wins are a source of confidence, but how we execute on the weekend carries even more significance than the outcome.” The team’s next competition will come this weekend, on a New York road trip pitting them against Colgate University and Cornell. “This weekend’s match-ups will be another good test for our team,” McDadi wrote. “The ECAC is a deep league, and both Colgate and Cornell are teams in the top 10 nationally,” Ruzzi wrote. “To win in this league, we need to continuously be fast learners and play to our identity.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 31, 2023.
MEN’S FOOTBALL The number of passes intercepted by each Isaiah Reed ‘25 and Aubrey Parker ‘24 this season, tying them for the Ivy League lead.
99 WOMEN’S SOCCER The total number of points Brittany Raphino ‘23.5 has scored as a Bear.
9 WOMEN’S HOCKEY The number of goals scored this weekend by Brown against Dartmouth and Harvard, completing a weekend sweep.
post-
APR 14 — VOL 31 — ISSUE 9
See Full Issue: ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH
NOV 2 — VOL 32 — ISSUE 6
Letter from the Editor Dear Readers, Maybe it is the Florida girl in me, but I can’t help but notice that a chill has descended over campus, one that has me digging out my puffer for the first time all semester. It seems the last Last Warm Day has come and gone and the post-Halloweekend blues are palpable. As winter creeps up on us and that bright red foliage we’ve been so spoiled with begins to fall in earnest, it becomes harder to remember what there is to look forward to other than that second round of midterms and the first snowfall. But, dear Reader, though that easy warmth we’ve taken so for granted might be a little harder to find these days, let me remind you that there is still so much of it to be found. Our writers this week help us find sweet, strange pockets of warmth. In Feature, our writer has learned to cherish the unconventionality of her long-distance relationship, holding love letters close and mundanity even closer. Meanwhile, in Narrative, our writers explore the breadth of what love can be—one writer explores polyamory, and the other falls into perhaps the most important kind of all, self-love. Our A&C writers are swimming through sentimental waters, with one reflecting on swans and home, and the other delving into an album surrounding the uncertainty of life and where it will take you. Last but never, ever least, our Lifestyle writers are both on quests for another kind of warmth, with one writer giving us solo traveling advice to flee chilly Providence and the other giving us (much needed) fashion advice on how to get that wide ’90s look and to remain fashionable under bulky winter coats. And if there’s one thing to look forward to in these ever shorter days, it's the promise of spring, which you can find in the spring weekend–themed crossword! I hope you all find your own bits of warmth this week: a cup of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Rooibos tea perhaps, or maybe a hand clutched tightly in your own, tucked safely into your coat pocket. As I retreat indoors, swapping days sprawled on the Main Green for ones snuggled deep in bed, I am grateful for the promise of warmth that every Wednesday night brings, no matter the season.
More treating than tricking,
Klara Davidson-Schmich Feature Managing Editor
See Full Issue: (and crossword answers)
ISSUU.COM/BROWNDAILYHERALD
Send My Love ellyse givens
2
Me, Myself, and I Do ellie jurmann
Rippling ana vissicchio
6
6
3
Slouch Couch Sean Toomey
It's Okay to Love Multiple People indigo mudbhary 4
7
Allowing Us All Space to “Flounder” alaire kanes 5
Solo Traveling Advice for the Wandering Soul Tiffany Kuo 8
“I always wanted to be colorblind as a kid so I couldn’t be drafted.”
1. Smol 2. Vanilla 3. Vegetarian Refried 4. Clitoria (butterfly pea) 5. Chilling 6. Jelly 7. -ie BABIES 8. The big reflective one in Chicago 9. …there, done that 10. Cannellini
“I bet pacifier cigarettes would really calm a baby down.”
2
1
3
4
Spring Weekend by Will Hassett
Across
1 Smell, stench, or stink 5 Zoom predecessor
5
6
with 'of the Jedi' or 'from the crypt,' TV shows
7 Alone, aside, or away
6
(from)
8 Turner who performed at Brown in 1972
Down
7
8
1
Mammal nicknamed 'zebra giraffe'
2
Bob who performed at Brown in 1964 and 1997
3
Musical theatre form usually involving an orchestra Laze, lounge, or loll
4 5 RBI, xG, or FG% EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kimberly Liu
“I am but a freckle on a leaf, burdened to evergreen beneath the flaming sun. Freckle in the face of life, power in the face of oblivion. I don’t know why I am or, rather, why I keep trying to be.” —Nélari Figueroa-Torres, “Raising Monarchs” 10.28.22
“Then, when we made acquaintance with the art that materialized before us, that beckoned us into the mysterious basement halls and seated us next to strangers, we lacked any other excuse for meeting, we became adamant about the community of seeing.” —Madeline Canfield, “The Art of Reopening” 10.29.21
post–
Want to be involved? Email: mingyue_liu@brown.edu!
Section Editors Emily Tom Anaya Mukerji
FEATURE Managing Editor Klara Davidson-Schmich
LIFESTYLE Managing Editor Tabitha Lynn
Section Editors Addie Marin Lilliana Greyf
Section Editors Jack Cobey Daniella Coyle
ARTS & CULTURE Managing Editor Joe Maffa
HEAD ILLUSTRATORS Emily Saxl Ella Buchanan
Section Editors Elijah Puente Rachel Metzger
COPY CHIEF Eleanor Peters
NARRATIVE Managing Editor Katheryne Gonzalez
Copy Editors Indigo Mudhbary Emilie Guan Christine Tsu
SOCIAL MEDIA HEAD EDITORS Kelsey Cooper Tabitha Grandolfo Kaitlyn Lucas LAYOUT CHIEF Gray Martens Layout Designers Amber Zhao Alexa Gay STAFF WRITERS Dorrit Corwin Lily Seltz Alexandra Herrera Liza Kolbasov Marin Warshay Gabrielle Yuan Elena Jiang
Aalia Jagwani AJ Wu Nélari Figueroa Torres Daniel Hu Mack Ford Olivia Cohen Ellie Jurmann Sean Toomey Sarah Frank Emily Tom Ingrid Ren Evan Gardner Lauren Cho Laura Tomayo Sylvia Atwood Audrey Wijono Jeanine Kim Ellyse Givens Sydney Pearson Samira Lakhiani Cat Gao
Want to be involved? Email: mingyue_liu@brown.edu!
november 2, 2023�7
PAGE 10
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
COMMENTARY
Malherbe ’26: In a world of problematic artists, who you listen to sends a signal
We are not short on problematic musicians. It feels like every other day a well-known artist makes headlines for an offensive tweet, predatory behavior or saying a slur. Anything awful you can imagine has probably been done by someone with more than 500,000 monthly Spotify listeners. This constant wave of scandals is so intense that it can be hard for even the most chronically online fan to keep up. It’s a tall order to expect casual listeners to track everything the musicians they listen to say or do. Even when we do learn that a musician we listen to has done something wrong, it’s easy to move on and keep listening as before: What difference will your one little stream really make? Well, just like any form of consumerism, your individual participation might not seem to make a significant change. But en masse, making more ethical decisions about what music should be consumed can have a big impact. Ultimately, even if we are giving artists only a fraction of a dollar with each stream, if they’ve done harm, we should withhold our support. But what do we consider to be awful enough to warrant a boycott? As I said, musicians can be called problematic for a wide range of reasons, some of which might seem unfair. For example, Beyoncé was recently criticized for performing in Dubai, given the United Arab Emirates government’s history of homophobia. Sometimes, backlash against an artist is misdirected. For instance, Doja Cat has stirred up controversy throughout the promotion of her newest album, “Scarlet,” with some accusing her of devil worship and her fans upset with past behavior, including an incident in which she mocked fans online. But Doja Cat has also done more seriously harmful things which have garnered less public attention which might challenge her fans’ ability to justify listening to her music. Her new
mous alt-right Youtuber and alleged Neo-Nazi. When she received backlash for the post, she reposted the photo with the t-shirt cropped out, captioning the photo with multiple eyeroll emojis.. If you don’t care about any of these things, that is your prerogative, but I know that many would, at least enough to detract from their enjoyment of her music. Many people advocate separating art from the artist, but if you do, then you also need to take ownership of what your continued support means. However, for the more conscientious, how can we be expected to hold problematic artists accountable? Often, fans are the most aware of
all of the group’s music. Though their previous albums had sold more than 50,000 copies in the first day, the newest release only sold 93 copies in its first 24 hours, making the boycott an overwhelming success and forcing the label to cancel the release. Subsequently, all of the Loona members won their cases against the label and became free artists. In this case, fans intended for the boycott to benefit the artists. In similar fashion, a Swiftie would have no trouble boycotting original recordings of her albums in order to instead stream “Taylor’s Version.” As fans, it is clear that our actions matter. In some in-
scandals involving their favorite artists. If anyone could deprive them of the money and support that helped their career flourish previously, it would be the ones religiously buying and promoting their music like it’s their job. Such boycotts have succeeded in the past. The fast-growing world of K-pop is infamous for its exploitation of artists, but few have seen mistreatment on the level of the group Loona. The members of the popular girl group were not allowed to go outside for more than half an hour per day and allegedly went six years without pay. The final straw was when one of the members, Chuu, was thrown out of the group by the record label,
stances, even superfans should be able to draw a line. The problem with a case like Doja Cat’s is that it wasn’t her label that was acting up, but her — the one person her fans endlessly support. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that her newest album has been an overwhelming success, despite her bad behavior. And, of course, while Doja does have some pretty serious scandals floating around her, hers still pale in comparison to some other artists who also still have major fan support. For example, Chris Brown, despite his very public history of abuse, just sold out a major European tour in minutes. Mass-organized boycotts by fans aren’t the only
boyfriend faces serious allegations of emotional abuse, which Doja herself responded to one commenter by saying “GOODBYE AND GOOD RIDDANCE.” More recently, she posted a photo of herself wearing a t-shirt featuring an infa-
leading the 11 other members to file injunctions to leave the label as well. The label then tried to promote a new album amid the ensuing legal dispute. But the plan backfired: Loona’s fanbase boycotted not only the new release, but
forms of leverage we can rely on as listeners to hold artists accountable. Anyone who has made a personal decision to consume more ethically (e.g., not eating meat) knows that, even if your contribution is small, a lot of individual chang-
“
If we all act in accordance with our beliefs, it will have a gradual, positive impact.
es add up. If we all act in accordance with our beliefs, it will have a gradual, positive impact. So, when you’re just a casual listener, should you really be expected never to listen to “Planet Her” on Spotify again, knowing full well that Doja Cat will still be highly successful whether you support her or not? Well, that part is up to you. Unless you are impassioned enough to organize mass action against her, your abstention probably won’t make a large difference. However, principles have to come into play at some point. Even if you’re only giving a problematic musician like Chris Brown half a cent per stream, that still counts as a form of support. If all of us don’t care, those cents will start adding up, just as if we all act based on principles, the positive effects will also become visible. And do you really want to contribute to an abuser’s bank account? I know I don’t. If your contribution is small, a lot of individual changes add up. If we all act in accordance with our beliefs, it will have a gradual, positive impact. So, when you’re just a casual listener, should you really be expected to never to listen to “Planet Her” on Spotify again, knowing full well that Doja Cat will still be highly successful whether you support her or not? Well, that part is up to you. Unless you are impassioned enough to organize mass action against her, your abstentionit probably won’t make a large differencepractically do much. However, I do think that principles have to come into play at some point. Even if you’re only giving a problematic musician like Chris Brown half a cent per stream, that still counts as a form of support. Do you really want to continue to contribute to an abuser’s bank account? I know I don’t. If enough of us act this way, the effects will eventually become visible. Paulie Malherbe ’26 can be reached at benpaulie_malherbe@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
Rahman ’26: College attainment is dividing America, leaving non-degree-holders behind Despite low unemployment, growth in real wages and strong GDP figures, only 19% of Americans characterize the economy as excellent or good, and nearly half of Americans expect things to get worse. Furthermore, America is deeply politically polarized, and while the division historically fell along class lines, education is currently the dividing factor. The growing divide between the degree have and have-nots has coincided with a rise in social detachment and deaths of despair, like overdoses and suicides, among many without college degrees in America. For the health and preservation of our society, policymakers must work to address these disparities and create real opportunities for those holding a high school diploma. This “class disalignment,” caused by the failure of educated liberals in power to meaningfully address working-class living conditions and concerns, has only deepened this new political reality. This occurred within the context of the erosion of America’s unions, the rise in costs of health care, and, for those without a degree, the slow growth of gainful employment opportunities and wage stagnation. Perhaps skepticism is warranted. On balance, America is doing well, but we ought to ask: Whose America? The one of college graduates or the one of people who did not attend college? The U.S. currently has the worst life expectancy among its peer OECD countries. This is driven by high smoking mortality, obesity, homicide, suicide and opioid overdoses, among other factors. This, of course, correlates with educational attainment. A Princeton study found that the average life expectancy for a 25-year-old in 2021
with a college degree was 83 years, whereas the expectancy for one without was 75. As the two economists behind the study pointed out: “If all Americans had the life expectancy of the college-educated, the United States would have been one of the best performers among the rich countries in terms of life expectancy, not the worst.” America is unique in that life expectancy significantly diverges as a function of higher education, much of which can be attributed to our dysfunctional social safety net, and our private health care system where non-degree hold-
grees only recovered 80,000. Between 1989 and 2016, the median wealth of families with at least one college graduate grew from $238,000 to $291,000, whereas for non-grad families, it fell from $66,000 to $54,000. Trickle-down economics has been just that, a trickle, and understanding these numbers can help one understand the motives behind the rise of Donald Trump and American populism writ large. Neither the Democratic nor the Republican party has successfully addressed the legitimate concerns of Americans without college degrees and,
“
For the health and preservation of our society, policymakers must work to address these disparities and create real opportunities for those holding a high school diploma.
ers and low-income individuals make up the majority of our nation’s uninsured population. The economic picture is even more stark. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, those with a high school degree or less lost 5.6 million jobs. Degree-holders never faced similar losses. And through 2016, degree-holders gained 8.4 million new jobs — while those without de-
as a result, many of these Americans sought out a ‘third way’ by turning to populist ideologies. All of this paints a bleak picture of American society today, but our past need not necessarily define our future — policymakers have a role to play as well. I’m not proposing that everyone pursue higher education. While college is often the best financial investment a young
person can make in their lifetime, it’s not always the right choice. There is a need for blue-collar workers. Those working these jobs deserve to have dignity and financial independence. To address the economic despair faced by workers without a college degree, we need to strengthen the place of the union and establish more vocational career pathways, like apprenticeships and trade schools, as an alternative to college. Additionally, universities ought to expand pathways for community college graduates and reduce costs to become more accessible. We need to expand our social safety net and increase access to health care with a focus on primary and preventive care. And lastly, local governments and community organizations ought to expand public health outreach in their communities to mitigate the negative health exposures facing people without college degrees. The health and economic divide between college degree holders and non-holders is a sobering reflection of our society today. However, by coordinating stakeholders in politics, medicine and higher education, we can bridge the gap and create a healthier, more equitable society for everyone — regardless of their college attendance. 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. This column originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 1, 2023.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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COMMENTARY
Aizenberg ’26: Should we all donate a kidney to a stranger? Maybe. One morning in 2003, Zell Kravinsky drove to his local hospital, had his kidney removed, and donated it to Donnell Reid, a woman he had met once. Donnell Reid was overcome with happiness — after eight draining years of dialysis, the donation was giving her the chance to have a future. At first glance, Kravinsky’s act seems insane and maybe almost stupid. Most people never think to donate a kidney, let alone to help a stranger. But Kravinsky’s behavior was grounded in clarity about the impact he wanted to leave on the world. Though I cannot argue that everyone should donate a kidney to a stranger (especially because I have not done this), I believe that we should all at least seriously consider doing so. If you have two healthy kidneys, like most people, you are probably eligible to donate one. But only approximately 6,000 Americans do so each year. Obviously, I’m not arguing that everyone should donate a kidney — this is not an action that should be taken lightly. Kidney donors should be in good mental and physical health and undergo extensive testing to be sure that they are a good match for the recipient of the kidney. Kidney removal is an invasive medical procedure that carries with it non-zero chances of dangerous complications and even death. Still, these problems are extremely rare. In fact, losing a kidney makes you no more likely than a similar non-donor to experience kidney failure, nor does it affect your life expectancy in other ways. And you are very unlikely to regret donating: 95% of donors rate their experience as positive and 94% say that they would donate again if
they could. Additionally, donors have a high degree of long-term life satisfaction, and they may even live longer than the average person. Sometimes donors and recipients even form deep, long-term friendships. For recipients, the positive impacts of kidney donations are overwhelming. People suffering from kidney diseases need dialysis
are millions of people who could donate kidneys to save many of these people while facing a relatively small amount of personal risk. Considering the relative safety of donating a kidney and the huge positive impact it can have on a stranger’s life, why do most people never consider donating a
“ Perhaps donating a kidney should not be seen as a ridiculous act of altruism, but rather as one simple way to live more ethically.
or a kidney transplant to stay alive. Though dialysis is effective in the short term, it is exhausting, requiring constant hospital visits and the painful connection of a bag to the patient’s abdominal lining. Kidney transplants, on the other hand, are less invasive and tend to offer a much higher quality of life in the long term. People who receive transplants live far longer than those stuck on dialysis. Unfortunately, transplants are inaccessible to most because there is a massive kidney shortage: Over 100,000 people in the U.S. need a kidney transplant each year, yet less than 20% of these people receive one. Every day, 17 people die waiting for an organ transplant, all while there
kidney? In similar situations, helping the stranger would be a no-brainer. For example, say a stranger is about to get hit by a car and you have the opportunity to push them out of the way, but there is a slight chance that you will get hit instead. Nearly everyone would instinctively choose to save the stranger — the solution to this moral dilemma is so clear because we understand that the stranger faces a far greater risk than us. The notable difference between that scenario and a kidney donation is that when you choose not to donate a kidney, you are not forced to see a stranger suffer. But the result is still the same. Even though we are able to distance ourselves from those experiencing
kidney failure, they are still suffering and we should want to help them. As the car scenario proves, perhaps donating a kidney should not be seen as a ridiculous act of altruism, but rather as one simple way to live more ethically. Zell Kravinksy agreed with this line of reasoning, albeit in a more mathematical way. According to his calculations, he faced a one in 4,000 chance of dying as a result of the transplant. Donnell Reid, the receiver of the kidney, had nearly a one-in-one chance of dying if she did not receive a kidney. Kravinksy believed that if he did not donate his kidney, he would be implicitly saying that he valued his own life 4,000 times more than Reid’s, a ratio which he could not defend. Though Kravinsky’s reasoning is a bit too mechanical for me, he raises a good point. If we face a relatively small chance of harm when donating a kidney and can greatly improve — and maybe even save — someone else’s life, can we excuse not donating? By not donating, are we implicitly saying that we do not sufficiently value the lives of others? Am I an unethical person because I still have two kidneys? I do not know the answers to these questions, but I do know that we should all be grappling with them. 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. This column originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 1, 2023.
Hudes ’27: Social media is a harmful forum for political discourse With every cycle of disaster, social media explodes with polarizing political content. Instagram becomes a battleground on which individuals are flooded with infographics — some that accurately reflect whatever issues they mean to tackle and some that entirely miss the mark. Many individuals repost or respond to this content, contributing to the rapid spread of questionable information or engaging in conversations that barely scrape the surface of complex social issues. Outrage then builds on itself as communities become discontent with this flawed dialogue. Social media is not an adequate arena for sensitive political discussion; if we intend to make progress on divisive social issues, we must be willing to sit down with those we disagree with and talk face to face. When using Instagram and other social media platforms as a place to address social issues, we disregard the fundamental human element inherent to politics. It becomes easy to view an online adversary as just another icon on a screen instead of a real person. We aren’t able to recognize that their deep convictions and different perspectives stem from lived experiences. Face-to-face, our ability to understand unfamiliar perspectives is aided by instinctive human empathy; online, social media interferes with this vulnerable process. Social media thus prevents us from understanding those we disagree with, impeding lived experience and perspective from being a part of the conversation. As long as we hide behind our screens, there is little room for the human component of these extremely human issues. Online political debate, which is inherently impersonal, also often allows users to intentionally dehumanize their ideological opponents. Dehumanizing language — for example, equating certain human populations to “ani-
mals” — further incites feelings of division and creates hierarchies of respect, enabling and encouraging violence. In online discourse, where popularity and virality are crucial metrics for success, this kind of emotional manipulation becomes incentivized at the cost of less captivating logical appeals. These obstacles make having rational conversations about social issues online nearly impossible even as their value is recognized and acted on in person. Social media also oversimplifies complex
cial media, ultimately polarizing communities more than they facilitate vulnerable dialogue and inciting conversations that are often counterproductive. Infographics containing fake news and exaggerated claims are more easily disseminated across social media — a study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that “falsehoods are 70% more likely to be retweeted on Twitter than the truth.” As misinformation permeates more feeds, these posts be-
“ If we intend to make progress on
divisive social issues, we must be willing to sit down with those we disagree with and talk face to face.
political discussions through means of aesthetically pleasing infographics. These graphics oversimplify the nuances of political conflicts, condensing dynamic ideas into a few slides. Because it is easily digestible, the data displayed in these infographics can be readily believed by Instagram users despite the fact that they lack valuable context. Unlike explanations or evidence delivered in person, online infographics have little potential for nuance, fueling the views of those who agree with them and agitating those who don’t. Instagram infographics also contribute to the overload of information spewing from so-
come not only divisive but malignant. Individuals become more and more comfortable buying into information that they encounter online if it aligns with their views, regardless of its source. Rabbit holes turn into echo chambers, opinions turn into ideologies and discourse turns into disconnection. When misinformation hinders us from agreeing on the facts of a contentious issue, we are barred from even beginning to understand opposing perspectives, pushing genuine dialogue even further out of the picture. This doesn’t mean that there are no ways to use social media for political en-
gagement. Politicians have begun using social media to provide transparency to their constituents and mobilize voters. Foreign causes that would not usually receive coverage by Western media can use social media to spread awareness — even using platforms such as Facebook to procure aid. However, in moments of political crisis, our time is better spent delving deeply into relevant subjects face-to-face than repetitively consuming surface-level information online. We must not only be conscious of how our perception of the world is being altered by social media, but we must reject it as a substitute for in-person political discourse. It’s important to engage in dialogue that humanizes those you disagree with, and this can only happen in person. At Brown, we have many student groups dedicated to some form of politics, culture, religion or social action. Rather than confronting political issues on social media, go talk to the informed individuals around you. Ask questions that might challenge both you and them. Make room for unfamiliar perspectives and welcome the extremely human component of human conflict. Hiding behind a screen has become overwhelmingly appealing, but we must push ourselves to engage in a debate that has genuine potential for progress — this means conversing in real life, not online. 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. This column originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 27, 2023.
PAGE 12
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
ARTS & CULTURE
CAMPUS PUBLICATIONS
MOVEMENTS journal seeks to create culture of collaboration Arts journal launched first issue, ‘Dissonance,’ with community jam event Friday BY KATIE JAIN UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR The first volume of the Brown Arts Institute’s MOVEMENTS arts journal, titled “Dissonance,” launched online Friday. “Dissonance” seeks to activate “radical theoretical flows that reconnect us with each other, nature and the world” — and serves as a “poetic remixing of freedom movements and their live manifestations in community, experimentation and creativity,” according to the MOVEMENTS website. To celebrate the release, BAI held a “Community Jam” over Zoom, which featured student and faculty artists as well as some of the writers featured in the journal’s first issue. The event began with a conversation between MOVEMENTS’s Founding Editor and Professor of Arts Journalism and Criticism Shirine Saad and BAI Artistic Director and Professor of the Practice of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies and Classics Avery Willis Hoffman, who discussed the underlying principles and ideas behind the journal. Two and a half years ago, Willis Hoffman invited Saad to “join her on this adventure … because she was interested in activating (BAI’s) incredible programming through critical conversations about the themes that are being addressed on stage,” Saad said at the event. This prompted Saad to move to Providence, where they began “to learn about the history of the land, the various changes that had been happening to the city’s infrastructure (and) the power structure in Brown and Brown’s place in the wider community and landscape,” Saad told The
Herald in an interview after the event. Saad expressed that these “explorations” and the students they recruited to help with the journal helped shape the concepts MOVEMENTS would focus on. “We said we need to respond to the work that (Hoffman) is doing — the cultural, artistic programming — but we also need to respond to what’s happening in this city at this moment in time,” they said. “We felt that there was a need for a publication that brought theory to life.” The name MOVEMENTS is a “play on words,” as it connotes “expanse and space” as well as “moving between disciplines,” Willis Hoffman said at the event, adding that the title is a greater testament to the multidisciplinary nature of arts at Brown. MOVEMENTS also promotes the mission of institutions like the newly-created Lindemann Performing Arts Center, which “invites us to fail and needs us to experiment,” according to Willis Hoffman. It’s “not so obsessed with the final product” and disrupts “the transactional space of art many of us are used to.” Willis Hoffman hopes the journal will “make space for stumbling through things, exploring and actually giving ourselves space to grieve” and “give voice” to those who have been underrepresented in the art world. Sherente Harris ’23 GS and Silvermoon Larose, both members of the Narragansett Indian Tribe, also spoke at the event about the relationship between land and art. “So much of our art traditions today are inseparable from our identity as Indigenous people,” Harris said. “Our arts are expressions of our relationship to the land.” Larose expressed that until recently, she didn’t consider much of what she created to be “art” in the traditional sense. Growing up, art “was just something that surrounded us all the time,” she said. “Everyone was a creator.”
“All of what we consider traditional art forms were based in purpose and utilization,” Larose said, describing the practical purposes of basketmaking, weaving and pottery. “You built relationships with those materials” and, by making them beautiful, “you pay honor and respect to all of that creation.” “When we dance, we dance to the beat of the drum, and that is the heartbeat of Mother Earth,” Harris explained. “And when we dance, our feet move the way that the animal people’s feet move. And we wear the skins and the feathers of our relations, the animal people, so that the lines are blurred between us and them.” “Our stories orient the individual to our society, orient our society to our world and explain why we live the way we do in relation to the landscape around us,” they added. Next, poet Fariha Róisín spoke with Tara Dhaliwal GS about the significance of political art and poetry. Róisín read personal poems about her identity, her family’s history with genocide in Bangladesh and the subsequent generational trauma. She dedicated her work, which is “directed toward liberation,” to “the people in Gaza.” Saad expressed a similar sentiment, linking global events to the work of all the journal’s contributors. “Today, we are in mourning and many of us are grieving very intensely,” they said. “Artistic work and theoretical work help us to see clearly through the chaos, the catastrophe.” Both Róisín and Dhaliwal also highlighted the role of community in the journal and resistance movements. MOVEMENTS was a community-based effort, enlisting contributions from students and faculty across Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design, according to Saad. “Community is leaning on your people and working and organizing together
COURTESY OF BROWN ARTS INSTITUTE
The journal’s first issue is a “poetic remixing of freedom movements and their live manifestations in community,” according to the MOVEMENTS website. like this,” Róisín said. “Colonization has separated us so much from each other and from ourselves … because we’re more powerful when we’re together.” Professors of Modern Culture and Media Macarena Gómez-Barris and Alex Weheliye then discussed Weheliye’s latest book, “Feenin: R&B Music and the Materiality of BlackFem Voices and Technology.” “The book is really a sonic and dialogical illumination of Black life and worlds,” Gómez-Barris said, adding that it “deals very closely with the question of queerness as Black musicalities.” The event also included a conversation between Saad and composer Vijay Iyer about the relationship between musical dissonance and the body, as well as a discussion about holistic care from RISD Art Critic Lilly Manycolors and Sheida Soleimani, assistant professor of fine arts
at Brandeis University. The event closed with a conversation between writer Re’al Christian and poet danilo machado about the art of mapping movement and the systems of power behind maps. “It’s important to always question the power dynamics embedded within cartography and mapping,” Christian said. “The way that cities are depicted on maps today is indelibly tied to these power dynamics — to the economy, to capitalism.” Systems of power “manifest spatially,” machado said. “That spatial knowledge is something that’s then deployed by artists” to dismantle “infrastructures of power and create infrastructure of care and poetics and collaboration for ourselves as writers and artists and art workers.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 29, 2023.
BOOK REVIEW
‘The Woman in Me’ lets Britney Spears’s unfiltered voice shine
New memoir arrives after termination of Spears’s conservatorship in 2021 BY CAVAN AGATONE CONTRIBUTING WRITER Anyone active on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic can most likely recall the trends that circulated online as people tried to distract themselves from the uncertainty of the times: baking bread, core workouts and “Tiger King” took over the internet. Britney Spears was also looking for distractions during this time. “I spent days, weeks, sitting in my room, listening to self-help audiobooks, staring at the wall or making jewelry, bored out of my mind,” she writes in her new memoir, “The Woman in Me,” which was released Oct. 24 and immediately topped the Amazon bestsellers list for the week. 2020 was a pivotal time for Spears as the #FreeBritney movement called for the end of her conservatorship, which had been overseen by her father since 2008. After a judge finally ended the arrangement in November 2021, Spears regained control over
her own finances and she signed a $15 million book deal with Simon & Schuster. Through the #FreeBritney movement, headlines and Twitter threads circulated about allegations of abuse in Spears’s conservatorship. But one crucial element was missing through the debacle: Spears’s own voice. Spears has been a prominent cultural figure for the last 25 years, ranking as one of the most searched celebrities in the entire world throughout the 2000s. There are very few details of her life that have not been splashed across headlines. As a result, few moments in “The Woman in Me” truly come as a surprise. But reading about Spears’s sleepovers with her great-grandmother Lexie or the times she was caught smoking cigarettes as a teenager by her mother reminds readers of the memoir’s main purpose — to show Spears in a new light outside of the shocking blows that the tabloids and paparazzi have been pushing for almost three decades. This is Spears with a microphone and, for the first time in 15 years, she is not being told what to say into it. Throughout “The Woman in Me,” Spears chronologically traverses her
life — at some times frolicking in her youthful freedom and at others trudging through her struggles during adulthood. She describes some parts in great detail, like her admiration of Madonna’s ways of commanding attention, but then only spares a few paragraphs for chronicling the time she infamously shaved her head in front of the paparazzi in 2007. While Spears has served as a magnet for media frenzies and tabloid scandals, “The Woman in Me” proves that most of the mid-2000s hoopla over Spears’s partying with Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton and her 55hour marriage to Jason Alexander was blown out of proportion. Spears’s martyrdom to the invasive nature of celebrity pop culture ends up coming full circle in the memoir, as she would rather talk about how much she loves spending time with her children than her most infamous moments in the public eye. For those who brought a torch, Spears does not scorch the earth, but she also does not hide the truth from the reader. Referencing having her personal and creative freedoms taken away during her conservatorship, Spears writes: “I felt betrayed by my father, and sadly, by the rest of
CAVAN AGATONE / HERALD
Britney Spears’s “The Woman in Me” was released on Oct. 24 and immediately topped the Amazon bestsellers list for the week. my family, too.” But less than a page later, she adds that she’s “working to feel more compassion than anger” toward her sister Jamie Lynn and others she feels have wronged her. With “The Woman in Me,” Spears takes control over her own narrative — her father’s lawyers aren’t putting
words in her mouth and social media investigators aren’t piecing together clues from her Instagram account. For the first time in thirteen years, Spears is able to show the world who she is. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 29. 2023.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 13
ARTS & CULTURE UPCOMING EVENTS
Cabaret, Department of Theatre Arts & Performance Thursday, Nov. 2, 8:00 p.m. Stuart Theatre, 75 Waterman St.
A Conversation with Frederick Wiseman
Friday, Nov. 3, 12:00 p.m. Watson Institute, 111 Thayer St.
Brown University Chorus: A Musical Beastiary Friday, Nov. 3, 8:00 p.m. Sayles Hall
Día de los Muertos Celebration
Friday, Nov. 3, 6:00 p.m. Rochambeau House
TRUE WEST by Sam Shepard
Saturday, Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. Pell Chafee Performance Center
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LIFE
Japanese Cultural Association hosts annual haunted house JCA members discuss organizing event, bringing Japanese culture to College Hill BY KATE BUTTS CONTRIBUTING WRITER On a dark and not-so-stormy night, students lined up outside Sayles Hall for the Japanese Cultural Association’s annual haunted house. Despite the unseasonably warm weather, stepping into Sayles sent chills down the spines of attending students, who were quickly in a world of horrors. “This year’s theme is a haunted train station,” said Kyoko Saito ’25, one of the co-presidents of JCA. “We always try to incorporate some elements of Japanese culture. So for this year for the train station, we have a sushi restaurant or elements of things you would find in a Japanese train station that you might not find in America.” Upon entering the haunted house, guests watched a short movie on the story of this year’s haunted house, directed by JCA co-president Arata Fujii ’25. “Its main purpose is to make sure that everyone knows what’s going on, what the backstory is,” Fujii said. “I write the script for (the short movie) every single year, and I film (and) direct it every single year. So it’s been a lot of fun to see how people react to it.” Fujii added that his favorite part
of running the haunted house occurs right before it starts: when JCA members come together to eat dinner and watch the video as a team. After watching the short movie, guests made their way into the building’s basement, where they walked through dark, decorated rooms and collected candy while JCA members dressed in creepy costumes jumped out at them, some yelling and others laughing maniacally. Kaila Sung ’25, another JCA co-president, described the haunting as hard but fun work. “When you’re actually in there and constantly scaring people, and you don’t know what to expect with the new groups and you don’t know who’s coming in, it’s a lot of work,” Sung said. Fujii discussed the difficulty of coordinating all of the small details that go into organizing the haunted house, such as turning off all the lights in Sayles’s basement. “For them to turn off all the lights, … electricians need to come in and actually turn the power off, and usually that can take a while,” he said. “It’s always been a struggle to make sure that everything runs smoothly.” Fire marshals also check the haunted house to ensure exit signs are not obstructed, Fu-
jii explained. He added that each team also spends a few weeks gathering props and costumes, planning out their assigned room and selling
tickets for the event. But while planning the haunted house is a “month-long” process, Saito said the event brings JCA members together for a “fun” bonding experience. “You get to talk with your group and just get to know them better,” Sung said. While the exact origins of JCA’s haunted house event are unknown, group members described it as an important tradition of the organization. “The Japanese haunted house is not necessarily
only enjoyed on Halloween in Japan,” Fujii said, explaining that people in Japan visit haunted houses year-round, especially during the summertime. The event is “very resonant with our mission of trying to bring Japanese cultures to Brown’s campus but also being accepting of the local cultures of the U.S.,” he added. “I think we do a pretty good job of mixing those two.” According to Tiffany Eddy ’26, JCA events chair, JCA’s hard work always pays off: Last year, over 300 students attended the event, which has garnered a haunting reputation on campus. Timothy Fong ’26 said that Eddy’s screaming was the most “impressive” part of the haunted house this year. “I heard it was a really scary experience and I feel like that would be fitting for Halloween,” Ryan Liu ’27, another guest walking into the haunted house, said. “I heard it was the Japanese Cultural Association putting it on, so I also wanted to support them.”
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This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 30, 2023.
AVANEE DALMIA / HERALD
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
RESEARCH
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for quantum dots research. Brown academics are no strangers to the field. Researchers discuss diverse applications of nano-chemistry, quantum dots BY RYAN DOHERTY SENIOR STAFF WRITER On Oct. 4, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Moungi Bawendi, Columbia Professor Louis E. Brus and scientist Aleksey Yekimov “for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.” For Ou Chen, associate professor of chemistry at Brown, the award hits very close to home: From 2010 to 2014, Chen worked as a postdoctoral assistant for Bawendi at MIT. Now, he researches quantum dots in his lab at Brown. “The timing makes sense,” Chen said of the Nobel Prize. “Quantum dots have been (growing in prominence in) different fields, especially for display technology in the TV industry.” “It’s been applied in this commercial product and is changing people’s lives, which is the definition of a Nobel Prize,” he added. Lacie Dube GS, a researcher in Chen’s lab, hopes that Bawendi, Brus and Yekimov’s Nobel Prize win will draw more attention to the field of nanochemistry, which is the study of chemical phenom-
COURTESY OF ILIA LITVINOV / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Quantum dots are nanomaterials that lend themselves to various applications, from TV screens to biomedical imaging. ena and materials at the nanometer scale. Quantum dots are artificially synthesized semiconductor nanocrystals — or, as Chen puts it, “tiny particles with huge potential.” But tiny may be an understatement: Quantum dots are “about as big to you as you are to the Sun,” according to Dube. Quantum dots are made of materials that are neither insulators nor conductors, which gives them unique properties and capabilities. For example, the size of quantum dots, which are directly tied to the color of light they emit, can be manipulated during manufacturing, according to Chen. Typically, it is the material and
composition of a particle that determines the color of light it emits. “By changing the size of the particle,” Chen said, “you can totally transform the optical properties.” Today, quantum dots have a diverse range of applications, from our TV screens to biomedical imaging techniques. Among the applications are laser display, biomedical sensing and photocatalysis, according to Shouheng Sun, professor of chemistry and engineering at Brown. In addition, quantum dots have been used for live imaging and drug delivery, further transforming medicine. “All of these areas are from the fun-
damental work … initially developed” by Yekimov, Brus and Bawendi, Sun said. Yekimov was the first to observe what physicists had previously theorized: Changing the size of a nanoparticle could change its optical properties. Yekimov showed this by changing the color of glass in the 1980s. A few years later, Brus independently showed similar results to Yekimov, this time in a fluid. In 1993, Bawendi “revolutionized the chemical production of quantum dots, … (which was) necessary for them to be utilized,” according to a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. At Brown, the Chen Lab is working on
improving quantum dot synthesis, as well as studying the properties of the particles. The group seeks to develop a “variety of novel materials ranging from nanoscopic to macroscopic scales and characterizing and elucidating their chemical and physical properties for optical, energy, biological and catalysis applications,” according to their website. “We’re trying to find new compositions, new kinds of materials and optimize their altered optical properties or make even more complex structures,” Chen said. Dube is currently working on a project on perovskites, another class of nanomaterials closely related to quantum dots. Specifically, she is looking at lead-free alternatives for perovskite materials which “tend to be more stable and tend to have lower toxicity.” Dube and Chen both stressed the young age of the nanochemistry field and are excited about its future. “A lot of new things have been discovered every year, every month,” Chen said. “It’s still very exciting.” Dube said she is grateful to be exploring the field at this time: “There’s not many people that get to be at the start of something,” she said. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 29, 2023.
SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Documentary on vaccine hesitancy to kick off new public health initiative Pandemic Center’s year-long series to explore intersection of public health, storytelling BY LILIANA CUNHA CONTRIBUTING WRITER The School of Public Health’s Pandemic Center will host a screening of the new documentary “Shot in the Arm” Monday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. Directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy and executive produced by Neil deGrasse Tyson, the film explores the history of vaccine hesitancy and its relevance in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The film, which began as a project on measles before turning to COVID-19, features interviews with Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as well as interviews with “anti-vaccine activists.” The screening is the first event in a year-long Pandemic Center initiative exploring “storytelling as a public health intervention,” according to the event description. Titled “Our Storied Health Film and Media Series,” the initiative will include film screenings, campus conversations and workshops. “What’s interesting is that a lot of the successes in public health are invisible,” said Jennifer Galvin ’95, an epidemiologist and documentary filmmaker. “It’s not really just about science communication and making an infographic. It’s really about, ‘How do we shine a light on the unseen work of public health?’” “A documentary film, at its best, makes the invisible visible,” she added.
COURTESY OF JENNIFER GALVIN
Jennifer Galvin ’95, one of the two curators of SPH’s year-long initiative exploring the intersection between public health and storytelling, is an epidemiologist and documentary filmmaker who explores environmental topics in her work. The screening at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts will be free and open to the public, according to Bentley Holt, communications and outreach specialist at the Pandemic Center. It will be followed by a panel discussion with Galvin and journalist Maggie Fox. The broader initiative is curated by Galvin along with Jennifer Nuzzo, Pandemic Center director and professor of epidemiology. The two met in graduate school at Harvard and are now reconnecting at Brown. “She and I have been talking about big ideas in
public health for 20-plus years now,” Galvin said in an interview with The Herald. The center’s program is part of Brown Arts IGNITE, a new University-wide initiative that includes a series of diverse creations across campus and Rhode Island. “What was catalytic for us was the Brown Arts IGNITE funding opportunity,” Nuzzo said. “It was an important chance to put down on paper some ideas.” “I don’t think we have yet fully
embraced or learned how to harness the power of narrative and storytelling as one of our interventions,” she added. Galvin said she is thrilled to be working with SPH on this project. She believes that the University’s interdisciplinary culture is the perfect environment to share her own work with filmmaking and public health, and she is excited to emphasize what the medium can convey to the world that more conventional public health interventions cannot.
Nuzzo echoed this sentiment: “Just talking to people about facts is not enough. … If we hope to change health behavior, we’re really going to have to reach people’s hearts and minds in addition to delivering facts,” she said. This is what “Shot in the Arm” aims to accomplish. The film puts “a face on some of these problems,” Galvin said. It’s “all about combining thinking and feeling.” Throughout the next year, the Pandemic Center’s series will explore the potential to use other art forms as methods of public health intervention. According to Nuzzo, each of these events will be followed by discussions about the topic at hand, which will not always be pandemic-related — in fact, most won’t be. The duo hopes to select future films that span all kinds of issues in public health: climate change, environmental injustice, the opioid crisis, gun violence and more. They also wish to expand this initiative in future years by collaborating with other University departments and encouraging students of all interests and concentrations to be a part of the story, Galvin said. In the immediate future, Galvin and Nuzzo are hoping this first event will extend far past the Brown community. “It’s also an opportunity to take down the gates and allow the larger community beyond our walls to come in and participate in those conversations too,” Nuzzo said. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 29, 2023.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
POLL FROM PAGE 1 Assembly. The discrepancy between the program’s cost and RIPTA’s budget made it “not financially feasible” for the agency to continue the program, Raposo Perry wrote in an email to The Herald last month. Do you approve of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president of the United States? Four percent of poll respondents reported they strongly approve of President Joe Biden’s performance, and just over 40% reported they somewhat approve. Around 23% of respondents said they either somewhat disapprove or strongly disapprove, while roughly onethird reported either no opinion or that they neither approve nor disapprove of his performance. A poll conducted last fall by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics found that among Americans aged 18-29, 41% approved of Biden’s performance as president and 56% disapproved. The Herald found lower rates of approval for Biden among first-generation undergraduates. Around 31% of first-generation respondents said they strongly approve or somewhat approve of Biden’s performance, compared with about 46% of students who are not first-generation. More first-generation students expressed somewhat or strong disapproval for Biden — 31% of first-generation students expressed disapproval, compared to 21% of students who are not first-generation. In your academic studies, how do you use ChatGPT or similar tools? About 30% of poll respondents reported they do not use ChatGPT or similar tools in their academic studies. Of students who reported using artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, the majority said they used ChatGPT as a search engine or to answer conceptual questions. The emergence of these new technologies has sparked conversations about academic integrity at Brown, with professors debating whether to allow students to use AI when completing assignments in their courses. In an August letter by Provost Francis Doyle shared with the Brown community, Doyle announced a series of campus-wide discussions to explore “the impact of AI on how we live, work and educate the next generation.” “As we identify the ways in which AI can enhance academic activities for faculty and student success and administrative activities for staff, we must also ensure these tools are understood and used appropriately and ethically,” Doyle wrote in his letter. According to a BestColleges survey conducted in March, roughly one in five American college students polled reported using AI to complete their assignments. Thirty percent of those who said they used AI in their schoolwork reported using AI to complete the “majority” of their assignments. Student organizations approval Over 40% of poll respondents reported they strongly or somewhat disapprove of how the Undergraduate Finance Board is handling its job, compared to 10% and 8% of respondents who reported they strongly or somewhat disapprove of the Undergraduate Council of Students and their year’s Class Coordinating Board, respectively.
After spending the vast majority of its $1.2 million surplus last year, UFB faced a $1.5 million gap between the funding requested by student groups and the amount it could distribute. Despite an increase in the student activity fee from $286 to $300, clubs have faced lowered budgets and some have had to downsize their operations — including the Brown Concert Agency, which announced in September that Spring Weekend 2024 will be one day rather than two.
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UNIVERSITY NEWS
Relationship status by class year More than one-third of respondents who are seniors reported being in a longterm relationship, compared with 30% of juniors, 22% of sophomores and 14% of first-years. The sophomore class had the greatest share of respondents who were single and looking for a relationship, at 28%. These results are roughly consistent with those from The Herald’s fall 2022 poll, which found that 36% of seniors, 25% of juniors, 23% of sophomores and 16% of first-years were in a long-term relationship. Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 approval by class year This semester’s poll found that approval of President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 was highest among the junior class, with 29% of juniors reporting they strongly or somewhat approve of Paxson’s performance as University president — compared with just under 26% of respondents overall. Roughly half of students reported they have no opinion or neither approve nor disapprove of Paxson’s performance, at 21% and 28% respectively. Neither approve or disapprove was a new survey response option this year, impacting the proportion of students who may have previously indicated approval, disapproval or “no opinion.” The Herald conducted this poll as students were first responding to the recent outbreak of violence in Israel and Gaza that followed the Hamas attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Department of of History Department Brown University Brown presents presents
The The 44th 43rd William F. Church Memorial Memorial Lecture
the Apocalypse to theEnslaved “On Race“From and Reinscription: Writing Idea of Progress Early Modern Europe” Women into theinEarly Modern Archive” John Jeffries Martin Jennifer L. Morgan
Professor of History, Duke University Professor of History, New York University Thursday,November November16, 3, 2022 Thursday, 2023 5:30 5:30 p.m. Smith-Buonanno Room 106 106 Smith-Buonanno Hall Hall || Room
open to to the the public. public Free and open
5 sixteenth the first half the seventeenth century, In In thisthe talk, Jennifer and L. Morgan uses theofhistory of three black women expressed their hopes for the an apocalyptic, fromEuropeans the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to future explorewithin questions of methodology even millenarian frame. But in seventeenth and throughout the and archives in the early history ofthe the late Black Atlantic. Through evidence from eighteenth a new language of hope emerged as the and Ideapossibilities of Progressof visual art, law,century and commerce, Morgan considers the challenges took hold. This presentation transition attention crafting a social-historical study ofexplores women this whose voices arewith so often absentboth from to record, the emergence oflives secular and tohave shifting notions of the archival but whose and values perspectives proven to be essential for Divine Providence the early modern world. comprehending the in origins of racial capitalism.
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UNIVERSITY NEWS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
RESIDENTIAL LIFE
Brook Street Dorm residents reflect on amenities, experience as inaugural dorm cohort Students discuss theme communities, dorm benefits, short-comings BY JAMES MA CONTRIBUTING WRITER The five-story Brook Street Residence Halls, which include Chen Family Hall at 250 Brook St. and Danoff Hall at 259 Brook St., opened to their first resident cohort of sophomores, juniors and seniors fall 2023. The residence halls are made up of two-, three- and four-bedroom suites that include a full bathroom with a shower stall. Several two-bedroom suites also include kitchenettes with a stovetop, microwave and refrigerator. Beyond the common areas within suites, the residence halls also feature gathering areas, study spaces and full kitchens. For Andrew Rovinsky ’25, the Brook Street dorms were a particularly attractive housing option when navigating last year’s housing lottery. The Brook Street dorms were his “top choice” because they seemed “nicer” and boasted “new facilities.” “We got lucky with the housing lottery,” he said. While a majority of the beds in the Brook Street dorms are available to the general public, the residence halls also include designated communities that
JAANU RAMESH / HERALD
The Brook Street dorms include three thematic communities focused on sustainability, religious and spiritual life and civic engagement.
focus on three themes: religious and spiritual life, sustainability and civic engagement. Students have to apply for space within these communities. For Emily Colon ’25, a political science concentrator, the civic engagement community was particularly appealing: It “was the only program housing option that involved something that I am passionate about: … social justice
issues,” she said. But according to Colon, her theme community hasn’t “met as a group or decided on any programming” so far this year. Rovinsky is not involved in any theme communities because he was not “that interested” in any particular themes and found the application requirement somewhat inconvenient.
The residents also provided insight into some of the dorms’ unique features. “There are not enough suites on campus to accommodate everyone who wants them,” Rovinsky said. So he appreciates “having a suite with singles” in his new dorm. For Adam Orlow ’25, having an in-suite bathroom “separate from the shower room” is a particularly nice
feature. He added that he also likes the “well-furnished” public kitchens, one of which is always available for use. For Colon, the elevators and study spaces throughout the residence hall provide a sense of convenience by allowing her to study within her dorm building, a distinguishing feature from her previous on-campus housing. But the residents did not like every feature of the new dorms, which can sometimes feel “cramped and stuffy” due to limited ventilation in the shared spaces, Orlow said. Colon added that there could also be more washers and dryers in the buildings and that she prefers built-in closets, which enable her to store more clothing, to the wardrobes in her suite. She also noted that the timed lights throughout the dorm often “just go off ” when she is not moving, particularly when she is reading or doing work. Rovinsky said that residents should be able to control the air conditioning and that he would prefer if there were “couches” rather than “two chairs and two stands” in the common area of his suite. Nevertheless, he noted that these “minor complaints” will not prevent him from trying to “live here (again) next year.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Oct. 30, 2023.
ACADEMICS
Brown celebrates opening of renovated Churchill House Renovated Africana Studies building opened for use in fall 2023 BY NEIL MEHTA UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR The University celebrated the renovated Churchill House, home to the Department of Africana Studies and Rites and Reason Theatre, at a dedication ceremony during Black Alumni Reunion Friday evening. The renovation, a $20 million project that started in July 2022, added 3,000 square feet of space and several accessibility and modernization updates, The Herald previously reported. Faculty and staff who temporarily relocated to Andrews House during construction returned to Churchill this fall. The next day, the University held an open house for the building, inviting community members and reunion attendees to explore the new space. The dedication ceremony was one of the first events of last weekend’s Black Alumni Reunion, which featured a series of panels, exhibitions and events related to Black identity, community, experiences and individuals at Brown. This year’s Black Alumni Reunion was the first since 2018.
Professor of Africana Studies Noliwe Rooks, who chairs the department, said in a Sunday press release that the renovations promote community building. “How do we bring people into the building who otherwise don’t have a reason to come in? How can we give existing community members a way to find and connect with each other outside of private offices?” Rooks said in the press release. “How can we host events that communicate to people, ‘There’s something interesting here; you might want to stop by more often and see what we have going on’?” New accessibility features in the renovated building include an en-
trance ramp on Angell Street and fully accessible bathrooms, according to the press release. Rooks told The Herald earlier this month that the renovation was designed by the New York architecture firm Marble Fairbanks. As far as renovations go, “people have been asking for them for years,” Rooks said. The dedication ceremony included remarks by Rooks and President Christina H Paxson P’19 P’MD’20, who said the updated building “lives up to the past and future of a great
institution” at the dedication ceremony. “We’re celebrating the expansion of the intellectual footprint of Africana Studies,” Paxson said at the ceremony, according to the press release, “and all of the people who have contributed so much to the important work of the past — and will continue to do so in Churchill House.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on October 30, 2023.
TALIA LEVINE / HERALD
The Churchill House renovation, a $20 million project that started in July 2022, added 3,000 square feet of space and several accessibility and modernization updates.