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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Friday, January 29, 2021

VOLUME CLV, ISSUE 37

UNIVERSITY NEWS

University eligible for $6.9 million in COVID-19 aid Administrators undecided on whether to accept federal funding BY MIA BARZILAY FREUND SENIOR STAFF WRITER The University has not yet decided whether to apply for or accept the nearly $6.9 million of funding for which it is eligible under a new Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA) signed into law by former President Donald Trump Dec. 27. This funding comes as the latest installment in a timeline of stimulus funding offered to institutions of higher education amid financial challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, the Trump administration approved its Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act, known as the CARES Act, under which the University was originally entitled to $4.8 million in relief funding, The Herald previously reported.

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“These rounds of federal funding are intended to support students across the country adversely impacted during this pandemic, as well as the critical needs of colleges and universities arising from the coronavirus,” Vice President for Communications Cass Cliatt wrote in an email to The Herald. “We feel it is important that our community can benefit from this support.” The University applied in spring 2020 for the portion of CARES Act funding designated for emergency financial aid grants to students, since the portion of the Brown-specific stimulus package unrelated to emergency aid grants had spending rules and limitations attached to it, Cliatt wrote. As a result, the University only applied for $2.4 million of the original CARES package. According to Cliatt, the University is obligated to direct 100 percent of the $2.4 million freed up by the CARES Act to supporting students. “The University plans to make a de-

SEE STIMULUS PAGE 8

U. discusses COVID-19 vaccine timeline

ELISE RYAN / HERALD

Patient-facing medical students and campus first-responders have all begun receiving the COVID vaccine.

First doses administered, broader distribution as soon as mid-semester BY LIVIA GIMENES UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR The broader undergraduate population could receive their first dose of the

UNIVERSITY NEWS

COVID-19 vaccine as early as the end of this semester, supplies permitting, Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Executive Director of Health and Wellness Vanessa Britto MMSc’96 speculates. As part of Phase 1 of the Rhode Island Department of Health’s vaccination plan, staff at both University Health Services and Department of Public Safety have already received

at least the first dose of the vaccine, which requires two doses spaced out by about three weeks. According to Britto, patient-facing staff at Health Services “have virtually all been vaccinated,” totaling approximately 60 to 70 staff members. Patient-facing students from the Warren Alpert School of Medicine, as well as members of Brown Emergency

SEE VACCINE PAGE 5

METRO

Dining Services navigates meal planning, prep, pickup as campus quarantines

Rise in off-campus student housing sparks concern

Dining Services distributed 7,000 meals daily during Quiet Period

Some concerned about affordable housing, students pushing out local residents

BY JACK WALKER SENIOR STAFF WRITER Gail McCarthy, a beloved Brown Dining Services cashier, found herself doing much more than her typical role of swiping ID cards and doling out smiles during the spring semester’s unusual start. McCarthy, along with a number of Dining Services staff, worked to prepare and bag the 7,000 meals produced daily for hungry students over Quiet Period. McCarthy works from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. each day prior to cashiering. “There’s just so many bags, everybody has to do it of course,” she said. “It’s more work involved for everyone.” With only four of the University’s dining halls open for the spring semester per the University’s Plan for a Healthy and Safe 2020-21, Dining Services has had to prepare the large output of meals using reduced facilities, Director of Dining Programs George Barboza wrote in an email to The Herald.

To decide which dining halls would open for the spring, Dining Services partnered with other University offices to factor in “things like functionality of the space, proximity to student housing and most importantly, student and staff safety,” he added. Students living both on and off campus in Providence were eligible to pick up meals at assigned locations during assigned time slots beginning Jan. 9.

spring, many intermittent employees, including some Dining Services workers staffed through external agencies, could not continue their assignments remotely and were terminated, The Herald previously reported. During Quiet Period, the culinary staff cooked the day’s meals while McCarthy and other Dining Services members worked to ensure bags contained utensils, sides, condiments and

RYAN RHEW / HERALD

DIning Services culinary staff cooked each day’s meals, while other staff members worked to prepare thousands of bags every day.

BY LAURA DAVID CONTRIBUTING WRITER In a housing market that was already struggling to keep up with demand, the University’s expansion of off-campus housing permission amid the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered concerns among both locals and some Brown students that an influx of students into nearby Providence neighborhoods will push out families looking for affordable housing. “People have increasingly been priced out of (College Hill and Fox Point) because they can’t compete with students,” said Director of Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere Dhruv Gaur ’21. “What we’re afraid might happen is that landlords will see … a much more lucrative opportunity of renting for students, and no longer want to rent to Providence families,” Gaur added. While students are able to split rent with friends to manage the pric-

Dining Services has also been operating with fewer employees. Following the initial closure of campus in the

anything else students would need for their meals.

News

Sports

Arts & Culture

Commentary

Brown’s Public Education Committee discussed the PPSD amid the state’s takover. Page 2

As University shifts to Modified Activity Level Two, athletics remain restricted. Page 3

Queen’s Gambit provides a glamorous portrait of a tortured prodigy’s journey in the chess world. Page 3

Jha: Continued vigilance with COVID-19 safety measures will ameliorate pandemic burden Page 7

SEE DINING PAGE 4

es, Gaur noted that most Providence families “just don’t have that kind of purchasing power.” Despite the challenges that Providence residents are currently facing, Gaur pointed out that “Brown has basically offered off-campus permission, not only to all seniors, but … to all juniors in its student body.” An influx of college students exacerbates a pre-existing housing supply shortage, according to Brenda Clement, the director of HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University. “Prior to the pandemic, we already had a housing shortage in the city and throughout the state,” Clement said. “We need to be producing thousands of units per year in order to keep up with demand, so … obviously it’s a kind of basic economic issue when supply is limited, but demand is steady or growing.” Quynh Tran ’21 said that since Brown didn’t let many students know about the status of their off-campus permission requests until the summer, there was “a huge scramble to move off campus.” She was able to move to a three-story house near Power Street which has been converted to an apartment, and she said that all of the

SEE HOUSING PAGE 2

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Friday, January 29, 2021

METRO

University Public Education Committee meets amid state takeover Committee will work to distribute funds to the PPSD, oversee K-12 initiatives BY SAMEER SINHA CONTRIBUTING WRITER The University’s Public Education Committee discussed the allocation of a $10 million Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence at its inaugural meeting in January. The allocation comes at a crucial time for the Providence Public School District, which is currently in the midst of a state takeover following a scathing 2019 report by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy on the district’s underperformance. On July 23, 2019, Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green took over the district, instituted a turnaround plan and appointed Harrison Peters as superintendent. The fund is one element in a “wide-ranging partnership” to improve teaching and access to education and to support the turnaround. The fund was established in 2007 to recognize Providence’s historic ties to slavery following a recommendation from the University’s Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice. As of last summer, the fund had reached only $1.9 million of its $10 million goal until the University authorized the use of $8.1 million in unrestricted funds to fully finance the endowment,

HOUSING FROM PAGE 1 other units and most of her next door neighbors are Brown students. But the issue of gentrification in Providence predates the pandemic, Tran said. Properties on College Hill that could have been used for affordable housing have been turned into student residences in recent years. “We have a situation right now … where a lot of the houses surrounding the University are being sold to developers who are converting what were once residential homes into the equivalent of student dorms,” said Ward 2 Councilwoman Helen An-

The Herald previously reported. The University will begin payouts in increments of an estimated $400,000 to $500,000 each year. The PEC, which controls the allocation of the fund, was established this past summer and plans to meet twice a year, according to Marguerite Joutz, chief of staff and assistant to President Christina Paxson P’19. The committee is charged with recommending fund allocations in ways that will “best serve” the Providence community, Joutz said, although no specific objectives have been named so far. The committee is comprised of various groups in and around Providence, including University faculty and students, members of the greater Providence community, current or emeritus members of the Brown Corporation, five ex-officio members of the Brown community and two ex-officio, non-voting members: Peters and Mayor Jorge Elorza. Every three years, the committee will conduct a review to ensure proceeds from the fund are aligned with the University’s other programs that work to support Providence schools, Joutz said. To assist in the review, the committee will conduct a survey assessing the University’s engagement in K-12 initiatives. Committee member and Interim Director of the Swearer Center for Public Service Betsy Shimberg said that the University must “be responsive to the needs of the community rather than dictating where money should

be spent.” “The people most qualified to discuss community needs are people in the community,” said Dr. Soljane Martinez, education coordinator at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform and member of the committee. Martinez added that she hopes Elorza and Peters’s involvement will help give voice to the community on the committee. Shimberg added that she hopes that by supporting capital improvements, the fund will allow Peters to focus on running the district. The Johns Hopkins report was “not a shock” to many members of the Greater Providence community, Martinez said. The district “has been through a lot in the last year and a half and historically,” with the COVID-19 pandemic hitting PPSD especially hard. Shimberg hopes the fund will drive system-wide change, rather than small “pockets of change.” Shimberg also noted the committee’s commitment to racial justice and equity. In a community such as Providence, which has a large Black and Latinx population, the University “cannot effectively engage with the community without considering racial justice” and other inequities, she said. “The data is clear: Providence students can be just as successful as anywhere else, given the correct tools and resources.” The committee is also reconsidering hiring practices, given that the diversity of the current teacher workforce in PPSD — which Martinez said is not reflective of the student body — may

The PEC includes members of the greater Providence community, University faculty, students and Mayor Jorge Elorza. negatively impact classrooms. she believes lies in these schools. Drawing on her own experience Although Shimberg said she hopes working in PPSD, Shimberg said she saw for change, she noted that “it is much “bright kids and smart teachers” in the easier to talk about it than to do it.” district, and underscored the potential

thony. While these new buildings may not officially be University-owned, they indirectly contribute to the University’s already massive real estate footprint, according to Anthony. Gaur emphasized that this footprint extends beyond College Hill. “Brown, as a 501(c)(3), doesn’t pay property taxes like other institutions in the city do, but Brown also owns a ton of land … not just on this main campus but in a number of auxiliary campuses across Providence,” Gaur said. “The best way to remedy this is for Brown to pay its fair share in taxes,” Gaur said. “Or, like they recently did for the Providence Public School District,

to invest a specific stream of money to building affordable housing in this city.” Though the University is largely exempt from paying property taxes to Providence, it has an agreement to make voluntary payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOT payments. The University made $6.2 million in PILOT payments in fiscal year 2020, up from $4.38 million in fiscal year 2018. But according to an estimate from 2012, the University would owe the city about $38 million per year if it paid commercial real estate taxes on its properties. In addition to issues that the University’s off-campus community has caused for Providence residents looking

for affordable housing, Anthony said that students have also disrupted the lives of College Hill’s existing residents. She cited noise, garbage and property maintenance issues as the community’s main concerns. “These are residential neighborhoods,” Anthony said. “The unique nature of College Hill is the relationship between the University and its residential community, but I think in the resident’s perspective … there needs to be a little more respect of their quality of life.” Still, Anthony and Clement both said they view Brown as a strong community partner and appreciate the ener-

Friday, January 29, 2021

Athletics remain paused in Modified Activity Level Two

BY AMELIA SPALTER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

gy that students bring to the city. Going forward, they said, the solution should not be to segregate students from the rest of the Providence community. “When students come into the state and particularly in areas like the East Side and other areas that already have a lack of housing, the demand (for student housing) often can be competing with others, who need housing as well,” Clement said. “So, the solution isn’t to … not have students — the solution is to create more housing so that everyone has access to safe and affordable housing.”

SPORTS

Pre-season administrative activities begin but practices remain halted, facilities closed

TRACY PAN / HERALD

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reported, and noted that all Division I colleges outside the Ivy League are currently competing in athletics. Football quarterback EJ Perry ’21 lost his senior season in the fall but hopes for a return to spring athletics.

As academics transition toward normalcy with the University’s recent move to “Modified Activity Level Two,” lifting restrictions on in-person classes of 19 students or fewer, varsity athletics remain at a standstill. Activity Level Two allows for “limited training and practicing in groups of up to 15 people, with masks or social distancing,” according to the Healthy@ Brown website. But in the Modified Activity Level Two, athletic facilities remain closed, and no sports practices are allowed. Students may exercise outdoors with masks and social distancing. Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 attributed the modification to the increased number of students living on campus in the spring semester. “We have a larger population of students than we did in the fall, (and) we have a larger population of students who are new to college life — particularly (COVID-19) college life — so we want to prioritize academics,” Carey said. “It’s very sad to say, because I understand that student-athletes (and) all students in general have experiences outside of the classroom that are very important.” The men’s and women’s lacrosse teams expressed their desire to return to competition for the spring season

“I was hoping there would be some advocacy for spring sports, especially because I know they lost their season last (year),” Perry said. “I’ve talked to some guys on the (football) team and I know we support everything that was said in that letter. We want to see spring sports be played, and hopefully we can have spring practices.” The decision to participate in athletic competition is made at a league level, meaning Brown cannot decide to participate without full agreement among all eight Ivy League colleges, according to Carey. But if the Ivy League chooses to return to competition before Brown advances to the appropriate Activity Level, Brown does not have to rejoin play. “We’re going to be guided by the policies on our campus,” Deputy Director of Athletics Colin Sullivan said. “Everybody is in a different situation. I do know, across the league, some schools are behind us in terms of even having students back to campus.” The athletic department does not have a representative on the governing board in charge of the campus Activity Levels and typically receives information on COVID-19 restrictions at the same time as the rest of the campus, by way of the Healthy@Brown website. “You really have to look to the University in terms of (a timeline for) return to play because that’s where we’re getting

in a recent letter, The Herald previously

our guidance in terms of when facilities

VICTORIA YIN / HERALD

Athletic facilities and varsity sports practices are not allowed under the Modified Activity Level Two. are going to be open and if the levels have changed. We sit here and wait for those decisions,” Sullivan said. “I would only be speculating if I gave you a timeline, because I don’t know.” Coaches remain optimistic about the potential of a spring season but are tempering their hopes for competition with a respect for the public health measures taken by the University. “We’re in a unique position where, by design, our sport is socially distanced,” said Baseball Head Coach Grant Achilles. “As we progress through the phases at both the Ivy League and institutional

anticipating this progression and communication.” As players wait to return to competition, they remain positive. “I know that the coaches and the administration are fighting for us,” Perry said. “President Paxson (P’19) was obviously at the forefront of bringing us back here by setting up a plan. We’re just excited to be back, and super excited to see the spring sports play.” Meanwhile, teams are preparing for the moment they will be authorized to take the field again by completing their pre-season regulatory require-

Brian Clark. “For a period of time last fall, we were in Ivy League phase one. There were certain controlled group activities that were allowed to proceed. The intent would be to move to something similar (in the spring).” “We want to get to a place where those (group activities) are as available as possible,” Carey said. “If we moved too quickly and had spread, clusters or outbreaks, like we’ve seen on other campuses, everything would get pushed back.” If this were to happen, Carey said, “we’d take several steps backward and be unsure of when we’d be able to move

levels, I’ve been excited and eagerly

ments, said University spokesperson

forward again.”

ARTS & CULTURE

‘The Queen’s Gambit’ subverts our fascination with the tortured genius Miniseries reflects on Hollywood’s longtime obsession with prodigy archetypes BY JUSTIN WOO CONTRIBUTING WRITER Why do Americans worship at the altar of the tortured genius? “The Queen’s Gambit,” written and directed by Scott Frank and released last October, answers this question and more in a strikingly gripping fashion. Perhaps we demand an explanation — or better yet a sacrifice — for greatness, as if the virtuosity of Van Gogh’s paintings came at the cost of his left ear. Perhaps we draw on this cultural archetype to excuse the behavior of the Picassos and Polanskis of the world. At night in bed, perhaps we use the genius’ torment as consolation for our emphatic normalcy. The seven-episode series is principally about Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy), an orphan and chess prodigy,

as she battles drug addiction and strives to become the world’s chess champion. “The Queen’s Gambit” tries on an impressive array of genre hats; at times it’s a Cold War thriller about besting the Russians, a high-stakes sports show, a grim study of addiction and trauma or the coming-of-age story of a young woman charting an unconventional path for herself during the era of the nuclear family. But the trope which “The Queen’s Gambit” is most aware of and ponders over is that of the tortured genius. The tortured genius is found across Western television. Simply look at Dr. House in “House, M.D.,” Sheldon in “The Big Bang Theory” or the titular character of “Sherlock.” These characters are complex and distinctive, and yet they all fall more or less into the same formula. The garden-variety tortured genius is antisocial to the point of being callous and insufferable. They are obsessed with their particular wheelhouse to the detriment of other aspects of their life. And perhaps most importantly, their precocious gift comes at the cost of some profound turmoil that plagues

COURTESY OF PHIL BRAY

Beth must shed the aesthetic skin of the tormented prodigy in order to return to the chessboard cloaked in new fire.

their internal life. Initially, Beth exhibits all the trappings of a tortured genius. When Beth is invited to the Apple Pi Club by her giggly, cupcake-fingered peers, she instead decides to pocket a bottle of gin and run back home to play chess games in her head. She begins to skip school under the guise of mono in order to attend tournaments across the country. And

her meteoric rise to the upper strata of the chess world is aided by a worsening dependence on green tranquilizer pills. “The Queen’s Gambit” keenly understands that the irresistible allure of the tortured genius is that it offers up two cherished pastimes of the American television watcher: idolatry and sadism. The twin sides of this coin dictate that as much as we like to see our brilliant

heroes solve an uncrackable case or save a doomed patient, we revel just as much in watching them spiral downward. After all, it isn’t a mistake that so many tortured geniuses achieve fame only after their death; in some ways, our culture demands to relish in their self-destruction and demise to sweeten the taste of their brilliance.

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Friday, January 29, 2021

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Friday, January 29, 2021

VACCINE FROM PAGE 1

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DINING FROM PAGE 1 “It’s definitely a lot more labor-intensive,” McCarthy said. “It’s not really hard, but when you’re doing a hundred bags at a time (it can be tiring).” Preparing the bags can also feel like an endless task, she added.“You’re never really through with it,” McCarthy said, because once you finish preparing bags for one meal, you have to start “the bags for the next day.” Additionally, as positive COVID-19 cases continue to rise on a national level, dining operations must maintain heightened health precautions for the safety of students and staff alike. According to Barboza, safety measures for staff members include wearing masks at all times, social distancing, testing for COVID-19 twice weekly, working in pods, cleaning regularly and installing protective barriers in all units. Limited student dining options due to campus dining restrictions also led Assistant Director of Wellness and Nutrition Jessie Curran to navigate increased concerns from students regarding their specific dietary needs. Curran received more “inquiries from incoming students than any other year. Due to the way the University and Dining would be operating this year, more students were concerned with what would be available for their unique situations,” she wrote in an email to The Herald. “The list of nutritional considerations is long,” she added, including allergies, religious restrictions and other lifestyle factors. “There is no menu conversation that does not include these topics as part of the discussion.” Dining Services also welcomes student feedback, Barboza added. Online comments and targeted surveys throughout the semester are considered by the team that develops the menu for each meal, he wrote. With the large number of packaged meals distributed during Quiet Period,

Dining Services also had to consider issues surrounding sustainability and waste, and worked with the Office of Sustainability to determine which disposable products to use, Curran wrote. In an effort to minimize waste and meet needs as indicated by student feedback, Curran wrote that Dining Services chose to “no longer provide a dessert at every meal and instead offer a salty snack for the afternoon meal.” When stage two of Quiet Period began Jan. 23, students living on campus and enrolled in the spring meal plan became eligible to visit any on-campus dining location, according to a campuswide email from Associate Vice President for Campus Life Vanessa Britto and Dean of Students Koren Bakkegard. Students living in River House, Chestnut Commons and the Omni Hotel became eligible to access any on-campus dining location on Jan. 27, after Quiet Period ended. Additionally, students not enrolled in the spring meal plan were no longer provided meals following Jan. 26, the end of Quiet Period, Britto and Bakkegard wrote. As campus transitions out of Quiet Period, some restrictions on student dining have similarly changed, including pod members being allowed to eat meals together. McCarthy hopes that students and staff will stay healthy even after the end of Quiet Period. “I’m just hoping the college doesn’t have any big breakout, because that would turn everything back again and we’d have to start over,” she said. “It’s so much nicer when there’s a little more freedom.” McCarthy also hopes that this freedom will help students have a meaningful semester at Brown. “I’m older and (the new responsibilities and guidelines) are just part of my job,” she said. But having freedom is “part of the college experience, to enjoy yourself and move around and do what kids do.”

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Medical Services, have also received the vaccine, marking the first group of students that will become immunized to COVID-19. Ryan Conard ’23, a BEMS recruit, felt “incredibly lucky and privileged” when he found out he could get the vaccine, especially since he expected that he would be far down the line to get vaccinated as a healthy young adult.

able to get the vaccine, according to Britto. Next in line to receive the vaccine in the following weeks are University Athletic trainers, Counseling and Psychological Services clinicians as well as accessibility specialists from Student and Employee Accessibility Services. But Britto projects that it will be awhile until other undergraduate and

tion, the University will likely develop “concentric circles” to determine who could get vaccinated first, Britto said. She added that the University would most likely start at students with preexisting health conditions or who are immunocompromised, then move to students who live in more “congregate” housing. Any distribution efforts would also

become eligible, Britto explained. When a certain group, such as patient-facing health respondents, becomes eligible for vaccination, RIDOH contacts the different higher education institutions to identify which members of the community fit into that category. The vaccination efforts, to Britto, have gone as smoothly as possible given the current limited supplies, not only

announcement from Britto and Carey. The working group, co-chaired by Carey and Michele Cyr, professor of medicine and the division of biology and medicine’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, has yet to determine whether the vaccine will be mandatory for students and employees. If the University decides to make the vaccine mandatory, Britto and Carey wrote that

Conard said he felt “very excited” as he went to get his first shot of the Moderna vaccine and only felt slight pain in his arm a few days after receiving the dose. Receiving the vaccine definitely “would relieve some pressure when working in the field or delivering food to those who have COVID,” Conard said. Still, even after taking his second dose in early February, Conard said that being immunized won’t change his adherence to safety guidelines, and he will continue to wear a mask and social distance from others. Conard is part of a group of around 50 student staffers for BEMS who were

graduate students may receive the vaccine, speculating that this could happen in the latter half of the spring semester at the earliest. Nonetheless, the timeline of vaccine distribution for remaining community members is dependent on supply, making it difficult to predict when or if students will receive the vaccine this semester. The exact timeline “is a question that looms large around us because it also has implications for the general population,” Britto said. “I don’t have a crystal ball. I can’t say for sure.” Once vaccine distribution is expanded to include the larger student popula-

need to follow the guidance of RIDOH through their three phased approach to vaccination, she said, adding that the University could not “overstep” those pre-existing guidelines in any capacity. “The state sets the priority, the state has the vaccine and the state releases it to different distribution sites,” said Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, limiting the University’s control over distribution timeline. Brown and other nearby universities are working closely with the state to coordinate vaccination efforts for members of their communities as they

locally but also throughout the country. “All states have been experiencing some challenges and I don’t think Rhode Island is any different from any state,” she said. The state is using the two vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna — both of which have been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration. The University has created a COVID-19 vaccine working group that will advise administrators on the logistics surrounding the vaccine as well as oversee education efforts, according to a Jan. 25 Today@Brown

medical and religious exceptions would be allowed, “along with considerations for reasonable accommodations.” “We would love to be able to provide the vaccine here on the campus. We are prepared to easily set up a structure and system to do that and are poised to make that happen if the state would allow it,” Britto said. “We’re flexible, we’re ready in either circumstance.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Friday, January 29, 2021

OPINIONS

BY ANDREW REED STAFF COLUMNIST Following his inauguration last week, President Joe Biden released his “National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness.” Part of the president’s plan calls for 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to be administered within his first 100 days in office. 100 days, 100 million shots. It certainly has a nice ring to it. But far from the moonshot it needs to be, the President’s goal is akin to shooting fish in a barrel. The number of vaccines being administered each day has, unsurprisingly, skyrocketed in the month since the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the first COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer — followed not long after by Moderna’s. In the first days of the vaccine rollout, the United States averaged under 200,000 doses administered per day. Fast forward one month, and we’re doing more than five-times that. In fact, the seven-day rolling average of the number of doses administered has been over 1 million every day since Jan. 23. What disappoints most is that this strategy is merely keeping pace despite there being every reason to believe that we will have the ability, and hopefully the motivation, to accelerate the vaccination rate as we build and streamline infrastructure. Not to mention that we are very likely to have more than just the current Pfizer-Moderna duo in our vaccine arsenal by the end of next month. Barring some unforeseen cataclysm, administering 100 million doses by the president’s deadline is a sure thing. So, why are we acting

official goal remains the same. Instead of aiming so low, the administration should announce its intention to build on the current vaccine progress such that we can fully vaccinate 100 million people in the administration’s first 100 days. Additionally, the administration should pledge that, within the 100 days after that, everyone who wants to be vaccinated should have the op-

“Now is not the time to pretend that trivial goals are somehow lofty ones just so we can pat ourselves on the back for having achieved them.” ber. Or it’s also possible that someone just liked the sound of “100 million in 100 days”. But, in this, the new administration has made the rare mistake — at least in Washington D.C. — of not being ambitious enough. To be sure, the president has made some good moves on vaccines so far. He has pledged to use the Federal Emergency Management Agency to construct make-shift vaccination centers in areas around the country where progress is slow. The administration also announced plans to release vaccines that were previously kept in reserve for second doses. So, it just makes good sense to set our goals to meet this emerging capacity. In fairness, the president has, in recent days, appeared to acknowledge that his original goal might have been too modest, saying “we might be able to get to … 1.5 million (doses) per day” in the coming weeks and months. Unfortunately, the White House was quick to clarify that the

portunity. That would effectively, if not completely, bring an end to the pandemic in the U.S. by mid-summer. Undoubtedly, it would be a tough lift and a significant expansion from the original goal. But there is reason for optimism. The AstraZeneca vaccine has already been approved for use in the United Kingdom, and Johnson & Johnson is expected to submit their application for emergency use authorization to the FDA within the coming weeks. Importantly, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine only requires a single dose whereas the other three require two doses several weeks apart. The United States has an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to deliver 100 million doses by the end of June. Logistically, only a portion of those doses could be distributed to vaccination centers before Biden’s 100-day plan expires at the end of April. But by the time the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is approved,

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OPINIONS

Reed ’21: Biden’s uninspiring vaccine goal like this is what we ought to be striving for? If, in 100 days’ time, we’ve only administered enough vaccines to maintain the current rate of vaccination, should we really be cracking open the champagne? I am not quite sure where or why the 100 million goal was set. It’s possible then-President-elect Biden was less optimistic about the vaccine rollout when he decided on the num-

Friday, January 29, 2021

Jha: There is reason to be optimistic for what lies ahead in the fight against COVID-19

we may only need a fraction of that to fulfill a more ambitious goal of 100 million people vaccinated in 100 days. With the emergence of new variants of the COVID-19 virus in the United Kingdom, South Africa and elsewhere, the need for fast distribution of these vaccines could not be greater. Thankfully, the currently approved vaccines appear to be effective against the new strains. But let’s not press our luck — all of the new variants are significantly more transmissible, and the U.K. variant may be between 30 and 40 percent more deadly, according to recent findings. In the ninety or so days remaining in the president’s first 100 days, the administration should show us that it understands every day counts, that a vaccine today is significantly more valuable than a vaccine tomorrow both for the recipient and for the rest of us. With the rollout of these vaccines, the prospect of going back to normal life seems closer than at any point in the past year. But let’s not take our eye off the ball. Now is not the time to pretend that trivial goals are somehow lofty ones just so we can pat ourselves on the back for having achieved them — especially when the lives of so many are at stake. Andrew Reed ’21 can be reached at andrew_ reed@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

BY ASHISH K. JHA OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR For all the dark days of this pandemic — and there are still more to come — there is now an unmistakable light ahead. Vaccines are moving: not as fast as hoped, but moving. Winter always melts to spring and warmer temperatures ease time spent outdoors. The future still holds uncertainty, and the next six to eight weeks will be tough. But there is much we do know. There are things we can do to make a difference. Importantly, there are reasons to be hopeful about what’s ahead. We now know what works to stop the spread of COVID-19 — a welcome change from where we were last spring. Everyone must wear a mask — indoors and outdoors — when you’re with people outside your pod. Not a neck gaiter, not a bandana, not a scarf or turtleneck pulled up to cover your mouth and nose. A mask: 3-ply or 4-ply, if you can. Practice social distancing. Avoid crowds – creating them and joining them. Vaccines are moving and finally becoming vaccinations. By the end of March, we expect close to 90 million Americans will have been vaccinated. President Joe Biden is aiming for 100 million doses administered into people’s arms in his first 100 days in

office and even projects it could be 150 million. I think we can and might do even better than that. We see in the experience of other countries aggressively vaccinating their citizens, like Israel, that vaccination can curb outbreaks. We’re a bigger country so it will take us longer, but we’ll get there.

to students and those outside the priority groups first identified, including the elderly, front-line health care workers and first responders. I expect that as spring wears on, vaccines will become plentiful and students here will be able to get vaccinated. Though Rhode Island hasn’t made any specific decisions on this, once vaccines be-

“We have and must continue to rightfully recognize that we do the right thing to slow transmission because to do otherwise would put the most vulnerable among us in unacceptable danger.” There is concern about how new variants of the coronavirus from the United Kingdom, South Africa or even Brazil might affect us. The UK variant is here, and it spreads faster and easier. But it is not some magical virus: it still adheres to the same rules as the regular strain, so wear a mask, social distance and avoid crowds. (It’s also probably time to upgrade our masks to better filtration and fit.) If we maintain an increased level of vigilance, we can get through to spring when the pandemic will begin to recede. It’s too early to know when or where vaccines will become available

come ubiquitous there will be no reason to not give them to everyone who wants to be vaccinated against the virus. And vaccinating students here will help not just those receiving it but others in the community as well. This summer should be a better season. A majority of adults should be vaccinated, and the disease should be in retreat — but with the occasional outbreak to remind us that it isn’t gone. This will give us plenty of time to ensure school campuses and local communities are vaccinated. Though the fall may include another year of campus-wide testing, in this new normal most sports — excluding po-

tentially some high-risk ones, such as wrestling — should be able to resume. We can hope that choirs can again gather and shows can again return to the stage. There may be modifications in how and where we teach and learn. There may be changes in dorms and cafeterias. It’s still a bit too early to know. Importantly, leaders at Brown and across the country will be guided by a new administration with a strong team, driven by science and data, to implement the urgent, comprehensive response that’s needed. The months of misinformation, deception and buck-passing by our federal government are over. Instead, we’re beginning to see smart proposals to ramp up the pace and number of vaccinations, increase and improve access to testing, better support health care workers and provide more extensive aid to states. Things won’t change overnight, but they will change. The losses of these past months can never truly be measured when we consider the pain and suffering of those who have died from COVID-19, those who have survived it or those who love and shared life with them. There is no adjective to attach to the fact that 400,000 Americans have died, nearly 100,000 in the last month alone. It is important and right to recognize and honor the lives

lost, as our nation did in a ceremony of shared light that was part of the Biden Inauguration. We must do all that we can to stop the spread of COVID-19 and the loss of life. We each have a responsibility to each other, to our Brown community and to the broader community of Providence and Rhode Island. We have and must continue to rightfully recognize that we do the right thing to slow transmission because to do otherwise would put the most vulnerable among us, particularly the elderly, in unacceptable danger. Think about your parents or grandparents and all you would do to protect them. We have the same responsibility to the parents, grandparents and elderly aunts and uncles of Providence families. Our Brown community has done an impressive job managing the pandemic. The vaccine offers great hope. But there are still some hard days ahead. We must keep up our resolve to get through those hard days but if we do, we can look forward to a better spring and lovely summer ahead. Dr. Ashish K. Jha is the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

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COVID -19 AT BROWN LAST 7 DAYS*

JANUARY S

Completed Tests

People Tested

12,462

7,888

Confirmed Positives

Positivity Rate

0.3%

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Completed Tests

People Tested

195,843

10,218

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Prevalence

330

3.2%

*AS OF JAN. 29

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STIMULUS FROM PAGE 1 cision in the coming weeks about the distribution of funds to eligible students and will provide more detailed information at that time,” Cliatt wrote. Under the most recent round of CRRSAA funding, the University would receive as much as $2.4 million in additional funds to support students’ needs and up to $4.6 million to support institutional needs. In total, across the two rounds of funding, the University could use approximately $4.8 million of the available funds to support students. “Though we have not yet applied for or received any CRRSAA funding, the University is committed to using available resources to ease the challenges of this pandemic for our community,” Cliatt wrote. Funds not directly supporting students could help offset universities’ other operational costs, explained Kenneth Wong, professor of education policy and director of the Urban Education Policy Program. “Going remote has significant financial implications on all institutions, not only Brown or Ivy Leagues or private institutions, but perhaps even more severely on public fouryear colleges and two-year colleges, as well as historically Black universities and colleges,” Wong said. The University announced that its

budget deficit due to COVID-19 could possibly reach $165 million for Fiscal Year 2021, The Herald previously reported. Wong said that “significant financial implications” arise when students are unable to return to campus, since “immediately the room and board charge has to be forgiven.” According to Wong, the CARES Act and the CRRSAA cumulatively offer around $40 billion to institutions of higher education as part of their COVID-19 relief, while the higher education sector had originally estimated its needs at about $60 to $100 billion. As many universities deliberate the prospect of accepting the stimulus resources released in December, they face similar questions to those that arose during discussions of the CARES Act — namely, whether the nation’s most elite and wealthy institutions of higher learning have an obligation to refrain from accepting federal relief so that funds can be redirected to those with smaller endowments and more dire financial struggles due to COVID-19. Many of the University’s peer institutions, such as Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Penn, declined to accept the money made available under CARES at the end of last year, The Herald previously reported. Wong pointed out that when it comes to university endowments, often-

times large portions of the endowment money are funneled toward specific causes at the stipulation of donors, such as supporting the performing arts or promoting underrepresented groups in STEM. As a result, when congressional leaders tell university presidents to rely on their endowments, what they often overlook is that the access to endowment funding is restricted, he said. In order to evaluate which institutions had the most need of financial support, Congress performed a data-based analysis to estimate the magnitude of the endowment on a per student basis of various universities across the United States, Wong said. Those involved in the project produced a ranking in terms of endowment value per individual student, and the conversation about abstaining from accepting federal stimulus packages directed itself toward the 30 to 40 institutions with the highest endowment value. Schools like Harvard, Stanford University and Duke University topped this list, Wong said, but Brown fell outside this bracket. “Because of that context and the media attention, (these universities at the top of the list) have decided not to engage in applying for the stabilization funding, because they’ve already gone through that debate and probably wisely preferred not to attract additional attention by applying for

the stabilization or stimulus money,” Wong said. But Wong said that for a school like Brown, accepting federal assistance could represent a valuable opportunity of coping with financial pressures associated with the pandemic. “The number one potential welcoming benefit of some of this financial aid is to enable the University not to make the toughest decision — that is, to let go of some of their long-serving staff.” Wong also highlighted the importance of the funding in supporting some of the University’s student-focused initiatives. “There is an argument that Brown may want to make in order to keep the $7 million (in stimulus funding), because over the years we have established the Brown Promise initiative (to meet a hundred percent of students’ financial aid needs), and it is a very generous pledge,” he said. “I think because we are committed to first-generation opportunities at Brown, the seven million could be used for a very good cause, which is consistent with the needs at other institutions as well.” The University’s budget also funds initiatives “contributing to the broader community,” so Wong is not worried about the University’s ability to put the funds to good use, he said. “We are making some positive impact. For example,

Friday, January 29, 2021

there are programs (through which) we contribute to the public good in a significant way — public health, education, public policy, public humanities.” In the weeks leading up to his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Biden outlined his own administration’s plans for educational relief in his $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP). According to a release from the American Council on Education, the proposal expands higher education emergency relief funds and features $35 billion in potential funding for public institutions of higher education. The ARP states that it would provide millions of college students with up to an additional $1,700 in financial assistance from the university at which they are enrolled. Wong observed that proposals released by the Biden-Harris administration show an effort to provide another $25 billion or so in support funding to close the gap between institutions’ originally expressed need and the funding that the government has already provided. “Going forward,” he said, “my sense is that the Biden-Harris administration is going to double the amount of commitment to support higher education.”

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