Friday, October 30, 2020

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Friday, October 30, 2020

VOLUME CLV, ISSUE 40

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

UNIVERSITY NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Brown Republicans endorse Trump, other conservatives split

University employees donate to Democrats Biden rakes in almost $160,000 this year, Trump secures $366 from two individuals

BY COREY GELB-BICKNELL SENIOR STAFF WRITER

As a number of prominent Republicans have distanced themselves politically from President Donald Trump ahead of the imminent 2020 election, conservative students at the Univer-

re-election after choosing not to do so in 2016, according to Jessica McDonald ’21, the club’s president.

The group decided against supporting Trump in 2016 following concerns

Now that Trump has already served a presidential term, current “members are more comfortable” voting for him, McDonald said.

“It’s a discussion we’ve had dating

sity are grappling with the decision of whether or not to back their party’s incumbent.

Brown College Republicans has endorsed President Trump in his bid for

among some members over Trump’s temperament, his lack of political experience and his favorability among independent voters, The Herald previously reported.

back to last year,” said College Republicans member Christian Diaz de Leon ’21 of the group’s endorsement. “We

Democratic political donations from University employees have increased exponentially since 1992, dwarfing donations to Republicans, which have more or less remained constant, according to data from OpenSecrets.

In 1992, 32.5 percent of total political contributions from Brown community members went to Republicans. In 2020, however, just 0.8 percent of total political contributions went to the party, according to the data.

OpenSecrets’ data only includes faculty, staff and students who listed

SEE CONSERVATIVES PAGE 4

SEE DONATIONS PAGE 2

USHA BALLA / HERALD

Conservatives, libertarians share experiences as on College Hill

BY LIZA MULLETT COREY GELB-BICKNELL SENIOR STAFF WRITERS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

ARTS & CULTURE

Phantoms of Providence’s Students travel home to vote in-person Students voting at past, present, future Reflecting on Brown’s harrowing Halloween history, pandemic present

BY NICHOLAS MICHAEL SENIOR STAFF WRITER Providence might just be the locus of hocus pocus; the spooky city boasts bounteous emblems of the ghastly and supernatural. These have served as the inspiration for many storytellers — from H.P. Lovecraft to Providence Ghost Tours, the fictional and historical nar-

ratives of the undead and otherworldly seem inseparable from the College Hill landscape.

In 2010, the Providence Ghost Tour’s owner, Courtney Edge-Mattos, told the Herald that she “wholeheartedly” believes in the tales she tells on her tours. Some tour-goers have even cited an apparition outside of the H.P. Lovecraft house at 65 Prospect Street, Edge-Mattos recounts. Perhaps a spirit

SEE HALLOWEEN PAGE 8

home cite convenience, despite U. policy and COVID-19 concerns despip

BY KARLOS BAUTISTA BEN GLICKMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITERS Bryce Blinn ’21, a registered Democrat, knows that his vote in the presidential election is crucial in his home state of Texas, which the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates

NAT HARDY / HERALD

as a toss-up. So, to make sure his vote was counted, he took matters into his own hands.

Blinn boarded a plane Oct. 27 so that he could vote in person in his hometown of Dallas. Two days later,

Blinn had returned to his Providence apartment with his vote cast and nearly 3,500 miles of travel under his belt.

Blinn is not the only student traveling home to vote in person this presidential election, despite recommendations from the University and

SEE TRAVEL PAGE 7

VOTE VOTE VOTE News

News

Commentary

As election nears, R.I. residents vote early, cast mail-in ballots Page 2

In 1916, The Herald incorrectly announced alum Hughes President Page 3

Arenberg: This election will be a landslide in favor of Democratic candidates Page 7

TODAY

TOMORROW

42 / 26

47 / 31

Friday, October 30, 2020

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

2

METRO

Rhode Islanders ramp up mail-in, early voting days ahead of election

USHA BHALLA / HERALD

Early votes cast per day see steady rise, cast mail-in ballots triple 2016 numbers

BY BEN GLICKMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER With just four days until Election Day, over 250,000 Rhode Islanders have already cast their ballots, including more than 136,000 by mail and over 115,000 through early voting, according to official data.

According to the data from Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea’s office, voter turnout as of Oct. 29 was 31.1 percent — nearly two thirds of total 2018 midterm turnout and over half of 2016 turnout — with two days left of early voting and Election Day looming.

Counted mail-in ballots in the Ocean State have already more than tripled from just over 40,000 in 2016’s election. Just over 40,000 ballots were cast by mail in the state in the 2016 election, so counted mail-in ballots have already more than tripled levels from the last presidential election.

Gorbea’s office received nearly 180,000 applications for mail-in ballots, 98 percent of which were accepted.

Gorbea announced in September that she would send out applications for mail-in ballots to every active voter in the state — a group of over 700,000 people.

“I am thrilled to see Rhode Islanders participating in record numbers,” Gorbea wrote in an email to The Herald.

“High turnout elections nurture our democracy, making sure that a diversity of voices are heard.”

Of the mail-in ballots accepted by the Board of Elections, 65 percent were from registered Democrats, while nine percent were from Republicans and 26 percent were from unaffiliated voters, according to internal data from Gorbea’s office obtained by The Herald.

Mail-in voters are disproportionately Democrats, given that 44 percent of registered voters in Rhode Island are Democrats, 14 percent are Republicans and 42 percent are unaffiliated, according to the most recent party affiliation data for the state.

Party affiliations of early voters are consistent with statewide affiliations.

46 percent of early voters were Democrats, 17 percent were Republicans and 37 percent were unaffiliated, according to the internal data.

About 7,700 votes have been cast per day on average since early voting began Oct. 14, according to the data.

Votes per day have been steadily rising since early voting began, with around 12,000 votes per day this week.

Rhode Island is offering early voting for the first time this year. Registered voters who have not requested a mailin ballot can cast ballots in-person at their local board of canvassers, which is located in town or city halls.

For the first time, the Rhode Island Board of Elections will release results from mail ballots starting 11 p.m. on Election Day, though full results likely will not be available for several days, WPRI reported. In previous years, the Board only released mail-in results after all the ballots were counted, which was often a number of days after Election Day. “The pandemic has made this a more challenging election,” Gorbea wrote. “But, Rhode Island election of-

ficials and IT professionals in my office, the Board of Elections and local boards of canvassers have been working nights, weekends and holidays for the past eight months to make this mission a reality.”

More than 80 million people around the country had participated in early voting as of Oct. 29 — 58.6 percent of the total turnout from the 2016 election — according to the U.S. Elections Project, which tallies data from state sources.

In certain states, votes already cast have nearly matched total votes in 2016.

In Texas, early and mail-in voting account for 95 percent of the total 2016 turnout, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

Madison Mandell ’22, co-founder of Brown Votes, a Swearer Center student group that advocates for voter registration and civic engagement, told The Herald she believes there will be record turnout this election, partially because of enthusiasm among young voters.

“It’s our future that’s on the ballot,” Mandell said. “We need to have a say in shaping that future.”

Mandell said the fact that voters are taking advantage of alternatives to in-person Election Day voting is exciting, especially considering how complicated rules can be in different states. Rhode Island has same-day registration, Mandell added, so students who have not registered can register and vote on Election Day. Mail-in ballots received by 8 p.m. on Election Day will be counted. The R.I. Department of State recommends that voters allow for three or more mailing days to guarantee that ballots arrive on time.

DONATIONS FROM PAGE 1 Brown University as their employer.

One likely reason for the most recent spike in Democratic donations is “a reaction to the chaos, mismanagement, corruption and racism which have marked this president’s four years of governing,” according to Richard Arenberg, visiting professor of the practice of Political Science and interim director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. He said that while Brown voters typically lean more Democratic than the broader population, the recent trend reflects a reaction to Trump, rather than simple ideology.

In 2020, University employees donated almost $160,000 directly to the Biden campaign and more than $57,000 to Sanders, according to OpenSecrets. Only $366 went to Trump’s campaign. In 2016, Trump received $40 from University employees — far less than Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Still, Arenberg said he does not expect donations to fall dramatically in the next election cycle because of the explosion of small political donations, which he credits to the rise of fundraising sites like ActBlue.

Since the start of 2019, more than 14,000 donations have been made to ActBlue from Brown employees, according to data from the FEC. Ballooning University-affiliated Democratic donations have fueled a large overall increase in donations.

Total recorded donations from University employees rose from about $150,000 in 2012 to around $293,000 in 2016 and around $561,000 in 2020, according to OpenSecrets.

This increase reflects recent national trends. The 2020 election has shaped up to become the most expensive campaign in American history, hitting double the previous record set during the 2016 election, according to the New York Times. Congressional campaign spending has been steadily rising for decades, and twice as many Americans made political donations in 2016 than in 1992, according to the Pew Research Center.

Jon Nelson GS, who has used ActBlue since 2016, said he began donating because the past few elections have put politics “profoundly out of whack.” He hopes his donations help to “right the ship” of American politics.

Economic theory has “a lot of trouble rationalizing voting and donations,” said Associate Professor of

Economics Gauti Eggertsson. “You’re exerting effort to go vote or donate, and your chances of being pivotal is essentially zero.”

Still, Eggertsson donated several times to the Biden campaign this year. He said that Trump’s reelection could have “very bad long-term consequences” on the country’s alliances with other nations and with free trade agreements. His donations were also spurred by concern for the continued “viability” of democracy in the U.S. and the administration’s “lack of respect for normal, fact-based discourse.”

Only two University employees have donated directly to Trump’s campaign in the past three years, and a third to the Republican National Committee. One of the Trump contributors is Eric Anderson, a lead developer in Computing and Information Services who, by his account, leans libertarian. “I’m a conservative who lives in Massachusetts,” he said. “Politically, I never get what I want.”

While Anderson added that he is not “particularly fond” of Trump’s behavior, he decided to donate to the President’s campaign because of his judicial nominations and tax cuts.

Anderson said that left-leaning political ideology is often noticeable on campus but has never been a personal issue for him. “I’m not interested in telling people how to live their lives,” he said. “Regardless of how they feel about various issues, we’re still friends and family. There’s more to life than politics.”

Still, Anderson said that a politically insulated campus, like any “homogenous” population, can create “caricatures” of those outside of that bubble. He believes open conversations that allow for “the free flow of ideas” can alleviate this issue, but that the pandemic has made communities such as Brown “more disconnected now than ever” before.

Anderson sees the national rise in political donations on both sides as a reflection of political polarization.

“What do we usually do when we’re in situations where people can’t hear each other? We turn up the volume.

Political donations are (a way of) turning up the volume,” he said.

Arenberg, on the other hand, views the increase in donations as a “positive indicator,” which reflects “the greater overall interest in, commitment to and involvement in politics and policy by the Brown community.”

VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE

Friday, October 30, 2020

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

3

UNIVERSITY NEWS

1916: The Presidential Election The Herald got wrong Herald prematurely announced that Brown alum Hughes won Wilson’s election

BY BENJAMIN POLLARD SENIOR STAFF WRITER On the morning of Nov. 8, 1916, the front page of The Herald, in a large print headline, read “Hughes Elected to Presidency; Republicans Carry Both Houses.” The story announced that University alum Charles Evans Hughes 1881 had won the presidential election.

But despite the Herald’s proclamation, Hughes — the Republican Party candidate for president — never made it to the White House, following several weeks of electoral uncertainty. Fourteen days after The Herald prematurely and inaccurately announced his victory, Hughes telegrammed his concession to the 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson.

Hughes’ perceived victory represented an important moment for the Brown campus, said Jennifer Betts, the University Archivist and Assistant Director of the John Hay Library. “Because he was an alum, it was definitely a focal point for the students, for the campus.

There was definitely a vested interest in the outcome of that election.”

In describing Hughes, The Herald wrote, “since George Washington was made the first president of the United States, there has been no instance when the office so evidently sought the man, and not the man the office.” Hughes served as the Governor of New York before being appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. He stepped down from his position at the Supreme Court after being asked by Republican leaders to run for president.

“Brown University, preponderantly loyal to Hughes, is proud of his latest and most noteworthy recognition,” The Herald wrote of Hughes’ assumed presidential victory.

But The Herald, despite its connection to the candidate, was not alone in calling the election incorrectly for Hughes. The Providence Journal and the Sun, a New York City newspaper, also wrote that Hughes had won the election, as did other college newspapers like the Harvard Crimson.

The decision to call the election for Hughes, however, is not surprising. From the earliest election reports, until after 3 a.m. the following morning, Hughes had maintained an electoral college lead over Wilson. It is even said that Hughes went to bed on the night of the election believing that he had won. Largely favored as the frontrunner, Hughes won nearly all of the Northeastern states by sweeping margins, but his lead began to wane as voting results became clearer over the following days.

By the following morning, as The Herald was distributed around campus, the tide had changed with Wilson pulling ahead and, most notably, with California within the realm of uncertainty.

It took until Nov. 10 for California to be called for Wilson by a margin of just 4,000 votes. With California lost to Wilson, the election no longer pointed to Hughes.

The uncertainty surrounding Cali-

HERALD ARCHIVES

The Herald, among other news sources, incorrectly published that Charles Evans Hughes had won the 1916 election before final results were released. With an increased number of mail-in ballots, the 2020 election results are difficult to predict with previously used models. fornia was unusual, according to Matthew Waxman, a Columbia professor of law. “California is a big state, with significant rural areas, in which votes took a long time to tally. In most elections, back then as today, the margin is large enough that a result can be called before every last ballot is counted,” Waxman wrote in an email to The Herald. “But that California vote was razor thin.”

Following the California results, some Republicans argued that election fraud was behind Hughes’ surprising and narrow loss in California. Still, Hughes was quick to shut down the rumors, arguing that any accusations of fraud in the absence of proof would only hurt the nation and diminish the esteem of the office.

The Herald was far more judicious in 1948 when faced with another upset loss by a former Republican Governor of New York Thomas Dewey, who sought to challenge incumbent President Harry Truman. On Nov. 3, 1948, when the Chicago Tribune famously and incorrectly printed in bold type “Dewey Defeats Truman,” The Herald’s front-page headline read “Truman Maintains Slim Lead; Some Crucial States Undecided.” This time, waiting until 5 a.m. before going to print, The Herald did not make the same mistake.

Betts believes that the 1916 mishap likely influenced The Herald’s more accurate reporting of the 1948 election results. “It was probably a good learning experience,” Betts said. The lessons learned from 1916, she suspects,

were “passed down from one editor to the next.”

As the 2020 presidential election approaches, many have voiced concerns about uncertain or shifting election predictions and results, a product of a considerable increase in mail-ballots this season. Newspapers, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, have shifted away from using predictive models on election night — anticipating that it may be not be possible to determine a winner in certain states because of the slower process of counting and receiving mail-ballots.

With many Americans voting by mail due to the coronavirus pandemic, the results of the 2020 election may be a repeat of 2016. “Many observers predict today that if late-counted or

late-arriving ballots shift the total from Trump to Biden, Republicans will cry foul and allege some sort of fraud,” Waxman wrote. “That’s similar to what happened in 1916, when early signs of a Hughes win gave way to late signs of a Wilson win.”

Waxman argues that Hughes’ opposition to calls of fraud by members of his own party following the 1916 election’s uncertain results offers a salient model to modern-day American politicians. “One important lesson of 1916,” Waxman wrote, “is that healthy elections depend not just on law and careful procedures but on statesmanship and candidates’ commitments to norms and to the democratic system itself.”

VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

4

CONSERVATIVES FROM PAGE 1 decided in unison that even if there are some members that aren’t the biggest fans to Trump, it would be best to have a united front in the next election.”

Their decision was the result of multiple conversations, but the College Republicans did not hold an official member vote on its endorsement this election, and some members do not support the president’s re-election.

Despite support for the president from College Republicans — and from other students at the University — Republican, conservative and libertarian students on campus have expressed split views on Trump.

A small pocket of students voice strong support for Trump Support for Trump in the upcoming presidential election has come from a small, yet vocal, pocket of students at the University. According to The Herald’s Spring 2020 poll, just 3.4 percent of undergraduates said they planned on voting for the Republican candidate this November.

Despite being in the minority, some students are unwavering in their support for Trump’s reelection.

Emma Phillips ’23 has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters at the University. Phillips founded the Brown chapter of Students For Trump last spring and completed an internship at the White House this summer.

Among her reasons for supporting the president, Phillips said Trump’s commitment to protecting the Second Amendment and his pro-life stance have been major factors. Trump is “the

most pro-life president that we’ve had in American history,” she said. “As a woman, that’s one of my biggest issues, and I love that he stands for life.”

Diaz de Leon will also be supporting Trump in his bid for reelection, citing approval of a recent string of peace deals in the Middle East brokered by Trump. “The biggest thing is his anti-war stance,” Diaz de Leon told The Herald. In his view, “we haven’t had a president in a long time that’s been as pro-peace as Trump.”

Diaz de Leon founded the Brown chapter of Turning Point USA, a national organization which mobilizes students to uphold conservative ideology on their campuses. He considers himself more supportive of Trump than many of his peers in College Republicans, which motivated him to launch the TPUSA chapter.

“They didn’t really like Trump and the new era of conservatives,” Diaz de Leon said. “And it was really frustrating because I liked Donald Trump. He’s our president. I thought we should support him.”

TPUSA’s founder Charlie Kirk sparked protest and debate among students when he spoke on the University’s campus last year at an event hosted by TPUSA at Brown as well as College Republicans.

Other conservative-leaning students express hesitation While College Republicans is officially endorsing Trump for re-election, McDonald said that many members, particularly libertarian ones, do not support him. College Republicans encompasses a broad swath of political viewpoints at the University — from

conservatives who support Trump to moderates and libertarians.

Adam Shepardson ’22, a member of College Republicans and a libertarian-leaning voter, said he feels neutral toward Trump and will instead cast his vote for third-party candidate Jo Jorgensen.

Shepardson expressed disappointment with Trump’s economic agenda, criticizing the president for failing to control the national debt and for implementing a harsh, “anti-market” immigration policy.

But Shepardson was pleased by other areas of Trump’s agenda — including his support for the Second Amendment, his tax cuts and his judiciary nominations.

Justin Joffe ’23, who identifies as an independent and leans conservative on fiscal policy and some foreign policy, said he could never support a candidate like Trump for president.

Joffe said he supports some of Trump’s policy decisions, such as lowering taxes to decrease unemployment, providing additional funding to Historically Black Colleges and Universities and brokering peace agreements in the Middle East. While Joffe said that “I don’t think he knows what he’s doing, and I don’t agree with his process,” he conceded that Trump’s “belligerent” personality has shown surprisingly positive results in brokering peace agreements.

But Joffe also expressed strong disagreement with Trump on his failure to address climate change, his expansion of the federal debt and his response to COVID-19, calling the president willing to “sacrifice Grandma for the sake of the economy.”

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Editorial Leadership Editor-in-Chief Colleen Cronin Managing Editors Sophie Culpepper Allie Reed Senior Editors Elise Ryan Alex Smolar post- magazine Editor-in-Chief Amanda Ngo

Sections Arts & Culture Editors Katherine Ok Emily Teng

Special Projects Coordinators Jacob Lockwood Melanie Pincus

News and Metro Editors Olivia Burdette Henry Dawson Olivia George Daniel Goldberg Li Goldstein Kayla Guo Clara Gutman Argemí Isabel Inadomi Kamran King Spencer Schultz Sarah Wang

Commentary Opinions Editors Jordan Allums Johnny Ren Krista Stapleford

Science & Research Editors Emilija Sagaityte Cate Ryan

Multimedia/Production Design Editors Hee Won Chung Keelin Lyons

Sports Editor Ryan Handel

Head Photo Editors Rebecca Ho Victoria Yin

Editorial Page Board Amanda Brynn Lola Olabode Vicky Phan Krista Stapleford Dylan Tian

Copy Desk Chief Vicky Phan Illustrations Editor Summer Zhang Graphics Editor Usha Bhalla Director of Technology Jed Fox Business General Managers Nicholas Fabrizio Mariel Jackson Office Manager Diane Silvia Directors Rey Blandon Arman Lateef Michael Wang

@the_herald

facebook.com/browndailyherald

@browndailyherald

youtube.com/browndailyherald

88 Benevolent St., Providence, RI (401) 351-3372 www.browndailyherald.com Editorial: herald@browndailyherald.com Advertising: advertising@browndailyherald.com

“To me, conservatism is a virtue that comes with a cost of restraint,” Joffe said. “There is no more unrestrained man than President Trump.”

Joffe added that he disagrees with Trump not only on policy, but also on the basis of the president’s character.

“Just as a citizen of this earth, I can never stand for belligerent racism,” he said. “I cannot stand for the demonization of minorities. I cannot stand for the demonization of women.”

Outside the liberal majority: students talk ideological diversity at Brown Although some Trump voters are steady in their support for the president and conservative policies, McDonald said it can be “uncomfortable” to be a conservative student on a left-leaning campus.

Despite the initial discomfort McDonald felt as a conservative at Brown, she has become less reluctant to voice her views on campus over time.

Often, McDonald believes that conservative viewpoints are misrepresented, misunderstood and viewed as extreme, though students at the University are “cordial and respectful, for the most part,” she said.

McDonald and Diaz de Leon also recognized the criticism conservative students encounter online — in particular, on Dear Blueno, a student-run Facebook page which solicits anonymous submissions from community members.

Diaz de Leon recalled one Dear Blueno post that referred to Hispanic Americans who support Trump as “Uncle Juans,” a reference to the term “Uncle Tom.” Uncle Tom is a historically disparaging phrase referring to

Friday, October 30, 2020

people viewed as betraying their social or cultural allegiance. He told The Herald that the comment surprised him because Brown is “supposed to be the place where people are tolerant and open to ideas and diversity.”

Additionally, Diaz de Leon said that he has received criticism from members of the Brown community for being Hispanic and supporting Trump. The president has repeatedly condemned illegal immigration and disparaged undocumented immigrants from Mexico and other Central American countries.

But to Diaz de Leon, the Republican Party has “a lot more to offer in common with minority communities” than some may assume, he said. The Hispanic community in particular is “huge on family, huge on religion,” he added.

Phillips said that although she expected Brown to be a liberal environment, it was a “shock” to “realize how radical some liberals are.”

Coming from a small town in Washington state, Phillips had never been exposed to “people who openly advocated for socialism.” Encountering some students at the University who aligned with such ideology has pushed Phillips further to the right, she said.

Shepardson said he hopes that Brown works to create a community that is more accepting of diverse political views.

Similarly, Diaz de Leon argued for unity amid a tense political climate.

“We’re all Americans, we’re all going to disagree,” he said, “but at the end of the day, that’s what should unite us.”

—With additionwal reporting by Spencer Schultz

Submissions: The Brown Daily Herald publishes submissions in the form of op-eds and letters to the editor. Op-eds are typically between 750 and 1000 words, though we will consider submissions between 500 and 1200 words. Letters to the editor should be around 250 words. While letters to the editor respond to an article or column that has appeared in The Herald, op-eds usually prompt new discussions on campus or frame new arguments about current discourse.

All submissions to The Herald cannot have been previously published elsewhere (in print or online — including personal blogs and social media), and they must be exclusive to The Herald.

Submissions must include no more than two individual authors. If there are more than two original authors, The Herald can acknowledge the authors in a statement at the end of the letter or op-ed, but the byline can only include up to two names. The Herald will not publish submissions authored by groups. The Herald does not publish anonymous submissions. If you feel your circumstances prevent you from submitting an op-ed or letter with your name, please email herald@browndailyherald.com to explain your situation.

You can submit op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com and letters to letters@browndailyherald. com. When you email your submission, please include (1) your full name, (2) an evening or mobile phone number in case your submission is chosen for publication and (3) any affiliation with Brown University or any institution or organization relevant to the content of your submission.

Please send in submissions at least 24 hours in advance of your desired publication date. The Herald only publishes submissions while it is in print. The Herald reserves the right to edit all submissions.

If your piece is considered for publication, an editor will contact you to discuss potential changes to your submission.

Commentary: The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

Corrections: The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Postmaster: Please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.

Advertising: The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. is a financially independent, nonprofit media organization bringing you The Brown Daily Herald and Post- Magazine. The Brown Daily Herald has served the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. Subscription prices: $200 one year daily, $100 one semester daily.

Copyright 2020 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

post-

OCT 30 — VOL 26 — ISSUE 7

FEATURE

See Full Issue: WWW.POST.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

NARRATIVE

Charlie Chaplin and the Fairy a halloween story

By Kaitlan Bui

Accessing Algorithms an attempt at being digitally mindful

by Victoria Yin illustrated by Gaby Treviño “You should write about algorithms!” my roommate and best friend Lauren exclaimed the other day. As a person who often realizes things about myself after other people do, I responded “Yeah, I should!”

I should start at the beginning: when I was twelve. When my mother first bought me a new iPhone 4, a gleaming white pearl of a cell phone, I was immediately entranced. The smooth grey arrow slid satisfyingly across the screen each time I unlocked it, and the gloriously blue messages I sent rose from the bottom right corner with such fulfilling boldness. My Instagram audience consisted of a few dozen friends who saw the silly, filtered Instagram

selfies that I didn’t think much of at the time.

But, in high school, as my awareness of my identity developed, so too did my relationship with social media. I increasingly relied on Instagram and Facebook for confidence and socialization. As a self-conscious, androgynous teenager in the throes of self-discovery, the digital social networks that I became a part of were difficult to navigate and, at the same time, affirming. The “post-able” sides of life— my classmates’ parties and selfies—felt unrealistic and utopian. On the other hand, I was thrilled to find my niche (aesthetic fashion or sunset photos, pastel art pieces, queer memes, and dramatic Coelho quotes) and feel represented on Tumblr—where it was okay, normal even, to post Sappho exerpts or share queer movies, movements and history.

During my junior year, feeling overwhelmed and self-conscious, I deleted my Instagram and Facebook profiles and chose to focus instead on the things near and dear to me: books, plants, family, and friends. Posting felt performative, even if I tried not to be. Trying to think of a funny caption or find a photo where I looked “good” threw off my ability to feel perceived in the truest sense of the word...

“Can I cite Lemonade Mouth as a source for my paper?”

“No bueno and no Blueno.

Coincidence? I think not.”

Ways to Scare Your Roommate

1. Leave all your dishes in the sink for more than 2 days 2. Buy Halloween candy from CVS before it goes on *deep discount* 3. Carve a pumpkin into a shockingly realistic portrait of their face 4. Perennial favorite: Jump out from behind a corner and say boo!

5. Get overly invested in one too many “joke” conspiracy theories 6. Put a thermometer in your morning coffee 7. Place a fake ballot in the recycling bin 8. Tell them you’ve run out of toilet paper 9. Sit in darkness and do nothing 10. Make a racket at 5 a.m. cuz you forgot to take out the trash

post–

Want to be involved?

Email: amanda_ngo@brown.edu!

I don’t remember the last time I went trick-ortreating. I only remember the feeling.

I remember the nipping wind and the hint of oxygenated sugar it carried. Perfumes of candy wafted into my nostrils, and soft voices drifted into my ear canals. They beckoned me to come, come, come—and I would have, if not for the sacrificial example of Hansel and Gretel. I didn’t want to get baked into a witch’s pie, so the only option was to wait for The Adult to hurry out of the restroom.

And when The Adult finally shimmied into his oversized costume pants and adjusted his fake mustache, I remember thinking that my outfit was much better than his. I remember breathing in the cool sidewalk scent of freedom—because there is freedom in pretending to be another thing, in being wrapped up in 99 Cent Store fairy wings and carrying a pumpkin-shaped basket on your chubby wrist. There is freedom in hushed anticipation and the promise that if you eat all your dinner, you can go with Uncle So-and-So. There is freedom in a child’s realization that Silent Suburbia does indeed awaken...

ARTS&CULTURE

Horrifyingly Horrible Television an ode to svengoolie

By Annie Cimack I’ve watched enough sitcoms to know that families usually have some kind of weekly tradition: For some, it’s Sunday dinner, and for others, a board game night. For as long as I can remember, my family’s Saturday evenings were defined by sitting on the floor of my wood-paneled basement, eating pizza, and watching TV. What made our little ritual less Rockwell-esque was what we were watching: Svengoolie, a horror movie program broadcast locally from Chicago and hosted by a man wearing face paint and a top hat...

LIFESTYLE

Halloween @Home

By Gus Kmetz

Well, it’s Halloween week. Since the pandemic and ergo social-distancing guidelines, many of us feared for the worst: that Halloween would be cancelled. But fear not! Because you can still bring fun shenanigans to your Zoom classes and pods with these fun, low-effort costume ideas to keep you vibin’ with the spooky season... october 30, 2020 85

6

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Friday, October 30, 2020

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Community shares perspectives on election environmental platforms Students and professors discuss to what extent the environment is on the ballot next week

BY JULIA GROSSMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER Campus opinion, while leaning in support of Democratic Presidential Nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden and his environmental plans, is still divided over which candidate proposes the best path forward in addressing environmental issues.

Biden’s environmental proposals Some community members praised Biden’s stance, while others see his position as either not progressive enough or too radical.

J. Timmons Roberts, professor of environment and society and sociology at IBES, wrote in an email to The Herald that Biden’s climate and clean energy plans “will make a very big difference in the fight against climate change.” He added that “addressing climate change at the scale of the problem, and guided by legitimate science, is the only way forward. I am voting Biden for that reason.”

According to Roberts, Biden’s pledge to use 100 percent clean energy by 2035 will be “immediately impactful.” He further wrote that this proposal contains a substantial amount of detail that will make Biden’s climate-related plans rigorous and beneficial for the planet.

Anna Zuckerman ’21, president of Brown University Scientists for a Sustainable World, said she supports Biden’s plan because it “hits all the main points.” Although his plan is less sweeping than the Green New Deal that Sen. Bernie Sanders endorsed, “that’s important in terms of getting elected and appealing to voters … so I’m not sure that that’s a bad thing,” she said.

Zuckerman also said that Biden, as compared to President Donald Trump, will take science seriously.

Zuckerman added that she believes that Biden “does a really good job of focusing on the jobs and the positive economic impact of his plan, because a lot of pushback to environmental reform comes from people who are saying that it’ll cut all these jobs … and then it will ruin our economy.” Economically, the Green New Deal is more of “a hard sell.”

Roberts agreed with the need to transition to clean energy at a moderate pace. In reference to Biden’s stance on fracking, he wrote that “we need to get off natural gas, but we’ll need to transition off, not stop immediately.

Banning new drilling and drilling on federal land is a good start.”

But others who are voting for Biden have critiqued his environmental proposals. Should Biden be elected, President of Brown College Democrats Jasmine Powell ’22 and Zuckerman both said they hope that his position would become more progressive during his time in office. Powell said Biden is “going to have to shift more towards (a) Green New Deal,” especially to “support the people that helped get him

SUMMER ZHANG / HERALD

elected, and support the policies they want to see.”

Zuckerman agreed, and is hopeful that if Biden is elected, “he stands by (his) plan, and then hopefully pushes beyond that.” Roberts also added that, to have any chance at reversing the course of climate change, an “aboutface” in the form of sweeping action like the Green New Deal will be necessary.

But Brown College Republicans President Jessica McDonald ’21 thinks that Biden’s plan is problematic for opposing reasons: it bears too much resemblance to the Green New Deal. “The biggest concern that I have with Biden’s plan is that he says he doesn’t necessarily support the Green New Deal, and that that’s not his idea,” she said, “but what he does have on his campaign website is sort of reminiscent of that.”

According to McDonald, a dangerous flaw of the Green New Deal is that “the cost is just outrageous, and it’s going to put a big impact (on) the economy.” She added that while Biden claims that new jobs can be created in renewable energy sectors, she has not seen a concrete plan to actually replace the jobs that are lost. As a result, she anticipates “a lot of problems” resulting from Biden’s environmental proposals.

Additionally, Biden’s tendency to “flip-flop” his opinions on key environmental issues is a concern for McDonald. For example, she said, “at one point (Biden) was more against fracking; now he’s trying to appeal to the Pennsylvania voters by saying he’s not going to get rid of fracking.”

Powell also acknowledged that both Biden and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris “stumbled” with the issue of fracking during the debates.

Trump’s environmental proposals McDonald said she supports Trump’s stance on the environment, while also suggesting possible policies that could improve his platform. She commended Trump’s ability to take the economy into account when developing environmental policy. “For the most part, I agree with a lot of where he’s heading with trying to keep the economy in mind when he’s making these decisions,” she said.

McDonald added that “the route more Republicans and (Trump) go for is a free market solution to helping the environment,” which she believes is the best way to save jobs while addressing climate change. With such free market solutions, McDonald believes that market pressure will tend to incentivize new innovation in fuel and clean energy.

Additionally, many actions that Trump has taken in terms of protecting the environment have been steps in the right direction, McDonald said.

She cited pulling out of the Paris Agreement as a decision that she believes was “good for the United States.” Should Trump be elected again, she believes that he will continue to make economically-sound decisions when it comes to the environment.

McDonald did acknowledge that she would like to see Trump enact more environmental policies. For instance, while she supported leaving the Paris Agreement, she said that she would “like to see something to match that … where we’re still going to be doing work for the environment in place of what the Paris Accord was doing.” McDonald added that she would like to see Trump put more energy toward addressing water pollution, which is an environmental public health concern that he “could

improve greatly.”

But others on campus did not share these sentiments and are strongly opposed to Trump’s environmental and climate action. In addition to further polarizing the country, said Powell, “Trump has excited his base around the idea that addressing climate change is something like radical policy when it really isn’t, and really shouldn’t be.” Powell added that Trump and his administration have “moved us further backwards” in the fight against climate change.

“The Trump administration is the worst thing that could have happened to our efforts to address climate change or promote sustainability in any way,” Zuckerman said. She added that she could not think of “anything he’s done that moves in the right direction … I can’t think of a worse way to handle the climate crisis.”

Roberts echoed these sentiments.

“This administration has been devastating to the global effort to address climate change,” he wrote. “The Republican Party used to be open to science-based action on climate change, but has been hijacked by the fossil fuel industry and anti-government extremists.” Roberts and Zuckerman also cited Trump’s failure to heed advice from scientists as detrimental to environmental and climate progress.

An important voting factor On both sides of the aisle, Brown community members tend to see the environment as an important issue that, in some shape or form, will be on the ballot next week.

According to McDonald, many Brown College Republicans members have always been concerned about the environment, and environmental and climate

policy “is definitely something to look at when they evaluate a candidate.”

Still, while the environment is a factor McDonald considers when voting, “it’s not the main factor.” As pressing issues such as COVID-19 and racial injustice are pushed to the forefront, she said that she believes that “there’s not the same energy put towards environmental ideas.”

Powell also said that other issues, such as healthcare, come up more often than the environment does when she phone banks for Biden. But she added that“it’s important to realize how everything is connected,” and cited how environmental racism impacts public health, especially in terms of respiratory illnesses and asthma, which is important when examining the impact of COVID-19.

McDonald also said that the environment is on the ballot “to an extent,” but possibly in a different way than some might imagine. “It’s more the generalized approach to how problems are solved,” she said. “It’s the difference between free market solutions versus big government spending, … and I think the environment plays into that on each side.”

This difference is also recognized by Biden supporters. “Markets are part of the solution, but have not been up to the task of solving this problem,” wrote Roberts, adding that “major ‘green stimulus’ type funding” is necessary to address climate change.

Zuckerman sees Nov. 3 as a pivotal moment for climate policy, and she believes that the election will decide more than just the method for curbing climate change. “Voting for Biden, while it still may be too little, too late … He’s going to do something,” she said. “I don’t know that (Biden) will fix everything, but my gosh, it’s a lot better than the alternative.”

VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE

7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Friday, October 30, 2020

TRAVEL FROM PAGE 1 the risk of COVID-19. Some students who spoke to The Herald cited concerns about mail-in voting, while others felt that an in-person vote was simply more convenient.

Faculty voted on Sept. 8 to make Election Day an official University holiday to ensure community members have the chance to vote, The Herald previously reported.

University travel restrictions Still, University leadership is discouraging students from traveling out of state to vote in line with current travel restrictions, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 told The Herald.

“It’s challenging because, of course, we describe voting as an essential activity and we want people to be able to vote,” Carey said.

If students plan to leave Rhode Island to vote, they “should be in touch with Campus Life and Student Support Services first,” Carey said.

But with only four days before Election Day, Carey said he hopes that most students have already voted by mail.

For students registered to vote in the Ocean State, “travel obviously within the city to (vote) is safe, as long as people wear a mask and practice social distancing,” Carey added.

While the University urges against out-of-state travel, multiple students said they felt that the election took precedence over concerns about COVID-19.

“I thought voting was more important” than adhering to guidelines, Blinn said.

Student concerns about mail-in voting Blinn had doubts about Texas’ absentee voting system. He said that one friend sent in her absentee ballot and never received confirmation that it was counted, while Blinn’s sister applied for a mail-in ballot but did not receive it in time to cast her vote by mail.

In addition to his concerns with voting in Texas, Blinn worried about the mail system itself. Reports of slowed mail delivery times eroded his confidence in the U.S. Postal Service.

“I don’t really trust the U.S. mail system, especially how it is right now,” Blinn said. He decided that flying back home was a safer bet to get his vote counted.

Alisa Caira ’22, whose hometown of Newton, Mass. is a 50-minute drive away from campus, said that she will vote in person on Election Day rather than by mail.

“Voting by mail is a super valuable way to vote,” Caira said. “But I’m just a bit nervous about it.”

“I just want to do everything I can to make sure my vote counts,” Caira said.

“This is such a pivotal election.” Caira said she believes that a second term for Trump will be permanently damaging to the country and the world.

Caira voted in the Sept. 1 Massachusetts primaries in person and said that the process felt safe. Everyone in line to vote was spaced out and wearing masks, she said, so she was confident that voting in person again wouldn’t be too risky. She plans to get tested for COVID-19 before and after she votes.

One Brown student, who requested anonymity out of fear of personal repercussions, plans to drive home to New

NAT HARDY / HERALD

A “VOTE” mural in downtown Providence encourages passerbys to exercise their right to vote. Some students travelled home this election to avoid delays, citing concerns of United States Postal Service delays for mail-in voting and the challenges of absentee voting.

York to vote early on Friday. The student said that she was concerned that her vote by mail would not be counted. “I just got very worried that something would get messed up and be out of my control,” she said.

While she sent in an absentee ballot for the June primaries, the weight of the upcoming election makes voting in person imperative for her. “There’s

just so much on the line,” she added.

‘How you vote is your business’ Betsy Shimberg, interim director of the Swearer Center for Public Service, told The Herald that the most important thing is that people vote, regardless of the method.

“How you vote is your business,” Shimberg said. “But that you partic-

THALIA MERMIN / HERALD

ipate as an adult with this cherished civic responsibility — that’s something that I will ask humbly that people participate in.”

Shimberg added that while she is sympathetic to students’ concerns about voting by mail, if a ballot is sent with enough time before Election Day, it is almost certain to be counted. “If we do this early, we can trust the system,” she said. She also emphasized that voting by mail comes with the least amount of risk from COVID-19.

“I want students to stay safe and to use the mail for this,” Shimberg said.

“We’re doing a great job keeping people safe right now (from COVID-19), and we want to keep that up.”

According to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement at Tufts University, nearly 46 percent of Brown students voted by mail in 2016 and 54 percent in 2018.

Madison Mandell ’22, co-founder of Brown Votes, a Swearer Center student group that advocates for voter registration and civic engagement, told The Herald that mail ballots are still a secure method of voting.

“There’s always going to be a little more risk if you are mailing instead of (voting) directly, but that risk, in my opinion, is very, very low,” Mandell said.

Though Brown Votes does not recommend a particular method of voting to students, Mandell emphasized that all students should make a voting plan — including where and when they will vote.

Students vote from home near College Hill For some students, traveling home to vote was the most convenient option.

Nora Ong ’23 will cast her vote on Election Day in her hometown, North Kingstown, R.I., an approximately

30-minute drive from campus.

For Ong, voting in person is “more streamlined” and avoids potential technicalities that could invalidate a mail-in ballot.

While she filled out an absentee ballot for the primaries, she ended up placing it in a ballot drop box location in North Kingstown instead of mailing it. Mail-in voting “feels less real than actually going in and voting in person,” Ong said.

Given North Kingstown’s relatively small population and numerous polling stations, Ong said she feels that it is unlikely that she will come into contact with many other voters.

For Sloane Carlisle Kratzman ’22, the 80-minute ferry ride to her home in East Hampton, N.Y. was easier than waiting for an absentee ballot to arrive. Carlisle Kratzman requested her absentee ballot Sept. 23, but when it still hadn’t shown up with two weeks left before Election Day, she opted for an in-person vote.

After leaving Providence in the early morning of Oct. 28, Carlisle Kratzman cast her ballot in person and was back in Rhode Island the same day.

Carlisle Kratzman, who has two immunocompromised family members, said she avoided any unnecessary contact with people and followed safe protocol while waiting in line to vote.

She was tested every day leading up to her trip.

Even with the risk of COVID-19, Carlisle Kratzman felt that voting was important — and others seemed to feel the same: Carlisle Kratzman said that a 95-year-old woman cast her ballot while Carlisle Kratzman waited to vote.

“It’s kind of incredible to see the sheer amount of voter turnout,” Carlisle Kratzman said.

VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE

8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Gov. Dukakis talks postelection democracy

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Dukakis, who previously served as MA governor, stressed values of democracy, political efficacy and ethics in the American system.

In virtual talk, Michael Dukakis discusses Trump, COVID-19, bipartisanship

BY LIZA MULLETT SENIOR STAFF WRITER When asked what’s at stake in the 2020 election, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis said: “Just about everything.”

Dukakis — the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts state history and the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee — joined Visiting Professor of the Practice of Political Science Richard Arenberg to discuss the implications of the coming election on democracy, ethics and efficiency in the American political system. The Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy hosted the virtual talk.

“We’re now only about five days from Election Day,” Arenberg said, opening the conversation. By Oct. 28, “more than 75 million Americans have already voted,” he said, describing the 2020 election as the “most consequential election since the Civil War.” “This is a new, different and very troubling period in American politics,” Dukakis said. “Personally, I hope we can end it in a few days.”

Although Dukakis is a Democrat, he explained that his concerns about President Donald Trump’s reelection and legacy extend across the aisle. In the former governor’s experience as a politician, bipartisan collaboration was “one of the very special things about American politics,” and “it seems to be totally missing” in the era of the Trump presidency.

“It’s all about Trump,” Dukakis said.

“He’ll go after Republican governors who don’t agree with him on things, attack and insult them. I don’t understand this.”

Dukakis stressed the importance of “sharing ideas and opinions” and collaborating despite political differences. As an example, he referenced his friendly relationship with Republican Dan Evans, the former governor of Washington.

Arenberg added that it is “very difficult for a democracy to survive without the willingness of the two parties to come together and collaborate,” especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Both Dukakis and Arenberg criticized Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

“Doesn’t (Trump) understand that this is a collaborative effort, that good people on both sides are doing their best?”

Dukakis said.

The pandemic is “getting very close

to being out of control,” he added, with “no end in sight.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been more than 500,000 new coronavirus cases reported in the United States in the last seven days.

Dukakis said that he has “no doubt” that controlling the pandemic will be Joe Biden’s “top priority” if he is elected.

“We can’t get our economy and society working again unless we get serious about dealing with this problem,” he said.

Dukakis added that he believes that if Biden wins, the United States could quickly return to “sense, reality and good government.” But Trump’s reelection would have some “real consequences,” he said. “American democracy can weather” another four years under Trump, “but it will be very, very difficult.”

The former governor also commented on the recent discourse surrounding the Supreme Court in light of Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Oct. 26 confirmation to the Court despite challenges from the Democratic Party.

While discussing partisanship surrounding the judicial confirmation process, Dukakis said, “to see the Supreme Court become a political plaything on the eve of a very important political election — it’s distressing.”

Dukakis also addressed the prospect of Democrats adding additional seats to the Supreme Court in order to compensate for the new conservative majority on the bench. He cautioned that Democrats should be “careful about this notion that if we change the law and stick liberals on the court, everything will be okay.”

Should there be civil unrest following Election Day, Dukakis said he is confident that the institution of democracy will protect the peaceful transition of power from one president to the next. Earlier this month, Trump notably hesitated to commit to a peaceful transition of power if Biden wins. But Dukakis said even Republicans would oppose such action from the president.

Despite the uncertainty of the pandemic, as well as what Dukakis sees as four years of corruption under the Trump administration, he is hopeful for the future of American politics — whichever way the election goes Nov. 3. “A decisive victory on election night or soon thereafter will go a long way” in safeguarding a fair outcome of the presidential election, Dukakis said.

“What we’re seeing is a huge increase in participation on the part of young people who were pretty absent in 2016 and unquestionably are very, very active in this election,” he said. “It may, in fact, make the difference.”

HALLOWEEN FROM PAGE 1 still resides in the shadows where the author wrote the famed short story “The Haunter of the Dark.”

And it is through Lovecraft that the tradition of Halloween feels closely tied to Brown’s campus as well. In a 2016 New York Times article, Noel Rubinton ’77 (former editor-in-chief of The Herald) referenced the horror writer’s fondness for Brown. “Lovecraft dropped out of high school, yet Brown was a center of his universe as he walked among its buildings most of his life,” Rubinton writes. “His writing is infused with the results of his prodigious research in its libraries.”

The sites where Lovecraft did his “prodigious research” have come to honor him too, as the John Hay Library now hosts an extensive collection of Lovecraft stories.

But the creepiness of the Hay extends beyond Providence-inspired fiction: The collection boasts three books bound in human skin. One of the books, “The Dance of Death,” is a 19th century edition of a medieval tale that emphasizes death’s inescapable pervasiveness. This apt creepiness is a frequent feature of skin-bound books, because “there was some tie-in with the content,” Sam Streit, former director of the John Hay Library told the Los Angeles Times in 2006.

The question remains: What happens to Providence’s phantasmic prowess during a pandemic? Do our superstitions and spidey-senses for the supernatural sublimate amidst social distancing? Or does the self-isolation incite a tangible tenor of terror?

It is true: Spooky, swarming and sweaty Halloweekend parties may be no more, but the culture of Halloween is far from dead this October season. Perhaps one could say that the creepy holiday has been zombified on campus — necromanced into a series of socially-distanced University “Halloweek” events.

On Saturday at 11:59 p.m., the yearly Midnight Halloween Organ Recital will be made available in a digital format so as to abide by pandemic guidelines. “Mark Steinbach, Brown University organist and senior lecturer in music, will perform the annual Midnight Halloween Organ Recital on the 1903 Hutchings-Votey pipe organ,” wrote the University in an Instagram Story announcement.

Though audience members will

Friday, October 30, 2020

watch the concert on Zoom rather than sprawled over the floors of Sayles Hall, the Halloween spirit will still mingle with the Providence air.

The music will creep through the Hutchings-Votey Organ’s “three manuals, with fifty-one speaking stops, more than three thousand pipes, wind reservoirs and over one hundred miles of wiring,” according to Encyclopedia Brunonia.

And, as Steinbach previously told the Herald, “In the ‘vestiges of a daily chapel,’ in a hall of ostentatious portraits, the organ usually assumes a foreboding air. But for Halloween night, with gaudy spider webs tangled around its pipes, the instrument becomes a symbol of unity on campus.”

Some students long for the Brown Halloween experience that once was — the sort of unity incited by the organ concert in Sayles’ Romanesque structure. Amelia Anthony ’22 said her favorite Halloween memory on College Hill was at a house party last year, when she dressed as pop-singer Billie Eilish and her two friends as postmodernist writer David Foster Walllace and rapper Eminem. The trio, costumed as canonical creatives, “danced for three hours straight,” she said. “We observed the ebbs and flows of the party while dancing and really felt the spirit of Halloween.”

But Anthony’s Halloween spirit has not dissipated in the midst of the pandemic, and she still remains optimistic for a spirited Oct. 31. Perhaps some sartorial splendor will be the medium that allows for the Halloween essence to persist.

“I usually brainstorm my Halloween costumes for the whole year,” she said. Anthony, who plans to dress up as Amelia Earhart this year, suggests that the costumes might imbue the holiday with its usual vigor, even if dancing occurs alone in rooms rather than a crowd.

Another hopeful Halloween-lover, Hana Odson ’21, is dressing up as ‘for the love of god,’ though she’s not quite sure how the pun will materialize itself in costume yet.

All students are encouraged to submit their very best Halloween vestments virtually through the Instagram Halloween Costume Contest hosted by the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center. The contest will take submissions until Sunday, and prizes will be awarded to the top three costumes.

“We hope to provide opportuni-

ties for virtual and in person community building during a week where students would typically have a lot of opportunities to come together in person,” said Joie Steele, director of the Campus Center and student activities.

The Student Activities Office is not only sticking to virtual means of spooky socialization though, as there will be socially-distanced opportunities to get in the Halloween spirit on campus. “Some of the events were traditional things that were shifted to be virtual this year, and some events were planned to provide opportunities for students to come together in person on a smaller scale,” Steele said.

These smaller, socially-distanced events include “Treats Under the Tents” and a Pumpkin Carving Contest, both of which are on Friday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The “Treats Under the Tents” serves as a “designated location for Grab & Go pumpkin spice cupcakes and apple cider donuts made from scratch by Christina Smith, bakeshop manager of Brown Dining Services,” according to the event description.

According to Steele, all of the in-person events were structured specifically to abide by University social-distancing protocol: “Registration for the ‘Treats under the Tents’ event was designed to evenly distribute attendance across the five large tents that already existed on campus,” she said. “All food offerings will be grab and go, and pumpkins will be picked up at multiple locations for students to carve at home.”

At the Halloween-themed confection stands, registered students can also grab a pumpkin for the Pumpkin Carving Contest, which is to be returned to Sharpe Refectory by 2 p.m. Saturday for a virtual judging Halloween night.

And perhaps it is in these events that we might see hope for a future of Halloween celebrations at Brown.

“Halloweek provides a great way to group both new and existing events in one package. This might be something to build on even after we can return to a full in-person campus experience,” Steele said.

It seems, then, that Providence’s phantoms of Halloween are steadfast. Not even a pandemic can pause Halloween on College Hill, as the petrifying potions and spectral stories promise to persist through costume, community and chronicle.

NICHOLAS MICHAEL / HERALD

Providence and the University both have a wealth of halloween traditions. Even in a pandemic, the spooky season persists in costumes and events around College Hill.

VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE

9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Friday, October 30, 2020

ARTS & CULTURE

‘Red Scare’ and the gleeful politics of trolling Dimes Square-based podcast has gained a cult following for its critiques of American neoliberalism

BY CECILIA BARRON CONTRIBUTING WRITER For those who have three backup plans to vote, for those who phonebank every weekend and for those who are tracking Iowan statehouse races, political disengagement is a luxury in which they can’t indulge.

For podcasters Dasha Nekrasova and Anna Khachiyan, making a mockery of any genuine commitment to politics is a career.

“Red Scare,” the podcast founded

by Nekrasova, Khachiyan and producer Meg Murnane in 2018, is a combination of political, cultural and malicious commentary spread out over an hour and a half. Self-funded and minimally produced, “Red Scare” sounds like someone stuck a microphone between two friends competing to see how many things they can hate. And, as Nekrasova and Khachiyan would likely agree, that is essentially the show’s premise.

The show boasts at least 20,000 listeners, a small number compared to other podcasts of the “dirtbag left,” a movement coined by Amber A’Lee Frost, one of the hosts of massively followed leftist podcast “Chapo Trap House.” But what “Red Scare” lacks in size they make up for in devotion. Between Twitter, Reddit and live shows, the duo has created something close to a cult for the politically ironic.

Their primary source of income is their Patreon, where they post exclusive, paid content that amounts to about $35,000 a month. The show has crept into the mainstream enough to host the most ostracized of the mainstream, like former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Hawaiian Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI).

To categorize the duo’s politics would be impossible; the women thrive in — and perhaps strategically manufacture — their chaotic ideologies.

They wax on about the inefficacy of

HEE WON CHUNG / HERALD

Joe Biden’s “symbolic” mask-wearing, but praise Trump’s performance in the debate because it was good “standup” on the “Putin’s Puppy” episode. They are pro-abortion, but also believe most women secretly want a “daddy, a provider.” They champion empathy, truth and justice, yet they bemoan the celebrity-addled state of #MeToo. They find America’s health care situation abysmal but, with a “gun to the head,” would vote for Trump for entertainment purposes.

If it sounds like they’re joking, they are. Sort of. As self-proclaimed socialists, it’s hard to believe either would cast a vote for Trump. (Nekrasova missed the deadline to register to vote, so the decision was avoided.) The show is so heavily infected by sarcasm and irony, it’s hard to tell when they start being serious — or if they ever do. The only thing made clear through

the exhaustive episodes is that they hate nothing more than people who still earnestly believe in the power of politics. When Biden calls for a national mask mandate, they chide him for being “cucked and weak.” When Trump interrupts and flagellates at the debate, he’s “funny and entertaining as an artist.” And while you canvass for a tight Senate seat, they’re laughing from the sidelines.

This election is dependent upon engagement. Restricted by a pandemic and suppressed by voting rules, thousands of volunteers have devoted their time to finding, calling and activating the most disengaged and disaffected of voters. What is alarming about “Red Scare” is that they’re not just disengaged nor disaffected — they’re also not voting.

Devoted to politics and obsessed with the media, describing Nekrasova

and Khachiyan as disengaged would be inaccurate. Seemingly aware of their privilege and profiting off of the political system they despise, they’re certainly not disaffected. So then where do they fall on the spectrum of political ideologies? What are they for?

Simply, they’re for nothing. They love to hate. If their effusive politics were to be defined, they’d be classified as politically spiteful. Everything is a joke because nothing matters. They’d rather ironically support a racist pseudo-fascist than earnestly defend a neoliberal.

The nihilism of “Red Scare” is especially extreme, but to think it only exists in the dark corners of Spotify or behind a Patreon paywall is naive.

Nekrasova and Khachiyan have reached the final stage of a political process that disillusions and distracts until you can’t

tell if what you’re seeing is real or, as they believe it to be, a joke.

The passivity of “Red Scare” is frustrating for those who are even tangentially interested in politics.

Laughing at the situation, throwing in the towel and then making money off of it is the easy way out. But countering the duo — screaming about their faulty logic, whining about their false equivalencies — is exactly what they want. Now they’re laughing at you, too.

The best way to win over the politically spiteful isn’t to engage them — they’re past the point of caring — but to learn from them. Listen to “Red Scare” earnestly. Take their politics at face value, engage with their critiques of liberal culture, understand their frustration with the Democratic Party. And then, like Nekrasova and Khachiyan’s worst nightmare, act on it.

STAY UP-TO-DATE. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK. FACEBOOK.COM/BROWNDAILYHERALD

VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE

10

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Friday, October 30, 2020

KEVIN HO / HERALD

CA L E N DA R

COVID -19 AT BROWN LAST 7 DAYS*

OCTOBER S

4

M

5

Tu

6

W

7

Completed Tests

People Tested

Th

F

S

10,138

6,636

1

2

3

Confirmed Positives

Positivity Rates

11

0.1 %

8

9

10 SINCE AUGUST 24, 2020*

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Completed Tests

People Tested

87,567

7,542

Total Cases

Prevalence

41

0.5 %

*AS OF OCT. 29

VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE

Friday, October 30, 2020

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

11

Trump may lose, but he’s not going away

BY ANDREW REED ’21 STAFF COLUMNIST

If President Donald Trump is defeated in this election, he is going to leave office. Despite what some alarmists in the New York Times might say, he will not try to retain power; there will be no coup d’état. Sure, he might say the election was rigged. That, if not for voter fraud and those pesky mail-in-ballots, he’d have won “BY NUMBERS NO ONE HAS EVER SEEN BEFORE.” He may even contest the results in the courts. But if Joe Biden is certified the winner, Trump, perhaps guided by nothing other than optics and self-preservation, will go.

And if he loses, come next January, he will become the newest ex-president of the United States. Then, the question for Trump is: “Now what?” Historically, former presidents have done lots of different things. George Washington operated one of the nation’s largest whiskey distilleries. William Howard Taft became the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Jimmy Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ordinarily, presidents use their post-presidency to tackle some big challenge. As a result, they stay in the spotlight for a while. But for whatever reason — perhaps because no one can imagine Trump with a hard hat and a toolbelt building houses for Habitat for Humanity — the conventional wisdom, and perhaps wishful thinking, is that a Trump defeat will be the end of his time in the limelight.

But we need to face reality: Trump may lose, but he will never go away. He may no longer operate the levers of government after Jan-

uary, but he is positioned to become one of the most influential former presidents in this nation’s history.

The sky is blue, the earth is round and Donald Trump needs attention. Few things are more certain than these — they are true now, probably always were and undoubtedly always will be. Normally, it wouldn’t matter, but if Trump leaves office in a few months, he won’t be leav-

In the absence of a clear Republican leader to take up the mantle, a post-presidency Trump may remain the Republican kingmaker he has been these past four years. Rush Limbaugh’s radio show attracts some 15 million listeners per week. By comparison, Trump received 14 million votes in the 2016 Republican primary.

If Trump’s post-presidency megaphone is even close to as big, Trump will continue to shape

toward the bottom of the field? It seems entirely plausible that, after a few years out of politics, Trump might enter the race to defeat the man who defeated him. Or he might enter because he misses his rallies. Or he may just be bored. And sure, he may be 78, but he’ll still be four years younger than Biden.

Believe me, I take no pleasure in saying this. I have Trump fatigue as much as any-

“He may no longer operate the levers of government after January, but he is positioned to become one of the most influential former presidents in this nation’s history.”

ing empty-handed. He’ll have amassed a fiveyears-in-the-making following of red-hatted supporters, and you’d bet he’s going to parlay that into something.

In 2016, multiple outlets reported that then-Trump adviser Steve Bannon had flirted with the idea of launching a conservative media company with Trump in the event he lost the election. He won, so it was not to be, but if Trump is looking for cash (and a microphone) after he leaves office, he might try to revive the idea. In that case, it will be that much harder for Republicans who are looking to drop Trump as fast as possible — as they’ve already started to do — particularly if he becomes some Sean-Hannity-on-steroids-type presence in the conservative media ecosystem.

Republican Party politics long after he leaves the White House.

Finally, we also have the Teddy Roosevelt case. If Trump loses next week, then we could be in for another round of insanity if he tries to run again in 2024. Is it likely? No. In fact, my gut tells me it’s highly unlikely. But here’s why you can’t dismiss it.

Imagine Trump leaves office, goes back on TV (on his own network, Fox or somewhere else), remains popular with his base and then, in 2023, a poll comes out showing he’s leading a divided Republican field with 25 percent of the vote. Tell me you’re certain he wouldn’t run. For those of you who are certain, were you also certain that he wouldn’t run in 2016 when he was just a reality TV star and polling

one. But some 30 percent of the country is fiercely loyal to him, and that’s not going to change based on the results on Election Day. Odds are, Trump will lose this election. He may have beaten those odds in 2016, but he’s still the underdog. And you can bet that if he does lose, he’ll be looking for some new attention-grabbing scheme. Sure, we may hear from him less. But with Trump, less is still too much.

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.

What to expect as Election Day approaches

BY PROFESSOR RICHARD A. ARENBERG OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

This is the most consequential election of our lifetimes. This election features candidates as polarized as any in American history. This election has exhibited the highest level of voter enthusiasm perhaps ever — more than 79 million Americans have already voted. This election will be a landslide for Democrats.

Oops, I used the “l-word.” It takes courage to say “landslide” out loud. After all, in these unprecedented times, it’s hard to say anything for certain.

Still, I try to predict with some sense of humility. I can hear myself saying quite confidently in 1980 that Ronald Reagan “can win the Republican nomination, but he’s far too conservative to be elected president.” Of course, on election night, he buried President Carter by nearly 10 points and won 489 electoral votes, while a totally unexpected wave defeated 12 Democratic senators including Senate lions Warren Magnuson (D-WA), George McGovern (D-SD), Birch Bayh (D-IN), John Culver (D-IA) and Frank Church (D-ID).

If I am correct in anticipating a landslide, expect the Democrats to take control of the Senate, and by a substantial margin with a night like in 1980. Democrats are likely to have at least 52 seats and could have as many as 54 or 55 in January.

On the other hand, especially given the unknown impacts of COVID-19 on Election Day, the shadow of President Trump’s unexpected victory in 2016 and the vagaries of the Electoral College, this could be a very close election. And if the election results are close in some battleground states, expect weeks of chaos, litigation and delay.

If this becomes the reality, young people should not despair. All indications are that younger voters have and will vote in greater

numbers this election and may very well determine the outcome. This represents a hopeful future.

Many of you know the long litany of ways Trump has attempted to undermine the credibility of this election. He has raised questions about the validity of mail-in votes, currently being cast by millions of Americans — without presenting any evidence for his assertions about potential fraud.

He has also stated, as he declared to his supporters at a Wisconsin rally, that “the only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.”

If President Trump believes that there is any

disavow potentially violent right-wing groups, and we have a recipe for disaster. President Trump seems to have no intention of even acknowledging a potential loss, saying, “There won’t be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.”

This is not normal.

In a democracy, accepting the will of the people and peacefully transferring power is not optional. We should expect more from our leaders.

In the highly contentious 2000 election, when it was left to the Supreme Court to determine the winner by a 5-4 margin, the loser, Al Gore, was the first to address George W. Bush

“Maybe for the first time in recent memory, Americans are unable to take the election process in our democracy for granted.”

opening to refute an undesired election result, he will almost certainly challenge mail-in ballots in one or more states. Both parties have assembled huge armadas of lawyers prepared to descend on any state in which a problem is asserted.

It is quite clear that the president will resort to any means necessary to preserve his presidency. He has talked about taking the election to the courts and cited the need to accelerate the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in order to decide election cases. Speaking about the 2020 election, President Trump has said, “I think this will end up in the Supreme Court. And I think it’s very important that we have nine justices.”

Add to this his refusal to commit to a post-election peaceful transfer of power or even

as “president-elect.” And in 2008, when Barack Obama defeated John McCain, McCain said, “I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating (Obama), but offering our next president our goodwill and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises to bridge our differences.”

Some analysts fear the election could be delayed or the results tampered with or ignored.

Given the clouds on the horizon, we should be vigilant. We cannot tolerate actions which will endanger the integrity of the election.

We should be prepared on Nov. 3 to discover that the outcome of the election is not yet certain. It may take a few additional days to properly and completely tally the vote. Illegitimate or premature claims of victory should be reject-

ed. All efforts to foster uncertainty and chaos either during the wait for final results or after they are reported must be resisted.

If challenges to the outcome are made in court, they should not be frivolous and should not be made simply in an effort to delay. If there is an effort to subvert, delay or bypass any step in the electoral college process, it should be called out and blocked.

While many of us are aware that this year, “Election Day” may last for weeks, and may be followed by further delay, federal law and the Constitution stipulate important dates in December and January as part of the process for electing the president. For example, Electoral College electors cast their ballots on December 14th, the votes are counted in a Joint Session of Congress on January 6th and most importantly, the terms of the President and Vice President expire at noon on January 20th. Americans must remain vigilant, as each stop along the way may pose an opportunity for mischief.

It may seem odd that I expect a landslide election, but retain a high level of concern about potential irregularities if the vote is close. I fear the uncertainties and chaos which could be caused by a number of troubling scenarios. I am optimistic that they will not occur, but maybe for the first time in recent memory, Americans are unable to take the election process in our democracy for granted.

Richard A. Arenberg is Interim Director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, a Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute, and Professor of the Practice of Political Science at Brown University. He worked on Capitol Hill for 34 years as a senior staff advisor to Senator Paul Tsongas (D-MA), Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), and Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (DME). He is co-author of “Defending the Filibuster: The Soul of the Senate” and author of “Congressional Procedure: A Practical Guide to the Legislative Process in the U.S. Congress.”

12

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Friday, October 30, 2020

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Stages of Freedom remembers Charlotta Bass

COURTESY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA LIBRARY’S CHARLOTTA BASS/CALIFORNIA EAGLE PHOTO COLLECTION

Charlotta Bass (second row, center) sits with her Hope High School graduating class. She would go on to be the first Black woman to accept a nomination for vice president in 1952.

Bass ran for VP of Progressive Party in 1952 alongside Vincent Hallinan

BY LI GOLDSTEIN UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR As Senator Kamala Harris took the stage at the Democratic National Convention Aug. 19 to formally accept the nomination for vice president, supporters took to Twitter to celebrate a long-overdue milestone.

Harris, running on a historic ticket alongside former Vice President Joe Biden for a shot at unseating President Donald Trump, would be the first Black woman nominated for vice president by a major party.

But one oft-overlooked footnote in Harris’ narrative is Charlotta Bass who, nearly 70 years ago in 1952, accepted the nomination for vice president of the Progressive Party alongside presidential hopeful Vincent Hallinan.

At one time, Bass had called College

Hill home.

Nearly 60 years before her historic nomination for vice president, in 1894, Bass moved north from her home state of South Carolina to College Hill to attend Hope High School, and later, Pembroke College.

Ray Rickman, director of Stages of Freedom in Providence, is working to preserve Bass’s legacy.

Bass once said in an interview that she was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, though Rickman speculates that she likely stretched the truth to distance herself from her actual birthplace of South Carolina, which didn’t keep records for Black people until 1913.

According to Rickman, Bass lived with her older brother in College Hill on the plot of land where CVS on Thayer Street currently sits: in convenient proximity to her alma mater of Hope High School.

In South Carolina, education for Black children was only offered through the eighth grade, Rickman said, prompting Bass’s move to Rhode Island where her brother was already

settled in. “They thought that’s all Black folks needed for education,” Rickman said about Southern education at the time. “And that’s all they would provide.”

And though Bass’s later stint at Pembroke was brief, it was not uncommon for women at the school to only attend for one or two years. In fact, Rickman said, about a quarter of Pembroke students at the time never graduated.

Though University historians know virtually nothing about Bass’s time on College Hill, Rickman speculates that “she was miserable,” given Pembroke’s racially segregated housing and dining facilities and unequal treatment of Black students.

“She wasn’t much for discrimination,” he said.

After college, Bass went on to work for a local Black newspaper, the Providence Watchman, where she helped to organize the paper’s finances and tripled their ad sales.

She worked for the Watchman for ten years, but her asthma suffered in Rhode Island’s harsh climate, Rickman

said. In search of warmer weather, Bass headed West.

“She was trying to decide where to go: Arizona or California,” Rickman said. “She thought California was more exciting.”

In California, Bass found herself at the California Owl, another Black newspaper: first as a staff member and then as its owner, after she bought the paper at bankruptcy in 1912 for $50 and renamed it to the California Eagle.

At the time, “it probably wasn’t half of what the BDH is,” Rickman said with a laugh. “And then she turns it into a real newspaper. It’s the biggest Black newspaper west of the Mississippi. At some points, it’s the second largest Black newspaper in America.”

Bass, who leaned far to the left politically, used her paper as a platform for her politics: pushing back against the influence of big banks and fighting for minimum wage in California.

As she continued to leverage her platform to amplify her political opinions, she became connected to major Black political figures like W.E.B. Du Bois. Her reputation in the political

sphere was a natural link to her eventual partnership with the Progressive Party, a third party challenger to the Democratic Party’s near monopoly on the Black vote at the time.

Bass and her running mate unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the Black vote and appeal to Black citizens’ dissatisfaction with an apathetic Democratic Party — which often did not fully align with the promises of its presidential candidates.

Still, Rickman said, Bass set a precedent worth preserving. Stages of Freedom, which is working in Rhode Island to uplift Black heroes and historical figures in the small state “believes strongly that Black history gets lost.”

In doing the group’s work, Rickman hopes to offer a positive foil to the stereotyped media representations of Black people before the 1960s, who were often painted only as criminals.

“She’s the first Black woman in America to own a newspaper. And then she turns it into something,” Rickman said. “That’s big stuff, it really is, and people should know it.”

VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE | VOTE