Friday, November 8, 2020

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Friday, November 6, 2020

VOLUME CLV, ISSUE 41

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

METRO

Days after election night, no declared winner in race for presidency Key states remain uncalled, but Biden narrows deficit in Pennsylvania

BY BEN GLICKMAN AND LIZA MULLETT SENIOR STAFF WRITERS Over two days after the first polls closed on Election Day, no winner has been declared in the race for U.S. president.

Former Vice President Joe Biden moved closer to an electoral college victory early Nov. 6, almost entirely eliminating his vote deficits in Georgia and Pennsylvania, as election workers continue to count mail-in ballots across the country. But, the close margins in some key state races kept incumbent President Donald Trump’s hopes of reelection alive.

As of early Friday morning, Biden had secured 253 electoral votes to Trump’s 214, according to the New York Times. Either candidate must secure at least 270 electoral votes to claim victoISABEL INADOMI / HERALD

SEE ELECTION PAGE 3

UNIVERSITY NEWS

METRO

Education policies left uncertain after election

R.I. drops ‘Providence Plantations’ from state name

University education professors discuss federal funding to higher education

BY JACK WALKER SENIOR STAFF WRITER While current presidential election results project a potential win for former Vice President Joe Biden, the lingering possibility of President Trump’s reelection leaves the future of higher education in the United States at the precipice of two very different administrations.

Trump and Biden’s differing plans for educational policies will uniquely impact the allocation of federal funding to institutions of higher education, attitudes toward systemic racism in colleges and universities and collaborations between American research institutions and international communities.

Federal involvement in higher education Over the past four years, the

Trump administration has decreased federal involvement in higher education and educational policy, according to Kenneth Wong, professor of education policy, political science and international and public affairs.

This decrease has included weakening federal oversight of for-profit education providers and decreasing federal funding toward diversity training programs.

In contrast, according to Jonathan Collins, assistant professor of education, “the Biden administration has been more committed to an expansive higher education investment program.”

If Biden wins the election, Collins said he expects the Biden administration to make initiatives toward reversing the Trump administration’s higher education policy. This would include increasing federal investment in twoyear educational institutions, which would in turn expand educational access and give students nationwide “options across the different ‘tiers of schools,’” Collins said.

SEE EDUCATION PAGE 2

First time in U.S. history that state has changed name without change in territory

BY CAELYN PENDER SENIOR STAFF WRITER Successfully ending a campaign that began over 10 years ago, a referendum to remove “Providence Plantations” from the state name of Rhode Island passed on Tuesday with a vote of 52.9 percent approval, according to the Rhode Island Board of Elections. Rhode Island is the first state to change its name without a change of territory, according to the website of Vote Yes on One, an organization that advocated for the name change.

“This world is at a crossroad in time,” said State Representative Anastasia Williams (RI-9), who co-sponsored the resolution to hold the referendum.

“The murder of George Floyd opened up the floodgates of many of the ills that had been covered up, kept quiet (and) buried for centuries.”

The University announced the removal of “Providence Plantations” from

News

S&R

Commentary

R.I. saw record turnout in the 2020 presidential election, with more than 570,000 ballots cast. Page 5

Patient Voting works to reduce barriers to exercising the right to vote for hospitalized patients. Page 6

Powell ’22: We must make civic engagement an integral part of our lives always, not just every four years. Page 7

NICHOLAS MICHAEL / HERALD

Rhode Island’s name will no longer include “plantations” after a referendum passed to remove the word. its official name in September following a unanimous Corporation vote in August. In their announcement, President Christina Paxson P’19, Provost Richard Locke P’18 and Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Barbara Chernow ’79 wrote that the connotation of the word “plantations” is reminiscent of Rhode Island’s dark history of slavery, The Herald previously reported.

The history of slavery and plantations “is always going to be there, nobody’s trying to change that history,” Williams said. “What we’re doing is

moving forward and changing it from the state’s name that is very insulting, offensive (and) negative.”

To those who say plantations is not an offensive term, Williams says, “get comfortable being uncomfortable, because slavery in Rhode Island is a reality, it is in the history book and it is an offensive word, period.”

Changing the state name was previously proposed by Williams 10 years ago, but the proposition never made it out of the state legislature. The recent

SEE PLANTATIONS PAGE 3

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Friday, November 6, 2020

METRO

R.I. to initiate stricter public health restrictions after COVID-19 surge Gov. Raimondo announces two-week stay-at-home advisory, gathering restrictions

BY EMILIJA SAGAITYTE S&R SECTION EDITOR Gov. Gina Raimondo announced adjustments to Rhode Island’s Phase 3 public health guidelines Thursday, which will begin Nov. 8 and last at least two weeks as a precautionary measure against the continuing climb in COVId-19 cases. Rhode Island saw 566 positive COVID-19 test results Nov. 4, according to WPRI. Raimondo implemented a stay-athome advisory and shortened some in-person business operating hours, among other measures.

As of Nov. 5, Rhode Island’s daily positivity rate stood at 3.6 percent for the 15,785 tests administered Nov. 4, according to Rhode Island’s COVID-19 Response Data. The elevated impact extends beyond the state’s borders and has pervaded the nation: “Yester-

EDUCATION FROM PAGE 1 Regardless of the outcome of the presidential election, the COVID-19 pandemic has left local communities and the nation alike in a period of economic depression that the next presidential administration will have to address.

This depression will adversely affect students graduating from universities and institutions of higher education. “There won’t be time to wait one year, two years for employment to open up,” Collins said. “Students are going to have to start making money, and government support will play a big role in that.”

Graduate student labor In 2019, the Trump administration proposed a policy that would exclude

day, the United States saw its first day with more than 100,000 new cases,” Raimondo said at a press conference Nov. 5.

“We’ve been working for the past few days with Massachusetts and Connecticut so we have an aligned approach in our region,” she added.

Starting Sunday, Raimondo is advising everyone in the state to stay home after 10 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and after 10:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays until 5 a.m., unless necessary, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health.

“The later the night goes on, the more people put their guard down,” Raimondo said. “We get too close to people, maybe we share food, we don’t wear our mask, and that’s what we have to try ... to cut down on or frankly eliminate.”

Certain businesses must adjust their in-person hours accordingly and aim to close by these times, including gyms, bars and restaurants, though people can still order takeout during these hours.

“We’re not going to have a heavy-handed approach on enforce-

ment if you’re out after 10, ... but it’s a big signal to all of us, it’s a wake up call,” Raimondo said. Still, if people largely do not adhere to the requirements, the state may enforce the measures more strictly, she added.

People must continue to wear masks when around anyone outside of one’s household, and Raimondo said retailers are obligated to enforce this regulation.

People should also limit essential group gatherings to 10 other close contacts, as per the guidelines instituted last Friday.

Indoor and outdoor capacities for events, such as performances or worship, are being cut to 125 and 150 people, respectively. Catered indoor and outdoor activities will be capped at 25 and 75 people. But the state may grant exceptions for some major pre-scheduled events. Large retailers must limit capacity to one person for every 150 sq. ft. at a time, as was the case during Phase 2, according to Raimondo.

Another addition to the guidelines is forgoing travel for work if it is not essential.

“If over the course of the next two

graduate students from being classified as employees of their respective universities, thereby limiting their access to employment benefits.

Rithika Ramamurthy GS, chair of bargaining for the Graduate Labor Organization, said she expects that these threats to the rights and employment benefits of graduate student workers “are not necessarily under the same kind of risk” from the Biden administration.

Still, while a Biden administration would mean the GLO “might not have to swim upstream against national policy in the same way,” threats to graduate student workers on the University level will persist regardless of the outcome of the election, necessitating further advocacy, she said.

oration While the Obama administration regarded racial inequity and issues of racial discrimination in higher education as systemic, the Trump administration has denied the existence of structural racism in higher education, Wong said.

“If the president stops using federal funding to support diversity training,” universities including Brown “will have to comply with federal guidelines, so we will not be able to use federal funding in areas that may address some of these issues,” Wong said.

While funding educational services generally receives bipartisan support, how that funding is ultimately allocated is more political and controversial. As such, the Trump administration has “tried to shape” the use of education funding, “identify(ing)

Diversity and international collab-

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Gov. Gina Raimondo implemented a stay-at-home advisory and shortened some in-person business hours Thursday. weeks, the seven regulations result in lower mobility, fewer crowds, better mask wearing, fewer parties, fewer people out and about, then we’ll have confidence that they’re going to lead to the results we need,” Raimondo said.

Otherwise, she acknowledged that further measures may be necessary.

In regard to sports, the temporary closure of indoor athletic facilities will be lifted Nov. 9. While people were originally prohibited from watching games

in person by the mandate announced Oct. 30, according to WPRI, two people will be permitted to attend for every player under 18 beginning Monday, with masks required for all players and attendees, according to RIDOH. Recognizing the public’s exhaustion with the list of regulations, Raimondo still maintained, “I’m confident that these targeted interventions are going to make a difference, but it’s only true if you guys take it to heart.”

areas that they don’t want to fund, such as diversity training,” as well as some they would encourage, such as a “more patriotic curriculum in history and cultural studies,” Wong said.

The Trump administration has also limited international involvement in United States research and universities by limiting visas granted to overseas scholars and international students, as well as limiting visa eligibility. This summer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement released since-reversed guidelines prohibiting international students from studying in the United States if their course load was entirely online.

These policies have “cut into (the University’s) academic freedom” by limiting international collaboration, Wong said.

A Biden administration would

more directly confront racism in higher education on a systemic level and facilitate international involvement in American higher education, Wong expects. In addition to increasing access to two-year educational institutions, Wong speculated that a Biden administration would also expand federal funding for Pell Grants for low-income students and federal support for research.

Global collaboration in academics is mutually beneficial for academic institutions and the international community, Wong said.

“We need to have a full and complete open exchange,” he said. “This kind of exchange will benefit our mission and, likewise, we will be able to expand our influence and conversations beyond the U.S. boundary.”

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Friday, November 6, 2020

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

3

PLANTATIONS FROM PAGE 1

REBECCA HO / HERALD

ELECTION FROM PAGE 1 ry. Six states remain uncalled: Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia and Alaska.

As it currently stands, Biden has more paths to victory in the electoral college than Trump — winning any two of the states would put the former vice president over the line. And if Biden clinches Pennsylvania alone — the largest of the remaining states with 20 electoral votes — he’ll win his presidential bid.

Arizona, along with its 11 electoral votes, was called on Election Night by the Associated Press and Fox News, but remained uncalled by CBS, ABC, NBC and The New York Times, among others, at press time.

Even as the outcome in the electoral college hung in the balance, Biden took a decisive lead in the popular vote.

Over 73 million ballots were counted for the Democratic nominee as of early Nov. 6 — breaking President Barack Obama’s 2008 record for the most votes ever cast in a presidential election for one candidate. At press time, Trump trailed Biden by about four million votes.

Brown students have waited anxiously for results to come in.

In past elections, University students — overwhelmingly liberal, according to Herald data — have gathered to celebrate the election of Democrats or lament the success of Republicans.

In 2016 after the election of Trump, many students took to the streets in tears, The Herald previously reported.

Eight years prior, the Main Green was a celebration spot for many University students who were excited to elect the country’s first Black president.

This year, the University has strongly discouraged in-person gatherings, citing COVID-19 restrictions.

Instead, the University has advertised digital debriefs and events.

Unprecedented levels of voting by mail have delayed results of the 2020 election. Many states, including Rhode Island, made voting by mail easier for their residents, driving record turnout

amid a pandemic that has killed over 235,000 Americans.

Democrats were more likely to vote by mail than Republicans, so as mailin ballots were slowly counted, Biden gained in key states like Georgia and Pennsylvania. Some states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, where Trump appeared to be leading at the end of Election Night eventually flipped for Biden.

But despite Biden’s narrow lead, several states remain inconclusive early Nov. 6. Trump has held on to a close advantage in Pennsylvania and Georgia since Election Night, but the remaining mail-in ballots to be counted could shift the states blue.

Trump has criticized the heavy influx of mail-in ballots in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. On Nov. 5, the Trump campaign began pursuing legal action to stop the counting of mail-in votes in Pennsylvania, already bringing the case up to the Supreme Court. The Trump campaign also called for a recount of Wisconsin votes. The president additionally “claimed” the state of Michigan in a tweet Nov. 4, despite the Associated Press calling the state for Biden.

“If you count the legal votes, I easily win,” Trump said in a press conference Nov. 5. “If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us — if you count the votes that came in late.”

Trump also questioned the prevalence of blue mail-in votes, noting a lack of Republican mail-in ballots could be a sign of “fraud” in this election. Over the past few months, Trump discouraged voters from using mail-in ballots in the months leading up to November.

Early on Election Night, Florida, a swing state, was called for Trump. The Sunshine State’s 29 electoral college votes were essential for Trump’s hopes of reelection, and the incumbent was victorious following significant gains with Hispanic voters in Miami-Dade County, typically a Democratic stronghold. Polls in Florida leading up to Nov.

3 showed Biden with a slight advantage — 2 points on average, according to FiveThirtyEight — which Trump greatly overperformed in the final tally, winning by 3.4 points with 96 percent of the vote reported.

Traditionally Republican-dominated states such as Iowa, Ohio and Texas that Biden had hoped to flip — which were essentially toss-ups in polling averages — were called for Trump on Tuesday, squashing Democratic hopes of a landslide victory for the former Vice President.

Upper midwestern states Wisconsin and Michigan, with 10 and 16 electoral votes, respectively, were the first states to flip from choosing Trump in 2016 to Biden in 2020. While the two states appeared to favor Trump throughout Election Night, both were called for Biden on Nov. 4 after the slow counting of mail ballots gave the former Vice President a narrow lead. As the remaining uncounted ballots trickled in on Nov. 5, Biden’s lead widened in Michigan to over 2.5 points.

Though the pandemic prevents students from hitting the campaign trail in support of their candidates, many University students phone banked and campaigned remotely in these key states from the beginning of election season up until polls closed Tuesday night.

Still, by early morning Nov. 6, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania — all close races — were uncalled.

Biden had nearly drawn even with Trump in Georgia, historically a Republican stronghold, as of early Nov. 6.

Trump’s lead, which he has held since Election Night, was razor thin at 665 votes at press time.

Early Nov. 6, Biden retained a slim lead in Arizona and Nevada as well. Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania had dwindled significantly as votes from urban areas were counted, but the state was not called for Biden.

Trump maintains a larger advantage in North Carolina and a safe margin in conservative-leaning Alaska, though a significant portion of mail votes are yet to be counted.

progress comes partly from widespread education by the new organization Rhode Island United, according to Williams. Williams founded Rhode Island United alongside former Rhode Island Democratic Party Chairman Bill Lynch and former House Finance Committee Chairman Antonio Pires to push for the referendum to pass. “I think that it has the momentum (now) that it didn’t have before because we had enough time to educate the masses,” Williams said.

Additionally, because of the pandemic, people had “ample time to be able to reflect on what’s going on in this world,” she added.

While there is still a lot of work to be done to eliminate racial injustice, this feels like an “informal apology,” Williams said. She appreciates people “understanding that the word (plantations) has evolved.”

Going forward, she wants to focus on “a long list” of issues that need to be addressed, ranging from reforming the judicial system to improving education.

The referendum was backed by a media campaign by Rhode Island United. The group created ads for social media and news outlets throughout the state as well as distributed signs to residents. Much of the organization’s work was funded by a $75,000 grant from the Rhode Island Foundation.

The Rhode Island Foundation also asked the University to make a financial contribution to Rhode Island United to help support its media campaign, Williams said.

The University declined because, as a non-profit organization, Brown is prohibited from “participating in activity to support or oppose ballot initiatives posed to voters,” wrote Al Dahlberg, assistant vice president of government and community relations, in an email to The Herald. “The policy Brown has

exists to make sure we comply with federal law,” Dahlberg added. “It’s really that simple.”

Williams said that she had previously commended the University’s own name change, but said that the University has much more to repay as a beneficiary of slave labor.

“Brown University is there off of the blood, sweat and tears of slaves who built it and made the Brown family super, super rich,” Williams said. “I think that is an insult … because they were one of the largest slave owners and then here they are generations and generations enjoying fruits off of the labor of slaves and won’t even contribute a nickel.”

Likewise, some students believe that the University needs to take more proactive steps to face its history of slavery.

Lauren Wilson ’21.5, co-president of the University’s Black Student Union, understands that being a non-profit education institution prevents the University from financially supporting campaigns like the referendum. “However, I do think that in reconciling with their past with slavery and considering how intimately tied for us history is with the name of Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations ... they definitely could have done a little bit more to support” the initiative, Wilson said.

Wilson suggested that the University should continue to work for racial justice on campus and in the Providence community through providing admissions pathways for students from Providence public schools and educating students on slave’s contributions to the University.

“White supremacy lives in all corners of our society and … I think it’s a good idea to get rid of all markers of that,” Wilson added. It’s a “step in the right direction, but of course, I’m sure Rhode Island, as many other states, have a lot of work to do to be more eq-

VICTORIA YIN / HERALD

While not allowed to support ballot initiatives due to its non-profit status, the U. removed “Providence Plantations” from its name earlier this year.

CA L E N DA R

COVID -19 AT BROWN LAST 7 DAYS*

NOVEMBER Completed Tests

People Tested

S

M

Tu

W

Th

F

S

10,062

6,543

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Confirmed Positives

Positivity Rates

12

0.1 %

8

9

10

11

12

13

14 SINCE AUGUST 24, 2020*

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Completed Tests

People Tested

98,571

7,579

Total Cases

Prevalence

55

0.7 %

*AS OF NOV. 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

4

Friday, November 6, 2020

UNIVERSITY NEWS

U. prepares resources for election anxiety Webinars and virtual discussions after Election Day aim to alleviate stress

BY BEN GLICKMAN AND MICHAEL SEOANE SENIOR STAFF WRITER AND STAFF WRITER In light of the presidential election, the University and student groups have prepared support resources for community members, hoping to address mental health concerns stemming from returning election results.

“We want to emphasize that there are many opportunities for reflection, examination and being in community with one another over the coming days,” wrote President Christina Paxson P’19 and Provost Richard Locke P’18 in a Nov. 4 email to the University community following Election Day. While the election would undoubtedly present opportunities for reflection, Paxson and Locke wrote, any support for students would need to be different than in years past because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In-person discussions have shifted online. The evening of Nov. 4, Paxson, Locke and other community leaders — including Reverend Janet Cooper Nelson, chaplain for the University, and Stephen Bozier ’17, president of the Student National Medical Association for Alpert Medical School — spoke during a “webinar of reflection.” In their email, Paxson and Locke also advertised virtual debriefs hosted by the Watson Institute and the Swearer Center for Public Service on Nov. 5, among other events.

In 2016, students distressed by President Donald Trump’s victory gathered in droves around campus, many crying, The Herald previously reported. This year, such gatherings and protests are strongly discouraged by the University because of the pandemic.

In an Oct. 27 Today@Brown announcement, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey and Vice President for Campus Life Eric Estes discouraged members of the community from participating in “rallies and demonstrations” following the release of election results. Carey and Estes noted that COVID-19 safety protocols prohibit large gatherings.

As the University advertised webinars for anxious students, Brown Votes, a Swearer Center student group that advocates for voter registration and civic engagement, prepared its own collection of resources for the community.

The list on the Brown Votes’ website contains a wide assortment of events and resources for students, ranging from University-hosted events to virtual discussions among groups for students from marginalized communities.

Kimberly Collins ’22, co-founder of Brown Votes, said she hopes that students can find resources that best suit their needs during the stressful post-election period. Collins, along with her colleagues at Brown Votes and representatives from cultural groups on campus, chose to present resources that focus on students’ diverse backgrounds.

“The reality of the situation is that these elections are consequential for marginalized communities,” Collins said.

“There’s a lot on the line here.”

The fact that there is still no projected winner in the presidential race compounds people’s stress, Collins said.

Rhetoric that casts doubt on the validity of votes yet to be counted — largely perpetuated by Trump — can also increase students’ anxiety, she said.

The Brown Votes list includes Counseling and Psychological Services as a resource for students. According to Lisa Frappier, a psychiatrist with CAPS, the service has increased availability for next-day appointments with students.

We “are prepared to support all students through their experiences” after the election, Frappier wrote in an email to The Herald. “Having a safe place to process these types of feelings and find healthy ways to persist so they can succeed at Brown and beyond is part of our mission.”

Several identity groups also offered support to those anxious about the election. Disability Justice at Brown hosted an online breathing room on the night of the election from 7 to 11 p.m.

“It’s just a space where people can discuss, process and reflect everything that’s going on,” said Sumera Subzwari ’21, lead coordinator of DJAB. “Many people are in uncertain, unstable situations right now. Especially in this election, we need to emphasize community support and self-care.”

The LGBTQ Center designed a post-election space for graduate and medical students to discuss how the election will affect the LGBTQ+ community.

“We wanted to create a space where students have a voice and can connect with others in a meaningful way, something that’s been really difficult given the pandemic and the need to keep our meetings and programs virtual,” wrote Director of the LGBTQ Center Kelly Garrett in an email to The Herald.

She added that LGBTQ+ graduate and medical students especially “may feel a bit isolated in their academic programs and departments,” so the center’s programming was all the more important to building bridges between individuals.

The Brown Center for Students of Color is participating in a series of post-election community open hours where students can “take their mind off of events on a national scale,” according to Assistant Vice President for Campus Life Engagement Loc Truong, who is also interim director of the BCSC. “Our students face adversity from oppressive systems day-to-day, and the US Election brings this experience painfully to the forefront,” Truong wrote in an email to The Herald. “It is critical that we at the BCSC and other centers are present and supportive to students as they navigate through a fraught election cycle.”

The Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning also provided resources to faculty to help guide their teaching during the election. Executive Director of the Sheridan Center Mary Wright said that the center shared its guidance in a newsletter prior to the election “so that people could think intentionally about what their course plans might be.”

“I think there’s a common impression that one should steer away from discussing the election in the classroom, and I think it’s a misguided direction,” Wright added. “It’s important to acknowledge this event in the classroom and treat students holistically.”

National Presidential Ele BIDEN: 253

NAT HARDY / HERALD

VICTORIA YIN / HERALD

Friday, November 6, 2020

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

5

METRO

R.I. sees record turnout despite COVID-19 concerns New voting methods in R.I. ensured ‘convenient, safe, secure’ voting

ection Results by State* TRUMP: 214

BY BEN POLLARD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Biden Trump Reporting *As of 3:48 A.M. Nov. 6

Source: The New York Times USHA BHALLA / HERALD

Rhode Island Presidential Election Results 70% DEM

BY THE NUMBERS

More than 570,000 Rhode Islanders voted in the 2020 general election, eclipsing the state’s previous all-time record for voter turnout in 2008.

The all-time record turnout in the state was driven in part by historic levels of early voting, mail-in voting and other efforts made by the R.I. Department of State to increase the ease of voting during a pandemic, R.I. Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea told The Herald.

Thirty percent of Rhode Island voters took advantage of early in-person voting this election, while another 31 percent used mail-in ballots and 39 percent voted on Election Day, according to Gorbea’s office.

The election “was beyond my wildest dreams,” Gorbea said. “Everywhere I went, people were incredibly happy at the way things were running. I have never been thanked so much in an election,” Gorbea said.

“We had a record turnout. We had 570,052 voters who exercised that right to vote in the midst of a pandemic,” Gorbea said, pointing to the high turnout as an indication of the election’s success.

Gorbea attributed the high turnout in part to the steps taken by the R.I. Department of State to provide voters with several different ways to cast their ballots. For the first time in state history, Rhode Island opened up polling places for early voting from Oct. 14 to Nov. 3. The state also saw mass use of mail-in ballots, as hundreds of thousands of Rhode Islanders voted by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was a very contentious election, and people felt, on either side, that a lot was at stake,” Gorbea said. “If you take that energy and deposit it into a regular election structure, you would not have gotten the numbers that we had. That energy was able to be man-

aged by providing people with … very safe and secure forms in which they could choose from to vote.”

While Gorbea said the spirit of Election Day was the same in many ways to past elections, it was also “very different because we are in a pandemic.” Ensuring that there was sufficient personal protective equipment, plexiglass and surface sanitization was essential in protecting the safety of poll workers and in-person voters, Gorbea said.

Like many states across the country, Rhode Island also sent all registered voters mail ballot applications in an aim to increase accessibility and provide voters with a way to cast their ballots from home, Gorbea said.

Rhode Island passed legislation over the summer that incorporates early in-person voting into all future elections in the state.

The Ocean State also offered sameday voter registration, allowing voters who had forgotten to register the opportunity to vote for president and vice president, but not for other candidates.

“If you think about it, if you live in Warwick or Providence or Westerly, we all are voting for president, so having the same-day voter registration for president and vice president makes a lot of sense,” Gorbea said. “There are not a lot of states that have same-day voter registration for presidential and vice presidential only, and I think more states should.”

All of these measures were intended to protect the health of voters and poll workers while giving Rhode Islanders multiple ways to cast their vote, Gorbea said. “We had to adjust to making sure that we made voting convenient, safe and secure in a way that … ensured that people could exercise their constitutional right to vote,” she said, “but in doing so, didn’t have to sacrifice their health.”

Gorbea described the measures implemented in the Nov. 3 election in Rhode Island as voter-centric. “It’s the right thing to do. Our democracy is nurtured by the votes that are cast and the voices that are heard through those votes,” she said. “Having a diversity of perspectives, opinions and backgrounds … is good for our democracy in the long run.”

Rhode Island’s all-time voter turn-out record was driven by historic levels of early voting, increased mail-in voting and an effort to make in-person voting easier.

570,052

total votes were cast in Rhode Island

DANIELLE EMERSON / HERALD

30 percent 70% REP

of Rhode Island voters voted early

31 percent

of Rhode Island voters voted using a mail-in ballot

39 percent Source: R.I. Secretary of State USHA BHALLA / HERALD

of Rhode Island voters voted in-person on Election Day NAT HARDY / HERALD

6

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Friday, November 6, 2020

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Initiative strives to increase in-hospital voting as election manuals and state charters. “I can’t imagine a patient who’s navigating dozens of other things at the moment … having to go through that,” Tang said.

Some of the patient voting infor-

ing an increasing number of emails in the days leading up to Election Day. Both Tang and Wong estimated that around half of all the inquiries they had received leading up to the presidential election were due to peo-

Patient Voting, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization, has worked to reduce barriers to voting for hospitalized patients by increasing awareness and access to voting information.

During the 2016 election, Kelly Wong, now a fourth-year resident in emergency medicine at the Alpert Medical School, saw many patients resisting admittance to hospitals because they wanted to vote. So she founded Patient Voting in 2018, which is funded by a grant from the Med School’s Department of Emergency Medicine, to ensure that patients do not have to make a trade-off between their health and their right to vote.

Wong had heard patients say, “‘I don’t care that I’m having a massive heart attack or I have pneumonia …

I’ll come back after I vote, but I have to go vote.’” These patients did not know there was a process in which they could vote without ever having to leave the hospital.

In the 2020 election, at least 38 states had Emergency Absentee Ballots that patients could request and five had primarily vote-by-mail systems, said Oliver Tang ’19 MD’23,

mation on state websites does not even match up with forms, which adds to the confusion, Wong added.

Patient Voting has made this information clearer and more accessible by compiling instructions for how patients can vote in each of the 50 states, Tang said. For example, for states that have an Emergency Absentee Ballot system, the Patient Voting website lists relevant deadlines, step-by-step instructions and copies of forms a patient needs to complete.

Patient Voting also has on-theground volunteers who distribute materials on how patients can vote, print out necessary forms and, in some cases, deliver ballots and applications to state election offices. In some hospitals, such as Rhode Island Hospital, Patient Voting has been incorporated on an institutional level, Wong said. Rhode Island Hospital patients and staff were informed of the program prior to the election, and the hospital had information from Patient Voting specific to states home to the majority of their patients, she added.

If a patient is located in an area where there are no volunteers, the organization fields emails 24/7 and also has email templates that patients can use to request help with ballots from their hospitals, said Katherine Barry ’19 MD’23, a national medical

ple being hospitalized for COVID-19.

COVID-19 “has really proven that anybody could be unexpectedly hospitalized, anybody could end up in the ICU,” prompting even healthy people to think proactively about less traditional ways to cast their vote in the event that they became ill, Wong said.

Patient Voting currently has students distributing materials in 25 medical schools, which Barry said was made possible by the commitment so many people involved in medicine have to the non-physical aspects of health care.

“In this new generation of medical students, our education is about a lot more than the basic science of med icine. There is a lot of emphasis on addressing social factors that influence health, and one of those determinants is civic engagement and being able to have your voice heard in democracy,” said Barry.

Moving forward, Wong hopes to make Patient Voting a part of a larger institution, such as a school of public health. The members are also considering creating report cards that evaluate the patient voting information a state provides, Wong added.

In future elections, Tang would also like to implement means for overcoming barriers, such as for patients who are physically unable to fill out forms.

Providing voting information is

Patient Voting liaison to state election boards.

Despite the existence of systems that allow hospitalized Americans to vote, the majority of states don’t have clear information about emergency absentee voting on their websites, Tang said.

To gather information about patient voting in some states, Tang had to go through “obscure” forms, such

school coordinator and protocol creator for Patient Voting.

“We’re not creating any process that didn’t already exist. Every state has this, but few people know about it,” Barry said. “We’re kind of doing a lot of the groundwork in making it easy for people” to vote.

The day before the 2020 election, the website had around 2,500 views, Wong said. They had also been field-

“one way outside of a patient’s medical care that, as their doctors and as health care workers, we can help improve their health,” Barry said. “We can empower people who otherwise wouldn’t have their voices heard to vote for whatever is important to them, for whatever they think is going to make their communities healthier and safer.”

U-affiliated physicians, students lead efforts to inform hospital patients about voting options

BY SHILPA SAJJA STAFF WRITER

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT FALL PRIZES 2020 The Barbara Banks Brodsky Prize for Excellence in Real World Writing - $800 Awarded to a full-time junior or senior enrolled at Brown. Submission may come from the spectrum of nonfiction: literary journalism, memoir, or narrative based on travel, science, history, or cultural critique.

Submission of brief essays or one longer essay should be limited to 3,000 words. ~~~~~~~~~~~

The Barbara Banks Brodsky Prize in English - $800

For the best essay on 20th-century literature in English by a junior or senior. ~~~~~~~~~~~

David Rome Prize - $175 For the best lyric essay by a currently enrolled undergraduate. This form includes essays written in poetical or experimental forms that emphasize artfulness. ~~~~~~~~~~~

Arlene Rome Ten Eyck & Peter H. Ten Eyck Prize - $175 For the best essay on literary theory by a currently enrolled undergraduate. ~~~~~~~~~~~

Rose Low Rome Prize - $175 For the best poem or poems by a currently enrolled undergraduate.

Entries must be submitted online at: Barbara Banks Brodsky Prizes: http://brown.edu/go/brodsky-prize-2020 Rome Prizes: http://brown.edu/go/rome-prizes-2020

by 3:00 pm on Tuesday, November 17, 2020.

COURTESY OF KELLY WONG

Some Brown-affiliated medical students are working for Patient Voting, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization that ensures patients can fulfill their right to vote.

*NO HARD COPIES OR LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED* *ESSAYS THAT HAVE PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED AN ENGLISH DEPT AWARD ARE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR ADDITIONAL AWARDS.*

For submission details, please visit http://brown.edu/go/fall-english-prizes

Display ad for BDH to advertise Department of English fall prizes

7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

Friday, November 6, 2020

Where do we go from here?

BY JASMINE POWELL OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR “Tuesday marked a milestone for many undergraduates at Brown. While most did not physically vote on Election Day, this election was the first time that many of us had the privilege and power of casting a ballot to decide the next President of the United States. This election carried special significance for many reasons, perhaps none more consequential than the 234,000 Americans who have lost their lives due to the coronavirus pandemic — which has been woefully mismanaged in this country by current leadership.

Understanding the grave significance of this election, many Brown students entered into politics through weekly phone banking, interning with political advocacy organizations and even taking leaves of absence from Brown to work for campaigns in battleground states. Inspired by the enthusiasm of Brown students behind this election, Brown College Democrats has worked to politically engage the campus community. We invited politicians and public servants from Rhode Island and across America to energize our membership, and we called voters across the country, made countless infographics to educate people on the candidates running and worked with Brown Votes to combat voter suppression. But now, with the final ballots cast, we have to ask ourselves: Where do we go from here?

The simple answer is forward. We cannot stop now. The issues that matter most to us and the people we love are constantly under siege, and it is imperative that we continue working to protect our values. However, it is important for us to acknowledge what this election means and how we got here as we chart our path forward. Our campus must reflect on what the nature of this election shows us about our country, especially given our status as an elite, predominantly white institution.

In 2016, Donald Trump’s victory came as a surprise to many as it contradicted pre-

election polling. Yet we now find ourselves in a similar situation. Joe Biden was consistently leading in the polls heading into Tuesday, but election night results only demonstrated a slight edge over Trump.

Unexpected divergence of actual results from the polls is not the only echo of 2016 we are seeing this year. Analysis of voter demographics from 2016 demonstrated this, as 62 percent of white men and 47 percent of white women voted for Trump, while minority groups preferred Clinton. While the official data has not yet been released for the 2020 election, early results suggest a similar pattern, as Trump continues to beat Biden among white voters, but trails

marginalized communities.

It is also important to note that Biden’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin and competitive races in Pennsylvania and Georgia can be largely attributed to Black voters in the major urban centers of each of these states. Yet, while Democrats continue to rely on Black voters to deliver key victories in each election, they fail to center the needs of the Black community and implement adequate policy at the local, state, and federal levels to remedy centuries of injustice and their various manifestations today.

Beyond reflecting on the work that remains to be done as a nation, we need to consider where we fall short as a University

are not bigger than hate. Van Jones said it best on election night: “There’s a moral victory, and there’s a political victory, and they’re not the same thing ... We wanted to see a repudiation of this direction for the country. And the fact that it’s this close ... it hurts. It just hurts.”

As a Black woman and as President of Brown College Democrats, I agree. To see it be this close does hurt, but as we look forward and think about immediate next steps, we must remember this: Division will not cure itself, and we still have a lot of work to do, especially when it comes to racial justice.

So to Brown students confused on what

“It is important for us to acknowledge what this election means and how we got here as we chart our path forward. Our campus must reflect on what the nature of this election shows us about our country, especially given our status as an elite, predominantly white institution.”

among all other racial and ethnic minority groups. These results show that people in this country, specifically those with race and class privilege, continue to vote in their own self-interest, neglecting the good of our country.

These data also indicate that those most impacted by Trump’s policies over the past four years were not in favor of Trump’s presidency, which is devastating. Trump and, by extension, the Republican Party have failed to denounce white supremacy, implement effective climate policy with special considerations for environmental justice, recognize one’s right to choose and affirm the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

Only those unaffected by such policies can afford to vote for Trump, at the expense of

community. Many students at Brown utilize the Open Curriculum to take a broad array of courses and would consider themselves well versed in American politics as well as policy issues, but we often detach these academic discussions from their real impact on communities. We love to brag about how Brown is a very liberal community, but many of us choose to engage with the political process only when it is trending or during presidential elections. This behaviour is highly problematic and continues to disproportionately impact those most marginalized.

While Biden still has a clear path to victory and can reach 270 electoral votes with wins in the remaining battleground states, this election reveals that as a country we

C A R TO O N : E L E C T I O N ST R E S S

REMY POISSON / HERALD

to do next, I urge you to continue to stay engaged in the mainstream political process, as well as with grassroots movements.

It is only through both of these avenues that we will truly bring about the change needed and properly leverage the privilege granted to us by our Brown degrees. Casting your ballot was step one. The next step is working to make civic engagement an integral part of who you are at all times, not just every four years.

Jasmine Powell ’22 is president of Brown College Democrats. She can be reached at jasmine_powell@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald. com.”

post-

NOV 06 — VOL 26 — ISSUE 8

FEATURE

See Full Issue: WWW.POST.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

NARRATIVE

The Difficulty of Cultivating Good Taste in Music

how my hectically eclectic playlists echo the essence of my personality— and why that’s so frustrating

Staying In, Coming Out

By Ellie Jurmann

exploring sexuality in quarantine through tiktok

by Olivia Howe illustrated by Chloe Chen I don’t think I had a single conversation with a friend during quarantine where I didn’t mention TikTok. And if I didn’t, TikTok was always perched somewhere at the front of my mind. This wasn’t simply because the app is addictive—anyone can tell you how they planned to watch just a few thirty-second videos only to look up from their phone three hours later––but because of the startling spark that flickered within me as I watched. Specifically, the group of people that TikTok’s algorithm had instantly learned to show me: young gay women.

Through a screen the size of two tea packets, I was entranced by their swaggering dances, eyebrow slits, hoodie fashion—but most of all, their open pursuit of women. TikTok was the opposite of the closet. It was the place where gay girls unleashed thirst traps of chin stroking and body rolls, where they riffed on homophobic parents by dressing as “my daughter’s friend from cheer” and encapsulated the thrills and burns of liking girls through moody lip-syncs.

Always visible under their bravado was a self-mocking element, a wink to the viewer that

these expressions of gayness were a little bit of a costume, a way to figure out who they actually wanted to be. With that wink, I felt launched out of the comfortable blandness of self-denial and into an alternate universe of rainbow fairy lights and Carhartt beanies.

I had been seriously questioning my sexuality since fall 2019, but that was only dipping my toes in the shallows. Going on TikTok during quarantine was standing under the waterfall. I was showered with trends of gay women laughing over their past insistence that they were straight––with the pictures to prove it. My brain began pinging me with moments from my own teenage years, subtle gay awakenings I had constantly muffled. I played these videos of self-acceptance over and over, mimicking the confident head nods and sly grins.

Later, I’d catch myself slipping these mannerisms into conversation or, more often, into daydreams of my post-quarantine return to campus. I imagined myself dice-rolling and throwing it back on my walk between classes and, naturally, impressing the girls I used to only stare at from afar. What a simp.

“It was the worst experience of my lived experience.”

“Zoom says my internet connection is unstable.

And I’m like, my entire existence is unstable.”

I’m not typically one for envy, but oh, how I wish I had a knack for curating Spotify playlists: from the kinds that make you whip your hair back and forth as you fold laundry, to those that assure you every little thing is going to be alright as you sulk in bed after a breakup. When I get ready to walk my dog each morning, I struggle to choose the music that will kickstart my day. I balance Billie Eilish with Florida Georgia Line, Adele with Usher, Celine Dion with Beastie Boys. Though, by “balance,” I really mean juxtaposing polar opposite genres to diversify my musical palette...What can I say? I really like variety.

But the truth is that there isn’t a whole lot of variety in my playlists—it’s always the same formulaic blend of pop with country, pop with R&B, pop with alternative rock. And while I wish I could branch out musically, I always find my way back to the sweet sound of Usher’s “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love.”

ARTS&CULTURE

Plansch

taking the plunge into bilderbuch

By Emma Schneider "This is called 'The polar bear plunge'/ Are you ready?/ If you don't jump on the count of three/ You do not get your five dollars."

- Bilderbuch, “Plansch” The first Bilderbuch (translated: picture book) song I heard was a nonsensical song called “Bungalow.” The next song I heard was “Plansch.”

More than a hundred listens in, I now understand that the song is a critique of capitalism, the hope that money can solve all problems, with visuals of rich people lounging in their pools; but when I first heard the song I could only understand three moments …

LIFESTYLE

Deadline Extension Requests

1. Off meal plan, ate my homework

6. Manifesting a post-work society

2. I’m trying my best, can I please just catch a break?

7. *an actual, articulate, wellreasoned request for an extension*

3. My previous deadline extension conflicts with this deadline 4. Striking against college (electoral and otherwise) 5. My wrists hurt too much to type

8. Internet troubles (wherein I accidentally turned on airplane mode and couldn’t figure out how to disable it) 9. I need one because of who I am as a person 10. Stupefied by the SNOW in OCTOBER

post–

Want to be involved?

Email: amanda_ngo@brown.edu!

Mid-Semester Playlist

songs to get you through this time

By Caitlin McCartney

We are over halfway through the semester. You might be feeling the midterm slump, the impending doom of winter, or the stress of the current election.

These are strange times indeed, and it can be hard to find motivation or hope. The one thing that I can always rely on to inspire and heal is music, So, I have curated a playlist of songs that I feel encapsulate this moment in time—hopefully you can find solace in it, too. november 06, 2020 8