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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
VOLUME CL, ISSUE 11
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Applications roll in for alternative gift fund grants
Gift for a Sexual AssaultFree Campus seeks to support sexual assault prevention groups By KATE TALERICO SENIOR STAFF WRITER
TIMOTHY MUELLER HARDER / HERALD
Students joined together for a rally on the Main Green Tuesday, carrying signs with phrases like, “Healthy families make a healthy Brown.”
Grad students rally for quality of life Rally calls for access to healthcare, less expensive housing, fair sexual assault policy By ALEKSANDRA LIFSHITS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
About 30 graduate and undergraduate students called for improvement in grad students’ working and living
conditions at a rally Tuesday in freezing conditions on the Main Green. The rally focused mostly on issues of health care, housing, childcare and funding for post-fifth year research. But it also touched on issues of grad student sexual assault policy and racial diversity — topics that Stand Up for Grad Students, an organization advocating greater grad student benefits, plans to address in future rallies. Participants held up posters
with phrases such as “Grad power,” “Healthy grads make Brown work” and “Don’t be a slumlord, Brown.” “The Graduate School certainly treats us like workers when it requires our labor,” SUGS wrote in a Jan. 29 guest column in The Herald. “But it insists we are students when we demand workplace protections and an institutional voice.” Though the University insures » See RALLY, page 2
Applications opened Jan. 13 for the Gift for a Sexual Assault-Free Campus, a fund that offers grants to student groups working to combat sexual assault on campus. A committee comprising two undergraduates and two graduate students will decide how to allocate the funds to different student groups. Imagine Rape Zero established the fund in spring 2014 as an alternative to the Brown Annual Fund’s senior class gift. The alternative fund allowed students last spring who were displeased with “how survivors were treated” by the University to ensure their donations to the Brown community would be earmarked for sexual assault prevention efforts, said Jeanette Sternberg Lamb ’15, a committee member. “There were students who didn’t want to give to Brown because they knew the University wasn’t doing a great job protecting survivors, but they did want to give to somewhere,” said Emily Schell ’16, another
committee member and founder of Stand Up!, a student organization that aims to prevent sexual assault on campus. To address the conflict of interest when Schell’s group, Stand Up!, applies for a grant, Sternberg Lamb said the three other committee members will review the organization’s application without Schell present. Additionally, members of Stand Up!’s budget subcommittee will write the application without Schell’s input, Schell said. Though the fund was originally meant to exist outside of University jurisdiction, Annual Fund organizers approached the students behind the Gift for a Sexual Assault-Free Campus and matched donations up to $10,000, Sternberg Lamb said. The managers of the alternative fund resolved to let the Annual Fund absorb it as a way to protect the money, she added. Despite its integration into the Annual Fund, the Gift will still serve the campus groups that it selects. “We want to commit money to marginalized individuals,” such as people of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and those with disabilities, Sternberg Lamb said, adding that these individuals “are the most likely to be assaulted (and) are often overlooked » See GIFT, page 4
Grad School apps remain stable early in cycle Faculty endorses tie to to same Holy Cross ROTC program Compared point last year, graduate Faculty also indefinitely tables vote on statement on academic liberty, free speech at meeting By ELANA JAFFE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Following a contentious debate, faculty members voted 35-29 in favor of developing new partnerships with Navy ROTC and Air Force ROTC units based at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. The new association with Holy Cross will build upon existing Navy ROTC partnerships with other institutions in the Boston area, as well as existing Army ROTC partnerships with Providence College and Bryant University. The University originally banned the presence of Navy and Air Force ROTC on campus in 1969 during the Vietnam War. Following the 2011 repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” former
INSIDE
President Ruth Simmons recommended that the University continue to classify ROTC as an extracurricular activity and expand its ties to ROTC programs at other institutions. The military’s ban on transgender enrollment emerged as a primary concern for some faculty members. By supporting the ROTC affiliation, some argued, Brown would not be acting in accordance with its anti-discrimination policy and would be violating its promise of equal treatment to all students regardless of gender identity. One professor said the focus of ROTC was “antithetical to liberal education.” Leslie Bostrom, professor of visual arts, said it would be a stronger statement to refuse the military than to accept and hope the military will change its policy on transgender enrollment. But Professor of Biology Ken Miller ’70 P’02 said he feels NROTC will open opportunities for students. “Would the interest of transgender students at Brown be to do nothing, » See ROTC, page 3
program applications see only slight fluctuations By SHAVON BELL SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The number of applicants to the University’s graduate programs has remained relatively consistent compared to this time last year, rising by less than 1 percent. As of Jan. 23, the Graduate School had received 8,639 applications, marking a slight dip from the 8,699 applications received by the same time last winter, wrote Beverly Larson, communications director for the Grad School and the Office of the Vice President for Research, in an email to The Herald. Though the application deadlines for doctoral programs range from Dec. 1 to Jan. 15, the national application cycle is nowhere near over. With application deadlines for master’s programs extending into June, “It’s too early to say if we are now on a tiny downward trend or if it’s just noise
HERALD FILE PHOTO
Though overall application numbers remain relatively constant so far, the proportion of international applicants has grown slightly. from year to year,” said Peter Weber, dean of the Grad School and professor of chemistry.
Larson agreed, noting that it is still too early in the graduate application » See GRAD APPS, page 2
WEATHER
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
METRO New strategic planning team releases first proposal for R.I. Department of Education
ARTS & CULTURE Alums showcase undiscovered artists through sneaker design startup Electrolites
ARTS & CULTURE 2015 Oscar Best Animated Short nominees highlight experimentation in short film
COMMENTARY Okun ’15: Not everyone at Brown fits the “happiest students” narrative
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UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
» RALLY, from page 1 grad students through the insurance company Consolidated Health Plan, it offers no provisions for dental work. Taft Avenue Daycare Center — the only daycare center exclusively serving the young children of University faculty, staff and grad students — shut its doors in 2012. Students entering their seventh year of research were recently denied health care, despite the University’s requirement that all students have insurance, said Ben Holtzman GS at the rally. Princeton and Harvard continue to provide resources through the entirety of study, so Brown should use these peer institutions as models, he added. At a meeting with SUGS members last semester, Provost Vicki Colvin recognized the importance of dental care, but so far no changes to the grad health care package have been made, Anne Gray Fischer GS said at the rally. The University “needs to give us something to smile about,” she said. Yale and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst provide their grad students with dental coverage, said Sara Matthiesen GS, who pointed out that UMass Amherst’s endowment is smaller than Brown’s. “There is room in Brown’s budget for these demands,” she said, adding that the administration needs to consider whether or not it wants to prioritize graduate education. Brandon Welch GS spoke at the rally about his frustration with auxiliary housing that is limited in number, above market rates and not accurately described on the University’s housing website. The pricing scheme is so misleading that “I can do better than this in a place in Manhattan,” he said. After closing down Taft in 2012, the University offers a childcare subsidy, but “it is not close to enough to cover the costs of daycare,” Matthiesen
TIMOTHY MUELLER/ HERALD
Undergraduate and graduate students — including members of the organization Stand Up for Graduate Students — held a rally on the Main Green Tuesday. They braved the cold to voice demands for improving graduate students’ working and living conditions. said. The University was forced to shut down the daycare center because of “concerns about the Center’s ability to comply with changing state regulations and provide children with a healthy
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and safe environment,” President Christina Paxson P’19 wrote in her March 2013 response to the Report of the Advisory Committee on Childcare. Members of the Student Labor Alliance and the library workers’ union
showed their solidarity by joining the grad students at the rally. “The University acts more and more like a transnational company, putting profits over human needs,” said SLA member Stoni Tomson ’15.
Rally participants said they would continue to push the University to reexamine benefits offered to grad students, noting that Tuesday’s rally was the first in a series of events the group will hold this semester.
» GRAD APPS, from page 1
in regards to the number of applicants who identify as people of color, Larson said. International student interest in graduate programs has risen incrementally, with international applicants hailing from 120 countries. The most heavily represented countries in the graduate applicant pool are China, India, Canada and Taiwan. Grad School applications have seen an overall increase since the mid-2000s, when many hesitated to pursue graduate study in the wake of the financial crisis, Weber said. “I am quite confident that as time develops, we will see very positive changes” in the number of applicants due to Grad School initiatives such as fellowships
and mentorship programs, he said. According to a survey conducted by CareerLAB, approximately 22 percent of the class of 2013 indicated plans to pursue full-time graduate or professional study after graduation. Data for the class of 2014 is not yet available. A Brown graduate student working in admissions, who asked to remain anonymous due to concern over possible sanctions from the university that employs her, cited the University’s graduate programs’ “familial feel” and openness between departments as strengths that attract applicants and distinguish the Grad School from larger, more academically inflexible institutions.
process to make substantive and accurate predictions or conclusions. Breaking down the applications by degree level reveals a slight drop in the number of doctoral applicants and an increase in the number of master’s applicants since last year. Of the current applicant pool, 5,889 applicants are seeking admission to doctoral programs, marking a 2 percent decrease from 2014, Larson wrote. Master’s program applications have increased by 4 percent to 2,749 applications total, he wrote. The diversity of Grad School applicants has also seen small increases
METRO
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Committee releases preliminary proposal for R.I. public schools Team of community members addresses goal-setting, invites public input through online survey By ELAINA WANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER
A first draft of a strategic plan for the Rhode Island Department of Education was released Monday by the newly-formed Ambassador Design Team. The team comprises 26 community members, including high school students, parents and educators, who were chosen to determine state public education goals for the next five years. The design team is part of the second stage of a three-stage plan to engage the public in goal-setting for and improvement of the state’s public education system. “Rhode Island is doing something extremely unique,” said Miriam Rollock ’15, an intern at RIDE. Rather than having a government office take charge of education, RIDE’s new strategic plan “allows
» ROTC, from page 1 not change the status quo?” Miller asked, adding that it might be productive to bring opinions formed by a liberal education to the military. Catherine Lutz, professor of anthropology and international studies, raised the concern that the new proposal would bolster the military presence on campus. The program would have space in the Office of Student Veterans and Commissioning Programs, which was created in 2012 at the Corporation’s instruction and aims to support students who are interested or involved in the military. Joe Meisel, deputy provost and adjunct assistant professor of history, said in response that the office space would help facilitate aspects of the ROTC student experience such as advising. The office space was not requested by NROTC, but was offered by Brown. A limited number of ROTC scholarships exist, so the concern that
people whose lives are touched by the Rhode Island education system to lead this process,” she said. RIDE invited Brown graduate students to help identify areas of priority in the education system before the plan’s implementation, wrote Kenneth Wong, professor of education and chair of the department, in an email to The Herald. “During the fall semester and under tight time frame, our Brown (urban education policy) master’s students worked as eight research teams to analyze policy and practices in other states on topics such as school turnaround, resource allocation, educator accountability and data infrastructure,” Wong wrote. “Lessons learned were presented to the key staff at (RIDE) at the end of the fall semester.”
The first stage of the strategic plan involved issuing a statewide survey to gauge public opinion on the most important aspects of education, said Elliot Krieger, RIDE public information officer. In the early phase of the in-progress second stage, the Ambassador Design Team was selected. The team attends weekly meetings and is working to draft a new strategic plan proposal. In the third and final stage — projected for June 2015 — the team will submit the proposal to the Board of Education and the board will vote on whether or not to implement it. The board closely follows the team’s progress and will likely pass the proposal, said David Moscarelli, Rhode Island Teacher of the Year for 2015 and one of the two facilitators for the team. The new strategic plan will likely take effect at the beginning of July, Moscarelli said.
The team’s goal is to integrate the information collected in the survey from the first stage of the plan into the proposal, Rollock said, adding that this process will involve visiting schools, hosting community forums and other activities. Roughly 150 people applied to be on the 26-person team. Of those selected, 12 members make up a core team that will research and write while the other 14 — the extended team — will supplement their work. “The selection process was largely done in a way that prioritized diversity,” Moscarelli said. “They wanted a range of views and backgrounds and high quality applications,” Krieger said. “People had to say why they were interested, what they could bring to the process and commit to the process, which is time-consuming for volunteers.” The team has met twice, with the first meeting held Jan. 10.
Meetings are short because “we’re using design thinking principles, so this idea of rapid prototyping is important,” Moscarelli said. “We need to create products quickly.” Facilitators ensure the meetings are structured and productive, he added. Homework is assigned after every meeting to further streamline both the facilitators’ and the team members’ understandings of the draft process. The team’s newly written prototypes were released to the public on RIDE’s website, and community members can send feedback through an online survey. “The selection of the Ambassador Design Team … indicates that (RIDE) is ready to collaborate with community stakeholders to produce the next strategic plan,” Wong wrote. “I am hopeful that trust can be further promoted between the agency and the community through the strategic process.”
officers on campus would be a de facto recruiting team should be addressed, Meisel said. Philip Rosen, professor of modern culture and media, stressed the implications of the 1996 Solomon Amendment, which allows the U.S. Secretary of Defense to deny federal grants to institutions that prohibit or prevent ROTC or military recruitment on campus. Rosen said federal funding to the University may be threatened if ROTC programs are discontinued, adding that “Once the decision is made, it is made.” Following a lengthy conversation in which faculty members could not reach consensus, the faculty indefinitely tabled a resolution endorsing President Christina Paxson’s P’19 statement on academic liberty and free speech made immediately following the controversial protest and shutdown of a planned lecture by former New York City Police Department Commissioner Ray Kelly last fall.
“Our commitment to the free exchange of ideas is so essential that it protects speech that many find offensive. Censoring even the most abhorrent ideas comes at too great a cost: If we do not protect the expression of all ideas, valuable ones may not be heard,” the proposed statement read. The statement’s language is too strong and could encompass terrorists and threats to national security, said Peter Wegner, professor emeritus of computer science. Opposition to passing the statement did not reflect a stance against free speech at the University, but rather a sentiment that the statement was unnecessary, since support for free speech is already written in the University bylaws, several faculty members said. It is a “big mistake to engage in strategic enhancement” that will lead to community disagreements about “principles we have all agreed to share,” said Tricia Rose MA’87 PhD’93, professor of Africana studies and
director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. Endorsing the resolution could set a precedent for future resolutions that could consume undue time and energy, she added. But some professors voiced support for the resolution’s backing of free speech. It’s “not a resolution designed to look backwards but one to look forwards,” Miller said. Brown should not be a place speakers avoid for fear of being “shouted down and silenced,” he added. Brown “unwittingly and unintentionally” sent mixed messages after the Ray Kelly incident, said Luther Spoehr, senior lecturer in education. Faculty members should feel comfortable bringing speakers of all ideologies to campus, Spoehr said, citing a statement from the 1897 faculty that emphasized the University’s commitment to “liberal, not dogmatic, education.” While only one speaker has declined to come to campus for these reasons in the past 18 months, “by our
actions, we will change perceptions over time,” Paxson said. Bringing speakers to campus is the way to show that faculty members still believe in academic freedom, said Richard Locke, director of the Watson Institute for International Studies and professor of political science and public and international affairs. Members of the committee on Faculty Equity and Diversity presented a report on their hopes to become more systematic in recruiting a diverse faculty. The report, co-written by Nancy Jacobs, associate professor of history and Africana studies, and Chung-I Tan, professor of physics, raised the concern that high expectations for diversity in hiring practices might add a new element of subjectivity to the hiring decision process, Jacobs said. The faculty meeting also included two memorial minutes for Anthony Davids ’49, professor emeritus of psychology, and David Greer, former dean of medicine at Alpert Medical School.
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ARTS & CULTURE PAGE 4 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
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Alum startup turns sneakers into works of art Stimulated by ENGN 0090, roommate pair started Electrolites Footwear during senior year By EMILY PASSARELLI SENIOR STAFF WRITER
“I still wear sneakers only at the gym,” said Matthew Paul ’09, co-founder of the sneaker company Electrolites Footwear. After working with Electrolites for seven years, Paul and his business partner and former college roommate, Doug Berman ’09, are in the process of selling their company to a sourcing agent in China. Four artists currently provide the design inspiration for Electolites’ products, according to the company’s website. Many of the sneakers sell for more than $300. The design process consists of several stages. First, an artist submits artwork for Paul and Berman to review. If it passes muster, Paul meets with the artist. The artist is then given three
» GIFT, from page 1 or underserved or dismissed entirely.” Sternberg Lamb said she hopes the fund will “demonstrate to the University how (it) can work with communities who need it most.” Though the group did not reach its fundraising goal of $37,000, Sternberg Lamb said the Gift received enough donations to sponsor “a number of programs.” “People can donate to the fund regardless of whether or not they donate to the Annual Fund,” said Director of Health Promotion Frances Mantak, who serves as the adviser to the board. “It demonstrates a love for Brown but also serves as a way for it to get better,” Sternberg Lamb said. The fund retains its relevance on campus despite the University’s recent implementation of the Task Force on Sexual Assault’s interim recommendations, Schell said. “While the University is definitely pumping more money into the system, it’s at an institutional level, and it’s not trickling down into student groups,” she said. Many sexual assault prevention student groups are designated by the Student Activities Office as Category 1 or 2, which means they cannot apply for funding, Schell said. “A lot of social justice groups are related to the campus climate … and might change next year, so they are left really unsupported,” she added. “We don’t want to deter those groups from doing work right now.” The fund recognizes that “students are the ones with the experience on this campus and (who) have to go through the process,” Sternberg Lamb said. “It goes back to the students and survivors’ hands.” Applications to receive funding will be accepted for review until Feb. 13.
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pairs of sneakers and told to design “one they wanted to make, one they thought we would like and one that is their craziest idea,” Paul said. If he and Berman are impressed, they research how the handmade version will sell before they invest in the design and produce the shoe with artwork imprinted on the actual fabric, he added. The collaboration between the artist and Electrolites is mutually beneficial, Paul said. “Often, our artists are doing well in school but are struggling to sell their work. They submit a design to us, and if we choose to sell the sneaker, in return, we advertise their artwork on our website,” he said. The first shoe designer was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design named Korakrit Arunanondchai, who remains Electrolites’ biggest designer, Paul said. “Korakrit
suggested some artists to us, but as the company grew, artists began contacting Electrolites themselves,” he added. “We get more money for the handmade sneakers we sell, and they get exposure and money from whoever buys their artwork,” which Electrolites features on its site, Paul said. “When sneakers are eventually sold with the artwork on the fabric, we both benefit.” “Not every one works out,” he said, reflecting on the “crazy” shoe design from one artist that used human hair for the laces. Paul said he never imagined he would end up in the corporate world when he transferred to Brown after a semester at Tulane University and a semester interning for the mayor of Providence. He matriculated with an intended concentration of political science. During his junior year, he and Berman began to talk about a sneaker startup.
Berman was always the “cool one” and appreciated sneakers and their unique design, Paul said. Meanwhile, Paul handles the business end of operations and organizes the artist collaborations. Originally, their idea was to buy the rights to L.A. Gear — an apparel brand that had gone bankrupt multiple times. When that didn’t work out, Berman suggested the pair launch their own business, Paul said. Paul completed the requirements for his concentration early in his Brown career and took the “infamous” course ENGN 0090: “Management of Industrial and Nonprofit Organizations,” which pushed him to create a startup, he said. Electrolites was officially founded in June 2008, and working on the company became the focus of Paul’s final semesters at Brown. “It took us a while at first to find a source to make the actual sneakers,” Paul said, adding that Barrett
Hazeltine GP’15, professor emeritus of engineering and the instructor of ENGN 0090, was very encouraging and gave the duo the contact information of a shoe producer. Hazeltine said Paul “was a very energetic and very determined person, and when something didn’t go his way, he just found another way.” “We eventually named the company Electrolites because the shoes lit up, and no one yet owned the domain name,” Paul said. Immediately after graduating, he and Berman traveled to Taiwan to source the shoes. “Every step of the process was a project in and of itself,” Paul said. The fear and potential for failure was very real, he added. “Nothing would have worked out if each facet didn’t work out.” After selling the company, Paul said he may accept a scholarship to Cornell to get his master’s degree in business administration, or he may join another startup.
A TREE GROWS IN PROVIDENCE
BRITTANY COMUNALE/ HERALD
Despite the thick blanket of snow covering the Main Green and the rest of campus, University operations proceeded normally during Monday’s blizzard. Many other schools in Providence canceled classes for the day.
TODAY
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
menu
winter wonderland
SATELLITE DINING JOSIAH’S Mashed Potato Bowl BLUE ROOM Mediterranean Wrap Soups: Hearty County Vegetable, Tomato Florentine, Baked Potato ANDREWS COMMONS Pizzas: Honey Boo Boo, Mushoom Madness, Thai Barbecue Chicken
DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH
DINNER
Vegan Chow Mein with Tofu, Bok Choy Grilled, Shaved Steak Sandwich
Vegetarian Sweet and Sour Tofu, Orange Teriyaki Haddock, Roast Beef Au Jus
VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH
DINNER
Tortilla Casserole, Vegetarian Spinach Strudel, Cheddar Cheese Pie
Chicken Fried Steak, Vegan Ratatouille, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Roast Pork Loin
sudoku
BRITTANY COMUNALE/ HERALD
After Winter Storms Juno and Linus, campus pathways are buried under layers of ice and mountains of snow. Facilities Management is still working to salt and shovel sidewalks adequately.
comics Hepatitis Contact Lens | Joshua Greene ‘18 RELEASE DATE– Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle c rNorris o s sandwJoyce o rNichols d Lewis Edited by Rich ACROSS 1 Beginning on 5 No ordinary party 9 Keister 13 Big Island coffee region 14 Sap-sucking insect 16 Put on board 17 Learning ctr. 18 “Being John Malkovich” director 20 Bit of dust 21 Readies for another voyage 22 “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-star 26 Portions out 29 One making waves 30 Sean Lennon’s mom 31 Occasionally 32 Three-time Hopkins role 34 At hand 35 Slangily, overimbibe; literally, what the starts of 18-, 22-, 49- and 54Across can do 38 Fictional archaeologist Croft 40 Bakery array 41 Promises 44 “Hawaii Five-0” actor Daniel __ Kim 45 Cellular messenger 48 Ambien maker 49 Saddle storage area 51 Longhorn rival 53 Mandlikova of tennis 54 Nervous habit 58 Prophet’s concern 59 Promgoer’s concern 60 Really enjoy 61 One of 28 Monopoly cards 62 Places for hats 63 Jazz singer Horne 64 Icelandic literary work
DOWN 1 With hands on hips 2 Northern Mexican state 3 GM navigation system 4 Meant to be 5 __-relief 6 iPhone purchase 7 See 12-Down 8 Enjoy the Pacific Crest Trail 9 Literary arcs 10 Redeemed from captivity 11 Carpenter’s tool 12 With 7-Down, punny message site 15 Make leaner 19 Leave at the altar 23 Expert on feet? 24 Foot part 25 Wrecks completely 27 Tetley offering 28 Estonia, until 1991: Abbr. 31 Doomed 1588 fighting force 32 Gigs for 22Across, often
33 Expressive rock genre 35 Bribing 36 Rescue op 37 Smell bad 38 Old DJ’s platters 39 India Pale __ 42 Shapeless mass 43 Start of a selection process 45 Didn’t stay put
46 “Thanks, but I’m set!” 47 Actress Plummer 49 Hackneyed 50 __ Island 52 Bibliog. catchall 54 Brief refresher 55 Solitaire foundation card 56 Wimple wearer 57 Credit-weighted no.
P-Banes and Bosons | Richard Oliver ‘17
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
xwordeditor@aol.com
calendar
02/04/15
TODAY
TOMORROW
12:00 P.M. RESTORATIVE YOGA SERIES
4:00 P.M. NASA’S SOLAR SYSTEM EXPLORATION
Yoga instructor Jessie Dwiggins will teach stretching, breathing and meditation techniques. Alumnae Hall
PARADIGM: THE FIRST 50 YEARS AND A LOOK AT
12:00 P.M. BRANDED BEAUTIFUL: BRAND RIHANNA
Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA headquarters, will give a lecture on the history and future of space exploration. MacMillan 115
MEETS BRAND BARBADOS
Lia Bascomb, assistant professor of African American Studies at Georgia State University, will discuss the intersections of sexuality, celebrity and national identity. George H. Bass Performing Arts Space, Churchill House
THE NEXT 50
7:00 P.M. FACILITATION SKILLS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS
The Feminist Leadership Series and emPOWER will lead a workshop on inclusivity and leadership. Wilson 302
4:00 P.M. NEW CUBAN WRITING: FICTION READINGS
Osdany Morales, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and Lizabel Monica will give a bilingual reading of their work with translator Hillary Gulley. McCormack Family Theater By Gareth Bain ©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
02/04/15
8:00 P.M. BORIS LARRAMENDI CONCERT
Boris Larramendi, a Cuban guitarist and former member of the band Habana Abierta, will perform. McCormack Family Theater
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
EDITORIAL
Imagine Ratty 250+ In the wake of revived discussions surrounding the future of the beloved Sharpe Refectory, the University must consider the inherent gravity of its decision-making process. While the Ratty has served as a hub of student dining since its construction as part of the larger Wriston Quadrangle development of the early 1950s, the facility is unquestionably outdated and its role must be reconsidered within the context of an increasingly modern and ever-expanding campus. As outlined by the University in the 2013 Handbook for Physical Planning, the Ratty needs to be reconfigured to more properly reflect its integral role in the daily goings-on of the Brown community, by way of a shift to a mixed-use functionality. This idea is in no way novel, but we wish to express the need and necessity of incorporating dining, residential and academic capacities into this newly conceived space. Though discussions regarding the fate of the Ratty have been ongoing, the facility is in dire need of repair and is a poor reflection of an institution of Brown’s caliber. As various administrators told The Herald (“Talks underway for Ratty renovation,” Jan. 27), the facility — in its current form and functionality — is simply outdated and at the most basic level would require upgrades in its “infrastructure of electrical, plumbing, heating and ventilation.” Beyond the issue of limited and often disappointing culinary options, the underlying concern rests in facilitating the transition to “more of a modern dining experience,” as articulated by Provost Vicki Colvin. While there are indeed financial considerations at play, particularly when deciding between a mere upgrade and a complete reconfiguration of the facility, the current situation presents a unique opportunity for the University to significantly improve the fabric of the campus. While Harvard and Yale rely heavily on their respective residential systems as the foundational element of students’ broader dining experiences, Brown is structured differently and does not have a centrally located space geared primarily to dining and socializing. Though Andrews Commons was an attempt to fill this void, the mere location of the space makes it inconvenient for many students living both on and off campus. By building a new layout for the Ratty — one that could accommodate all students, regardless of meal plan — Brown would essentially create another popular hub on campus and alleviate the burden on other facilities, namely the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center. Adding a residential component to this scheme, as outlined in the 2013 plan, would further integrate the space and moreover increase the number of available beds on campus to match the University’s projected growth. The Ratty undoubtedly serves as the source of many fond memories for current students and alums alike. The current physical state of the building, however, is unsustainable and must be reevaluated to find the most efficient use today. Crafting a new space that expands and enhances the dining, residential and social experiences of Brown community members will positively impact the campus for years to come. We sincerely hope the next iteration of the Sharpe Refectory will not lend itself to the nickname “Ratty.”
M I R A N DA F R I E L
Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
“Would the interest of transgender students at Brown be to do nothing, not change the status quo?” — Ken Miller ‘70 P’02, professor of Biology
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Alexander Kaplan ’15 and James Rattner ’15, and its members, Zoila Bergeron ’17, Natasha Bluth ’15, Manuel Contreras ’16, Baxter DiFabrizio ’15, Manuel Monti-Nussbaum ’15 and Katherine Pollock ’16. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
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COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Brown, blue and gray ELI OKUN guest columnist
Editors’ note: This piece discusses depression and its effects. It began — where else? — in chemistry class. Tenth grade. A girl that I had always found annoying bounced into the room, chattering about her new endeavor to ask friends about their first kisses. The stories were adorable, she recounted, her voice tinged with nostalgia for a phase of life apparently long gone. A few desks over, I absorbed her words like glue and wondered if I was falling behind. At 15, I had never held a girl’s hand. That was the moment I started to hear the social clock ticking. I could not drown it out. Two years passed, filled with silent crushes and nightly prayers to God for some romantic luck. Suddenly, it was senior year, and graduation loomed like a deadline for all the elements of childhood that still felt unrealized. There’s a term in psychology for what happened next: rumination. If the first kiss was all that I had lacked, everything else would have been fine. But it was just one ingredient in a potent cocktail. My body repulsed me. My voice grated. I worried I had too few friends. I was deeply insecure in my personality, my masculinity and my sexuality, and I fell into a routine of self-loathing. This was all in my mind, but the effects rippled further. Sometimes, as I pondered the possibility that nothing would ever improve, I physically doubled over from the pain. My self-esteem and confidence plummeted, even as I outwardly remained the gregarious overachiever I had always been. I told no one. ••• Brown turned out to be better than I had expected, but it was no panacea. In need of help, yet terrified that Psychological Services might tell my parents if I showed up as a minor, I waited until I turned 18 to make an appointment. After three sessions, I’d gotten what I wanted — confirmation that these feelings were real and had a name, which was probably mild to moderate depression. But I never felt a connection with the psychologist. Returning from winter break, I
told myself I was strong enough to overcome it alone. Another year elapsed. On the best days, the notion that I had a mood disorder seemed foreign. I wasn’t suicidal, which made it easier to pretend there was no real problem. I was a master at hiding, even from myself. But things deteriorated again. My sense of worthlessness was overwhelming. I never wore shorts or took my shirt off in front of someone else; I hadn’t been to a pool in years. Both mind and body became traps I could not escape. And, above all, sounded the steady drumbeat of feeling dislocated in my own life. I submerged myself in classes and extracurriculars to fill the hours, but, at night, the darkness always found a way to seep in through the cracks. It became difficult to concentrate on homework. The selfcriticism distracted me. I took to tracing long 1 a.m. ovals around the three main campus greens — they were usually deserted — allowing the depression to envelop me. I would stand in front of the Van Wickle Gates and feel waves of goose bumps flood my skin. There was a certain comfort in sadness or at least its familiarity. It was so easy to sink into the pain. When I returned home, the fatigue and depleted willpower made it hard to walk up the steps to my suite — two flights taking 10 minutes. Some nights, I would curl at the top of a staircase that led nowhere in a back corner of Barbour shivering into sadness and wonder if I was being melodramatic, making it all up or teetering on the verge of something worse. Weekend nights were no better. Parties filled me with discomfort. I didn’t know how to interact with people. The sweaty bodies gy-
Sometimes, as I pondered the possibility that nothing would ever improve, I physically doubled over from the pain.
me,” I’d explain if anyone noticed, inverting the truth and inventing an excuse to trudge home alone. If you had to describe depression as a color, you’d probably choose blue. We seem to have latched onto it as the clearest instantiation of feeling down. But during my spells of despair, blue — calming, tranquil blue — captured only part of the story. Emotions felt raw and rough. Depression was a sadness that pulsed an electric blue. Until the colors changed, that is. In the long Providence winter, blue drained away and the gray skies began to take over. Exhausted from blackened nights, I awoke to find myself numb. Walking around campus, I felt like my edges had dulled. And the sole question reverberating around my mind — is this all there is? — made everything seem distant. In retrospect, this sense of detachment scares me more than any hurt. ••• The start of 2013 found me back at Psych Services, where I zoomed through the allotted seven sessions and was referred off campus for long-term treatment. There was little personalization to this process. I was handed a list of people who would accept my insurance and chose the one whose office was closest. When I called to schedule a consultation, I found out that he had moved to the other side of campus. I went anyway, and, finally, on this third try, the therapist clicked. He pulled no punches and wasn’t afraid to make me feel shitty when I needed to. But, as we embarked on the profoundly strange journey of uncoiling all the knots in my mind, his insight and refusal to accept excuses gave me the energy to keep moving forward — to keep doing the work, as he put it. The work, it turned out, entailed a number of things I had never imagined doing: Skyping my family to tell them about my depression — and discovering an extensive genetic precedent I’d never known; combing through my childhood for buried pain and reliving the stroke at
moments where the clouds parted and the sun shone through. It was a matter of chipping away at, piece by piece, the emotional scar tissue encasing my mind. Some weeks were more successful than others. But, by the end of junior fall, I was past the inflection point. From the outside, my life didn’t look much different. But to see yourself in a new light is a revolutionary occurrence. Over time, I had started to internalize small moments of beauty, new layers of understanding and silent revelations—in short, a transformation. ••• One summer day that year, I walked by a tour group at the precise moment the guide was reciting everyone’s favorite factoid: “Brown students are some of the happiest in the country.” I was on my way to therapy. The “happiest students” moniker comes from Princeton Review rankings in 2009 and 2010, when we claimed the top spot. The methodology is dubious, but it has nonetheless taken firm hold in our collective consciousness — Brown has since fallen out of the top 20, but nobody seems to have noticed much. Happiness is worth celebrating, but this accolade can suffocate important discussions. At the time, nobody had ever opened up to me about experiencing the kind of problems that I faced. Some campus groups stimulated discussions of mental health, but they were few and far between, and I was too embarrassed to attend the events. I knew all the statistics. They didn’t make my nights feel any less solitary. We have a curious way of talking about hardship here. Slogging through mountains of homework and weeks of sleep deprivation is an accepted norm; it helps us coalesce
It was a matter of chipping away at, piece by piece, the emotional scar tissue encasing my mind.
I took to tracing long 1 a.m. ovals around the three main campus greens. They were usually deserted, allowing the depression to envelop me.
rating in sticky rooms seemed to speak a language I had never been taught. Within minutes of arriving, I would pretend to take a call, move away from the dance floor and edge toward the door. “My friend needs
age seven that left me disabled; lugging around a book with FEELING GOOD emblazoned on the cover and attempting the cognitive exercises listed inside. There were no miracle movie
the silence of a student body. It infects the individual, too. For a while, I felt as though I couldn’t tell anyone about my depression. Even as I worked through my insecurities, the shame of talking about them outside a therapist’s office was too strong. That shame partly resulted from my fear of showing vulnerability. But I know I’m not unique. ••• Still, of all the people struggling here, I have been among the fortunate. I worry more about the students who can’t rely on sympathetic parents for weekly co-pays. I worry about those with depression orders of magnitude more severe than mine — if one can measure depression quantitatively — whose illnesses push them into hospital rooms and medical leave. I worry about the people of any mental state grappling with inadequacy by themselves, ashamed of their shame and alone in their loneliness. And I wonder how it makes them feel each day to navigate a campus brimming with the smartest, sexiest, happiest students in the country. For a long time at this school, I thought I might be defective — the kind of person that natural selection is meant to weed out. Once depression became habitual, it was difficult to envision change or even to remember what a healthy emotional life felt like. And I won’t pretend that all my problems have evaporated. Some residue always lingers; a certain darkness is always accessible; and some nights still drag me down. But sadness doesn’t attack as often as it used to, and when it does, I have ways to handle it. I am devising my own language for understanding this life. The perfectionist in me struggled so long to reconcile dreams with reality, and the process of letting fantasies go has been painful. But it has also brought me closer to some truer ambitions. In fits and starts, I have become a bit more comfortable with uncertainties, slower to judge and hungrier for genuine connections. If I believed in normalcy, I would say I’m heading there now.
around surface commiseration. But when it comes to some deeper issues, conversation still seems rare, though I’m hopeful that lately this has started to change. Stigma is more insidious than
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Eli Okun ’15 is a former editorin-chief of The Herald. He is an international relations concentrator from Rockville, Maryland, and can be reached at eliok46@gmail.com.
ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015
No limits to imagination, experimentation in animated shorts 2015 Oscar Best Animated Short nominees currently playing at Cable Car Cinema By EBEN BLAKE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
There’s nothing new about saying that short films have a particular freedom. Without the need to sustain a narrative for several hours, filmmakers have the opportunity to work outside traditional arcs and structures and are more willing to be playful and experimental, assured of the fact that the shorter runtimes will make the audience — and producers — more acquiescent to wilder conceits. The feature film is a lot like an essay; the short, in contrast, is a proof. Stripped of superfluous rhetorical trappings, its bareness becomes its virtue. Animated shorts, then, should be the height of cinematic liberty and innovation. Without physics or finance to rein filmmakers in, their imaginations are the only limit to what can be depicted. The 2015 Oscar nominees for Best Animated Short are currently showing at Cable Car Cinema, along with several shorts that the Academy of Arts and Sciences deemed “highly commended.” Representing a broad array of styles, nationalities and themes, the nominees offer a brief glimpse inside an under-recognized category. All of the nominated films have tremendous merit and are presented without any order or ranking. “A Single Life,” a two-minute film from the Netherlands, follows a woman as she plays a record that allows her to time travel. Created by Marieke Blaauw, Joris Oprins and Job Roggeveen, the film seems at points like a high-concept music video, mirroring the movement of the song with the stages of her life. It’s a witty concept, and it’s perfectly executed in computer-generated graphics with a macabre twist to wrap up both the song and the film. “The Bigger Picture” by Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hees also focuses on the process of aging. By far the most technically ambitious film of the nominees, it blends the two-dimensional with the three-dimensional. Characters painted on the wall of a house extend their arms and objects into the open room. The film follows the tension between two adult sons as they deal with the approaching death of their mother. Interspersed with brief moments of humor, the narrative portrays characters grappling with their mother’s critical eye, their mortality and their personal inadequacies. The physical texture of the figures lends a sense of artifice that pervades the film, as though the characters struggle to escape their two-dimensional roles. “Feast,” from Disney Studios and made by Patrick Osborne and Kristina
REVIEW
COURTESY OF CABLE CAR CINEMA
The strong group of nominees in the 2015 Academy Awards’ Best Animated Short Film category come from several different countries and showcase a variety of themes, artistic techniques and styles of animation. Reed, in contrast, fits more easily into the traditional pantheon of animated films. With vibrant colors, complex visuals and a clever — if sentimental — plot, “Feast” is told entirely through images of Boston Terrier Winston as he eats, with entertaining relish, anything he can find. Conflict arises when his owner begins to eat healthier at the behest of his new girlfriend, and Winston misses their old days of bonding over junk food. It’s a simple, well-told film that’s animated with an infectious sense of delight.
Of the five films, my opinion oscillates the most on “The Dam Keeper” by Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi. Beautifully hand-drawn, the film is a master exercise in world-building. It depicts an elaborate and enchanting small town protected from poisonous clouds by a massive windmill dam run by a young pig. Bullied about his appearance by the other animals at school, the pig has his world changed at the arrival of a new student, a fox. Framed by reflective narration, the film serves as a parable of friendship.
And though it seems alternately simplistic or unsure of its meaning, the film’s powerful visuals and complex, mysterious world more than redeem its confused sense of purpose. “Me and My Moulton,” a Canadian film by Torrill Kove about her childhood in Norway, is hand-drawn with simple figures and colors. The film explores her complicated relationship with her parents — two modernist architects — who seem eccentric and out of place in their Nordic town. As Kove and her two sisters long for a
bicycle, the short focuses on the perils of childhood, the desire to fit in and the divergence between parents and children. Similar to Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis,” it reveals the rich inner life of a young child with humor and pathos. This year’s group of nominees have a broad scope, ambitiously examining the past, the future and varied trajectories of life. Concerned with childhood and aging, community and loneliness, they ground their fantastic animated heights in a deeply human reality.
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