SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015
VOLUME CL, ISSUE 55
WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
COURTESY OF DOLAPO AKINKUGBE
COURTEST OF CLYDE LAWRENCE
On the left, Dolapo Akinkugbe ‘16, who records as DAP the Contract, performs live. DAP has produced around 450 beats that meld hip hop, opera and jazz styles, as well as political recordings. On the right, Clyde Lawrence ‘15 performs with the eponymous Clyde Lawrence Band. The band has played fusions of funk, R&B and pop at events across campus and at downtown venues.
Sounding off: Student music reverberates across campus Student performers discuss balance between academics and music, potential futures in entertainment industry By GABRIELLE DEE ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
“Music has been my first priority and school the second,” said Clyde Lawrence ’15 with a knowing laugh. “I completely neglect my classes for the most part.” For students who plan to pursue music — whether professionally or recreation-
ally — keeping their lives as college students and performers in harmony can be difficult. Many of these performers enjoy participating in a vibrant artistic community on campus and look forward to pursuing careers in music. Lawrence, the eponymous singer and keyboardist of the Clyde Lawrence Band, has been a fixture of the
SKIING
Women’s ski team retains varsity status
Requires additional resources, team works with Athletics Dept. to develop fundraising plan By ANDREW FLAX SPORTS EDITOR
Director of Athletics Jack Hayes has recommended that the women’s ski team not be demoted to club status, mitigating earlier concerns that the team would be cut due to lack of financial support. After co-captains Amanda Engelhardt ’15 and Nika Mosenthal ’15 met with administrators several times this semester to lobby for their team, members of the ski team met with Hayes this week and were informed that it would not be cut, the captains said. “It’s a relief,” Engelhardt said of the news. In a statement provided to The Herald, Hayes confirmed that he recommended to President Christina Paxson P’19 that the team not be cut and suggested “that we develop a fundraising
INSIDE
plan with specific targets and timelines.” After Paxson approved the recommendation, Hayes met with team members and Head Coach Michael Leblanc “to review the fundraising expectations for the next two years,” Hayes said. “The long-term goal remains … for the program to be financially selfsufficient,” he said. Hayes’ decision marks the end of a process that began in 2011, when thenPresident Ruth Simmons commissioned the Athletics Review Committee to assess the role of sports at Brown. The committee recommended that Simmons slash four programs, including the women’s ski team. She eventually chose not to follow that recommendation, opting to keep those teams at the varsity level on the condition that they could “demonstrate that their supporters are able to endow their sport at the level deemed necessary by the University,” Simmons wrote in her response to the ARC’s report. But the team continued to struggle with fundraising and was informed by » See SKI, page 3
Brown music scene since his arrival almost four years ago. The band has performed an amalgam of funk, R&B and pop at house parties, formals and large venues downtown. The group has also collaborated with many other student performers on campus, such as Dolapo Akinkugbe ’16 and Cody Fitzgerald ’15. The University’s open curriculum and focus on a liberal arts education can encourage artists’ work. Lawrence,
a psychology concentrator, said though he “loves studying patterns and systems,” which have informed his approach to music, he does not intend to pursue science after graduation. Instead, he and his band will hit the road and go on tour next year. Lawrence’s music career began long before he came to College Hill. He began playing the piano and the drums at four years old, and he gained early exposure to the entertainment industry
at a young age due to his father’s work scoring films. At five years old, Lawrence became the youngest member of the Songwriters Guild of America when his father sent his son’s version of a pageant song for “Miss Congeniality” to the film’s producers. Since then, Lawrence has had to balance his interests in “film scoring and performing because it’s normally a choice,” he said. “I thought I would take » See MUSICIANS, page 4
Two profs earn Guggenheim Fellowships Professors receive funding to pursue their respective interests in mental health, museum education By LAUREN ARATANI STAFF WRITER
Two Brown faculty members were granted Guggenheim Fellowships last week to pursue scholarship and artistic projects, marking the first time since 2008 that a member of the school’s faculty has received the prestigious award. Christine Montross MD’06, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and Steven Lubar, professor of history, American studies and history of art and architecture, received the awards from the Guggenheim Foundation. Montross said she plans to use the fellowship to write a book with the working title “Acquainted With the Night: Mental Illness in the American Prison System.” The nonfiction work will focus on people who are imprisoned due to misinterpretation of their mental illnesses, she said. In the book, Montross will combine her backgrounds of nonfiction writing and psychology, she said, adding that
“Brown has always been a place where I have been encouraged to combine my medical practice with my writing.” As part of her psychiatric practice, Montross worked in an inpatient hospital where she saw patients who came from the criminal justice system for reasons that were “clearly related to criminal behaviors,” she said. The reasons that these patients ended up in prison were often “murkier” because they behaved in ways that did not align with “social expectations of behavior,” she said. “Increasingly as budgets are cut for mental health services, people have fewer and fewer opportunities to obtain consistent psychiatric care,” Montross said. Rather than receive proper treatment, people whose behavior is perceived as outside of “social norms” due to their mental illnesses are taken to prison, she said. This perceived injustice toward those suffering from mental illness drove Montross to write the book so she could “shed light” on the issue of not providing “adequate psychiatric care to our most vulnerable citizens,” she said. In the last couple of decades, a shift has occurred in which more people have been discharged from psychiatric
facilities and then entered the criminal justice system, Montross said. As the number of people in psychiatric facilities has decreased, the number of people in the criminal justice system has increased, she said. She categorized this phenomenon as a “trans-institutionalization” in which people went from “therapeutic” institutions to “nontherapeutic and punitive” institutions. Lubar said he also intends to use the Guggenheim Fellowship to write a nonfiction book, with the working title “Finding the Lost Museum.” He will take a semester off to complete the book, which will examine the history of museums as well as the issues museums face today. Lubar said he hopes the book will raise “interesting questions” about museums and provide insight on the organization and collection of artifacts. He also hopes the work reminds people who work in museums “about their interesting history which they’ve forgotten” and that they “can help shape conversations that are deep and historically important.” His inspiration came from working with students on a Jenks Society for Lost Museums project, he said, adding that he imagines each chapter will begin » See FELLOWSHIP, page 3
WEATHER
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015
UNIVERSITY NEWS Students discussed Hillary Clinton’s political history, upcoming campaign at forum
METRO Raimondo’s budget proposal includes Airbnb tax that could boost revenue from state tourism
COMMENTARY Ha ’18: The community response to Sohn’s GS death should include fundamental value changes
COMMENTARY Secondo ’16: Attending live concerts is more enriching than listening to a soundtrack
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