Thursday, October 1, 2015

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 76

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Writing Center halts search for director Administrators cut short second search effort to reevaluate center as it joins Learning Commons

By RACHEL GOLD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SADIE HOPE-GUND / HERALD

Adwa Habtu ’16 was elected as one of three student representatives on the Undergraduate Finance Board.

The other two slots were filled by Caleb Hersh ’17 and Joshua Williams ’16.

UCS fills roles in internal elections Half of races go uncontested, with newly formed position seeing highest competition

By MATTHEW JARRELL STAFF WRITER

Eleven students were elected to leadership positions on the Undergraduate

Council of Students and the Undergraduate Finance Board at the UCS general body meeting Wednesday. Four of the eight elections for UCS leadership positions were uncontested.

The night’s most hotly contested UCS race was for the role of community and business relations liaison, a new position this year. Ryan Lessing ’17, who unsuccessfully ran for UCS vice president in external elections last spring, emerged

victorious among the three candidates.

In his speech to the council, he cited his wealth of UCS experience as parliamentarian and chair of the UCS Admissions and Student Services committee.

The role of community and business relations liaison will be “very experimental,” Lessing said. Its wide mandate will allow for communication with previously unreachable institutions on College Hill, » See UCS, page 3

The Writing Center has suspended its second effort in its search for a new director as part of a wider rethinking of the University’s writing program, said Christopher Dennis, deputy dean of the College.

After Kathleen McSharry, former associate dean of the College and interim Writing Center director, stepped down in August, the University decided to discontinue its search for a new director.

Instead of focusing their efforts on finding a director, “we began thinking about where the writing program and the Writing Center would fit into a larger concept of how to better support Brown students in becoming better learners and writers, and in developing their quantitative skills,” Dennis said.

“We have a space where we can

rethink the strategic goals of the Writing Center,” he added.

The Writing Center — as well as the Science Center and Tutoring Services — will become a component of an enlarged Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning under President Christina Paxson’s P’19 “Operational Plan for Building on Brown’s Excellence,” which was released Sept.

15. Together, the academic support services will form a Learning Commons, which will “train peer educators to help fellow students develop the competencies they will need after Brown,” according to the plan. The Learning Commons will be housed in the renovated Sciences Library.

“We’re excited about the move,” said Janet Peters, manager of the Writing Center. “We’ll have more space, and I think the different services will complement each other quite well.”

With these operational changes in sight, “we decided not to do a director search,” Dennis said. Instead, the University will soon launch a search for an associate director, who will provide leadership at the Writing Center while the College Curriculum Council » See WRITING, page 3

DNA sequencing Tink Knit aids low-income single parents company unravels Lack of funding suspected to be key in shuttering of Brown alum-run biotech company Nabsys

By RILEY DAVIS STAFF WRITER

The Providence-based DNA sequencing company Nabsys is shutting its doors after nearly eight years in operation.

Nabsys was formed in 2007 as a merger between two research projects started by University scientists. The company’s mission was to improve genome mapping and analysis using “strategic deployment of a novel positional sequencing platform” for DNA, according to the Nabsys website. At its peak, the company employed nearly 50 workers, many of whom earned salaries of more than $100,000, the Providence Journal reported.

Nabsys has yet to fully disclose

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

INSIDE

the exact details of its shutdown, but it appears the company is closing permanently due to a lack of funding.

John Thompson, former director of genomic technology at Nabsys who left the company in April 2014, said he started receiving calls from former co-workers about three weeks ago asking if he knew of any job openings.

“They had gone to a company-wide meeting expecting to hear about how the company was going to merge with someone else,” Thompson said. “Instead they found out that they were shutting the doors, so it was kind of unexpected.”

Thompson, who holds stock in Nabsys, said the company was starting to experience financial issues around the time of his departure.

“It’s not unusual,” he said. “All startups and biotechs are in a constant fundraising mode, and you have to keep raising money every year to keep the doors open.”

In its early stages, the company experienced success with securing » See NABSYS, page 2

By KASTURI PANANJADY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Some single parents in Providence now have a source of steady income and economic opportunities through the venture Tink Knit, launched this semester and co-founded by Julia Xu ’17 and Julia Xu ’15.

Tink Knit teaches single mothers how to knit products like hats and then sells those products, returning 50 percent of the profits to the mothers and reinvesting the remainder back into the program. The program enables single mothers to earn a steady income without having to leave their children, Xu ’17 said.

The venture recruits participants primarily through local shelters, Xu ’17 said. At the beginning of the program, participants are taught to loom knit hats, scarves and cozies in workshops conducted by Brown students while volunteers babysit their children. The mothers are then periodically supplied with raw materials, tools and designs

JULIANA MARINO / HERALD

In its pilot phase, Tink Knit sold all 250 of its hats in the Brown Bookstore, raising over $6,000. All participants were able to find permanent housing. to work from home. Products are sold at the Brown Bookstore and by Brown Student Agencies.

“We are not a business,” Xu ’17 said.

“We evaluate impact by how much goes back to the moms.”

Tink Knit was originally designed for the Enactus United States National Competition, a social entrepreneurship contest that entails launching a successful social venture. Xu ’17, Xu ’15 and the Enactus@Brown team,

POST- MAGAZINE

collected data last year to identify vulnerable populations in the Providence community. “We saw that single moms’ unemployment rate is three times more than normal,” Xu ’17 said. “There is minimal support for them.”

With a $500 Explore Grant from the Brown Venture Launch Fund, Xu ’17 and her team of 40 volunteers started a pilot program that spanned from January to May and focused on » See KNITTING, page 2

WEATHER

THURSDAY, OC TOBER 1, 2015

METRO President Obama’s proposed Cape Cod marine national monument sparks flurry of criticism, support PAGE 3

Knitting venture’s handmade goods provide skills, income to participants

COMMENTARY Mitra ’18: India is considered a dangerous place for women, but the U.S. is not much better

COMMENTARY Montoya ’16: True patriotism should acknowledge America’s flaws rather deny their existence

PAGE 7

PAGE 7

TODAY

TOMORROW

61 / 46

52 / 46

UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

» KNITTING, from page 1 helping eight single mothers and their families.

The pilot program was positively received, despite concerns of dwindling demand for winter gear with the onset of spring said Steven Souza, director of the Brown Bookstore. “When alums and the general public grasp the cause, it’s an easy sell,” said Souza.

All 250 hats from the pilot period sold, raising over $6,000, Xu ’17 said.

All participants in the pilot found permanent housing, and the average income of knitters rose by 30 percent, according to Tink Knit’s website.

Mandy, who asked to be identified

» NABSYS, from page 1 funding. Nabsys received nearly $1 million in state-provided startup funding and over $50 million in venture capital funding. Point Judith Capital, a venture capital firm co-founded

by Gov. Gina Raimondo, invested $4 million in Nabsys in 2009. But it appears that funding began to decline in early 2014, Thompson said. David Martirano, co-founder of Point Judith Capital, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The state has aimed to revitalize the Jewelry District by encouraging startups like Nabsys, which generate job opportunities. The closure of a

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

by her first name because she is currently going through divorce proceedings, participated in the pilot as a recently separated mother of three who had previously been a stay-athome parent. Mandy contacted Tink Knit through social media in hopes of participating in the program, she said.

“They had me fill out a goal form about what I wanted,” Mandy said.

“I think I said I wanted to keep my house.”

The extra income from Tink Knit eased her financial transition to sole breadwinner for her family, and she was able to find a job after participating, Mandy said.

Alan Harlam, director of

innovation and social entrepreneurship at the Swearer Center for Public Service, attributed the success of the program to Tink Knit’s consideration of social dynamics and business strategy. “Their number one commitment is to the women, and the cost of making that happen has been challenging.

They are creative about solving these problems,” Harlam said.

One of the ways Tink Knit has sought to remain financially viable is by forming partnerships with Lion Brand Yarn and Flatbread Company, Xu ’17 said.

With a $1,000 award as the winner of BSA’s Inspire Week contest, Tink Knit kicks off in earnest with an

expected 30 participants this semester, including the program’s first single father. “We say single mothers because there are so many more single-mother families than single-father families. But it is not a gender thing,” Xu ’17 said.

“We have guys on our team who knit.”

Tink Knit may expand in the future to locations like the Rhode Island School of Design Store, Xu ’17 said.

The Stephen Robert Campus Center ’62 information desk may also sell Tink Knit products in the future, and the Underground will offer discounts for students who bring in cups with Tink Knit cozies, said Simran Vazirani ’15 GS, director of business development at BSA.

Tink Knit is also looking to work with RISD textile design students on new knit patterns.

The venture will also provide a resume building and job search workshop this month for its participants led by Jim Amspacher, career adviser for Careers in the Common Good at CareerLAB, Amspacher wrote in an email to The Herald.

Tink Knit has also reached out to former knitters to help this semester.

Mandy said she was asked to serve as a mentor for the new set of knitters and an ambassador for the program.

“I am definitely interested, but I don’t know if I’ll have the time with my job.

I guess that’s a good thing!”

promising biotechnology company like Nabsys should serve as a reminder to Rhode Island about the importance of state funding, Thompson said.

“If the state wants to have a thriving biotech industry, they’re going to need to do something to help it,” Thompson said. “They have to be actively providing the resources (the companies) need, which the state hasn’t really done.”

Darrell West, vice president of governance studies at the Brookings Institution and a former professor of political science at Brown, said a state should take note when a company like Nabsys goes out of business.

“It makes the public cynical when

there’s state money in businesses (that) haven’t been successful,” West said.

“But people also have to be aware that the success rate is low in this field.”

The company was co-founded by Professor of Physics Xinsheng Sean Ling and his former student, Adjunct Professor of Biotechnology Barrett Bready ’99 MD’03. Initially, the two could not agree upon the best scientific approach toward DNA sequencing. Ling favored a physics-based approach, while Bready supported a perspective informed by computer science.

Bready, who served as president and CEO until 2014, edged Ling out of the company because of the dispute,

said Ling, who attributed some of the company’s later struggles to the approach Bready adopted. Bready did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“There are a lot of things going on when you take something out of academia and put it in a for-profit company,” Bready told The Herald in 2013 in response to his dispute with Ling.

Ling said he and others are still conducting active research in the DNA sequencing field. “I am extremely saddened that the Nabsys name has been tarnished,” he said. But “the science Nabsys originally set out to do is not dead. It is very much alive.”

Several other faculty members also served on the Nabsys board, including Professor of Computer Science Eli Upfal and Professor of Computer Science Franco Preparata, both of whom declined to comment on Nabsys’ shutdown.

When a biotech startup fails, it is important to remember that every factor has to be in working order for the company to succeed, West said.

“The research has to be good, the financing has to be in order and you have to have a really strong management team,” West said. “If you mess up any one of those things, generally it’s fatal to the company.”

Support The Herald www.browndailyherald.com/donate

METRO

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Marine protection proposal faces controversy Environmentalists, watermen disagree on Obama’s Cape Cod conservation plan

By AGNES CHAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

President Obama’s proposal to designate three ocean canyons and four seamounts off the coast of Cape Cod as part of a marine national monument has proven somewhat controversial, eliciting both support from environmentalists and concern from fishermen and other stakeholders. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently hosted a town hall meeting to gather public opinion on the issue.

If the protection plan is carried out, the area that includes Gilbert, Lydonia and Oceanographer canyons will become the first marine national monument off the shores of the continental United States. Marine national monuments are created to conserve diverse and abundant species in these areas, to “facilitate exploration and scientific research” and to educate the public about these national treasures, according to the NOAA website. Almost all marine-protected areas permit commercial and private fishing, but a fraction of them ban all activities

» UCS, from page 1 such as the Thayer Street Management Authority, he said. When tension flared between food truck owners and Thayer Street restaurants, UCS “didn’t have a way to respond,” he said. This position “will allow us to expand our bandwidth in areas where we don’t have a lot of experience,” he added.

Four students vied for three spots as UFB representatives, with Caleb Hersh ’17, Adwa Habtu ’16 and Joshua Williams ’16 selected by the general body.

Hersh received the most votes after being widely praised during the council’s discussion of the candidates. He emphasized his experience with accounting as treasurer of both the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity and the Greek Council. UFB should ensure that “funding decisions are transparent” and eliminate “arbitrary discrepancies” in the amount of money allocated to student groups with similar

that would involve plant or animal removal. It remains unclear whether or not these restrictions would apply to the proposed monument off the coast of Cape Cod. Marine scientists and environmental groups urge Obama to use the Antiquities Act of 1906 to protect the canyons and seamounts, arguing that human activity threatens the lives of fish, marine mammals and corals that live there. When companies drill and mine for fossil fuels, oil can contaminate the ocean and cause the “death of all the canyons,” said Buddy Vanderhoop, owner of Tomahawk Fishing Charters. “We have to keep (the ocean) in its natural state and preserve the ecosystem without oil drilling in any of the canyons out there,” he added.

But many fishermen and seafood distributors have spoken out against the potential monument designation.

Vanderhoop, who has been fishing in the waters of Martha’s Vineyard for over 45 years, said while the protection plan should ban oil companies from drilling and mining, it should not stop fishermen from fishing above the canyons. “They do little or no harm to the surface of the ocean,” he said.

In August, Gov. Paul LePage, RMaine, wrote a letter to Obama in which he expressed disapproval toward both the Antiquities Act and the monument designation proposal.

“Fundamentally, I oppose (the Antiquities Act) because it is so sweeping and provides few procedural protections to those who are likely to be affected,” LePage wrote to Obama. Voicing his concerns for Maine’s fishing sector, LePage added, “These national marine monuments serve only one purpose — excluding commercial fishing activity from certain segments of the ocean … and these types of designations harm these working Mainers the most.”

The area to be designated as part of the monument is subject to change.

Environmentalists initially requested for five canyons to be protected, but Heezen and Nygren canyons were not included when the NOAA announced the town hall discussion. The protection proposal is still being deliberated, and the NOAA is in the process of reviewing comments received online and at the town hall meeting, wrote Ciaran Clayton, spokeswoman for NOAA, in an email to The Herald.

The White House needs to provide more details to the public and be open to community input, wrote Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I. and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. in a joint letter to Obama. They wrote that the lack of clarity and a concrete proposal means that the public has no way of gauging what impact the plan will have on their lives.

sizes and footprints, Hersh said.

Last spring, Habtu and Williams each ran unsuccessful write-in campaigns for UFB representative. This year, they decided to alter their approach and follow the conventional path toward the position.

“I’ve been interested in this for a long time,” Habtu said, noting that her role on Class Board the last two years gave her insight into UFB’s process. She said she plans to make sure that the process for allocating funding is “clear and streamlined.”

Molly Naylor-Komyatte ’19, running unopposed for appointments chair, said University committees “are some of the most important spaces for the exchange of dialogue between administrators and students.” She said she will work to “make different voices and perspectives heard” and “maintain links with committees” after the selection process has ended.

The election for alumni relations

liaison also went uncontested, with Kayla Thomas ’18 claiming the title. Thomas emphasized the vital role of alums within the University. “There’s always that connection you have once you’ve left,” she said. She added that she will prioritize the development of “new, creative ways” to reach out to alums beyond simple fundraising.

Brandon Le ’18 was reelected to the position of webmaster, receiving enthusiastic affirmation from UCS executive board members. The UCS website is working effectively, Le said, adding that he will prioritize social media outreach in the coming year.

The new UCS secretary will be Helen Gerstenfeld ’18, previously a member of the UCS Admissions and Student Services committee and the UCS Outreach and Advocacy committee. Austin Lessin ’19 took the position of parliamentarian unopposed, and Winnie Fan ’19 will serve as UCS-UFB liaison.

www.browndailyherald.com

» WRITING, from page 1 discusses the Learning Commons and broader changes to the writing requirement.

Currently, undergraduates can submit a substantial piece of writing for review instead of taking a second WRIT course to fulfill the writing requirement to graduate. The University is considering several changes to this process, including establishing a more standardized rubric for evaluating student submissions, Dennis said.

Current Interim Director of the Writing Center Lawrence Stanley, senior lecturer and co-director of the nonfiction writing program, will focus on the academic portion of the Writing Center’s organization, Dennis said.

Leadership transitions have not had any noticeable impact on the Writing Center’s operations, said Josh MacCleod GS, a Writing Center associate who is obtaining his master’s in anthropology.

“I would say all of us try to make it an open and accessible and friendly atmosphere,” MacCleod said. “That hasn’t changed.”

Peters said she does not think anyone visiting the Writing Center would notice differences. “Everything

is working well right now. My philosophy is that this place is so special and it works so well because of the associates we have here, and because of the input they give,” she added.

The Writing Center “hasn’t just maintained the status quo” — it has improved, MacCleod said. Under Peters’ management, a new mentorship program between first-time and veteran associates has been successful, he said.

The new associate director will work with faculty members, administrators and students to evolve the Writing Center’s role and services. “I would like to see the development of more programs, especially community outreach,” Peters said.“I’m excited to work with somebody who will bring in fresh ideas.”

The search for a new associate director will ideally “move speedily,” Dennis said, though he did not provide an explicit timeline.

In addition to looking for an associate director, the University will search for two part-time “writing coaches” who will provide additional help to undergraduates, Dennis said, adding that they will be trained in the “pedagogy of teaching writing.” The new writing coaches will be hired this year, Dennis said.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Scientists work to identify cause of fish die-off in area waters Low oxygen levels in water, viral disease of menhaden fish considered as potential factors of increased deaths

By HARRY AUGUST CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Researchers from the University and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management are working to determine the causes of an increased number of dead fish in local waters this summer.

Hundreds of dead menhaden fish washed ashore in the Providence River and Narragansett Bay this summer, prompting a rise in public complaints.

Menhaden are small, flat fish that were declared depleted due to overfishing by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission in 2012.

Low oxygen levels in the water caused by algal blooms may have played a role in the fish die-offs, said Chris Beacupis, supervising environmental scientist for the R.I. Department of Environmental Management. Menhaden may have travelled upstream and then suffocated when oxygen levels dropped in the evening hours, he said.

Oxygen in the Seekonk River reached low levels this summer, falling to 0.5 milligrams per liter in comparison to the normal level of seven to 10 milligrams per liter, Beacupis said. Menhaden can tolerate oxygen levels down to about two milligrams per liter, and they travel up the river when other fish remain in the bay, he said.

Yet these oxygen levels have not been significantly worse than in previous summers, said David Murray, senior research associate and facilities manager in the department of earth, environmental and planetary sciences, who collaborates with other faculty members and community leaders to study oxygen levels in Narragansett Bay. “Anecdotally, people are saying things look a lot cleaner” in the Seekonk despite the fish kills, Murray said.

The algal blooms responsible for low oxygen levels are generally caused by a nitrogen surplus, said Tom Uva, director of planning policy at the Narragansett Bay Commission. But “we do not attribute (the fish kills) to nitrogen loading,” he said, adding that the Narragansett Bay Commission has spent over $130 million in recent years upgrading its sewage treatment plants to reduce the amount of nitrogen discharged into the river by 80 percent.

Providence is also beginning the third and final phase of a $1.3 billion Combined Sewer Overflow Abatement Project. The project includes a tunnel running under Providence that is 30 feet wide and intended to prevent sewage overflow from polluting the rivers during periods of heavy rain. Alternatively, the waste is to be diverted to a sewage treatment plant.

Several of Rhode Island’s beaches

HERALD FILE PHOTO

Throughout the summer, periodic fish kills in the Providence River and Narragansett Bay were exacerbated by low oxygen levels, which were nonetheless comparable to those of past years. were also closed this summer due to high levels of bacteria in the water. Though unrelated to algal blooms, bacterial levels are an indicator of Rhode Island’s water health.

Ultimately, low oxygen levels due to algal blooms should not be viewed as the only potential cause of the fish kills, Uva said, citing a fish kill in Pawtuxet Cove that occurred despite high oxygen

levels. Instead, the kills could have been the result of the “whirling disease” virus in the menhaden population, he said.

“There are a lot of crazy things going on simultaneously,” he added.

TODAY

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

c i r c u s / c a r e e r fa i r o n m a i n g r e e n

menu SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Na’cho, BBQ Bam Bam, Spicy 5 Cheese and Garlic JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Made-to-Order Quesadillas, Cookies

Soup: Turkey Chili, Chicken Artichoke Florentine, Vegetable

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Gyro Sandwich on Pita, Chicken Parmesan, Cauliflower in Lemon Tahini Sauce, Rice Krispie Treats

Cavatini, Chicken Cacciatore, Vegetarian Pot Pie, Carrot Cake with Cream Chese Frosting

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap, Steak Fries, Vegetarian Sub, Beef Vegetable Soup

Tequila Lime Chicken, Cheese Souffle, Coconut Ginger Rice, Curried Shrimp, Carrot Cake

sudoku

ARJUN NARAYEN / HERALD

Due to rainy weather Wednesday, the Center for Careers and Life After Brown was forced to move the Fall 2015 Career Fair from a tent on the Main Green to Sayles Hall.

comics A Horse of Any Other Name | Zach Nelkin

crossword

Ampersand | Wasita Mahaphanit

calendar TODAY

OCTOBER

S

M

T

W

Th

F

S

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Student Office Hours with President Paxson 12:00 PM University Hall

Talk with Alfghanistan’s First Female Mayor 4:00 PM Watson Institute

Political Philosophy Workshop 4:00 PM John Hay Library

Free Screening of “Suffragette” 7:00 PM Granoff Center, Martinos Auditorium

TOMORROW Goldman Sachs Diversity Breakfast 9:00 AM CareerLAB

Google at Brown: Lecture and Lunch 12:00 PM Faculty Club

Fall Concert for the Climate 5:30 PM Main Green

Shabbat Services and Dinner 6:15 PM Brown/RISD Hillel

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Career (un)fair Career fairs are funny phenomena at Brown. For the past couple of days, nonchalant or otherwise “chill” students have donned business casual garb and paraded down to the Main Green to pursue a consulting, tech or banking offer. While Brown is well-known for being both a liberal and a wealthy campus, events like the Fall 2015 Tech and General Career Fairs illustrate a few of the ideological and practical tensions that exist on our campus. Given the numbers of both low-income and very wealthy students at this school, the sky-high cost of tuition and the different pressures we bring from our families and homes, it is clear that different segments of the student body have very different expectations of what a Brown degree — and their lives after Brown — will offer.

President Christina Paxson P’19 previously told The Herald that the middle 50 percent of the student body comes from families that earn between $100,000 and $200,000. In other words, only a quarter of students on this campus come from families that earn under six figures. It is of note that only 21.9 percent of American households earned over $100,000 in 2014, according to the Congressional Research Service.

The fact that the rich and wealthy are overwhelmingly overrepresented at Brown is not shocking — this has been true for all of Brown’s history. It is, however, important to note how much the wealthy are willing to pay for a Brown degree — all without having a surefire guarantee about the value of that degree. In turn, this places a pressure on many students — particularly those from the upper-middle and upper income brackets — to maximize their profits after college.

Of course, it is important to recognize that many low-income students share similar concerns, sometimes even aiming to sustain not only themselves but also their extended families. But there is no doubt that many of the resume-handing, suit-donning students in the tents on the Main Green were richer students, eager to ensure that they pursue careers that allow them to maintain their affluence.

Even though Brown’s tuition has been increasing for years and is the highest it has ever been, students seem relatively complacent about the state of their education. Sure, students often complain that they could have better advisers or dorms, but the last major student-led Brown revolution happened in the 1960s with the creation of the New Curriculum. Marginalized students often rally for significant changes — need-blind admission, better handling of sexual assault, divestments — but by and large, the majority of campus seems unwilling to challenge or demand more from Brown. Maybe this is a good thing and implies that the majority of students are happy on this campus, or perhaps it suggests that our overwhelmingly rich campus understands that Brown is but a small step toward a life of building and maintaining wealth.

Students pursue different pathways after Brown for various reasons, but it is important to reflect on how our different pressures, expectations and influences before, during and after Brown impact what opportunities we feel we need to attain. We wish all students the best of luck on whatever career paths they pick after Brown, but it is important to consider how these differences impact how we view ourselves, Brown and what we hope to get out of it.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: its editors, Manuel Contreras ’16 and Meghan Holloway ’16, and its members, Emma Axelrod ’18, Noah Fitzgerel ’17 and Aranshi Kumar ’17. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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

CORRECTION An article in the Sept. 23 Herald (“Acting out the past: history courses rely on role-playing,” Sept. 23) misstated that role-playing would be implemented in HIST 1205: “The Long Fall of the Roman Empire.” The Herald regrets the error.

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

“They had me fill out a goal form about what I wanted. I think I said I wanted to keep my house.”

—Mandy, single mother of three

See knitting on page 1.

Letters, please! letters@browndailyherald.com

Editorial Leadership

Sections

Visuals & Production

Business

Editors-in-Chief Michael Dubin Maxine Joselow

Arts & Culture Editors Gabrielle Dee Emily Passarelli

General Managers Sarah Levine Winnie Shao

Managing Editors Kiki Barnes Jillian Lanney

Metro Editors Alexander Blum Emma Jerzyk

Design Editors Loren Dowd Carlie Peters Taylor Schwartz Assistant: Meryl Charleston Assistant: Sonia Geba

Senior Editors Isobel Heck Molly Schulson

Science & Research Editor Steven Michael

BLOG DAILY HERALD Editors-in-Chief Deena Butt Charlotte Bilski POST- MAGAZINE Editor-in-Chief Yidi Wu DIGITAL Director of Audience Development Marcy Huang Social Media Editor Camilla Brandfield-Harvey

Sports Editors Andrew Flax Alex Wainger University News Editors Emma Harris Drew Williams COMMENTARY Editorial Page Editors Manuel Contreras Meghan Holloway Opinions Editors Rachel Montoya Chad Simon Robyn Sundlee

Photo Editors Head: Arjun Narayen Sadie Hope-Gund Matteo Mobilio Ryan Walsh Eli White Web Producer Harsha Yeddanapudy Copy Desk Chief Bonnie Henry Illustrations Editor Angelia Wang Ivan Alcantara Video Editor Richard Flores

Directors Sales: Moniyka Sachar Sales: Jess Urrutia Finance: Josh Tartell Alumni Relations: Marley Rafson Business Dev.: Yuta Inumaru Sales Managers Matthew Meyer Henry Ritter Gulmira Hamit Taylor Casey

facebook.com/browndailyherald

Location: 195 Angell St., Providence, R.I. www.browndailyherald.com

@the_herald

Editorial contact: 401-351-3372 herald@browndailyherald.com

browndailyherald.com

Business contact: 401-351-3260 gm@browndailyherald.com

Corrections: The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication.

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

Finance Managers Collections: Neil Wathore Collections: Benjamin Wesner Operations: Carin Papendorp

Letters to the Editor: Send letters to letters@browndailyherald.com. Include a telephone number with all letters. The Herald reserves the right to edit all letters for length and clarity and cannot assure the publication of any letter. Please limit letters to 250 words. Under special circumstances writers may request anonymity, but no letter will be printed if the author’s identity is unknown to the editors. Announcements of events will not be printed.

Business Dev. Manager Project Leader: Kaden Lee

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

The Brown Daily Herald (USPS 067.740) is an independent newspaper serving the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. Subscription prices: $280 one year daily, $140 one semester daily.

Copyright 2015 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Postmaster: Please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.

COMMENTARY THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

The real rape capital MILI MITRA opinions columnist

Never drop your guard. Never wear revealing clothes. And never, ever venture out at night. These are just some of the lessons I learned as a teenage girl in India. Since 2012, India has become notorious for violence against women — and with good reason. Indian women are subjected to a range of indignities on a daily basis: stares, catcalls, groping and rape. It goes without saying that I never felt safe there.

On my frequent visits to India, I was painfully aware that I could never completely relax outside, that my movements were constrained by insecurity and fear. After the explosive Nirbhaya case of 2012, in which a young woman was brutally gangraped in Delhi, I decided enough was enough. I promised myself I would never live in a place so unsafe for women. I didn’t think that would be a difficult vow to keep: According to the United Nations Crime Trends Survey of 2010, India had the thirdhighest incidence of reported rape in the world. How much more dangerous could it get?

When I decided to study in the United States, I remember noticing the high rates of campus sexual assault in comparison with other

countries. But as I visited campuses, they seemed so peaceful, inclusive and safe. I’d always associated sexual assault with dark alleyways and brutish perpetrators; it seemed absurd to think that intelligent, driven students at colleges like Brown could commit such heinous crimes.

Well, I was in for a rude awakening.

Last week, the results of the Association of American Universities survey on sexual assault were

versities, and most show comparable results. Overall, 11.7 percent of the surveyed students reported having experienced nonconsensual sexual contact. That’s over one in 10 students. Let’s just take a moment to reflect on the fact that sexual assault is now the most common violent crime on university campuses.

If that isn’t downright horrifying, I don’t know what is.

Of course, as several articles

the country. And the national sexual assault statistics aren’t encouraging in the first place.

Remember how India — one of the supposed “rape capitals” of the world — had the third highest incidence of rape in the world? Well, which country do you think ranked first? Yes, you guessed it: the United States. As Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen points out in a 2013 article in the New York Review of Books,

Let’s just take a moment to reflect on the fact that sexual assault is now the most common violent crime on university campuses. If that isn’t downright horrifying, I don’t know what is.

released. In a campus-wide email, President Christina Paxson P’19 announced the results and plans to discuss future steps. The numbers are shocking: At Brown, one in four undergraduate women and approximately one in 15 undergraduate men have faced some form of sexual violence. Undergraduates identifying as TGQN — transgender, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, questioning or non-listed — also reported even higher levels of assault. Most of the incidents went unreported.

The AAU survey spans 27 uni-

have pointed out in the past week, the results of the survey may well be skewed. The response rate of the survey was only 19.3 percent, so we can’t consider it a definitive or accurate study of campus assault. Yet we also should not discount the findings. Out of approximately 150,000 respondents, over 17,000 indicated they had experienced assault or unwanted touching. That is over 17,000 too many. The numbers are too high to ignore, and they point to one thing: College campuses have some of the highest sexual assault rates in

the incidence of rape in India is 1.8 per 100,000 women; in the United States, that figure is 27.3. Admittedly, India’s figure suffers from underreporting, but Sen argues that even if it were 10 times higher, it would still be considerably smaller than that of the United States. In this country, there is a reported rape every 6.2 minutes. I’m not arguing that the United States is more dangerous than India in terms of sexual violence — I don’t have enough information to make that kind of judgment. But based purely on the

numbers, I seem to have jumped out of the metaphorical frying pan and into the fire.

There has been a lot of debate as to whether a rape culture exists on college campuses. I don’t want to argue that the problem is only societal: as a growing number of activists have argued, this view detracts from the responsibility of the individual perpetrators. But at the same time, it is obvious that there are overarching, systemic failures in campus safety. The figures are simply too staggering to believe otherwise.

The results of this survey underscore the need for substantial administrative change. The Sexual Assault Task Force did some laudable work drafting recommendations to address the issue. Its recommendations help survivors and raise awareness about sexual assault on campus.

Now it is imperative for the University — and the administrations of the 26 other universities surveyed — to build on this work. The statistics were distressing, but they can also serve as a call to action. Brown administrators have already taken steps forward by implementing many of the task force’s recommendations, but there remains more to be done to protect students.

Mili Mitra ’18 hopes Brown will improve its sexual assault policies.

Our problematic patriotism RACHEL MONTOYA opinions editor

The United States has been at war for almost 15 consecutive years. American children born after 2001 have no conception of a life without constant wartime news coverage alluding to the looming threats of terrorists, outsiders and anti-American sentiments. Along with shaping our news stories, public policies and attitudes towards other nations, this constant state of violence seems to have altered our model of patriotism into a strict nationalist binary where you either blindly love America or are seen as hating it and needing to leave. In the words of Howard Zinn, “one certain effect of war is to diminish freedom of expression.”

Indeed, war has created within American patriotic rhetoric a dangerous and polarizing divide that leaves no room for creative or critical discourse about what it means to be thoughtfully patriotic, to appreciate the United States while also considering ways in which it needs to improve.

Children are indoctrinated with this nationalist patriotism from the time they first enter school: They say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning and listen to the National Anthem at every sporting event before they are even old enough to understand the history of these words. I remember singing songs in chorus about how beautiful America is, about its rolling waves of grain and its grand old flag and its freedom, freedom, freedom. Yet, at age seven, I had no idea of the dark past that these songs obscured. Our narrative of history was written by colonialists, with no mention of the

people that were killed for getting in the way of American idealism and expansion. There are no cheerful marches about the Native Americans who were slaughtered so that European settlers could take their land, no rhyming tunes about the enslaved men and women upon whom our modern economy was built.

It is wrong that we inculcate children with this brand of patriotism at such a young age, for in doing so we only perpetuate the American tendency to ignore the sins of our past and to deny the social ills of the present. In claiming to love America, people ignore the cruel-

This tendency toward historical obfuscation is especially prominent in the recent debates over Advanced Placement U.S. History curricula. In response to curricular changes made by the College Board, one Denver school wrote that “materials should promote citizenship, patriotism, essentials and benefits of the free enterprise system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights. Materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard of the law.

Instructional materials should present positive aspects of the United States and its heritage.”

To be truly patriotic, people should embrace the United States’ imperfect past, pushing back against the normative model of patriotic ignorance.

ties of its past, preaching about ideals of “freedom and justice for all’’ that have yet to come to fruition. All people were not free when the Declaration of Independence was signed, and all people are not free today. Racial, socioeconomic and gendered divides continue to plague modern American society, attesting to the many who have yet to experience the freedom and equality promised by the founding fathers.

The members of the review board responsible for the statement would no doubt identify as patriots — their recommendations are meant to promote a love for America among students and place the country in a positive light. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, this is exactly what patriotism is: “a love or devotion to one’s country.” But to truly love something is to love it in its entirety, both the good and the bad. People should not have

to feign blindness to the United States’ flawed history in order to be accepted as patriotic, yet this is often the condition with which they are faced.

Whenever I have expressed discomfort with the lack of discourse around our patriotic ideals, I have been met with only glares and comments that I should leave the United States if I hate it so much. Why should we all jump to stand for the National Anthem without questioning its history and meaning in our present-day society? The very idea of not standing for the National Anthem is enough to merit long lectures about respect and propriety from many of my peers and elders, but I do not question the anthem to be disrespectful. I understand that for many, the flag is representative of the all the lives that have been lost protecting American interests and all the soldiers who are still serving abroad. I respect these soldiers, respect their sacrifices, but this does not mean that I condone violence or American aggression. It is possible to be thankful and supportive of individuals while still critiquing the overall system of U.S. policy, but this nuance seems to be lost within the existing patriotic binary.

To be truly patriotic, people should embrace the United States’ imperfect past, pushing back against the normative model of patriotic ignorance. The ideals of our founding fathers may not have been achieved, but we can still strive for them in the future by being brave enough to criticize American ideologies.

To quote Howard Zinn once more, “dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”

Rachel Montoya ’16 can be reached at rachel_montoya@brown.edu.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015

Study assesses suicide intervention program for former jail inmates Professor receives $6.8 million grant to conduct suicide prevention trial, track former detainees for four years

By ELENA WEISSMANN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In 2013, 46 of every 100,000 jail inmates committed suicide, marking nearly four times the suicide rate for the total U.S. population, according to a report published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. That number triples to 128 deaths per every 100,000 former detainees a year after jail release, said Lauren Weinstock, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior.

Weinstock, along with her co-investigator Jennifer Johnson, associate professor of public health at Michigan State University, recently received a $6.8 million grant to test whether a new intervention — the Suicide Prevention for at-Risk Individuals in Transition — can help lower these numbers.

“People in jail tend to have higher rates of mental health and substance abuse difficulties,” Weinstock said.

“We’re focusing on this vulnerable group of people during an acute crisis and helping them transition during that time.”

Weinstock and Johnson plan to enlist 800 detainees released from the Rhode Island Department of Corrections jail in Cranston, Rhode Island, and the Genesee County Jail in Flint, Michigan to participate in a trial of the intervention.

As part of the trial, participants will be assigned to either standard care or the Safety Planning Intervention, conducted by local mental health clinicians.

The Safety Planning Intervention will focus on providing detainees with resources they can take advantage of if suicidal thoughts arise in the years after their release.

Trained mental health providers will work with the detainees while they are still in jail to formulate a safety plan

— a list of important family members and friends to contact, methods for managing suicidal thoughts and information about public resources such as the Samaritans 24-Hour Crisis Hotline.

Those same clinicians will also check back with the individuals at various times post-release through follow-up phone calls.

“The detainees spend time with the interventionists going through the safety plan, so all of it is literally spelled out on a piece of paper they can take with them when they leave jail,” Weinstock said, adding that the follow-up phone calls will supplement the safety plan and provide additional support.

Josiah Rich, professor of medicine and epidemiology and the co-founder of The Center for Prison Health and Human Rights at Miriam Hospital, who is not involved with the trial, said offering detainees help during this critical time is crucial.

“You would think being released from incarceration is a joyous occasion, but it’s actually more difficult. You have

to worry about a whole lot of things you didn’t have to before — basic things, like where you’re going to sleep and how to get your next meal,” Rich said.

The trial will track the former detainees over the span of four years, examining suicidal behavior, psychiatric and substance abuse outcomes and rearrest rates, according to a University press release.

Rich said the high suicide rate of incarcerated individuals likely coincides with a high rate of mental illness.

“The question needs to be asked: Is this system working? We’re locking up the mentally ill. We’re locking up people with addictions. They need treatment — they don’t need to be locked up,” he said.

As a clinician at the Rhode Island Correctional Facility, Rich provides specialized care and advocates public health policy changes to improve the health of people with addiction.

“The whole system is fundamentally unfair. The people who end up spending time incarcerated are different from everyone else, and it’s not because of

the crime they committed,” Rich said.

“It’s because of who they are in terms of their poverty, their zip codes, their race and their opportunities in life.

This is not the land of the free where everyone has equal opportunity. Most people do not … so we have to re-do this system.”

Weinstock and Johnson designed the study with an eye toward eventual implementation. By hiring local therapists, Weinstock hopes to develop a realistic method for community intervention. The researchers have also included several stakeholders in the study, including the Rhode Island Department of Corrections and the Providence Center, an organization that provides supportive services to those affected by psychiatric illness or addiction.

“With important input from the stakeholders at this stage in the research, we are optimistic that we can integrate their feedback into the research study to increase the odds that this will become adopted,” Weinstock said.

Paper details Western ISIS recruits’ motives U. mathematics institute to

Led by Med School resident, authors identify desire for meaning, need to belong as motivators

By CLARISSA CLEMM STAFF WRITER

“Why are young Westerners drawn to terrorist organizations like ISIS?” That is the question that Omar Sultan Haque, a psychiatry resident at the Alpert Medical School, explored in a cover-page article of the same name for the September edition of Psychiatric Times along with his coauthors Jihye Choi, Tim Phillips and Harold Bursztajn.

The co-authors combined their respective psychiatric and real-world experiences to delve into the minds of young adults who have baffled their families and communities by joining terrorist groups.

The article “brings together an account of the vulnerabilities in individuals as well as the vulnerabilities in Western society to explain this particular phenomenon, as opposed to a particular profile of a person,” Haque said.

By analyzing existing literature on the topic including case studies, reviewing the work of terrorism experts and drawing on their own personal

experiences, the authors developed a deeper understanding of the issues at hand.

“I think of it as a mixture of political science and the psychology of happiness and religion,” Haque said.

The authors looked outside of religious affiliation and recruitment tactics to identify why ISIS, as well as fanatical cults, have amassed such large followings.

“There are these psychological, emotional and cognitive reasons that run deeper than religious affiliation,” said Phillips, co-founder of Beyond Conflict, a nonprofit that aims to resolve international conflicts. “You need to understand that it’s not just about recruitment. It’s about motivation and what motivates people to do that.”

The authors found that the desire for meaning and belonging were two motivators for joining ISIS and cults, especially for individuals who were socially isolated or undergoing a transition.

“There is too much information in a changing world,” said Bursztajn, a senior clinical faculty member at Harvard Medical School and a practicing psychiatrist. “When there’s uncertainty inside and outside, you search for certainty, and what fanatical cults give is absolute meaning and absolute certainty.”

“There is the universal longing for belonging to something,” Phillips said.

Lorenz Boellinger, a professor at Bremen University in Germany who carried out a simulation in which groups of students were charged with the task of creating a terrorist act, emphasized the importance of belonging and the manner in which groups develop a common ideology.

“The group closes itself off against the outside, and it develops its own system of norms and coherence,” Boellinger said. “They only find the feeling of belonging when they share this common ideology, even though the ideology is a rationalization of psychologically caused wants.”

Authors of the article also found that individuals struggling to find their identities considered Western society’s focus on individualism a burden.

Much like people who join totalitarian cults, “they don’t like that they have to decide what they believe and what their morality and personal philosophies are,” Haque said, adding that this can lead them to “relinquish their will” and “give themselves to a transcendent force.”

The authors stressed that their work is not done.

“This is the next generation,” Bursztajn said. “There is only going to be more change and more ambiguity.”

receive $17.5 million grant Renewed grant to fund research on intersection between computational, experimental math

By MADELEINE GAW CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The National Science Foundation renewed the $17.5 million grant that funds the operations of the University’s Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics, according to a University press release.

The five-year grant will fund programs, workshops and conferences held at ICERM — a center that pursues research at the intersection of computation and mathematics. The grant is similar to a previous fiveyear NSF grant awarded to ICERM in 2010, which provided funds for the institute’s founding.

To receive the grant, ICERM had to go through a rigorous review process called a program solicitation, said Nandini Kannan, an NSF program director.

This program solicitation included both an internal review of the workings of the institute and an external review, in which the NSF talked to the surrounding community to determine whether the NSF’s division of mathematics would recommend funding an award, Kannan said.

“These are competitive awards,” said Jill Pipher, professor of mathematics and director of ICERM. Institute administrators created a proposal, presented it to an NSF panel and underwent a three-day on-site investigation, she said.

Receiving the grant required that the institute be deemed “successful” — a standard based on progress made in research and cultivation of a scientific community, Pipher and Kannan

both said.

Kannan said the renewal of the grant is due in part to ICERM’s focus on the intersection between computational and experimental mathematics and the fact that the institute has become a “national resource” for this collaboration.

Pipher echoed Kannan’s sentiment, adding that their identification of new mathematical problems and focus on training new researchers help make ICERM a unique research center.

ICERM workshops have the potential to spark new research by fostering collaborative work among researchers and faculty members, said Edgar Costa, a postdoctoral fellow at ICERM. It is rare that researchers have the time to focus solely on this kind of collaboration for an entire semester, Costa said, adding that these collaborations are often limited to email and short conferences.

“We’re very grateful that the NSF has validated our accomplishments to date and our future vision for ICERM,” Pipher said.

NSF grant money is initially divided into funding for staff salaries, research tools and specific programs proposed by ICERM, Pipher said.

Since the new grant is the same amount of money as the old one, only one new program — Collaborate at ICERM — will be created under the new grant, she said.

Under this new program, a small group of outside researchers will be able to work out of ICERM’s high-tech research facilities for one week.

Because the NSF is ICERM’s main source of funding, the institute follows the NSF’s goals for the scientific community and is required to complete annual reports about visitors and research, Pipher said. As ICERM receives about 1,000 researchers and speakers per year, this results in a lengthy annual report, she said.