Tuesday, October 27, 2015

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 93

Survivors testify at sexual assault hearing Meeting part of 13-member commission’s goal to improve sexual assault policy, reporting

By KATE TALERICO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

A Brown contractor was assaulted and robbed of his cell phone at around 9:45 p.m. in the area of Prospect and Meeting streets, about a block away from Pembroke campus.

Andrews BOWEN

Machado

PEMBROKE CAMPUS

CUSHING

West House THAYER

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Location of Oct. 25 assault and robbery

MEETING

PROSPECT

Two female sexual assault survivors testified Monday at a meeting of the General Assembly’s Special Commission on Campus Sexual Assault, a 13-member body tasked with gathering information to inform Rhode Island policymakers, said Rep. Mia Ackerman, D-Cumberland and Lincoln, chair of the commission.

The creation of the commission was spurred by Ackerman’s introduction of a bill that would require institutions of higher education in the state to report incidents of sexual assault to law enforcement, The Herald previously reported. While the commission does not include a representative from the University, representatives come to the commission from Johnson and Wales University, Rhode Island College, University of Rhode Island and Providence College, The Herald previously reported.

Jane, whose last name has been removed to maintain confidentiality, testified before the commission about how she was in her own home when she was brutally raped and assaulted.

Jane said after her assaulter left and she realized the extent of her injuries, she called the police and was transported

to the Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. There, physicians asked her what happened and measured the bites on her back while photographers took pictures of injuries on her arms, legs and vaginal area, she said.

Jane said she was asked if she wanted to call a friend or a family member but she declined. She said she felt ashamed and embarrassed about what had happened.

“At that moment I decided to keep my rape a secret,” Jane said.

Though Jane was assaulted at age 47 and was not a college student, the commission asked her to testify about the Rhode Island court system to determine whether the state should require students to utilize Rhode Island’s legal system through the proposed legislation, Ackerman said.

Jane sat through three trials concerning her assault — one after a mistrial of the original case and a second after an appeal from her assaulter.

“The burden of proof was always on me,” Jane said. “My character and my integrity as a woman were always questioned.”

Throughout her trials, Jane was supported by an advocate from Day One — a Rhode Island agency that aims to reduce sexual violence and support those affected by it.

Despite her experience in the legal system, Jane said she feels that universities must be required to report cases of sexual assault to the state. New Jersey and Virginia are among other states » See ASSAULT, page 2

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ANGELL

Source: Department of Public Safety LILLY NGUYEN / HERALD

Brown contractor assaulted near Pembroke Christopher George hospitalized for ‘non-life threatening injuries’ after slashing, robbery

By AGNES CHAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Two men assaulted and robbed a part-time contractor at the University near the intersection of Prospect and

Meeting streets at approximately 9:45 p.m. Sunday, according to a campuswide email from the Department of Public Safety.

Christopher George, the victim, was approached by “two Latino males of medium complexion around 18 years of age,” one of whom was wearing a Halloween skull mask, according to the email. One brandished a knife, and the other demanded George’s cell phone.

The two assailants slashed George’s face with the knife and fled the scene in a dark colored SUV, the Providence Journal reported Monday.

George suffered serious injuries on his nose, mouth and the back of his head. He was sent to Rhode Island Hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries,” Turn to 10 reported.

Paul Shanley, deputy chief of police for DPS, declined to comment » See CRIME, page 3

Racist flyers found near campus Gas, electric shutoffs State, federal law prompt lawsuit enforcement officials investigate racist, antiSemitic flyers on East Side

By MEI NOVAK STAFF WRITER

Racist and anti-Semitic flyers were found in bags on the East Side of Providence near campus Oct. 15, prompting Providence Police to shut down several blocks around Hope and Methyl streets.

Law enforcement officials found the flyers inside bags that appeared to contain white rice in the Blackstone neighborhood. A hazardous materials team from the Providence Fire Department wore protective suits while collecting the bags, which have thus far tested negatively for dangerous

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substances.

“We followed standard operation procedure to have the bags processed by the (Rhode Island) Department of Health. They are currently being processed for latent prints, and no evidence of chemical or biological agents were found in the bags,” wrote Lindsey Lague, public information officer for the Providence Police Department, in an email to The Herald.

A total of 22 bags were found in various locations near homes, including on the sidewalk and in driveways and yards. Police are still unsure why this neighborhood was targeted, Lague wrote.

The flyers also referenced the Ku Klux Klan, though officials do not know whether the Klan was involved in the incident, Rhode Island Public Radio reported.

Police have increased patrols in the area following the incident, and it is

still “too early in the case to determine what charges those responsible might face,” Lague wrote.

Steven Paré, Providence public safety commissioner, told the Providence Journal the crime would be prosecuted as a hate crime “because it was targeted towards both race- and faith-based groups.”

The crime could be prosecuted both on the federal and state level, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation and state police are involved in the investigation, Paré told RIPR. In response to the flyers, members of the Providence community have banded together to help all who were impacted.

“We all feel affected,” said Donald Anderson, executive minister for the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, adding that these crimes » See FLYERS, page 2

Low-income, medically vulnerable consumers seek protection against future terminations

By KYLE BOROWSKI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Center for Justice has filed a lawsuit against National Grid and the State of Rhode Island’s Division of Public Utilities and Carriers on behalf of medically vulnerable consumers who experienced shutoffs of their gas supply or electricity, endangering their health, according to a press release from the center.

The Center for Justice — a

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nonprofit public interest law center based in Rhode Island — succeeded in appealing for immediate relief for the five named plaintiffs in “protecting them from shutoffs for now,” said Robert McCreanor, executive director and attorney for the center.

“Each of the five main plaintiffs in the lawsuit experienced at least one instance of utilities service termination in the past year,” McCreanor said, adding, “Some of them have had their utilities shut off more than once in the past three years.”

Though the center has been able to help these five individuals, others in similar situations have not had their concerns brought to court. The Center for Justice is therefore seeking a » See LAWSUIT, page 3

WEATHER

TUESDAY, OC TOBER 27, 2015

UNIVERSITY NEWS Alums from Brown Associated Housing Cooperative reminisce at group’s 45th reunion

SCIENCE & RESEARCH Rhode Island Hospital researchers examine failure to rescue, or death after treatable complication

COMMENTARY Esemplare ’18: Students should choose concentrations based on interest, not employment potential

COMMENTARY Simon ’16: Architecture of three buildings west of Thayer Street damages campus aesthetic

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» FLYERS, from page 1 are “against all of us.”

Anderson expressed faith in the Providence police, whom he said are “incredibly responsive to any antiSemitism that happens in the city.”

Marty Cooper, community relations director for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island, said the

Providence Police and Paré have done a “stellar job” in keeping the community safe following the incident by increasing patrols around the neighborhood and keeping in daily contact wit h the Jewish Alliance. The flyers are “being denounced as a whole” by members of the religious community, and they are “not thought of as anything but hate,” Cooper said.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

» ASSAULT, from page 1 considering similar legislation.

“What I’ve heard from students is that colleges tend to sweep sexual assault under the rug,” said Jane, who now speaks to college students about her experience through One Voice, a survivor advocacy group that uses public speaking to address sexual violence.

“We need to hold colleges accountable,” Jane added.

Erin — whose last name has been omitted to maintain confidentiality — is also a member of One Voice and testified Monday.

Erin was 24 years old when she was violently gang-raped on New Year’s Eve in 2005.

She approached a police officer who listened and called an ambulance for her. Several other police officers soon arrived on the scene and asked her to describe the incident.

“In my head, I thought I was clear,” she said. “The officers treated me as if I were the criminal and threw me in the back of the police car.”

When a detective asked her to recount the event, Erin found that two hours of her memory had been lost.

Rape kit results later revealed that she had been drugged.

Three years following her rape, detectives found a possible match for one of her assailants. He had since fled from Rhode Island to Florida. Years later, he held up an apartment. Not wanting to give himself up to police, he killed himself. Before that, he drowned his electronics in water to destroy them

and their contents, meaning that Erin and her advocate from Day One would not be able to trace the contacts of her assailant and link him with any of her other possible assailants.

Compelled to move forward from her assault and make sure the same would not happen to others, Erin worked toward a master’s of public health at Roger Williams University, where she studied methods of bystander prevention.

She and Jane recently spoke at Rhode Island College, where they gathered feedback from students about the culture of sexual assault on college campuses.

In their discussions with students, several male students did not know what consent was, Erin said. Other students voiced concern that sports teams and fraternities fostered a culture of rape, she added.

Students recommended a one-credit course taught during their first semester about the definition of consent and methods of bystander intervention, Erin said, noting that students specifically requested the material not be taught through an online course — a method that Brown piloted for the first time this year.

Students also suggested that sexual assault counseling come specifically from their residential advisors.

While California and New York have passed affirmative consent laws, which require active and freely given verbal consent during all sexual acts, Ackerman said she would not institute a similar bill in Rhode Island.

“I cannot see how, in the throws of passion … anybody would be saying ‘Yes we can do this,’ ‘Yes we can do that,’” Ackerman said. “It’s not practical, and it’s not provable.”

ALEXIA DELHOUME / HERALD

Two sexual assault survivors delivered their testimonies Monday before a 13-member commission at the Rhode Island State House.

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2015 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

ALEXIA DELHOUME / HERALD

The health of medically vulnerable patients was put in temporary danger after the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers shut off its supply of gas and electricity. The Center for Justice has filed a lawsuit calling for the protection of “low-income, seriously ill and/or disabled individuals,” and it aims to help connect these individuals with legal resources.

» LAWSUIT, from page 1 class action lawsuit to represent more people.

“There are probably 3,000 to 5,000 households in Rhode Island … that are at risk for utility shutoff and have medical conditions that entitle them to certain protections under the law,” McCreanor said.

“There are rules that govern the termination of utilities,” said Thomas Kogut, chief of information for the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers. “That’s obviously the issue that’s being discussed in the Superior Court case right now,” he said.

“Shutting customers off — terminating their service — is the last step

» CRIME, from page 1 on the incident because the Providence Police were conducting the investigation. The Providence Police could not be reached for comment by press time.

In a separate incident, Jason Lachapelle, 47, was walking in the

that we take in a very long process to work with the customers, particularly if they’re having trouble paying their utility bills,” David Graves, spokesperson for the National Grid, told Rhode Island Public Radio.

The text of the suit specifically acknowledges the fact that many of the plaintiffs are “low-income, seriously ill and/or disabled individuals.”

The Center for Justice has collaborated with the George Wiley Center, a grassroots agency that focuses on advocacy for impoverished populations, to help connect those who have experienced utility shutoffs to legal resources. The “Lifeline Project” — as the collaboration is called — provided five opportunities throughout August

Smith Hill neighborhood Sunday afternoon when he was allegedly attacked and robbed by three teenagers wearing ski masks, the Providence Journal reported.

Officers arrested the suspects — Darren Mets, 17; Shemar Cameron, 18; and Luis Guerro, 16 — at around 3 p.m. Sunday.

and September for low-income utility customers who had their gas or electric services terminated in spite of having “recorded medical protections documented” to access legal resources, said Camilo Viveiros, lead organizer of the George Wiley Center.

“These medical protections were not respected and were diverted through the Division of Public Utilities who granted permission for National Grid to terminate people’s utilities,” Viveiros said.

The lawsuit names plaintiffs including Ramon Rodriguez, “a 72-yearold man suffering from end-stage lung disease as well as diabetes and cardiac impairment” who must depend on a “24-hour electric powered oxygen

machine for his survival.” Because of income and medical issues, he “has struggled to satisfy his payment obligations to … National Grid and has experienced termination of his electric utility service on at least six separate occasions in the past decade,” according to the suit’s text.

Describing a situation similar to that of other plaintiffs, the suit states that National Grid “failed to accurately inform Rodriguez of his right to seek protection from termination based on serious illness,” refused to “consider any payment arrangement proposed”

by Rodriguez and failed to “provide Rodriguez with clear, timely, unambiguous and individualized pre-termination notice.” As a result, Rodriguez

sought to charge his electric-powered oxygen machine plugging it into a motor vehicle battery as well as electrical outlets at a nearby laundromat and McDonald’s. Eventually, Rodriguez sought emergency medical treatment and was hospitalized for nearly two weeks.

The case will go back to court on Nov. 16, but McCreanor said he believes “it’ll take some time” for the lawsuit to be resolved. “The ultimate goal of the litigation is to bring the termination system into compliance with federal and state law and to make sure that medically vulnerable utility consumers are provided adequate notice before their services are being terminated,” he said.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Alums talk campus change, 1970s activist culture at co-op reunion BACH alums explore memories of cooperative housing experience at 45th reunion Saturday

By MELISSA CRUZ-RIVAS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Alums from as far back as the 1970s gathered on College Hill for the Brown Association for Cooperative Housing’s 45th reunion Saturday, reminiscing about the group’s progressive beginnings and how Brown has changed in the past few decades. Attendees listened to a variety of alumni and faculty speakers, lounged on the Main Green and toured a notably different campus than the one they left.

BACH, now called Providence Eastside Association for Cooperative Housing, was founded in 1970 during the Vietnam War as a student-led community independent from the University.

Steve Cowell ’72 helped create BACH as part of a Group Independent Study Project after GISPs were introduced alongside the open curriculum in 1969.

Members of BACH were responsible for their own rents, communityshared meals and home repairs. “It was intended to provide an alternative lifestyle to the capitalist system,” the group’s website reads.

Cowell described his inspiration for the GISP at the event’s symposium portion. As a first-year, he was invited to live in Roger Williams Housing Project and was the only white person among primarily black residents. “They said to me, ‘Welcome to the ghetto. This is what it’s like.’ I learned more in those two months than I ever will learn in my life,” Cowell said. This experience inspired him to “address housing in a collaborative way. White and black, rich and poor — working together,” he said.

Susan Colwell ’73 highlighted the fact that BACH arose from an era of activism. “We took over Sayles Hall and

made it into a student strike center in the Spring of 1970 and, of course, my dad came to visit that weekend. He was not impressed,” she said to laughter from the audience.

Colwell also helped launch the Sarah Doyle’s Women Center around the time when Professor of Anthropology Louise Lamphere was denied tenure, prompting a 1974 gender discrimination lawsuit against Brown.

Stephen Nelson, a senior scholar in the Leadership Alliance at Brown, explained how Brown has changed since the 1960s in the broader context of higher education. He discussed failures and successes of past presidents, paying particular attention to efforts to hire minority faculty members, which began in the 1990s. Nelson also noted Brown’s increasingly impressive

reputation, the expansion of campus buildings and hikes in tuition.

Anita Flax ’81, who lived in a co-op on Waterman Street in the 1970s, said not only the physical appearance, but also the underlying attitudes of campus have changed since her time as an undergraduate. To illustrate her point, she quoted the “Manual for Women Students in Dormitories,” which dictated that women must wear skirts or dresses to meals, and “on the evening of a formal dance, curlers are permitted at dinner, but they must be attractively covered.”

“It was all about the great people, and it was the best thing I ever did in my life,” Flax said of her time living in the co-op.

Ronald Lewis, resident of the Waterman co-op, provided an overview of

how BACH currently operates.

“At our corporation meetings these days, we talk a lot about our imprint on Providence, the accessibility of our space and how to be a positive influence on the greater Providence community,” Lewis said.

“It was in the co-ops that I began to deeply encounter a host of radical, creative, kind souls who helped me embark on what has become a lifelong endeavor of consciousness raising,” he said. “This started with food but it quickly goes into thoughts of community.”

Tony Affigne PhD ’76 MA ’91 PhD ’92, a political science professor at Providence College, discussed political changes that occurred in the ’70s, noting a theme of cooperation. The 1968 black student walkout began the series

of activism that shaped Brown’s image, he said. University administrators “will always have problems with their students because they market to the most innovative, creative and independentminded people in America,” he added.

Barnaby Evans ’75, BACH alum and creator of Waterfire, concluded the symposium with a presentation on the changes Providence has undergone in the past five decades. He showed images of the way Providence looked in the ’70s — barren and covered in railroads — juxtaposed with Providence today.

After the symposium, David Ray ’77 spoke of his longstanding friendship with Elliott Negin ’76, a coordinator of the reunion. Negin said he looks back “fondly on those days. We worked together and made a home for ourselves.”

DAID DECKEY / HERALD

Steve Cowell ’72 helped found the Brown Association for Cooperative Housing in 1970 as part of a Group Independent Study — a recently introduced curricular option after the 1969 adoption of the open curriculum. Members of BACH were expected to pay their own rents and share community meals.

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Curry Chicken Saute, Chicken Chimichangas, Mexican-Infused Rice, Banana Cream Pie

sudoku SADIE HOPE-GUND / HERALD

Pumpkins line the steps leading up to Maxcy Hall in anticipation of Halloween, as students plan their costumes and get ready for another festive weekend filled with plenty of treats, costumes, candy and horror stories.

comic A Campus Fairytale | Kimberly Saltz ‘17

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FLU SHOT CLINIC 10:00 A.M. Faunce, The Underground

FINANCIAL AID INFO SESSION 12:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson 411

EAS DUG: GREEN TEA ICE CREAM SOCIAL 4:00 P.M. Gerard House

WOMEN IN MEDICINE 5:30 P.M. Alpert Medical Building, Third Floor Commons

TOMORROW YALE LAW SCHOOL INFO SESSION 12:00 P.M. CareerLAB

PEOPLE OF COLOR SUPPORT GROUP 1:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson 516

HALLOWEEN ON WRISTON 2:00 P.M. Wriston Quadrangle

3RD GOP DEBATE WATCH PARTY 8:00 P.M. Metcalf Research Building 101

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Optional test essays are a step in the right direction Many students choose to matriculate at Brown because of its unique approach toward education, or at least because of the educational ideology it touts. Of all of the Ivy League schools, Brown seems to be the one that focuses most on learning as a process of exploration. We see that attitude reflected in our ability to choose classes without having to fulfill core requirements, the option to take classes Satisfactory/No Credit and opportunities to design our own concentrations. This educational model embraces the idea that there are many different outlets for intelligence, and it is alright for different people to excel in different ways. The open curriculum allows students to study what strikes their passions.

This is why we celebrate the University’s decision to make standardized test essay scores optional for applicants starting with the class of 2021.

While this decision mirrors that of the College Board to make the essay optional, only half of Ivy League schools have followed suit. We are proud to be on the side that did.

There are many obvious reasons for doing away with the mandatory nature of this section. Taking the test without the essay lowers its cost from $56.50 to $39.50, the essay format disproportionately favored students who came from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and the score seemed to not correlate with eventual success in college. We are happy with this step forward — however small — that places less importance on easily gamed standardized testing in the college admission process.

While the College Board has stated that the essay did not add validity to the admission process, it maintains on its website that the multiple choice section of standardized tests is “deeply predictive of college success.” Yet there is evidence that contradicts this assertion: data reported from the increasing number of test-optional colleges.

William Hiss, former dean of admission at Bates College, tracked the grade point averages and graduation rates of students who did and did not submit test results over several years and found a negligible difference. According to his research, high school GPA is a much more accurate reflection of how well a student will do in college. With all of the problems that accompany standardized testing, such as the fact that it advantages white and Asian students over black, Native and Latino students, we find that its lack of predictive assistance in the Office of Admission means that more harm comes with its emphasis than good.

We take this moment to celebrate the small victory of the University making the essay section optional. For many of us, the best part of attending Brown is going to school with such a diverse pool of peers who represent many different areas of intelligence and interest. This diversity of the student body gives us a unique chance to learn from one another and makes our four years here a dynamic and interesting experience.

Any step that the Admission Office takes to eliminate uniformity in the selection process is a step that will only enhance that experience.

I VA N A L C A N TA R A

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

“It was in the co-ops that I began to deeply encounter a host of radical, creative, kind souls who helped me embark on what has become a life-long endeavor of

”

consciousness raising.

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.

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COMMENTARY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2015 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Consider life, not the humanities NICHOLAS ESEMPLARE opinions columnist

Sitting in an English class last week, I was struck by a comment my teaching assistant made to a fellow student who had asked how to find the Department of Comparative Literature building. My TA half-interestedly described the building as a “mausoleum” hidden next to the imposing Science Library.

The description was somewhat poetic — and deeply ironic — and it has stayed with me since. I start with this image because to me, and likely to others, it describes cogently and tragically the current state of the study of literature that I so genuinely enjoy.

As an English and economics concentrator at Brown, I like to think that I have blended practicality and passion.

There is a need for both in life, and one’s college years are a challenging time to strike a balance. But as I see more and more of my friends — talented and intelligent students — turn toward paths of study that they consider safe or practical, I can’t help but be dismayed.

I understand their reasoning, and I don’t mean to paint them purely as sell-outs; many of them will continue to experiment academically outside of their concentrations. Based on the cost of tuition and the aim of a liberal arts education, however, I strongly disagree with the notion that college should be

considered primarily as a launching pad for one’s career. Brown is not a vocational school, and focusing entirely on one field for the purpose of career advancement strikes me as little short of absurd.

College is hard work, but it shouldn’t have to be work in the colloquial sense ­— why start your career four years early?

More importantly, one must consider what it is that we attend college for. Surely in the early days of education, the betterment and fulfillment of

dents make practical judgements about their educations that often preclude humanities subjects from consideration; simply put, subjects like English, philosophy and history do not provide, financially speaking, a good return on investment. Why, students ask, should I major in English if I plan on pursuing a career in business?

For those unsure of what to study, Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations or economics represent relatively safe choices. Ten or 20 years down the road, a BEO concentrator

of a cliche in today’s world, but I find the most common arguments cited in these battles unconvincing. Many are entranced by the idea that majors such as English or comparative literature can be defended as practical financial choices, arguing that the skills learned in these fields, especially critical thinking, are widely applicable in professional life.

This argument is unsatisfying. The humanities will never be able to compete with business or economics on strictly financial grounds; the dollar for

I’m not demonizing business or glorifying the starving artist; I’m only asking that you consider college as something perhaps too valuable to squander doing what you will do for the rest of your life. the individual took precedence. Since then, however, the focus has shifted more and more toward learning how to do some future job. While I agree that learning for learning’s sake is not exactly practical with a cost of attendance — including tuition and fees and room and board — adding up to $62,046 for the 2015-16 academic year, I strongly resist the idea that learning how to do a job is more important than learning how to live your life.

It is no secret that the humanities are falling out of favor as viable fields of study, and for good reason. In a world of skyrocketing tuition payments, stu-

can be relatively certain of being able to point to a bank statement and say, “Here, right here — this is what I am worth.”

There is a value in this certainty that is not trivial. The path to a life in business is clear and well-defined; you know where to intern, which skills to learn and which people to meet. During my first semester at Brown, I asked an English professor which internship options were available to English majors. He told me most of his students interned in business.

Fighting for the place of literature and the humanities has become a bit

dollar return on investment in these fields is often much higher. No, the value of such majors will never be adequately represented by a paycheck or a set of skills.

On the other end of the spectrum, I am also unconvinced by the “art for art’s sake” argument, which contends that the pursuit of beauty and culture exists for its own sake and thus doesn’t require any practical justification. I see this argument as a sort of elitist evasion and, once again, unsatisfying.

It is almost blasphemous to discuss practicality in non-fiscal terms, but, of course, future earnings are not the only

return on investment that a college education provides. As an English major, I don’t believe my degree’s value can be surmised by improvements in critical thinking skills or writing.

Reading a novel does not prepare you for employment; it prepares you for life. Great novels are about great questions, and fundamentally all notable literature explores the human experience.

There is a profound relatability in literature, because though novels masquerade as the stories of others, they are, underneath it all, the story of ourselves.

And so we already know the wisdom and the human experience, without knowing we do, because it is our wisdom and our experience. Great books awaken the dormant truths in your brain.

In the end, the issue of what to study at college comes down to priorities. For some, financial security is, quite reasonably, the primary end that college serves; for others, serving the community or pursuing a dream job understandably overrides the type of abstract human understanding that I discuss here. I’m not demonizing business or glorifying the starving artist; I’m only asking that you consider college as something perhaps too valuable to squander doing what you will do for the rest of your life.

Nicholas Esemplare ’18 can be reached at nicholas_esemplare@brown.edu.

Brown’s Iron Curtain CHAD SIMON opinions editor

The Soviet Union. That pretty much sums up everything I know about the Soviet Union.

History was never my forte. I rarely found myself beating down the doors of my high school history classes to discover just which Peruvian fishing village was ransacked, who in France was beheaded or exactly how many day laborers were buried inside the Great Wall of China. Too much tragedy, not enough glamour. Too many dates, not a single one of any royal balls. Pass.

I was of the school of thought that if I didn’t live through it, it was fiction, which I also readily detest. But some history is beyond the inventive reach of fiction and cannot be ignored.

I’m talking about the worst atrocity fomented under the Soviet Union’s leadership: its cancerous contribution to modern-day architecture. And I’m wagging a chiding finger at the University for allowing such shameful architecture to transatlantically metastasize to our lovely campus.

So keeping in trend with eviscerating local Providence edifices, I’ve decided to up my ante and take down three in particular that pay homage to an era of Stalinist gloom: the Sciences Library, affectionately known as the SciLi; the Watson Center for Information Technology, acronymically referred to as the CIT; and Barus and Holley, not infrequently shortened to B and H, which is uncomfortably reminiscent of every D-list ’90s boy band to sully my childhood.

Now, if I had my druthers, I would take them all down in the literal sense — a 10-ton wrecking ball to every last bloody one of them, or something just as theatrically destructive. But such are the limitations of an op-ed writer. And though it’s been said many times how much mightier the pen is than the sword, riddle me why I’ve never heard how much mightier the pen is than a 10-ton wrecking ball. That’s because nothing is mightier than a 10-ton wrecking ball. Nothing.

But I can give it the old college try.

Built in 1971, the SciLi is the physical manifestation of Soviet-bloc conceit — op-

said person with what I reckon to be a fitter answer: that the SciLi is a 15-floor concrete erection whose flacidity is long overdue. And the SciLi regulars (or residents) are phallusworshipping masochists, especially those who enjoy tormenting themselves in the basement.

(This is not a criticism.) But unlike most basements, which are dirty, strangely humid and dark, this one is sterile, bone-chillingly cold and fluorescent.

Moving right along, the CIT is a potpourri of sufficiently ugly nonsense. It’s a malodorous hothouse of overloaded computer science concentrators who must endure the building’s

I’m wagging a chiding finger at the University for allowing such shameful architecture to transatlantically metastasize to our lovely campus. pressive and dumb. I’m led to no other conclusion than the right one: The architects were in parlance with communist sympathizers set on usurping Providence’s New England charm. The SciLi’s monolothic pretension is modeled in Brutalist fashion, which is precisely as delightful as that sounds.

For the ill-informed and unsuspecting individual, Brutalism garnered mass critical acclaim from absolutely nobody with savoir faire. As a movement, Brutalism was a tragic mistake. As a tragic mistake, we have the SciLi. If someone were to ask me to sum up the SciLi in one word, I would tell that person to highly consider investing in Catherine Blythe’s magnum opus, “The Art of Conversation: A Guided Tour of a Neglected Pleasure,” and then I would apologize by responding to

futile attempt at geometric flair on a daily basis. You know those twin quarter landing steel staircases that greet guests in the foyer?

They’re as painfully uninteresting to me as they should be to you.

At the forefront of my concerns, though, is that the CIT does little to foster romance, which is not to say doing so should be a prerequisite for designing a building (that would be silly!), but it is to say that no building should ever crush and bruise all of one’s proclivity to surrender to love’s whims. I have personally had better luck finding companionship in the parking lot of a Subway. This is a grave problem. At least, I suppose, for you.

Speaking of lifeless emporiums of abstinence: Barus and Holley. If its walls could talk, I’d remain doubtful anyone would care to listen. Walking through its forgettable li-

noleum-lined halls is as bearable as a high school reunion — barely. Worse, the building is labyrinthine in ways that still agitate my ordinarily infallible internal GPS. And on the off chance I find myself inside B and H, my fears become two-fold: I suddenly don’t know how I wound up inside and I don’t know how to get out — two apprehensions all too often voiced by inmates in America’s broken prison system.

Folks, you may think this op-ed is irrelevant, baseless and a waste of valuable Herald real estate. It is not. Demanding some semblance of architectural congruency on my campus is not asking for the world; it’s asking for justice. But you may also think I’m superficial, self-entitled and obnoxious in every dimension possible. That’s because I am. Tack on vain, irascible and aloof and you’d be qualified to fill out my prescription for Lexapro.

And Xanax.

Last order of business. Much of the feedback I received from a previous Herald column (“Simon ’16: This Side of Thayerdise,” Sept. 22) elucidated a trait of my personality that people brashly assumed I was ignorant of: my mammoth capacity to judge. Namely, the breadth of topics that my frigid judgment reaches. Well, cheers, mate! I’m happy to say your powers of observation are intact. I’m full of judgment, and it’s absolutely possible to hate everything. I’m starting with every post1970s imposition constructed west of Thayer Street. And if you care about Brown’s marketability, you should, too.

Chad Simon ’16 is surprisingly still single and can be reached for dinner at chad_simon@brown.edu.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Science & Research Roundup

BY STEVEN MICHAEL, SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

Selection bias

A study led by a School of Public Health researcher examines the effect of selection bias in cohort studies, following the same group of people over many years. The paper was published online Oct. 19 in the journal Epidemiology. Selection bias can occur when a nonrandom subgroup drops out of the study.

The article cites heavy alcohol users, who may be more likely to drop out of a standard cohort study, as an example of selection bias. Since heavy alcohol users have a higher rate of mortality, this selection bias would skew the results.

The study found that targeted learning and weighting — a statistical technique in which a certain data item is emphasized more than others — can address issues of selection bias.

The paper’s coauthors include Chanelle Howe, assistant professor of epidemiology; Stephen Cole, professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health; Bryan Lau, associate professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Joseph Eron Jr., professor of medicine at UNC School of Medicine.

Preventing hemorrhages

Researchers led by Assistant Professor of Neurology Shadi Yaghi found no effective treatments for symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhages, which entail massive bleeding inside the head, according to a University press release. The paper was published online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology.

This type of hemorrhage occurs in 6 percent of patients treated with a specific protein for ischemic stroke, which is a life-threatening condition that occurs when blood is blocked from reaching the brain, according to the study. The lack of effective treatments can be attributed to delays in diagnosing and treating the hemorrhage.

“This study included 128 patients and showed that the treatments used were not effective in improving the mortality related to this condition,” Yaghi said in the press release.

Treatments that were tested included surgery, vitamin K, fresh frozen plasma and various hemostatic agents that promote blood clotting, according to the study.

Out of these treatments, only surgery resulted in a small but statistically non-significant improvement in outcome.

Amphibian ability

The ancestors of salamanders and other amphibians once had the capacity to regrow limbs and organs, according to a study involving a University researcher and published online Monday in the journal Nature.

Researchers examined the limbs of amphibians in 290 millionyear-old fossils in comparison to the limbs of modern salamanders, which retain the ability to regrow body parts, according to a University press release.

The findings suggest that ancient amphibians had the same ability but lost it in the intervening evolutionary history, according to the press release.

“The amphibians fossilized under excellent conditions for preservation and are represented by a large number of individuals and developmental stages,” Florian Witzmann, a visiting scientist in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, said in the press release. “This extraordinary fossil record allowed for the detailed study of limb development and regeneration.”

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2015

Research examines causes of failure to rescue Conducted by Rhode Island Hospital, study could improve overall care of surgery patients

By HATTIE XU STAFF WRITER

A group of Rhode Island Hospital surgeons investigated medical conditions associated with failure to rescue — death after a treatable complication — using statistics from the hospital, said Andrew Stephen, assistant professor of surgery and coauthor of the study. The paper was recently published online in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

The study was led by Larissa Chiulli, a fifth-year surgical resident, with contributions from Stephen, Assistant Professor of Surgery Daithi Heffernan and Associate Professor of Surgery Thomas Miner. Chiulli started the project approximately two years ago, leading to the presentation of the research at the 95th Annual Meeting of the New England Surgical Society in September 2014, Miner said.

The researchers tried to identify comorbidities — the presence of two or more conditions in a patient ­— that contributed to high and low rates of failure to rescue, Stephen said. Failure to rescue is used to grade and compare the success of hospitals or surgeons in fixing problems and caring for their patients, Miner said.

But the rate of failure to rescue does not tell the whole story.

“What that missed was the degree of difficulty of taking care of these patients,” Stephen said. Though a small hospital may have a lower failure to rescue rate, this can be attributed to the fact that patients who require more complex and high-risk surgeries are often sent to larger hospitals in the city, he said.

The researchers conducted the study using the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program

database for Rhode Island Hospital, which listed 7,763 patients, according to the article. The database includes preoperative factors such as age, gender and preexisting conditions as well as operative factors such as length of the operation and amount of blood loss. The data also includes information on postoperative complications that occur within 30 days of the surgery, Miner said.

The researchers first examined links between preexisting conditions and postoperative complications, followed by links between postoperative complications and failure to rescue, according to the article.

The study found that comorbidities related to organ damage, such as liver failure or sepsis — the body’s possibly lethal response to a bacterial infection — were more closely associated with high failure to rescue rates, while other comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension were not, according to the article.

A common mistake in these types of studies is that people assume causation from correlation, Miner said. The presence of a certain comorbidity is not a definite prediction of a postoperative complication, he added.

Though these studies will not likely change health policy, they can be used to improve overall care to lower postsurgery deaths, Stephen said. Results from these studies “can lead to increased screening or vigilance about certain patients that present to the hospital,” he said. “You may have to be more careful about these patients or mobilize more resources for them.”

Such tactics include ordering certain laboratory tests earlier, monitoring the treatment of the patient’s comorbidities and using more intensive care unit resources, he added.

Despite the current focus on lowering failure to rescue rates, these rates may not always be indicative of a struggling hospital or doctor who made a mistake, Miner said.

“There (are) times when failure to

rescue isn’t a failure. It can be sound clinical judgment and a hallmark of a compassionate practitioner,” Miner said. As a surgical oncologist, Miner said cancer patients may suffer less if they undergo fewer procedures and interventions at the end of their lives.

Joseph Hyder, assistant professor of anesthesiology at Mayo Medical School in Rochester, Minn., and Elliot Wakeam, a surgical resident at the University of Toronto, are authors of another article examining failure to rescue that was published in June in the same journal. They studied data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from hospitals in the lowest mortality quintile and the highest mortality quintile from 2007 to 2011, according to the article.

Hyder and Wakeam reached similar conclusions to those in the RIH study, as both articles suggested the importance of identifying preoperative factors and being more attentive to patients with certain comorbidities, Hyder said.

“What my study tried to do is to ask whether there are new ways to take care of sick people,” Hyder said.

In their article, Hyder and Wakeam also emphasize the difficulty of communication when failure to rescue patients are identified postoperatively and care is provided too late.

“Identifying the patient in need of rescue is a challenge, but the second challenge is communicating about that patient,” Hyder said. “There are many people who care for that patient who need to know whether that patient is really sick or not.”

Though identifying high-risk patients preoperatively takes away some of the guesswork in solving postoperative complications, it is not always enough, Wakeam said.

“To prevent these deteriorations from happening is as important as managing them after they occur,” Wakeam said. “We’ll always have to do both. Our predictions can be imperfect.”

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