Wednesday, October 28, 2015

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 94

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

BUCC supports Indigenous People’s Day, Hilton workers Council members vote in recognition of Native American students, hotel employee labor dispute

By LAUREN ARATANI SENIOR STAFF WRITER

JULIANNA LEE MARIANO / HERALD

Nina Totenberg, award-winning National Public Radio legal affairs correspondent, visited campus Tuesday to discuss the development of the Supreme Court over the last 47 years.

Totenberg compares Court’s past and present Renowned NPR writer speaks of covering Supreme Court, predicts issues in court’s future

By JESSICA MURPHY STAFF WRITER

With almost half a century of reporting experience under her belt, award-

winning legal affairs correspondent for National Public Radio Nina Totenberg noted with amusement to a packed Salomon 101, “I have been covering the Supreme Court longer than any of the current justices have been serving.”

Totenberg “is famous for her direct, no-nonsense, crystal clear reporting on law and legal issues, and she’s won just about every

major journalism award in broadcasting,” said Jim Morone, director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy, who introduced Totenberg. He added that he relies on Totenberg’s reporting in his own classroom.

Totenberg began her speech with a myriad of short — yet highly entertaining — stories about the Supreme » See TOTENBERG, page 2

The Brown University Community Council passed a resolution urging the faculty to vote on changing the name of Fall Weekend to Indigenous Peoples’ Day and another supporting the Hilton Providence Hotel workers in their labor dispute.

Representatives from Native Americans at Brown began Tuesday’s meeting by introducing a resolution encouraging the council to support their movement to change the name of Fall Weekend to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. President Christina Paxson P’19 acknowledged that the BUCC does not have the authority to officially rename the University holiday. Any change to the University calendar must be voted on by the faculty.

Changing the name of Fall Weekend to Indigenous Peoples’ Day is the “bare minimum that the University can do to support Native students,” said Kara Roanhorse ’18, adding that it

will especially help Native Americans gain respect and “institutionalized” support.

Native American students present at the meeting not only asked the BUCC for its support but also used the opportunity to clarify that renaming the holiday would be the first step in a longer process to help Native American students feel comfortable on campus, said Phoebe Young ’18.

It “has become very apparent in the past month that being on campus for us has become very difficult, as Native students,” Young said, adding that University recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Day can help contribute to a “societal recognition” of Native American presence.

“It’s a small step, but it matters.

Brown has the power to do something about this,” Young said.

The student presenters also noted that places in the United States, such as Alaska and the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico, have already officially changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Paxson asked for clarification regarding how the student group expects the University to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day, adding that » See BUCC, page 2

Summit examines future of R.I. education Education leaders explore how to increase student achievement in urban, low-income districts

By MELISSA CRUZ STAFF WRITER

Rhode Island Sens. Juan Pichardo, D- Providence, and Harold Metts, D-Providence, hosted the Ocean State’s fourth annual education summit, “The Equitable Delivery of a 21st Century Education: Closing the Achievement Gap” in the State House Senate lounge Tuesday.

The summit was divided into three sessions: one on the current state of education for students of color, one on research and new initiatives in Rhode Island schools and one on efforts to close the achievement gap.

Featuring a variety of speakers and panels, each followed by a question-andanswer session, the interactive summit emphasized the importance of dialogue among leaders in education. It “highlights great things our states are doing

METRO

INSIDE

but also addresses the issues we face,” said Chanda Womack, supervisor of high school programs of the College Crusade of Rhode Island.

“I believe success depends on our continued collaboration,” Pichardo said, adding that 130 people registered for the event.

The first panel included Barbara Cottam, chair of the Rhode Island Board of Education, who stressed the importance of developing literacy during children’s early developmental stages. She said educators “must maintain high standards and expectations for all … not just top students” throughout secondary school and touched on the importance of faculty diversity.

It is “important that students recognize themselves in their role models and teachers,” Cottam added.

Ken Wagner, Rhode Island education commissioner, and Jim Purcell, commissioner of Rhode Island’s postsecondary education, also spoke on the first panel.

All three speakers emphasized the importance of data in understanding approaches to improve education.

The second session included a panel » See EDUCATION, page 3

COURTESY OF JENNIFER MAI

Exotic cuisine and student performances lined Benefit Street yesterday for the Rhode Island School of Design’s Eat the World event, uniting cultures and flavors on Brown and RISD’s campuses.

Culture, food celebrated at ‘Eat the World’

Dishes from 19 countries, student performances meet in global celebration on Benefit Street

By SHIRA BUCHSBAUM STAFF WRITER

Benefit Street transformed into a culinary adventure around the world Sunday, representing a range of countries, dishes and customs. Snippets from Haiti to Iran

and Japan to Greece lined the street, all 19 booths boasting freshly made dishes in celebration of the Rhode Island School of Design’s Global Initiative’s third annual Eat the World event.

Global Initiative, a student organization that focuses on highlighting the many cultures at RISD, created Eat the World as a way to “promote diversity on campus,” said RISD junior Jeffrey Hsueh, one of the event’s organizers. The event

ARTS & CULTURE

featured booths run by RISD students of that country’s origin or descent who served homemade, traditional dishes.

“What better way of connecting everyone than food from all over the world?” Hsueh said.

The students made the food themselves with ingredients from RISD’s kitchens, Hseuh said. All of the students at the booths volunteered, eager to share their traditional foods with their peers.

RISD sophomore Alyssa Colon, one » See EAT THE WORLD , page 4

WEATHER

WEDNESDAY, OC TOBER 28, 2015

ARTS & CULTURE Student Creative Arts Council’s MESH explores artistic collaboration in exhibits, music

ARTS & CULTURE Dancer Michelle Ellsworth examines war’s effect on the body in most recent piece, “Clytigation”

COMMENTARY Tisch ’17: While Super Heavy Petting may relieve students’ stress, it increases animal distress

COMMENTARY Horowitz ’16: Pre-meds face a perception problem for caring about grades more than others

PAGE 4

PAGE 4

PAGE 7

PAGE 7

TODAY

TOMORROW

61 / 55

70 / 46

UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015

» TOTENBERG, from page 1 Court justices over the years. Clearly an insider, she mentioned everything from one of Justice Elena Kagan’s surprising new hobbies (hunting) to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s beverage of choice before this year’s State of the Union address (wine).

Since 1968, when she first began covering the Court, Totenberg has observed its “changing demographics” in terms of the Court’s race and gender makeup. Furthermore, the Court’s handling of certain issues was much different then than now, she said, citing cases related to free speech, the First Amendment and issues of race, gender and sexuality.

“The Court struck down laws banning interracial marriage the year before I started reporting,” she said.

Nevertheless, she noted that there remain severe voter-restriction laws in Alabama that will effectively prevent many people living in communities of color from voting.

Totenberg also explained how certain types of cases have “totally disappeared” from the courts, such as “obscenity cases.” Eliciting a laugh — as she did throughout the evening — she described the process by which certain “allegedly dirty” videos were

viewed by the justices in the 1970s.

At the time, the videos were screened in a special viewing room in the basement of the Court, and Justice Potter Stewart had to narrate the videos for Justice John Marshall Harlan II, “who was almost blind,” Totenberg said.

Cases related to technology were practically non-existent in the late 1960s. “Now there are so many,” she said.

Looking to the future, Totenberg predicted that there will be a challenge to the “one person, one vote law” determining whether states use the total population or the number of eligible voters to determine representation. She also said that there will be “a challenge to affirmative action” in the coming judicial term.

One major transformation that the Supreme Court has undergone over the past few decades is an increase in predictability, she said. “There wasn’t much predictability when I started covering the court,” she added. The justices are also “more divided into liberal and conservative camps,” reflecting an ideologically polarized era, she said.

At the end of the lecture, students and guests immediately rushed to the microphones, brimming with questions for Totenberg. Questions

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD ranged from specific inquiries about certain justices, such as Justices Clarence Thomas and Ginsburg, to career advice for aspiring journalists. To these journalists, Totenberg replied, “You have to deal with the possibility that it may not work out.”

In response to a question about the justices’ ability to adjudicate on matters in which they are not experts, such as cybersecurity, Totenberg said, “The justices are generalists, and they need to hear from specialists in various areas who may disagree with one another.”

“It’s the same reason I have a 22-year-old intern,” she said. “Who do you think taught me how to Tweet?”

Students also asked about the role of technology in the Supreme Court and the possibility that cases could be made available to the public on video. One reason there is resistance to this development is to maintain the relative anonymity of the justices in public, Totenberg said. “They’re still regular folks, in addition to being stupendously smart ones.”

One audience member asked, “How do I get on the Supreme Court?”

Totenberg replied, “Ask for God’s help.”

Follow Us! twitter.com/the_herald

» BUCC, from page 1 a University-wide celebration is not possible because faculty members have the day off.

Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day does not entail holding classes, rather the University can celebrate in different ways even after the day has passed, said Floripa Olguin ’16, adding that the name Fall Weekend “continues to erase Native students as well as Natives as a whole.” Native Americans at Brown does not wish to have all the celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day solely on one day. Rather, it can extend over a longer time period, especially with November being Native American Heritage Month, Olguin said.

Renaming Fall Weekend “shows that Native students can and do belong here. It really shows that a school such as Brown is willing and able to have Native students,” Olguin said. “Coming so far from home, it would be very important showing that one can both be Native and a Brown student at the same time, and they’re not conflicting identities.”

Mary Grace Almandrez, interim assistant vice president for campus life and student services and associate dean of the College, said that if administrators consider what the presenters said at the meeting, they will find that the University has failed Native American students in all four of the ways it can seek to support diversity on campus: representation, scholarship and curriculum, the campus climate and policy and protocol.

The only tangible way that the BUCC can make a positive change in these areas is by addressing policy and protocol through passing the resolution in support of Indigenous Peoples’ Day, she said.

“Clearly the climate is not such that our Native students feel that (Brown) is a place for them,” Almandrez said.

The council then voted, with some abstentions, on the resolution and agreed to urge faculty members to put discussing and voting on Indigenous Peoples’ Day on their agenda for their next faculty meeting, which will be next Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The second resolution that the council passed supported Hilton Providence Hotel workers in their current labor dispute with their employers.

The BUCC previously discussed supporting the labor dispute during its Sept. 29 meeting and put voting on the resolution on hold until the council could obtain more information.

BUCC member Cameron Johnson ’17 began the discussion by noting that the Undergraduate Council of Students recently passed a resolution supporting the Hilton Hotel workers and urged council members to do the same.

“The key criteria for this situation with the Hilton Hotel are the staggering high rates of injury and illnesses suffered by the hotel workers,” Johnson said, adding that when these rates are compared to the national average, and even the average of other hotels in downtown Providence, the severity of the situation becomes clear.

Initially, several members of the council expressed concern at voting on the resolution before hearing from

the hotel’s management.

Paxson said she was not planning on bringing the resolution to vote during the meeting because managers from the hotel were set to make their defense at the council’s next meeting Nov. 24.

The council should give representatives from the Hilton an “opportunity to dispute,” said Provost Richard Locke P’17, adding that he supports the labor dispute but wants to make an informed, honest decision. Allowing the representatives to give their argument, even if they do not provide new information, will preserve “integrity” in the council’s decision.

Though the hotel’s managers were not able to speak to the BUCC directly, they have already expressed their opinion through the media, including The Herald, Johnson said.

Jonah Zinn, an employee from the Hilton Providence who was present at the previous BUCC meeting, raised his hand to say, “This is a very urgent issue for us. In this month that we’ve waited, I’ve had another coworker who is now out of work because she has chronic back problems and can’t work anymore,” Zinn said. “This is an issue that we need movement on.”

Representatives from the Hilton had a lot of time to contact the BUCC to make themselves present during Tuesday’s meeting, Zinn said, adding that the council has already delayed voting on the issue long enough.

Johnson then made a movement to vote on the resolution to acknowledge the labor dispute, with a slight majority of the council voting in favor.

The resolution states that the BUCC “encourages the Brown community to take all appropriate measures to avoid holding any events at the Hilton Hotel in Providence during the current labor dispute.” In 2014, the BUCC passed a resolution in support of workers in a labor dispute at the Renaissance Providence Downtown Hotel, which is also owned by the Procaccianti Group.

Paxson pushed discussing the BrownTogether campaign launch to the next meeting’s agenda for lack of time. Instead, Paxson asked council members to discuss what role the BUCC has on campus in initiating conversations among community members.

Council member Grace Stokan ’16 mentioned the “dichotomy” that exists between students and administrators, emphasizing the BUCC as the only means in which these two groups can meet together and have “meaningful dialogue.”

UCS President Sazzy Gourley ’16, who is also a council member, told the council that there should be more transparency in the process through which student groups are allowed to present a problem to the council, adding that the council can serve as a space where their “issues can come to light.”

The BUCC’s conversations should also be framed to highlight departments or areas within the University that are doing exceptionally well, instead of having a “deficit perspective,” Almandrez said, adding that she believes “good work is being done” in certain areas that may not be a part of the discussion.

www.browndailyherald.com

METRO

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Spotlight on the Statehouse

BY ALEXANDER BLUM, METRO EDITOR

Running back to Rhode Island Former Gov. Lincoln Chafee ’75 P’14 P’17 dropped out of the race to become the Democratic nominee for president of the United States Friday.

Chafee ran on a platform focused on foreign policy, touting his vote against the Iraq War and his experience on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when he served on Capitol Hill from 1999 to 2007.

“I think we can do better internationally. I think America’s been, as I say, acting with our biceps, not our brains, and making bad decisions that have major consequences for future generations,” Chafee told The Herald in April.

But only a handful of supporters rallied behind him: Chafee raised only $8,300 from 10 major donors in the last quarter, National Public Radio reported Friday. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, also vying for the Democratic nomination, raised $29.9 million and $26.2 million, respectively, during the third quarter, according to the New York Times. In the first Democratic debate, which lasted approximately two hours, Chafee spoke for only nine minutes, NPR reported.

Elorza launches small business grant program Mayor Jorge Elorza announced the Providence Design Catalyst program, intended to help “enabl(e) small businesses to get off the ground and grow in the Creative Capital” Friday, according to a city press release.

The program will draw from $500,000 of federal funds designated for art- and design-based economic growth to provide $35,000 grants for design-based small businesses, according to the press release.

The city will support the grantees “through a series of workshops that establish a plan for growing their business by identifying achievable milestones and goals.”

“It’s exciting to see Providence support design — a sector that is so woven into the fabric of our city,” said Aidan Petrie, a member of the program’s steering committee, and CIO at the medical product development company Ximedica, in the press release.

DESIGNxRI — an initiative seeking to highlight the Ocean State’s design- and creative-sector industries — along with the Rhode Island School of Design and Social Enterprise Greenhouse are working in collaboration with the city to spearhead the program. SEG is a network of business and community leaders supporting social entrepreneurs and enterprises, according to the group’s website.

Small business owners can apply for a grant through Nov. 15.

Federal grant will support new travel plaza Rhode Island has received a $9 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant to fund the majority of a $12 million travel plaza and welcome center at exit one along I-95 in Hopkinton, Rhode Island, according to an Oct. 26 press release from the Office of Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI. “This is an opportunity to build a first-class travel plaza that offers visitors and local residents new, convenient retail, food, fuel and travel options. … There is a lot of competition for these federal grants and I commend Governor (Gina) Raimondo for making the case for the state’s application,” Reed said in the press release.

The facility will be built on a 20-acre site and feature a welcome center with food vendors, shops, bike amenities, local information resources and restrooms. There will also be a Rhode Island Public Transit Authority bus hub, including a park-and-ride facility and fueling stations, according to the press release.

The press release also noted that the proposed center will break up a 100-mile stretch of highway currently without any travel plazas, which could improve safety by enabling drowsy drivers to rest.

» EDUCATION, from page 1 of superintendents from Rhode Island’s urban core region — Central Falls, Pawtucket, Cranston and Providence — who discussed challenges they face within their respective districts and strategies to address those issues.

Christopher Maher, superintendent of Providence Schools, addressed the high rates of absences and suspensions, urging educators to “stop running kids out of school for minor infractions.”

Patti DiCenso, superintendent of Pawtucket Public Schools, said her district has employed strategies including “flexible learning models, online learning, direct teaching and intervention.”

When discussing student diversity, she noted that her district’s National Honor Society and Advanced Placement classes now represent students from all races and backgrounds that make up the school’s student population, an accomplishment that took three years to achieve.

Patrick McGee, superintendent of Woonsocket Schools, discussed his district’s implementation of a full-day kindergarten program, which has been in place for two years. McGee described recent initiatives, including a K-2 math program, and his intention to expand the program through grade eight.

Victor Capellan, superintendent of Central Falls Schools, spoke of his district’s reduced dropout rate, which dropped from 34 percent to 15 percent.

He said he hopes to continue that momentum and work closely with partners in teachers’ unions. The district will launch a “seal of bi-literacy” initiative to recognize students fluent in more than one language — a particularly important initiative given the district’s largely minority student population.

During a question-and-answer session, an audience member mentioned the school-to-prison pipeline, a phenomenon in which underrepresented students are funneled into the prison system as a result of a flawed school system. Capellan agreed that the pipeline is a problem and noted the high suspension

COURTESY OF KUMAR APPAIAH

At the fourth annual education summit, hosted at the State House Tuesday, panelists discussed the importance of closing the achievement gap. rates of middle school students. He asked the audience to email him with input on improving middle school culture.

Rep. Robert Lancia, R-Cranston, asked about educators’ efforts to mend the disconnect between parents and students. Parents are eager to help their children and learn English, as evidenced by high attendance rates for adult Rosetta Stone classes, Lancia said. “I still believe that family is a major concern.”

Because of the challenging urban environments in which many of these schools operate, students may become victims of post-traumatic stress disorder and often experience poverty, Lancia said.

In the last session, featuring a variety of leaders in education, Philip Less, an administrator at the Rhode Island Department of Education, continued to speak on the subject of parents’ roles.

“Studies indicate the positive effect of parental involvement in achievement and success of students,” he said.

Adam Greenman, executive vice president and director of community investment for United Way, touched on summer learning loss — when students

lose or forget information learned the previous school year. To address this concern, he suggested supporting summer programs within recreational centers and libraries.

Julie Nora, director of the International Charter School, spoke of the benefits of embracing bi- or multilingual education, including creation of global citizens, language resources and cognitive and social benefits.

Metts and Pichardo ended the summit with closing remarks.

“Education is one of the best ways to invest in human capital,” Metts said, emphasizing the “importance of educating people of all colors and all ages.”

“We know where we fell short in the past. … We have to ‘keep it real,’ as my students used to say,” Metts said.

Both senators encouraged attendees to complete feedback forms on the summit to evaluate aspects such as the speakers present, the food provided and the event’s location and make suggestions for future iterations.

“Next year will be bigger and better, but you’re gonna make it better,” Pichardo said.

ARTS & CULTURE PAGE 4 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MESH sparks creativity through collaborative experiment Student Creative Arts Council event uses Granoff architecture to unite artists, viewers

By ROLAND HIGH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Granoff Center for the Creative Arts came alive Friday night as students flocked to MESH, weaving through rooms with flickering projections, glittering spikes and people dancing with roses between their teeth. The annual fall event of art and music was organized by the Student Creative Arts Council.

MESH kicked off at noon with (De) construction, in which 10 artists from Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design began creating their own pieces before rotating at 5 p.m. to finish one of their fellow artists’ pieces. Live music started at around 8 p.m., featuring the student band richard and several MCs, and then the space began to fill with guests.

Isabela Muci ’16 and Jake Brodsky ’16, co-directors of SCAC, said the architecture of the Granoff Center went hand-in-hand with this year’s MESH. Standing in the room where the band was playing, students could

simultaneously see the artists working below, thanks to Granoff ’s unique split-level design.

“This is one of the best MESHes because they utilized the space of Granoff,” said attendee Kat DaSilva ’15.5.

The event allows people to see the process behind an exhibition, from “an artist working on the art to the art being installed on the wall,” Muci said.

“That gap between production and exhibition is often what makes art alienating to a lot of people,” Brodsky said. “The ability to show the transparency and what happens in that gap is a way to very much bring people into the fold.”

True to its name, MESH incorporated a blend of many different media: computer animation, sculpture, laser cut-plastic and even performance art.

One of the works was a collaboration started by Sarah Cheung ’16 and completed by Jennifer Avery ’16.5.

Cheung began the piece as a cardboard sculpture of metallic spikes, and Avery incorporated it as a prop in her performance art piece, during which she dyed another student’s hair grey.

Avery took the opportunity to deviate from her usual style, which typically includes “hacking up teddy bears and

dolls and assembling them in terrifying ways,” she said.

Cheung said this was the first visual art collaboration she has worked on, adding that her style usually utilizes plaster, wood and metal, and explores the overlap between nature and artificial and personal experience through repeated forms.

Meanwhile, a collaborative installation by RISD students Kendall Lane, Zoe Schlacter and Amelia Zhang featured a laptop on a bright pink table, in the center of a dark room. Viewers could walk in and Skype one of the artists, who in turn sat in a room with a backdrop festooned with fairy lights and pink drapery, imitating a typical teenage girl’s bedroom.

The piece comments on the popular phenomenon of self-help videos on YouTube, discussing topics from mental health to makeup. Rather than “mocking or subverting” these videos, the three artists aimed to pursue the same discussion in an alternative space through their installation, Lane said.

“This type of culture, a lot of times it’s seen as lesser, but we’re reclaiming it and embracing it,” Schlacter said.

“I feel like there’s a really strong heterosexual ideal or norm that these girls represent,” Zhang added, pointing out

COURTESY OF LUCREZIA SANES

Several artists shared their experience and work with students at MESH, which showcased art ranging from computer animation to sculpture. that their piece questions these norms.

The event catered even to students who do not consider themselves art lovers. “I’ve never been to the Granoff, but I will say this art show has made me want to come back again,” said attendee Jackson Cantrell ’18. “The art really came alive (when) the audience showed up, because so much of it is interactive, so much of it is seeing the art in conjunction with the party.”

After the artists had finished a roundtable discussion of their work, the audience was free to mingle with the

artwork. People flowed in and out of the studio throughout the night, looking at a video of the artists at work, socializing with the rest of the attendees or simply soaking in the atmosphere and artwork.

“This event allowed me to spend more time with the art,” Cantrell said.

“You’re supposed to have these transparent walls to actually interact with each other, but mostly we just have classes in them,” Muci said. “This is one of the few times that Granoff has actually been used for its purpose, which is to actually connect these spaces.”

Q&A: Michelle Ellsworth brings concept of drones to dance Multimedia performance links Ancient Greece, Guantanamo Bay and back of an iPhone 6

By RACHEL GOLD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Michelle Ellsworth is a dancer by training and trade, but her artwork transcends this traditional medium, as it explores topics ranging from post-9/11 religion to feminism.

In her most recent piece, “Clytigation: State of Exception,” Ellsworth — associate professor of dance at the University of Colorado, Boulder — uses dance, ancient text, technology and physical structure to question war’s effects on legal protocols and human bodies. Ellsworth will perform “Clytigation” Oct. 28-29 in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts.

Herald: Define “Clytigation” – What does the title mean? What does the piece mean?

Ellsworth: A while ago, I made a piece called ‘Found Homer’ where I remixed Robert Fitzgerald’s translation of the Iliad to be about food and sex, and I told it from Clytemnestra’s perspective to give a justification of why she ended up killing (her husband) Agamemnon.

» EAT THE WORLD, from page 1 of the students behind the Puerto Rico booth, said, “the fact that my school is open to celebrating so many cultures” drew her to volunteering. The Puerto Rico booth served pastelitos con carne (seasoned meat fried in a dough pocket) and tostones y maduros (fried plantains).

At the Jordanian booth, RISD senior Nadine Zaza, a member of Global Initiative, served falafel with hummus and pita as a way of supporting the organization, which provides a way for students to spend their little free time. “RISD tends to focus us on our work,” Zaza said, adding, “This is a good way to incorporate a more global aspect into our college

I wanted to pick up after she kills her husband, so Clytigation is the sequel.

For a number of different reasons, I really identify with Clytemnestra. We both have witnessed the impact of wars on legal protocols.

I am comparing how the Trojan War impacted Clytemnestra with how the post-9/11 wars have impacted legal protocol in the U.S. It’s about legal issues surrounding military commissions, Guantanamo, the use of torture, the use of surveillance, the use of drones.

So what does “Clytigation” look like?

You don’t see my body at all in the performance. I have what I call an interpersonal drone and so you see my interpersonal drone’s body. There are two boxes: He is in one, and I am in the other one telling him how to move.

I have multiple computers in the box with me by which I am changing his environment.

I built these boxes and then spent hundreds of hundreds of hours in them.

I wrote the whole piece and envisioned all the choreography while inside the

box. I never went more than nine hours, but I spent time inside every day for months.

The box is just a mini-sound stage — it’s totally blue so I can key out different backgrounds. In the piece, I’m trying to complicate my identity and location, so I needed a micro sound stage to shift environments. It also feels like a sort of incarceration environment.

I think a lot about the tyranny of the rectangle — how many rectangles I have to interface with all the time, in the rectangular shape of the computer screen or the film screen or the stage.

In “Clytigation,” I go inside of it rather than be placed on top of it.

What forms of expression does your work utilize?

Dance is my first language as an artist. I studied history and philosophy at (New York University) but I got my MFA in dance at University of Colorado, Boulder, and I was a serious ballet dancer when I was young. There’s a lot of video, a lot of physical computing interfaces, so it could be installation. Since there’s no script and I am changing it constantly, it kind of feels like performance art. It could go to any one of those categories.

Even though there is most always

language in my work, I am not attached to language, and I am very suspicious of language, and so for me, dance decentralizes. I think of language as rhythm, or something else, but not so much content.

I still have a lot of loyalty to the content residing in body.

Choreography is the safest place to put information, because the (National Security Agency) can’t touch it. National secrets would be safe if they were embedded in choreography. That’s why dance is so central to me.

Walk me through the process from idea to final product.

I have little shapes and little things that come to mind as I’m writing a grant ­— vacuum cleaners, Guantanamo Bay, Raymond Quenau and a choreography generator. It doesn’t sound very sophisticated, but then I have to figure out the relationships of these things, and it takes me a long time to get between these things, and philosophers and writers help me make the connections.

There’s a long period of time where I’m just making content: I just make a big buffet table. I have to make all of this content so I can believe what I’m doing.

Then the content starts talking back to me, and then I just listen.

But I never try to get any solid meaning out of it. That’s one of the things about being a dancer: I could talk about my work in concrete ways, but it’s really just a lie. When I say, “Oh, Clytigation is…” it sounds like it’s intentional but it’s really much messier than that. And language is this disguise that we use to make it seem like its more solid.

What do you want your audience to be thinking about as they walk home?

I have very humble expectations. I hope I’m not wasting their time, and maybe they think about responsibility or pause or shift. I don’t have an agenda for sure.

This piece doesn’t have a solid message, but I guess I am asking, “What is the relationship between the space behind the back of a phone, a holding cell in Guantanamo Bay and Clytemnestra’s tomb in ancient Greece?” And I still don’t know. I can see how they are related, architecturally and emotionally, but I really don’t know. Sometimes I think if I were just a little smarter I would know.

I feel like if I did know, I would just turn the answer into a bumper sticker.

experience.”

Likewise at the India booth, RISD junior Mitra Krishna said she participated in the event because she “loves Indian food and wants to share Indian food with the rest of the world.” Krishna, RISD sophomore Paridhi Mundia and RISD graduate students Aakanksha Sirothia and Sneha Subbaroyan worked together to make a vegetable curry, one of the most popular dishes of the afternoon.

At the U.S. booth, a Miami native and a Salt Lake City native collaborated to make alligator fritters dipped in fry sauce, served with a hefty dose of national pride.

Over at the Bulgaria booth, traditional sweet pancakes were served while classic Bulgarian music played. Heavy wool

socks hung from the sides of the stand, just one unique decoration among many lining the booths. And at the Kazakhstan booth, two RISD students represented two-thirds of the RISD-Kazakh population, sharing samsy, a traditional puff pastry filled with meats and vegetables.

A twisting line formed as two students chopped up fresh meat for Chinese hamburgers at the China stand. These hungry students mirrored the lines snaking up College and Waterman Streets as students waited to buy tickets for the event.

RISD freshman Jordan Tager said she was “impressed with the diversity of the booths” and enjoyed the food she tried.

RISD juniors Jamal Osterholm and Erica Kim agreed that the event was a good break from the long hours in the studio. They said they had just come from work, pointing to their paint-covered jeans, and were happy for the diversion.

“And the Korean burger was poppin’,” Osterhold added.

Another plus was the diversity of performance groups featured at the event.

From the music of Brown’s Alef Beats to belly-dancing to a K-Pop group dance, there was no shortage of entertainment for the hungry crowd. The performances were part of what drew the huge crowd.

Many attendees said they came to support their friends behind the booths or on the stage.

Gendo Taiko, a Brown-RISD Japanese drumming group, has performed at Eat the World for all three years of the event. “It’s been kind of a tradition,” said Tyler Dae Devlin ’17. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Compensated for their performance with food tickets, the drumming group got to partake in the edible diversity after giving a riveting drumming performance to an encouraging crowd.

RISD’s Eat the World event is the school’s “most famous event of the year,” Zaza said. The lure of diverse food drew people in, but the authentic experience doled out by smiling, genuine faces is what made them linger at the stalls, bracing the brisk autumn air to come back for seconds.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

TODAY

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

in the zone

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Stir Fry and Curries, Po’Boy Sandwiches Pizzas: Honey Boo Boo, Pizza Bianco, Polynesian Teriyaki JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Gourmet Grilled Cheese

Soups: Baked Potato, Hearty Country Vegetable

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Italian Sausage and Pepper Sandwich, Barbecue Corn Sundried Tomato Calzone

Chicken Pot Pie, Broccoli Rabe, Pork Loin with Apple Dressing, Squash and Ginger Puree

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Autumn Bisque, Pulled Pork Sandwich, Vegan Quinoa Stuffed Portobella, Baseball Burrito Bar

Artichoke and Rep Pepper Frittata, Shepherd’s Pie, Cous Cous, Whole Green Beans

sudoku

MATTEO MOBILIO / HERALD

Charlie Saylor ’17 is deep in focus coaching wrestling at Esek Hopkins Middle School as part of “Beat the Streets Providence.” The organization runs after-school wrestling teams for urban youth across the city.

comics Egoheads | J. H. Zech ’18

crossword

P-Branes and Bosons | Ricky Oliver ’17

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

Screening of “The Mask you Live In” 6:00 P.M. Granoff Center for the Creative Arts

Consent Day 4:00 P.M. Main Green

Comparative Literature Spring Course Fair 12:00 P.M. Marston Hall

Stress Management Support Group 5:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson 409

TOMORROW Exploring the African Diaspora with Dance 10:30 A.M. Lyman Hall 211

Visiting Artist Lecture: Ghada Amer 4:00 P.M. List Art Center 110

Latin America and the Law 1:30 P.M. Watson Institute, Joukowsky Forum

PASS Illustrator 1 6:00 P.M. Center for Information Technology 269

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

The merits of study abroad During our time on College Hill, most students will inevitably ponder the option of studying for a semester in a foreign country. Unfortunately, of those who consider this extraordinary possibility, only a small fraction end up embarking on this scary yet academically and personally enriching experience. Only 398 students studied abroad last year. This could be for one of many reasons. Some students feel as though they would be missing out on Brown traditions such as Spring Weekend and Campus Dance if they were to spend a semester elsewhere. Other students have academic or financial reasons to stay on campus. But exploring the academic world beyond the walls of Brown and even the United States is an experience that every student should have the opportunity to enjoy.

Spring Weekend is a Brown tradition all students will have the chance to experience. But what about getting to go to Oktoberfest in Munich or the Christmas market in Edinburgh? These international activities provide novel experiences and new memories that add an additional dimension to an individual’s personal college experiences. Exposure to the trademark festivals of a foreign country allows students to actively engage in and interact with different cultures and people. For a semester, this could provide — dare anyone admit it — a more valuable, enriching opportunity than staying in Providence simply to experience the same Brown traditions once again.

Academics at Brown are a more compelling, and likely more common, reason not to study abroad. Students who switch concentrations or pursue one with extensive requirements may have too many requirements to fulfill, making a trip abroad logistically difficult or impossible for them. For these students, Brown should make sure that concentration advisors talk to students as early as possible about study abroad opportunities and the steps one must take in order to make sure that studying abroad is feasible.

Additionally, Brown should consider providing increased financial support for students who choose to go abroad. While students who go abroad receive their full financial aid package when doing so, that financial aid does not necessarily cover all the costs of travel. Fully immersing oneself in a foreign environment and taking complete advantage of being abroad can be costly, and the University should work to ensure that everyone who wants to have the opportunity to study abroad can. Studying abroad can also have opportunity costs if students who typically work are no longer able to do so because they are abroad on student visas.

Brown offers a plethora of experiences that provide personal and academic development for all of its students. Yet even with all of these opportunities on campus, it is difficult to replicate the beauty and cultural immersion that can be experienced in countries like Germany, Spain, Scotland, Chile or China. While classes may be less rigorous in many instances than those at Brown, most of the learning while studying abroad takes place outside the classroom — an idea that may be new and exciting to students. The independence needed to live, work and make friends in such a different environment allows for personal growth that Providence cannot provide. Brown should make studying abroad an easier, even more appealing option for students.

A N G E L IA WA N G

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

“Choreography is the safest place to put information, because the NSA can’t touch it.”

—Michelle Ellsworth

See dance on page 4.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Consider the bunnies: Discontinue Super Heavy Petting CHARLOTTE TISCH op-ed contributor

Two days after renowned animal rights activist Jane Goodall delivered a lecture to the Brown community, Brown Class Coordinating Board hosted its highly anticipated event Super Heavy Petting. Once a semester, pictures of students holding swaddled bunnies and diapered goats flood Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat (my freshman self is guilty of this, too). The event is marketed as a way for students to unwind during midterms. I will not argue against the scientific evidence documenting the positive effects of animal therapy or against the fact that baby ducklings are adorable. There are, however, some serious problems with this event. Goodall would likely be the first to remind us that our stress-alleviating encounters with these animals most likely stress them out.

Rabbits, for example, are a prey species. Aside from their blunt front teeth, they are relatively defenseless against predators. They are adapted to fear larger creatures that may potentially

harm them. Their natural response to unknown stimuli is to try to escape from a potentially threatening situation. Having a rabbit as a pet is one thing. Pet owners build relationships with their rabbits. Pet owners are an integral part of the animal’s routines, rhythms and survival, so the animal does not feel threatened by their presence.

Events like Super Heavy Petting are a completely different story. The

Board employs to bring the animals, Farm Visits, specializes in these types of events, charging $275 per hour. On the company’s website, it notes that it arrives 15 minutes before an event and brings baby animals that will range up to two months of age.

Both of these pieces of information are problematic. Fifteen minutes is not enough time for an animal to acclimate to a new, highly stimulating environment like a college campus. Rabbits are

least have the luxury of consistency.

They remain in the same place, with animal companions they are used to.

Permanent petting zoos are usually a part of larger zoo institutions that are more strictly regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service than these small for-profit organizations. Zoos are educational institutions, while these traveling petting zoos are purely for entertainment.

Consider that the interactions at Super Heavy Petting might not be mutually beneficial.

rabbits are swaddled and have no escape. They are then handed from one unfamiliar person to another for hours on end. The rabbits are shoved in front of cameras with flash and are exposed to our loud urban campus. There is no way to know what these animals are feeling, but I do not imagine this being a pleasant or relaxing experience for them.

The company Class Coordinating

not even supposed to be purchased as pets until they are at least 10 weeks old.

What we don’t see at Super Heavy Petting are the mothers of these young animals who are probably distressed over the separation from their babies.

Some will argue that these animals are used to it, that they are no different than the animals at a regular petting zoo. While petting zoos pose their own problems, the animals there at

I asked the owner and manager of Farm Visits, Dawn Cordeiro, about her company’s status with APHIS. She had no comment. I contacted the USDA’s Animal Welfare East region office. The representative had a record of Cordeiro requesting the APHIS license application materials, but no record of a completed application or an APHIS license number. While Cordiero boasts over 15 years of experience raising farm

animals, operating a traveling petting zoo without an APHIS license violates USDA regulations. The USDA is not holding Farm Visits or Cordeiro accountable for the humane treatment of these animals. Cordeiro refused to comment on the animals’ permanent homes, how Farm Visits makes these situations less stressful for the animals and what happens to the animals over two months of age. There are no pictures of the facilities on the Farm Visits website or Facebook page and no way to know if these animals are safe.

Class Coordinating Board should discontinue Super Heavy Petting events. If full discontinuation is not possible due to popular demand, CCB should instead hire a reputable organization with the proper documentation. If CCB decides to continue Super Heavy Petting, I urge the Brown community to consider the bunnies (or ducklings, or goats). Consider that the interactions at Super Heavy Petting might not be mutually beneficial. Be considerate of yourself and your wellbeing, but also consider other stress relief tactics during midterms.

Charlotte Tisch ’17 can be reached at charlotte_tisch@brown.edu.

Pre-meds’ perception predicament ADAM HOROWITZ opinions columnist

I guess you could say I’ve been one of the lucky ones. I was able to make it through my years as a pre-medical student without having any major difficulties. I enjoyed almost all of my classes, kept my grades up and still made plenty of time for wonderful extracurriculars that allowed me to develop the skills I will need for a career in medicine. It may seem like I’m bragging, but really I’m just trying to articulate to all of the pre-meds out there that the road to medical school may be filled with obstacles, but with the right amount of focus and organization, they can be overcome. That being said, it pains me to say that some of these obstacles are specific to Brown.

I would like to start by saying that I love the open curriculum. Through seven semesters, I have taken classes in 21 different departments, and without the flexibility Brown’s curriculum provides, I would not have been able to broaden my horizons in such a way. The S/NC option has given me the freedom to explore courses in departments with which I have less experience, such as literary arts and engineering, and learn for learning’s sake without having to worry about my grade. Moreover, I believe the lack of pluses and minuses allows Brown’s academic environment to be far more cooperative than competitive, and I have found the stereotype of the cutthroat premed student to be untrue here.

That being said, between my experiences and the experiences of my pre-med friends, it seems that there are certain philosophies of the curriculum that do not translate well to us. For example, the open curriculum emphasizes that the primary goal of education is the pursuit of knowledge.

While I wholeheartedly agree with this mindset, it can lead some students to see grades as unimport-

ant. Yet while Brown has de-emphasized grades to the point that the school does not calculate grade point averages, pre-med students must be hyperaware of their grades. Higher GPAs are directly correlated to (and also cause) higher acceptance rates at medical schools, and the Brown Health Careers Advising Office has a GPA cutoff so that applicants who don’t have a certain GPA need special permission to receive a committee letter, a crucial piece of a full med school application.

Furthermore, many of the pre-med students at Brown are PLMEs, meaning they have already been accepted into Alpert Medical School. These students are able to bypass the med school admission process, giving them the enviable opportuni-

that they want to obtain a high GPA as an undergraduate in order to continue learning at medical school for another four years (plus several additional years as a resident).

Moreover, students are chastised for questioning the grades they receive at the end of the semester. I have had many acquaintances tell me stories of how faculty members have lambasted them for simply asking about grading policies after a course had ended. To me, it seems that improvements can be made on both ends: Pre-med students need to understand that learning always takes priority over the grade one receives, but at the same time, it may be helpful for faculty members to be more sympathetic to the pressure of trying to im-

The open curriculum is wonderful because students have the freedom to take only classes they want to take, but the system is not designed to deal with pre-meds who have a required course list.

ty of being able to embrace the open curriculum fully without having to worry as much as the standard pre-med at Brown. In this sense, the educational experience of PLMEs is far more similar to that of the rest of the undergraduate population than to that of other pre-meds, and comparing these two types of pre-meds in this context is a false parallel.

Thus, I have seen that pre-med students who are very focused on their grades are often criticized for not truly embracing the educational experience. Many students at Brown assume that pre-med students only care about As and have no interest in the material they are learning. In reality, these students are so passionate about education

press medical schools with a competitive GPA. Another unique aspect of the pre-med curriculum is that it’s separate from one’s concentration. Normally, Brown students take courses their concentration requires or whose subject material interests them (or both). For pre-meds, however, there is a third category of courses — those required by med schools. Most of these classes, in departments such as biology and chemistry that have many pre-med concentrators, are directly related to med school coursework. Other courses, such as physics, are not necessarily integral to a career in medicine. This creates a unique situation: Last fall, 65 students filled out the Critical Review survey for PHYS 0030: “Basic Physics,” the

first semester of Brown’s year-long introductory physics course, and not a single one was a physics concentrator.

One of the reasons pre-med students need to take these classes is because they are a key part of the MCAT, the standardized test that, like GPA, is a key factor in med school admission. Therefore, many students take pre-med courses at Brown expecting to learn everything they need for the MCAT. The fact that faculty members are granted the freedom to teach whatever they want is a great thing, but it also means that there is no way to ensure that students are learning what they need to for the MCAT. The sad truth is that pre-med courses such as physics, where many of the students are not fully immersed in the material and are mainly learning to take a standardized test, can feel more like a high school Advanced Placement class than an undergraduate course at Brown. As a result, the faculty members and the students have different opinions on what the class should be.

The open curriculum is wonderful because students have the freedom to take only classes they want to take, but the system is not designed to deal with pre-meds who have a required course list. Brown pre-meds are often criticized as gradeobsessed and uninterested in the process of learning, but between the pressure to get good grades and the unique situation of not having complete freedom over their schedules, the reality is that pre-meds at Brown simply have a different perspective.

The Brown community should recognize these factors and recognize that pre-med students have the same appreciation for the pursuit of knowledge as the rest of the community.

Adam Horowitz ’16 would love to answer any questions that pre-meds may have.

These can be sent to adam_horowitz@brown.edu.

ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2015

Bazaar attracts curious collectors, stirs up nostalgia for vintage merchandise Urban Vintage Bazaar unites 19 vendors, encourages ‘pre-loved’ purchases

By KASTURI PANANJADY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The eighth biannual Urban Vintage Bazaar, held in Providence’s Westminster Arcade, opened its doors to the public Saturday. Visitors were greeted by an array of curios, while Bob Dylan songs played over the general hubbub of customers and vendors, setting the scene.

Vendors featured clothes, jewelry, vinyl records and board games, showcasing works from a variety of time periods. Melissa Morales, proprietor of the retail store The Bird’s Nest, said that “vintage” is an umbrella term rather than a strict historical label.

“It’s anything that has been pre-loved,” Morales said.

Event Coordinator Christine Francis handpicked the eclectic collection

of stalls. Francis, who owns Carmen and Ginger, a shop with a permanent storefront in the Arcade, started the bazaar eight years ago on Brown’s campus. For the first few years, she had to “scramble for vendors,” but last year, she moved the bazaar to the Arcade and said she has found herself being “more curatorial.” This season’s iteration featured 19 vendors and one nonprofit organization.

This year, the bazaar had the highest turnout yet, Francis said, adding that the bazaar is becoming increasingly popular among vendors for its proximity to colleges, particularly the Rhode Island School of Design. “RISD students come to me with projects all the time,” Francis said.

One vendor, Jim Blackwell of Infectious Fun Toys, said, “I like to practice what I call passive sales,” defying the stereotypes of shouting and touting goods that the word “bazaar” usually conjures. Shoppers can “come in, look around, play,” he added.

Blackwell said that he spent a lot of time trading nostalgic stories with

potential customers and described Infectious Fun Toys as his “favorite hobby.”

Besides Francis, few vendors sell vintage items for a living. “Starting something like this is a huge risk. This is not my primary source of income,” Morales said, adding that she works in the pharmaceutical industry.

Lillian Graham of Memory Relics supplements her income from vintage sales with freelance photography.

Graham began to take an interest in vintage items after discovering old tin in her grandfather’s house and now designs recycled jewelry with it. “People should be buying vintage before they buy new in the interest of sustainability,” Graham said. “It’s one of the reasons why I get upset when people try to haggle with me at fairs like this.”

Vinyl record dealer Dean Proserpio said that people tend to undervalue creative professions in general.

“They think if you follow your passion it’s not work. But it absolutely is work.”

Attendees browsed the wares,

COURTESY OF CHRISTINE FRANCIS

This year’s Urban Vintage Bazaar boasted the highest turnout yet. The 19 featured vendors sold objects including toys, books and pre-worn clothing. gaining inspiration from the items.

RISD senior Mengxi Yang, who studies animation, said that a video game she had seen at the bazaar was

creatively inspiring.

RISD sophomore Pei Liu summed up the bazaar overall, calling it a “scavenger hunt.”