Thursday, November 19, 2015

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015

VOLUME CL, ISSUE 109

Trans Week celebrates varied gender expression Students were able to find bathrooms, swap clothes, and hear poetry before final resilience march

By ANICA GREEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Simultaneously queering gender and time, Trans Week — a two-week series of events sponsored by GenderAction with the LGBTQ Center and largely spearheaded by Sana Teramoto ’16 — is designed to empower transgender students and raise awareness about the issues they face.

“The ‘Where Can I Pee?’ scavenger hunt was a brilliant way to bring attention to the lack of gender-inclusive bathrooms and their use by cis people,” wrote Justice Gaines ’16 of the week’s first event in an email to The Herald.

Next was a clothing swap that began Thursday evening and extended through the weekend, giving participants the chance to try on clothing marketed toward a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth. The first night of the clothing swap was “exclusively for trans, gender non-conforming and questioning

folks,” according to the Facebook event.

This highlights an important part of the mission of Trans Week: “(Trans Week) has spaces to help folks understand how they can stand in solidarity with trans people, but also provides spaces for trans people to just exist and enjoy each other,” Gaines wrote.

Both Newsweek and the Huffington Post have ranked Brown amongst the most gay-friendly campuses in the country. But the same level of friendliness does not exist for trans students, Teramoto said.

“In my statistics class … people created a form with — though I’m not a fan of this — ‘male,’ ‘female’ and ‘other,’ and one of the people in the class said, ‘I don’t think we should take this one seriously because this person put ‘other’ for their gender,’ so I think we have a long way to go as a Brown community in terms of trans issues,” Teramoto said.

“People still feel really awkward or uncomfortable around pronouns.”

Even well-meaning peers can contribute to discrimination toward trans students on campus, Gaines wrote.

“While many Brown students like to claim that they accept trans people and they know ‘gender is a spectrum’ » See TRANS WEEK, page 2

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Prices of common food items near campus

Certain snacks and beverages have higher price tags at campus eateries than at local convenience stores and grocery stores, with Chobani yogurt up to 213 percent more expensive according to data gathered by The Herald.

4.25 3.99

Stop & Shop

3.49

CVS downtown

2.99

2.75 1.99

2.00

1.79 1.87

2.29 1.49

1.29

2.60

CVS on Thayer Street 1.99

1.29

Metro Mart

1.50 1.09

0.99

East Side Mini Mart Campus eateries

Chobani yogurt

Odwalla smoothie

Poland Springs seltzer

Cape Cod Nantucket Potato Chips Nectars juice LAURA FELENSTEIN / HERALD

Nearby stores charge less than U. eateries Goods such as Chobani yogurt, Odwalla smoothies cheaper at stores close to campus

By MELISSA CRUZ AND ALEX SKIDMORE STAFF WRITERS

The prices of certain food items are up to 53.1 percent higher at campus eateries than at convenience and grocery stores on College Hill and downtown, according to data gathered by The Herald.

Campus eateries charge more than nearby stores for at least four thirdparty goods: Chobani yogurt, Odwalla smoothies, Cape Cod Potato Chips and

Nantucket Nectars juice.

The Herald checked the prices of these goods at East Side Mini Mart, Metro Mart, Stop and Shop, the CVS on Thayer Street and the CVS by Kennedy Plaza.

A Chobani yogurt costs $2.75 at campus eateries compared to $1.29 at Stop and Shop, marking a 53.1 percent difference. An Odwalla smoothie costs $4.25 at campus eateries — a 29.7 percent increase from the $2.99 price tag at Stop and Shop.

But campus eateries do not charge the highest prices relative to nearby stores for all items. Poland Springs sparkling water costs $2.00 on campus compared to $2.29 at East Side Mini Mart.

This difference in prices could be attributed to several factors, wrote John

Friedman, associate professor of economics and international and public affairs, in an email to The Herald.

“First, it may just be more costly to get the item and sell it,” Friedman wrote.

“For instance, CVS may benefit from a large-scale distribution network that the Brown campus does not have,” he wrote.

As a larger store, CVS can spread the cost of operations such as a manager salary and rent across more goods than a smaller store like the Blue Room, Friedman wrote.

In addition, many businesses can afford to use “loss leaders,” or goods that are marked down to lure customers into the store, he added.

Roshan Baral, owner of Metro Mart, » See EATERIES, page 3

Poll shows 17 percent of undergrads smoke Women, minorities face Males, international students more likely to smoke cigarettes or e-cigs despite health risks

By ELENA RENKEN STAFF WRITER

About 17 percent of undergraduate students smoke cigarettes or e-cigarettes, according to a Herald poll conducted Oct. 28-29. The poll found that 9.7 percent of students smoke rarely, 3.7 percent smoke several times per month, 2.1 percent smoke several times per week and 1.9 percent smoke at least daily.

Brown’s overall smoking rate is not surprising, said Rachel Cassidy, assistant professor of behavioral and social sciences. “Unfortunately, I think that’s within the realm of what’s reported,” she said.

Among adults in the United States ages 18 to 25, 28.4 percent have smoked cigarettes in the past month, and 37.7 percent have smoked in the past year, according to a 2014 survey from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Statistics were not available for the college

“How often do you smoke cigarettes or e-cigarettes?”

Domestic students International students

84% 74%

14%

Rarely Several times per month: 4% Several times per week: 3% At least daily: 6% LILLY NGUYEN / HERALD

student population.

“There’s a bit of an inverse socioeconomic relationship — believe it or not, poor people are more likely to smoke,” said Robert Swift, professor of psychiatry and human behavior, adding that the University’s rate made sense considering its somewhat elevated socioeconomic status.

The Herald’s poll also found that male students were more likely to smoke than female students: About 21 percent of male respondents indicated they smoked, compared to about 14 percent of female respondents.

Older students were also more likely to smoke. The poll found that 3.7 percent of seniors smoke daily, compared to

0.7 percent of first-years, 1.5 percent of sophomores and 2.2 percent of juniors.

Overall, 22 percent of seniors indicated they smoked, while only about 14 percent of first-years indicated that they did.

International perspective International students were more likely to be smokers than domestic students in all of the polling categories, and the most significant difference was among heavy smokers. While only 1.1 percent of domestic students smoke daily, 5.8 percent of international students smoke ar that rate, according to the poll.

These students probably hail from places where smoking is more common » See SMOKING, page 2

implicit biases in CS CS department works toward constructive dialogue for improving student, faculty diversity

By RILEY DAVIS STAFF WRITER

When Paige Stoermer ’16 walked into her first introductory computer science class she had one question: Where were all the women?

Of the 132 declared computer science concentrators in the 2014-15 academic year, roughly one-fourth were female. Even fewer in number were underrepresented minorities, who made up only 8.7 percent of that population.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Women in CS: making their voices heard While female concentrators and faculty members constitute a smaller percentage of the computer science department, they make their presence known, Stoermer said. Support programs geared toward women and underrepresented

POST- MAGAZINE

minorities — such as Women in Computer Science, Mosaic+ and the Artemis program — have cropped up over the years to foster the network of female and underrepresented minority computer science concentrators.

“There are women who are running the (teaching assistant) program. There are women running WiCS. There are women at the helm of Mosaic+,” she said. “So while the number is small, and there’s a lot of difficulties that come with it, we’re loud.”

Currently, there are only three tenured female professors in the CS department and two adjunct professors, making mentoring undergraduates a daunting task for them.

Female CS professors often accrue larger workloads than their colleagues because of the number of students they advise, Stoermer said, which can make them hard to reach.

In addition to professors, WiCS is the best place for concentrators to get support, said Amy Greenwald, associate professor of computer science.

WiCS allows students to find a peer group to work on homework or hang out » See COMP SCI, page 3

WEATHER

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015

METRO R.I. set to lose one of its two representatives in Congress by 2020 unless population increases PAGE 4

9%

I do not smoke

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

INSIDE

1% 2% 4%

COMMENTARY Bustos ’16, Murphy GS: To foster diversity, IBES must become more racially diverse and inclusive

COMMENTARY Mitra ’18: The internship search may be difficult, but resources on campus can help ease the stress

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UNIVERSITY NEWS PAGE 2 • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015

»SMOKING, from page 1 and more socially accepted, said Jennifer Tidey, associate research professor of psychiatry and human behavior and of behavioral and social sciences.

“In the United States, very few medical professionals smoke,” Swift said. But when visiting a hospital in Rome, Swift found smoking to be so common that the doctors had their own smoking lounge.

Hannah Baackmann-Friedlaender ’19 started smoking about a year ago while she was living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “Taking a cigarette break, taking a moment, was very much part of the culture and the way of life, and that’s kind of what drew me to it,” she said. “The best part about smoking is the community. It’s the perfect length of time to have a miniature conversation, to get to know some random person. That’s the biggest reason I started smoking.”

But in the United States,

» TRANS WEEK, from page 1 — which isn’t that great of an understanding of gender — few put in the real work to educate themselves and make changes needed to make the campus truly safe and inclusive for trans people.”

Intersections of identity such as age and race can further complicate trans students’ experiences on campus. “Trans students, especially trans

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Baackmann-Friedlaender has met few other smokers. Last year while in Bosnia and Herzegovenia, she would smoke 20 to 30 cigarettes per day when she was stressed and 10 to 15 on a normal day. At Brown, she smokes about seven cigarettes a day. She plans on trying to quit smoking over winter break.

On campus, smoking is not allowed indoors or within 35 feet of the entrance to any campus building, according to the Facilities Management website.

Angelica Cotto ’19 said she thinks these limitations are in place “to make sure you’re being conscious of other people.”

“It’s enforcing a proper smoking etiquette, so I’m behind it,” Cotto said.

“The U.S. culture of shunning cigarettes makes you more aware of what it’s doing to you,” Baackmann-Friedlaender said.

A safer alternative?

“Rates of college students smoking have not gone down as much as we

would have liked them to, and there’s been some evidence that they may be increasing,” Cassidy said, adding that there has been a rise in intermittent smoking.

Cotto said she has experienced no negative health effects from smoking, which she began over the summer with friends. She plans to continue smoking about once or twice a month, and she would try to quit if she ever began smoking more frequently.

Cotto considers herself addicted but in control of her smoking. “I’m powerful and I don’t give into it, because I do get really intense cravings,” she said.

But Cassidy cautioned that even occasional smoking leads to health risks. “Every single cigarette can increase your risk of lung cancer,” she said. “We’re concerned that we see this disconnect between behavior and people’s perception of their risk for smoking.”

Recently, the use of electronic cigarettes by college students has risen, Cassidy said. E-cigarettes are a safer alternative to regular cigarettes, but their health effects are still not fully understood, she said. The Herald poll did not differentiate between cigarette and e-cigarette use.

The goal of e-cigarettes “is to deliver nicotine without delivering the smoke, which contains carcinogens and carbon-monoxide and harmful things,” Swift said. “But I think there’s concerns about that as well.”

Some cigarette smokers may switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes, which Cassidy said is a positive change because of the lower health risks. “That doesn’t mean they’re safe, period, but they’re certainly safer than cigarettes.”

“Whether e-cigarettes increase regular cigarette use is a big concern,” Tidey said, adding that the products are too new for scientists to

have measured the long-term effects.

students of color, are still very few in number. It can be difficult for trans first-years and people just coming into their trans identity to find community or support at times,” Gaines wrote.

Educational settings can present an additional challenge. “Academically, it can often be frustrating because most professors do not include trans people in their curricula or research, even those supposedly specializing in gender,” Gaines wrote. “Many professors

also fail to engage in the work needed to make their trans students feel accepted or respected in the classroom.”

The first week concluded with a poetry event that showcased student performers Gaines, Mae Verano ’17, Brianna Cox ’18 and Chrysanthemum Tran ’17 and featured professional poets Muggs Fogarty and Cameron Awkward-Rich. Fogarty is a Providence local who became a part of the Providence Poetry Slam staff at age 16.

Fogarty then went on to earn a bachelor of fine arts in creative writing from The New School and has represented Providence at the National Poetry Slam alongside Tran. Awkward-Rich is a doctoral candidate in Modern Thought and Literature at Stanford University as well as a Cave Canem Fellow.

Trans Week continues Thursday with a vigil for lost trans lives — more than 50 percent of transgender people attempt suicide at least once before

their 21st birthday, and more than 20 transgender people in America have been murdered in 2015.

On Friday at 5:15 p.m., the event will conclude with a trans march of resilience at the Knight Memorial Library.

“I’m really excited about (the march) as a place for a lot of trans folks to come together,” Teramoto said. “It’s going to be a really powerful thing to march as a community and celebrate our resilience.”

Problems solved, problems created “Nicotine’s an interesting drug,” Swift said, noting that it has a stimulant effect and is cognitive-enhancing.

Baackmann-Friedlander has found that smoking helps her think when doing computer science homework.

“Whenever I go out and smoke a cigarette and step back, it’s so much easier to solve the problem afterwards. But it’s more a psychological thing,” she said, adding that cigarettes also make her feel “fuzzy-headed.”

Cigarettes have affected BaackmannFriedlaender’s health as well. “I’ll cough in class and it sounds like I’m some dying old woman,” she said.

“I don’t know if I wish I hadn’t started completely,” she added. “In a lot of respects I do, just because it’s really annoying to be physically addicted to something that’s so damaging.”

Follow Sports! twitter.com/bdh_sports

UNIVERSITY NEWS

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

» COMP SCI, from page 1 at the Center for Information Technology with, Greenwald said. It is a social environment, constructed so that students never “feel like you’re in this on your own,” she added.

Applying for jobs and internships as a woman in CS can be a trying process because employers and peers sometimes make assumptions about being a woman in computer science, Stoermer said.

“One of the most demoralizing and wrong or offensive things peers here can say is, ‘It must be so easy to get an internship because you’re a woman,’” Stoermer said. “In order to get those positions you have to go through technical interviews with people who … have their own unconscious biases and can say really offensive or insensitive things in your interviews that you have to deal with.”

These insensitivities or microaggressions women CS concentrators encounter don’t stop after graduation either, several female CS alums said. Nell Elliott ’11 graduated with a joint degree in computer science and applied math and went on to take a job at Microsoft. Elliott, who

» EATERIES, from page 1 said his store on Thayer Street sees a lot of business from Brown students, adding that he believes many Brown students turn to buying groceries off campus.

In pricing items at Metro Mart, the final cost depends on the category of the good, but groceries are usually marked up 30 to 40 percent from the wholesale cost, Baral said.

According to a poll conducted by

is currently taking medical leave from the company, said that she was one of only five female developers on a team of between 80 and 100 people.

“I think that being a woman on that team is probably harder than being a woman at Brown,” she said, adding that subtle frustrations are harder to bring up.

“At Brown it’s the kind of thing you can confront someone about. At Microsoft it was the kind of thing where I really had to pick and choose battles.”

Other alums agreed that while Brown does an excellent job preparing CS concentrators academically, there are still strides to be taken inside and outside of the department to make the playing field truly equal.

CS at Brown “is a fantastic academic environment,” but not fantastic as a culture, Greenwald said. “We’re trying to make it fantastic for everybody.”

in the department,” she said, adding that URM students encourage their peers to push themselves academically. But she added the department needs to make strides to place more students and faculty of color in leadership positions.

When Steele had a underrepresented minority TA with a “position of power in the department” in one of her introductory courses, she said it helped her feel comfortable and confident in the classroom. “It’s very clear that if you’re a woman in this department you have a place, and there’s a way for you to hold leadership and have mentorship,” she said. “The same emphasis should be placed on URMs as well.”

Underrepresented minorities: community and displacement On Nov. 6, a head undergraduate teaching assistant for a CS course sent an email many found offensive to the undergraduate CS listserv posing as a

Nigerian prince to advertise the course CSCI 0160: “Introduction to Algorithms and Data Structures.” The CS department has since started to publicize the steps it plans to take to diversify a field traditionally dominated by white men.

In a Nov. 14 email to the undergraduate CS listserv, Tom Doeppner, vice chair of the computer science department, wrote that it will expand its undergraduate TA training program, which will “better address diversity and inclusion.”

While women constitute a small number of CS concentrators, underrepresented minorities make up an even smaller part of the program. Currently, no computer science faculty members are underrepresented minorities, and students say the support network has a lot of room to grow.

For Chelse-Amoy Steele ’18, currently an undergraduate TA for CSCI 0170: “Computer Science: An Integrated Introduction,” being an underrepresented minority concentrating in CS means a greater sense of both community and displacement.

“The community has represented itself in some of the upper-level courses

The Herald last month, 41.9 percent of students are somewhat satisfied with the University’s food offerings, 28.7 percent are somewhat dissatisfied, 10.4 percent are very dissatisfied, 9.1 percent are very satisfied, 8 percent have no opinion and 2 percent are not familiar enough to answer.

Several students told The Herald they consider the prices at campus eateries expensive.

Margo Crawford ’16, who is on the

seven-meal-per-week meal plan, said she eats about one meal at a campus eatery per day, and she and her roommates frequent the CVS on Thayer Street and Metro Mart.“If you’re looking for snacks like chips or granola bars, those are much cheaper, so sometimes we’ll buy those in bulk rather than buy them on campus,” she said.

Students at some other institutions can use their meal plans at chain stores located on campus, such as Starbucks

and Subway, Crawford said. “Here, it’s completely taken up by Brown Dining Services, so I do worry that Brown is in complete control over the price of the items and in complete control of the worth of your credits. They have a monopoly on what’s going on.”

Brown University Dining Services is “way overcharging us,” said Luis Gonzalez ’18. “Those $7 meals are worth so much more at other places.”

“The meal plan is convenient but

Moving forward In reference to the insensitive email sent to CS students, Steele said, “We felt that there were measures that should have been taken past that student just sending out a blanket apology.”

Steele agreed that there should be more inclusive diversity training for TAs. “A lot of students, including myself, have at times felt like going to the TAs has not been an experience that’s been

(psychologically) helpful.”

Support programs continue to expand, and the dialogue surrounding computer science continues to change.

“We are certainly undertaking trying to restructure how we do things,” Doeppner said. The department is scheduled to hold a “town hall”-style meeting Dec. 2 to talk about diversity. “We’re essentially trying to get students’ feelings about what the department culture is and what we can do about it,” he said.

Pinpointing exactly what changes in computer science need to be made to improve conditions for women and URMs is difficult, Stoermer said. She said there should be a focus on retention while Steele said there should be a focus on the improvement of high school programs to make the field more attractive to underrepresented minorities.

“We need more opportunities earlier for girls and minorities to see what (computer science) is all about, so they can make up their minds without having them made up for them,” Elliott said. ­ With additional reporting by Shira — Buchsbaum unreasonable and overpriced,” Gonzalez added.

But Marta Pysak ’18 expressed satisfaction with the pricing and experience of on-campus dining.

“I like the social aspect of the meal plan,” Pysak said. “I see my friends a lot during meal times, and I would miss out on that off meal plan.”

Representatives from BUDS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

METRO

PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Spotlight on the Statehouse

BY EMMA JERZYK, METRO EDITOR

East Side protests Mayor Jorge Elorza attended a forum Monday to address crime on the East Side of Providence, but members of the “STEP UP” Coalition and residents from other areas in Providence interrupted the meeting with protests, WPRI reported.

The protesters held that Elorza cares more about crime on the East Side than in other parts of the city. Protesters also claimed that for the past 11 months, they have tried to set up a meeting with Elorza, but he would not meet with them.

The forum — organized by the College Hill Neighborhood Association — was intended to confront house and car break-ins on the East Side.

Refugees in Rhode Island HERALD FILE PHOTO

Raymond Hugh, former owner of Shark Bar and Grille on Thayer Street, was arraigned Wednesday and is required to stay within Rhode Island and Massachusetts as he awaits his next hearing, which is scheduled for Jan. 19.

Former owner of Shark arraigned After pleading guilty to bribery, Raymond Hugh has bail set at $50,000 before next court date

By SHAWN YOUNG STAFF WRITER

Former owner of Shark Bar and Grille on Thayer Street, Raymond Hugh, was arraigned Wednesday on charges of bribery of a public official. Hugh was indicted by a grand jury Oct. 30.

Gordon Fox, Rhode Island’s former Speaker of the House, pleaded guilty to charges of accepting bribes March 3, The Herald previously reported. Court documents from Fox’s case claimed that Hugh and the other two co-owners of Shark, Bahij Boutros and Joseph Dalomba, bribed Fox with $52,500 while he served as vice chair of the Providence Board of Licenses in

2008. The board approved the license in a 3-0 vote against the objections of the University and owners of other Thayer Street businesses.

The charges claim $52,500 in bribes, despite the fact that the Providence Journal reported the bribe amount as $35,000, said State Police Colonel Steven O’Donnell.

R.I. Attorney General Peter Kilmartin and O’Donnell issued a statement Oct. 30 that alleges the bribery occurred “on or about dates between Aug. 13, 2008 and Sept. 5, 2008.”

U.S. District Court Judge Mary Lisi accepted Fox’s plea deal for a three-year prison sentence, and he began serving his time at United States Penitentiary, Canaan, in Waymart, Pennsylvania, The Herald previously reported.

The investigation into Fox’s bribery by federal prosecutors, the Federal

Bureau of Investigation and the state police provided the information necessary for Kilmartin to issue Hugh’s indictment, the Providence Journal reported.

Providence Superior Court Judge Robert Krause set bail at $50,000 and required Hugh to stay within Rhode Island and Massachusetts, the Associated Press reported.

Hugh’s lawyer, Michael Lepizzera Jr., did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“This case will play out in the only place where it is destined to play out, which is in the courtroom of our great judicial system,” Lepizzera told the AP. Krause set the next hearing for Jan. 19.

As of Nov. 18, only Hugh had been formally indicted of bribing a public official, said Amy Kempe, public information officer for the R.I. attorney general.

Ocean State likely to lose House of Reps seat R.I. population trends indicate stasis, cause concern for 2020 reapportionment

By KYLE BOROWSKI STAFF WRITER

Unless Rhode Island gains 25,000 residents by 2020, it will lose its second seat in the U.S. House of Representatives as a result of reapportionment, according to Rebecca Tippett, director of Carolina Demography at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Population Center.

The number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives is fixed at 435, so “any gains in one state are offset by losses in another,” Tippett said. The state’s population “would really have to grow at a rate that’s pretty inconsistent with past trends to retain a second seat,” she added.

These circumstances come amidst a larger migratory movement in which Northeastern and Midwestern states are at risk of losing their house seats, while Southern and Western states are more likely to make gains. According to Tippett’s research, eight states will

likely lose one of their seats in the 2020 reapportionment — only one of which is located outside of the Northeast or Midwest. Eight states could gain seats — all of which are located in the South or West.

“To some extent, population shifts ebb and flow, but we’re in the middle of a really long growth period for the southern and western portion of the United States,” Tippett said. This growth can be attributed to a better cost of living and better jobs in the South and West, she said.

This situation could pose a problem for Rhode Island’s two current representatives, U.S. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., and U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., as they would ultimately be forced to compete against each other for the sole position, said Ted Nesi, WPRI political and economic correspondent.

“They’re both pretty young, and both of them have pretty good luck winning reelection,” he said, adding that both representatives might have to confront that “a seat that looks pretty safe can go up in smoke and force them to figure it out.”

The loss of even one seat can impact the state’s delegation and the

average Rhode Islander, said Wendy Schiller, associate professor of political science and public policy.

“Two is always better than one when it comes to members of Congress,” Schiller said. “Losing a seat means losing access to resources, earmarks and general clout in the party,” she added.

Growing the population could prove to be a challenge for Rhode Island officials, as residents must typically deal with “high taxes, high cost of housing — which makes it more expensive for people to buy property here — and a lack of jobs, especially lack of good jobs,” Nesi said.

To address this challenge, Gov. Gina Raimondo could try introducing a loan forgiveness program, Schiller said. The program could include loan forgiveness or a tuition waiver if a Rhode Island college graduate stayed in the state for a number of years after graduation, she said, though she noted that the program could be expensive.

“Programs like that — that limit our brain drain and keep our talent in Rhode Island — would make a difference,” Schiller said. “I don’t know if it would add up to 25,000, but every thousand counts.”

Gov. Gina Raimondo said in September that she would be willing to accept Syrian refugees if President Obama asked Rhode Island to do so. Rep. Robert Nardolillo, R-Coventry, and Rep. Doreen Costa, R-Exeter and North Kingstown, called on Raimondo Monday to reverse her stance, the Providence Journal reported.

These calls to refuse refugees from Syria come after the terrorist attacks in Paris Friday. Both representatives expressed concerns that accepting refugees would put the state at higher risk for a terrorist attack. “We need to protect our citizens,” Costa tweeted.

The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union issued a statement Monday expressing concern regarding Nardolillo’s and Costa’s statements. “We urge Governor Raimondo not to lend credence to this message of intolerance,” the RIACLU statement reads.

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Providence, Thomas Tobin, also issued a statement Monday saying “it would be wrong for our nation and our state to refuse to accept refugees simply because they are Syrian or Muslim,” WPRI reported.

Rep. Aaron Regunberg, D-Providence, also issued a statement Monday urging Raimondo to maintain her stance, Turn to 10 reported.

Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston and Providence, and Sen. Gayle Goldin, D-Providence, will host a rally at the State House Thursday at 1:30 p.m. to demonstrate support for Syrian refugees, according to a Nov. 18 press release.

Not a walk in the PARCC Only one in three students met state standards in English, while only one in four did so in math, according to standardized test results released Tuesday by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Woonsocket emerged as the districts with the lowest percentage of students who passed both the math and English tests, the Journal reported.

Though urban school districts generally performed worse than others, some schools in urban school districts — such as Blackstone Valley Prep charter schools and Varieur Elementary School in Pawtucket and Classical High School in Providence — performed well.

Chris Maher, Providence interim superintendent, highlighted William D’Abate Elementary School, saying that it showed “promising results.”

The tests “are not an indication of failure on the part of our students or teachers. This is a call to action,” R.I. Education Commissioner Ken Wagner told the Journal.

“Too many of our children do not have the skills they need to succeed in today’s economy. Our kids deserve better,” Raimondo wrote to the Journal.

Maher also highlighted the performance gaps for English language learners and students with disabilities. “We must do more to address the unique challenges faced by these students. This is especially true in our urban core communities, where the concentration of these students is the highest,” he said.

The results also showed gaps across race and class: Black and Latino students were less than half as likely to have met or exceeded the standard in English compared to white students, and less than one third as likely in math. Students from low-income families were half and one third as likely as students from middle- and upperincome families to pass the English and math exams, respectively.

TODAY

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

d o m e i n t h e d i s ta n c e

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizzas: BBQ Bam Bam, Nacho, Spicy Five Cheese and Garlic JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Made-to-Order Quesadillas

Soups: Turkey Chili, Chicken Artichoke Florentine

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Eggplant Parmesan Grinder, Mushroom Quiche, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bars

Baked Pork Chop, Toasted Ravioli with Italian Salsa, Garden Style Fishless Filet, Pumpkin Pie

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Swiss Broccoli Pasta, Potato Skins Bar, Rice Krispie Treats

Pot Roast Jardiniere, Mediterranean Stew, Cream Cheese Carrot Cake

sudoku

ARJUN NARAYEN / HERALD

The dome of the First Church of Christ Scientist looms over Providence in the afternoon sunlight. As fall slowly turns into winter, the days become much shorter, with the sun setting as early as 4:30 p.m.

comic A Horse of Any Other Name | Zach Silberberg

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MCAT Decoded 12:00 P.M. Wilson Hall 102

What is Leave?

7:00 P.M. Sayles Hall 105

(Me)ntally (i)ll? The role of mental health in identity 7:30 P.M. Salomon Center 202

Fall Dance Conert 2015 8:00 P.M. Ashamu Dance Studio

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CAPS Drop-In Support 4:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson 515

“Dream On” Screening and Discussion 4:00 P.M. Watson Institute, Jukowsky Forum

Brown Jazz Band Benefit Tour Concert 8:00 P.M. Salomon Center 101

Shakespeare Scenes Fest: Legally Bard 8:00 P.M. Kassar House, Foxboro Auditorium

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Difficult gratitude As Thanksgiving approaches this year, we recognize the difficulty of determining for what we should be grateful. As news from the tragedies in Paris and Beirut continues to trickle out, as governors of 26 states and counting have refused to accept Syrian and Iraqi refugees — privileging fear over shared humanity — and as events at the University of Missouri, Yale, Brown and countless campuses across the country painfully demonstrate the power of structural racism, calls for gratitude seem untimely at best and insensitive and tasteless at worst. The world, as it stands, makes it hard to give thanks.

Gratitude has often stifled social change and advancement, stalled the persistent push for progress and served as an expression of contentedness with “the way things are.” Appeals for gratitude can frequently be framed as the conservative counterweight to discussions of privilege. They can be seen as a means of silencing a marginalized group and a call for complacency through their implicit suggestion that the status quo is satisfactory.

Commentators who have opposed recent student protests on college campuses have used notions of gratitude to question the demands of activists, arguing that their general good fortune renders their pleas misguided and meaningless. But neither well-furnished facilities nor the privilege of education offsets racism and threats of violence on campus.

Not only does gratitude appear to be incongruous with the turmoil of today, but it also seems to serve as a force of stasis and inaction when urgency and exertion are most in need. A system must stop being appreciated in order to create meaningful change and improvement. Progress is the mobilization of collective dissatisfaction. As our social and political institutions continue to grapple with the same habitual problems with few gains to be made, we must ask to whom we should be grateful, and for what and why?

Yet despite the pressing issues that never seem to vanish, we believe in the importance of recognizing and appreciating all that makes us strive to overcome them. Though it is easy to forget our luck in moments of pain and injustice, it remains important to retain the capacity for thankfulness while suffering.

Be thankful for a kind word or gesture, for moments of understanding.

Be thankful for feelings of solidarity and the possibility of progress. And be thankful for all that leads us to imagine a better future. In a world still full of hate, bigotry, violence, ignorance and, above all, inertia, we believe in the everlasting value of taking the time to reflect and express gratitude for the ideas, values and feelings that remain separate from the darkness.

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Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: Emma Axelrod ’18, Eben Blake ’17 and Aranshi Kumar ’17. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.

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“While the number is small and there’s a lot of difficulties that come with it, we’re loud.”

— Paige Stoermer ’16 on women in computer science

See comp sci on page 1.

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COMMENTARY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

On race, the environment and confronting bias CAMILA BUSTOS MICHAEL W. MURPHY op-ed contributors

Listening to other students of color discuss their experiences with subtle and overt forms of racism during the past week reminds us that our own feelings of alienation are more broadly shared than we often recognize. As people of color attending a historically white institution, we have experienced more than our fair share of uncomfortable moments. Emotionally unnerving, these instances have hit us hardest in the intellectual setting we are encouraged to call home on campus: the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society.

Even though we are accustomed to standing alone or amongst only a small number of people of color in academic and activist environmental settings, it is still jarring when our very existence in these spaces is questioned by our white peers.

One day, I (Camila) forgot my ID at home and could not get into the new Building for Environmental Research and Teaching, where we have office space as a part of the Climate and Development Lab. As a (white) woman approached the building, I said hello with relief, explaining that I had forgotten my ID and was not able to enter BERT. Looking me up and down, scrutinizing my clothes, the woman asked, “Uhmm … You work here?” Only slightly annoyed, I responded that I did but had forgotten my ID. Before I could ques-

tion this uncomfortable interaction, the woman stopped me and asked, “Could you remind me who you work with again?” expressing deep disbelief that I, in fact, worked at BERT. I asked some of my white peers if this had happened to them. Not a single one responded yes.

Situations like these are far too common within university settings.

Despite shallow rhetoric about the importance of creating diverse and inclusive communities, the vast majority of higher education institutions are failing underrepresented and historically marginalized students, as the

of the many items on a much longer administrative to-do list.

A year ago, a group of over 180 students, faculty members and alums signed a letter asking the institute’s leadership to address the issue of diversity. The letter included a list of recommendations, none of which have been directly addressed. Last semester, students organized a forum to discuss the ongoing problem with students, faculty members and administrators. To our knowledge, nothing concrete has come of this meeting either.

As an institute, IBES does not hire

lenge of hiring people of color for faculty positions, when the proportion of white to nonwhite people with doctoral degrees remains so unbalanced. But when it comes to the environment, the lack of diversity is not accidental, but rather the result of the historical and systematic exclusion of people of color from environmentalist discourse. As the critical geographer Carolyn Finney argues, environmental discourse in the United States is “informed by a legacy of Eurocentrism and the linkage of wilderness to whiteness, wherein both become naturalized and universalized. … These

When it comes to the environment, the lack of diversity is not accidental, but rather the result of the historical and systematic exclusion of people of color from environmentalist discourse. protests erupting on campuses from California to Connecticut demonstrate.

At Brown, we have pushed the leadership of IBES to do more than simply talk about the importance of diversity. None of the 13 “teaching” or “institute fellows” are underrepresented minorities, and out of the 27 affiliated faculty members, zero come from black or Latino backgrounds.

The institute is currently working on implementing its diversity plan to increase diversity in postdoctoral and faculty hires and support summer research for low-income students.

While the institute has taken some important first steps, we find the plan’s implementation too slow and worry this effort has become just one

its own faculty. Instead, hiring is done in partnership with affiliated departments, such as ecology and evolutionary biology, sociology and history.

Thus, both IBES and affiliated departments share the burden of addressing the glaring lack of diversity in environmental research and teaching at Brown. This undoubtedly calls for cross-departmental efforts to increase diversity, in accordance with the University’s Diversity Action Plan, which will be released as a working draft Friday.

This year IBES is co-hiring over 10 new faculty members. So far, all five candidates for the conservation biology position are white, and four of them are male.

To be clear, we recognize the chal-

narratives, which contribute to the American environmental imaginary, are grounded in the values, beliefs and attitudes of the individuals who construct them.” Thus, it is not a surprise that our understandings of environmentalism, environmental studies and environmentalists are closely associated with whiteness.

We have seen the consequences of this white environmental imaginary firsthand in the lack of faculty of color affiliated with IBES, as well as through the absence of the critical aspects of environmental research and training that interrogate race, class, gender, sexuality and nationality as categories of difference that shape human connections to the broader ecosystem. It is truly a shame that you can spend

four years studying conservation biology, for example, without ever having to consider how social configurations of power are implicated in such topics or the racist history of the discipline.

What forms of nature are worthy of conservation and for whom, and who gets to make these decisions? Thus, the lack of diversity in the faculty not only affects the experiences of students of color within the department but also reinforces a largely uncritical education for all students.

We do not think the lack of faculty of color is the only problem, but it is unlikely that the situation will change without this key issue being addressed. If IBES truly values diversity and inclusion, its administration will have to find ways to make the culture of the institute much more open.

It will have to work toward creating a space in which faculty and students of color feel more comfortable, no matter what their scholarly and political interests might be. We recognize this is not an easy thing to do. It will actively require time and energy from all stakeholders. But rethinking current efforts and asking difficult questions are imperative if we truly wish to challenge the status quo.

Camila Bustos ’16 and Michael W. Murphy GS can be reached at maria_bustos@brown.edu and michael_w_murphy@brown. edu, respectively. They both would like to express their gratitude for the support they have received from their mentors throughout their time at Brown.

The internship games MILI MITRA opinions columnist

Imagine hundreds of students in pitched battle, each trying to outshine the rest of the playing field. Some have advantageous connections; others have hidden weapons. Their only aim: to earn that one coveted spot as victor.

No, I’m not describing the plot of “The Hunger Games” or any other piece of dystopian teen literature. I’m talking about the reality of the internship hunt.

When I arrived at Brown, I was baffled by the inordinate emphasis on finding internships. It seemed to me that from September onward, the CareerLAB had daily sessions on the process of applying to these positions.

As a naive freshman, I couldn’t compute why students needed to start so early. How could I think of plans for the summer when I hadn’t decided on plans for December break, Thanksgiving or even the next weekend?

Apparently, my peers didn’t share my qualms: By March, most of my friends had made plans for the summer, and I began to panic. I was lucky to find an amazing internship that was exactly what I needed, but I was still plagued by self-doubt.

This year, I promised myself I would start early. I’ve attended internship fairs, visited CareerLAB and even browsed through BrownConnect — a huge improvement on my performance

from last year.

Unfortunately, these efforts have done little to relieve my stress. The world of careers and internships is challenging to navigate at the best of times, but trying to search for these opportunities while balancing a full course load and other responsibilities? Quite frankly, it’s a nightmare.

My main issue with the internship process is that it propagates an unhealthy sense of competition. Of course, competition can be beneficial, pushing us to take risks and strive for new heights. But it needs to be served in moderate

ship search resembles the college application process all over again, and let’s face it: That was so high school.

Admittedly, I’m not particularly qualified to give advice on landing the dream position — but I definitely have experience on what not to do. As someone who has spent numerous sleepless nights agonizing over Skype interviews and LinkedIn profiles, I can attest to the fact that there are resources on campus to help reduce the burden. So here are some tips to get through the internship struggle.

The world of careers and internships is challenging to navigate at the best of times, but trying to search for these opportunities while balancing a full course load and other responsibilities? Quite frankly, it’s a nightmare. doses, especially when we live in such a highstress environment.

It is important to understand that not everyone has to find internships at companies like Google or Goldman Sachs. More often than not, internships with smaller, low-profile organizations can prove just as life-changing and instructive.

And then there’s the pressure of having your future on the line. All too often, prospective employers assess us on our previous work experience. This isn’t fair or equitable by any means, but it is the harsh reality. As a result, every time I send out an application, I feel like my hopes and dreams are at stake. In many ways, the intern-

First and foremost, CareerLAB can be your best friend. I cannot stress this enough. It might seem obvious, and yet I know many people who are hesitant to visit CareerLAB. It can be hard to spare time for their events on a weekly basis, but even attending a few per semester can be extremely helpful.

Better yet, use the Peer Career Advisors and Career Counselors. PCAs hold open hours on weekdays and can give you recommendations on resumes, interviews and career prospects. These open hours are a great forum in which to hear students share their experiences and advice. If you’re particularly worried, don’t shy away from making an appointment with a

Career Counselor. From personal experience, I can guarantee the appointment will calm your nerves and put the entire process in perspective.

If you’re interested in a specific organization or career path, I would also encourage you to reach out to peers and alums. Many of them have been in similar positions and can give you valuable insights into the programs. Once again, this might seem obvious, but it isn’t as common as you might think. Needless to say, it can really make a world of difference to your search.

This is where BrownConnect can come in handy: Use the database to find the contact details of alums, and don’t hesitate to cold email them. Yes, it can be incredibly intimidating, and you might be ignored or even rejected, but it can’t hurt to try. Along with the people you meet through courses and clubs, these contacts can strengthen your network and benefit you in the long run.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to take risks and challenge your preconceived notions. College summers are a perfect opportunity to try out new career paths and get a feel for different fields. So apply to a range of different positions — even ones for which you might be grossly unqualified. Keep your mind open to the simple internships with small organizations or start-ups.

Above all, push your boundaries and step out of your comfort zone. This might well be your last chance.

Mili Mitra ’18 can be reached at mili_mitra@brown.edu.

SCIENCE & RESEARCH THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015

Oberlin GS teaches robots how to lift John Sopko speaks on Computer science rebuilding Afghanistan research aims to make robotics lifting functions more efficient

By STEVEN MICHAEL SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

Through practice and play, John Oberlin GS is working to help robots learn how to pick up any number of household objects.

Oberlin, a PhD candidate in computer science, is collaborating with his adviser, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Engineering Stefanie Tellex. The duo aims to have their robots pick up one million objects.

The robots in their research are Baxter models built by Rethink Robotics, Inc., a robotics company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The lab’s two robots are named in honor of Brown’s mascot, Bruno the bear.

They are dubbed Iorek — after the armored bear in Phillip Pullman’s novel “The Golden Compass” — and Ursula, which comes from the Latin word for “little bear,” Oberlin said.

It is “tedious to train the robot how to pick up each object individually”

because of the extensive human data entry involved, Oberlin said. It is preferable for the robot to figure out how to identify and pick up a general object, eliminating the need for such data entry, he said.

To pick up objects, the robot needs to learn four distinctions: that the ob-

jects are separate, what the objects are, where the objects are and how they can be picked up, Oberlin said.

In computer science lingo, these terms are known as segmentation, classification, pose and grasp planning, respectively, he said.

During the learning process, the robot takes pictures of the object in order to recognize it again in the future, Oberlin said. The robot then practices different ways of picking up the object and remembers which strategies lead

to the highest probability of success.

The robot also plays with the object to figure out the different “gravitationally stable configurations,” Oberlin said. For example, a mug may have three stable configurations: upright, upside-down and on its side. The robot attempts to determine the best way of picking up the object in each of these configurations.

At this point, the robot switches between possible configurations by dropping the object. But in the future, the goal is for the robot to “intentionally transition the object between different states,” Oberlin said. As it takes time for the robot to learn about new objects and their possible configurations, Oberlin and Tellex aim to create a more “robust” robot that can deal with an object in a variety of possible configurations.

“Lighting is the most difficult thing to deal with in vision for robots,” Oberlin said.

Reflective objects pose a unique challenge for the robot, as they may appear so different that the robot needs to create new configurations for each possible reflection, he said.

For example, a reflective object may require multiple configurations while in the same position.

Head of SIGAR cites corruption, poor oversight, sustainability as challenges facing U.S. in Afghanistan

By JULIA CHOI STAFF WRITER

“How do we successfully rebuild a failed state?” asked John Sopko, head of Special Inspector General of Afghanistan Reconstruction, during a talk entitled “U.S. Challenges in Afghanistan” Wednesday at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

“We are objective and independent in our work,” Sopko said of SIGAR, an agency that conducts audits and investigations and makes recommendations to prevent fraud, waste and abuse of U.S. taxpayer dollars toward the reconstruction in Afghanistan, according to the agency’s website.

Congress created SIGAR in 2008, and President Obama appointed Sopko as inspector general in 2012. Sopko has over 30 years of experience as a congressional counsel, prosecutor and senior federal government advisor, including 20 years on Capitol Hill, according to SIGAR’s website.

In his talk, Sopko outlined four main challenges that SIGAR faces.

The first challenge is “the inability to define requirements, measure effectiveness and assess sustainability,” Sopko said. “U.S. agencies measure inputs and outputs rather than outcomes,” he said, adding that “numbers don’t tell Congress about the effectiveness of programs.”

“We need to know which … programs are ones Afghans want” in order to make Afghanistan a “stable and prosperous place,” he said.

The second challenge is the “lack of coordination within our government, with the Afghans and with our partners

UNIVERSITY NEWS

in Europe and elsewhere,” Sopko said.

“By not coordinating the various lines of efforts … we undermine our mission and waste U.S. taxpayer dollars.”

The third challenge is “poor planning, oversight and accountability,” he said, noting that nearly $13 million allocated for an Afghan electricity operator was never used.

Poor oversight could result in deaths, Sopko said, noting that improperly installed culvert denial systems, which help prevent improvised explosive device attacks, led to the death of American Marines in Afghanistan in 2013.

“Fraud kills,” he said. “Oversight is not just about saving money. It’s also about saving lives.”

The fourth challenge is corruption, which “can undermine every single endeavor we undertake in Afghanistan,” Sopko said. Corruption and international instability must be addressed “if Afghanistan is ever to prosper on its own,” he said.

Looking ahead, Americans must keep in mind which strategies and programs prove to be most effective in Afghanistan, since future reconstruction efforts in other countries such as Yemen and Syria are highly likely, Sopko said. “Afghanistan is a case study for anyone hoping to gain wisdom from the world of conflicted states,” he said.

Many Americans incorrectly “assume that our commitment to Afghanistan is waning” due to the retreating U.S. troops, Sopko told The Herald prior to delivering his talk. “We really need to be there — helping and supporting the Afghan people — because otherwise it will be a failed state again” and will pose a danger to the United States, he said.

Sopko told The Herald he hopes his talk highlighted the importance of public service to the students in attendance. “We need smart, intelligent, aggressive, active people … to join the government” and to “fix the problems we’re leaving (behind),” such as terrorism and reconstruction, he said.