SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015
VOLUME CL, ISSUE 116
WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
U. kicks off structural racism lecture series Athletes balance school, Tricia Rose shares injury with intense exercise plans for presentations, multimedia projects that address racism in the U.S.
Poll finds majority of students meet general fitness recommendations with weekly exercise
By BAYLOR KNOBLOCH SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Tricia Rose MA’87 PhD’93, director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America and professor of Africana studies, delivered the opening presentation of a series of lectures and workshops titled “How Structural Racism Works” Wednesday evening. The series comes out of Rose’s ongoing research project, which she has been working on “for a couple of years, amidst other responsibilities,” she told The Herald. “What inspired me to do it now is partly all of the political, social issues that are going on around the country and the difficulties that people are having understanding the larger things at play.” The project, which Rose hopes will produce a viral informational video, is “a visual, cultural and emotional project to build an anti-racist community,” she said in her lecture. Rose said she also hopes to develop the material into a lecture course.
By ELENA RENKEN STAFF WRITER
The Herald’s fall poll found that 14.7 percent of students do not exercise, 39.5 percent exercise for one to three hours per week and 28.1 percent exercise for four to seven hours per week. Fewer students exercised more than that, with 7.2 percent exercising for eight to 10 hours per week, 3 percent exercising for 11 to 13 hours per week and 7.5 percent exercising for 14 or more hours per week. Every week, adults should participate in 150 minutes of moderate activity, 75 minutes of vigorous activity or a combination of the two, according to recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “Doing more will lead to even greater health benefits,”
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
MARIANNA MCMURDOCK / HERALD
Tricia Rose captivated the audience at the first in a series of lectures that will explore how structural racism affects virtually all parts of society. In the first installment of the se- housing, education, mass media, ries, Rose explained that the coming wealth and jobs, and criminal justice. lectures will cover elements of strucRose stressed that these five tural racism, which she defined as the realms are not self-contained but in“normalization and legitimization of teract with one another like cogs in a an array of dynamics — historical, machine that is “designed to produce cultural, institutional and interper- disparities,” she said. sonal — that routinely advantage “Every aspect of life has evidence whites while producing cumulative of racial disparity,” Rose said. and chronic adverse outcomes for Structural racism and its pervapeople of color.” siveness are obscured by the common Each lecture will focus on one of cultural ideology of colorblindness, five key facets of structural racism: » See RACISM, page 3
according to ODPHP. But most recommendations give no upper limit, said Jessica Unick, assistant research professor of psychiatry and human behavior. “There are no clearcut guidelines on what is too much exercise,” she said. “Obviously if you (exercise) too intensely as well as in high frequency, there are potential muscle-skeletal injuries along with accidental injuries,” said Simin Liu, professor of epidemiology and medicine. “But aside from that I really see a lot of benefit.” At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Ty Walker ’19 bruised the bone in her heel on the second day of training for slopestyle snowboarding. “They had to inject my foot with novocaine so I could compete,” she said. “I couldn’t feel from my shin down.” She tore a ligament in her knee earlier this year and spent the summer rehabilitating. In past seasons of snowboarding, she has also had concussions, sprained her neck and rotated a vertebrae. Walker began snowboarding when she was seven or eight and continued to practice the sport through high school, » See EXERCISE, page 2
Task force aims to rid Med School courses of racial bias After identifying racial bias, students join with administrators to effect curricular change By ANICA GREEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
A substantial portion of the curriculum for first- and second-year students at Alpert Medical School contains racially biased information, according to the findings of a group of students. The students surveyed curricular material for a final project in a class on race and medicine taught by Professor of Medical Science and Africana Studies Lundy Braun. These findings of racially biased information prompted the formation of a task force made up of around 20 students, faculty members and administrators to reexamine the curriculum. Alan Tunkel, associate dean for medical education, Paul George, director for the second-year curriculum and the Primary Care-Population Medicine program, and Dick Dollase, director of the Office of Medical Education, are three of the key administrators spearheading the task force’s work.
INSIDE
While the administrative leaders on the task force are white men, many people of color are also guiding the effort. In addition to a diverse group of students, Tunkel said that faculty and alumni leaders like Joseph Diaz MD’96 MPH’00, associate professor of medicine, Tracey Guthrie, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior, and Jeffrey Hines ’83 MD’86 are among the leaders of color who have been part of the efforts thus far. Race-based diagnoses and treatment Racial bias can affect the way medical treatment is taught and provided. Sarcoidosis, for example, can be found in white people and people of color, yet in the medical literature, it is often described as a “black” illness. The reverse can also hold true, as in the case of cystic fibrosis, where there is evidence to suggest that cases are often overlooked in black patients because it is a stereotypically “white” disease. The medical literature surrounding colon cancer shows that black people are typically screened at lower rates, are given less comprehensive treatment and suffer worse outcomes from the » See MED SCHOOL, page 3
Virtual reality room facilitates new research From poetry to planetary geology, YURT allows study, exploration in variety of fields By JACKSON CHAIKEN STAFF WRITER
The YURT Ultimate Reality Theater was officially unveiled last semester, and after six months of use, the possibilities for the facility seem limitless, said David Laidlaw, professor of computer science and principle investigator for the YURT. The virtual reality theater — which has been called the most advanced of its kind in New England by the Boston
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
Globe— features a 360-degree display, high pixel density and crisp resolution, creating images viewable with 3D glasses, Laidlaw said. “It’s all meant to be at the very limits of our visual acuity. If it were any better than it is, you wouldn’t even know,” because your eyes would not be able to register the difference, said Jesse Polhemus, communication and outreach specialist for the Department of Computer Science. The number of environments and applications the YURT can have is boundless. The YURT has already been used by Professor of Literary Arts John Cayley to study “ambient poetics” in 3D audiovisual environments, according to Cayley’s faculty page. “The YURT lets people manipulate text in a way you really can’t with modern
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computers and technical methods. You could, for example, put yourself in the center of a blank sheet of paper and assemble text around you,” Polhemus said. The YURT has amazed those who have had the opportunity to step inside. Joey Botros ’16, a co-coordinator of Brown Science Prep, a weekly high school tutoring program, was able to get access to the YURT for a group of high school students in the program. During their time in the YURT, students were able to “stand on the surface of Mars, closely observe an ancient tapestry in fine detail, create our own drawings in 3D space, step into the right atrium of a human heart and even play Minecraft,” Botros said. “The moment you put on the 3D glasses and enter the YURT, it’s like » See YURT, page 2
WEATHER
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015
METRO New bus service provides an alternative to Uber, RIPTA, operates from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. PAGE 3
SADIE HOPE-GUND / HERALD
Students experience being on the moon and Mars in the University’s YURT Ultimate Reality Theater. The virtual reality room features a 360-degree display and the best resolution visible to the human eye.
COMMENTARY Simon ’16: Classism is a reality of our capitalistic society, and no special dean can change that
COMMENTARY Malik ’18: When tragedies like the San Bernardino shooting sadden us, we can ask for help
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» YURT, from page 1 stepping into another world. When the YURT generated its visualization of Mars, it felt like we were actually standing on the surface of another planet,” Botros said. Research is best facilitated in areas with large bodies of data, Laidlaw said. This is being done with planetary geology, where “petabytes of data (are) showing what Mars looks like,” he added. The YURT could be used to study geography, engineering fluid dynamics and archaeology, Polhemus said. The YURT will also facilitate research that explores topics such as the necessity of virtual reality and the value of facilities like the YURT, Laidlaw said, adding that
this research will help with future virtual reality technology. Even though the YURT is open and being used by both faculty and students, it is still being tweaked, Laidlaw said. “Blending all of the projector images into one seamless one is still not as good as I would like it,” he added. The YURT was built with a $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation and $500,000 from the University, the Boston Globe reported. In building the YURT, the team “pioneered multiple sciences,” such as metallurgy and optical science, Polhemus said. “It really was just an amazing journey,” he added. “I’m just very proud of the fact we have undertaken something this transformational here.”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
» EXERCISE, from page 1 which she completed online because her sport required so much travel. At Brown, she exercises 10 to 15 hours a week, doing circuit training and weight training as well as running 25 miles every week. Exercising so much while in school does have its downsides for Walker. “I’ll skip out on social things to go train,” Walker said, adding, “Now that I have to go to classes and sit and do my work, I feel so much more sore.” Walker is hoping to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. “A big part of it is definitely trying to stay strong and fit for my sport,” she said. The differences between appropriate and excessive amounts of exercise are injury, acting against a doctor’s advice or spending less time with family and friends, Unick said. “It’s more the motivations behind the exercise,” she added. Important questions about extreme exercise have not yet been answered. “I don’t think there’s a problem of overexercise,” Unick said. “There’s a very small number of people outside of the athletes who work out at the same level,” Walker said. When people see her working out, they assume she is on a varsity team. When they find out she is not a varsity athlete, “They don’t really understand what to ask next,” she said. Studies have also shown that among younger adults, 40 percent self-report meeting the exercise recommendations, but only 10 percent meet the guidelines by objective measures of
Number of hours athletes work out per week Compared to their non-athlete counterparts, athletes work out significantly more with over 60 percent logging at least 14 hours per week. 1.9% 1.2% 2.1% 11-13 14 or more 1-3 6.5% 8-10 10.6% 16.3% 4-7 0 61.7% 12.8% 30.1% 8-10 14 or more 4-7 hours per 12.8% 44% week 11-13 1-3
Athletes
Non-athletes LAURA FELENSTEIN / HERALD
activity, Unick said. When self-reporting, individuals often overestimate the time they spend exercising. Of the students who reported exercising for 14 or more hours per week, 85.3 percent are on a varsity sports team, according to The Herald’s poll. Keenae Tiersma ’19, a member of the women’s crew team, said she spends about 21 hours per week exercising. Practicing five or six days a week depending on the time of year, she finds that her whole schedule is determined by practice. “I can’t really go out and party except for one day a week because we just have practice every single day, or we have morning practice. You definitely have to prioritize what you want,” she said. But Tiersma said the commitment is worth it. “The team really pushes you. Seeing all of your teammates working harder than you, or just as hard
as you, really motivates me,” she said. “You want to make your team proud and do well.” Jake Miller ’18 and Max Gustafson ’19, both varsity lacrosse players, said they practice 15 hours per week during the season and six hours per week in the off season. But Miller said the practice time is not all-consuming. “They do a good job offering tutors. But the time commitment? I don’t think it’s that much that it really impedes the schoolwork,” he said. “I have plenty of time to do all my work. It’s easy to manage.” Gustafson said his desire to win and his relationships with his teammates are his biggest motivations. As for scheduling, he said the largest constraints are in the 72 hours before games, in which “we can’t really do anything socially.” For his academics, he said tutors are available for help if needed.
Follow Sports! twitter.com/ bdh_sports
UNIVERSITY NEWS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
New bus offers alternative to Uber, RIPTA At $3 per trip, new bus will provide riders with access to all areas of the city, residential areas By ROSE SHEEHAN STAFF WRITER
The Official Providence Party Bus — a bus service that aims to provide an alternative to transportation staples such as Uber and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority — opened for business last week, said OPPB owner Kristina Grande. The bus has a route and a fare that distinguish it from other forms of transportation. “Providence has all these different sections that might as well be their own separate islands,” Grande said. A Rhode Island native who grew up exploring Providence, Grande noted the difficulty of walking, for instance, from Thayer Street to Federal Hill. Upon moving to Detroit, notorious for its lackluster public transportation, she discovered the Detroit Bus Company, which allowed natives and visitors alike to experience the city. This company and the need to connect Providence inspired OPPB,
»MED SCHOOL , from page 1 disease than their white counterparts. Antiquated ideas about race even play into certain physiological measurements — like the glomerular filtration rate, a measure of kidney function — that are calibrated differently for black people. Many spirometry machines, which measure lung function, have a button or switch on them labeled “black.” Braun has traced these kinds of discriminatory measurements back to practices originating in plantation slavery, said Jennifer Tsai MD’18. Tsai and Bryan Leyva MD’18, both of whom serve on the task force, emphasized the importance of context in racialized medical discussions, noting that it is currently lacking from the school’s curriculum. “When there are differences in health outcomes by race, these differences are often not contextualized, so it sends off the message that these differences in health outcomes are due to race,” Leyva said. For instance, Med School faculty members mention little about housing conditions when teaching about the high risk of asthma in African Americans, she said. A national problem The problem extends beyond Alpert’s walls. It is one both created and perpetuated by the country’s medical establishment, Leyva said. “There has been a recent trend towards more race-based guidelines,” he said, explaining that these guidelines direct doctors to make race a basis for their diagnoses without considering context. The National Institutes of Health compels researchers to break down studies based on race, Tunkel said. The NIH has also placed an emphasis on studying race as a biological category rather than a social one, Tsai said, adding that the ratio of NIH grants dedicated to studying race and genetics to grants focused on race and
»RACISM , from page 1
Grande said. While Grande said she views services such as Uber, RIPTA, Lyft and taxis as competition, she believes OPPB has unique advantages that will attract customers. RIPTA operates off of a central hub and requires passengers to change buses in order to travel from one area of Providence to another, Grande said. OPPB provides riders with access to all areas of the city in a single trip and passes through residential areas so that passengers can catch it from their doorsteps. OPPB’s late hours — operating from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights — also set it apart from RIPTA, which typically terminates service between 10 p.m. and midnight. Many of RIPTA’s routes that pass through or near college campuses have late night runs to ensure student safety, wrote Barbara Polichetti, RIPTA director of public affairs, in an email to The Herald. Polichetti also cited the UPass program, which gives students at schools such as Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design unlimited access to RIPTA using their student IDs, as one of the ways in which RIPTA caters to young people who might be attracted to the concept
of OPPB. Grande said OPPB’s rates — $3 per trip or $8 for a night of unlimited rides — make it a cheaper option than services like Lyft and Uber. Carlie Waibel, spokeswoman for Uber Boston, said she could not comment on competition. James Fife ’19 said he is unsure whether he will use OPPB because he does not want to travel to other parts of the city. “There’s so much going on here at Brown and RISD and downtown that I don’t feel like I would need to go anywhere else.” Fife said he also prefers the flexibility of an Uber over the fixed schedule of a bus, which would perhaps require him to leave a party or event early in order to catch a ride back to his dormitory. Though she said she would not rely on OPPB if she were in a hurry to get somewhere, Mara Donadio ’19 said she is willing to consider trying out the new bus as a way to add a new experience to a typical weekend night. Control of music, access to phone chargers and plans to make OPPB a form of entertainment further separate it from other forms of transportation, Grande said. Grande said she hopes to soon
convert the bus’s interior. “We’re thinking a living room theme. You walk into the bus, and it seems like a comfortable environment to hang out.” She said she has already hired a staff, including a main driver who works as a reggae DJ at night and a group of monitors or tour guides, who she imagines will make the OPPB experience interactive and fun. Grande said she is working on featured routes, on which passengers will be provided with a list of recommended places to stop, including local restaurants and bars with which she will partner. Mimicking the Detroit Bus Company, Grande said she plans to partner with nonprofits by donating fares or making the bus available for charity events. In addition, like the Detroit model that offers after-school transportation for children, Grande said she would be open to providing her bus to ferry students to after-school activities in the future. As a mother with a full-time job, Grande said she finds it difficult to pick up her son from school and drive him to piano lessons or art classes. “Kids lose out on these amazing opportunities that are available to them because of transportation.”
which “assumes racial hierarchies are not already operating,” “minimizes injustices” and “rejects policies that are designed to redress the legacy of structural discrimination,” she said. There is a “saturating influence of the ideology of colorblindness” and an “invisibility of structural racism” that research alone cannot adequately address and disrupt, Rose said. She asked the audience, “How do we tell this story in a way that builds emotional momentum?” The lectures and video aim to do just that, Rose said. “She’s trying to make an emotional response … but there has to be a balance of the facts and the emotional,” said audience member Bryan Rego ’15. “Racism is pervasive today and remains at the core of our darkest days,” said Provost Richard Locke P’17 in his opening remarks. The Office of the Provost is sponsoring the series in partnership with the CSREA. Locke thanked and welcomed those in the packed auditorium who helped the University engage issues of racism this year. “The presentations on the campus are a small part of a broader project,” Rose said.
social factors was 500:1 between 1995 and 2005. “The challenge is that faculty wants to teach students what the guidelines are,” Leyva said. The Med School does not “teach to the test,” Dollase said. But once students leave the Med School, they will have to face exams that use race-based clues to hint at the correct diagnosis, Tunkel said. This is perhaps compounded by the way that many faculty members themselves were taught. “One of the issues in medicine is that many physicians have been taught that race is a biological construct,” Dollase said. “It’s hard to retrain physicians who have been trained in one way.”
topic, though a paper from University researchers is currently being peer reviewed. Saunders has made two visits to the Med School to share the work he has been doing on UNC’s campus. This is only one of a few steps that have already been taken to address the current problems with the curriculum. Braun’s lecture about racism and spirometry has been added to the pulmonary sciences section of the curriculum for all students. A book about implicit bias called “Blind Spot” is now required reading for all first-year med students, and first- and second-years will receive specific training on what implicit bias is and how it affects patient care.
though both acknowledged the difficulties of doing so while being at the bottom of the ladder under a mentor with no affiliation to Brown. The most important change going forward remains the addition of contextual understandings of racialized medical disparities, Leyva said. “It’s not that we want them to remove the racial bias, but use it to understand the importance of the social construct,” Tunkel said. Leyva also highlighted the importance of the task force in terms of opening the door for other minority groups to effect change at the Med School, citing recent discussions about gender-inclusive bathrooms
and transgender health. Despite the difficulties of trying to chip away at the issues of racial bias in the institution, Leyva said he sees this process as one that gives students power. “You can generate a sense of helplessness when you just learn that there are these differences, but you don’t know what to tackle. That’s the last thing we want students to feel,” he said. “We want people to feel empowered that there are actually things they can advocate for to generate change in health,” he added. “But when you frame it as a biological construct, you create powerlessness that can be counterproductive.”
Making curricular change Yet Dollase said the University is strategically positioned to address these challenges. The Med School was recently awarded a grant from the American Medical Association with the purpose of “accelerating change in education,” he said. As one of 11 schools awarded the grant, faculty members from Brown attend semiannual meetings to discuss teaching in medicine with representatives from other schools. The role of race in medical schools’ curricula has figured in those conversations, Dollase said. As a part of that grant, Brown has gained access to the National Board of Medical Examiners, in addition to the more informal network of colleagues who write exam questions, with whom administrators already correspond. In terms of addressing racial bias in the curriculum, Brown is at the forefront of the country’s medical schools, Tunkel said. The University of California at San Francisco and Barry Saunders, associate professor of social medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, have also been doing innovative work around race and medicine, he said. Existing medical literature says little about this
Looking forward Despite this progress, task force members said there is still more to be done. Leyva said he wishes that the epidemiological and pharmacological information taught to first- and second-year students were rooted in social and environmental factors. Leyva and Tsai said they want to create a sense of urgency for their peers. An informal survey showed that a large majority of students feel confused about race and medicine, demonstrating the need for greater active support. Part of the problem is institutional memory, Tsai said. Because students spend their third and fourth years with local mentors working in hospitals, there is little time to organize around issues like this, especially considering the heavy workload of medical school. Once students reach their third year, incoming students with no prior context are left to take up the mantle. Despite the fast turnover for students, Leyva expressed enthusiasm that powerful administrators like Tunkel are sincerely invested in making a change. Leyva and Tsai said they are excited about the potential to create change in the third- and fourth-year program,
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PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
U. requests dismissal of Airbnb tax revenue falls short of estimate Lack of awareness, gender bias hearing previous rental
Judge to decide on dismissal of hearing for student suspended for sexual misconduct By KATE TALERICO SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The University asked a judge to dismiss a hearing brought by a former member of the class of 2017 who believes he was discriminated against due to his gender in a sexual misconduct case heard by the Student Conduct Board in fall 2014, according to a University press release Tuesday. The University argued that the plaintiff, identified only as John Doe in court documents, could not provide any specific allegations that showed the University acted with anti-male bias, according to the Office of General Counsel in the University press release. “There’s no smoking gun that we’re out to get men,” said University lawyer Steven Richard in Tuesday’s court proceedings, the Providence Journal reported. “The plaintiff has to show something more than just speculation and … innuendo.” But John Doe’s complaint states that the University violated its “educational contract” by failing to provide him with procedural rights guaranteed by the Student Code of Conduct during the hearing.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
In his complaint to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island filed in April, Doe claims his accuser’s advisor ordered him to prematurely terminate his testimony just seconds after it had begun. Most cases like Doe’s have been dismissed by courts nationwide due to the plaintiff ’s failure to provide specific facts demonstrating how a school’s actions were motivated by a gender bias, the press release said. “In the small minority of cases where courts have allowed such Title IX discrimination cases to proceed, there has usually been some allegation of a specific statement by a school official involved in the disciplinary process that shows not just sympathy for the alleged victim of a sexual assault, but an actual bias against males in general,” the release said. Doe is represented by Andrew Miltenberg, a lawyer who has become known for bringing universities to court over similar cases in the past. Besides the University, Doe is also suing his complainant, referred to as Jane Doe, for slandering him by falsely accusing him of sexual misconduct, leading to his suspension. District Court Chief Judge William Smith said he would come to a decision in the next several weeks, the Journal reported. The University would not comment while the matter is pending in court, said Acting Director of News and Communications Mark Nickel.
agreements responsible for unfiled taxes By JULIANNE CENTER STAFF WRITER
Rhode Island’s new tax on short-term residence rentals, commonly known as the Airbnb tax, has generated less revenue for the state than expected this year. While it was intended to raise between $2 million and $3 million by the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year, the expanded sales tax only raised between $60,000 and $100,000 in that time, Tax Administrator David Sullivan told the Providence Journal. The bill, passed June 30 as a part of the state’s budget, aims to place a hotel tax on all previously untaxed short term rentals, including rentals in private homes through hosting sites such as Airbnb. The revenue has not met the estimates for a number of reasons, said Neil Downing, chief revenue agent for the Rhode Island Division of Taxation. The revenue estimate was $7.1 million for the entire fiscal year, which does not end until June 30, and the $60,000 to $100,000 figure only includes taxes paid from July through September.
Scott MacKay, a political analyst for Rhode Island Public Radio, said the original estimate may be inaccurate because it was essentially “guesswork — the state had no experience with it in the past.” Another reason the estimate missed the mark is that the Division of Taxation determined that hosting platforms or private renters with signed rental bills before the law took effect July 1 would be exempt from the tax, MacKay said. Additionally, whenever policymakers introduce a new tax or extend a tax to a new area, “there is always a period of time spent educating consumers about the provisions,” Downing said. As a result, many people lack awareness of the new tax and therefore have not yet filed it. Because the tax is primarily applied to small inns or private individuals renting extra space on a short tem basis, it is difficult to reach everyone, Downing said. While tax administrators have “gone out to accountants, bookkeepers, real estate professionals and others, we’re never going to be able to reach everybody who is going to rent out a room in their house or apartment,” Downing said. “Airbnb and the big players have been helpful” in tax collection, but for small businesses it is less simple, MacKay said. Individuals “may have to hire a professional to file the taxes and fill out a lot of complicated forms,” said Rep. Robert Jacquard, D-Cranston.
“It’s a real burden on someone who is just trying to supplement their income these days,” Jacquard, who was initially opposed to the tax, said. Downing said he anticipates more revenue will be generated later in the year as more small businesses become aware of the new tax. In the meantime, the state is “deploying tools to encourage compliance with the tax on short-term rentals,” he said. Though the tax will raise prices for users of Airbnb and other hosting sites, Jacquard said it will not negatively affect the number of people who use the services. Hosting sites have a market for people with a specific budget that is not likely to change, he said. Victor Alvarez ’19 said that while he has heard of students on campus using Airbnb in their travels, the service typically attracts groups of people rather than individuals. For individual nrentals, Alvarez said he prefers hostels because they tend to be cheaper. “Prices are already high for Airbnb, so people who are using it probably won’t change because of the tax anyways,” he added. While analysts believe more tax revenue will come in, Jacquard said if the tax “is something that is not going to bring in much money, then it will increase the possibility of it being revisited or eliminated in the future.”
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TODAY
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
menu
a u b o n pa i n o n f i r e
SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS
Pizzas: BBQ Bam Bam, Spicy Five Cheese and Garlic, Honey Boo Boo JOSIAH’S
BLUE ROOM
Made-to-Order Quesadillas
Soups: Turkey Chili, Chicken Artichoke Florentine, Vegetable
DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH
DINNER
Falafel with Cucumber Sauce and Tahini, Spinach Pie Calzone, Apricot Beef, Raspberry Squares
Baked Chicken Parmesan, Broccoli Noodle Polanaise, Sweet and Sour Pork, Ambrosia Cake
VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH
DINNER
Tortilla Casserole, Cheese Tortellini, Vegan Garden Chili, Raspberry Squares
Swiss Steak, Stuffed Spinach Squash, Mashed Red Bliss Potatoes, Granola Bread
sudoku
ARJUN NARAYEN / HERALD
Providence fire trucks race over to the Au Bon Pain on Thayer Street in response to a small fire above the cafe Wednesday evening.
comics Ampersand | Wasita Mahaphanit ’18
crossword
Egoheads | J.H. Zech ’18
calendar TODAY
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Ethical Inquiry Lunch: Teaching Morality 1:00 P.M. Salomon Center 003
Robert Jervis Talk on Nuclear Weapons 4:00 P.M. Watson Institute, McKinney Conference Room
Greek and Program House Open Houses 5:00 P.M. Greek Houses
Free “Inside Out” Screening 7:00 P.M. SciLi, 3rd Floor
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Data Science at The New York Times 3:00 P.M. Metcalf Research Building
Extreme Gingerbread House Competition 4:00 P.M. Barus and Holley
PW Presents: 11 Apocalypses 8:00 P.M. TF Green
UNICEF Showcase: A Charlie Brunonian Xmas 7:00 P.M. List Art 120
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
EDITORIAL
Housing policies for returning students As fall term begins to wind down and students studying abroad plan for their return to Brown, many remain unsure of their housing situation on campus for the spring. Though the administration requires students arriving back from study abroad to live on campus, this edict is frequently waived as on-campus housing often becomes over-enrolled with the sudden influx of transfer and returning students. And while the purpose behind the school’s official policy is admirable — to reintegrate students to university life through on-campus housing — it can often lead to cramped living spaces on campus, last-minute leases off campus and bureaucratic nightmares for all parties involved. We recommend revising these rules to allow students to better prepare for alternative circumstances and the inevitable situation of having too few rooms on campus. Returning students are placed in a housing lottery before the start of spring term to determine their rooms for the next semester. However, with few spots still available — and even fewer that are desirable — students can find themselves occupying a double with two other people or a dorm’s unused kitchen as the University attempts to make due with a lack of adequate housing. This housing uncertainty offers another disincentive to students studying abroad. While the University often attempts to compensate for the lack of oncampus housing by allowing those returning to seek a lease elsewhere, they often inform students near the end of fall term, limiting the amount of time available to search for apartments nearby. And as most landlords prefer year-long leases, the opportunity to organize sublets with students studying abroad in the spring term would help improve some of the process. By adapting the policy to officially open up off-campus living to returning students, the University could minimize the annual pressure placed on the Office of Residential Life while ensuring that every student has adequate living arrangements. These policies also apply to students returning from leaves of absence. While the requirement after taking a leave of absence promises greater University supervision to help ease a student’s transition back to Brown, it also fails to recognize the need to allow for a variety of approaches and conditions to aid in a student’s return. As discussions surrounding mental health on campus have led to a reconsideration of University guidelines surrounding medical leave, we believe that the range of accommodations available to returning students should include the opportunity to live outside of dorms. What may help one student return to Brown may hinder another’s recovery. Ultimately, we urge Residential Life to reexamine housing policies for returning students in order to better accommodate certain needs and to ease the process of finding housing for others.
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“They had to inject my foot with novacaine so I could compete. I couldn’t feel from my shin down.” — Ty Walker ’19, Olympic Snowboarder
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COMMENTARY THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Viva classism! CHAD SIMON opinions editor
On Nov. 19, the University released a draft document entitled “Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion: An Action Plan for Brown University.” Though the plan’s merits have been highly disputed, I give the University my most resounding plaudits for its unparalleled efforts to address every social injustice in the phonebook. At the very least, Brown is trying. But that is not to say I am without my own axe to grind. The plan called for the hiring of a dean “dedicated to working with and supporting firstgeneration and low-income students.” To that end, I say heaven help us all in this patrician culture! Issues pertaining to classism will not end by hiring a dean. As a firstgeneration, low-income student myself, I don’t need any lip service from a six-figure-studded dean to explain why or how or when society decided to calculate me out of its equation. I have little interest in knowing how the pie is disproportionately allocated — I don’t have the time; I just want to eat my damn pie. I also do not believe classism is in the same camp as racism, sexism and most other -isms. Though there is an unfortunate relationship that’s shared amongst them all, classism holds a slight distinction because it’s not a social prejudice defined purely by untruths and fantasies of superiority; it is a prejudice defined largely
by money — a tangible, divisive factor that cannot be rectified by protests, marches and Upworthy.com. Unless we put capitalism to bed, classism will endure. That does not imply I’m in favor of communism. I would like to keep communism asleep for as long as possible. If the Soviet Union has provided the modern world with anything worthwhile, it would be a manual that states in bold, italicized font: Don’t be us. I’m implying that I am torn. I am
Century City. I could’ve said I lived on Doheny Road within earshot of a Real Housewife’s mid-life crisis. But lying is a dirty art, and I have a terribly guilty conscience. More importantly, these things can all be easily fact-checked. Instead, I wish people had just assumed I was a prince of sorts. So, to my dear first-generation and low-income students, I’ve decided to give to you what I wish someone would have given me at the dawn of my college career: sound
to express disinterest in the 99 percent. Four: Apologize for showing up on time. Five: Ask around for the coat check upon walking into the Ratty. Six: You now hate your parents — expressing contempt for mother and father is a perennial avocation of the moneyed. Seven: Acquire vests. Eight: Bemoan life’s most trying grievances: phone calls from your accountant, organizing Sunday
I am torn. I am frustrated. And I am done fighting a battle that cannot be won.
frustrated. And I am done fighting a battle that cannot be won. My freshman year of college was sobering — class divisions were boldly drawn from day one. I remember every day of fall semester being asked prying questions by classmates: “But which part of Los Angeles are you from?” “Did you go to private or public school?” “What do your parents do for a living?” I could’ve lied. At times, I was tempted to say my dad was a media magnate and my mom a critically acclaimed actress who now runs a prosperous talent agency in
advice on how to approach classism. I’ve taken a good, hard look into my past three-and-a-half years at Brown to cultivate and offer up some handy life hacks that should make assimilating into the most discriminatory of social circles as seamless (and unsuspecting) as possible. One: When choosing a concentration, stick to the discipline of the wealthy — classics. Two: Say you’re from “the city.” (Remember, Barstow is still a city.) Three: Avoid making eye contact — eschewing nonverbal social cues is a cost-efficient (and proven) way
brunch, out-of-season berries and the estate tax. Nine: You no longer watch movies; you watch films. Ten: Your drinks should be as pretentious as they are polysyllabic. It’s not wine; it’s pre-war cabernet sauvignon. It’s not juice; it’s organic cayenne pepper-infused limeade with wheatgrass extract. It’s not beer; it’s urban champagne. Eleven: Swipe into libraries with your MasterCard. Twelve: Your new aspirations will include one or more of the following: becoming a land baron, be-
coming a Hamptons white wine mom, acquiring a personal stylist, paying a lower tax rate than your personal stylist, developing an allergy to gluten. Thirteen: Try hailing the RIPTA. Fourteen: Kick your humanitarian efforts to the curb. Georgian silver, Duncan Phyfe furniture and Aubusson rugs are your new rarefied passions. Fifteen: Rules for dating: Talk love; think money. Well, I guess I’m not done fighting after all. Sure, my gloves may be off, strewn into the closet, collecting dust and never to be worn again, but I suppose fighting for a cause doesn’t always have to take place on offensive lines. As Rhett Butler posits in Gone with the Wind (my Bible): “The only thing stronger than shame … (is) the ecstasy of surrender.” So let us surrender to classism. But let us surrender with the knowledge that surrendering does not imply having lost. It might just be the most strategic course of action to take. My white flag may be waving, but I’m not signing any peace treaty until there’s a Mont Blanc in my hand.
Chad Simon ’16 has had a wonderful time writing for The Herald and would like to thank the students, professors, alums, parents and Providence Journal journalists for their kind emails. He responded to not a single one because he’s kind of an ass. But he’s a very grateful ass who can still be reached at chad_simon@brown.edu.
Getting through the emotional pain AMEER MALIK OPINIONS COLUMNIST
I have been feeling emotional pain for the past few days. It has gotten better, and I am confident that everything will be okay soon. But pain has been on my mind, and I will take this opportunity to discuss certain ideas that I have encountered that have helped me cope. Before I begin, I would like to say that the ideas and ways of thinking I convey here should not, in any way, replace seeking help for emotional pain from people who have experience and are trained to provide aid. I thank the office of Campus Life and Student Services for sending an email on Tuesday with a list of numerous resources, including student support deans, the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life, and Counseling and Psychological Services. Students should turn to these when they are facing hardships. I myself turn to similar resources when I face difficulties, and I am immensely grateful for the help they have given me. One thing that makes me feel emotional pain is a feeling of being overwhelmed. There are so many terrible occurrences happening around the world. When I think about these terrible things such as poverty, racism, the destruction of the environment and the killing of innocent people (on the same day that I am
writing this, a shooting has taken place in San Bernardino, California, in which 14 people have been killed and 17 have been injured, according to reports), I feel very sad, small and weak in the face of such adversity. But I have heard some words that have given me comfort. They came from a video I watched on YouTube of a talk with writers Karen Russell and Junot Díaz during the New Yorker Festival in 2013. A member of the audi-
difficulty seem to be integral to living. Though this sounds bleak, I find it comforting because of what I see around me. I see people working hard, doing their best, producing scholarship, making art and striving to achieve goals that they have set. They do this all in spite of the pain of living. This fact is inspiring; it is a testament to human resilience. When I see people doing awesome work and being productive, I believe that I will be able
Pain has been on my mind, and I will take this opportunity to discuss certain ideas that I have encountered that have helped me cope. ence asked Díaz how he deals with the pain of writing about difficult subjects. He answered by explaining his view that “to be human is just very difficult,” that this awareness of the hardships of life is understood and shared by all, and that if someone can get through life, then that person can produce art. I agree with this notion. We are all human, and even though we face different problems and different causes of emotional pain, we are connected by the fact that we feel this pain on probably a daily basis. Even without considering the major crises in the world, we regularly come across sources of pain. Dilemmas and
to find a way to deal with my pain. I am also inspired by people who have faced immense pain but used that pain to make something meaningful. I have mentioned this novel before, but I can’t praise it enough; Christina Stead’s “The Man Who Loved Children” is a fantastic book. According to Time magazine, the novel, which illustrates an emotionally abusive family environment, is based on the author’s own childhood. It’s absolutely stunning that Stead was able to take such a terrible experience and make a great work of art. Furthermore, though there are terrible things happening in the world, things used to
be much worse in many ways. For example, numerous advancements in medicine have been made in the past several centuries. The people who have helped bring about these advancements might have felt pain when they reflected upon how illnesses were ruining people’s lives. Thanks to medical advancements, many illnesses are no longer life-threatening for many people. The fact that people have been able to get through the pain in order to make progress is also inspiring. Of course, things can definitely be better in medicine and other areas that affect life, such as politics, culture and society. Nevertheless, the fact that people have been able to make circumstances better by not feeling paralyzed by their pain is wonderful. There are times during which we cannot handle the emotional pain we feel on our own. In such times, we have to turn to those who can help us. But asking for help should never be seen as a sign of weakness. It should instead be seen as an aspect of humanity, as normal as eating and sleeping. Though we are are not constantly aware of pain on a conscious level, we always find ways to cope with numerous hardships. This is not a minor matter; it is quite laudable. When I reflect upon this now, I find some comfort, and I feel a bit better.
Ameer Malik ’18 can be reached at ameer_malik@brown.edu.
METRO THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015
R.I. bill may impose seat belt requirement on school buses Despite projected costs, Rep. Nardolillo sponsors bill to require new school bus safety measures By GWEN EVERETT STAFF WRITER
Rhode Island may soon require all school buses to be equipped with seat belts. The General Assembly is set to consider a bill to that effect in its next session. The legislation would grandfather in existing buses without restraints but mandate that all new contracts between R.I. school districts and bus companies include only buses equipped with seat belts, said Rep. Bobby Nardolillo, R-Coventry, sponsor of the bill. Rhode Island does not currently impose any seat belt requirements for school buses, said Elliot Kreiger, public information officer for the Rhode Island Department of Education. Seat belts “can be used on buses, and some (buses) do” have them. But, he said, “It’s up to districts. We don’t set any requirements.” In a Nov. 8 press conference, Mark Rosenkind, an administrator at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, confirmed the importance of seat belts as a primary safety
mechanism, saying, “NHTSA’s policy is that every child on every school bus should have a three-point seat belt.” He added that this position marked a departure from past NHTSA policy: As recently as 2011, the administration had maintained that seat belts were not necessary for school bus safety, Turn to 10 reported. Nardolillo said the NHTSA’s 2011 policy was based on impact studies that have since been disproven. He added that low school bus fatality statistics are “misleading,” and people should look to higher injury statistics to get a more complete picture of the hazard buses without seat belts pose to child safety. In addition to requiring seat belts on buses, the bill calls for school systems to standardize school bus fire safety and practice drill procedures, Nardolillo said. He added that the bill does not currently include subsidies to school districts and will require districts to finance these changes within their existing budgets. Getting buses with seat belts is “going to be a little bit more expensive,” he said. “It’s not going to be a lot more expensive.” “We’re talking about a state where everybody has to wear a seat belt in any vehicle they’re in besides school buses,” Nardolillo said. “This legislation is common sense.”
COURTESY OF JASON PINASTER
A new bill being considered by Rhode Island’s General Assembly would impose a seat belt requirement on school buses, along with other safety measures. The bill does not currently include subsidies to school districts.