Friday, February 19, 2016

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 18

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Q&A: Amara Majeed ’19 talks Islamophobia, sexism After ‘Good Morning America’ talk, Majeed discusses media depictions of Muslims, hijab

By KASTURI PANANJADY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

TIMOTHY MUELLER-HARDER / HERALD

Fifty-nine percent of the Brown University Security Patrolpersons’ Association members voted on the state of DPS leadership. Of those voting, 87.5 percent voted “no confidence.”

BUSPA votes ‘no confidence’ in DPS leaders BUSPA officers send email to administrators stating DPS performance, morale have declined

By KATHERINE DAJANI SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Members of the Brown University Security Patrolpersons’ Association conducted a secret ballot vote of “no confidence” in Chief of Police Mark Porter and Deputy Chief of Police Paul Shanley of Brown University’s Depart-

ment of Public Safety Jan. 18, according to BUSPA President Justin Pace.

Motions of no confidence typically suggest that associates of an organization believe the person in question is unfit to hold his current position.

The vote took place as part of BUSPA’s monthly meeting.

The poll results were sent via email to President Christina Paxson P’19 and Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06. “Over the course of recent months and years, the department has steadily deteriorated in terms of

morale, performance, direction, vision and most importantly departmental direction,” BUSPA officers wrote in the email, which was provided to The Herald. “We have 67 members in our union, and 59 percent of our 67 members voted, and of those votes, 87.5 percent voted no confidence.”

BUSPA’s 67 members are comprised of many of the University’s police officers, public safety officers, dispatchers and building guards.

“Our main goal is the health, safety and welfare of everyone in our union,” » See DPS, page 2

Amara Majeed ’19 was interviewed by “Good Morning America” anchor Amy Robach last week for her #GirlPower series. A self-described feminist and Muslim activist, Majeed is the founder of the Hijab Project, a “social experiment” in which women were encouraged to wear a hijab for a day in public and record their experiences.

Majeed is also known for her published works. In 2014, Majeed published a book, “The Foreigners,” that documents the lives of Muslims around the world. Last month, Majeed wrote a controversial open letter to Donald Trump in Seventeen magazine condemning his anti-Muslim rhetoric.

She sat down with The Herald Thursday to discuss Muslim feminism, Islamophobia and cyber bullying.

The Herald: What does the hijab mean to you, as a religious and political symbol?

I see the hijab as a feminist symbol as well as an expression of my faith. At 14, I noticed the disparities between

the portrayals of males and females and began to understand the gender inequality present in our society. We as a society often propagate an incredibly flawed ideology that the worth of a woman lies in her beauty, her body and her sexuality. The hijab makes a statement. It says, “I don’t want to be sexualized. I don’t want to be objectified.”

Do you come from a family background that encourages wearing the hijab?

My parents never limited me in terms of my dress, and they were surprised that I chose to do this, but they supported me nonetheless. We aren’t strictly religious at all. When my mother used to wear the hijab in Sri Lanka, she wore it more casually than I do now. I don’t think she wore it in the U.S. before I did. We’ve never had a discourse about her decision to start wearing the hijab again after I started wearing it, because it felt like a very natural expression of the modest way in which she always chose to present herself. She says it’s how she feels most comfortable.

Do you see your work as breaking apart the dominant Western, white feminist framework to be more inclusive of people of Islamic heritage? » See MAJEED, page 3

Duo named in USA Rugby player pool Sorority rush bids ’16, Morgan ’16 reach record numbers Okoro look toward 2017 World Sororities increase maximum bid totals to over 60, accept unprecedented number of new members

By AILEEN SEO STAFF WRITER

A record-high 293 female-identifying undergraduates participated in sorority recruitment this past weekend, said Emily Serrano ’17, president of the Panhellenic Council. Of these 293 potential new members, 188 received invitations to join one of the three sororities on campus — Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Delta and Kappa Alpha Theta.

AXO and KD each gave out 63 bids — the maximum number of bids a sorority at Brown can extend — while Theta offered 62. Fifty-four, 63 and 61 girls accepted their offers from AXO, KD and Theta, respectively. In 2015, about 44 girls were offered bids to each house.

INSIDE

During recruitment, which took place Feb. 12-15, all three sororities hosted parties. During bid night Feb. 15, sororities offered potential new members invitations to join.

Registration for sorority recruitment opened Dec. 2, and the Panhellenic Council hosted information sessions in December, January and February to provide potential new members with information about the recruitment process, the houses and the philanthropic efforts in which each sorority is involved.

According to Serrano, increased interest in joining a sorority among female-identifying undergraduates has allowed for Greek life’s recent expansion, most visibly embodied by the emergence of KD three years ago.

Camila Lupi ’19, a new recruit to Theta, attributes her interest in joining Greek life to the strength of the support systems within the sorority network. “I wanted to join Greek life because I had met really cool people » See SORORITIES, page 2

Cup in Ireland after standout senior seasons

By BEN SHUMATE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Two standout members of the women’s rugby team will have the chance to trade in their Brown jerseys for the red, white and blue.

Uzo Okoro ’16 and Kiki Morgan ’16 were among 49 players named in a recently released list of potential United States National Team members for 2016.

The pair will have a chance at spots on the team for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2017, following a series of camps and international competitions this summer.

The pool of players will remain flexible over the next year as more players make their names known on the national scene. The selection process was recently overhauled to include a wider group of potential members. In the past, prospective players have been identified at an annual tournament comprising

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Uzo Okoro ’16 breaks loose from a Harvard tackler. After her first season playing the sport, she garnered attention from national-level coaches. regional teams from across the United States.

USA Rugby introduced National

All-Star Competition camps as an alternative to the tournament. The NASC » See RUGBY, page 3

WEATHER

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016

SPORTS Athlete of the Week: Justin Staudenmeyer ’17 continues wrestling winning streak

NEWS Today’s academic calendar seems rigid now but has undergone many changes since the 1800s

COMMENTARY Kebudi ’19: Americans silence voices of international students trying to integrate

COMMENTARY Yu ’19: Student activists’ requests for compensation taint purity of on-campus inclusivity efforts

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

COURTESY OF GINKGO BIOWORKS

Brown and RISD students toured the Ginkgo Bioworks laboratory, learning how to forge a career that combines engineering, design and art. The biotechnology company designs simple organism genetic modifications to produce compounds for commercial use, using a high-tech lab and automated processes to speed up mass testing and analysis.

Students tour biotechnology company, learn science of designing life Ginkgo Bioworks develops new strains of yeasts, bacteria to produce natural flavors, fragrances

By MARK LIANG STAFF WRITER

Nine Brown and RISD students had the unique opportunity Thursday to tour the laboratory of Ginkgo Bioworks, a major biotechnology company, to learn more about the new field of biological design.

The students met biologists and designers and examined miniature breweries containing bacteria and culture broth.

Specializing in biological design, Ginkgo creates organisms like yeast and bacteria engineered to produce useful organic compounds, such as perfumes or natural flavorings. The finished products are then licensed to clients like scent houses. Clients grow the cultures and harvest their products on a large scale.

» DPS, from page 1 Pace said. “We don’t want (Porter and Shanley) to step down. We just want the University to be aware that we’ve come to them with grievances and issues that arise.”

Discontent within the department has been an ongoing issue, Pace said, adding that Porter is “never around,” often leaving the deputy chief in control. The vote of no confidence “has been talked about for over one and a half to two years,” Pace said. “There’s just so many things that brought this no confidence vote to fruition. I don’t even know where to begin, to be honest.”

Though Paxson has yet to respond to the union’s appeal, Carey informed union members that he had submitted

Sponsored by the biology branch of Brown Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics, a campus organization that focuses on the intersection of traditional scientific disciplines and art, the tour included a discussion with two senior Ginkgo employees as well as a presentation of their foundry, a largely robotically run organism experimentation lab.

Ginkgo was co-founded in 2008 by Tom Knight, who was then a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Within seven years, the company raised over $45 million in funds from many investors, including the San Francisco-based startup fund Y Combinator, said Creative Director Christina Agapakis. their letter to Paul Mancini, director of labor and employee relations, Pace said. “(Porter) and (Shanley) continue to lead Brown’s Department of Public Safety with a commitment to maintaining the safety of Brown’s students, faculty, staff and visitors as their top priority,” Carey wrote in an email to The Herald. “While we don’t discuss labor relations matters in the media, Brown’s senior leadership is confident in the department’s leadership and in (Porter) and (Shanley’s) engagement with the officers in the department, as well as their dedication to the rights, safety, health and welfare of the members of the department.”

Shanley declined to comment for this story. Porter could not be reached for comment.

www.browndailyherald.com

A great deal of the company’s work entails genetic modification of simple organisms, implementing common design processes on the biological scale, said Patrick Boyle. The costs of DNA and other simple biological samples in the market have fallen low enough to allow for mass experimentation on living systems, Boyle said.

Taking advantage of the natural metabolic pathways of plants and other organisms, Ginkgo workers methodically alter DNA and the resulting proteins, slowly recreating the compounds needed for industrial and commercial industries, Agapakis said.

Since beer- and wine-making involve many of the same principles as Ginkgo’s main endeavor, many of the workers also experiment with small-batch alcohol production as an interesting side project, Agapakis said.

Most of the wet lab is taken up by machines and computers that automate most of the production process, Boyle said. While he and Agapakis remember their grad school days of pipetting and waiting for slow reactions, large robotic arms now handle everything from mutations to protein analysis. On this larger scale, it is much easier to play around with metabolic pathways and find the right products, Boyle said. “If you watched ‘Independence Day,’ it’s like the alien spaceship that they reverse engineer,” he said.

The tour group was specifically interested in how to translate a traditional design and art concentration into this kind of career.

One of the touring students, Sydney Morrison ’16, an independent concentrator in biodesign, said she is looking for a career in biotechnology research.

“I really love synthetic biology,” she said, adding that though most people assume prototyping and method-testing are used only in engineering, they are also important to industrial design and biology.

Boyle expressed similar sentiments, adding that a majority of the over 60 workers at Ginkgo have diverse work and academic experiences, including backgrounds in computer science, biology and design. But what they all have in common is strong engineering principles and an understanding of the design process, he said.

While the workspace itself has a Silicon Valley feel, Ginkgo has not expanded that far west. “Don’t graduate and join our competitors,” Agapakis joked to the students. The industry is still young enough for collaboration and partnerships, she added.

» SORORITIES, from page 1 at Brown, but I still felt that I lacked a sense of community that I had in high school with my friends,” Lupi said. “I really wanted to have a group of friends that I could text if I was having a bad day or a place I could go for support.”

“The rush process was a lot less stressful than I imagined,” said Winnie Fan ’19. “It was a great way to meet and talk to people.”

The “mutual matching process” — the system by which students’ preferences are matched with sororities’ choices — has been computerized to maximize the chance that everyone receives her first choice, Serrano said.

Lupi was matched with Theta, her first choice. “When I went to the parties at Theta, I just immediately clicked with a lot of the girls. The conversations I had with them were on things that I was genuinely interested and passionate about,” she said.

MATTHEW BROWNSWORD / HERALD

NEWS

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Yes, I do. I believe intersectionality is incredibly important. Muslim women who are Hijabis have to struggle with different forms of prejudice in addition to gender inequality. For example, white women who participated in The Hijab Project told me that the experiment made them aware of their white privilege, that suddenly they didn’t feel welcome at airports and universities in their own country.

I also feel like the first question people ask me nowadays because of the hijab is, “Are you married?” They used to ask me where I went to school first, and sometimes when people hear that I go to Brown University, their eyes bulge. They just don’t see that potential in me anymore now that I wear the hijab — they assume that I’m submissive and simpleminded, that I can’t speak English and that I’m less American and even less human.

Do you believe that the media plays a large part in this dehumanization of Muslims?

The media presents a picture where it seems like all we Muslims do is kill innocent people. It’s not a holistic view of the situation — a lot of the context is removed. The media blames Islam for terrorism, but terrorism is deeply entrenched in history and politics. The West, particularly the U.S., destabilized the Middle East for years. I don’t think we, as Americans, understand what this form of colonization did to Iraq and to the whole region. ISIS

» RUGBY, from page 1 events are typically held twice a year, once in the summer and once over winter break. Okoro will attend a NASC camp in June, and both players will have the chance to compete in the Rugby Super Series later in the summer against Canada, England and France.

Brown Head Coach Kathy Flores is no stranger to the national rugby scene, having both played for and coached the national team in the past. After arriving at Brown in 2013, Flores can now add her mentorship of national-level players at the college level to her lengthy list of accomplishments.

Flores was complimentary of the new system, saying that it gave recognition to worthy players who might be hindered by playing for a less-recognized program.

Though Okoro and Morgan could be teammates for years to come after Brown, the two reached this point from very different paths.

Coming out of Darien, Illinois, Okoro was a track standout in high school. She came to Brown to jump for the women’s track and field team but suffered a serious knee injury in March of her junior year. After struggling through recovery ­— she was unable to walk or to go down stairs — Okoro came to grips with the fact that she might not be able to jump competitively again.

Where does a former triple jumper recovering from a knee injury turn for her senior year?

Rugby, of course.

“Whenever I heard about rugby, I always kind of wanted to join because it seemed like a great team atmosphere,” Okoro said. “I just decided to go for it because I couldn’t jump anymore, and I didn’t just want to be on the sidelines my senior year.”

With a healthy knee and a spot on

didn’t grow in a vacuum. When people are forgotten victims for so long, they become victimizers.

Blaming Islam ultimately hurts Muslims, like me, and helps ISIS. I imagine ISIS appeals to some people in the West because they prey on the alienation caused by Islamophobia.

In the past, in attempting to make that very argument about American intervention in the Middle East, (you have been censored by certain publications). Do you believe that the media only gives you a platform as long as you say what they want to hear?

The media is often concerned with representing our enemies as other and the U.S. as victims. It contributes to a narrative that idolizes and victimizes America while criminalizing Muslims.

The only way I fit into this dichotomy is by being either the good Muslim or the apologetic Muslim who denounces the bad Muslims out there.

I’m tired of being silenced. I feel like even well-intentioned platforms are taking away from my struggle as a Muslim American.

COURTESY OF ALEJANDRA ROCA

As a self-described Muslim activist, do people often expect you to feel responsible for everything done in the name of Islam?

Yes, definitely. A lot of people expect me to condemn ISIS. Of course I believe that they’re the scum of the earth, but people expect me to condemn them to publicly distance myself from their terrorism.

There’s a statistic that white

“I see the hijab as a feminist symbol as well as an expression of my faith,” Amara Majeed ’19 said. The Hijab Project, founded by Majeed, aims to raise awareness about the female Muslim experience.

the field for the defending Ivy League champions, Okoro fit right in. She took her athleticism to the rugby pitch and became one of the most dangerous weapons for the Bears in the fall.

In her lone season, she stood out enough to garner attention from coaches at the national level and now puts no ceiling on her future opportunities.

Her original plans included medical school as a member of the Warren Alpert Medical School class of 2020.

Now, she is wrestling with the idea of deferring medical school and pursuing rugby professionally, she said.

“It’s still kind of up in the air for me,” Okoro said. “I’m just taking it one step at a time and seeing where it goes.”

A standout athlete in her Pawtucket high school, Morgan joined the rugby team as a first-year, when the program was still a club sport.

She remained a mainstay on the team as the program evolved and gained varsity status for the 2014 season. In its inaugural year, the team won an Ivy League championship, registering a 9-1 record for the regular season followed by a 2-2-1 spring record. This year, the team had another successful campaign, going 5-2 in the regular season, but fell in the Ivy championship game to Dartmouth and in the National Collegiate Varsity Women’s Rugby Association tournament to American International College. Over her four years, Morgan has developed into a dominant back as well, finding herself on the radar of national team coaches early in her tenure at Brown.

Morgan credited the coaching staff and the additional benefits of the team’s new varsity status as being instrumental for her development.

“The move to varsity has given us access to the training room and great strength and conditioning, which definitely helps at the upper levels,” she

said. “In terms of the on-the-field stuff, (Flores) and (Assistant Kerri Heffernan) have been very helpful. They gave me the little skills I need. They pushed me towards something further.”

Okoro and Morgan’s rugby futures hang in the balance, but Flores speculates that the two have a good shot to make the team and represent the United States in Ireland.

“In terms of their talent, I think they’re more than ready for this level of play,” she said. “As much as I’ve coached them, it’s all their raw talent and their commitment to being the best they can be.”

If Flores’ assessment proves correct, the opportunity would be a dream come true for them both.

“I’ve always watched the Olympics and events like that, and it just always seems so far away for me,” Okoro said.

“It would honestly just be an honor that I would never forget.”

Morgan echoed this sentiment. “You watch these events and you never think ‘Oh that could be me,’” she said. “Now we have this opportunity, and it’s ‘That actually could be me.’”

Aside from the Super Series and NASC events, Okoro and Morgan are unsure of their plans for the summer and beyond. Morgan spent the previous summer with a sevens club — a sevenon-seven team — out of Washington D.C. called Scion, which she plans to continue playing for in the future.

Okoro will continue to weigh her medical school plans with the prospects of playing professional rugby. But most of all, the two hope to prove they belong among the 47 other players in the national team pool and that they could be assets to the team in Ireland in 2017.

“What I’m going to do is work hard at rugby and continue to improve and just have fun playing the sport I love,” Morgan said.

Christian males were the greatest source of domestic terrorism in the United States in the past year. I don’t expect my white friends to apologize or protest their innocence. I shouldn’t be expected to apologize for something that has nothing to do with me.

Most of your work is distributed

through social media, and you’ve been the subject of a lot of online abuse. How do you deal with people who level personal attacks at you below the line?

So many people have told me, “Go back where you belong,” “I hope you get AIDS,” “You’re a terrorist.” They also use a lot of gendered abuse, calling

Read Join

» MAJEED, from page 1

me a cunt and a whore. It doesn’t really bother me on a personal level anymore. What bothers me is that the fear-mongering and anti-Muslim rhetoric created by many media sources and politicians has made it routine.

— This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

The Herald browndailyherald.com/join herald@browndailyherald.com

NEWS

PAGE 4 • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Academic calendar sees long-term change, remains same year to year Length, timing of winter, summer recesses have remained unchanged since early 1980s

By ETHEL RENIA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This year, President’s Day — Feb. 15 — came and went, as students trudged through the cold to make it to a day of classes typically designated a vacation day. Vacation will come a week later in the form of a four-day weekend.

As it happens, the long weekend from Feb. 20 to 23, so highly anticipated by students and faculty, is not technically President’s Day weekend.

According to faculty government rules, the “fourth Monday and Tuesday of second semester” are always marked as off days.

The long weekend occurs four weeks after the semester begins to ensure students do not go back on break shortly after returning from winter vacation. “It normally falls when President’s Day is observed, but this year’s one of those calendar years where it didn’t,” said Robert Fitzgerald, university registrar.

The academic calendar is governed by a set of rules decided upon by the faculty government. These rules are fairly inflexible. A semester must be a minimum of 14 weeks, but including exam and reading period, it usually

rounds up to approximately 15. There are a handful of holidays the calendar must incorporate, such as Indigenous People’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s.

These faculty rules regulate exactly when semesters begin and finish and when long weekends or recesses occur, but the calendar cannot predict any snow days that may arise during the winter months.

Should snow days occur, it is “up to faculty to make up for those days. … They can (assign) an extra paper or meet at another time on the weekends or (hold) an additional class,” said Karey Majka, assistant registrar for operations management.

Still, the calendar itself remains rigid. The University would be hardpressed to extend the school year to make up for lost time because of Commencement and events taking place at the end of the school year such as Alumni Weekend, Majka said.

The faculty rules’ reliable formula allows the academic calendar to be released two years in advance. This enables family members and friends of students to make plans early when visiting Providence for occasions such as move-in day and Commencement.

But for a set of regulations that seem so immutable today, faculty government rules — and the academic calendar they govern — have been dynamic over the years. According to Walter Bronson’s book “The History of

TANEIL RUFFIN / HERALD

Brown University 1764-1914,” students in 1807 lived by a very different calendar. Back then, the academic year was composed of three terms, including one held during the summer. Students had a four-week fall break that began the first Wednesday of September, an eight-week winter vacation that began the last Wednesday of December and finally a two-week spring break that began the third Wednesday of May. In 1850, the three terms gave way to two. They lasted 20 weeks each and were separated by a four-week winter break and an eight-week summer vacation. In 1875, Thanksgiving recess was introduced, but Christmas break was

only 10 days long.

Brown’s academic calendar took its current form in the fall of 1983.

According to a September 1983 Herald article, that year marked a change in the academic calendar that shortened the summer break and extended winter break. The reform was largely studentinitiated. Many students favored staying at home in December and January, enjoying an extended break between the two semesters.

But the change in the calendar was viewed with apprehension by certain members of the faculty. Then-President Howard Swearer thought the new calendar would be especially stressful for

upperclassmen, who would be “surprised (by) the pace of the new calendar,” he said.

Indeed, before the reform, students were afforded a Christmas recess to study for exams. Therefore, they would have more time to prepare for the “post-Christmas crunch,” as it was described by the article. With this new calendar, the “post-Christmas crunch” arrived rapidly, leaving students no extra time to study. Certain schools, such as Princeton, still follow this model.

Today, while some students are still caught unaware by the madness of finals season, few remember a time when winter break did not last five weeks.

Athlete of the week: Staudenmeyer ’17 vies for All-American recognition Junior racks up 12-match winning streak, climbs national rankings, adds consistency to team

By NIKKO PASANEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The wrestling team has been through its fair share of ups and downs this season, but Justin Staudenmayer ’17 has been a beacon of consistency. The junior is riding a 12-match win streak in dual-meet competitions and ranks 20th in the nation at the 157-pound weight class. This past weekend, Staudenmayer dominated at the Beauty and the Beast competition, recording a win by major decision against Harvard and a win by technical fall against Roger Williams. As the season winds down, he will look to best his Division I record of 26-12 from last year. He currently sits at 22-6 overall and 9-1 in EIWA play this season. For his season-long accomplishments and impressive efforts last weekend, Staudenmayer has been named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.

Herald: How did you first get into wrestling?

I actually started when I was twoand-a-half years old. I had a neighbor who was a wrestler, and my brother and I were pretty close with him. He would always make us wrestle and eventually we asked our mom if we could wrestle. We

ended up going out to a wrestling meet, and she walked out of that arena crying saying that her kids would never do that.

But then I started anyways.

Why did you choose to wrestle at Brown?

When I came up here on my visit …

I didn’t even really know too much about Brown. My cousin went to Johnson and Wales and he said Providence was a really, really cool city. And then I started hearing from Brown, and when I went up I loved it. The one thing that stood out to me was just how the nice the people were.

What does it mean to you to be nationally ranked in your weight class?

It’s pretty cool. With it comes a little bit of pressure, but that’s something you have to look past and just focus on what you need to do. But as much as there is pressure, seeing that number drop lower and lower is really motivating. It also powers the team, because if one guy on the team can be ranked, then everybody on the team starts to believe they can be ranked.

What are your individual goals for the rest of this year and next?

This year, definitely to be an AllAmerican, which means to place topeight at Nationals. Then next year, to be national champ for sure.

If you played any other sport what

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Justin Staudenmayer ’17 focuses intently on his opponent during a match. This season, the junior has built on his success last season, compiling a 22-6 record and a top 20 national ranking in his 157-pound weight class. would it be?

Baseball. Baseball was my favorite sport growing up. Even throughout high school, it was always my favorite sport.

My high school wrestling coach always said, “You’re going to wrestle in college,” and I said, “No chance.” But I guess I’m wrestling in college right now (laughs).

What’s your classic pre-match routine?

I always buy a Powerade Zero, a Smart

Water and a special protein bar, which I eat after I make weight. Without those, I can’t wrestle.

If you had to pick one song to listen to before a match, what would it be?

Well this year, my walk out song is “Hey Mama” by Kanye. That’s my pump up song because my mom is always at the match.

So what do you think of the new

Kanye album?

We’ve been listening to it a little bit, and let’s just say, he hyped it up, and I’m still trying to get into it.

Chicken Finger Friday: Under- or over-hyped?

Over-hyped. There were chicken fingers at the Ratty on Wednesday.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

TODAY

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

library living

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Bacon and Feta, Harvest, Buffalo Chicken BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Quesadillas

Clam Chowder, Minestrone Naked Burrito

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Zesty Lemon Chicken Thigh, Fried Fish Sandwich, Soft and Chewy Granola Bar

Shrimp Stir Fry, Slow Roasted Pork Loin with Herbs, Banana Cream Pie

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Breaded Chicken Fingers, Vegan Chana Masala, Blondie Cranberry Chocolate Bar

Mexican Cornbread Casserole, Stir Fry Caribbean Chicken, Brownies with Fudge

sudoku

MARIANNA MCMURDOCK / HERALD

Afternoon light illuminates the upper floors of the SciLi while a clear sky cools College Hill. Students are prepared to leave the library behind as the long weekend promises a break from the concrete monolith.

comic Cat Ears | Najatee’ McNeil RELEASE DATE– Friday, February 19, 2016

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle c rNorris o s sandwJoyce o rNichols d Lewis Edited by Rich ACROSS 1 Fry 6 Kung __ chicken 9 Market Fresh sandwich and salad seller 14 Time of old Rome 15 Unevenly distributed, in a way 17 Brought on 18 Write-off 19 Charming 21 D.C.’s Walter __ National Military Medical Center 22 Mennen lotion 23 Govt. mtge. insurer 26 One hoping to provide many happy returns?

28 Hammer number 30 Big name in hairstyling 32 Hyperbola part 33 Sudden stream 35 Pull on 36 Flee 38 Adjudicates 40 Maple syrup target 41 Nearly 43 Take badly?

45 Taoist complement 46 Uncommitted 48 Farrow of film 49 Ottoman title 50 Tack on 51 “A Death in the Family” author 53 Relative of Rex 55 Energetic and enthusiastic 59 Run up the score on 62 Place for a CharBroil 63 Removes restrictions on, as funds 64 Hole __ 65 Third-longest African river 66 Uncertain no.

67 Handles

DOWN 1 “Do the Right Thing” pizzeria 2 From the top 3 Suspected of misdeeds 4 Certain student 5 Hams 6 First-serve figs.

7 Island reception 8 Spent 9 If nothing else 10 Depend 11 Pal 12 Start of an engagement?

13 ’60s protest org.

16 Big bag carrier 20 Modify to fit 23 State Department neighborhood ... and what 3-, 8and 29-Down all have?

24 Philly trademark 25 “They that have done this deed are honourable” speaker 26 Changing place 27 Examined closely 29 Psychedelic rock classic of 1967 31 Seek redress

34 Brazilian-themed Vegas hotel, with “The” 37 Tsk relative 39 Nebula Award genre 42 One may begin with “In a world ... ” 44 U-shaped, more or less 47 Longhorn rival 52 Adlai’s running mate

54 1997 Elton dedicatee 55 “Spenser: For __” 56 Annoyance 57 Hessian article 58 Achieves 59 Fifth-century conqueror 60 Athlete’s wear, for short 61 It increases during plant growth: Abbr.

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BURP Feel-Good Friday (free massages!)

12:00 P.M. Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center Memorial Lounge

Kaffeestunde (German Coffee Hour) 3:00 P.M. 190 Hope Street

SATURDAY Miyazaki Movie Marathon 10:00 A.M. King House (St. Anthony Hall)

Super Smash Bros.

Tournament 2:00 P.M. Tech House Lounge, Harkness House

SUNDAY IKHOP Pancake Breakfast (Free Pancakes) 12:00 P.M. King House (St. Anthony Hall)

Harmonizing Grace Gospel Choir Rehearsal 5:00 P.M. Manning Chapel

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

EDITORIAL

Brown Bites Hasta la vista, Orgo II Good news for pre-meds: Many med schools, including Brown’s own Warren Alpert Medical School, have slowly replaced their second semester organic chemistry requirement with a semester of biochemistry over the last decade. The development comes along with recent changes to the 2015 MCAT, which has added material on both biochem and behavioral science. While many Brown pre-meds do in fact take both semesters of orgo, not all students do: Jesse Siegel ’16 said that he preferred not to take something “only very tangentially related to actually going into medicine.”

From the look of the crazed orgo students in the Scili at 4 a.m., we would probably do the same thing.

Emotional support animals ResLife has clarified its policy allowing emotional support animals in residence halls, and Student and Employee Accessibility Services plans to publish a clearer policy later on in the semester. Right now there are fewer than five students on campus with emotional support animals, though the animals are not allowed inside other students’ rooms, classrooms or dorm lounges. While Brown has been in the past reluctant to allow emotional support animals in dorms, two lawsuits against the University of Nebraska and Kent State University helped solidify the argument that emotional support animals are an accommodation that must be provided under the Fair Housing Act. According to Catherine Axe, assistant dean for student life and director of SEAS, the decision “made sense and raised awareness.”

We would like to raise awareness of the fact that miniature horses are a type of emotional support animal. Just sayin’.

Write for your life Attention first-years and sophomores: The writing requirement just got a bit more nuanced. Students were previously able to fulfill the second writing requirement by submitting a piece of written work or taking a WRIT course sometime between their fifth and seventh semesters. Now, while the option of taking a WRIT course is still available, each concentration’s director must approve the option of submitting a piece of written work, and that piece must be related to the student’s concentration. No news yet if “BDH0010: The Rich and Robust History of the Herald” will also be added as a mandated first-year requirement.

R IC K Y O L I V E R

CORRECTION An article in Monday’s Herald (“Bootstrap brings coding, math to middle schools,” Feb. 15) stated that Shriram Krishnamurthi has been interested in computer science outreach and education since 1985. In fact, he has been working in computer science outreach and education since 1995. Also, the article stated that Matthias Felleisen is the creator of Racket. In fact, he is one of the creators of Racket. The Herald regrets the errors.

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

“You watch these events, and you never think ‘Oh, that could be me.’ Now we have this opportunity, and it’s,

”

‘That could be me.’

We got that entrepreneurial spirit For students aiming to clean up their dorms or just buy some cool stuff, Souk, a student startup that won Spark, the venture competition hosted

by BSA, is here to help. The website aims to create an easy, safe and secure way to link buyers and sellers together within the Brown community.

Sellers will post pictures of items they want to sell along with a description and a rating of the item’s condition. Buyers can then filter through these items based on category and location before easily beginning the transaction process. Seems a little bit less sketchy than that time last year we put our couch on the street and yelled at people to buy it.

— Kiki Morgan ’16

See rugby on page 1.

Thanks, Lecture Board!

Students have been fan-girling over the news that Emmy Award-winning actress Viola Davis will be speaking at Brown Feb. 29. Davis is a Rhode Island native who gained widespread acclaim for her Oscar-nominated role in “The Help” and for being the first black woman to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in “How to Get Away with Murder.” In her Emmy acceptance speech, Davis pointed out some of the struggles of actresses of color in Hollywood, saying “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” Now if you need us, we’ll be doing some more research on her by binge-watching Netflix.

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COMMENTARY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Becoming American

DAVID KEBUDI staff columnist

I tried to voice my opinions on the Black Lives Matter movement. I was rightfully shut down by a white friend. For since I am a white Turkish male, how could I understand the ever-present racism in the United States? Racism, like anything else, was founded in America.

I tried to voice my opinions on the upcoming elections. I was rightfully shut down. For since I am a Turk, how could I understand the politics of the United States? Politics, like anything else, was founded in America.

I tried to voice my opinions on economic inequality. I was rightfully shut down. For since I am an international student, how could I not be rich? Poverty, like anything else, was founded in America.

Basically all important issues, except rich Turkish Jewish ones, are out

of bounds for me. The rest are only allowed to be discussed by people within the immediate effect circle, which does not include me.

Forty million Turks don’t brush their teeth on a regular basis while nearly seven Americans out of 10 brush twice a day. One in 29 French people doesn’t shower once a week while only one in 200 Americans don’t shower

week. I have never seen a Greek student waiting until 9 p.m. every night to have dinner. The conventions of American culture close the cafeteria at 7:30 p.m.

How could they?

Yes, we chose to come to America.

We worked day and night to come here.

We know that we are guests here. We appreciate and embrace this dearly and try to integrate as much as we can

alcohol, we become spoiled. Because when we hug you, we become the touchy creep. Because when we don’t celebrate with you, we become the snobbish international. They call us exclusive. Unapproachable. But when we organize Cupid’s Market, an entertaining event open for the whole school to join, only international students show up. Are we the exclusive ones?

We are not exclusive — we are just new to this vast environment.

Approach us; let’s work together to break these prejudices and start learning from each other. once a week. One never uses her hands to eat in Chile, not even for fries, while American fast-food culture is based on eating with hands. Greek people, on average, have dinner around 9 p.m. while the average is 6:30 p.m. for Americans.

The number 13 is a lucky number in Italy, while “Friday the 13th” is a cult horror movie in America.

Yet I have never seen a Turkish Brown student leaving his dorm without brushing his teeth. I have never seen a French student not shower for a

without losing our identity, without becoming American.

We watch Hollywood. We wear Kanye shirts. We listen to Drake. We eat popcorn with butter. We freeze in Fahrenheit. We drink beer from red cups. We celebrate Thanksgiving, eating turk-ey. We let you call us the way that suits your accent. We can never become Americans, but we can suffer trying. But the question is, why do we try so hard?

Because when we buy foreign

The story goes: A man once had to stay in an acquaintance’s house for two weeks. He washed his clothes, went to bed when everyone else did and ate everything he was given. On Saturday nights, he was told that the family played games. He played games. Yet he didn’t speak much. He spent much of his time in his room. Therefore no one spoke to him either. When he left, the wife said: “How rude! He used us as a hotel!” And as he left, the man thought to himself, “It’s good that I had a room

of my own. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known what to do in that huge house!”

We are guests here. We are not exclusive — we are just new to this vast environment. Approach us; let’s work to break these prejudices and start learning from each other. The cookies in the jar are not always good. But they are always worth trying.

In case you criticize this piece for not talking about anything “Turkish, Jewish or white,” I want to make sure that you won’t do so rightfully: Milliyetçilik (Turkish): nationalism, n. — the strong belief that the interests of a particular nation-state are of primary importance. The ideology that caused the Ottoman Empire, where many cultures and nationalities lived together in harmony, to split and close its chapter in history.

But why am I talking about this: Nationalism, like anything else, was founded in America, right?

David Kebudi ’19 can be reached at david_kebudi@brown.edu.

The virtues of volunteer activism GLENN YU staff columnist Recently, Oberlin College’s Black Student Union published its list of demands to the college’s president. In the demands document, the students ask for, among other things: A 40 percent increase in the number of black students in the school’s jazz department by 2022, free housing to all black international students who are unable to return back to their home countries during post-semester breaks, the establishment of special, segregated blackonly “safe spaces” across campus, including in the central library and the school’s science building; and an $8.20 per hour stipend for black student leaders who are organizing protest efforts.

When I first read some of these demands, I thought they looked more like a satire from “The Onion” than a BSU list of demands. But over time I have realized that these demands and ideas are not exclusive to Oberlin; they are ideas shared by many activists here at Brown.

One of these ideas, however, has caught my attention over the past few months: the idea that student activists should be paid. My first exposure to this happened a few months ago when I read the Alianza Latina’s document entitled “General Ideas of Demands.” In it, the Alianza asks for some form of compensation for the time consumed by student activism.

It is absolutely understandable that student-activist groups might want some compensation. Campus activism has historically brought about great moral upheaval and has inspired a great deal of social change. Activism is a pursuit far nobler than investment banking, a pursuit that has collectively created more good than any multinational corporation. Activists must always run cost-benefits: Would I rather fight for the $15 minimum wage or work a job that pays $8.20 an hour?

The opportunity costs constantly dogging the activists are immense, and the rewards for student activism do not pay tuition, do not pay for Jo’s — nor do they account for the utility gained by society.

Furthermore, for many, the rewards of activism may never present themselves. Many African-American activists will never see the day when Americans understand the socially constructed nature of race. Many environmentalists will never see the day when ExxonMobil has to pay for all the harms for which they are responsible. While capitalists reap the benefits of their moral vacancy, the activist remains a victim of his own virtuousness and in-

a 10-year jail sentence. For the activist, the movement and the ideal are much larger than himself.

Thus, when the activist subverts himself for his own self-interest (compensation), he subverts his own cause. He is saying that the cause has a price and is not worth his sacrifice or transient unselfishness. So when Oberlin’s BSU asks for paid activism, it diminishes the criticisms of capitalism that the BSU offers in the first paragraph of their document.

And when the Alianza Latina wants compensation for the “insanity” caused by activism, what they are saying is that the cause is not worth sacrificing their sanity for unless there

Activism is not and cannot be a business. Activism must be a belief system, a religion whose tithe, sadly, is sanity, time and passion. tegrity. The members of the Alianza Latina are completely right; it is absolute insanity to provide the morally bankrupt the ability to profit from exploitation, while restricting the right of the activist to make a minimum wage. So why shouldn’t student activists receive $8.20 an hour? Why shouldn’t we reward those who work on behalf of the goodness of society?

Well, I think we must first consider what an activist is. Activism, in my view, is the defiance of power. It is the social embodiment of empathy, the raw expression of passion and the rare manifestation of good within humanity. The activist uniquely stands above us, incorruptible and wholly unselfish, as Nelson Mandela was, serving 27 years in prison for his protestation of apartheid; as Martin Luther King Jr. was, dreaming of a world where all men would be treated as though they were truly created equal; and as Eugene V. Debs was, standing up against the cause of World War I in the face of the Espionage Act and

is some form of compensation. If we are to believe a movement, we must be able to see the activist as a symbol: He must be willing to lose everything for the sake of his ideals.

Sure, I understand the argument against this. Just today, I was at the Common Good Jobs Fair, looking at different paid internships in environmental advocacy and urban education. These people will pay you to advocate for them; they will pay you to call and canvass whether you are an intense activist or a good interviewer who just wants a little bit more money. And as a result of their efforts, they truly do a lot of good. Moreover, if the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People pays their protest organizers, how can campus protest organizers be left with nothing?

To this, I answer that there is a difference between student activists and career activists: Student activists have fewer commitments. I do not mean to understate the problem of stu-

dent loans or socioeconomic divides within the student population at Brown, but it is a fact that most college students do not carry the weight of raising a family and paying rent — a higher proportion of adult activists do. As a result, student activism at the college level has the opportunity to capture the public in a way that paid activism cannot: It can be truly pure. In college, activism does not need to be paid for. Rather, it can be based wholly upon true passion rather than the relative insincerity of what the outside world has to offer. It is this very pureness that motivates many Democrats to support Bernie over Hillary. Bernie is not controlled by moneyed interests; he is purely invested in his beliefs and ideas — not the beliefs of Goldman Sachs or his own selfishness.

If there is money to be made in activism, then we can almost certainly say that there will be more activists; regrettably, that is the nature of the society we live in today, like it or not. But these new activists would not be there if not for the money. No longer would every student activist fighting for climate change awareness be enthralled by his own passions; now there would be students enthralled by the thought of money and self interest.

Activism is not and cannot be a business.

Activism must be a belief system, a religion whose tithe, sadly, is sanity, time and passion.

The power and sanctity of the activist comes from the idea that the activist is unaffected, uncorrupted, strictly adhering to his beliefs in right and wrong. Simply put, the credibility of an activist is derived from the trust and expectation that the activist is fighting for the common good and the forward progression of society. But as soon as money is paid to activists, that purity guiding activism is cast away, and with that departed purity languishes the power that activism has over the people.

Glenn Yu ’19 can be reached at glenn_yu@brown.edu.

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016

Of pitchers and catchers CHARLIE BLASBERG sports columnist

After last season’s strange struggles — yet improbable August surge — Red Sox fans have been counting the days until their beloved ballclub can have another shot at the playoffs and the Fall Classic. Though Opening Day is still a month and a half away, mid-February brings new hope to the Fenway faithful.

Players, coaches, executives and fans flock to Fort Myers, Florida for spring training. A breath of fresh air. A clean slate. Pitchers and catchers reported for Spring Training yesterday. What can we make of the Red Sox’s battery this year?

Youthful Catchers The Red Sox are in a fortunate position to have two young, talented catchers in Blake Swihart and Christian Vazquez. The only question is which one to use.

Vazquez missed the entire 2015 season due to an unexpected injury to his right elbow, resulting in Tommy John surgery. Vazquez, who earned a reputation during the 2014 season as a phenomenal defensive catcher, has indicated that he will be 100 percent physically by Opening Day. Though

he has not proven he can hit over .250 in the major leagues, Vazquez is a real asset to pitchers because of his ability to frame pitches, block pitches in the dirt and throw out runners. Of course, he will not be as aggressive whipping the ball to the bases this season as he was in 2014 due to his recent injury, so his effectiveness as a thrower will be essential to track as manager John Farrell decides on a starting catcher.

On the other hand, Swihart emerged last season as a young talent who brings uncharacteristic power and speed to the catcher position. He hit .275 last year, and his late-season success may foreshadow a productive offensive campaign this season. But his defense is lacking, as he is poor at keeping tough pitches in front of him, allowing baserunners to advance easily on passed balls. Swihart is also not a game-caller in whom pitchers have confidence, a skill that is paramount for the Red Sox this year, as they have a lot of pitchers who are both young and new to the organization.

Provided that Vazquez is throwing the ball well, the Sox should start him over Swihart. Despite his offensive deficiencies, the defensive edge that Vazquez provides suits the Red Sox’s needs right now. Swihart is still an asset to the Red Sox, as he could be an effective pinch hitter because he can bat

from both sides of the plate. The Red Sox could use him as trade leverage because he may turn out to be an extraneous player on this year’s team, but he is young and has a tremendous upside.

I can see the Red Sox dealing him away to further bulk up the bullpen.

Pitchers The Sox’s pitchers this year inspire much more confidence than they did last year. The only question is whether they can get enough innings out of their starters. Last year, the starters would often get battered early in games or let their pitch count get out of control and only get through five innings.

This put an already shaky bullpen in a position where it was overworked. The additions of Craig Kimbrel and Carson Smith — alongside returning relievers Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa — were essential. With Tazawa and Smith as middle relievers and the aging Uehara as a set-up man, Kimbrel, the best closer in baseball last year, should never have to pitch more than an inning per game. The new bullpen gives Farrell more options late in games, saving him from risking the young arms of Eduardo Rodriguez and Henry Owens in the seventh and eighth innings.

The Red Sox do have some promising arms this season, most notably David Price. Price, an ex-Tampa Bay

Ray, is a proven force in the AL East and is the Sox’s projected ace. But recent high-profile acquisitions have blown up in the Red Sox’s face, and the addition of Price begs the question if he will follow in the footsteps of Pablo Sandoval, Rick Porcello and Hanley Ramirez. Regardless of how he meets expectations, Price should be able to produce between 180 and 200 innings, which is exactly what the Red Sox need.

Thirty-one-year-old Clay Buchholz, whose past two seasons have been plagued by injury, seems due for a complete season of quality pitching. If there’s any season for him to perform, it is this one. Buchholz has proven he can pitch like an ace in spurts, but his issue has always been being able to pitch deep into games come late July and August. Buchholz is under pressure, to some degree, to finally stay healthy for a whole season because many of the arms behind him are young and won’t eat up many innings.

Both Porcello and Joe Kelly had disappointing first halves of last season, which played a huge role in putting the Sox into the hole that they were never able to dig themselves out of. But Kelly pitched substantially better in the second half of the season. After starting his season 2-6, Kelly rattled off eight consecutive wins to cap off his season.

Porcello had no such saving grace, but

the Red Sox are viewing last season as an aberration. At 27 years old, he is the golden age for a pitcher, and perhaps with Vazquez behind the plate, Porcello will be able to find a rhythm.

Finally, the Sox have two young arms that could contribute to the rotation alongside the veterans. Rodriguez and Owens both showed flashes of brilliance last year, but that could be a result of their being new in the major leagues and batters not having a book on them. Their career trajectories will very much be determined by how they can follow up their successes this season, when batters have had a few looks at them. The Red Sox should not expect either to pitch deep into games because their arms are still young, but they both have very impressive stuff that will serve the Sox well, even if they only pitch until the fifth or sixth inning.

The Red Sox’s offseason acquisitions of Smith, Kimbrel and Price, as well as Vazquez’s recovery from his Tommy John surgery, give them the luxury of having more players able to contribute late in games and deep into the season. Moreover, the starters will be under less pressure with a better defensive catcher and a more stable bullpen behind them.

Charlie Blasberg ’18 can be reached at charlie_blasberg@brown.edu.

Come for the shirt, stay for the game ALEX WAINGER sports columnist

Two weeks ago, I made the 20-minute trek from my off-campus apartment up to the Pizzitola Center to watch the men’s basketball team take on Princeton.

I like to get to the court early and stake out a good seat, but at 5:45 p.m. — a full 15 minutes before the start of the game — droves of people were walking in the opposite direction, back to their dorms and away from the student section in the bleachers.

Did I misread the schedule? Did this game actually start at 3 p.m.?

No, it was just a giveaway night at the Pitz.

If you’ve never gotten a bobblehead at a baseball game before, giveaway nights are when teams give out free goodies in an effort to attract large crowds for important or meaningful games. Ahead of the basketball games against both Princeton and Penn, the Brown Athletics Department handed out hundreds of t-shirts, an iPad mini

and 1,500 life-size posters of Cedric Kuakumensah ’16. All of this was in hopes of drawing a strong student presence for Brown’s first home series after winter break.

And it worked! According to BrownBears.com, the team drew massive crowds of 1,948 and 2,165 fans against Princeton and Penn, respectively. Compared to an average of just over 1,000 fans for every other home game, that’s a huge turnout. But these numbers don’t tell the full story.

Student attendance at games is tracked by event staff members using pitch counters. Every Brown ID they see counts as another butt they assume will be filling a seat. At the end of the game, the number on the counter is added to the number of tickets sold to get the final total. But the event staff doesn’t count how many students walk in, take a t-shirt and head right back out the door. That is to say that many of the extra 1,000 fans that showed up for the Princeton and Penn games stayed just long enough to ask if there were any mediums left before hitting the road.

But don’t get me wrong, I’m not condemning giveaway nights. A decent

percentage of my wardrobe has sponsors from giveaway nights written on the back of it. I think Brown Athletics does a fine job of advertising and distributing quality giveaways that entice even the most aloof members of Brown’s community to make their way up Hope Street.

My issue is with the students: Do that many people really see no problem in simply accepting a free gift and walking away without considering why the gift was given to them in the first place?

Sure, you do it all the time when the guy at Cajun Luau offers you a free sample of orange chicken, but Brown Athletics’ giveaways serve a greater purpose than getting you to buy the chicken teriyaki special.

In the end, it’s about supporting your classmates. Cedric may seem like the massive guy you see walking around campus every now and then, but he eats in the Ratty, studies at the Scili and passes out in the snow outside the GCB just like you and me (or maybe that’s just me). If any of your other classmates invited you to their movie screening or the opening night of their show, would you take the free hors d’oeuvres and

then head home? Of course not. That would be rude, and you’re not rude.

So why is Brown Athletics any different? I’ve seen the extra zip Tavon Blackmon ’17 puts on his passes in front of a raucous home crowd. I’ve seen the face Steven Spieth ’17 makes when he drains a three-pointer and a packed student section stands up in unison. I think it’s safe to say that the players, coaches and fans all enjoy themselves more when the Pizzitola is filled to capacity.

But maybe the issue is more deeprooted than I make it out to be. Maybe you just don’t like sports. Or maybe you still bitterly believe that athletes didn’t work as hard to get here as you did (with which, for the record, I entirely disagree). Whatever your reason is for taking a shirt and leaving or never even attending a Brown game in your four years here, I challenge you to reconsider and check out the game you’ve been ignoring. Pick a team and get invested in it. Learn the rules, players and coaches.

Scream your head off when someone hits a game-winning shot and applaud the team’s effort after a tough loss.

I’ve followed the men’s basketball team for the last three years. I spent

two of those years writing recaps for The Herald, but even with my reporting days long behind me, I still go to every game. I’ve seen Cedric develop from the team’s third or fourth option to the anchor on both sides of the ball.

And this year, I’ve seen guys like Corey Daugherty ’19 and Travis Fuller ’19 prove that they’ll be leading this team some day. And when I come back to Brown for my 25th reunion, I’m going to remember the time Cedric broke the Ivy League’s all-time record for blocked shots. Will you remember the two episodes of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” that you watched instead of going to the game?

It shouldn’t take a free giveaway for you to come out and support Brown’s teams, but if you’re only in it for the apparel, at least have the decency to stay for the first half. And if I see you walking around campus wearing a free t-shirt, don’t think I won’t ask you who Brown’s starting point guard is and what the score was at halftime.

Alex Wainger ’16 will come to literally any game with you. Shoot him an invite at alex_wainger@brown.edu.