SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016
VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 25
WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
Curricular diversity task force announced
M. HOCKEY
Task force to reassess Diverse Perspectives in Liberal Learning, sophomore seminars By KYLE BOROWSKI SENIOR STAFF WRITER
ELI WHITE / HERALD
Alex Brink ’19 eyes the play across the ice. The first-year totaled nine points this season and will likely need to be a contributor if Brown hopes to upset Rensselaer in the first round of the ECAC playoffs this weekend.
Bruno faces familiar opponent in playoffs Lappin ’16, Naclerio ’16 look to continue past postseason success over RPI this weekend By MATT BROWNSWORD SPORTS EDITOR
Three years ago, the men’s hockey team took on Rensselaer in the quarterfinals of the ECAC tournament — the last time the Bears made it past the first round.
First-years Mark Naclerio ’16 and Nick Lappin ’16 each scored a goal in a hotly contested three-game series that saw Bruno win a decisive third matchup by a score of 3-2. Lappin scored a goal in the final game, while Naclerio added an empty-net tally in the first. Brown went on to the conference championship before losing to eventual national champion Union. This year — with Lappin and Naclerio in their final collegiate seasons — Brown (5-17-7, 3-13-6 ECAC) faces a familiar foe in the Engineers
(16-13-7, 8-7-7), which backed into the sixth seed with a loss against Colgate and a tie against No. 18 Cornell last weekend. Bruno also had a tough final weekend, falling to No. 1 Quinnipiac and tying league-worst Princeton. “We’re really excited,” Naclerio said. “We think we match up really well against them. We went up there earlier this season and tied them, then lost by one goal at home. But we played them hard both times.” Though the point differential » See M. HOCKEY, page 3
Provost Richard Locke P’17 announced the creation of the Task Force on Diversity in the Curriculum Thursday in a community-wide email. The group is charged with evaluating how the University can stay true to commitments to inclusivity set forward in the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan unveiled by President Christina Paxson P’19 Feb. 1. The provost’s task force will be chaired by Maud Mandel, dean of the College, and includes a number of faculty members from a variety of departments as well as two undergraduate student representatives. Some of the largest departments are represented on the task force, which includes members of the biology, economics and engineering departments. The committee will also include Tony Bogues, director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and professor of Humanities and Critical Theory, and Nancy Khalek, interim director of the Center
for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America and associate professor of religious studies. The DIAP stipulated that the task force be formed to move “diversityrelated intellectual questions to the center of the curriculum,” according to the Office of the Provost’s website. The group has a number of charges centered on determining how the University, its faculty and curriculum are promoting “inclusive classroom practices” and where there is room for improvement in that regard. Reevaluation of existing programs is also a tenet of the task force’s charge. The Diverse Perspectives in Liberal Learning courses will be assessed with special consideration as to whether or not they meet “Brown’s current goals regarding curricular needs,” according to the Office of the Provost’s website. Founded in 2002, the DPLL program was originally intended to ensure that students not only “understand the complex dynamics of social inequity, exclusion and difference” but also “do something with what they learn,” according to the site. DPLL courses were previously labelled as “American Minority Perspectives,” and the name change reflects the University’s effort to effectively label classes that deal with questions of » See TASK FORCE, page 2
Alum talks underrepresentation in STEM Ivy football coaches vote to Fernández stresses of mentorship ban full-contact practices importance in bolstering diversity of
FOOTBALL
Aiming to promote safety, rule awaits green light from league presidents, athletic directors By BEN SHUMATE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The eight Ivy League football coaches unanimously voted last week in support of a rule change that would ban tackling in team practices. The vote comes during a time of uncertainty for the sport, as mounting concerns about long-term brain trauma have raised questions about how to make the sport safer. The proposal now rests in the hands of the league’s policy committee and the individual schools’ athletic directors and presidents. If approved, the mandate would go into effect for the 2016 season. Many programs have moved in the direction of less contact in recent years in response to NCAA rules
INSIDE
limiting practices in full pads, as well as heightened awareness about concussions and player safety. Dartmouth implemented no-contact practices in 2010 and has remained an Ivy League powerhouse: The Big Green shared the conference title with Penn and Harvard this past season. Brown Head Coach Phil Estes emphasized that the measure, if enacted, would not change much for the team, possibly explaining the unanimous support from the coaches. “It doesn’t change anything that we are not already doing for the safety of our players,” Estes wrote in an e-mail to The Herald. Players agreed that the movement toward promoting player safety has pushed the team in this direction in the past. “It wouldn’t be a huge change,” said Kyle Moreno ’17, who appeared in three games last season as a backup quarterback. “During the season at least, we pretty much have » See FOOTBALL, page 2
STEM industries
By NORA GOSSELIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The rapidly expanding workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics industries faces what Mary Fernández ’85 ScM’89 P’16 P’19 described as “a critical deficit of talent” in her lecture Thursday afternoon on the significant underrepresentation of women, non-whites and first-generation college graduates in these fields. Fernández is the president of MentorNet, a nonprofit social network platform that connects current STEM students with mentors from similar underrepresented backgrounds who work in STEM fields. These mentors understand the challenges of pursuing a degree in STEM and are able to provide students with the much-needed tools to persevere, Fernández said. Fernández’s lecture, titled “Hidden in Plain Sight: Changing the
JULIANNA LEE MARINO / HERALD
Over the next decade, a quarter of current STEM workers will retire, said Mary Fernández ’85 ScM’89 P’16 P’19, in a lecture on workforce diversity. Face of the U.S. STEM Workforce,” marked the convergence of two separate, sporadic lecture series — one regarding life after Brown, and the
other dealing with diversity, said Tom Doeppner, associate research professor of computer science, vice chair » See ALUM, page 3
WEATHER
FRIDAY, MARCH 04, 2016
NEWS New study reveals correlation between mindfulness, healthy glucose levels
SPORTS Athlete of the week: Park ’18 leads softball with power hitting in 4-1 weekend
COMMENTARY Friedman ’19: Unpacking controversial statements has benefits but can be excessive
COMMENTARY Yu ’19: Canada Goose jackets not meant for Providence climate, speak to excessive affluence
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NEWS
PAGE 2 • FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Study finds correlation between mindfulness, glucose levels Those with higher mindfulness scores 35 percent more likely to have healthy glucose levels By HATTIE XU STAFF WRITER
Researchers at the School of Public Health have found a correlation between mindfulness and plasma glucose levels. The study, led by Eric Loucks, assistant professor of epidemiology, found that participants who were more mindful were more likely to have a normal plasma glucose level and thus not be obese, according to the paper published this month in the American Journal of Health Behavior. Mindfulness in the study is defined as “the ability to attend in a nonjudgmental way to one’s own physical and mental processes during ordinary, everyday tasks.” Though “the data is quite limited,
» TASK FORCE, from page 1 “power, privilege, racism, diversity and inclusion,” Mandel told The Herald. The group will also review sophomore seminars to evaluate how they “encourag(e) student engagement with questions of diversity and inclusion,” according to the provost’s website. It’s unclear whether or not DPLL or similar courses will be enforced mandatorily, a demand made by student activists in response to an initial draft of the DIAP, The Herald previously reported. “That is not listed as one of the specific tasks that the committee is investigating,” Mandel said. But she noted that discussion of course requirements within the task force is “inevitable” considering discourse on the issue last semester. One line of the email notes that the task force will determine the best practices for Brown and “elsewhere,”
this is the strongest data we have to show that people who are more mindful tend to be less obese and tend to have lower glucose levels,” said Stephen Buka, professor of epidemiology and co-author of the paper. All 399 participants in the study were originally part of the New England Family Study, an investigation that has researched neuropsychiatric and developmental risk factors since the 1960s. The New England Family Study enrolled pregnant women from the Boston and Providence areas and periodically collected data on them and their children for seven years, Buka said. The participants had a median age of 47 and were assessed for mindfulness using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, a questionnaire that asks participants to rate their agreement to different questions, Buka said. For example, the participants had to rate their agreement on a six-point scale for statements such as: “I find it difficult
to stay focused on what’s happening in the present,” he said. Other data, including amount of physical activity, levels of perceived stress, body mass index and blood pressure were also collected, according to the paper. Once Loucks noticed a relationship between MAAS scores and cardiovascular risk factors, he began to collaborate with Willoughby Britton, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior and co-author of the paper, who has been researching mindfulness for 20 years. Loucks and Britton began writing a series of papers on mindfulness and risk factors, including obesity and adiposity, and eventually turned their focus toward plasma glucose levels, Britton wrote in an email to The Herald. Blood samples were then collected from participants after a night of fasting to monitor their baseline plasma glucose levels, Buka said. After adjusting for confounding variables such as sex, race and family
history of diabetes, the researchers performed regression analysis on the data, said Roee Gutman, assistant professor of biostatistics and co-author of the paper. Regression analysis was used to build “a model that tries to explain why we see this variability between why some people have and why some people don’t have normal glucose levels,” Gutman said. The study found that participants with high MAAS scores were 35 percent more likely to have normal plasma glucose levels in comparison to those with low MAAS scores, according to the paper. But more research is needed because of the small sample size used in the study, Buka added. Participants with “higher levels of mindfulness were also 20 percent less likely to have (Type II Diabetes),” according to the paper. But due to small sample size and wide confidence intervals, these associations may not be statistically significant. “A big part of why some folks are
more prone to developing obesity or diabetes is their own dietary patterns,” Buka said. “The thought is that (a) level of awareness about one’s own body and one’s ability to attend to the current situation will help people be more successful in regulating their diet,” he added. Since publishing the paper, the team has received a $4.7 million grant from the National Institute of Health to investigate how mindfulness can relate to a patient’s ability to follow doctors’ orders, Britton wrote. While Loucks is in the process of developing the Mindfulness-Based Hypertension Treatment, Britton is studying how mindfulness affects cognitive, emotional and selfrelated processes, Britton wrote. Britton plans to then integrate her findings into Loucks’ treatment, she added. “We’re interested in reversing the obesity epidemic,” Buka said. “It may be that if we can increase people’s mindfulness, we will be able to reduce later obesity.”
a section Mandel said was indicative of the broader American academic climate. “There are other schools that have grappled with the question of diversity in the curriculum,” Mandel said, adding that looking at peer institutions is the key to discovering best practices and creative ways of thinking to address the issue. The task force met for the first time Wednesday and will continue to meet regularly throughout the semester. Its work will culminate in a list of recommendations. Locke closed his campuswide email by noting that he and Paxson “look forward” to reviewing the task force’s findings by fall 2016. “The work of the task force is essential in ensuring that Brown is a richly diverse and inclusive academic community,” Locke wrote, adding that the curriculum should be defined by “academic rigor, scholarly excellence and a range of ideas and perspectives.”
» FOOTBALL, from page 1
“Obviously, in a perfect world, we’d be able to hit without the risk of injury, because it definitely helps us when we get into the game situation,” Moreno said. But “staying healthy is really the name of the game. For the most part, everyone understands the trade-off.” While the rule would be applied uniformly across the league, many of Brown’s early season games are against non-Ivy teams who would not be bound by any restraint on contact in practices. Outside of these earlyseason games, Ivy League teams will not be at a significant long-term disadvantage because the conference has a policy of not sending a representative to the NCAA playoffs. For Brown, many of the games
early in the year come against teams with two or three more games under their belts than the Bears. Moreno said the team’s late start along with the potential rule change could be a positive as they enter early games more rested and injury-free. Still, Ferguson said that it could be a disadvantage. “Getting used to game speed is always difficult because our season starts two weeks after everyone else’s,” he said. Moreno, who could step into the starting role next season, welcomed the changes coming to the sport to improve player safety. But at the end of the day, football is football. “It’s still a collision sport,” he said. “Guys are still flying around and hitting each other.”
no full-contact in terms of bringing guys to the ground.” The team uses an approach known as “thud” in practice. The players run through repetitions in a regular fashion but hit only lightly and emphasize not bringing players to the ground in an attempt to avoid injuries. “At this level, everyone knows how to hit and tackle,” said cornerback Jordan Ferguson ’17. “As a defensive player, it’s something we’ve all been used to since we’ve come to Brown.” Despite widening the gap between practice and game speeds, the goal of eliminating injuries is an effort to which both players and coaches are understandably sympathetic.
NEWS
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Financial aid awards increased for middle-income students BrownTogether campaign increases financial aid resources, hopes to decrease student loans By ALEX SKIDMORE SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Beginning with the Class of 2019, families who earn roughly $100,000 to $200,000 per year will receive between $3,000 and $5,000 more per year in grants, said James Tilton, director of financial aid. The increased aid is a component of the $3 billion BrownTogether fundraising campaign, which will allocate $1.1 billion in fundraising for this increased financial aid for undergraduates along with other efforts, such as endowed professorships and increased diversity in faculty, according to the campaign’s website.
» ALUM, from page 1 of the department and the event’s organizer. Doeppner hoped the lecture would encourage those in STEM to help broaden the appeal of STEM fields while also showcasing the work of a successful Brown graduate and role model for women in the field. Before joining MentorNet, Fernández worked for 17 years as a research computer scientist at AT&T Labs Research.
» M. HOCKEY, from page 1 between the two teams is fairly significant, each team ended its season with poor results. RPI heads into the postseason 2-6-1 in its last nine ECAC games, while Brown is 1-4-4 in that same stretch. In fact, those results are equivalent in terms of points, with both teams securing a win against a ranked opponent — a 5-2 win over then-No.18 Clarkson for Bruno and a 2-1 victory over No. 11 Harvard for RPI. In the teams’ last meeting, Brown jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Engineers before allowing four unanswered goals to ultimately lose the game. Tommy Marchin ’19 scored a goal in that defeat and the teams’ tie earlier in the season, while Lappin found the twine twice in the first matchup. The matchups with RPI will mark the high-scoring Marchin’s first time in the collegiate postseason, which is a different beast than the regular season. “The entire team has been working hard the whole season, including the freshmen, to make an impact during playoffs,” Marchin said. “It’s really important we play hard and play well to make a statement our first year at Brown.” Brown’s offensive success against RPI has been relatively uncharacteristic for the Engineers’ season thus far, as netminder Jason Kasdorf boasts a .939 save percentage and a 1.99 goals against average in conference play this season. But the Bears were able to score three goals in each game against RPI and outshoot the Engineers both times as well. “We’re just going to try to get pucks to the net,” Naclerio said. Kasdorf “is one of the best goalies in the
The University has been doing a fine job with low-income families, but received feedback from middle-income families struggling to pay tuition, Tilton said. While low-income families typically receive an aid package with grants, middle-income students frequently take out loans to cover their parental contribution expectations — the amount of money a student’s family is expected to contribute — Tilton said. “The middle class is in an awkward position,” said Adi Melamed ’19. Middle-income families often do not have the ability to pay the large percentage of tuition that they are expected to cover, he added. This is a “positive move” for the University, but “the overall financial aid program is lacking,” said a student who chose to remain anonymous so as not to publicly reveal her financial status. As a low-income student, she applauded the recent announcement of expanded
travel stipends and health insurance, but added that the cost of attendance is higher than that of some peer schools. “I have to pay more here than I would have to at other schools,” she said, adding that there should be an effort to keep increasing financial aid for all students. Around 35 percent of students were expected to take out loans for their initial financial aid package for the 20142015 school year, according to the financial aid office website. The increased aid from the BrownTogether campaign will decrease parental contribution expectations, therefore reducing the amount of loans needed to cover the cost of attendance, Tilton said. More accepted middle-income students from the Class of 2019 decided to attend the University last fall, Tilton said. The increased aid will continue for the Class of 2020, Tilton said.
Fernández began her talk by describing current dynamics within the STEM community. Over the next 10 years, 25 percent of STEM professionals — almost all white and male — will retire from the workforce, leaving a vacuum in terms of strong leadership, she said. This coincides with a nationwide demographic shift toward an increasingly non-white population, Fernández added. Given these changes, STEM corporations are eager to hire young, qualified professionals and expect
the higher education system to produce a flood of diverse talent. But the millennial workforce that these corporations are receiving is “more of a trickle than a flood,” she said. According to Fernández, this is because underrepresented minorities face numerous barriers in obtaining STEM degrees, including the financial strain of college, the time-consuming nature of classes and the psychological challenges that result from a lack of role models. In the face of these barriers,
conference, so we’re going to do everything we can, and we know that something will go in eventually.” “We have been practicing well,” Marchin said. “We are making sure we focus on getting to the net because it is a little tougher to score in playoffs, so we’re making sure everyone is burying their chances.” But Brown has been relatively unsuccessful in keeping RPI off the board, as the Engineers scored seven goals in two games against the Bears. Viktor Liljegren scored two goals in RPI’s win over Bruno, while the Engineers’ leading scorer Riley Bourbonnais also got on the board in the first contest. Characteristically for the Bears, RPI took advantage of Bruno’s atrocious penalty kill in both matchups this season, scoring three of its seven goals against Brown on the power play. But the Engineers have the conference’s worst power play percentage, which might give Brown a comparative advantage as a weak penalty kill team. “We’ve been practicing the penalty kill all week,” Naclerio said. “We’re just trying to slow down their scoring chances, which will give us a good chance to win.” Since Brown is the nation’s best team in limiting shorthanded minutes per game, the Engineers have to take advantage of the few power play chances they may get. Otherwise, Bruno will gain an edge: since 21 percent of its opponent’s goals have come on the penalty kill, there’s about one-fifth fewer opportunities for RPI to score. The first contest of the three-game series will take place Friday, with the second Saturday and the third — if necessary — coming on Sunday.
Students on financial aid who take out loans About 35 percent of students on financial aid during the 2014-2015 academic year ended up taking out loans to cover costs affiliated with college.
65.2% did not take out loans
34.8% took out loans
Source: Office of Financial Aid EMMA JERZYK / HERALD
MentorNet gives underrepresented students a platform where they can be connected to and heard by a mentor who understands their situations. The sharing of aspirations and the subsequent sense of belonging allows students to persevere in their field of choice, Fernández said. The lecture’s balance of data and personal stories impressed attendees, including Betsy Hilliard GS, who thought Fernández presented a “really nice set of data that did a good job handling the full spectrum
of racial, class (and) gender diversity,” she said. “You don’t always get that full picture.” Fernández saw the lecture as a “thank you gift” to her former department at Brown, she said. While Fernández acknowledged the enormity of cultural change needed in STEM industries, she closed with a strong and hopeful message: MentorNet’s mission to help individuals will change institutions, which will change the workforce and ultimately its culture.
SPORTS
PAGE 4 • FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Parkinson’s patients, students, dancers come together for performance Mix of groups provides health improvements for patients, new perspective for students in class By REBECCA ELLIS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Three very different populations will take the stage in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts Saturday — the performers include high school students from Central Falls, RI, a town known as the “smallest city in the smallest state,” a collection of professional and Brown dancers and a group of adults suffering from Parkinson’s disease. All are different groups, but all are part of the same organization and filled with the same desire to dance. The three performances are part of this year’s annual Artists and Scientists as Partners Symposium. The aim of both the symposium and the organization is simple: harness the power of the arts to positively affect people with neurological disorders. ASaP was created in 2012 by Julie Strandberg and Rachel Balaban ’80, senior and adjunct lecturers, respectively, in the Theatre and Performing Arts department. In addition to leading ASaP, Strandberg is one of the co-founders of the American Dance Legacy Initiative, a group that documents masterworks by famous choreographers. Each year, the group invites panelists, speakers, students and other interested Rhode Islanders to learn about the merging of art, science and healing. ASaP was founded on this intersection of disciplines, Balaban said, aiming to show that music and movement can have powerful healing effects on those suffering from neuro-disorders,
ARTS & CULTURE
particularly Parkinson’s disease and autism. Balaban said she envisioned the group as an organization that would provide a lighthearted opportunity for those suffering from these diseases. They could be removed from the “support groups where people … are continually talking about their ailments, their issues, the medicalization” and instead participate in something “wonderful and exciting and different,” she added. Though dance may seem like a strange pastime for a population whose motor ability is degenerating, Balaban said it makes inherent sense. “They lose their automatic movements so everything has to be consciously executed, every next move has to be premeditated.” Dancers, she added, are the exact same — meticulous about every flick of the wrist, every turn of the head perfectly calibrated. “It’s just been this amazing marriage of two populations,” she said. The class Strandberg and Balaban soon felt that students could also benefit from the intersectionality of dance and healing. They created TAPS 1281: “Artists and Scientists as Partners: Theory to Practice,” a class “so interdisciplinary that we haven’t quite figured out where we belong,” Balaban said. The TAPS, neuroscience and public health departments are all potential homes for the nomadic course, which focuses broadly on the effects of art on marginalized groups. Miranda Olson ’17.5 was one of the first students to take the course in its pilot semester in fall 2013 her freshman year. Olson was attracted to Brown because it was the only school that told her she could do engineering, English and pre-med all at once, she said. She was attracted to TAPS 1281 because it was the only class that allowed her to do all
of those in the same semester. Now, over two years later, she has been both the TA and a guest lecturer for the course and will lead a design workshop in the upcoming symposium. She fell in love with the class because it gave her a creative outlet from the constraints of the hard sciences, she said. “In engineering, you would never explore (art interests) … if you’re not pipetting something or connecting wires, you’re not doing engineering at Brown.” Benefits for both Aside from the interdisciplinary aspect, Olson was attracted to ASaP for the way it broke out of Brown’s problematic paradigm of the “one-way service avenue,” she said. ASaP aims to teach students to look at art and science from a new perspective while providing Parkinson’s patients with health benefits such as increased balance, coordination, flexibility and sociability. The experience offers patients a moment “outside of them thinking of themselves as losing mobility … to look at this hour and 15 minutes as possibility, and they come alive,” Babalan said. Of equal importance, the group provides students with a chance to understand and interact with an older generation to which access is normally limited. Olson said the experience is inspiring, as she teaches and learns from people who “still get on the bus, even though it’s the hardest thing in the entire world, just to come to dance class.” One man refused to miss class, even after undergoing deep brain stimulation — an electric shock method which inactivates small parts of the brain. Another participant, at 93 years old, deemed dance the “passion of his life,” she said. ASaP also focuses on autism patients, a much less understood group for whom the benefits of music and dance are less charted. When so much of the
ELI WHITE / HERALD
“Artists and Scientists as Partners” blends elements of theater, neuroscience and pubic health into a class that encourages multiple perspectives. autistic population is nonverbal, dance version that’s accessible to a different becomes an obviously useful way to use movement population.” the body as a mouthpiece, Olson said. Some of the dancers have been doing Through dance, feelings “can be trans- these moves for many years. Strandberg formed into a communication,” she said. recalled one man who, during the first year of his performance, was limited The symposium and beyond to gestures. By the second year, he was More students signed up for the dancing with a partner and by the third ASaP symposium, a day filled with com- he was dancing standing upright — not munity classes, break-out sessions and the traditional trajectory for someone workshops that discuss the link between with a degenerative muscular disease. music and healing, than have in the past. This points to a bright future both For the Parkinson’s group, and likely for ASaP and for the way doctors treat many others, the most anticipated mo- Parkinson’s, Babalan said. “(Dancing) ment will be when they get to perform reduces falls, reduces visits to doctors, the same etude as professional and high- reduces medication — why not preschool dancers. The dance, which will scribe this as part of a medical plan?” be tailored slightly for all three groups, she added. was choreographed by the American She believes Brown students are the Dance Legacy Initiative. ones who are going to bring about this Because many of the dancers with change, Balaban said. “Many (students) Parkinson’s will be in wheelchairs, much will be our doctors of the future” and if of the dance is modified to highlight ASaP can get them to experience this movements made by the upper body. performance firsthand, “we won’t be “It’s not a watered-down version of the having to make these conversations hapetude,” Babalan said, but rather “just a pens. They will just see it.”
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Park ’18 shows off hitting power in opening games Sophomore outfielder records two homers, nine RBIs at Winthrop Invitational By DANIEL WAYLAND STAFF WRITER
The softball team started the season off with a bang, winning four of five games at the Winthrop Invitational last weekend. The team saved its best performance for last, dominating Rider on the way to a 20-2 victory. At the center of action was outfielder Yeram Park ’18, who batted .545 in the tournament, hitting two home runs and driving in nine runs. Catalyzing the offense is nothing new for Park: As a first-year, she led the team in RBIs and walks and tied for the team lead in doubles. Park performed well throughout the invitational, but her standout moment came in the sixth inning of the game against Wagner, when she broke a 0-0 tie with a threerun home run. Bruno needed every bit of Park’s offense, as it had to stave off a late rally to hold on to a 3-2 victory. Park earned the honor of Madness Ivy League Softball Player of the Week from CollegeSportsMadness.com. For her commanding performance at the
invitational, Park has been named The Herald’s athlete of the week. Herald: When did you begin your softball career? Park: I didn’t start playing softball until I was 10. I played soccer before, but I have two older brothers, and they played baseball. And so I just kind of wanted to hang out with them. Softball and baseball became a family sport. What’s your assessment of the team this season and the program in general? I really love the team. I still have a lot to learn, but our team this year has a lot of potential, and I really think we can win Ivies. You guys had a lot of success last weekend at the Winthrop Invitational. How did it feel starting off the season in such strong fashion? Obviously it was really exciting. We knew going into it (that) it was going to be a good season based on what we saw at practice. You were named Madness Ivy League Softball Player of the Week for your performance at the Winthrop Invitational. It must be nice to
be recognized for your success. So, I actually just found that out right now. … I guess it feels good, but our wins weren’t just based off of me, so I am honored, but I can’t take all the credit. The team really looked to you for offense last year. Did you consider that to be a burden as a first-year, and now as a sophomore do you feel more prepared to carry that load? I was definitely overwhelmed last year, because prior to college I was more of a gap hitter. I wasn’t really a power hitter, and I was more for speed, which is why I think (Head Coach Katie Flynn) recruited me. But I injured my foot last year, and that was a real setback. I couldn’t steal bases anymore. I just had to lean on hitting, and it kind of worked for me. I knew I could hit gappers, but I didn’t expect Coach to put me in the third or cleanup spot in the lineup. What are the goals for the season? I think a lot of the losses that we had were based off of one-run differences that came down to the bottom of the seventh inning. And the fact that one of the games in the tournament we came out winning by one run shows that we have a lot more stamina this year, and hopefully it will show in the
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Yeram Park ’18 follows through on a swing after making contact. The sophomore started the year by hitting .545 at the Winthrop Invitational. Ivy Leagues. … Obviously the goal is to win Ivy Leagues, and I think we have a realistic shot. On to the more fun questions. If you could play one other sport at Brown, what would you play? If we had lacrosse back home, I feel like I would have liked lacrosse because it’s a good in-between for soccer and softball. Craziest thing that’s ever happened
to you on the softball field? It’s a bad memory, but I remember it every time. I was trying to catch a ball in the outfield last year, and the fence came out of nowhere, and I definitely ran into the fence. I had a couple cuts on my face. I had never run into a fence before! It was really windy, so I think everyone in the outfield ran into the fence that day. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
TODAY
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
“Obviously, in a perfect world, we’d be able to hit without the risk of injury.” — Kyle Moreno ’17
sudoku
See football on page 1. CORRECTION An article published in Thursday’s Herald (“Community members gather for Fort Wayne vigil,” March 3) stated that Adrian Wood-Smith, associate university chaplain, criticized media outlets for not using the terms “terrorism” or “hate crime” in referring to the Fort Wayne murders. In fact, Wood-Smith was referring to media outlets’ tendency not to use these words when crimes are committed against Muslims but was not referring to the Fort Wayne murders specifically. The Herald regrets the error.
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2nd Annual Summer Camp Fair 11:00 A.M. Kasper Multipurpose Room
A Midsummer Night’s Dream 8:00 P.M. Stuart Theater
SATURDAY Free Proctored LSAT 9:30 A.M. Wilson 105
Orchestra Concert 8:00 P.M. Sayles Hall
SUNDAY Mojoscape: A Meditation on #BlackLivesMatter 12:00 P.M. George Houston Bass Performing Arts Space
Pesto Pasta Cooking Class 3:00 P.M. Ivy Room
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Brown Bites April showers bring Fetty Wap The Spring Weekend 2016 lineup was announced at Whiskey Republic this week, causing “Trap Queen” to blare in harmony throughout dorm rooms across campus. The Friday headliner, Fetty Wap, was the “highest polling artist we had in the fall poll we put out,” according to Michael Briskin ’16 co-chair of the Brown Concert Agency. Also playing Spring Weekend will be Tinashe, Mac DeMarco, Tink, Thundercat, Funkinevil and the What Cheer? Brigade. Thank you, Lecture Board Students were brought to tears by Viola Davis’ lecture in Salomon this week, as the actress received three standing ovations from the crowd. Davis took the time to answer questions as well as speak about her journey to becoming the first black woman to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Davis spoke about her upbringing and the racism that she has faced, explaining to the audience, “You’re not your scars.” Davis also spoke of the key to her success, saying, “If you are not living a life bigger than yourself, then you’re not living a life at all.” Woah. Crying in the corner But if students weren’t emotional enough after Viola Davis’ lecture, news of a new tradition at the SciLi — shining a bright flashlight to say goodnight every night to the children at Hasbro Children’s Hospital — will surely melt the hearts of even the most awkward computer science major. The initiative was started by Steve Brosnihan, Hasbro’s resident cartoonist. Brosnihan said “I want to grow this minute of magic into a tradition that any hospitalized child can look forward to on any night they look out their window.” Is someone chopping onions in here? Up in smoke Medical marijuana also made headlines this week after a number of patients and advocates protested the new “tagging fee” proposed by Gov. Gina Raimondo. While some state officials maintain that the proposal will allow for better access for medical marijuana patients, protesters are saying the fee will make the drug prohibitively more expensive. According to Michael Raia, communications director for the Rhode Island Executive Office of Health and Human Services, “the proposed reforms would charge $350 per year per tag for caregivers and $150 per year per tag for patients who grow their own medicine,” and the fee could generate up to $8.4 million in general state revenue. According to Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island, the system “essentially (taxes) people based on the fact that they have a disability.” Money, money, money Wallets runneth over in the School of Engineering. Three junior faculty members have received the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Awards of about $500,000 each. Assistant Professors of Engineering Franklin Goldsmith, David Henann and Andrew Peterson won the awards, which are open to all untenured faculty members in the country, by completing 15-page research project proposals that laid out their plans for their next five years of research. Foldsmith and Peterson both won their awards for research on fuel cells, and Henann’s was received for his research on granule materials. All of a sudden, winning our seventh grade science fair seems a little less impressive.
R O L A N D H IG H
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Supporting Middle East studies To the Editor: I read Sara Al-Salem’s Feb. 26 column with great interest and empathy. Many years ago, when I was an international student at Brown, I had an emotional breakdown due to some private reasons involving my family. I could not handle the double stress of trying to sort out personal issues, guilt for wasting money on an Ivy League education with no concrete prospects for the future and, above all, the stress of trying to get a job as an international student in the United States after
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Beeman and Muhammad Zaman, also quit Brown, possibly due to frustration with the University administration and its obvious bias when it came to Middle East Studies. It is refreshing to see that things have changed a little since I graduated. I hope that the administration has overcome its bias and has spent a little more money on keeping excellent professors in the Department of Middle East Studies so that students don’t have to suffer as a result. Tamilla Mamedova ’07
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graduation. Looking back now, it was an unnecessary effort I should have avoided. I wish I had studied economics like most other Turks and focused more on getting a good job on Wall Street instead of spending too much time with on-campus activism. So I made a mistake, and I did not ask for help because I thought I was strong enough to “do it all.” I needed a break from my stressful life, juggling extracurriculars, academics and leadership roles with the Brown Muslim Student Association. That same year, two distinguished professors, William
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COMMENTARY FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Let’s unpack ‘unpacking’ ANDREW FRIEDMAN staff columnist I always knew that college was going to be full of conversations: latenight, lengthy, profound and sometimes uncomfortable. As a high school student, I relished in the prospect of living with fellow students who were just as willing to engage with intellectual ideas as I was. I imagined that serendipitous conversation would be an integral part of my college experience. And it is. What I didn’t expect was the number of times I would have to hear, “Let’s unpack this,” after I say something mildly offensive or controversial. Unpacking, as defined by my peers, basically means deconstructing a loaded statement into its constituent parts, putting the statement in context so that it may be better understood. In principle, I agree with this. In practice, I sometimes do not. Specifically, I find that unpacking statements uttered without political or antagonistic motives is a nuisance. Take the time I was bombarded with a wave of statements like “Woah, woah, woah, let’s unpack this,” when I unwittingly said, “Yeah, Asians are cliquey,” to my floormates during a casual conversation. I was attempting to describe the behavior of several class-
mates who sat in my row for an ECON0110: “Principles of Economics” lecture. They would always leave at least two empty seats between me and them, and because of that seat gap (and partially because of my debilitating social inhibitions) I spent every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning last semester taking notes in silence. Although I was using a hackneyed generalization as a crutch to justify my statement, I did not say that I was trying to distill the essence of the East-Asian identity
ple behind it. The theory is that reinforcement of negative stereotypes can lead to societal prejudice against afflicted groups. But at that point, I didn’t really care; I just wanted to express myself authentically, and I (like most people, I assume) do not have a conscious filter on what I say 24/7. I did not end up changing my viewpoint, and I think that unpacking that statement was not worth anyone’s time. In fact, I believe my connection with my floormates suffered that night because I
claiming that the Black Lives Matter movement was conducting their protests in an overly intrusive way. What followed was an hour of policy-based discussion about what Black Lives Matter stands for (they also support LGBTQ rights, age equality and awareness of “black folk who exist in different parts of the world”) and the way in which modern-day social movements can and must occur. I learned and now agree that criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement must be fil-
The issues we take the time to unpack should be heavy, so to speak, and worth the burden — emotional and temporal. to “cliquey” either. I was simply attempting to vent about the stress of finding someone with whom I could socialize in a lonely, big lecture hall by conveying a simple (albeit generalized) idea. And as a half-Caucasian, half-Korean American, I felt justified in making a slightly inaccurate statement about Asian-Americans. But it turns out that I cannot safely make these assumptions; my seemingly benign comment was met with subdued outrage, and I was effectively coerced into explaining myself for 20 minutes by one of my floormates. I understand the princi-
felt as though my goodwill had been genuinely questioned. It seemed like I was misplacing my trust, as my friends, of all people, used one impromptu statement to judge my character. Sometimes, I just want to be completely honest and would prefer that my friends value engaging my flawed conversation on a human level over censoring my thoughts on a political or societal level. In other situations in which political or social values are clearly at stake, unpacking statements can be an extremely productive and informative practice. Most recently, I was asked to unpack my statement
tered through the lens of 21st-century activism, where litigation is frequently not enough to effect societal change and where grassroots civil disobedience plays a role in catalyzing social change. I would not have taken the time to look up the movement’s platform or engage in social activist theory without receiving an external impetus to unpack, and I am better and more informed because of it. Looking back, I wasn’t enthralled to unpack my opinion on the Black Lives Matter movement, but the importance of my understanding of the issue clearly outweighed the sanctity
of my relatively uninformed opinion. The Black Lives Matter movement is crucial to contemporary American race relations, and the shift in my viewpoint (and hopefully the viewpoints of countless others) will help push the American populace toward an acceptable state of racial equality in the future. On the other hand, the correction of my viewpoint on East-Asian social behavior was not worth the associated grief and disclosure of my friends’ distrust of my character. In short, unpacking should not be taken lightly. For that reason, the issues we take the time to unpack should be heavy, so to speak, and worth the burden — emotional and temporal. Unpacking frequently takes time and involves uncomfortable discussions, and these conversations typically occur among friends. But friends can only tolerate a certain level of conversational scrutiny before annoyance sets in; I was certainly insulted when I was questioned about the behavior of one half of my heritage. Accordingly, we should treat our opportunities to engage in lengthy unpacking conversations with more gravity, as there are clearly more important and less important topics to discuss, and our relationships can only endure a finite number of them.
Andrew Friedman ’19 can be reached at andrew_friedman@brown.edu.
The migratory patterns of the Canada Goose GLENN YU staff columnist Every winter, a brutal arctic wind encapsulates Brown University. The steely, nondescript sky serves as a facade to the delicate branches of redbud trees violated by the remorseless winds of the wasteland we amiably call southern New England. In an effort to combat the gripping tendrils of this numbing cold, the Canada Geese launch into a relentless struggle for their very survival. While some geese are brave enough to settle down and call Brown home, others pass our hallowed university on their migratory path toward Penn, Princeton and even Georgetown in search of the intimate warmth that the South has to offer. Of course, the Canada Geese of which I speak are not actual birds in the strictest sense; rather, they are students wearing jackets that somehow confer avian properties upon the wearer. For example, the Canada Geese native to Brown congregate with their kind in V-formations, rarely diverging from the flock. Outdoors and in the dining halls, the Geese display their plump, beige coyote furs and endearing little affluence badges like ostentatious peacocks in the height of mating season. Here, they are a permanent fixture of winter life. Sightings of them are as prevalent as political correctness and as inevitable as the disappointment experienced after dining at the
Ratty. Some see the Canada Geese minority as gaudy elitists who wear coats meant for climates 15 degrees in latitude above where we are. But these critics, suffering from delusions of grand intellectualism, simply do not appreciate the temerity of the Canada Geese. Every day, the Canada Geese bear intense heat as they masochistically wear their thick arctic coats on sunny, 50-degree days like flagellants during the Black Plague, ceaselessly punishing themselves in some sort of Nietzschean conviction that suffering gives life the will to power. While they could take off their enormous,
“elitism,” as those nefarious critics might have you believe. Rather, their badges are symbols of greatness, symbols showing off to the world (rightfully so) that they are superior to the masses. By now, you can probably tell that I have great admiration for the Canada Geese. But you don’t know the half of it. Though I hate to admit it so publicly, each night before I sleep, I ritualistically envision my limp fingers caressing the sumptuous lining of my Canada Goose coat as I simultaneously whisper profanities to it. This obsession inevitably follows me into my dream world, festering into wet dreams ga-
With my Canada Goose Chilliwack Bomber wrapped around my warm, plump body, I could finally triumph over the sub-35-degree boreal temperatures that leave Brown an icy wasteland each and every winter. arctic-climate coats, they refuse to succumb to the temptation that agony brings. They embrace the pain. The Canada Geese are the true heroes of this university, the ones who each day endure through the hapless circumstances that life has to offer without complaint. They do not feel emotion or temperature as we do. They represent something larger than ourselves, larger than life, larger than death. The badges they wear on their shoulders are not symbols of
lore. When I wake up, my first instinct is to go outside in search of the beautiful jacket. Each time I see one on campus, my heart stops a little as an ephemeral euphoria rises up into my chest. Sometimes, an inaudible “Oh joy” emits softly from my supple lips as I blush and dream about having my very own Canada Goose coat. I would finally be one of them, able to hide behind my modest symbol of wealth, blending in through conspicuous consumption. I mean, think about the possibilities!
With my Canada Goose Chilliwack Bomber wrapped around my warm, plump body, I could finally triumph over the sub-35-degree boreal temperatures that leave Brown an icy wasteland each and every winter. Walking around in the comfort of my beautiful coat, I could even banter gleefully with my Canada Geese flockmates about how the fur trim around our necks either deprived a coyote of its life or — even better — left it to freeze to death in the wilderness deprived of its own pelt. On the freezing winter walk between the door and our Ubers, the Geese and I will lament the many woes faced on our arduous expeditions from Keeney to Faunce when carrying our laundry to the Service. It ain’t easy being geesey. But sadly, having a Canada Goose will have to remain a dream for now: For a college kid with severely limited funds, a Canada Goose just isn’t a safe investment. Considering that its value and utility will only depreciate as global warming continues, I just can’t bring myself to spend $750. For now I’m just hoping that the Canada Geese wear their jackets one day too far into summer or one minute too long in the wellheated Ratty. And I’m warning you now: When they collapse of heatstroke, I will be waiting. I will be collecting.
Glenn Yu ’19 can be reached for donations toward his first Canada Goose jacket at glenn_yu@brown.edu.
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SPORTS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016
Celtics get wins without recognition CHARLIE BLASBERG sports columnist
This season, the Celtics have gotten no media attention outside of New England, but they’ve gotten wins. And that’s what matters. These Celtics have far exceeded preseason expectations heading into the home stretch of the season. I’ll be a man. I’ll swallow my words from October, when I wrote that they would be a “sixth, maybe fifth seed in the Eastern Conference.” Now, they have separated themselves from the mire of mid-level, .500 teams and are knocking on the door of the second-seeded Toronto Raptors. Winners of four straight and 12 in a row at home, the Celtics are carrying serious momentum into the
end of the season. Their current play begs the question: Could the Celtics challenge the Cavaliers or Raptors for an Eastern Conference Finals berth? They can and probably will. Here’s why: They have a different hero every night. The Celtics have the deepest bench in the NBA and so many different ways to win games, whether it be late-game playmaking by Evan Turner or suffocating defense by Marcus Smart. The Spurs have been so successful over the last decade because their star — Tim Duncan — has been complemented by countless effective role players who can manufacture wins even when Duncan has an off night. Critics clamored this autumn that the Celtics lacked a star who could produce points in clutch situations. Isaiah Thomas has undoubtedly emerged in that role, putting up over
20 points and dishing out seven assists on a nightly basis. The players that surround Thomas have created a positive team atmosphere that promotes winning and spreads the wealth offensively. Take Wednesday night, for example, when Thomas led the charge with 30 points, yet there were five other Celtics in double figures — including Marcus Smart and Jonas Jerebko, who came off the bench. Much of the credit to the Celtics’ success this season belongs to Coach Brad Stevens. He has masterfully managed the team and the players’ egos to ensure that each player can contribute optimally when he gets in the game. Configuring the Celtics’ lineup and in-game personnel norms was much like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle at the beginning of the season. Now, the players are comfortable with their roles and confident in each other.
Credit also goes to the players, who have meshed so well into this system. Other players would have let their egos get in the way of being a role player or being a bench player, but these Celtics have bought into their job of helping the team win rather than fighting for airtime on SportsCenter. With the Raptors close in the standings and the Cavaliers as volatile as they are, I can easily see the Celtics making a playoff push to the Eastern Conference Finals. The issue with these Celtics is that they are largely unproven in the playoffs. They are part of a young team that lacks players who have led a team to the postseason’s second round. While the Celtics have been respectable on the road, they have been practically unbeatable at home in the second half of the season. Home invulnerability can be very useful in the current
Portland’s chemical romance
JOE DIEHL sports columnist
In today’s NBA, general managers, the media and fans are all obsessed with advanced stats such as player efficiency rating and true shooting percentage. While these stats do provide valuable insight into a player’s value to a team, there are some things that just can’t be quantified. Quality of a teammate’s character and, to a larger extent, team chemistry come to mind. Two teams built this year serve as examples of organizations valuing each side of the spectrum. Last year, the Houston Rockets made the Western Conference Finals, powered by the unstoppable James Harden on offense and a rock-solid, motivated Dwight Howard on both sides of the floor. The rest of the team was built to accommodate those two
players’ strengths. Patrick Beverly was a point guard who didn’t need the ball, could spot up and hit the three and defend the other team’s point guard effectively. Trevor Ariza could space the floor and defend the opposing team’s best wing player, enabling Harden to get more rest on D. And Houston rotated several stretch fours who gave enough space for Howard to go to work in the post unhindered. It was a precise roster based on the exact way Daryl Morey, Houston’s general manager, wanted the Rockets to play. But Howard and Harden have established reputations as sub-par motivators and example-setters. Harden has never been a good defender, and Howard has constantly wanted to be featured more in Houston. Adding fuel to the fire, the Rockets went out this summer and acquired another player with talent but questionable character in Ty Lawson. It seemed to be a good deal for the Rockets at the time, but there was a reason Lawson
was available for the low price — his off-the-court problems had caused too much of a headache for the Denver Nuggets. Just barely into the regular season, the Rockets fired their head coach, Kevin McHale, and benched Lawson as the team continued to play poorly. Despite having one of the most precisely crafted and talented rosters in the league, the Rockets sit outside the Western Conference Playoff picture at the moment. They have no player with strong character to set them straight, and they don’t seem interested in holding each other accountable. In other words, they have poor team chemistry. The Trail Blazers, on the other hand, have gone 17-4 in their past 21 games and sit seventh in the Western Conference standings. This is a team that lost four starters over the offseason and was expected to take its growing pains straight to the lottery. But General Manager Neil Olshey has constructed a roster that is the
antithesis of the Rockets’ — featuring underrated, undervalued young players with chips on their shoulders. Starting two-guard is C.J. McCollum, a first-time starter who has been lighting the NBA on fire. Al-Farouq Aminu, their starting small forward, plays gritty defense and made close to the NBA minimum salary last season. Their starting four is currently 20 years old (younger than I am!) and rotates with quality backup big men Meyers Leonard and Ed Davis. Their starting center, Mason Plumlee, was acquired in a trade with the Nets and has provided effective rim running and tough defense. And then there’s the bona fide star, Damian Lillard, who came from a college in Ogden, Utah. He has been snubbed from the All-Star game twice: His game is eerily similar to Steph Curry’s, just not on the same level. Every player he plays with lauds his ability to keep guys motivated and involved. And Coach Terry Stott’s
two-two-one-one-one home-away playoffs format. The other aspect of the Celtics that will help in the playoffs is their ability to come back in the second half of games. Each game in the playoffs is too important to fold on after a lousy first half. The Celtics have proven this season that they are capable of surmounting 10-plus point deficits to win games. A coach the players like playing for. A point guard who can create points. Role players who lock down on defense and knock down shots. Looks like basketball is back in Boston. Not just this season but for a few years down the road. Charlie Blasberg ’18 thinks that Tim Duncan could take even him to the playoffs. Tell him he’s wrong at charles_blasberg@brown.edu.
offense, while being run through Lillard and McCollum, involves many touches for the other players. This team doesn’t have pretty spacing like Houston, nor does it have a runner-up MVP candidate. Many of Portland’s players are younger than 26 and are relatively inexperienced, but they’re hungry. The team chemistry is undeniable. When your best player is setting a positive example for the other guys around him, that will fuel every player to perform at a higher level and play for each other. As cliche as it might sound, the chemistry between teammates has a real impact on a team’s performance. While it might not be inherently quantifiable, it will show up on the stat sheet. Just look at the wins and losses columns for Portland and Houston this year. Joe Diehl ’18 once played Damian Lillard one-on-one. You can guess who won. Find out the score at joseph_diehl@brown.edu.