Tuesday, September 13, 2016

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 63

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Community gathers to heal, reflect together Chaplains’ office hosts event featuring readings, performances in light of tragic summer events

By MELISSA CRUZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

The University will classify DACA-status and undocumented students as domestic applicants beginning fall 2017, whereas previously these students were admitted on a need-aware basis similar to the process for international and transfer students.

Undocumented applicants considered under domestic status Undocumented, DACAstatus students to be admitted need-blind with demonstrated need met

By ISABEL GENSLER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

For the fall 2017 admission cycle, undocumented applicants and students

who qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program will be considered as domestic applicants, meaning they will be admitted via a need-blind admission policy, the University announced in a press release today.

“We seek to ensure that undocumented and DACA-status students who have been raised and educated in this country and apply for admission to Brown are treated fairly and equitably,”

said Provost Richard Locke P’17 in the press release.

In order to reach these students, the University will be continuing communication efforts to clarify its admission policies to all applicants.

“In seeking to attract the most talented and promising students to Brown, our goal here is to make our policies and resources regarding undocumented and DACA students both clear and

accessible,” wrote Brian Clark, director of news and editorial development, in an email to The Herald. Meeting this goal includes tapping into the University’s partnerships with organizations like Questbridge that aim to help underprivileged high school students apply effectively to Brown, Clark added.

The decision follows the release of the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, » See NEED-BLIND, page 4

After a potentially stressful summer including national and global tragedies, the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life hosted a gathering yesterday evening on the Main Green featuring several administrators and students as well as members of the faculty and staff. The event was held on Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest Muslim holidays, and was “meant to foster goodwill and acknowledge sorrow,” said Janet Cooper Nelson, chaplain of the University and director of the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life.

Members of the Brown community lined up in front of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center and read aloud from selected pieces or authors » See COMMUNITY, page 3

New environmental justice Exhibit sparks prison education discussion University joins 19 schools track to be offered in spring in researching mass DIAP process, faculty hiring result in IBES approval of track after years of student activism

By SUVY QIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The environmental studies and science concentration is creating a new track devoted to studying the injustices and inequalities embedded within environmental issues, to be approved this spring, according to multiple sources.

Last semester, the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society convened a committee composed of undergraduates and faculty members to create a departmental Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, wrote Kailani Acosta ’16, one of the two undergraduates on the DIAP team, in an email to The Herald.

One of the outcomes of the DIAP process was the approval from IBES to create this track, said Ximena Carranza Risco ’17, the other undergraduate student on the DIAP team.

INSIDE

Over the years, many students have pushed for this track, Risco said. In October 2014, some students gathered signatures for a petition to establish an environmental justice track and hire more faculty members from underrepresented backgrounds. In spring 2015, a forum was held to discuss these issues as well, she said.

Risco noted that environmental justice can now be seen as a social movement, as there’s a growing awareness that the human impact on environmental issues is unequally distributed.

Mounting awareness of this inequality aided efforts to create this new track.

A lack of awareness in the past has delayed the development of curricular resources on the relationship between environmental studies and societal inequity, several sources said.

“Within the environmental studies and sciences department, we don’t have a systematic way of thinking about inequality among differing groups of people, their experiences and general interactions with the environment,” said Leah VanWey, professor » See NEW TRACK, page 2

incarceration through Humanities Action Lab

By REBECCA ELLIS ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

Kennedy Plaza erupted in protest Friday as organizers used the 45th anniversary of the Attica Prison uprising to call attention to prison slavery.

Now Brown is following suit.

This Thursday, Providence will host “States of Incarceration,” an exhibit exploring the history of mass incarceration in 17 states. For the next month, Rhode Islanders can head to the University of Rhode Island Gallery, where displays produced by 20 universities, including Brown, will offer visitors a chance to interact with the hidden world of America’s prison system.

The consortium of universities comes together through the Humanities Action Lab, a “national hub” within The New School that regularly unites schools for discussions on “urgent social issues,” according to its website. Last year, HAL chose

COURTESY OF THE HUMANITIES ACTION LAB

The “States of Incarceration” exhibit at the University of Rhode Island Gallery will explore the history of mass incarceration in 17 states.

Guantánamo Bay as its focus, and each participating university analyzed the history of the detention camp.

Now, the spotlight has turned to mass incarceration.

As a member of the consortium, each university is expected to offer a course and panel focused on the local history of incarceration — Louisiana

might study Angola Prison, while New York might focus on Attica.

But Brown turned its gaze outward, offering students a chance to learn about incarceration as a worldwide phenomena with a history course, HIST 0150C: “Locked Up: A Global History of Prison and Captivity.” » See PRISON ED, page 4

WEATHER

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

ARTS & CULTURE Museum exhibition features beer artifacts from Haffenreffer family brewing history

NEWS National Science Foundation awards grant to neuroscience researchers to study attention

COMMENTARY Vilsan ’19: Parallels between nationalism in United States, European Union hard to ignore

COMMENTARY Mitra ’18: Startups offer handson internship experiences for undergraduates

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NEWS

PAGE 2 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

» NEW TRACK, from page 1 of environment and society and sociology and senior research deputy director of IBES. “I think that the University forcing every department to have a DIAP was a strong leverage for students to have these discussions,” Risco said. “There’s a long history of environmentalism as being a white movement in the United States and not inclusive of the voices of people who are most impacted.”

Like much of the administrative work to be carried out in accordance with last year’s university-wide DIAP, the environmental studies department’s DIAP benefited from student contributions.

“This wouldn’t have happened without student activism,” said Sohum Chokshi ’18, who worked with other undergraduates to draft a student version of IBES’ DIAP. “Students need to keep the [Diversity and Inclusion Action] Plan accountable,” Risco said, adding that it is now a “living document.”

VanWey agreed that the DIAP process was the impetus for creating a new track. “What made it possible was the new hires and new courses being taught,” VanWey said, noting that IBES has just hired a historian, Assistant Professor of History Bathsheba Demuth, who will teach an environmental history and inequality course that can serve as “an anchor” for the track.

“We feel like there is enough volume of courses taught regularly to have a sustainable track,” she added.

A faculty and student committee

GABRIEL CIVITA RAMIREZ / HERALD

After increased course offerings and new faculty hires, the environmental studies and sciences department responded to student demands for a new track focusing on inequality and injustices within environmental issues. The track is slated to be officially approved by the spring. will convene this semester to design the track, talk about its intellectual foundations and decide what courses should be required or optional, VanWey said.

The committee is expected to produce a proposed track that will be open for public comment and further

revised. Afterwards, IBES faculty will vote on it, and, if approved, the proposed track will go to the College Curriculum Council for formal approval by the dean of the College, she said.

Buttension within the institute may complicate the process, according to

multiple sources.

IBES is an institute comprised of different faculty members from different disciplines, so “there are different ideas about what the concentration or institute should look like,” Risco said.

During discussions, students realized that certain faculty members — trained as sociologists, geologists and biologists, for example — struggle to see environmental studies as a standalone discipline, Risco added.

VanWey noted that one challenge will be deciding on the exact focus of the track.

“Faculty have been discussing a track called “environment and inequality,” which draws from economics, sociology and the social scientific study of inequality and its relationship to the environment,” she said. But an “environmental justice” track has “a different intellectual feel to it.”

“The tension will be to make sure to represent (a diverse set of) voices,” VanWey said. The department will aim to create a track that is “sustainable and flexible.”

“If people want a justice focus, then they can get it with a concrete set of tools and theories, and those who want an economic point of view of environmental inequality can get that as well,” she added.

Another area of contention is whether a course about environmental injustices and inequalities should be a

required core class for all environmental studies and science concentrators, Risco said.

“At the moment, there is no plan to add a core course, because there is no way to add to the requirements without taking away flexibility by taking away an elective,” VanWey said.

Looking forward, the new track will help “attract new concentrators who are fundamentally motivated by questions of inequality,” VanWey said, adding that it will also give them the training for methods of approaching questions of environmental inequality.

“I hope that this track allows us to marry the activism with the intellectual traditions that exist in the literature and scholarship,” VanWey added.

Chokshi anticipates that the track will see consistent change over the next few years.

“The current classes aren’t enough.

The current professors don’t have the knowledge breadth to cover this degree and concentration track,” Chokshi said.

Risco is concerned that this new track may be “a silo within a department,” comprised of self-selecting students who are already interested in environmental justice and inequality.

“We are hoping to have a more spread-out discussion of environmental justice within the rest of classes so that everyone gets to be exposed to these issues,” she said.

NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

SAM BERUBE / HERALD

Janet Cooper Nelson, chaplain of the University and director of the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life, read an excerpt at a community gathering to create a moment to reflect, show solidarity and support people impacted by tragic events this summer.

» COMMUNITY, from page 1 that have inspired them.

“Over the course of the summer, all of us felt pretty beaten down. Every week there was a new tragedy,” said Provost Richard Locke P’17. “People were murdered because of the color of their skin, their faith, gender or uniform they were wearing,” he said, adding that, “as I make sense of the world around me, I turn to books.”

Locke read an excerpt from, “Political Emotions: Why Love Matters for Justice,” written by Martha Nussbaum, currently a professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago and a former member of the Brown faculty.

President Christina Paxson P’19 paid homage to C.D. Wright, former professor of literary arts, who passed away in January 2016, reading aloud an excerpt from Wright’s book, “One With Others.”

Cooper Nelson praised Toni Morrison’s perseverance and willingness to create and write despite living in a broken system. “The world needs a great deal from us,” Cooper Nelson said to the audience. She read aloud a poem titled “Separation” by W.S. Merwin.

The speakers individually chose

a diverse selection of excerpts. Eric Estes, vice president for campus life and student services, read a poem by Kazim Ali, chair of the creative writing department at Oberlin College.

Adnan Adrian Wood-Smith, associate chaplain at the University, read aloud from chapter 103 of the Qur’an, once in English and once in Arabic.

Interwoven with the excerpts read aloud from members of the School of Engineering, Counseling and Psychological Services, undergraduate students and more were student performances. Kenyon Alexander ’18 played “Sonata in G minor” by J.S. Bach, The Jabberwocks, an on-campus a cappella group, performed “Ave Maria,” and Harmonizing Grace, an on-campus gospel choir, performed as well.

“It feels good that Brown is recognizing events happening outside of the Brown community,” said Verida Leandre GS, who performed with Harmonizing Grace. “I appreciated the different perspectives. This is a way we can grieve together,” she said, adding that “singing and music are good tools for dealing with all emotions, especially grief.”

No speaker addressed any specific tragedy or event that has occurred

recently, and Cooper Nelson refrained from announcing trigger warnings at the event. She thought the titles could give audience members an idea of what was to come, she told The Herald.

“I don’t want to hurt people, but

if we really think something could endanger someone’s well being, I want to do much more than put a warning on at the beginning,” Cooper Nelson said, adding that she hopes the oncampus resources listed at the back of the event flyer, like CAPS and the

Brown Center for Students of Color, would be helpful to those hurting.

The resources available to the Brown community could prove helpful for a host of concerns that may not be common trigger warnings but still cause students distress, such as homesickness, she said.

“We don’t want to presume life is hard, but sometimes when everything is chipper and positive it can be difficult if you have just lost someone or if there is something worrying you,” she said.

On trigger warnings, Cooper Nelson praises the approach of Gregory Elliott, professor of sociology. “Elliot does a very good job in his courses on interpersonal violence. Right on the syllabus it says that this is not a topic people can hold at arm’s length, so I want to let you know that there’s the counseling office, the chaplain’s office, etc. That feels to me like real concern.”

Liza Cariaga-Lo, vice president for academic development and diversity and inclusion, felt the event aimed to create “a moment to pause and reflect and stand in solidarity and support of all the people who have suffered this summer and are still in pain.” Cariaga-Lo said she appreciated the support from the President and Chaplain’s offices, as well as Cooper Nelson’s initiative of pitching the idea for the event and reaching out for volunteers during summer, she said.

“When I need to reground myself personally, beauty helps me. We wanted to gather a lot of beautiful things together for the whole community,” Cooper Nelson said.

NEWS

PAGE 4 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

FIDELITY BALLMER / HERALD

The Haffenreffer Museum Student Group helped create an exhibition devoted to beer’s cultural and historical importance while celebrating the museum’s 60th anniversary. Owners of local breweries, the Haffenreffer family contributed artifacts from their private collection related to brewing and beer.

New Haffenreffer museum exhibit explores beer’s cross-cultural roots Installation examines social significance of beer, highlights roots of museum’s founding family

By HANA PARK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Haffenreffer Museum Student Group began showcasing two years of work this summer with its exhibition “Brewed for Thought: A Cross-Cultural Exploration of Beer and Brewing.” The installation aims to educate the public on alcohol’s social significance around the world by focusing on beer’s evolving cultural role in countries such as Bolivia, Peru, Kenya, Nepal, Tibet and

» PRISON ED, from page 1 Taught by Amy Remensnyder, professor of history, the course was offered for the first time three years ago when Remensnyder, a medievalist historian, became interested in prison reform.

“I was at the point in my career where I really needed to reinvent myself,” she said. Interested in how a medievalist scholar could enter the modern world of criminal justice reform, she designed a four-unit session on the crusades and taught it at the Adult Correctional Institution in Cranston, Rhode Island. It was a far cry from her teaching experience on College Hill, she said, as she was now teaching “the history of a form of suffering to people who are experiencing

the United States.

“Brewed for Thought” holds a special significance for the Haffenreffer family. Members of the family are brewers, and own the Haffenreffer, Narragansett and Fall River Breweries.

The family donated its private museum to the University 60 years ago.

“Brewed for Thought” casts a new light on what many here see as an American cultural staple, illuminating the important and diverse meanings it carries in other countries. For

example, one portion of the exhibit explores the significance of honey beer as a symbol of masculinity and elders’ social status among the Kamba people of Eastern Kenya.

“We initially didn’t really have a theme in mind,” said Luiza Silva ’18, a member of the student group. Upon finding that the Haffenreffer’s private collection contained many artifacts related to brewing beer, the group focused on “connecting that to the museum’s history,” Silva added.

The coincidence of the museum’s 60th anniversary and a project on the Haffenreffer family’s beer-related roots

reflects a “nice serendipity,” said Kevin Smith, deputy director and chief curator of the museum. The exhibition, which will be on display until Dec. 18, involved absolutely “no taste testing in the official parts of the exhibition development process,” Smith added.

The Haffenreffer Museum Student Group acts as a bridge between the museum and the student population.“We decided on the topic, selected all the objects, researched and wrote the text panels and helped physically install the exhibit with help from some of the staff,” said Candy Rui ’18.

Smith noted the difficulty in preventing potential controversy with the content of the exhibit. “The interesting thing was to work with (the students) to think through the complexities of working with brewing and beer at a time when many university administrations are having complex conversations about drinking on campus,” he said.

The team had to be cautious in devoting the campus’ public space to alcohol, he added. “We had to think carefully about what we were saying … that we’re sending messages that are honest, truthful and ethical.”

that form of suffering.”

Three years later, Remensnyder offers “Locked Up” to both Brown students and incarcerated individuals at ACI. Her class last year helped produce displays on the global history of slavery, which will now be presented in “States of Incarceration.”

Along with the exhibit, Rhode Island will offer complementary programming on Friday. A documentary titled “Sons and Daughters of the Incarcerated,” created by Rhode Island School of Design graduate student Denali Tiller, focuses on Rhode Islanders with incarcerated parents. A daylong conference on prison education will explore what role an Ivy League institution can play in ending mass incarceration.

As of now, Brown’s role in the

consortium’s analysis is undetermined, as the school offers no official prison education program, according to Marisa Brown, assistant director of programs for the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage. Incarcerated students who take courses like “Locked Up” will not receive credit to put towards any other higher education degrees upon release. But Friday’s conference may plant the seeds to begin a more concerted effort in prison education, Brown added.

“The numbers of incarcerated have gone from about (600,000) in 1990 to over 2.3” million today, Brown wrote in an email to The Herald. “It would be inspiring to see Brown take a leadership position on this issue.”

» NEED-BLIND, from page 1

at Brown.”

While the University’s admission process has been open to undocumented and DACA-status students for several years, applicants were previously admitted on a need-aware basis — the same standard used for international and transfer students. This change in the admission policy comes as a number of institutions, including Oberlin College and Wesleyan University, choose to eliminate the distinction between undocumented and domestic applicants.

Though undocumented students are ineligible for federal financial aid, the University plans to meet the full demonstrated need of undocumented and DACA-status students through University-funded financial aid.

The University plans to bolster oncampus academic and social support for undocumented and DACA-status students through the First-Generation College and Low-Income Student Center, as well as the Offices of the Dean of the College and Campus Life and Student Services.

www.browndailyherald.com

which the University unveiled in February. The plan responded to a demonstration of demands read aloud by students, some of which were drafted by a group of Latinx students and focused on legal services they wanted the University to provide for undocumented students.

“This work would have been impossible without the tireless labor of students, faculty and alumni, especially women of color and undocumented students who are too often the subject of institutional erasure,” Brown Immigrant Rights Coalition, a student group, published on its Facebook page Monday evening. “We recognize that there is much work left to be done, and BIRC is determined to remain active in the implementation of these policies

TODAY

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

a l l t h e way u p

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Bacon Chicken Ranch, Spinach and Feta Chipotle Chicken Tacos JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Quesadillas

Chicken Saag, Avial Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Beef Tacos, Chicken Fajitas, Curried Apple Pumpkin Soup, Cinnamon Toast Crunch Bars

Curried Chicken Divan, Beef Cannelloni with Tomato Sauce, Dal Cali, Chocolate Sundae Cake

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Peanut Butter Sandwich Bar, Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwich, Mexican Salad Bar

Rotini Pasta, Swiss Steak, Siena Roasted Couscous, Chicken Broccoli Pasta Alfredo

sudoku

crossword

SAM BERUBE / HERALD

The sun sets over Wriston Quadrangle as the warm weather continues. Though temperatures will begin to cool down this week, students across campus have been taking advantage of the sunny days.

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

“The world needs a great deal from us.”

— Janet Cooper Nelson, university chaplain

See community on page 1.

calendar TODAY

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French Foreign Policy in an Unstable World 10:30 A.M. Watson Institute

Succulents: The Craziest Plants on Earth!

12:30 P.M. Alumnae Hall

The Evolution of Good and Evil 12:00 P.M. BioMed Center, Room 291

Journal of the Plague Year: A History of Right Now 7:00 P.M. Watson Institute

TOMORROW Roll & Recover: Yoga and Self Massage 12:00 P.M. 200 Dyer Street, Room 101

LingLangLunch 1:00 P.M. Metcalf Research Building, Room 305

Discovering the Nature of Nonlinear Relationships 12:00 P.M. 182 George Street, Room 110

WBRU College Night 6:00 P.M. Eastside Marketplace

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Comments Re: Period positivity, Sept. 12 “If a male student does not need to use a product, he does not have to use one.”

Well said. Not sure why so many commenters are framing the products in male restrooms as an issue of waste. Clearly they’re just uncomfortable with the idea.

Carin Papendorp ’17

Re: SciLi revamp brings new resource centers, Sept. 8 I am afraid putting the first-gen/low-income center on the same floor as tutoring reflects the attitude of many Brown deans and administrators that such clients are not very good students. I heard such prejudices first-hand in my 33 years at Brown. Actually, many such students kicked academic butt. Some used tutoring — so did students from families with decades of college reunion experience. I suggest the attitude should be that the placement of the two centers on the same floor reflects the fact that many first-gens and low-income students will end up tutoring their peers, so the FiGLI center will end up as a kind of faculty lounge.

J.W. Suggs Professor emeritus of chemistry

CORRECTIONS A letter to the editor in Monday’s Herald (“Making use of the SciLi,” Sept. 12) stated that the SciLi open house was Monday. In fact, it is Sept. 19. Additionally, the letter stated that Bruno Harris is a former dean of the faculty. In fact, he is not. The Herald regrets the errors.

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COMMENTARY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Observations from across the pond: globalization of fear FABIANA VILSAN staff columnist

While my American counterparts spent the summer reeling over Donald Trump’s latest tirade, Europeans like myself were preoccupied with our own political phenomenon. The European Union, founded in 1993, has been a symbol of shared European values for decades, allowing EU citizens to travel and work with ease in other member states, among other functions. It is therefore no surprise that this June, millions of jaws dropped when the U.K. national vote contradicted the predictions of countless political experts. As an international student watching the political frenzies in both the United States and the United Kingdom from afar, I couldn’t help but wonder: Is any of this really that surprising?

National politics across the world have become increasingly difficult for foreign observers to decipher.

Now that anti-establishment movements have achieved prominence across national borders, it is time to cease questioning their very existence and start interrogating their commonalities.

Shortly after the historic Brexit vote determined that, in the following three years, the United Kingdom will withdraw from the European Union,

therefore declaring its independence from the organization’s legal and monetary frameworks, Republican nominee Donald Trump paid Scotland a visit. Though the Scottish population voted overwhelmingly to “remain,” Trump roared that the Scottish people had made the right choice when “they took back their country” — an action that he promised would be followed by America’s

In the words of Alexander Betts, professor of refugee studies and forced migration at Oxford University, the voting population in recent elections seems to be divided between those who embrace globalization and those who reject it. It can seem shocking to Brown students that such substantial portions of British and American populations are eager to support candidates and

when comparing the demographic data for the Brexit vote and that of Trump’s supporters. Statistically, Trump’s support base largely consists of white, male voters making below $50,000 per year, and he is polling at approximately 5 percent with voters between the ages of 18 and 24. Similarly, the Brexit demographic data demonstrate that citizens who chose to leave the European Union were

As an international student watching the political frenzies in both the United States and the United Kingdom from afar, I couldn’t help but wonder: Is any of this really that surprising?

own political transformation. While European media focused its coverage on Trump’s misunderstanding of the Brexit vote when speaking in Scotland, his claim of political parallels wasn’t farfetched. Two symbols of the Western world, of democracy and liberal values, are clearly steering toward a more nationalistic, exclusive rhetoric, particularly on the issue of immigration.

campaigns aimed at alienating foreigners and crippling relationships with other nations. While Brown and various other liberal institutions encourage global perspectives and the acceptance of cultural globalization, many are brought up to believe that globalization will eradicate national identity and lead to fewer financial opportunities for locals.

An interesting pattern emerges

generally born and raised in the U.K., earning below £30,000 per year, and were more likely to be above 40 years old. When asked why they had voted to leave the European Union, British citizens said the related issues of immigration and sovereignty were the main factors in their decisions — like Trump’s supporters, they perceived a need to take back control over their lives. Many feel that current politi-

cians do not represent their best interests. Meanwhile, Trump has infamously risen to power with his ambitious promise to “make America great again,” put his foot down when it comes to illegal immigration and demand payment from organizations such as NATO before committing to upholding treaties. The parallels between the demographics and campaign platforms in the two regions are hard to ignore.

And in both cases, the younger population tends to favor more inclusive, pro-globalization campaigns. But in the case of Brexit, the youth will have to adapt to stricter immigration and labor policies as a result of the opinions of many who no longer contribute to the workforce or have any intention of relocating. Who knows what American millennials would have to adapt to under a Trump administration?

These patterns are not limited to the United Kingdom and United States — similar growths in nationalism and resentment against the political establishment can be observed in Viktor Orban’s rise in Hungary and Marine Le Pen’s success in France. Ironically, the anti-establishment, anti-globalization mindset is increasingly globalized. So maybe we shouldn’t act so surprised.

Fabiana Vilsan ’19 can be reached at fabiana_vilsan@brown.edu.

When smaller is better MILI MITRA staff columnist Goldman Sachs. McKinsey. Google. We may pride ourselves on being the Ivy that sends the highest percentage of graduates to the nonprofit sector, but Fortune 500 names are the ones that make most Brunonians salivate. And with good reason — most of these companies are leaders in their fields, with resources and creativity beyond comparison.

Yet when it comes to internships and work experience, bigger isn’t always better.

This might not seem like anything new.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard career advisors, alums and professors rave about the advantages of a startup environment. Many have told me that small firms and startups are like daily adventures. The adjectives “dynamic,” “exhilarating” and “experiential” are often thrown into the mix, too.

But, like many of my peers, I didn’t take this advice seriously — until I got a summer internship at an organization with fewer employees than the number of students in my high school math class.

This summer, I got the chance to intern with Girl Rising, a campaign for girls’ education around the world. I knew going in that

the organization was small, but it seemed to punch well above its weight: It counts among its supporters Michelle Obama, Meryl Streep and Alicia Keys, and it launched the #62milliongirls campaign with the White House earlier this year. Like many others, I fell into the trap of imagining a nonprofit bureaucratic

in the office than actual staff members — and somehow this made for one of the best working experiences of my life.

Yes, startups and small companies can lack structure. Yes, the job description can shift from day to day. And yes, the workload can sometimes feel like you’re on a never-

Contrary to popular belief, the major drawbacks of working at a startup can actually contribute to a pretty stellar internship.

juggernaut instead of a tightly run social venture. I couldn’t have been more off base.

It wasn’t until I got to the office that I realized that there were fewer than 30 regular staff members on board. In the New York main office, where I was based, there were about 10 full-time employees and eight interns. On some days, there were more interns

ending ride on the Tower of Terror; on some days you’re impatient and bored while on others you’re practically flying through yards of work. But contrary to popular belief, the major drawbacks of working at a startup can actually contribute to a pretty stellar internship.

In small organizations, it’s normal for everyone to have a hand in everything. With

Girl Rising, I was able to do interesting work for different teams and explore different facets of the campaign. I became an armchair expert on responding to campaign inquiries and learnt a lot about the intricacies of the nonprofit sector in the process. I also got to know almost everyone on the team, from the CEO to high school volunteers, and I’m sure some of those connections will last for years.

But the best part? I got to see my work being used in an applied setting every single day.

Interns with larger corporations can probably say the same, but I can guarantee that the extent to which you feel useful and needed in a small organization is unparalleled. It can be an absolute adrenaline rush.

It’s time for us Brown students to realize that there isn’t only one path to a bright and fulfilling career. It is perfectly fine, even admirable, to dream of working in a multinational company with a recognizable brand name and clear structure. But we shouldn’t rule out internships with startups as a way to get there.

Startups can give you crucial experience and support that lasts a lot longer than simple resume padding ever could. And who knows?

Maybe you’ll find a new niche and run with it. I know I did.

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

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NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2016

National Science Foundation provides four-year grant to 14 researchers Three University neuroscience professors will work to further research of attention

By ELENA RENKEN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The National Science Foundation awarded a four-year grant of $6 million to 14 researchers Aug. 22 for research into the neuroscience of attention.

The scientists include three professors from the University: David Sheinberg, professor of neuroscience and director of the neuroscience graduate program; Theresa Desrochers, assistant professor of neuroscience and Barry Connors, professor of neuroscience and medical science and chair of the neuroscience department.

The 11 other scientists hail from Dartmouth, the University of Nevada, Reno and Montana State University.

The four institutions will collaborate in an effort to develop a “unified model of attention,” according to the grant.

“It’s admittedly a very ambitious goal, but I definitely think it’s feasible,” Connors wrote in an email to The Herald.

Desrochers said that the researchers have a good chance of understanding attention in the brain. “I would be naive to say that we would solve it, but I hope we can make a significant contribution to what we understand about it.”

“It’s hard to imagine the complete

realm of implication or benefits of really nailing this down,” said Gideon Caplovitz, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno. Possible implications include the preservation of attentive function as people grow older, interventions for those with developmental disorders and improvements in quality of life for professionals like radiologists whose attention is crucial.

“We have only a rudimentary idea of how attention works in the brain,” Connors wrote. “And sometimes it clearly doesn’t work. Attention is impaired in a variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions, and we don’t know how and why.”

Desrochers said she hopes that greater understanding of attention could help stroke victims or people with frontal lobe problems who struggle with performing everyday sequences, such as making coffee. “There (are) really limited resources in terms of therapies for these people because we have such a limited understanding of how we go about performing those kinds of sequences in our everyday lives,” she added.

This grant brings together what is likely “one of the largest consortiums of people that are working on attention as a topic,” Desrochers said. “So we’re really spanning a lot of different levels of analysis.” The collaborative project unites brain imaging and electrical activity-sensing techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography.

SINING DAPHNE ZHAO / HERALD

One focus of the grant is the inclusion of female and underrepresented minority students. Here at Brown, Desrochers is involved in an effort to develop an event for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. She will participate in the Young Scholars conference this weekend and hopes to develop a somewhat similar event a year or two into the grant, she said.

“We have the potential to influence dozens and dozens of up-and-coming star students from a wide range of backgrounds that are underrepresented

in the field,” Caplovitz said. “It’s these students as they go on in their careers, with students they train, that are really going to move the field forward.”

The University of Nevada, Reno has already begun outreach efforts to Native American students, who are very underrepresented in neuroscience and STEM fields in general. The grant will provide funding to train such students, send them to conferences and make them competitive graduate school applicants, Caplovitz said.

In the field of attention, “the big, big contributions are probably going to be

made for decades by the students that receive training through the grant,” Caplovitz added.

Peter Tse, who spearheaded the project, was interested in attention for many years and authored a book about paying attention. Many involved in this grant have ties to Tse, and he built this consortium from experts in the field who will work together effectively, Caplovitz said.

“Our lab has already hit the ground running,” he added. “I know several of the other labs have, as well. We’re all chomping at the bit.”