Wednesday, September 28, 2016

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

VOLUME CLI, ISSUE 74

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Gozo Yoshimasu performs personal, unique poetry Avant-garde Japanese poet shares multilingual poems in unorthodox performance

By MIA PATTILLO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Renowned Japanese poet Gozo Yoshimasu visited Brown Sept. 22 to perform a reading as part of the Writers on Writing Reading Series. His most recently published collection of poems, “Alice Iris Red Horse” was edited by Forrest Gander, professor of literary arts, comparative literature and creative writing.

Yoshimasu, who has received many awards worldwide and published over a dozen works of poetry and prose, reexamines the ideals of poetry through his highly experimental pieces. By utilizing multilingual rhyming and typographic wordplay, he crosses conventional borders and employs a distinctive and unparalleled technique.

“His poetry skitters underneath the semantics and utilizes phonemic

ARTS & CULTURE

connections between multiple languages and on rhymes,” Gander said. “These rhymes take advantage of Japanese and Chinese characters and the difference between the visual representation and the sounds that come out of them.” For instance, his unconventional application and repetition of punctuation and blank spaces creates unusual — sometimes jarring — moments of silence in his writing.

This unorthodox approach may be somewhat attributed to Yoshimasu’s adolescence during the 1960s in Tokyo, an era of multimedia and cultural experimentation in Japan. He has never been afraid to branch out into other art forms, as he has performed his pieces with jazz musicians and dancers and even created films and music himself.

“That kind of experience is important — being with others,” Yoshimasu said. One of his most memorable collaborators, dancer Kazuo Ohno, an influential figure in the modernist Japanese dance form Butoh, was described by Gander as “a younger Gozo, whose performances make you think differently about time and body.” Yoshimasu also cited the Beats movement » See YOSHIMASU, page 2

ANITA SHEIH / HERALD

Rui Maria de Araújo, prime minister of the sixth constitutional government of Timor-Leste, speaks in the Joukowsky Forum during a discussion examining the birth and development of the tiny island nation.

Timor-Leste founders talk nation-building Former president, current prime minister share experiences shaping 14-year-old democracy

By RACHEL GOLD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

In the 1990s, Brown’s campus was a hotbed of activism on behalf of Timor-Leste, the Southeast Asian island then occupied

by — and subject to human rights violations committed by — Indonesia. Over 15 years later, the leaders of what is now the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste arrived in Providence to reflect on the transition from a political movement to a sovereign nation.

In a roundtable hosted by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs titled “Back to Brown: Reconnecting with Timor-Leste,” Edward Steinfeld, director of the institute, and Robert Blair,

assistant professor of political science and international and public affairs, were joined in dialogue by Timor-Leste’s Prime Minister Rui Maria de Araújo and founding father Xanana Gusmão.

Perhaps more than anyone else, Gusmão’s life is intertwined with that of his young nation. Gusmão organized the resistance movement against the Indonesians, working from his jail cell after being sentenced to life in prison in 1993. » See TIMOR-LESTE, page 3

BUCC addresses diversity, inclusion efforts Baltimore native captures

city’s protests in photos

First meeting of semester discusses accreditation, new undocumented, DACA student policy

Center for Study of Race, Ethnicity in America features artist after Instagram rise to fame

By SHIRA BUCHSBAUM SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Brown University Community Council met Tuesday afternoon for the first time this semester to discuss new projects and receive updates on major University affairs, including the reaccreditation process and progress on the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.

Deputy Provost Joseph Meisel began the meeting by presenting information on the reaccreditation process, which the University began over the summer, The Herald previously reported. Meisel summarized the steps of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation process, including who the accreditors are, the value of the process and the visiting team that will assess the University in spring 2018.

Meisel emphasized that it will be easier to compile information for the report because there are a lot of pre-existing committees to work with.

Kurt Teichert, senior lecturer in environmental studies, noted that

INSIDE

By ETHEL RENIA STAFF WRITER

The Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America opened an exhibition Sept. 8 called “Rising/Uprising in Baltimore: A Beautiful Ghetto.”

The exhibition features work by Devin Allen, a Baltimore photographer who captured life in Maryland’s largest city with breathtaking honesty.

April 25, 2015, Allen was in the streets of Baltimore taking pictures. Photography was a hobby-turned-passion of his since 2013, when two of his closest friends died of gun violence while he was doing a photoshoot. Since that fateful weekend, the self-taught photographer began to dedicate all of his free time to his photography. He could usually be found in the streets, striving to capture the essence of his “beautiful ghetto,” as he calls it, and the community

ARTS & CULTURE

SARA RUNKEL / HERALD

University officials presented updates on recent developments in a BUCC meeting Tuesday afternoon in the Kasper Multipurpose Room. most faculty members became aware of the accreditation process through new required syllabi changes. This semester, faculty members were asked to include on their syllabi the number of hours students should expect to invest in a given course. Teichert asked how

those credit hours related to students on work-study or those who work multiple jobs alongside their full-time school work.

Meisel explained that the new protocol is meant to provide standardization » See BUCC, page 2

that shaped him.

April 25, 2015 was not an ordinary day in Baltimore. Freddie Gray had been taken into custody by police officers 13 days before, and peaceful protests had unraveled into riots. These were protests that sparked a national debate and highlighted a turmoil that has yet to be resolved. And April 25, 2015, Allen took the picture that captured it all.

The image of a young man running away from a crowd of intimidating armored policemen crystalized the bubbling racial tensions, the deep sense of unrest in Maryland’s largest city and the eerie flashbacks between the final weeks of April 2015 and the grueling, anxious times of the Civil Rights Movement.

The picture was shared on social media by a variety of stars and finally landed on the cover of Time magazine’s May 2015 edition. Allen’s rise to fame was meteoritic. He went from being an amateur photographer whose primary platform of expression was Instagram to having his work printed in the New York Times and the Washington Post and exhibited in museums in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and New York City.

“When I first saw the news of what » See PHOTOS, page 3

WEATHER

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

NEWS Proportion of faculty of color just at national average, expected to increase

NEWS U. first in nation to offer joint MD-MPA program to equip doctors with policy mindset

COMMENTARY Shorter ’17: UCS rejects accountability by holding closed sessions for sake of own agenda

COMMENTARY Esemplare ’18: Americans cannot ignore reality of economic viability for nostalgic ambitions

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» BUCC, from page 1

COURTESY OF FORREST GANDER

Japanese poet Gozo Yoshimasu showcased his unconventional works through an improvisational performance.

His collection of poetry, “Alice Iris Red Horse,” was edited by Forrest Gander, professor of literary arts.

» YOSHIMASU, from page 1 and American jazz music as sources of inspiration, and said that he particularly admired musician John Cage and poets Allen Ginsberg and Michael Palmer.

Though Yoshimasu’s work has always been enjoyed by a broad audience, after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake, his content began to cater to a more marginalized group. “He’s devoted himself to writing for these traumatized spaces, many of which he has been to,” Gander said. “A lot of his poetry is a kind of testament to that encounter.”

Sept. 22, Yoshimasu showed the original pieces of paper upon which he wrote “Alice Iris Red Horse” and explained that his handwriting grew increasingly smaller following the disaster. Acting as an antenna, he listens intentionally to the traumatized and

then speaks to those people and places through his work.

But the full artistic experience of Yoshimasu’s endeavors surpasses the simple medium of paper and requires a full engagement of the senses and subconsciousness. In the delivery of his poetry, Yoshimasu took off his shoes, sat down and put on a braided headband and eye mask. Swaying back and forth as Gander read his work, he created noises using tools to accompany the reading. By tapping a French cowbell, banging a metal bar, clanging together two pieces that hung from his teeth and dragging his hands along the wooden floor, Yoshimasu established a personal and entrancing ambience in the room.

“Every time I perform, the energy or existence is different, so I try to train myself to be fluid and try different customs,” he said. The

performance of his poetry requires a sense of improvisation and lack of consciousness that contrasts to the memorization of a singer, he added.

“When you memorize, it disturbs.

Creation is the opposite.” Such a potent sense of awareness — for the space, for the audience and for the self — was a constant throughout his performance.

Throughout the discussion of his work, Yoshimasu mentioned several times that he considered himself a “very bad poet” and presented Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson as examples of who he considered “good poets.”

But his poetry strikes a rather different vibration than that of any other writer, a tone that cannot be categorized or truly judged simply due to its highly unorthodox nature. “It’s not a good poem,” he said of a reading from “Alice Iris Red Horse,” “but it has a special feeling.”

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across accredited universities. The change stems from the U.S. Department of Education, Meisel added, and the idea is to ensure “integrity in the award of academic credit” — in other words, to ensure students are earning the credit value assigned to each class.

“How that squares with realities of student life is not part of what is being contemplated by the accrediting institutions,” Meisel added. The University is required to present credit hours, but students are expected to manage their time accordingly.

The meeting then turned to a progress report on the DIAP, presented by Provost Richard Locke P’17 and Vice President for Academic Development and Diversity and Inclusion Liza Cariaga-Lo. Locke began by recounting the review process of departmental DIAPs, which occurred this past summer. The Office of the Provost and the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion reviewed each departmental DIAP and provided feedback on a case-by-case basis.

Locke said the offices “did not come up with some sort of formula” to judge the departmental DIAPs across the board, but rather, they recognized that “different departments have different realities.”

“To my very pleasant surprise, the vast majority of these plans were very well done,” he added.

Common among the successful plans were strong ties between the larger issues of diversity and inclusion and the personal departmental plans through curriculum, faculty hiring and student resources, Locke said. Successful plans also included evidence of broad-based participation in crafting the plan, a clear timeline of action, a system for accountability and an investment in leveraging available expertise, he added.

Weaker plans relied too heavily on University resources, were too ambitious without realistic implementation strategies and had little evidence of broad departmental participation in the development, Locke said. The revised plans are now available on the DIAP website.

Locke emphasized that by requiring plans from departments, centers and administrative offices on campus, “we will slowly but surely change our culture” on campus.

Likewise, Cariaga-Lo emphasized the building of community within departments and centers through the process of forming these plans. While the departmental DIAPs provide accountability on a departmental level, Cariaga-Lo also noted that the accountability body for the entire university is the Diversity and Inclusion Oversight Board, which meets every few weeks to hear from different constituencies about the progress of the plan.

DIOB is preparing its first annual report to be released in February, she added.

Alongside accountability, CariagaLo focused on capacity building in terms of resources, opportunities and programs to address the ambitious goals put forth by the plan. DIAP plans include doubling faculty members from historically underrepresented groups in five to seven years, increasing mentoring opportunities among students, staff members and faculty members, innovating curriculum, advancing

professional pipelines, assessing campus climate and creating opportunities for professional development and training. Therefore, this massive body of work requires increased attention from all campus community members, Cariaga-Lo said.

“At the heart of this work is the idea that this cannot just be owned by a few administrators,” she said. “This is collective work that we do as the University.”

With regard to capacity, Teichert recounted his struggles trying to get into the professional development programs on diversity and inclusion offered to faculty members, many of which are capped. Cariaga-Lo noted that the OIDI is attempting to offer weekly training sessions as well as keynote speakers and a staff development day during the spring semester. Brown is also hosting a national diversity summit in March, she said.

The meeting concluded with a presentation about Brown’s new policy to consider students who are undocumented or qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as domestic applicants in admission.

Marisa Quinn, chief of staff to the provost, explained the process that brought this policy to the University and the need for such a policy, emphasizing the student efforts involved.

The resulting policy also commits the University to providing more deliberate resources for undocumented and DACA-status students, she added.

Silvina Hernandez ’17 and Renata Mauriz ’17.5 are members of the Brown Human Rights Coalition and initially reached out to the Office of the Provost to discuss issues of undocumented students last spring.

“I’m coming to this from a very personal take. I’m a DACA(-status) student, so this is close to my heart,” Mauriz said.

Mauriz noted that policies like these are impermanent given that DACA itself is impermanent — the policy is dependent on who is president, she said. To help mitigate these challenges, Mauriz said the University should look into how to support undocumented and DACA-status students after they graduate, given that many struggle to find work.

Brown also needs to be conscious that most undocumented and DACAstatus students start their higher education through community college, and many will not end up at a private university like Brown that will meet their financial aid, she said.

Alexis Rodriguez-Camacho ’18, who was also very involved in the undocumented and DACA-status student admission policy-making process, added, “This policy change is not just a policy change. I want to see this as a culture shift at Brown.”

Linda Welsh, a psychotherapist at Counseling and Psychological Services, asked the panel, “Is there any risk to students for revealing that they’re undocumented? How can we protect them?”

Hernandez noted that her team had the same question and that further research needed to be done to determine how protected students are at private colleges.

Locke also noted that the students brought to the University’s attention its ability “to help move students from undocumented to DACA status so they are protected during the duration of their education.”

BUCC meetings are held monthly in the Kasper Multipurpose Room.

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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

LILLY NGUYEN / HERALD

Devin Allen’s photographs depicting the strife plaguing Baltimore after the Freddie Gray shooting in 2015 are showcased at the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America.

The photographer’s work gained attention suddenly last year when one of his pictures went viral on social media and made the cover of Time magazine’s May 2015 edition.

» PHOTOS, from page 1 happened to (Gray), I knew I was going to cover it,” Allen said in an interview with Time magazine. “I went in thinking I would show the good, the bad and the ugly.” The pictures displayed at the CSREA convey the vulnerability of a young boy gazing up at two anonymous figures clad in police garb, the strength of a community gathering together and the emotions that ran high during the

TIMOR-LESTE, from page 1 When the country was born in 2002, he was elected its first president. Gusmão was later elected prime minister and is now minister of planning and strategic investment, as well as international emissary for his country, development and democracy.

It is this spirit of internationalism that brought the envoy from Timor-Leste to Providence. “There has always been a special connection between Rhode Island and Timor-Leste,” Araújo said. “It is embodied by professors and students here at Brown who fought and fought to put Timor-Leste on the national consciousness of the (United States) during the years when we were under occupation.”

During the peak of the tiny island’s resistance — which displaced about one third of Timor-Leste’s population — Timorese leaders were aware of the expressions of concern surfacing around the world, Araújo said. This solidarity movement took hold in Rhode Island, where then-U.S. Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-RI, and then-U.S. Rep. Jack Reed, D-RI, advocated for the United States to lend its muscle to the restoration of Timor-Leste’s independence.

“Early this year, when I finally had a chance to thank … Reed in person, he told me the story of how he first heard about Timor-Leste’s struggle when a group of students and professors from Brown came to see him at his little district office in Cranston,” he said. “So let me at last say, as the prime minister of free Timor-Leste, thank you, Brown University.”

The nation — which was declared

protests.

“Devin’s work is important to show because it counters the demonization of black communities and fear created by the media,” wrote Caitlin Murphy, outreach coordinator and executive assistant of the CSREA in an email to The Herald.

Allen described himself in an interview with the Salzburg Global Seminar as “a self-taught photographer-turnedactivist.”

independent after a 1999 referendum, placed under a U.N. transitional government that year and officially established as a constitutional government in May 2002 — is nearing its 15th birthday. But given the rapid growth of the country’s budget and the success of its democracy, Timor-Leste shows that “the age of a country doesn’t have anything to do with wisdom that country can pass on to us,” Steinfeld said.

Today, the nation faces a myriad of challenges, including “crippling uncertainty for the economy,” which is extremely dependent on oil reserves in the surrounding waters; a lack of critical infrastructure, largely due to the slash-andburn wrought by the Indonesians before relinquishing control and a conflict with Australia over maritime borders, which will be mediated by The Hague in the upcoming year, according to a decision announced this week. But as evidenced by the Hague intervention, international systems have been and must remain invested in the nation, Araújo said.

Many in the post-Cold War world questioned the relevance of international institutions, Araújo said, offering the words of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan as a rebuke to these doubts: “Never before has the world united with such firm resolve to help one small nation reestablish itself,” Araújo said.

Yet scholars are hesitant to label the Timor-Leste intervention a complete success. There have been only a few other instances where the United Nations has “exercised such a heavy hand,” Blair said, noting that the United Nations failed to adapt to indigenous institutions — particularly when it came to traditional

“I’m not an activist by choice; it actually chose me,” he said.

By virtue of what he documents, Allen’s photography is inherently political, but it also serves as a record of his community.

“Allen captures a range of experiences as only an insider could,” wrote CSREA senior researcher Samuel Rosen ’14 on the wall text of the exhibit.

“I see Allen’s work partly as a corrective to a media narrative about black

Baltimore that reduces everyone in those communities to the obstacles they face,” Rosen wrote in an email to The Herald.

For Allen, Baltimore is not only the backdrop to what would become a national polemic. It is his home and his city, and this personal connection with his environment shines through in his photos.

“Devin’s work conveys immediacy and inspires activism while also showcasing the joys and the struggles of

people living in these marginalized, lowincome communities,” Murphy wrote.

Since his rise to fame during the protests of Gray’s death, Allen has been an active member of his community.

In summer 2015, he launched a GoFundMe to raise money to buy equipment to teach kids in his community the joys of photography. He gives “cameras to children so that they can capture the world around them and take pride in their communities,” Murphy wrote.

ANITA SHEIH / HERALD

In response to the talk presented by Prime Minister Rui Maria de Arajúo, Professor of Political Science Robert Blair raised four questions related to the effectiveness of U.N. intervention and the setting of maritime boundaries. systems of adjudication — and that the U.N. peacekeeping mission did not end until 2012.

Under a certain light, the U.N. forces could be seen as an extension of the legacy of occupation, Gusmão said.

“Yes, it was the first time that (the United Nations) played this kind of role in a nation,” he said. “In the beginning we were making noise — ‘are you coming to colonize us?’ There was a group of (East) Timorese (citizens) who said, ‘We kick out the Portuguese, (who occupied the nation for over 200 years,) we kick out the Indonesians, and now we are going to be colonized by (the United Nations).’”

But the nation’s first president — whose serious reflections turn animated

when he speaks to the future, becoming especially fiery when he exhorts young people to action — is a believer in the necessity of internationalism and the potential for peace.

“When South Sudan, now the youngest state in the world, got independence, we sent a mission to participate in celebrations,” Gusmão said. Once South Sudan started to see violence, Gusmão himself visited the country to offer counsel. “When (Timor-Leste) came in 2006 to a crisis, we did everything to avoid it.

They didn’t. Now it is a mess with one million refugees.”

Throughout a day of discourse — which included a lunch discussion among the visitors, University faculty members,

graduate students and undergraduates — the ideals of diplomacy, peace and international institutions poured forth.

“These are the values (that) animate my young country,” Araújo said. “I am here speaking for not just a young country, but a young democracy that wants to move from being a post-conflict state to being a successful state; a country that wants self sufficiency, not charity; a country that believes in the rule of law.”

“Your actions bear all of our hopes and aspirations for what development can deliver and what justice can deliver,” Steinfeld said.

Speaking to students as he left the room, Gusmão said: “The world’s future is in your hands and in your brains.”

NEWS

PAGE 4 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

U.’s proportion of minority professors consistent with national average Faculty minority representation expected to grow as DIAP, diversity programs progress

By ANNA KRAMER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As the University’s Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan kicks into full gear, the diversity reflected in the faculty hovers just at the national average for most four-year colleges and universities.

According to last year’s data from the University’s Institutional Research Factbook, 133 professors identified themselves as Asian, an underrepresented minority or multi-racial, representing about 20 percent of the faculty. Ninety-two of those professors have tenure, meaning that around 18 percent of tenured professors identified as such.

A recent report by the Chronicle of Higher Education indicates that on average, 20 percent of professors at four-year colleges identify as Asian, black, Hispanic, American Indian or multi-racial, and the number decreases to 18 percent for those faculty members with tenure, putting Brown right in line with the national averages.

“The numbers might look a bit better next year,” said Associate Dean of the Faculty Joel Revill. While the official numbers will not be released until the faculty census is completed in

October, he estimates that between 26 and 31 percent of the faculty members for the 2016-17 academic year identify as part of one of these three groups.

“Roughly, the number of chairs of departments and directors of major centers who are from historically underrepresented groups is proportionate to that of the faculty as a whole,” Revill wrote in an email to The Herald.

In 2013, the University’s Building on Distinction report noted that the University’s policies and programs for diversifying faculty “have only had modest success.”

The resulting effort to recruit faculty members of color spans a wide range of initiatives. “Approximately one-third of the 35 new faculty hires made in the 2016-17 academic year were faculty (members) from historically underrepresented groups,” the DIAP progress report states. It also outlines plans to have departments develop “a series of co-curricular activities, all aimed at enriching our understanding and engagement with issues of race, ethnicity and social justice.”

According to the same report, the University has introduced the Presidential Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowships program, which has thus far hired two cohorts of six postdoctoral fellows each, for a total of 12 fellows.

Two of the 12 fellows are now on the tenure track.

Lina Fruzzetti, a tenured professor of anthropology, said she is frustrated with the slow progress of diversifying

JACLYN TORRES / HERALD

the faculty. The small number of minority faculty members increases the individual workload for each minority professor, as minority faculty members are frequently called upon to serve on committees, she said.

“As a minority faculty (member), you know you will be asked (of) more than regular faculty,” she said. “I know it’s important and one has to do it, … (but) it can be a bit much at times.”

Fruzzetti added that her job would be much easier if the presence of faculty members from underrepresented

groups was more widespread. In addition to serving on committees, faculty members of color usually mentor minority students. “If some of us refuse to do it, it becomes difficult to expect the changes that we want to see or happen,” she said.

To Barrymore Bogues, a professor of Africana studies and director of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, the question of diversity is “not so much an arithmetic equation.” The numbers are far less important than the distribution of diverse

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faculty members across departments, he added.

“What is the distribution?” and “What is it we need in the curriculum?” are both questions he said he would like to see answered. “Coming after the student protests of last year, it gives us an opportunity to answer some of these questions.”

Fruzetti hopes “there comes a time when we don’t even have to think about all of these issues,” she said. “There shouldn’t be a need for us to be talking about minority faculty.”

TODAY

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 • PAGE 5

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A sign instructs students not to climb on the art installation “Untitled (Lamp/Bear)” by Urs Fischer, which was installed over the summer as part of a $10 million donation to the University.

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

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“There shouldn’t be a need for us to be talking about minority faculty.”

— Lina Fruzetti, professor of anthropology

See minority representation on page 4.

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Statins and the Brain: Friend or Foe? 1:00 P.M. Rhode Island Hospital

30th Annual Katz Lecture 4:00 P.M. 121 S. Main Street, Room 375

Fear and Democracy Lecture 4:00 P.M. Petteruti Lounge

The Pharisees: New Light on an Old Problem 5:30 P.M. Salomon Center, Room 202

TOMORROW Brown Institute for Brain Science Lunch Talk 11:45 A.M. Sharpe Refectory

Lecture Animal Series: Putting a Bird on It 4:00 P.M. Sciences Library, Room 315

Line Dancing 5:00 P.M. Kasper Multipurpose Room

Brown’s Student Bodies: An MPC Workshop 6:30 P.M. BERT 130

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Comments

Re: Liang ’19: STEM courseloads betray the open curriculum, Sept. 27 I appreciate many of the points you’ve made in this article. However (and you’re probably aware of this) there’s a lot of the same stuff on the other side — i.e. humanities concentrators who never step outside the humanities.

I think it would be great if some of these humanities students, who are oh-so-critical of (science, technology, engineering and math), try taking a couple really tough STEM classes. How about taking an advanced math or engineering course? Not all of them have pre-req(uisite)s, and it might be good for them to get a taste for how challenging the non-humanities students have it.

Also, I want to point out that it’s a bit generalizing and unfair to assume that all the STEM concentrators want to end up in Silicon Valley or med school. Some of us *aren’t* trust fund babies, and are genuinely concerned about job prospects after school. Others of us — believe it or not — actually love the field that we’re studying in and find ourselves far more interested in say, theoretical computer science, than English lit(urature). There’s nothing wrong with English lit(urature), but there’s also no reason to assume that someone who studies (computer science) is only doing it for money.

“I’m taking it because it’s causing me to critically analyze systems of the human experience, and because it may have a lasting impact both on my perceived values as an individual and on my direction as I attempt to enact change in the narrative of this world.”

I assume this line is either a direct quote or an imagined quote of what a humanities concentrator would say about a course. Ironically, I see that sentence as further evidence that these students need to step outside the humanities to learn how to form concise and non-bullshit statements.

“Systems of the human experience” and “enact change in the narrative of this world” are the exact sort of statements that make me want to avoid humanities classes. A nice, tough course in electromagnetics could help to reduce the pretentious tone.

In summary, I agree that it’s obnoxious when people say things like “I hate Shakespeare,” or even worse, “I hate reading.” But I hear that sort of thing all the time from humanities students — “I hate math,” (or) “I chose Brown so I could never have to take a math class again.” It goes both ways.

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COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

UCS needs to be transparent MATTHEW SHORTER op-ed contributor The decision to close the Undergraduate Council of Students meeting to create a “safe space” for the student government — and thereby expel the press, specifically The Herald, as well as any other members of the public — is extremely troubling. The idea of applying social justice principles — which generally aim to protect historically mistreated groups of people, such as immigrants, gender and sexual minorities and people of color, from the abuses of those in power — has been shamelessly co-opted to prevent criticism of the student government. It is simply egregious that the members of UCS would hide their discussions of sexual assault — a massively topical issue at Brown and elsewhere.

What makes this more troubling is that the current UCS government has not been shy in confronting controversy, as seen in its relentlessly progressive activism on behalf of the student body and attention from national media such as Fox News.

Therefore, I am left asking what UCS President Viet Nguyen ’17 and the UCS general body want to hide by having a discussion behind closed doors regarding the issue of sexual assault and undoubtedly more controversial issues to come. It is not unreasonable to speculate that UCS wishes to prioritize pushing its own agenda without the pressure of fully representing the views of the greater Brown community. This would give

UCS the freedom to make choices that could prove unsettling even to the generally liberal Brown consensus. But UCS should be embroiled in controversy while publicly discussing the problems facing Brown; they should receive with the entire community’s input and criticism, rather than dictate purported solutions developed inside the UCS bubble without any community buy-in.

As a means of deflecting the inevitable criticism of UCS’s lack of

they actually attend — but by holding meetings in confidence, Nguyen shamelessly disenfranchises community members who are unable to be present due to personal, professional or academic commitments.

Any direct communication from the extensive number of UCS’s constituents would overwhelm Nguyen’s email inbox; any communications UCS would send to the community would be a narrative constructed by — and inevitably be favor-

only presented with the sanitized official version of the proceedings.

The Herald has provided an invaluable role in criticizing the actions of those in power, whether they be sports coaches, administrators, student societies or members of UCS. It should be allowed to continue acting as a powerful and independent free press rather than shunned as an unwelcome critic of those who have elected to be in the public eye.

There obviously exist situations

If Nguyen and other UCS members do not wish to deal with criticism of their views, then they should not have chosen a role in student government in an era where student activism and vibrant debate on college campuses are as prevalent as they have ever been.

transparency, Nguyen noted that it only takes 100 signatures to become a member of UCS and that he is available for direct contact by email. These excuses are patently ridiculous. Not only would UCS be woefully incapable of involving a significant fraction of the student body in its proceedings — should

able toward — UCS. It is through The Herald that the typical member of the community can sift through the drudgery of a UCS meeting to learn about its discussions through a neutral and critical lens. By shutting out the press, UCS is making a clear decision to create an uninformed Brown community that is

where discretion must be taken during UCS proceedings. As one straightforward example, there exists a precedent — both at Brown and in the country at large — to hide the identity of witnesses and victims in judicial proceedings in order to protect their safety and privacy. Therefore, circumstances where

closed meetings are warranted certainly do exist, as evidenced by UCS’s prior, albeit very sparse, use of those sessions. But there should be clear and strict requirements for closing a meeting, and UCS could also release anonymized meeting transcripts.

The sense of entitlement that permeated the view of Nguyen and UCS members toward their so called “safe space” was the most painful part of the article to read. If Nguyen and other UCS members do not wish to deal with criticism of their views, then they should not have chosen a role in student government in an era where student activism and vibrant debate on college campuses are as prevalent as they have ever been. The criticism that UCS is trying to avoid through its cowardly actions is what Nguyen and his shameless colleagues have signed up for, and it is the exact sort of criticism that they have often rightfully lobbed at the Brown administration.

It is the stunning hypocrisy of UCS’s activist government — in accurately criticizing the status quo of the community while simultaneously shirking accountability at the hands of the press — that I find so frustrating. Universities, especially one with a pedigree such as Brown’s, are meant to create the next generation of leaders, and when those so-called leaders use a false shroud of social justice and moral righteousness to preemptively silence dissent, I grow ever more worried about the future of our society.

Matthew Shorter ’17 can be reached at matthew_shorter@brown.edu.

The line between romanticism and pragmatism NICOLAS ESEMPLARE staff columnist This past Wednesday I read Anuj Krishnamurthy’s ’19 column (“Making a living,” Sept. 21) with interest. The article puts forth fascinating claims and accurately highlights the many issues inherent in tying an individual’s societal worth to one’s employment status. I strongly agree with Krishnamurthy’s claim that a “pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps” mentality toward creating jobs ignores the intricacies of modern employment. But I did not agree with what I saw as the article’s main position: Political efforts aimed at creating jobs are deleterious and contribute to the American conflation of material status and self-worth.

On an Ivy League campus, there is without question a certain amount of pressure to find a lucrative job, and this emphasis is misplaced. I will not repeat the tired (though relevant) arguments for finding a fulfilling and enjoyable job, but I think everyone understands to some degree that salary is just one factor among many to consider upon graduation. But in criticizing America’s “myopic hunger for jobs,” Krishnamurthy reveals an all-too-common pretension. While students at Brown, with the benefit of an Ivy League degree, can possibly disregard economic con-

siderations and still earn livable wages, this is not the case for most Americans.

Krishnamurthy romanticizes a vague past period in American history when “jobs were not a reason to do … things.” Aside from this claim being erroneous, I’m not convinced we should raise up a government that “indulged

what’s possible” is misplaced.

Krishnamurthy’s column specifically references the United States’ reaching the moon as a sign of times when fostering employment was a secondary concern. But romanticizing an era in this fashion is almost always problematic. The American obsession with space

While students at Brown, with the benefit of an Ivy League degree, can possibly disregard economic considerations and still earn livable wages, this is not the case for most Americans.

dreams that once seemed hopelessly outlandish” and put down one that seeks to “find every American a good job.” Krishnamurthy’s nostalgia for a time when we “dared to think less about what’s pragmatic and more about

travel was more an offshoot of Cold War competition than any willingness to do away with pragmatism.

When politicians decry unemployment and pledge time and resources toward im-

proving the nation’s economic outlook, they are not defining the American people “in purely material terms.” Rather, they are attempting to get rid of the financial and emotional strain of joblessness for as many people as possible. Jobs aren’t all that matter, but it is appreciably more difficult to lead a fulfilling life without the prospect of employment.

Lastly, I believe that Krishnamurthy’s article neglects to consider the context of the present political focus on creating jobs. In an era characterized by technological advancement, more and more workers are being displaced and are seeing the value of their skill sets diminish, a trend that makes training programs and college education more important than ever. As the nation continues along its recovery from a major recession, it is only natural that getting Americans back to work is a primary concern. Seeking to lower unemployment statistics is about more than economic reports. While it would be great to indulge our most outlandish dreams and romanticize the pursuit of less “pragmatic” goals, it would be morally reprehensible to do so while millions of Americans struggle to find work.

Nicholas Esemplare ’18 can be reached at nicholas_esemplare@brown.edu.

NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

SAM BERUBE / HERALD

The University announced a four-year program that will allow students to earn a joint MD-MPA joint degree upon graduation. This interdisciplinary curriculum, which will begin in the summer of 2017, is the first of its kind to offer a unique perspective on healthcare for future physicians.

U. becomes first in country to offer four-year joint MD-MPA program Four-year program to integrate policy process, primary care training in hopes of policy-savvy doctors

By KAYLI WREN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The University will launch a dual-degree program in which students earn a doctorate of medicine and a master’s of public affairs in four years in summer 2017. The integrated curriculum and program length make it the first of its kind in the United States.

Beginning in the summer of 2017, students in the program will take classes from faculty members at the Alpert Medical School and policy department in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the healthcare system.

This education will allow doctors who have real-time experience working with patients to add that perspective to the policy planning process.

“Healthcare politics is such an important field, … and it’s also really one of our most difficult policy problems,” said James Morone, director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy. “Someone who is trained both as a physician and as a policy analyst can really come to these problems … with real skill.”

Health policy and medicine are invariably linked, said Paul George, the assistant dean of medical education

at the Med School. Brown’s new program gives students a broad view of healthcare by providing them with both perspectives, he added.

Brown’s emphasis on interdisciplinary subjects created a “golden opportunity” to connect public policy and medicine in such a unique program, Morone said.

The program fits the Med School’s focus on primary care, as well as the Taubman’s mission of training students to be “savvy policy people,” he added.

The program is “distinctly Brown” in the sense that separate parts of the university are coming together in such an interdisciplinary way.

The two subjects in the joint degree are a “natural” pair because medical

doctors are now asked to consider problems outside of medicine and science, as well as to take into account direct implementation of public policy, said Carrie Nordlund, associate director of the public policy program.

The four-year timeline of the program — much shorter than the typical four years for an MD plus two years for an MPA — hinges on the one-year MPA program, Morone said.

“It’s really very demanding. We give the students an extra year of their life, … but there isn’t the kind of leisure time that a two-year program has,” he added. “That’s the trade-off.”

During their third year, students take part in a global policy experience working with policy makers in

countries outside the United States.

Last year’s students traveled to Sweden, Cambodia and Korea to gain international perspectives on healthcare. It is important to compare health policy in the United States to that in other countries to explore what practices work best, Nordlund said.

George said he believes the program will make students more competitive when applying to residencies, though it will prepare them for jobs outside of residencies. He said he envisions that students will go on to a variety of different careers after graduation.

At the end of the program, Morone said he wants students to be able to think, simultaneously, “‘Yes, I am a doctor,’ (and) ‘yes, I am a policy analyst.’”

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