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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

VOLUME CLIV, ISSUE 39

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BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

UNIVERSITY NEWS

D’Abate, Swearer partnership praised for success

NACAC loosens college recruitment policies Mounting pressure from Department of Justice incites change to recruitment policies BY LI GOLDSTEIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

LIVIA GIMENES / HERALD

Brown Elementary Afterschool Mentoring brings University students to William D’Abate Elementary School in Olneyville to lead clubs every day. The school is one of the highest ranked elementary schools in PPSD.

20-year relationship between elementary school, Swearer remains strong BY LIVIA GIMENES STAFF WRITER West past Federal Hill lies a low-roofed two-story building with brick walls surrounded by wood-panel houses. In the afternoons, yellow buses line up as some

children play on the swings or run around the playground. But not everyone leaves when the final class bell rings — some students stay to learn about topics such as art, sustainability and geology from groups of University students. This scene unfolds daily at William D’Abate Elementary School, one of the highest-ranked elementary schools in the Providence Public School District and one of the few examples of success amid the devastating school conditions revealed by the Johns Hopkins report on Providence Public Schools. The report, while shining light on the

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Gutiérrez talks history of U.S.-Mexico relationship Former Mexican Ambassador to U.S. discusses trade, migration, security BY ROSE HOUGLET STAFF WRITER Following leadership changes in both countries, the United States and Mexico may be moving into a new phase of their relationship, said former Mexican Ambassador to the United States Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández P’22 in a talk Oct. 28. Gutiérrez, who served as ambassador from 2017 to 2018, walked audience members through the historical and current state of the relationship between the United States and Mexico as part of the Watson Distinguished Speaker Series. He focused on current barriers that the two countries face in finding common ground, especially over

issues like trade, migration and security. Because the U.S.-Mexico relationship is “bound by geography but separated by history,” Gutiérrez said that the history is crucial to understanding today’s state of affairs. Gutiérrez separated this history into three phases and suggested a fourth could be beginning. First, during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, the relationship between the two countries was adversarial as the United States pushed an expansionist policy and Mexico worked to establish its independence. This phase was marked by episodes of violence, including the Mexican-American War, Gutiérrez said. Following this era of conflict, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt initiated the second period with his “good neighbor policy.” During World War II, Mexico and the United States were brought closer through fighting

SEE AMBASSADOR PAGE 6

rampant deficiencies within the PPSD, cited “one elementary school that offers well-funded after-school programs, a ‘21st-Century grant,’ and volunteer students and faculty from a nearby university” as an example of “specific schools doing well.” While the report does not name specific schools, D’Abate Principal Brent Kerman, Assistant Dean of the College and Senior Program Manager for Student Development Dilania Inoa and Assistant Dean of the College and Director of Student Development at the

SEE BEAM PAGE 2

The National Association for College Admission Counseling recently loosened restrictions on how colleges can recruit prospective students in response to mounting pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice. NACAC will no longer prohibit colleges from recruiting students already committed to another institution, recruiting transfer students using an applicant pool from a previous year or offering special incentives to students who apply early decision, such as enhanced financial aid packages or better housing. NACAC’s Code of Ethics and Professional Practices aims to “protect the interests of both students and institutions by upholding a college admission process free from coercion and discrimination,” according to the code. NACAC membership is voluntary, but its members, including the University, must comply with the code. Under the previous policies, the DOJ accused NACAC of violating antitrust laws by stifling competition for stu-

dents among colleges. “To help bring to a close” the DOJ’s antitrust investigation into NACAC, the 2019 NACAC Assembly delegates voted in late September to strip the three recruitment provisions and stop enforcing the entire code for up to one year or until the DOJ’s legal review is resolved. Dean of Admission Logan Powell believes that NACAC’s changes to its code removed well-intentioned guidelines that were created explicitly to protect applicants from overly-aggressive recruiting, he said. “NACAC was sincere in its belief that these were protections for individual students, that students should be free from potentially predatory behavior.” The Admission Office is currently in the process of reviewing its early decision policies to ensure that they are in compliance with the recent code changes. But Powell said he does not expect that the Admission Office will otherwise alter any of its current recruitment practices in the coming admission season, emphasizing that students’ choices of which college to attend should be respected. “NACAC policy or not, we believe it’s the right thing to do to support that student’s choice, and once they have made it, we respect it and wish them nothing but the very best,” he said. Though the Admission Office will

SEE NACAC PAGE 2

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Today@Brown celebrates two-year anniversary 71 percent of undergrads, 43 percent of faculty open daily email BY DANIEL GOLDBERG SENIOR STAFF WRITER This past week, Today@Brown celebrated its two-year anniversary of bringing campus news to the Brown community in the form of a daily email. What began as an attempt to correct problems caused by Morning Mail — the University’s previous daily distributor of campus news — has become a staple for many students, faculty and staff. In spring 2019, the average daily open rate for Today@Brown was 59 percent, with a 71 percent open rate among undergraduates, and 63 and 43 percent open rates among staff and faculty, respectively. The open rate for undergraduates increased 7 percent from last year, accoding to Joel Pattison, director of web and digital

TALIA MERMIN / HERALD

communication strategy. As its readership has grown, Today@Brown has divided into 18 personalized segments sent to 20,000 students, faculty and staff every day, according to Brian Clark, assistant vice president for news and editorial development. For example, there

News

Commentary

Campus Market rebrands as Gourmet to Go, expands selection of prepackaged food options Page 3

U. DPS report shows increase in off-campus burglaries, decrease in on-campus robberies Page 3

Lehrer-Small ‘20: University should allocate more funds to club sports to alleviate finacial stress Page 6

are distinct versions of the digest for students of different class years that deliver events, faculty studies and University announcements, among other information relevant on campus. In the past two years, Today@

SEE TODAY PAGE 3

TODAY

TOMORROW

60 / 51

65 / 59

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

TIFFANY DING / HERALD

NACAC removed three provisions from its Code of Ethics and Professional Practices in response to mounting pressure from the Department of Justice. The University is reviewing its early decision policies but does not expect to alter its current recruitment practices.

NACAC FROM PAGE 1 not communicate with peer institutions regarding their responses to the changes, Powell hopes that other schools will similarly abide by the moral standards promoted by NACAC’s previous provisions. NACAC President Jayne Fonash similarly said that although NACAC can no longer enforce its previous provisions, she hopes that institutions will continue to value the interests of student applicants. “I believe that the majority of our members will always place the best interests of students at the forefront of

BEAM FROM PAGE 1 Swearer Center for Public Service Betsy Shimberg all said that this part of the report describes D’Abate and, among other programs, its partnership with the University through the Brown Elementary Afterschool Mentorship program. The authors of the report and the elementary school evaluators did not respond to questions by press time to confirm that the report refers to D’Abate and the University. The neighborhood of Olneyville, where D’Abate is located, is characterized by one of the highest poverty rates in Rhode Island, according to the Rhode Island Department of Health. According to Kerman, 94 percent of the students in the school qualify for free lunch. But despite the economic challenges its students face, the school consistently has top attendance rates and high standardized test scores when compared to other schools in the district, Kerman said. Shimberg attributed the relative success of D’Abate to stable administrative leadership, dedicated faculty and an atmosphere that encourages learning. “It’s a culture of learning and growing and developing,” Shimberg said, with a “very positive ‘you can do this, we believe in you,’” atmosphere. “Maybe your zip code isn’t your destiny, and I think D’Abate proves that again and again.” Shimberg also emphasized the benefits of the partnership between University students and D’Abate, which exists

decisions that they make in the admission process,” she said. Independent college counselor Sara Harberson said that students may be negatively impacted by the changes to NACAC’s code. “These students are still teenagers, and they don’t understand the tactics and strategies that colleges will use to get them to apply and enroll,” she said. Harberson noted that removing these provisions gives colleges that were already engaging in unethical recruitment practices more immunity to do so. “This really opens the door to more unethical or questionable behavior on the part of

certain colleges and universities that care deeply about the number of applications they receive rather than the students behind those applications,” she said. Professor of Political Science Ross Cheit, who teaches POLS 1050: “Ethics and Public Policy,” said that there is value in setting a deadline after which no institution may pursue a student who has already committed to another institution. By allowing colleges and universities to recruit after students’ May 1 enrollment deadline, the end of the college application process for students will be more ambiguous. The changes

in large part through BEAM. More than 120 University students go to D’Abate each week as BEAM volunteers to lead after-school activities such as storytelling, art, geology and sustainability. “I really love kids. My favorite thing is hanging out with them and hearing them tell me crazy stories and getting a window (into) the childhood imagination that I don’t feel like I have anymore,” said student volunteer Amelia Chalfant ’23. “I just love being around them, they have such good energy.” According to research done by STATCOM, a group of Brown graduate students that collect data on the community, D’Abate students that took part in BEAM during the 2014-15 academic year scored 10 points higher in Math and 17 points higher in English than students who did not take part in BEAM. According to Inoa, BEAM is the product of a nearly 20-year partnership with D’Abate. The partnership between the Swearer Center and D’Abate initially took the form of the Swearer Classroom Program, which provides assistance to teachers during the school day. That program continues today with about 75 University students split between D’Abate and William Fogarty Elementary School. Along with the Classroom Program, BEAM volunteers — and the signature t-shirts that they wear —have become staples at D’Abate. “There is this belief that it takes a village to raise a child,” Kerman said. “We consider BEAM to be just another

part of our village contributing to the positive growth of our kids. We see them as part of our family.” As the state takes over Providence Public Schools to work toward improving learning outcomes across the city, the relationship between BEAM and D’Abate could serve as a model for other schools and universities in the area. But there are limits to replicating the exact dynamics between the groups at other locations in the city. “We really need a school where there is a huge buy-in from the teachers and from the principal,” Shimberg said. “(Kerman) will tell you that when he came into the job eleven years ago and he talked to the teachers and said to the teachers what do you need, they said ‘keep the Brown program, whatever you do.’ And he did whatever he could, and there are many ways in which he steps in front and protects us. He really values the partnership.” According to Shimberg, replicating BEAM’s success depends on school leadership and the allocation of financial resources. BEAM is funded by a 21st Century Community Learning Center federal grant that allows for one fulltime and two part-time staff members to stay after school and oversee the program. Any decision to extend the program would require an increase in funding, Shimberg said.

“create more uncertainty and upheaval, so that putting down a deposit doesn’t mean you’re done,” he said. The DOJ essentially employed “free market thinking” in its critiques of NACAC by arguing that the code inhibited “free trade” among colleges and prospective students in a “paternalistic” manner, Cheit said. When colleges and universities “embrace market mechanisms,” those values begin to supersede other important institutional values, Cheit said. For example, allowing colleges to incentivize early decision applicants with better housing undercuts the principle of equality in

the student body, which is especially valued by students at the University, he said, adding that “bringing market models into everything … changes what people value.” Cheit does not believe that the original ethics provisions were put in place with the intent of limiting student choice. “People who adopted … these three rules really did do it thinking that it was good for students, not that they were somehow trying to limit their lives in a way that was good for universities,” he said. “That’s why this feels odd, and feels kind of hostile.”

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Campus Market rebranded as Gourmet To Go

NICOLE KIM / HERALD

Gourmet To Go offers an expanded selection of food items, as well as non-food goods like toiletries, cleaning sprays and school supplies.

Revamped convenience store aims to provide healthier prepackaged food options BY JACK BORRIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER Once known as Campus Market, the convenience store in the basement of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center was rebranded as Gourmet To Go at the beginning of the semester. With the change in name, Gourmet To Go now offers an expanded selection of prepackaged food items that Campus Market did not offer, said Bobby Noyes, operations manager for Dining Services. Some non-food goods — such as toiletries, cleaning sprays and school supplies — also remain for students to purchase, he added. Dining Services aims to offer healthier food options in the change from Campus Market to Gourmet To Go. “Across campus and in the industry in general, we’ve seen an increase in

demand for healthy and wholesome options,” Noyes said. “What we seek to do is offer those to students and faculty in a prepackaged format.” This rebranding coincided with updates to the Blue Room’s menu over the summer, which introduced a larger variety of options incorporating fresh vegetables and local produce. “We were able to do some things at the Blue Room that were really well received, and we wanted to continue and offer them during the academic year,” Noyes said. “We thought Campus Market would be a great space to offer those items.” Fresh salads and grain bowls in the Blue Room proved popular over the summer, which influenced Dining Services’ decision to provide similar offerings in the revamp of Campus Market. “Now, in the fall, we’ve been continuing using fresh produce from local farms in grain bowls and salads in a grab-and-go format at Gourmet To Go,” Noyes said. Yearly sales reports revealed that many of the non-food items offered in the former Campus Market did not sell very well, Noyes said. These per-

formance reports were an additional motivating factor behind rebranding Campus Market to Gourmet To Go. Students interviewed by The Herald expressed mixed reactions to the opening of Gourmet To Go. Benjamin Alers ’22 said he appreciates the focus on health in Gourmet To Go’s offerings. “At my old school, we didn’t have a lot of quick options for food, so I could only really buy unhealthy snacks,” said Alers, who transferred from Rice University. “I really like how easily I can grab a quick to-go lunch before class” at Gourmet To Go. Alaina Parisella ’22 reacted less positively to the changes in offerings at Gourmet To Go. “I used to come (to Campus Market) a lot for a little snack, so I’m kind of disappointed they got rid of the candy section,” she said. While Gourmet To Go aims to offer healthier options than Campus Market did, some sweet staples remain. “The only part of the store that I really care about is the milkshakes, so as long as they stay, I’m fine with whatever changes they make,” said Sophia DeRosa ’22.

TODAY FROM PAGE 1 Brown has significantly reduced “the flood of email that was hitting inboxes across campus” and undermining people’s ability to effectively communicate information, Clark said. From 2016 to 2019, there has been a 73 percent reduction in emails sent from all-campus listservs, and a 94 percent reduction in traffic from the all-undergraduate list — a sign that the daily digest has effectively streamlined communication on campus, according to Pattison. The digital platform will continue to change to address new community concerns, Pattison said. For example, the University aims to integrate Today@Brown with Events@Brown — the University’s daily event calendar — by the beginning of the spring semester, he added. The vision for Today@Brown arose in May 2015, when several administrators asked Vice President for Communications Cass Cliatt to fix Brown’s “email problem,” Cliatt said. A student could open their email on the first day of classes and “see anywhere from 100 to 500 emails just sitting there,” which would range from invitations to student-run events to warnings about pertinent deadlines, she added. Cliatt found that because there was no curation process for Morning Mail, the digest had become overcrowded, disorganized and inefficient. This made Morning Mail “such a difficult medium for passing along information that people weren’t reading it,” Cliatt said. Once community members saw the disorganization of the daily email, they stopped trusting it and turned to campus listservs instead, which flooded the inboxes of the Brown community every day, she added. The inefficient distribution process risked disproportionately affecting those with fewer resources of their own to navigate college. “For students

who do not come from an advantaged background, email being a barrier to access important information was a serious concern,” Cliatt said. In the summer of 2016, Cliatt assembled a team that included Pattison and Clark, whose staff now curates Today@Brown, to address the daily flood of emails and develop a structure for information flow that included personalization for different segments of campus. After over a year of surveying the community for input, building the product’s roadmap for release and constructing the digital platform, the team was ready to launch Today@Brown. Today@Brown is “just tremendously more user friendly” than Morning Mail was, Clark said. “I think it’s more digestible and scannable, and it gives people the ability to choose what they want to focus on.” Today@Brown is “definitely useful,” said Leena Surapaneni ’21. Although as a junior she feels “pretty much settled” in her daily routine, during her first year at Brown she found Today@Brown particularly helpful in finding activities and groups on campus. Natalie Andrews ’20 did not read Morning Mail frequently, and said she does not read Today@Brown any more often. “I really should read (Today@Brown)” since it contains information on interesting events, she wrote in a statement to The Herald, . Since Today@Brown’s release, the University has been contacted by “major universities in New York, Washington, D.C. and Indiana inquiring about Today@Brown as a solution” to their own internal communications issues, Cliatt wrote in an email to The Herald. “To be a part of a community is to share information,” Cliatt said. “It should be a basic principle … that any member of the community can go and reliably find information that is necessary for their life” as a student, she added.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Security report highlights fluctuations in crime rates

The University Department of Public Safety reported an increase in off-campus burglaries, a decrease in on-campus robberies and a decline in reported rapes from 2016 to 2018 in its annual security report released early October. DPS reported 21 incidents of rape in 2018, which followed 24 in 2017 and nearly double that amount — 41 — in 2016. While Title IX Officer Rene Davis did not give an explicit reason for the decreased number of reports in 2018 and the Sexual Harassment and Assault Resources and Education Advocates could not comment on the decrease, both contextualized last year’s decrease by describing the specific events that surrounded 2016’s spike. The spike in reports in 2016 followed a 2015 recommendation by the University’s sexual assault task force for the creation of the Title IX office and mandatory sexual-assault prevention training for all members in the University community, among others, The Herald previously reported. The 2016 presidential election also brought conversations around sexual violence and sexual touching to the forefront, wrote Davis and SHARE Advocates Alana Sacks and Elliott Ruggles in emails to The Herald.

“I still look at this crime as being an underreported crime,” said Department of Public Safety Chief of Police Mark Porter. The decrease in reported rapes in the DPS annual report does not mirror reports of rape recorded in the 2019 Association of American Universities Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct. Though the number of rapes reported to DPS on campus fell from 2016 to 2018, the 2019 campus climate survey found that 11.6 percent of undergraduate women have experienced “non-consensual penetration” since enrolling at the University, a number significantly higher than any in the DPS annual reports. About sixty percent of women who experienced non-consensual sexual contact said that they did not report their experience to any University program or resource, per the survey. The disparity in reported rapes in the DPS report compared to the AAU survey could stem from a number of factors. These range from underreporting to students that report their experiences to confidential resources such as Counseling and Psychological Services or the Chaplains office as opposed to the Title IX office or DPS, according to Davis. The report also highlighted sharp increases in burglaries — the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft — in Providence Police Department districts 9-2 and 9-3, which include the East Side of Providence from Power Street to Olney Street. These districts encompass almost all of College Hill. Forty-five reported burglaries occurred in district 9-2, an increase from

“I get the sense that property crime has been up,” Porter said, noting that a decrease in violent crime has accompanied it. But the University saw a continued decrease in on-campus robberies — theft of property by force or the threat of force — in 2018, which continues a decade-long trend, Porter said. Forty-four robberies occurred from 2011 to 2014, while only 11 robberies occurred from 2015 to 2018, Porter wrote in an email to The Herald. Last year, only one robbery occurred on campus.

low-jackets” who patrol the campus, DPS and Providence Police officers — in busy areas such as Thayer Street. “We know that we’re not going to be crime free, so we try to reduce the crimes as much as we can,” he said. Additionally, disciplinary referrals to DPS for drug abuse increased from 18 in 2017 to 34 in 2018. Porter attributed this to several conduct code violations that involved multiple students. Fires on campus also increased in 2018, from three to four. Stephen Morin, Brown’s director of Environmental

reason,” and the department doubts that they missed any fires. The fire safety report showed four fire incidents to which the Department of Public Safety responded, including two off main campus on Bowen street, one in Grad Center and a “malicious” incident in Gregorian Quad A. “We believe the incident to be intentional,” Morin continued, explaining that a piece of paper on the entrance door to the building was set on fire, leading the residence hall to be evacuated. The department’s investigation was unable

“These are all factors and triggers that could have supported an individual coming forward (in 2016),” Davis wrote.

27 in 2017 and 23 in 2016. Burglaries also spiked in district 9-3, rising to 60 in 2018 from 10 in 2017.

Porter attributed the sharp drop to the “high visibility” of DPS’ public safety staff — including contracted “yel-

Health and Safety, wrote in an email that this year’s increase in fire incidents “cannot be attributed to any particular

to identify the person at fault.

DPS report shows decrease in reported rapes, increase in offcampus burglaries BY WILL KUBZANSKY STAFF WRITER

SARAH MARTINEZ / HERALD

Fifth and Final Cycle: C.D. Wright’s Americas C.D. Wright’s poetry is justly celebrated for its inimitable blend of avant-garde forms and Southern regionalism, encompassing the language, customs, and landscapes of the Gulf South and the Ozark Mountains, where she was born. Yet these poems, alongside her under-appreciated editorial and translation work with Forrest Gander, also includes subterranean currents of relation to the literary cultures of Mexico, Chile, the Caribbean, and the transnational perspectives compelled by the age of NAFTA (especially the rapid expansion of competing Arkansan perspectives like those of the Waltons and the Clintons). This talk will outline a way of understanding Wright not only as a regional American poet but as a hemispheric “poet of the Americas,” in a complex network of relation with writers as various as Besmilr Brigham, Kamau Brathwaite, Valerie Mejer, and Raúl Zurita, and with the uneven histories of globalization against which she posited some of her indelible poetic ideas.

The third annual C.D. Wright Lecture presented by

Harris Feinsod Harris Feinsod is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Northwestern University and is the author of The Poetry of the Americas: From Good Neighbors to Countercultures. He holds degrees in Comparative Literature from Brown (AB) and Stanford (PhD).

Though her work is deeply connected to the Ozarks, C.D. Wright spent significant periods in New York and San Francisco before moving in 1983 to Rhode Island, where she taught at Brown University. With her husband, poet Forrest Gander, she ran Lost Roads Publishers for over twenty years. Among her honors are a MacArthur Fellowship, a Lannan Literary Award, a Robert Creeley Award, and membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2013, she was elected as a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. “Poetry is a necessity of life,” Wright said. “It is a function of poetry to locate those zones inside us that would be free, and declare them so.”

Tuesday, 29 October 2019 at 7 pm McCormack Family Theater, 70 Brown Street

Sponsored by Literary Arts at Brown and made possible by contributions made to honor the life and art of C.D. Wright

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | TODAY

CA L E NDA R TODAY

OCTOBER S

President Atifete Jahjaga on Gender and Politics 5:30 P.M. Stephen Robert ‘62 Hall

Opening Reception: “The Kingdoms of this World” 5:30 P.M. 94 Waterman Street

Sci-fi Fantasy Book Club 7:00 P.M. CIT

Telescope Observing Night at Ladd Observatory 7:30 P.M. Ladd Observatory

TOMORROW 33rd Annual Katz Lecture 4:00 P.M. 121 South Main Street

Liz Deschenes | Artist Talk 5:00 P.M. List Art Building

Teach-In on Northern Syria 5:30 P.M. Watson

The 2020 Election Debate 8:00 P.M. MacMillan Hall

Q U OTE OF TH E DAY

S U D O KU

“The only part of the store that I really care about is the milkshakes, so as long as they stay, I’m fine with whatever changes they make.”

—Sophia DeRosa ’22 SEE GOURMET TO GO PAGE 3

SU NSHI NE DAP P L ES MAI N G REEN RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, October 2, 2012

CR O SDaily SWO RD Los Angeles Times Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis ACROSS 1 Funnylady Rudner 5 Pack the groceries again 10 Eyes, to Juanita 14 Oodles 15 Condescend 16 Ivory soap ad word 17 Wagon boss’s directive 19 Suffix with opal 20 Arnaz of “Here’s Lucy” 21 “Bewitched” witch 23 PennySaver listing, usually 26 Pitches well? 27 Lacking direction 29 Home of Dolphins and Marlins 32 Bunch of bills 35 Potted herb spot 36 Deep valley 37 Winged deity 39 Replay type, briefly 41 Cabinet dept. concerned with power 42 Symbolize 44 Cup of joe 46 Singleton 47 Failed to act 48 One of the M’s in MoMA 50 “The Hunger Games” actor Kravitz 52 Places in a pyramid 56 Scrambled alternative 59 Give a hoot 60 River isles 61 “See?” follower 64 Prego rival 65 Nixon staffer G. Gordon __ 66 Get ready, as for surgery 67 Food for hogs 68 Close call 69 Discontinues DOWN 1 “Unmistakably Lou” Grammy winner 2 Intestinal section

51 Catches red36 Witches’ 3 Puccini classic handed assembly 4 Head Hun 53 Weep for 5 Dietary guideline 38 Recovers from a night on the town 54 Cleared tables letters 55 Calls it quits 40 Whipped up 6 Always, to Pope 56 Rowboat pair 43 Actress Daly 7 Many eBay 57 Perfume 45 Pretentiously clicks container highbrow 8 Filled with horror 58 “Star Wars” 48 “__ River”: 2003 9 Pointy-hatted philosophizer drama directed by garden character 62 Pres., for one Clint Eastwood 10 Talk show caller’s 63 Hide the gray, 49 Pessimist’s opportunity maybe phrase 11 “War on Drugs” slogan ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE: 12 Theater sect. 13 “__ penny, pick it up ...” 18 Uses a blowtorch on 22 Soprano Gluck 24 Give up one’s seat, say 25 Herb used in borscht 28 Nickname in Olympics sprinting 30 Big name in faucets 31 Memo starter 32 Marries 33 Field of study 34 “Hold on!” 10/02/12 xwordeditor@aol.com

REBECCA HO / HERALD

10/02/12

With fall in full swing, campus is awash with golden hues and dappled sunshine. Students, staff and other University community members are soaking up the final chances to enjoy afternoons on the Main Green.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

AMBASSADOR FROM PAGE 1 together and providing labor for the war effort, Gutiérrez said, adding that about 250,000 Mexicans reportedly fought under the American flag during World War II. During the Cold War, these closer economic ties created a period of “benign neglect” from the United States because Mexico maintained a tacit agreement against the spread of communism. Then, in the 1990s, the creation of the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada shifted the countries’ relationship as Mexico began viewing itself as part of North America for the first time, Gutiérrez said. The United States and Mexico transitioned from distant neighbors to strategic partners, especially with the 2000 election of Mexican President Vicente Fox, who promoted democracy in Mexico, Gutiérrez added. He also acknowledged that moments of tension still existed, such as heightened immigration restrictions after the 9/11 attacks and Mexico’s decision to remain uninvolved in the United States’ invasion of Iraq. “We began to understand how interdependent we are” in this third phase of the relationship, Gutiérrez said. “We began also to understand the challenges with a notion of shared responsibility, meaning we have to deal with a lot of things together because if not, it’s very difficult. And, to some extent, we stopped pointing fingers at each other.” This phase lasted until very recently, but the relationship may be shifting again to reflect recently elected administrations in both countries, Gutiérrez said. For instance, Gutiérrez told The Herald that the way President Trump referred to Mexicans during his 2016 campaign was “a misconception of what Mexico is and what Mexicans represent.” The Trump administration was also unsupportive of NAFTA, an agreement that Gutiérrez told The Herald he saw as “positive for the three countries.” Nonetheless, Gutiérrez played a key role in developing a new agreement — the United States of America, Mexico and Canada Agreement — over which both countries compromised. “I’d like to think that after engaging for two years

AREEZ KHAN / HERALD

The former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico defined three historical periods in the U.S.-Mexico relationship. He also suggested that the U.S. may be entering a new phase of its relationship following the Trump administration’s hostility toward Mexican immigrants. with Mexico as a president, (Trump’s) view of Mexico became a little bit more nuanced and better informed,” Gutiérrez told The Herald. Though he is not fully satisfied with the agreement, Gutiérrez said that USMCA is a good option within the context of global shifts away from free trade. “It keeps access open to our respective markets,” he added. “It also keeps basically the same provisions that protect investments and cross-investments in our countries. It maintains a balance in the agriculture sector.” Additionally, Gutiérrez told The Herald that the USMCA incorporates considerations of modern industries like energy and e-commerce, strengthens labor and environmental standards and introduces new provisions regarding small and medium businesses.

Migration and security also characterize the current phase of the relationship between the United States and Mexico, Gutiérrez said. “I think that for decades now, Mexico has not done enough to make sure that its nationals are not forced into immigrating into the United States, and that’s on us,” he said. “For decades, also, the United States has not fully recognized that people from Mexico come here because there is a demand for them.” To solve these issues, Gutiérrez proposed that the United States and Mexico collaborate to address the root causes of immigration, offer more legal opportunities to move between the countries and develop better and more humane border enforcement. The two countries must cooperate on security issues, especially in combating terror-

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ism and the illegal flow of people, drugs and money, he added. Looking forward, the countries should focus on ratifying USMCA, addressing Central American immigration and ensuring access to reliable and safe energy, he said. Gutiérrez closed with hope for the U.S.-Mexico relationship. “The relationship is about two things: finding areas in which our interests converge, and, when we need to differ from one another, doing so carefully because there is a lot at stake,” he said. “If we accomplish those two things, I think we’ll be just fine, irrespective of who is president of the United States and who is president of Mexico.” Katarina Fernandez ’22, who attended the lecture in part because her uncle was an undocumented immigrant to the

United States from El Salvador, said that she wished Gutiérrez had talked more about drug cartels’ role in U.S.-Mexico relations. “Something I learned a lot about was the history of the relationship,” she said. “It was different to hear it from more of a middle source who knows both the Mexican side of the history and the American side of the history.” Juan Pablo Ramos Barroso ’22, who went to the lecture because he is from Mexico City, said that he appreciated learning from someone with diplomatic experience. “Since I’m so far away from home, you hear about what’s going on, but you always hear it in passing,” he said. “But hearing the actual numbers of immigration and trade and being able to magnify and add a certain value to the stuff that you hear is game-changing.”

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

Funding for club sports is an equity issue BY ASHER LEHRER-SMALL ’20 STAFF COLUMNIST Every September, dozens of students flood the Brown athletic fields for ultimate frisbee tryouts wearing sports clothes and nervous smiles. Some are juniors or seniors, many are first-years looking for a community. On the sideline, new players rifle through a trash bag filled with spare cleats. Over the years, the ultimate program has collected these spare cleats so that new players have gear options accessible to them. But the supply is limited. During try-outs, some prospective players who come in tennis shoes are asked to purchase cleats themselves — a significant investment especially when they do not yet know if they will make the team. Cleats at ultimate frisbee try-outs are just one example of how club sports can be financially inaccessible — despite the best efforts of the programs themselves. Similar situations arise in soccer, baseball, swimming and most other club sports. These costs should not bar students from participation. To help club sports programs become financially accessible to all students, Brown should increase its club sports funding to a level at which players are not responsible for the costs of essential gear or program activities. Before I go too far, I want to be clear that I am not a low-income student. I play on the men’s ultimate frisbee team, and dues are not an overwhelming stressor for me. The feeling of financial exclusion from club sports at Brown is not a feeling I know first-hand. But as a player, I notice instances where financial stressors may emerge — and as a non-low-income student, undoubtedly there are many more instances that I don’t notice. Knowing how important my ultimate frisbee experience has been to my development at Brown, I believe that frisbee and similar activities should be an option open to all students.

Numerous studies document the positive benefits of playing team sports. On top of the physical health benefits, one study from the University of Kansas found that high school students who are engaged in athletics graduate at a higher rate and tend to have higher GPAs than their peers. Additionally, a meta-analysis of sport participation found that engaging in

request financial assistance if player dues are an issue. But this step of asking for help can be stressful. And even if players receive assistance with dues, they still often have to juggle incidental costs such as food during tournament weekends. Brown should up its funding levels to club sports so that prospective players don’t have to decide between their passions and their pock-

“Brown should up its funding levels to club sports so that prospective players don’t have to decide between their passions and their pocketbooks.”

team sports can improve self-esteem and reduce depressive symptoms. These positive outcomes should not be reserved for the financially-privileged. By further investing in its club sports program, Brown would take a significant step toward supporting a happy and healthy student population. This investment will extend the opportunity to benefit from team sports to a wider audience. Brown does already provide some funding for its club sports programs, but not enough. This funding rarely covers all program activities such as tournament fees and travel costs to competitions. Many club sports teams require players to pay dues to cover program costs. I can’t speak for all club sports, but in the frisbee program, captains emphasize that players can

etbooks. Issues like food and housing security receive a lot of attention in discussions about post-secondary education accessibility — and rightly so. The national College and University Basic Needs Report reveals that 45 percent of undergraduates struggle with food insecurity and 56 percent navigate housing insecurity. But if we limit discussions of accessibility to students’ most basic needs, we miss the experiences that many would consider most essential to the college years. What does it say about universities’ commitments to their low-income students if they do not work to make the entire university experience accessible to all? In an autobiographical essay on the challenges of attending an elite college as a low-in-

CO R R E CT I O N Due to an editing error, a previous version of the Oct. 28 article “World-famous street artist Shepherd Fairey joins RISD board, paints 100th mural” used a “he” pronoun to describe RISD President Rosanne Somerson. In fact, Somerson uses she/her/hers pronouns. The Herald regrets the error.

CLA R IF ICAT I O N A previous version of the Oct. 25 article “‘Portal-ble’ reimagines reality by opening window into world of AR” named Jiang Qian as one of Portal-ble’s developers. It is more accurate to say that he is lead author and developer of Portal-ble.

come student, Harvard Professor Anthony Jack explains that among many difficulties he experienced, one central challenge was loneliness. He was trapped on campus while other students enjoyed vacations, and during the semesters, he worked four jobs at a time to earn money for “remittances” home. That didn’t leave much time for socializing. Club sports have the capacity to counteract isolation by providing students with a built-in community. Through practices and competitions, teammates often connect differently than they would through classes and hangouts alone. This experience benefits all students, but may be particularly powerful for students whose work commitments otherwise limit their ability to join new communities on campus. Skeptics may counter that the commitment of club sports is incompatible with the commitments of work-study jobs. But who are they to judge? It should be students themselves who get to decide whether committing to a club sports team is right for them. The decision should not be made for them by the monetary costs of participation. Most club sports programs allow players to select their optimal commitment level, so even many heavily-committed students can join a team that works for them. Team sports can be a powerful experience that can increase student health and feelings of belonging. If Brown is to offer club sports programs — which it should continue to do — those programs should be accessible to all students. Asher Lehrer-Small ’20 can be reached at asher_lehrer-small@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@ browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

Exhibition Opening and Artist talk Oct 29, 5:30 PM at Granoff Center

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2019