SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
VOLUME CLIV, ISSUE 50
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Students react to public gift acceptance policy
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Students commend U. transparency, question ethics behind aspects of policy
U. ROTC cadets navigate reestablished program
BY DANIEL GOLDBERG AND LI GOLDSTEIN SENIOR STAFF WRITERS
After decades without Naval, Air Force ROTC, University works to expand program
Over the past year, students have increasingly called for the University to be transparent about its ethical standards for accepting gifts. On Oct. 27, the University unveiled its gift acceptance policy for the first time — clarifying practices President Christina Paxson P’19 said were already in place. In interviews with members of two of the three student groups who had most urgently called for financial transparency, The Herald found an overall appreciation for the University’s efforts but a lingering feeling that the policy release was not enough. The gift policy outlines the University’s position that accepting a donation does not serve as an implicit endorsement of the donor. It also states that a gift must align with “Brown’s mission of education, research and scholarship” in order to be accepted, The Herald previously reported. The student collective Warren Kanders Must Go formed to call for the
BY TYLER JACOBSON STAFF WRITER
University to stop accepting monetary donations from Warren Kanders ’79 P’23, whose company The Safariland Group produces tear gas that has reportedly been used on immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, The Herald previously reported. In an email to The Herald, Sebastián Castro-Niculescu ’20, a member of WKMG, wrote that
BSI students advocate against divestment
BY OLIVIA BURDETTE SENIOR STAFF WRITER Brown Students for Israel presented an argument against University divestment from companies allegedly contributing to human rights abuses in Palestine during an Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility and Investment Policies meeting Tuesday evening. The meeting marked the first time ACCRIP has heard an organized case against divestment in the past year, according to Annie Phan ’20, a student representative of ACCRIP. ACCRIP Chairman Chi-Ming Hai invited BSI to present after one of its members voiced concerns during the committee’s last meeting, The Herald previously reported.
SEE GIFT PAGE 2
SEE ROTC PAGE 4
SUMMER ZHANG/HERALD
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Divestment insufficient to alleviate social harm from Israel-Palestine conflict, students say
to accept gifts. “The policy is too brief, curt and vague to approach any kind of robust ethical guidelines.” The Undergraduate Council of Students has been vocal about the University’s need to publish information about its financial relationships. In
When he arrived on campus, Ben Chiacchia ’20 was the first midshipman in the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Brown since 1971. But the University’s Naval ROTC program is not located on campus — it’s located at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, which is 45 minutes to an hour away by car. When Chiacchia first got to the University, he “was told that ‘you just have to make it work and find a way to adapt.’” To make the trip, Chiacchia rented a Zipcar multiple times a week to drive to his physical training and courses in military science and leadership. He
The student group Brown Divest, which has led a campus-wide movement for divestment, has presented to the committee at least twice in the last year. Members of Brown Divest were present at yesterday’s meeting. Ben Bienstock ’20, a Brown Divest member, said that parts of BSI’s presentation were misleading as well as “deeply upsetting and personally offensive.” During the meeting, BSI members made the case that University divestment would fail to alleviate the social harm caused by the Israel-Palestine conflict. “Social harm cannot be mitigated through mere financial divestment directed against Israel,” said Zach Harris ’22, a member of BSI, during the presentation. “Rather, comprehensive bilateral negotiations are needed to ensure a solution that grants peace and security to all parties.” BSI members further stressed that the results of an undergraduate refer-
SEE ACCRIP PAGE 3
the University had never reached out to the group for feedback on the gift policy prior to its publication. “While the University’s move toward transparency is a right one, it is not a guarantee of ethics,” Castro-Niculescu wrote, adding that there is no mention of involving students when the University considers whether
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Brown Esports fosters community, fundraises 500-plus member student group to host two-day charity event for Hasbro Children’s BY CHRIS SCHUTTE SCIENCE AND RESEARCH EDITOR Entering the Underground Coffee Shop on any Saturday afternoon, people are greeted by the sight of enthusiastic students crowded around makeshift gaming setups. Desktops and consoles line the tables that array the common space as friends and strangers alike meet to share experiences and play a variety of video games in what can only be described as a community. This is the goal of Brown Esports: to foster an ever-growing and inclusive gaming-focused family. One of the largest student groups at the University, BEST is comprised of a 24-member executive board and over 500 members across competitive teams and casual gaming groups.
Beyond friendships and gaming, BEST members are also defined by an outward-facing perspective. The group will partner with the Brown Bookstore Dec. 6 and 7 for its third annual twoday-long Extra Life charity event to raise money for the local Providence Hasbro Children’s Hospital through events like a Super Smash Bros. video game tournament. BEST members will
COURTESY OF BROWN ESPORTS
The student group plans to partner with the Brown Bookstore Dec. 6 and 7 to raise funds for Hasbro Children’s Hospital.
News
News
Commentary
Commentary
U. begins designing Lincoln Field Building renovations, prioritizes accessibility Page 2
Lizotte presents on reparations at Center on the Study for Slavery and Justice Page 3
Gelfond ’23: U. should take stance against harmful college ranking system Page 6
Lehrer-Small ’20: University should ensure digital literacy through CS requirement Page 7
also stream themselves gaming both on- and off-site across the two days for nearly 20 hours to collect donations. Extra Life is a global movement aimed at uniting gamers with the goal of raising money to fund local children’s hospitals. “Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised over $50 million
SEE ESPORTS PAGE 3
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
UNIVERSITY NEWS
University to renovate Lincoln Field Building, increase accessibility
COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY
The Lincoln Field Building is currently not compliant with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and is one of six buildings that the University has labeled as a priority for renovation. The proposed renovation will include elements like an accessible exit stairway, an elevator and new restrooms.
Department of Earth, Environmental, Planetary Sciences to move out summer 2020 BY KARLOS BAUTISTA CONTRIBUTING WRITER The University has begun the design phase of the Lincoln Field Building renovation, which will increase accessibility and optimize the space for the department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. The University has allocated $11.1 million for the project, which will allow for “a significant, but partial renovation” that should be completed during summer 2021, said Associate Provost of Academic Space Rod Beresford. The design phase of the renovation began after the University selected the Kennedy & Violich Architecture firm
GIFT FROM PAGE 1 2018, UCS endorsed a referendum that called for the University to increase financial transparency around its investments. UCS President William Zhou ’20 said that the publication of the gift acceptance policy is “a great step toward transparency” for the University. Zhou noted that he and representatives from the Faculty Executive Committee, the Graduate Student Council and the Investment Office met with Paxson to offer feedback on drafts of the policy before its official release. During such meetings, Zhou said he raised concerns about the policy’s assertion that acceptance of a gift does not indicate endorsement of a donor’s views or actions. The University “likes to consider itself to be on a moral high ground and also prioritizes things like diversity and inclusion,” Zhou said. The University “should not, then, be complicit in accepting gifts from sourc-
last summer. This phase will continue until May 2020, with construction starting the month after. The main priority of the renovation is to improve the Lincoln Field Building’s accessibility, as it is currently not compliant with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and other fire codes, said Greg Hirth, professor and chair of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. The Lincoln Field Building is one of six buildings that the University identified in 2015 as priorities for renewal and renovation, said Vice President for Facilities Management Michael Guglielmo. “The biggest challenge is that as time has gone on, (the Lincoln Field Building is) no longer aligned with the current needs and the use of the department. So it’s gotten to the point where it is functionally obsolete,” Guglielmo said. “So programmatically it’s very challenging to serve the needs of the
department.” The building’s existing space “doesn’t have this kind of open, friendly attitude to it,” Hirth said. “If you look at any kind of modern science building or modern research building, you can see that there’s like a flow to the building to allow people to interact a lot more and that type of vibe would be awesome to see in that building.” Significant elements that will be added to the building include an easily accessible exit stairway, an elevator and new restrooms, Guglielmo said. The interior spaces will also be reconfigured, although the design team has not yet decided the exact layout of the space. The discussions about the renovation aim “to make sure that we’re putting the most amount of value back into the building” while optimizing the space for departmental needs, Guglielmo said. The design team is currently meeting with Hirth, as well as DEEPS staff
and other occupants within the building, facilities operation staff and the facilities sustainability group to “make sure what we’re doing is in line with our sustainability goals, … our operational goals and more importantly … with the academic priorities for the occupants of the building,” Guglielmo said. “Then we try to balance that all against the overall project, budget, scope and schedule.” Hirth said that he appreciates the input DEEPS has had in the renovation process so far, calling it “a collaboration on how to renovate space to maximize our ability to do the research, outreach and teaching.” DEEPS will continue to have an active role throughout the renovation. DEEPS will move out of the building for the duration of the construction, Guglielmo said. During that time, the department will be relocated to “swing spaces” where faculty can continue their research and teaching, Hirth said. These swing spaces will likely be Arnold Lab
and Norwood House, Beresford wrote in a follow up email to The Herald. Despite the complications of moving out of and into the building, Hirth looks forward to the renovated space. To have a “really updated space, that’s a great advertisement for graduate students. It’s a great advertisement for potential faculty members.” Hirth hopes that having a state-of-the-art building will give people a stronger first impression of DEEPS. “Brown has made great strides in increasing the amount of renewal spending,” Beresford said. But “this campus still has a lot of needs in terms of updating facilities,” he added. “From my perspective, I’m pleased with the amount of progress Brown has made in this, and I’m hopeful that we’re going to continue to be able to increase the renewal spending and bring this campus up to not just fully accessible, but also high-quality spaces for support of the academic mission.”
es that may have views or a past history that (go) against these core principles.” Paxson emphasized that the policy’s release was not a response to a specific University concern but instead emerged out of a larger national discourse about the ethics of financial relationships. “To my knowledge, this is the first time we’ve really created a unified policy document,” Paxson said.“I don’t think of this as much of a revision of a policy, as much as (it is) a clear statement of a set of principles that we’ve been following.” She added that the document is “formalized in a way that I think we can all stand behind.” The gift acceptance policy will govern a process currently conducted by the University’s trustees and fellows, Paxson said, acknowledging that conversations about gift acceptance can be contentious. “Universities are quarrelsome places where ideas are debated, and people are not always in agree-
ment,” she said. Only a handful of other private institutions have published gift acceptance policies. The series of announcements follows a national controversy surrounding the late financier Jeffrey Epstein’s anonymous donations to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab, as well as protests by Brown student groups against the role of Kanders at the University. In September, the University announced that it had begun redirecting over $1 million in gifts from the Sackler family’s organization, La Fondation Sackler. The University decided to direct the gift toward local charities that support opioid addiction treatment after Purdue Pharma, the pharmaceutical company controlled by the Sackler family, came under scrutiny for its alleged complicity in the national opioid epidemic. Many students not previously involved in activism surrounding the issue told The Herald that the gift ac-
ceptance policy was a step in the right direction toward financial transparency. “It gives students a standard to hold future University decisions against,” said Naomi Lee ’21. Some students approached by The Herald also disagreed with the policy’s assertion that accepting gifts does not “imply nor mean that the University endorses or approves of the donor’s views, opinions, businesses, or activities.” “By accepting a gift, you’re helping (the donor’s) reputation,” said Benjamin Phelps ’23. Megan Donohue ’22 agreed that accepting a donation is a demonstration of support for the donor’s values and opinions, which is contrary to the values expressed in the University’s public policy. “The morality of the funds reflects upon the morality of the University,” she said. Allison Singleton ’22 similarly said that it is not possible to separate money from its source. “In accepting that mon-
ey, you’re directly supporting whatever entity is giving you that money,” she said. Singleton also questioned if the University will take student feedback into consideration given Paxson’s opposition to the recent UCS divestment referendum, which garnered 69 percent support among students who voted in the election. Three members of Brown Divest, a coalition of students who have called for the University to divest from “companies complicit in human rights abuses in Palestine,” did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Many students interviewed by The Herald said that whether or not they agreed with the policy, they believe that its publication will engage students in a campus-wide conversation about ethical finances. Five students approached by The Herald declined to comment because they were unsure what the policy was and were not aware of its publication.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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UNIVERSITY NEWS
Rutgers PhD Candidate Kelsey Lizotte examines politics of slavery reparations Lizotte’s doctoral dissertation proposes more holistic approach to reparations at CSSJ BY ANNIE GERSH CONTRIBUTING WRITER For Rutgers University PhD Candidate Kelsey Lizotte, reparations are about far more than a monetary exchange. At the Center of the Study of Slavery and Justice’s Emerging Scholar lunch series, Lizotte presented her doctoral dissertation, “Rethinking Reparations: A Critical Theory of Black Repair.” She researches in the Division of Global Affairs and is a lecturer in the writing program at Rutgers. The CSSJ is a research center that investigates slavery’s contemporary effects through an interdisciplinary public humanities lens, according to its website. While studying reparations, Lizotte noticed a lack of focus on the history of the reparations movement in both scholarship and more mainstream discourse. In her own research, she seeks to prove that “a successful movement for black reparations today could benefit from a better historical understanding of the past and of intellectual traditions that have informed it and sparked it from the beginning.” Lizotte said that current projects based only on financial compensation are misguided. In her dissertation, she instead proposed a “critical theory of black repair” to guide future policy programs by focusing on institutional
ESPORTS FROM PAGE 1 … for sick and injured kids,” according to Extra Life’s website. The movement formed to honor Victoria Enmon, who passed away from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The opportunity to combine his passions for both philanthropy and gaming drove Content Creator Morgan Evans ’22 to join BEST. Evans is now BEST’s coordinator of Extra Life. “It’s a combination of my two interests: entertaining and helping people,” Evans said. Evans coordinated with sponsors and the Extra Life Providence Guild to raise money, collect donation incentives and generate buzz around the upcoming event. BEST has been working with corporate sponsors and local businesses, including shops on Thayer like Ritual Sweat Society, to raise money and awareness for the event. Hasbro Children’s Hospital is a nonprofit that is part of the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and is not federally funded, Evans said. BEST began to support Extra Life due to the influence of the group’s Co-President Griffin Beels ’21. As a high school student, Beels founded Games Done Quick, a video game charity event focused on completing games as quickly as possible to raise money. Beels had personally streamed and even collected over $2,000 during his own streaming events. When he applied to Brown, Beels cited a 2016 Herald article about BEST in his “Why Brown?” essay. Once he joined BEST during his first year, Beels wanted to bring a similar charity event to the University. “Maybe
TIFFANY DING / HERALD
Lizotte’s dissertation, entitled “Rethinking Reparations: A Critical Theory of Black Repair,” argued that current efforts for reparations that focus only on monetary compensation are misguided. Instead, she advocates for institutional and structural change. and structural change. In her view, “true systemic social transformation is the primary goal of reparations from slavery and its legacy.” In her talk, Lizotte recounted the tale of Belinda, a former slave who petitioned the state of Massachusetts for monetary compensation in 1783. Her petition successfully resulted in £15 of reparations. Despite the fact that this tale is commonly recounted as a triumph for the reparations movement, Lizotte argued that “our focus is misplaced.” “In order to really rethink the concept of repair, focus on this early
we can take the power of a university and the people here and use it for good with gaming,” Beels said. The group hopes that this year’s Extra Life event will continue to grow and raise more donations than last year’s event. Last year, the group managed to double the statewide donation amount for Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and Evans hopes it can be “astronomically bigger” this year. Though the term “Esports” may carry a certain competitive and exclusive connotation, members of BEST hold the belief that the community is meant for people with any level of skill and interest. Streamer, Content Producer and Executive Board Member Tony Zhu ’22 said that he joined BEST to meet and play with people who share his interest in a game known as DODA. Though there are groups of people who wish to pursue gaming through a competitive avenue, the driving purpose of BEST is to promote inclusivity for anyone and everyone. “It’s more of a space where people can gather for however casually or competitively … and just come together,” said Chris Nivera ’21, another streamer, content producer and executive board member. “I want to create a space where people can come and have a lot of fun, make these really good relationships and have gaming at the center of that,” Beels said. BEST hopes to continue to grow, not only in size but in the number of games that the group plays. “Even if there’s a small community (interested in a new game), you’re more than welcome to come to the meetings, use the discord and get other people interested in your game,” Nivera said. “Someone’s always willing to play.”
period should be shifted away from individuals to group efforts,” she said. While she explained that group legislative efforts do not dominate literature on reparations because they were not immediately successful, Lizotte still believes they can serve as a model for future repairs. At the talk, Lizotte proposed her own guidelines for reparations. She said that legislative action should be a central mechanism for repairs and that compensation should be given to communities as a whole. She proposed transferring wealth from financial institutions to
ACCRIP FROM PAGE 1 endum on divestment, which passed with 69 percent of the vote last March, were not representative of the viewpoints of the entire University community because only 27.5 percent of total undergraduates voted in support. BSI members also expressed concern that divestment would send a message to the campus and beyond that the University supports the “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” movement, which the group has deemed anti-semitic. “The ultimate goal of BDS is not to change policies, it’s not to make lives better for Palestinians — although they definitely purport to do that — it’s to eliminate Israel,” said Ethan Swagel ’23, a member of BSI. Andrew Steinberg ’22, another member of BSI, said that Brown Divest is “very much ingrained and intertwined” with BDS. He discussed a tweet BDS sent out in support of Brown Divest, as well as a Brown Divest demonstration that included a wall painted with the words “boycott,” “divest” and “sanction.” When President Christina Paxson P’19 announced her opposition to Brown Divest last March, she emphasized that she would not support a movement that embraced “any of the
communities that have suffered the most from the legacy of slavery. Recognition is also central to Lizotte’s framework for reparations. She noted that in 2009, the U.S. Senate offered an apology for the government’s role in slavery. But Lizotte said that this apology only accounted for the years of slavery from 1619 to 1865 and did not acknowledge the extended legacies of slavery. In order to officially consider a policy a reparation, Lizotte believes it must intentionally aim to rectify slavery’s extensive legacy and disrupt the status
planks of the BDS movement.” The BDS movement demands that countries, businesses and universities cut economic ties with Israel, unless the country grants “full equality” to Palestinian citizens of Israel and ends its occupation of all land captured since 1967, among other demands. Brown Divest calls for the University to divest from specific companies that the group deems as “complicit in human rights abuses in Palestine.” Bienstock told The Herald that BSI’s presentation misrepresented what Brown Divest is about by “equating it with a campaign that is focused on the Israeli economy.” “What happened today was basically an attempt to divert attention away from what Brown Divest is asking for from ACCRIP and from Brown, which is not at all anti-semitic, and which is not even particularly targeting the Israeli government,” Bienstock added. Phan told The Herald that she was not convinced by BSI’s position and will likely vote in favor of divestment if ACCRIP votes on the issue during her tenure. Phan added she was particularly unconvinced by BSI’s point that divestment is insufficient because it might not lead to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestine conflict. “Every little action results in some
quo. Program Coordinator of Engaged Black History and Justice Scholars Marco McWilliams similarly stressed the limitations of purely compensatory reparations in an interview with The Herald. He believes that someone could hand over a sum of money and still degrade him as a person of color or not believe in the legacy of slavery. As mainstream discourse around reparations evolves, Lizotte emphasizes that “if we understand the harms of slavery to be structural violence, the forms of reparation need to reflect that.”
sort of impact, and just because there’s no impact today doesn’t mean there’s going to be no impact in the future,” she said. “Even if it’s not possible for Brown to divest, I think the decent thing to do is to acknowledge that there is significant social harm created by the Israeli government to the Palestinians.” Beyond BSI, the Brown chapter of a group known as Alums for Campus Fairness has become increasingly active in advocating against divestment. As a member of ACCRIP, Phan has received nearly 20 identical emails from the group since last Wednesday. The emails called on ACCRIP to “support the Jewish community at Brown and vote against the action to divest from companies allegedly contributing to human rights abuses in Palestine,” according to the email. ACF is a national organization with 5,400 alumni from 38 American universities, wrote Michelle Moreh, a representative of ACF, in an email to The Herald. The Brown chapter is made up of alumni, parents, and community members of the University, according to the chapter’s email to ACCRIP members. The group has been involved in organizing against Brown Divest since spring 2019, but these emails were their first formal communication to ACCRIP.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
ROTC FROM PAGE 1 made one to three round trips in a day. “It’s a big time commitment,” Chiacchia said. “When I didn’t have ROTC because Holy Cross was on fall break, having an extra 20 hours in my life back was kind of crazy. Often you forget how much time it takes.” ROTC programs around the country prepare college students to become officers in the U.S. military. None of the three ROTC programs at Brown — Naval, Army and Air Force — are located on campus, said Kimberly Millette, program director for the Office of Military-Affiliated Students. The Army ROTC program is located at Providence College, and the Air Force ROTC program at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “Commuting between two places is a challenge,” said Catherine Carignan ’20, an Army ROTC cadet. “I want to be here (at Brown), but my enrollment (in ROTC) is a contract at Providence College.” The University has not had institutional space on campus for ROTC programs for decades. ROTC had a large and thriving presence at Brown in the 1960s, Millette said. But in 1971, amidst student activism centered around the Vietnam War, faculty decided to vote the program off campus and sever ties with Naval and Air Force ROTC. While the University never officially severed ties with the Army ROTC program at Providence College, there were sometimes stretches of “many years” without a cadet at Brown, Millette said. When William Summers ’19 was a freshman ROTC cadet at the University, there were only four total Army cadets at Brown. It was not until 2016, when alum activism for reinstalling the program grew, that the Naval and Air Force ROTC programs were brought back, Millette said. Since ties were reestablished with the Naval and Air Force ROTC programs, the ROTC community at the University has grown, but slowly. In total, there are 17 ROTC cadets currently on campus, including 11 in Army ROTC, four in Naval and two in Air Force, Millette wrote in a follow-up email. Carignan said the class of 2023 has five new Army ROTC cadets, the largest class of cadets that the program has seen in decades. But Carignan and Chiacchia said
SARA RUNKEL / HERALD
Following student activism in the 1970s, the University severed ties with the Naval and Air Force ROTC programs. The programs’ reestablishment has been met with slow growth and transportation challenges, which the University hopes to address with increased resources and support. there are barriers to helping ROTC at the University grow over the long term. “The school’s policy right now is not geared toward moving the program to campus,” Chiacchia said, which makes it hard to recruit new students. Telling them about the commute to Worcester dissuaded “90 to 95 percent” of potential Naval ROTC recruits, he estimated. “That’s an institutional blockage that’s difficult to overcome. … If they’re not already prepared to do it, you’re not going to convince them.” Carignan added that “it was everything but the ROTC program” that attracted her to Brown. Despite this, the ROTC program has gained increasing resources and support from OMAS and the University. When OMAS found out that Chiacchia and the other Naval ROTC midshipmen were using Zipcar and Uber to commute to and from Holy Cross, they provided them with a minivan
and a gas card, which has been “way, way better,” Chiacchia said. Millette has been working to ensure that members of all three ROTC programs are not only reimbursed for their travel but also are done so within 60 days so their reimbursements are not unfairly taxed, she said. Carignan thinks the University has moved “in the right direction” in supporting its ROTC programs since she arrived at Brown. “They have been very intentional about opening up the dialogue, via Kimberly (Millette) or OMAS, about making (the ROTC) program more sustainable,” Carignan said. “It’s made my life easier ... (now) that there are channels to communicate asking for resources.” As the number of ROTC cadets at the University has increased, the programs’ host schools have had to better accommodate the students’ schedules, Summers said. When he
first came to the University in 2015, the Army ROTC cadets had to travel to Providence College three times a week for physical training. But two years ago, the program granted the cadets permission to do one of each week’s physical training sessions at the Nelson Fitness Center, saving them commute time, Summers said. The cadets’ interactions with other students on campus when talking about the ROTC program have been mostly positive. “Any conflicts I’ve had during my time here have been so respectful and based out of curiosity as opposed to animosity,” Carignan said. She recognizes that her involvement in the Army ROTC program may be uncomfortable for those not familiar with the community as well as those who are directly affected by the military, often in negative ways. “But I think that discomfort, at least in my experience,
has been channeled into discussions, … which has been really constructive,” she added. “People do a really good job now of differentiating between the politics surrounding where our Army is involved overseas and the people in the Army itself,” Summers said. “At other universities, a lot of my good friends (in the Army) said that those two things have been conflated.” But “I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody (at the University) who has taken offense with me for (being) in the Army.” While the cadets appreciate the institutional and peer support they have received, they cite the ROTC community as the best part of the program. “The most support comes from other students in the program,” Carignan said. “We’ve developed a very tight, family-style function on campus.” “I’ve loved it,” Chiacchia said. “I love the other people in ROTC.”
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | TODAY
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Faculty and Staff Benefits/Wellness Fair 8:00 A.M. Sayles Hall
Reducing Clutter in Presentations 9:00 A.M. South Street Landing
Brown EMS Information Session 7:00 P.M. Barus and Holley
Careers In Cannabis 7:15 P.M. 85 Waterman
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‘Chili Cook Off’ Community Buffet Luncheon 11:30 P.M. Faculty Club
Stress Management is Medicine 12:00 P.M. 85 Waterman
Study Abroad 101 Information Session 4:00 P.M. Page-Robinson Hall
Reading: Selah Saterstrom 5:30 P.M. McCormack Family Theater
Q U OTE OF TH E DAY
S U D O KU
“If we understand the harms of slavery to be structural violence, the forms of reparation need to reflect that.”
—Kelsey Lizotte, Rutgers PhD Candidate SEE REPARATIONS PAGE 4
B R I SK & C R I SP
VICTORIA YIN / HERALD
The University saw its first brush with winter yesterday as a light snow arrived on campus. Students take refuge indoors, breaking out the puffy coats and hot chocolate, as the chilly months approach.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
Brown should lead in advocacy against college rankings LUCAS GELFOND ’23 OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
The morning of Jan. 1, I woke up in a cold sweat. I had finished the majority of my regular decision applications (19 of them by that point). But something still worried me: What if I — god forbid — ended up at a “safety” school? I pulled up US News and World Report’s rankings and scrolled once more through the familiar list, going on to apply to four more schools ranked in the top 20. I valued this list near the point of worship. In my view, an “elite” education was a prerequisite for happiness, career fulfillment, financial stability and so much more. I can anecdotally confirm that my view of the college application process is not at all unusual. As such, I was pleased to see Johnny Ren’s poignant opinion in The Herald about “the persistent problem of college rankings.” But I would go a step further: College rankings are not just a problem for prospective students. They also serve to undermine many of the ideals of higher education, both inside and outside of Brown. It is therefore in the University’s interest to take a stance against rankings and to advocate for a reduction of their importance. After spending an embarrassing portion of my high school career engrossed in College Confidential and Reddit’s r/ApplyingToCollege, I was sold on a “shotgun” approach when it came time to apply, which means send an application to as many top-ranked schools as possible in hopes of being admitted to one. The strategy works on the premise that elite school application pools are full of practically indistinguishable qualified students, all with glowing teacher recommendations, impressive extracurriculars and brilliantly crafted essays. This approach is not entirely misguided. According to the Washington Post, Harvard applicants are ranked on a scale of one to four on their academic, extracurricular, athletic and personal qualities. For the class of 2015, the average ranking in the academic category was a two — defined as having “Summa cum laude potential.” Harvard’s admit rate in 2014 was 5.9 percent, a far cry from the 42 percent of students who ranked an academic one or two on
their scale that year. The latter three categories are arguably more subjective — different admissions officers or committees could easily read the same student’s application with quite disparate conclusions in these categories. While results will obviously differ at other schools of similar caliber, it seems reasonable to assume that we would observe similar phenomena at other institutions. This would support the logic behind the shotgun method — the only way to maximize one’s chances at attending a top 20 school would be to apply to as many as possible. This process creates a vicious cycle for universities and students alike. Universities are incentivized to pursue actions that artificially raise their ranking, often sacrificing legitimate scholarship in the process. Students are thus
“Rankings are not only inaccurate; they undermine our institution and higher education as a whole.”
encouraged to apply to more schools and to value rankings as essential, possibly attending schools that are poor fits for them. As more and more people adjust their behavior to fit within the structure of college rankings, the rankings gain importance, power and influence and create a self-perpetuating cycle in which the rankings’ prestige is the only beneficiary. Many rankings use easily manipulated metrics to approximate qualities which cannot be quantified. Forty percent of a school’s ranking is based entirely on the school’s number of highly cited researchers and its number of staff members who have won Nobel Prizes and Field Medals, according to the widely used Academic Ranking of World Universities. This methodology obviously favors larger institutions with larger faculties. Moreover, this system equates citations and prizes with quality of instruction, thereby ignoring the deep differences between research and teaching. This trend follows in other research-focused rankings, like the QS
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World University Ranking, which values citations per faculty as 20 percent of the ranking and the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Ranking which values research papers per faculty at eight percent of its ranking. In addition, rankings use faculty salary as a proxy for faculty quality. This method raises another set of problems. Such rankings bias toward institutions with older faculty (whose earnings tend to be higher); they overvalue institutions with strengths in more lucrative fields (e.g. economics) and presume a false relationship between faculty salary and performance. I could go on. Many rankings take into account graduate salaries (which will be affected by the most popular fields of study at each in-
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stitution) and spending per student, which does not account for the ways in which money is spent and for class size. But the most egregious of all of these factors are reputation surveys, employed by every prominent ranking system. Because of how these rankings impact a university’s reputation, a system that values reputation will self-perpetuate a cycle that entrenches a certain set of schools at the top. If US News and World Report gives a high rank to a university, because of the ranking’s influence, those subsequently surveyed will likely report a college as having more prestige, further ensuring a high ranking the next year regardless of qualitative changes at the university. In pursuit of this self-rewarding cycle, colleges try to “game” rankings through actions like giving lower scores to peer institutions, diverting resources from departments like financial aid to raise faculty salary, increasing institutional size for more absolute research,
favoring early decision applicants to increase yield and putting more emphasis on test scores and class rank in the admissions process. These actions are a natural consequence of college’s desire for high rankings, and they hurt students and universities alike. Writing in the Huffington Post, author Peter Sacks takes this argument a step further, indicting these rankings for exacerbating class inequality: A “ranking amounts to little more than a pseudo-scientific and yet popularly legitimate tool for perpetuating inequality between educational haves and have nots,” he writes. As Sacks explains, rankings allow people to distinguish and separate “the rich families from the poor ones, and the well-endowed schools from the poorly endowed ones.” College rankings fail to capture what I love about Brown. I love our accessible professors, resources and opportunities. My education is enriched because of how individualized my experience is through the Open Curriculum. The focus on balance that so many of my classmates have and the University’s impressive resources for mental health have made my experience infinitely more joyful. I’m motivated by my professors who evidently care about teaching undergraduates. None of these things are captured in rankings—the very rankings that almost sent me elsewhere. As such, rankings stand in the way of attracting the best students and professors. They are liable to shift the priorities of the administration away from running a richly intellectual institution and toward one that chases arbitrary prestige. Rankings are not only inaccurate; they undermine our institution and higher education as a whole. Because Brown has so many characteristics that can never be quantified, it is uniquely suited to advocate against rankings. It can start with, as Ren hinted at in his piece, ending the publishing of rankings as any indication of our merit as an institution. The University should serve as a leader and organizer in diminishing the power of such rankings and actively standing against their influence. Lucas Gelfond ’23 can be reached at lucas_ gelfond@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
7
Promoting digital literacy through a first-year computing requirement ASHER LEHRER-SMALL ’20 STAFF COLUMNIST
For most of my career at Brown, I was a computer science naysayer. As an underclassman, I thought the only reason to learn to code was to pursue jobs at tech giants like Google or Facebook. I watched friends and unit-mates struggle through CSCI 0150: “Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming and Computer Science” — toiling overnight on assignments like Doodle Jump and Tetris. They told horror stories of unending lines during TA hours for 30-second pointers. I wanted no part in it. Now I feel differently, and precisely because of people like me, the University should require all its students to take at least one computing course within their first year. Such a change would ensure that all students attain sufficient digital literacy and would promote an informed university-wide discourse on ethical technology. You might say: “What? Requirements? At Brown?” Valid point. Before I go too far, let me speak to the skeptics. Brown has a wonderful open curriculum. But including a computing requirement would not contradict that ethos. The logic of a firstyear computing requirement would follow a similar structure as the WRIT requirement – an integral part of Brown’s educational philosophy. Just as the WRIT requirement ensures that all students achieve a basic level of written literacy, a computing requirement would ensure that all students achieve a basic level of digital literacy. The American Library Association’s digital literacy task force defines digital literacy as “the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information.” In a world increasingly reliant on technology and data, digital literacy is becoming more and more important simply to understand and interact with the world around us – even for those with no interest in Silicon Valley. The bifurcation between “STEM fields” and “humanities fields” begins to break down when we consider the impossibility of disentangling technology from realms such as education, health care and politics in the 21st century. Other universities have recognized this. For example, Massachusetts Institute of Technology decided to integrate computing into all of its departments, with a focus on social sciences and humanities. In the digital age, it’s time to bridge the humanities and STEM silos
SUMMER ZHANG / HERALD
and lean into the growing intersections across fields. Brown should follow MIT’s lead and require early exposure to computer and data sciences for students regardless of concentration. While some may see this requirement as imposing a tech focus on Brown’s curriculum, adding a first-year computing requirement in fact promotes a central tenet of liberal education: exploration. Early exposure to comput-
on my radar. As someone motivated to work in education reform, I couldn’t see how coding would help me with my future goals. But in my junior spring at Brown, a required statistics course that involved work in the programming language Stata changed my view. With a simple set of data, I could uncover a narrative of correlations and begin to explain statistical phenomena. For the final project of
“The University should require all its students to take at least one computing course within their first year.”
ing would allow students to explore the uses of digital skills within their chosen field, while leaving time for them to further explore those skills in their remaining years at Brown. For any number of reasons, students may enter Brown without fully considering the relevance of computer and data sciences to their future aspirations. That was me. I grew up in a rural town, and in high school, computer science wasn’t even
that course, I examined school safety data and found that simply the presence of metal detectors in public high schools was associated with an 8 percent drop in student attendance. That experience hooked me on data science and motivated me to learn more statistical programming. But now as a senior, there is little time to pursue a full course of study in data science. Had I been required to explore the field earlier in my time at Brown, I would
have had more time to integrate computing skills into my passion for education reform. I suspect there are many students who have had similar experiences. It’s worth noting that Brown has already moved to make computer and data sciences more accessible, which is a necessary first step before adding a computing requirement. Recently, the University rolled out an alternative CS intro sequence – 0111 through 0113 – which spends more time on each topic and delves deeper into questions of ethics in tech. The department also offers several courses for non-computer science concentrators. Additionally, non-CS departments have increasingly added technology-focused classes. These avenues allow students to find the entry point to computing that works best for them. Brown should create a first-year computing requirement to encourage students to take advantage of these new options and build their digital literacy. In addition to the universal value of computing for all academic disciplines, we need to promote productive and informed discourse on ethical technology. With good reason, many politicians and pundits critique Silicon Valley for ethical violations such as underpaid Uber drivers, invasive privacy policies and even targeted advertisements leading to systematic voter suppression. But politicians, regulators, activists and other influencers must have a working knowledge of the tech field to better advocate for its ethical role in society. Regulators and politicians must be proficient in these topics so that ethical tech is not a one-sided conversation dominated by industry leaders. With a digitally literate student body, Brown can become an incubator for discussions on the ethical role of technology in fields from chemistry to criminal justice. Brown, as an institution of higher education, has the capacity to equip future leaders with the knowledge they need to engage in debates of ethical technology development in the 21st century. And so to ensure digital literacy for all its graduates and to allow students to fully understand the importance of computing in their chosen field, Brown should add a requirement for all students to explore computing during their first year. 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.
8
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2019
SPORTS
Women’s soccer to play Monmouth for NCAA first round
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Following the women’s soccer team’s victory in the Ivy League conference, players, friends and fans came together for the NCAA bracket announcements Monday. They learned that Bruno will face Monmouth this Saturday in a home game for the first round of the tournament.
Team, supporters celebrate first women’s soccer NCAA qualification since 1994 BY RANDI RICHARDSON STAFF WRITER Director of Athletics Jack Hayes waited just 10 seconds after finding out who Brown would play for the first round of the NCAA tournament before approaching women’s soccer Head Coach Kia McNeill for a chat. The team and a room of supporters gathered on the second floor of the Pizzitola Center for a live streamed watch party of first round bracket announcements Monday. As other teams appeared and disappeared from the screen, the room stayed silent, patiently waiting to see how Bruno made out. After what seemed like a lifetime, Brown’s name appeared with an aster-
isk denoting home field. The room erupted in cheers that only intensified when Brown’s opponent appeared underneath them. Monmouth. Fists punctured the air, high-fives reverberated across the room and screams trailed off into sighs of relief. “It’s totally unpredictable, and you don’t know where you’re going
we’re rooting for you.’ It means a lot, especially at Brown where athletics aren’t always supported as much as they could be. To know that the administration is really behind us means so much to us.” After the cheers died down, Hayes wasted no time walking over to McNeill. “I have to look at (Monmouth’s) non-conference” performance to de-
played great from day one. The whole year was competitive, consistent and (had) contributions from a number of people. McNeill has done a great job leading all four classes. It was great to see our name come up and to get a home game.” Story attributes part of Bruno’s success to its international trip to France over the summer where they saw the
in the Ivy League. This has been the strongest the (League) has ever been from top to bottom. There’s so much parity in the League. All of you guys can see that this year, so tremendous job during the conference season.” Soon after, another squad paid the team a surprise visit, announcing their presence with a round of applause from the back of the room. The men’s bas-
or who you’re going to play against,” said Junior Captain Sydney Cummings ’21. She said the team was glad to see Monmouth’s “name on the screen and (not) a name like UCLA right underneath it. And because we’re hosting. We weren’t ready to give up playing on Stevenson-Pincince field.” The star-studded watch party included Dean of the College Rashid Zia ’01 and Dean of Admission Logan Powell. “The support does not go unnoticed,” said forward/midfielder Celia Story ’19.5. “So many of my professors have come up to me during class or emailed me saying, ‘Congratulations,
velop a game plan, McNeill told Hayes. Qualifying for the NCAA tournament marks a successful regular season and opens the door for more achievements. But beforehand, there is one thing that must be done. “I wanted to let you know,” McNeill said as she started Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” hand flip, “that (Hayes) told me today we can all get sized for our rings!” The whole team hollered and held up their hands in unison for the regalia that would denote their conference championship. “This is great for the team because they’ve earned it,” Hayes said. “They’ve
U.S. Women’s National Team compete for and win a World Cup. “Having experienced (the World Cup),” Story said, “just in terms of team bonding and seeing a dream come true, is so important and so relevant (to) what we’re doing ... We were able to spend time together and see (the) empowered, incredible women of the USWNT live out their dream, (and it) brought us together and helped us catapult the start of our season. It was vital.” “Congratulations to you guys,” McNeill said to the room about her team. “It’s unbelievable to go 6-0-1
ketball players, who had just finished practice downstairs, came to pay honor to their fellow athletes. “We’re proud of you. We’ll be rooting for you on Saturday,” said men’s basketball Head Coach Mike Martin ’04. Brown is the only team in the conference to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament. “We’re just excited to be able to represent the Ivy League,” McNeill said. “We’re excited to do the best we can (this) postseason.” Brown will take on Monmouth this Saturday, “and hopefully we’ll put together some flashy goals for people to be able to watch,” McNeill added.