SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017
VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 44
Westminster attack elicits concerns for students All 20 students abroad in London are unharmed, study abroad program looks to improve protocol
Perez ’83 advocates for RI Promise program New DNC chairman, Gov. Raimondo talk importance of accessibility to higher education
By RHAIME KIM SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Zach Smolar ’18 was in his King’s College London dorm room, two tube stops from Westminster, when he heard helicopters outside. Smolar later learned that the helicopters were responding to an attack on Westminster Bridge in London. A vehicle drove into a crowd on Westminster Bridge Mar. 22. Five people died, including the assailant, and at least 50 were injured in the attack, according to the BBC . Shortly after the attack, Bianca Leggett, resident director of the Cornell-Brown-Penn UK Centre, followed emergency protocol and sent an email to the 20 Brown students studying abroad in London to make sure they were safe. Nineteen students were at University College London, King’s College and the London School of Economics, and one student was in the city for an external program, said Kendall Brostuen, director of international programs. All students were accounted for within three to four hours after the attack, he said. The attack was “very much in the
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DOROTHY WINDHAM / HERALD
heart of London and not far from where students study (or) from where they live,” Leggett said. Given the large size of the city, students studying abroad in London were mostly unshaken by the attacks. The media made it seem like the
whole city of London was shut down in the aftermaths of the attack, but that did not seem like the case to Diane Na ’18, who is studying abroad at King’s College. Na was in class when she learned » See WESTMINSTER, page 2
Recently elected Chairman of the Democratic Party Tom Perez ’83 P’18 and Gov. Gina Raimondo spoke on the necessity of higher education in creating jobs and opportunity in relation to the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship at Rhode Island College April 6. The conversation centered on recent efforts to lower education costs, notably Raimondo’s recent proposal to expand the RI Promise program, which would provide two years of free college tuition at the Community College of Rhode Island, the University of Rhode Island and RIC for qualified Rhode Island high school graduates who are enrolled full-time. “We want Rhode Island to be a place where everyone has a fair shot at education equity and upwards mobility,” Raimondo said. “What (Raimondo’s) doing is indispensable for the long-term success for
Rhode Island and frankly the nation. We have to eliminate the term ‘education mortgage’ from our vocabulary,” Perez told The Herald. Only four out of every 10 citizens in Rhode Island have an education past high school, Raimondo said. She stressed that the scholarship is open to every student in Rhode Island that meets the qualifications of the program, regardless of socioeconomic status. “I want 10 out of 10 Rhode Islanders to be prepared for the jobs of tomorrow,” Perez said. “Education is the great equalizer,” Perez repeated throughout the event. “(The scholarship is) about giving all the hard-working people of Rhode Island a degree without a bundle of debt,” Raimondo said. As the chairman of the Democratic Party, Perez believes the party will continue to make strides towards lowering the price of higher education. “I want to make sure that everyone in this room knows that when you go and get an education, you can come out without a mortgage and with the future in the palms of your hands,” Perez said to the students in attendance. “When I see (the Trump) » See PEREZ, page 2
NPR’s Corey Flintoff analyzes US, Russia relations Talk addresses conflicts in Syria, freedom of speech, relationship between Trump, Putin By STEPHANIE REYES SENIOR STAFF WRITER
On Thursday night, National Public Radio’s former bureau chief in Moscow Corey Flintoff discussed ongoing and future tense relations between the United States and Russia during President Trump’s administration. Flintoff joined Senior Lecturer of English Jonathan Readey, Professor of Political Science and Slavic Studies Linda Cook and Professor of Public Policy, Political Science and Urban Studies James Morone to voice concern over the seemingly close-knit relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump, conflicts in Syria and the ongoing threats against news media in both countries. “Americans are not aware of how intensely anti-American the Russian government and the Russian media are,” Flintoff said. “If you follow Russian media, you would believe Russia was almost on the brink of war with NATO, which they always identify with the United States.”
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SAM BERUBE / HERALD
Corey Flintoff, National Public Radio’s former bureau chief in Moscow, discussed his four years in there covering Russian governmental controversies. Flintoff discussed anti-American sentiments in Russia and the volatile future of the relationship between the United States and Russia. Flintoff voiced the many controversies concerning Trump’s administration in connection with Russian officials,
which began with the U.S. presidential primary elections. Russian government and Russian media favored Trump over
Hillary Clinton, Flintoff added, stating that the media heavily covered Trump in a positive light. Such coverage
contributed to the anti-American hysteria, Flintoff said, as news corporations » See FLINTOFF, page 2
WEATHER
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017
SPORTS Paletta ’18.5 powers Bruno to victory over Cal with career-high six-point performance
SPORTS Schapiro ’19: MLB’s Opening Day should be declared an annual national holiday
SPORTS Chaiken ’19: UNC’s academic fraud does a disservice to its student-athletes
COMMENTARY Mitra ’18: Colleges should include programming in curriculum to prepare students for jobs
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