Friday, April 7th, 2023

ARTS & CULTURE

‘A lot of money and a big decision’: A look at Spring Weekend

Organizers detail new ticketing process, festival timing, artist selection process

BY RYA VALLABHANENI ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

It is the last Saturday of April and Brown’s campus is awake bright and early. Finals start in a week, but most students aren’t planning on using the extra time to study. In a few hours, the Main Green will be occupied by some of the music industry’s hottest up-andcoming talent. And no one wants to miss it.

Spring Weekend is one of the most highly anticipated events at Brown, but it does not come together overnight.

UNIVERSITY NEWS

ARTS & CULTURE

Remi Wolf, JID, Ethel Cain to perform at Spring Weekend

Doechii, Alice Longyu

Gao, 070 Shake also to perform, according to Brown Concert Agency

BY ISABEL HAHN AND RYA VALLABHANENI STAFF WRITER AND ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

will take the stage for this year’s Spring Weekend, according to Brown Concert Agency.

The line-up leaked a few hours before its official release in a now-deleted Instagram story from Alice Longyu Gao.

“We did see the lineup drop before on Sidechat, but we are both really excited,” said Rachel Kamphaus ’25, who attended BCA’s official lineup release party with her friend Ethan Davis ’25. “We thought

Students react to acceptance to class of 2027

Many cite Open Curriculum, campus culture as draws for applicants

BY OWEN DAHLKAMP SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Late last month, 1,730 regular decision applicants were offered admission to the University, resulting in a total of 2,609 accepted to the class of 2027. The Herald spoke to eight accepted applicants to learn more about their experiences, reactions to their application decisions and what drove them to apply to Brown.

‘It just felt right’: Applying to Brown

“Brown has been my dream school since I was twelve,” said Caroline O’Brien, an early decision admit. “I fell more and more in love with the school, and knew I wanted to go there.”

For Thu Le, an accepted student from San Diego, the open curriculum inspired her decision to apply to the University. That flexibility “would be something that would really make my education much more fulfilling,” Le said.

All accepted applicants who spoke with The Herald expressed a similar sentiment — with Carrington Hughes, from Cleveland, saying that she “wanted flexibility” in

her learning. “I really needed that space to be able to say, ‘Oh, I want to change what I'm going to do,’” she added.

Students also cited the campus culture as a draw to the University. “I feel like everything about this campus reflects my own personal morals and my beliefs and really what I want to be surrounded by as a student,” Hughes said.

Many of the prospective students visited campus before applying. “It was just something about the tour,” said Anson Nguyen, an accepted student from Florida,. “It just felt right.”

An 'intense' wait: Anticipating a decision

After months of laboring over personal statements, test scores, video portfolios and other elements of the application, students waited patiently — but anxiously — for their decisions.

Some took a carefree approach. “I was just trying to take my mind off of it,” said Noah Kaufman, an accepted applicant from Austin, Texas. “I figured I'd put in all the work I could to get into my dream school.”

Marissa Guadarrama described “feeling like my life was going to change.” It was “intense,” she said.

‘It was absolutely surreal’: Being ac-

that they had a really good diversity of artists. Like there are some hyper pop, there’s indie, there’s rap, there’s R&B, so we're really excited about that.”

“We have a lot of different genres, a lot of different kinds of music,” Adi Thatai ’23, co-chair of BCA’s board, told The Herald before the lineup was announced. “We’ll also hopefully have a lot of songs in there that a lot of people will be able to sing along to.”

Remi Wolf, who will be performing on April 30, first entered the music scene with a short appearance on American Idol in 2014, when she was just a senior in high school. She released her first E p “You’re a Dog!” after graduating from University of Southern California Thornton School of Music in 2018. She has since opened for Lorde, collaborated with Still Woozy, toured solo and

Nelson Fitness Center extends hours to 11 p.m.

UNIVERISTY NEWS Change will last for rest of semester, follows efforts to expand gym access

BY KELVIN JIANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER

As of April 3, the Nelson Fitness Center will remain open until 11 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays, a 30 minute extension from the previous closing time of 10:30 p.m. The change will remain in effect for the remainder of the semester, Deputy Athletics Director for Administration Jake Silverman wrote in an email to The Herald.

According to Undergraduate Council of Students president Ricky Zhong ’23, students with classes or meetings at night may find it challenging to go to the Nelson afterward since their time could be cut short by the center’s closing.

“Lots of clubs have meetings around 7 to 9 p.m.,” he said. “And if (students) only get to work out for a little bit after that, it’s not really

optimal.”

Nicholas Vadasz ’24, who is in the Brown University Orchestra, said that he “traditionally has practices from 6 to either 9 or 10 p.m., and if (he) gets out of rehearsal at 9:45 or 10 p.m., going to the gym really isn’t an option.”

The change will “definitely make me open to going a bit later in the afternoon or in the night,” Vadasz added.

The increased hours, Zhong said, will hopefully accommodate students who prefer to go to the gym at night while reducing congestion.

According to Silverman, the Nelson’s recreation staff has worked hard to make the adjustment. “Our strategic goal that guides our work every day is to make Brown recreational facilities and programming as accessible as possible and remove barriers to entry to promote physical wellness on Brown University's campus,” he wrote.

Zhong first reached out to administrators about an hours extension in mid-February. “They were really receptive, and within a week, they

Remi Wolf, JID, Ethel Cain, Doechii, Alice Longyu Gao and 070 Shake

COURTESY OF NOAH KAUFMAN, MARISSA GUADARRAMA, MAEVA KEMBO, MARAKI TAMRAT, DANIEL AMADI, CARRINGTON HUGHES AND THU LE While early decision applicants were informed of their admission in late December, regular decision applicants had to wait until March 30.

COURTESY OF ALMA ROSAZ, CHRISTOPHER PARSONS VIA CAPITOL RECORDS, DAVID KA, DEF JAM PRESS ROOM, MATTHEW TOMASI AND ALICE LONGYU GAO

Women faculty discuss ‘earning space’ in higher ed, from undergrad to today

Faculty reflect on encounters with sexism, finding community with other women

BY SOFIA BARNETT UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Content warning: This article includes references to misogyny and instances of sexual assault.

When Susan Smulyan, professor of American studies at Brown, first stepped foot on Yale’s campus in 1971, “there was a change in the air.”

Smulyan’s first year of college was marked by the “second women’s movement that was just gathering steam,” she said. Smulyan graduated from Yale in 1975 as part of the college’s third class of women to spend four years as undergraduates following its transition to a coeducational university in 1969.

While Smulyan noted that misogyny and anti-feminism still pose obstacles for female college students, she remembered her time at Yale as “completely bizarre because there weren’t many women.”

“I always say that if you weren’t a feminist when you got to the campus, you were one about five minutes later,” she laughed. “Things weren’t all that easy.”

“It was amazing to be a pioneer in some way,” Smulyan added. “But with that came enormous pressure on us.”

Over 50 years later, Smulyan and countless other female trailblazers continue to traverse sexism in higher education — a problem that has diminished but still exists today, Smulyan said. Three faculty members who completed their undergraduate degrees in the early years of coeducational learning at the university level talked to The Herald about their experiences as women in academic spaces from then to now.

Coeducation and sexism

As she moved through her education at Yale, Smulyan recalled multiple instances of misogyny from classmates and faculty.

“The sexism was different than how it often looks today,” she said. “It was more overt … it was really nasty. There were bets on who would sleep with which freshman girl.”

Smulyan also recounted sexual assaults against female students, as well as predatory behavior from graduate

students pursuing younger women.

It was “much of the same kind of nastiness around gender that I think you can still see now,” she said. “But it was worse.”

Dore Levy, professor of comparative literature and East Asian studies at Brown, also made similar observations about her time at Yale, having been in the same graduating class as Smulyan.

Women at Yale often devised thorough plans on how to protect themselves from men on campus, Levy said, describing a method known as the “martial arts of the coed.”

“When we would go to parties, we knew to never take a drink,” she said.

“What we all learned to do was make a beeline for the pitchers of ice water to then hold in your hand. And if any man ever got too fresh, it was 3-2-1, splash. We’d dump the ice water all over him.”

“We even had practice sessions to make sure we had it down,” she added.

Navigating the classroom Levy said she expected to navigate Yale with ease, having been exposed to the world of higher education early on. “I was a faculty brat,” she explained. “My dad was a professor of sociology at p rinceton, so I was brought up close to an all-male university. I even sat in on some classes as a high school senior because of my father, so I was much more accustomed to the atmosphere.”

But not even prior familiarization could dull the effects of institutional misogyny for Levy.

“The ratio of men to women in my class was 1-to-13,” she said. “You had to set out your place in class or stake out your territory.”

Levy recalled her unique experiences as one of the first women studying Chinese language and literature in the Ivy League. “The classical Chinese professor hated girls,” she said, adding that harassment was common in the classroom setting. “We just thought that a professor propositioning us was the price of doing business.”

“Everything you said had to count as part of your mission as a woman at Yale earning space,” Levy said. “The stakes were high, and you had a lot of women who didn’t even make it past their freshman year.”

Levy acknowledged that the shared experience of being a woman often brought her and other students together.

“We felt very special and as if we were chosen, to a certain extent, which now feels sort of weird,” Smulyan said. “But the women I met, you know, those bonds are strong. A lot of us celebrated our 70th birthdays this year together. We’ve vacationed together and stayed in touch.”

Finding community

Janet Cooper Nelson, chaplain of the University and director of the Office of Chaplains and Religious Life, emphasized the development of a female academic community throughout her time as an undergraduate student at Wellesley College, and now as a faculty member at Brown.

Cooper Nelson completed her undergraduate degree at Wellesley in 1971 and later returned to women-only higher education as a religious leader at Mount Holyoke College before coming to Brown.

She explained a vastly different experience from her peers who went to

coeducational colleges. “In women’s colleges, all these women know each other,” Cooper Nelson said. “They’re all teaching at all these places and are a community together.”

Cooper Nelson explained that while her generation of women were trailblazers at their institutions, the women who paved the path for their inclusion were an even smaller bunch with greater responsibilities.

“We were a huge group though, by comparison to the women who were out here founding these places and making these changes,” she said. “There were only a few actors, but I think these folks all knew how important it was.”

During Cooper Nelson’s time at Wellesley, she watched as her peers left the school for “better opportunities atlarge,” leading her to think about what it really meant to be a women’s institution.

“Creating a space of hospitality for women in any form of their body, mind and soul has been what women’s institutions (are) about,” Cooper Nelson said. “That mattered to me because nobody really thought then that we could go to school and be a fully comparable person.”

Misogyny as a symptom of higher education

Cooper Nelson, Smulyan and Levy each acknowledged that the individual men they encountered as students and academics within higher education institutions were not always the sole perpetrators of misogyny. Rather, there was a systemic culture throughout higher education that presumed that women should not be there.

“While some of them were terrible and harassers or worse … the men were

much more used to us being there than Yale was,” Smulyan said.

Instances of misogyny in male-dominated spaces continued beyond undergrad for Smulyan and Levy, impacting their experiences throughout their careers in academia.

Levy explained that climbing up the academic ladder was especially difficult for women. She described how at times, promotions felt reliant upon sexual favors rather than academic work or intellectual projects.

“We felt that our consent was taken away from us. And if we tried to assert it, we were b*tches,” Levy said. “I have always acted as if I have had some measure of consent, and that has hurt me professionally.”

Levy, who came to Brown in 1981, noted that she has had to assert her value at the University as well.

“I’ve been around higher education for a long time, you know, in the early days of women at Brown too,” she said, adding that even when they were represented in discussions, female faculty had to fight to be heard.

Smulyan expressed a similar sentiment, encouraging community members to remain critical of the institutions around them.

“What I’m always afraid of is that, because we’ve moved like half a step closer to sort of a normal world,” she said, “we trot.”

“This is women's history. This is the history of coeducation, which is indisputably the history of Brown,” Levy said. “We wanted the best, and a lot of us went into academia, partly because it was the highest thing. And partly because we thought it was time for women to do so.”

COURTESY OF SUSAN SMULYAN, DORE LEVY AND JANET COOPER-NELSON

According to Professor of Comparative Literature and East Asian Studies Dore Levy, harassment against women was common in the classroom.

Brown Concert Agency, a student-run board of 17 members, is currently responsible for curating, staffing and running the two-day music festival, which is free for all Brown students. Along with the help of the Student Activities Office, the Undergraduate Finance Board and several other organizations on campus, the club works over the course of the academic year to put on one of the biggest events at Brown.

The event has typically been held on the last Friday and Saturday of April but this year’s Spring Weekend will take place on Saturday, April 29 and Sunday, April 30.

According to Co-Chairs of BCA’s board Ellie Barksdale ’23 and Adi Thatai ’23, the call to not have a Friday concert was made primarily by SAO, but BCA members approved of the decision.

Because BCA could not close down Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center until 4 p.m. on Friday, last year’s set-up was extremely rushed, according to Thatai. The entire stage ended up being built slightly off-center — which caused more crowding on one side than the other — but there had been no time to fix it.

Barksdale also explained that having two daytime concerts will make it much easier to monitor the crowd, allow Brown Emergency Medical Services to find people quickly and get Event Operations workers out at a more reasonable hour. “Nobody’s having fun if they’re feeling unsafe,” she said.

Unlike past years, this spring students will only be allowed to purchase a ticket for one day of the festival when the first batch is released, according to Barksdale.

“Everyone will be able to know that they’re going to at least one day of Spring Weekend after the first tickets drop,” she explained.

The second batch will then be released a few days later, once a rain call has been made. “We’ll drop the rest, so everyone can get their second day,” Barksdale said.

“Hopefully, it’ll make people less anxious,” Thatai said, referring to the fact that many students were not able to get tickets until the second batch was released last year. “If we do have to go to rain plan … I would like an event more where everyone can go to it, at least for one day.”

Ultimately, BCA expects that everyone who wants a ticket for both days of the festival will be able to get one. According to Barksdale, they plan to release 6,400 tickets in total, which covers almost the entire undergraduate population. Last year, the club even had a few left over.

‘A lot of different genres, a lot of different kinds of music’: the art-

ist-selection process

According to Barksdale, the process of selecting artists for the festival begins as early as August.

BCA works with booking agent Jack Reich — who also works full-time at the Met and the Strand Ballroom

name, the compensation the club is willing to provide and the date and time of the performance. With SAO’s approval, BCA then sends this form off to Reich, who passes it along to the artist’s agents. Back-and-forth negotiations can

aligns with the values of Brown’s student body.

As with any process, Thatai cited certain strengths and challenges with how BCA selects artists for Spring Weekend. “One thing we’re going to change for next year is

“a lot of it is (about) what kind of genres we are interested in,” Thatai said. “I think a lot about who’s culturally and musically relevant right now.”

BCA also likes to think of the line-up in the context of a festival, rather than just as a list of big names. “There’s a kind of balance that we’re trying to strike here,” Thatai said. “We’re trying to make Brown students excited about the actual artists that we’re getting. … We also want somebody who’s going to be a good performer and put on a good show for an audience.”

Both Barksdale and Thatai felt that last year’s line-up reflected this balance especially well, in addition to BCA’s general values.

“The shows spoke for themselves,” said Thatai. The artists are all “very forward-thinking in their genres.”

“A lot of us were most proud (of) the fact that five out of six artists were black, nobody was white, we had one cis man but everybody else was a woman,” Barksdale said. “It was the first time we had Afro-beats. It also was the first time we had music in Spanish on the Main Green, which was super exciting for us.”

BCA also aims to introduce Brown students to new artists, Barksdale said, explaining how music by Tems, a member of last year’s line-up, can be heard throughout campus now — in the Sharpe Refectory, at the Nelson Fitness Center and at parties off-campus.

Moving forward, both Barksdale and Thatai said that they would like to figure out how to incorporate more student input into BCA’s general selection process. Thatai suggested creating a collective Spotify Wrapped, which is something that Yale has done recently. Barksdale added that BCA is always open to receiving suggestions via email or direct message.

Unlike past years, students will only be allowed to purchase a ticket for one day of Spring Weekend when the first batch is released, according to Brown Concert Agency Co-Chair Ellie Barksdale ’23.

back with a quote, or estimate of how much it’d actually cost to book the artists for Spring Weekend.

“Generally, we get all these quotes and then we say, ‘okay, what aligns most with what we’re trying to do both for this slot and also what it says about the festival as a whole,’” Barksdale said.

After receiving a quote, BCA’s co-chairs bring it to the entire board and open the conversation up for a vote. If the majority of the board is in favor of the artists and potential costs, BCA will create a bid form, which includes the artist’s

rap — and is set to take the stage on Saturday of the festival.

total budget of $350,000 for selecting the six artists, designated by the Student Activities Fund through UFB, according to Barksdale. “We understand that the University, UFB (and) the student body is trusting us with a lot of money and a big decision,” Thatai said.

The festival overall has a budget of nearly $500,000, according to UFB.

Thatai explained that this money is going directly into the artist’s pocket, helping to build their name and their career. According to Thatai, BCA seeks to support talent that

dope lineup, and I'm definitely very excited.”

trying to speed the process up,” he said. This year, the Spring Weekend line- up is being released a couple weeks later than usual due to the prolonged negotiations that can often occur when trying to finalize contracts with artists.

Barksdale also said that the club can sometimes get bogged down in debate. “We have to navigate wanting all the voices to be heard … with the fact that when you go around in a circle of fifteen people, it takes kind of a while,” she explained.

When it comes to actually choosing the artists who will perform,

Both Barksdale and Thatai are extremely excited for the upcoming festival. “We don’t see this year’s Spring Weekend as an isolated event from last year’s Spring Weekend,” Thatai said. “We want to make sure those are cohesive events — they make sense together.”

“We have a lot of different genres, a lot of different kinds of music,” he said. “We’ll also hopefully have a lot of songs in there that a lot of people will be able to sing along to.”

Thatai added that there is something particularly special about holding the festival on what is arguably Brown’s most prominent space on campus.

“Seeing the people dancing, having a good time, letting loose on the Main Green of all places … it’s a really special opportunity,” he said. “It’s a ton of work, but I wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world.”

gone viral on TikTok with her song p hoto ID.”

JID made his hip-hop debut with his E p “Dicaprio” in 2015. He has since released several studio albums and collaborated with Imagine Dragons to release “Enemy,” which reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100. He is also a member of Spillage Village — a music collective hailing from his home city, Atlanta, that focuses primarily on hip-hop and

Although Visaal Leeman ’26

— who attended the BCA release party — did not recognize many of the artists, she was encouraged by her friends that “they are really good,” and is still looking forward to Spring Weekend.

p ersonally, I think I'm a little bit disappointed because for me at this stage in my life, I'm not trying to listen to lyrical stuff. I just want to turn up,” said Devendra p eyrat ’26. “But it’s still a really

Sing-songwriter Ethel Cain is slated to perform on Sunday of Spring Weekend. She is known for producing ethereal tracks inspired by Christian music and Gregorian chants. Many of her songs, including her 2022 debut studio album p reacher’s Daughter,” draw upon her own experiences as having grown up as a trans woman in a Christian family.

Rapper and singer Doechii will be performing on April 29. She has

opened for SZA, reached virality on TikTok with her song “Yucky Blucky Fruitcake” and performed at Afropunk, an annual festival featuring alternative work by Black artists. She has also released two studio albums and was listed as an Artist To Watch by Spotify in 2022.

Alice Longyu Gao is a Chinese singer, songwriter, DJ and performance artist currently based in Los Angeles and New York. Their music is labeled as hyperpop but their sound encompasses several

genres. Outside of the music industry, Gao has expanded their artistic reach to create pieces such as a salon-art-installation at MOXY NYC Times Square Hotel. They will be performing on the Saturday of the festival.

Rapper and singer 070 Shake released her debut album “Modus Vivendi” in 2020. She has been featured in songs by Kanye West, p usha T and Raye — several of which have held positions on the Billboard Hot 100 — and will take the stage on Sunday, April 30.

COURTESY OF ELLIE BARKSDALE

LINEUP FROM PAGE 1

ARTS & CULTURE

‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’: Aesthetically pleasing in spite of flaws

Film based on Nintendo character lacks substance behind snazzy animation

BY FINN KIRKPATRICK ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

Few figures in pop culture history have seen and done more than Mario, the fictional Italian-American plumber and face of video game giant Nintendo. Since making his first red-capped appearance in the 1981 arcade game “Donkey Kong,” the mustachioed man has journeyed far beyond the confines of a construction site terrorized by a hostile ape. He’s taken adventures through the galaxy, participated in terribly dangerous go-karting and even had a go at “Dance Dance Revolution.” On Wednesday, April 5, Mario unlocked yet another achievement on his ever-expanding list — starring in a perfectly mediocre animated film by Illumination.

When the movie opens, Mario (Chris pratt) and his brother Luigi (Charlie Day) have just quit their stable jobs to start their own plumbing business. After a failed first job, they find themselves dejected. But on the news that night, Mario and Luigi see that a burst underground

ACCEPTANCE FROM PAGE 1

cepted

While early decision applicants were informed of their admission in December, regular decision applicants waited until March 30 of this year to hear back.

“I wanted to pull an all-nighter the night before so I could sleep during the day,” Nguyen said. “Just get rid of the anxiety. It didn't work. I ended up staying up for 24 hours. I just couldn't sleep.”

“I had this unwavering confidence that lasted until seconds before I actually opened my decision,” Hughes said.

Once the clock struck 7 p.m. EST on decision day, applicants logged onto a secure portal to learn whether they had been accepted.

“When the time came, I put on some Beyoncé,” Nguyen said. “The portal was blank at first. I saw the status update and then screamed.”

“I opened it with my mom and my brother next to me,” said Carlos pino, an early

pipe has put the entirety of Brooklyn in danger — and Mario thinks that they can be the ones to fix it.

When this plan inevitably goes awry, Mario and Luigi find themselves sucked into a mysterious green pipe that sends them flying through a black abyss. Their courses eventually diverge, with Luigi ending up in a ghastly, lava-filled kingdom ruled by Bowser (Jack Black) and Mario finding himself in the more jovial Mushroom Kingdom ruled by princess peach (Anya Taylor-Joy).

The film follows Mario’s quest as he, peach, Toad (Keegan-Michael Key), Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) and more try to rescue Luigi, while simultaneously uncovering Bowser’s true ambitions. It’s a very simple story with little intrigue, and viewers are never left on the edge of their seats as a result. The conflicts that the characters face are inconveniences at most and rarely turn out to be anything consequential.

The uninspired, risk-averse nature of the story is somewhat counteracted by

the film’s animation — which perfectly captures the essence of its source material, despite not being the most inventive stylistically. From the shell-protected Koopas to the mushroom-headed Toads, staple Mario characters look the best they ever have. And as locations like peach’s Castle and the Kong Kingdom get introduced, Mario fans will undoubtedly feel giddy from the sheer attention to detail paid to these places.

But the narrative is too fast-paced to make all of these settings feel significant.

There’s no time to stop and smell roses in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” as the film’s plot only seems to care about getting from one place to the next, failing to dedicate any time to advancing the plot within these locations. The movie really only cares about the events that directly impact its story, which is upsetting given that this story is not compelling enough to hold up on its own.

Similar to the video games the movie draws upon — which are designed to be aesthetically pleasing instead of story-driven — the film could have leaned heavily into purely visual elements to help make up for its narrative failings. Although “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” tries at times to dwell on emotional beats, it does so very noncommittally.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” does its job of making the world of the Mushroom Kingdom look marvelous in its transition to the silver screen, and for die-hard fans of the franchise, this could be enough to make the movie worthwhile. But with so much effort poured into crafting the film’s aesthetic, viewers may question what the story and characters could have been. While a Mario movie doesn't have to be deep by any means, it should at least remain memorable beyond the film’s runtime.

decision

admit. “It was kind of surreal to be honest.”

“I closed my eyes, and I clicked the status update … I saw the picture … I just screamed,” Guadarrama said. Much of her extended family came to celebrate her admission, bringing along a cake that read ‘happy birthday’ — the only one the store had in stock.

After being accepted, Guadarrama spoke with her godmother. “You didn't know if I was going to get in. Why did you buy me a cake?” she asked. Her godmother responded, “I always knew you were going to get in.”

Le opened the decision at Starbucks with her friend, something they had planned to do together since their freshman year of high school. “I was jumping up and down, and I think I took a lap outside the building.”

After opening his decision at a basketball game, Daniel Amadi “ran home to my mom, and then we just celebrated. We were really excited.”

“I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand at the time,” Kaufman said. After seeing his ac-

ceptance letter he remembers “running out to my parents and my grandparents.” He exclaimed, “Oh my God, I got in! I got in! I can’t believe I got in!”

“I heard my mom crying. She started calling my dad,” Hughes recalled. “It was one of those feelings like, ‘I did the impossible. I did what everyone told me you really can’t do.’”

The next four years

With A Day on College Hill approaching on April 14 and April 21, accepted applicants are gearing up to visit campus and meet their potential classmates.

Many social media platforms have already helped the future class of 2027 connect with one another, according to Nguyen. “Everybody I've talked to so far (on social media) is really genuine and sweet,” he said.

As an early decision applicant, Nguyen will be joining the class of 2027. “I didn’t think for a second that I made the wrong decision.”

CALENDAR

TODAY’S EVENTS

Justice Circle 12:00 p.m. School of Public Health

A Workshop on Translating Modern Literary Texts 12:00 p.m. Faculty Club

TOMORROW’S EVENTS

ph.D. Career Beyond Academia

Series: From postdoc to Industry 11:00 a.m.

CareerLAB

German-ish: Emma GiventerBraff Honors Thesis Recital 8:00 p.m.

Grant Recital Hall

Midday Music Concert 12:00 p.m.

Sayles Hall

Decorate an Easter Egg! 7:00 p.m.

Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center

Brown Softball Team’s pride Day 12:30 p.m. Brown Softball Field

Easter Vigil 8:00 p.m. Manning Chapel

COURTESY OF UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK

The uninspired, risk-averse nature of the story is somewhat counteracted by the film’s animation — which perfectly captures the essence of its source material, despite not being the most stylistically inventive.

Graduate student offers piano ‘second chance at life’ with outdoor installation

project exposes instrument to elements, aims to invite student, community creativity

BY RYAN DOHERTY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Since late February, students passing by the Orwig Music Library have been greeted by a sight familiar to most musicians: a piano. But the instrument on display under the library’s pine trees is no ordinary piano — it’s a decomposing one. This outdoor piano display is the work of Devanney Haruta ’16 GS, who titled her project “ p iano (de)composition.”

For Haruta, the project challenges the assumption that instruments only hold value in their traditional forms. She hopes that the piano will allow her to better understand the life cycle and construction of instruments, but she also encourages community members to engage with it in any creative capacity they wish.

Haruta, who is pursuing a p hD in musicology and ethnomusicology, first came across the discarded

METRO

piano after the music department had decided to throw it out. She saw the project as an opportunity to give the instrument “a second chance at life.”

According to Dana Gooley, professor of music and chair of the department, Haruta’s field of study looks to “understand how music participates in the formation of identities, social formations, political ideologies and affective communities.”

Both Haruta’s installation and her personal research are informed by these principles. Haruta said she is particularly interested in the “relationships that people build with instruments.”

The installation was inspired by Ross Bolletor, an Australian composer who places old pianos outdoors for musical performances.

“He calls these instruments ‘ruined pianos.’ He will collect these as

donations from families or find them in an abandoned building,” Haruta explained. “He improvises on (the pianos) … without necessarily bringing them into traditional, playable conditions.”

“I wanted to do something similar to that,” she said.

Haruta hopes that the installation “opens up opportunities for reflection on the relationship between sound, material and environment, and our own interactions with and expectations for instruments,” according to her blog, which will track the decomposition of the piano over the upcoming years.

Haruta explained that she is particularly interested in the materiality of the instrument. As the instrument is “slowly breaking down” she has been able to learn more about how the piano was constructed. For example, after a rainstorm, she learned that “the glue holding (the plastic key covers) was water-soluble.”

Following continued material decay, Haruta expects to find changes in the instrument’s sonic behavior. The altered state of the piano allows visitors to experiment with a sound

much different from what they might be used to.

The decomposition process “forces you to engage with (the piano) differently ... it's not playable in the same way,” Haruta said. “So I would like people to explore different techniques” and “different sonic possibilities.”

Haruta also looks to study the relationships people build with ruined instruments, particularly through the lens of life and death.

“I think of this piano as having an afterlife,” she explained. “This discourse (around life and death) appears a lot in a formal academic context, but also casual conversations about instruments.”

The installation is also a space for students and the p rovidence community to interact with the music department, inviting visitors “to play and engage with the piano to observe its changing materials and sound over time,” according to the project’s blog.

“I'm also hoping that people might want to engage with this instrument for different creative projects,” Haruta said. “I would love it to be open as a creative resource.”

Women business owners discuss successes, challenges of ventures

BY LILIANA GREYF SENIOR STAFF WRITER

From vegan ice cream to salons catering to naturally curly hair, women have been behind a number of successful businesses in the providence area. The Herald spoke with two women who are small business owners in and near providence about their ventures, passions and the challenges of running a business.

Sweet treats with a purpose: Like No

Udder

When Karen Krinsky, owner of ice cream store Like No Udder, started eating vegan in 1993 she couldn’t find any vegan dessert shops in Rhode Island. “So I thought, ‘Okay, here's something I'm passionate about. I can fill a void in the community. Hopefully, I'll make money from it,’” she said.

“I’ve always felt a connection to animals,” Krinsky said. Now, both her personal choices and her business allow her to “live (her) values.”

Like No Udder’s menu features a variety of primarily ice-cream-based vegan treats, including shakes, floats and Unicorns — “soft serve blended with your choice of mix-ins, creating a thick ‘blizzard’ like concoction” — according to their website.

Before moving into its current location, Like No Udder operated out of an ice cream truck. Krinsky often parked near Brown and worked at events or festivals, serving a smaller selection of vegan soft serve out of the vehicle.

In the early 2000s, before founding Like No Udder, Krinsky also owned and operated a vegan bakery. She worked overnight in order to open the store each morning with freshly baked items, and after a few years the work exhausted her.

“When you do something for a long period of time and it's not making you happy, you start to resent it,” Krinsky said.

Krinsky knew her burnout was a result of exhaustion rather than a lack of passion. She still wanted to work in the vegan goods industry, and she still wanted to be her own boss. Like No Udder was the perfect way to meet both of these goals.

Recently, Krinsky has reintroduced baking into her business, and she now offers a selection of cookies, brownies and waffles.

As a vegan business owner, Krinsky’s “number one goal is to make something delicious.” people often think they won’t enjoy plant-based products — and Krinsky hopes to change their minds.

“If people come in here and they learn something new about what they like to eat or about why their choices of what they eat make a difference, then that's a win,” Krinsky said.

Krinsky has “definitely worked really, really, really hard” to get where she is, she said. She is grateful for the support of her husband, family and friends. “You can have the best product ever, but if you don’t have the resources,” it’s hard to make it work, she said.

“One person does not make a business successful.”

Embracing natural hair: The LOFT Hair Studio

The LOFT Hair Studio, owned by Sharita payton, is a salon devoted exclusively to naturally curly hair. Since its opening in Massachusetts eight years ago, the studio has expanded to include a location in East providence.

“There definitely are not too many salons out there that just focus on curly hair,” payton said. “We focus on a range when it comes to curly hair, but mostly tighter textures, which I feel is definite-

ly an area that we need more salons to specialize in.”

When Payton first opened LOFT in 2014, the salon offered all types of hair care, including extensions and relaxers. But as business picked up, payton realized there was high demand and low support for those who specifically wanted to keep their curly hair natural, she said. She removed non-natural practices from the list of offerings and rebranded the salon.

payton has always worn her tight curly hair in its natural state, and she encourages her two daughters to do the same. “My daughters grew up in a mostly Caucasian neighborhood, and so I tell them when they walk out the door, they're not going to see many young girls who look like them,” payton said. “So they definitely need that support and encouragement when it comes to their hair coming from home.”

Teaching her daughters how to care

for their hair was a major driver of payton’s decision to rebrand. Now, payton provides her clients with that same assistance, which they are unlikely to find anywhere else. “I just want clients to know that we're here to support them on this journey (of) embracing their natural hair.”

When LOFT still only had one location in Medford, payton noticed that several clients drove from Rhode Island for their appointments. payton decided to look for a space in providence and quickly found one. Now, there are two stylists working out of the salon’s Taunton Avenue location.

Despite the value she places in her work, payton has found it challenging to manage more than one location. “I’m very passionate about my brand, but I’m only one person and so just trying to make sure that I’m available and investing equally in both places is hard.”

DANA RICHIE / HERALD

Devanney Haruta '16 GS's installation invites viewers to consider how sound, material and the environment relate to each other.

Owners of Like No Udder, LOFT Hair Studio reflect on growth, difficulties with businesses

ELSA CHOI-HAUSMAN / HERALD

As

a vegan business owner, Karen Krinsky’s “number one goal is to make something delicious” with her business Like No Udder, she said. People often think they won’t enjoy plant-based products — and Krinsky hopes to change their minds.

apple sharlotka on

growing up, whatever that means

by Liza Kolbasov

Trees in Rhode Island stand tall and thin, reaching toward the deep-blue sky with their spindly branches. From the window of a train speeding from Providence to Boston, I watch them stretch, toward the clouds, toward each other, standing proud and bare in the icy earth. On the CalTrain from my hometown up to the city, there are rows of flat houses, strip malls, and mountains in the distance. It’s all so familiar I barely notice it as it flies by. Yet New England is different: Each time I step on the train, I’m reminded of the new place I’m in—and how much time has passed. One day the sun peers through the green patchwork quilt of trees obscuring the sky, then flecks of gold and amber fall from above, then snow lines the edges of rooftops.

the peripheral view

sleep deprivation, paper mementos, and poland springs

by Joyce Gao

illustrated by Lucid Clairvoyant IG: @l.u.cid

I know romanticizing sleep deprivation is a little foolish. I am not speaking of just any sleep deprivation; I am speaking of the kind you knowingly bring upon yourself when you are young and carefree, the kind that puts you in a dream-like state, replaying snippets from the previous night. If you have ever had a late night with good company, you know what I am talking about. From delirious schoolwork sessions with friends at 2 a.m. to bringing someone over to spend the night, there is something unique about the interactions you share with others late at night, a uniqueness that warps space and time around it.

If you have experienced this kind of late night, then you know the physical discomfort the next morning that completes the experience. It is your consequence, your humble sacrifice for a good time. I move through those mornings like an animal waking from hibernation: slow, dreary, hollowed out in both mind and body. This is essential—the exhaustion ringing through my bones fuses the cherished memories of the past night into a part of me.

Robert Bly wrote in “Winter Poem,” “I love you in slow, dim-witted ways, / Hardly speaking, one or two words only.” Perhaps sleep deprivation is my

dim-witted way of professing love, not during those late-night moments with my friends, but alone in the morning after, quietly squinting on my way to a late breakfast. Perhaps my mind is only slow and hazy because I lost pieces of it the previous night, and I, with my dim-witted love, want to keep the lost pieces there as an excuse to return again and again. In the same way, every wave of exhaustion in the morning carries me back to the previous night, again and again.

**

I have a journal full of pieces of paper that I have collected through the years: a polaroid of people who I no longer talk to, ticket stubs, a letter from a friend, a piece of unused hot pink napkin from a dinner with a beloved high school teacher. Once in a while, I lay them out like debris washed up by the ocean, drying off on the shore of my desk. Running my fingers across the edge of these flimsy pieces of paper—the glossy polaroid, the crisp and curling napkin, the folds of the letter that grow more tender with each read—I remember laughing and drying off the polaroid in a bowling alley, marveling at the pink napkin with my teacher, and opening an envelope to the first letter written in Mandarin...

“The winter twigs now bear tiny cherry blossoms, and I smile, just as I did standing under their orange autumn leaves just months ago.”

—Ellyse Givens, “Bicoastal Being”

“But for now, I’m left alone with the frosty air: winter breathing me in, painting me with its icy touch, lining my eyelashes with glittering snowflakes, laughing as it melts away my mascara.”

—Liza Kolbasov, “Outside the Calendar Squares” 3.19.21

Or maybe it’s just the way you get to the view: planning transportation, buying train tickets, walking to the station, no one to yell at you for getting home too late. It’s the tiny, completely unimportant tasks that make me realize that I am no longer a kid. The sense of being in my twenties—whatever that means— flows over me as the train rumbles over the tracks, through the dark tunnel. It stumbles through the artificial glow of overhead lights...

dictionary of obscure joys or, describing indescribable pleasures

by Mack Ford

Here are some words. Some are fabricated from words in different languages, some are molded from combinations of words long dead, and some are words that already exist to which I have given new meaning. Some are words that were reaching out with tantalizing fingertips, begging to be rescued from dusty dictionaries, and some are words to which I have simply added a bit of pizzazz.

amidantino

n. a walk for a little bit with a friend along a path in the woods in contented silence.

French ami, friend + Italian andantino, a little walking. Pronounced “am-ee-dan-tee-noe.”

ataraxie

n. an understanding of your own infinitesimal smallness that makes you feel more free. Also known as ‘floating rock mentality,’ wherein the realization that we are all simply little creatures living on a meaningless floating rock empowers you to live your life according to your rules alone.

Ancient Greek , equanimity or tranquility

+ free. Pronounced “ah-trax-ee.”

buzzy

adj. tipsy is to alcohol as buzzy is to weed—inspiring feelings of giggliness or bubbliness, as well as silly thoughts and perhaps craving for a snack.

A play on buzzed, meaning slightly drunk...

in her lover era in pursuit of perfect packing

by Evan Gardner

Tears, laughter, and joy spill across the strings of Taylor Swift’s guitar. This is the Taylor I know and love. She is the one who always listens, the one who got me through middle school, the one who makes me jump and shout with glee—all with a mere click on Spotify. This Taylor disappeared with the release of Reputation, but her later album, Lover, is more complex: It lingers in the liminal, then bounces continually from majestic to awful and back again. Lover has moments of breathtaking beauty, sadness, triumph, and then some embarrassingly bad songs. After listening to the album for the first time, I could not decide how I felt about it. My indecision was not the passive kind that marinates in the back of your brain while you go swimming and eat watermelon in the summer sun; instead, it was the kind that followed me everywhere, the pros and cons frustrating me at every step. I simply could not come to a conclusion. Finally, I decided the only way to get it out of my head was to write about it: This piece is the story of my confusion, and what it might reveal about the way we see our greatest stars.

The beginning of Lover left me craving something to rid my mouth of the bitter taste of disappointment. The old Taylor is strangled by electronic beats and an overly-enthusiastic drum kit. “I Forgot that You

Existed,” the album’s first track, sets the tone with robotic pounds and claps that swallow her voice. There is no narrative; her distinctive tenderness and depth disappear into a chasm of empty “oooh’s” and “aaah’s.” This is nothing compared to “ME!”, in which Taylor takes her cringe-inducing high register to a new level that is neither catchy nor substantive. The only sound available to mask her vocal wandering is an aggressive drum, pounding listeners’ ears into submission.

After “Cruel Summer” comes “Lover,” the title track. The opening chord made my heart soar, and I was hopeful once more for the Taylor who had been so therapeutic to me in the past. The song begins with the line, “We could leave the Christmas lights up 'til January / This is our place, we make the rules.” Suddenly, I jumped to my feet, clinging to the remnants of the old Taylor Swift resonating through the line. From the outset, she establishes a clear and unique setting, a throughline present in all her greatest hits. The lyric mirrors lines that have been burned into my mind through years of lip syncing into the foggy bathroom mirror; lines like, “There's somethin' bout the way / The street looks when it's just rained / There's a glow off the pavement,” from the first song on her second album, Fearless. In “Lover,” her guitar resurfaces on the track as well as in the imagery...

Bathrooms

LIFESTYLE

on “boyhood”

by Alaire Kanes

I don’t often drink tea, but when I do, I love to watch the tea bag steep in my mug. My cup always smells faintly of lemon—my roommates and I happen to store our mugs in the cupboard where we also store the lemon-scented super glue. Perhaps we’re being slowly poisoned, but the mugs remain in the cupboard, and the super glue stays in its place in the top left corner. It’s funny: I could get rid of the lemony scent, and its lethal capabilities, once and for all. But I choose to leave the tube there, untouched. Maybe I’m lazy, or maybe I just like the way the smell of sweet lemon reminds me of the unseen forces at play (chemical forces, perhaps).

As I write, I wonder: How has my life been changed by the presence of a bottle of superglue above a row of mugs? The what-ifs double by the second. What if my roommates and I find out in five years that we were ingesting unhealthy amounts of lemony chemicals each time we sipped a cuppa? What if I had had seven roommates instead of eight? What if I had decided to major in English instead of Anthropology? What if I had picked blue as my favorite color as a kid, instead of pink? How would my life be different...

across campus

post- mini crossword 8

by Will Hassett

Down

Babies' catch-alls?

Afar antonym

would you have been lobotomized in

the 1940s?

by Emily Tom

Have you ever wondered: Would the neural connections in my prefrontal cortex have survived the 20th century completely intact? Would Freud have diagnosed me with hysteria? Is that a woman I see in the wallpaper?

These questions are more common than you might think, and today you can learn the answers. Based solely on my personal opinion, I have created a self-assessment to determine the stability of your mental state. You earn one point for every statement with which you identify. If you end the game with four or more points, I am inclined to believe that you would have been lobotomized in the 1940s. Good luck!

• You are a woman.

Kim

Affectionately, Brown's largest dining hall (which celebrated its 71st birthday last spring!)

Unknot, unlace, or undo

Like what some consider children should be (but not heard)

This one goes without saying. Roughly 60 percent of lobotomies in America were performed on women. Give yourself a bonus point if you are a woman with a light peppering of mental illness. Give yourself another bonus point if you have rejected a man in the past eight weeks.

• You have had a crush that lasted over one year...

“When they said Brown was gay, I didn’t know they meant bisexual women.”

1. Faunce, upstairs

2. Barus and Holley, near the ERC

3. Friedman, first floor

4. Sayles (secret)

5. SciLi Basement, by the stairs

6. John Hay Library, first floor

7. Wellness, first floor

8. TF Green, Arrivals

9. GCB

10. CareerLAB Shower

music, writing, and the power of a tube of superglue

Wellisch ’26: How Bad Bunny is

“Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana.” I do whatever I want.

Beyond being the title of one of his albums, these words define Puerto Rican reggaeton star Bad Bunny. His subversive ethos defines his success — he does whatever he wants and has emerged as a global cultural icon as a result. From his gender-bending fashion to his refusal to sing in English to his commentary on puerto Rican politics, Bad Bunny has made mainstream culture cater to him instead of the reverse. His unprecedented fame teaches us the power of cultural pride and steadfast authenticity, revealing how the landscape of modern popular culture has become fertile ground for originality.

part of Bad Bunny’s success stems from him making a name for himself under today’s social conditions. He’s emerging as a leading musical artist on the heels of a steady increase in the U.S. Latino population, not to mention the growing influence of Hispanic culture nationwide. perhaps even more importantly, Generation Z is more drawn to authenticity and transparency, meaning that modern celebrities like Bad Bunny can focus on expressing their individuality rather than being broadly palatable, a significant constraint for Latin artists of the past.

Historically, many Latin musical artists have altered their music to fit into the American market. Latin singers prioritized the attention of English-speaking American consumers and were willing to adjust their musical styles to appeal to them. Translating lyrics to English and collaborating with U.S. pop artists became common tactics for Latin artists to attain international success.

the way for authenticity in pop culture

These “crossover” strategies date back to 1950s singer Dámaso pérez prado, whose mambo music only rose to U.S. fame after American jazz band leader Sonny Burke released his own version of one of pérez prado’s songs. A similar crossover strategy powered the Latin Explosion of the ’90s, with iconic Latin artists Ricky Martin, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony launching into

path and showing the world that international fame and cultural authenticity are no longer mutually exclusive. He refuses to change the language that he sings in to assimilate to industry norms, yet he is also Spotify’s moststreamed artist in the world for the third consecutive year. His most recent album “Un Verano Sin Ti” made Grammy history as the first all-Spanish-language album to be nominated

has historically been dominated by hypermasculine, sexist and homophobic machismo attitudes, Bad Bunny champions a new brand of masculinity. From painting his nails to dressing in drag to kissing a male backup dancer on stage, Bad Bunny’s gender fluidity sends his audience a powerful message about liberating themselves from society’s toxic binaries. Challenging aspects of his background — and risking alienating many of his fans — takes an immense amount of courage, but Bad Bunny has made it look effortless and trendy. Through his radical style, Bad Bunny rewrites the script for how a leading male artist should look and behave under the spotlight.

the international market with album debuts that were primarily in English. Even more recently, we’ve seen a pressure to assimilate to American tastes with Luis Fonsi’s global hit, “Despacito,” which only reached the top of the charts after Justin Bieber's English feature. Ultimately, it’s no surprise that Latin artists may see it as imperative to conform to American mainstream preferences. After all, this is the route that many of their predecessors took to reach international stardom.

Bad Bunny’s success is in charting a new

for Album of the Year. From becoming the first Latino to headline Coachella to breaking tour revenue records — Bad Bunny is making history within the music industry, all while staying faithful to his native language and puerto Rican roots.

Even beyond his language and culture, Bad Bunny’s popularity is evidence that radical individuality can be accepted and even admired in the mainstream. Bad Bunny’s gender-norm-defying wardrobe and public image are revolutionary. Within a genre that

Bad Bunny is a bold and courageous cultural icon that is showing the music industry what it looks like to be unapologetically yourself. His musical genius is undeniable, but Bad Bunny’s willingness to put his unfiltered self on stage is perhaps his most notable contribution to the industry. His messages about inclusivity, vulnerability and gender fluidity are what allow him to facilitate a deep connection with his countless fans. Bad Bunny is proof that the world is ready to celebrate public figures who don’t conform to a cookie-cutter definition of success. As a new and more diverse set of celebrities finally garner fame, we have an opportunity to honor and celebrate their authentic identities.

Yael Wellisch ’26 can be reached at yael_ wellisch@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

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paving

“Through his radical style, Bad Bunny rewrites the script for how a leading male artist should look and behave under the spotlight.”

ARTS & CULTURE

Providence French and Francophone Film Festival brings French cinema to College Hill

Festival resumes at Granoff Center, Avon Theatre for first time since 2020

BY NED KENNEDY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Thursday, the providence French and Francophone Film Festival awoke from a three-year slumber. presented by the University’s Department of French and Francophone Studies, the festival will be screening 17 French-language films until April 12, with screenings held in the Martinos Auditorium at the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts and Thayer Street’s Avon Cinema. This year marks the first installment of the festival since the start of the pandemic, with the last being held in early 2020.

The festival, formerly called the providence French Film Festival, has established itself as a College Hill tradition since its inception in 1995. This year’s festival is organized by Laura Odello, visiting associate professor of French and francophone studies.

As the festival’s artistic director, Odello was responsible for selecting which films — out of around 110, according to Odello — would be screened as part of the program. When making the decision, Odello was aided by a small committee of others within the French and Francophone Studies Department.

This year’s selection comprises a diverse assortment of films from across the francophone world. “The festival will show films not only from France, but from Cameroon, Belgium, Chad and Quebec as well,” Odello said. All of the films — with the exception of two works by Jean-Luc Godard, which will be shown as a tribute to the late filmmaker — have been released within the past five years. Most of the films are being shown in providence for the first time since their release.

The festival opened Thursday night with a screening of Bruno Dumont’s 2021 dramatic comedy “France,” a film which meditates on contemporary France while following a TV journalist’s internal crisis after a traffic accident. April 12, the festival will conclude with a screening of Albert Serra’s 2022 film “Pacifiction,” a work that explores the socio-political dimensions of the French colonization of Tahiti. Both of these films question France’s contemporary image and geo-

political standing.

“These films could be seen as the extreme poles of an arc that runs through the festival and calls into question, more or less satirically, a certain image of France and its media and political representations,” Odello said.

Other films of note include Alice Diop’s acclaimed 2022 drama “Saint Omer” and Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s 2021 film “Lingui, The Sacred Bonds.”

According to Odello, the two films “both emphasize the complexities of the female character and its strength.” Both films articulate the theme of womanhood, a motif that weaves its way through the festival’s program, Odello explained.

“‘Saint Omer’ is a fictional documentary about an infanticidal mother and Senegalese immigrant who abandoned her one-year-old daughter on a beach to die,” she said. “It is a film about the dark side of materni-

ty, speaking of taboo and about this radical ambivalence of motherhood.”

Haroun’s “Lingui, The Sacred Bonds” concerns itself with similar themes of maternity, according to Odello. The film follows a woman and her teenage daughter, who is seeking an abortion in Chad, where the procedure is criminalized. “This is a problem that increasingly regards our Western cultures, too, as we can see in our country,” Odello said.

Though the selected films were not

intentionally chosen for their exploration of womanhood, it was a theme that emerged after the committee’s choosing. “It’s a time when there are a lot of very powerful women’s voices and perspectives, but also attention to certain issues related to being a woman,” said Thangam Ravindranathan, professor and interim chair of French and francophone studies and a member of the selection committee. By shedding light on the lives of women from different cultures, these films invite audiences to think about issues affecting their own contexts through a new cultural and linguistic lens, she added.

On April 11 and 12, filmmaker Nurith Aviv will attend the screening of two of her most recent documentary films, “Signer” and “Yiddish.” Both films explore the complexity of language and its cultural associations. Following Wednesday’s screening of “Yiddish,” a conversation will be held with Aviv.

This year marks the first time that the festival has incorporated the word “francophone” in its title, a change that follows the 2021 decision to add the concept to the University department’s name, currently the Department of French and Francophone Studies.

Changing the department’s name “was a way of being more explicit about something that was already the case,” Ravindranathan said. “We have always been interested in a francophone world far beyond France.”

Acknowledging the breadth of francophone cinema that lies beyond the borders of France is one of the festival’s missions. “There’s a sense in which we cannot talk about Frenchness and France in any kind of vacuum — steeped as we are in the awareness of history,” Ravindranathan said.

With screenings held at the Avon Cinema, the festival is open to the enjoyment of the community well beyond the University. According to festival assistant Anaïs Shen ’24, “Our main goal for the festival is ensuring that it’s inclusive. It’s not solely for Brown students, and we wanted to emphasize that.”

“It is important to know another world, another point of view and way of thinking,” Odello said of the festival and its selections. “It's always a question about the relation to the other: other cultures, other feelings and other points of view.”

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY FRENCH & FRANCOPHONE STUDIES

In addition to introducing contemporary French films to Providence audiences, the festival will screen two films by Jean-Luc Goddard to commemorate the late director.

NYU President speaks at 100th annual chemistry department lecture

Andrew Hamilton discusses molecular recognition, organic chemistry

BY RYAN DOHERTY SENIOR STAFF WRITER

New York University president Andrew Hamilton visited Brown Thursday to give a lecture on a subject not a part of his usual topics of conversation as a university president: organic chemistry.

Hamilton discussed his over 40 years of research experience in a talk titled “Recognition at the Molecular Level” for the chemistry department’s annual John Howard Appleton Lecture. The event marked the 100th anniversary of the lecture program, according to Lai-Sheng Wang, professor of chemistry and department chair.

“Over the past 100 years, we have had world-renowned chemists and physicists as Appleton lecturers to share

NELSON

came to us with a pilot,” he said.

During the following weeks, Zhong collected data on two occupancy metrics at the Nelson: fitness center headcounts and official swipe-in numbers.

He noticed the swipe-in numbers were often lower than the center headcounts. Zhong believes that this was likely due to the Nelson system automatically marking students’ departure — since there is no “swiping out” — even when they might still be in the facilities. He also thinks that the Nelson’s systems likely underestimated the congestion during peak gym hours.

According to Zhong, the combination of these factors creates “a compelling case for (an) extension to midnight” in future semesters, adding that he and other UCS members are working to further extend gym hours in the future.

“We will use this time to track usage trends to determine if this ex-

their knowledge and wisdom with us,” Wang said. He added that 15 Appleton lecturers have won Nobel prizes.

professor of Chemistry paul Williard introduced Hamilton, noting his “remarkable career” as both a university president and chemist. Williard highlighted Hamilton's administrative skills and his body of research, which totals over 500 scientific publications.

pansion reached its desired impact and if additional changes should be considered,” Silverman wrote. Dev patel ’26 said that he pushed back his gym schedule in response to the Nelson extending its hours and would do the same again if opening hours were extended to midnight in the future.

Both Vadasz and patel said that the Nelson could get quite busy an hour or two before closing. “There’s definitely been some days where (I have) waited 20 minutes for one machine,” patel said.

Zhong explained that the change is currently in its pilot phase, meaning it has not been finalized. “We’re pretty optimistic that it’s going to become permanent, though,” he added.

Zhong also added that the Nelson’s exercise bike room might be cleared out and converted into a free-weight section. The bikes could then be moved to the Keeney Quadrangle gym, which is currently primarily used for yoga.

Hamilton’s research operates “at the interface of organic and biological chemistry,” he wrote in an email to The Herald.

At Hamilton’s lab, “we use the techniques of organic synthesis and molecular design to create entirely artificial chemical compounds,” Hamilton wrote. The artificial compounds mimic nature and possess properties associated with

DNA and proteins.

Studying these compounds provides insights into “complex biological processes” such as recognition and catalysis in addition to potentially helping researchers “interfere with (abnormal) cellular behavior that occurs in diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease,” he wrote.

During the lecture, Hamilton discussed the evolution of his research over the last 40 years, specifically noting “the role that chemistry can play in controlling biological processes” through selective recognition — a process in which a compound binds with a complementary counterpart through a series of interactions.

Hamilton said that the artificial compounds he worked on throughout his career exemplify how “molecular design and synthesis can be used both to modulate recognition and … control the behavior of” proteins.

Hamilton reflected on early research from his group that demonstrated the importance of non-covalent inter-

actions in molecular recognition. In subsequent years, the group simplified these early models and applied them to the study of organic solvents.

Over time, Hamilton and his team were able to study the chemistry of recognition in systems that more closely resembled cellular conditions, allowing for biological applications. In addition, the molecules that he synthesized became increasingly more complex.

Toward the end of the talk, Hamilton touched on a medically-relevant class of proteins known as intrinsically disordered proteins. These proteins have no stable structure and are associated with human diseases such as Alzheimer’s, he said.

Hamilton’s team was able to utilize principles of molecular recognition to block the process of amyloid formation, which can cause cellular damage.

Hamilton will speak to students and faculty again at the departmental Chemistry Colloquium with a lecture on Friday entitled “Synthetic Mimics of protein Structure and Function.”

RYAN DOHERTY / HERALD

President of New York University Andrew Hamilton’s research obscures distinctions between organic and biological chemistry.

VICTORIA YIN / HERALD

Undergrduate Council of Students President Ricky Zhong ’23 explained that the change is currently in its pilot phase, meaning it has not been finalized. He is “pretty optimistic” the change will be permanent.

METRO

R.I. food pantries face surge in demand following March SNAP benefit decrease

to meet demand.

“I fully expect our food banks to reach capacity over the next couple of months,” Morales told The Herald.

BY JACOB SMOLLEN AND NEIL MEHTA METRO EDITOR AND UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR

Most months, the Federal Hill House in providence receives 50 to 75 new applicants to their food pantry. But last month, they received 157 applications.

Since temporary increases to benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program were rolled back March 1, providence soup kitchens and food pantries have faced a surge in demand.

Rhode Island residents benefitting from SNAp receive monthly electronic benefit transfers to pay for food. The program offers qualifying one-person households up to $281 per month in baseline benefits, according to the R.I. Department of Human Services. Since federal COVID-19 response legislation was passed in March 2020, households have received supplemental monthly SNAp funding: either an additional $95 or enough to reach their maximum baseline benefits by household size — whichever is greater.

On Jan. 9, DHS announced an end to the extra SNAp funding beginning March 1. The Center on Budget and policy priorities predicted that the rollback would reduce average monthly SNAP benefits in Rhode Island by $101 per person.

For some food pantries in providence, the post-reduction surge in demand has been more than they can keep up with.

According to Federal Hill House supervisor and Swiss Street pantry coordinator Jennifer Hill, the pantry usually welcomes up to 75 families each day it operates. But on Tuesday of this week, 107 families had crossed the pantry’s doors by noon. The pantry still had hours to go until closing.

Upon hearing news about SNAp rollbacks, the organization ramped up staffing in anticipation of increased traffic, according to Rev. Michele Matott, director of aging and adult services at Federal Hill House.

Organizations in the 150-member distribution network of the R.I. Community Food Bank have seen an uptick in clients, according to Lisa Blackman, the chief philanthropy officer at the food bank.

“It’s a long time to get used to having the extra money for groceries and it’s at a time when food inflation is so high that everybody’s groceries

are costing so much more,” she said.

Blackman said the rollback of supplemental SNAp funding is “part of a long list of COVID-era benefits that have slowly been expiring,” including federal waivers for free school meals.

The project Outreach food pantry at Open Table of Christ United Methodist Church and other local food pantries have been “overrun” with demand recently, according to David Arruda, the pastor at Open Table of Christ UMC in providence and Faith Fellowship in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

The project Outreach food pantry currently serves 400 to 500 families in the 02905 and 02907 zip codes in South providence twice weekly, according to Arruda. He described the rollback of additional SNAP benefits as “a tragedy.”

David Banno, CEO and president of Community Action partnership of providence County, which runs a food pantry for South providence residents, said that the food bank served 250 people in March, 200 of whom were SNAp recipients.

prior to March 1, Banno said the

food bank typically handled five to 10 weekly “emergency cases,” when residents ran out of food.

Since the rollback, that figure has ranged from 30 to 40 weekly cases.

According to Banno, CApp has been identifying grants to bring in additional funding to pay for more food from R.I. Community Food Bank.

State Rep. David Morales MpA’19 (D-providence), who recently introduced a bill to restore $95 in additional SNAP benefits for Rhode Islanders starting on July 1, 2023, raised concerns about the ability of food banks

He added that many residents who lost SNAP benefits and turned to DHS for an explanation have been “stuck waiting on the phone for over an hour.”

“We are aware of the wait times and overall the average is approximately one hour — longer in some cases, as well as shorter for others,” wrote Jim Beardsworth, chief public affairs officer for DHS, in an email to The Herald. “Those who are looking for additional information and don’t want to wait on the phone should visit” the DHS website.

But for residents like Lydia peoples, the changes to SNAp mean more than a long phone call. peoples, a South providence resident, told The Herald that since she stopped receiving around $100 monthly in supplemental SNAP benefits, she has to gather lower-quality food from multiple pantries to get enough to eat.

She explained she struggles to get fresh vegetables with her reduced benefits, instead finding expired canned foods at pantries and soup kitchens.

In soup kitchens, “everything is canned,” she explained. “Beggars can't be choosers, but a lot of things (in food pantries) are outdated. They’re not going to give you fresh stuff out of the store.”

SNAP benefit decreases aren’t the only reason low-income Rhode Islanders are relying more on food pantries. With food prices increasing nationwide, residents say they have no choice but to buy less from grocery stores.

“With the price of food going up, they don’t even give you enough food stamps anyway,” peoples said. “Every little thing that I get, I’ve got to make it stretch.”

Veronica Chuya, a providence resident, attends the Federal Hill House food pantry to help feed herself and her two children.

“Jobs are going short and all of the (food) prices are going higher,” Chuya explained while standing in the pantry. “I have to come here.”

The price hikes are causing some families to make painful decisions — choosing between paying for home bills and food. peoples discussed increases to her rent alongside the decrease in benefits, adding that sometimes, paying rent to avoid homelessness means not eating altogether.

“You pay your rent, or you feed your family,” peoples explained. “Either you pay for your lights, or you eat in the dark.”

This story was originally published online Wednesday, April 5, 2023.

Low-income residents report struggles paying for groceries amid SNAp cuts, rising food costs

SIMONE STRAUS / HERALD

METRO

Medicaid renewal process set to begin for first time since pandemic

Wilson, professor of medicine and health services, policy and practice.

While there are legitimate reasons for losing eligibility, such as getting a new job, Wilson said that “you can also lose coverage … because you didn’t know you needed to re-enroll.”

BY YAEL SARIG SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Rhode Island, along with the rest of the nation, will begin its Medicaid renewal process for the first time since 2020, when the U.S. declared a public health emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed states to keep people continuously enrolled in the program. On April 1, continuous enrollment ended; now, the state has a year to complete the renewal process for the more than 350,000 Rhode Islanders enrolled in Medicaid.

About half of the renewals are expected to be passive, or require no action on the part of the Medicaid enrollee because the state has enough information to verify continued eligibility, according to a press release from Gov. Dan McKee. The other half of enrollees will have to submit documentation to confirm their continued eligibility.

The renewal process will be led by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, the Department of Human Services and HealthSource R.I., the state’s official health insurance marketplace.

To ease the process, renewal reviews will be staggered throughout the coming year. Still, individuals familiar with the program in Rhode Island said some concerns remain about the re-enrollment process.

Factors that can contribute to losing eligibility

Issues with Medicaid renewal processes throughout the country have historically led to many eligible individuals losing coverage and only realizing during a medical emergency, according to Ira

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Rhode Island Medicaid enrollees should have already received a letter and email from the state outlining the steps of the renewal process. But Wilson said there is always the possibility that enrollees changed their contact information or address within the past year, causing them to be missed in the renewal process.

The end of continuous enrollment poses additional problems for Medicaid renewal this year. DHS is unprepared to handle the coming “tsunami” of Medicaid renewals, said Stacy Smith, president of

Council 94 AFSCME/AFL-CIO Local 2882, a union of workers who make eligibility determinations for programs including Medicaid. Medicaid grew by nearly 21 million enrollees between February 2020 and December 2022, a nearly one-third increase.

spokesperson referred The Herald to testimony from DHS Acting Director Kimberly Merolla-Brito.

Speaking to Uprise RI, Merolla-Brito said that short-staffing is “definitely an area of concern.”

“I do feel that our workforce projec-

data to automate the process of checking individuals’ eligibility rather than “making somebody show up and sign something and validate some criterion to be eligible.”

A DHS spokesperson also referred The Herald to a presentation that emphasized that the renewal process was designed to ensure that even individuals deemed no longer eligible for Medicaid coverage would still have access to affordable healthcare. Many Rhode Islanders who are unenrolled from Medicaid will be matched with alternative coverage provided by HealthSource RI, the state’s health insurance marketplace, and most Rhode Islanders are eligible for federal financial assistance to reduce insurance premiums.

According to the presentation, six out of seven Rhode Islanders qualify for federal financial assistance that reduces insurance premium costs, with over 30% of HSRI customers paying less than $20 per month for their plans.

Wilson emphasized that it will ultimately be up to individual states to decide how they approach the Medicaid renewal process.

STRAUS / HERALD

Smith said that beyond the “crushing” number of cases the state will face and a high number of unfilled DHS positions, state employees who determine Medicaid eligibility are held to strict time limits to resolve cases — 35 minutes maximum, and only 20 minutes for call center cases. She also alleged that Rhode Islanders have experienced wait times of nearly an hour when using DHS call centers, prompting the DHS phone number to not be included on a letter sent to Rhode Islanders facing renewal. When asked for comment, a DHS

tions … allocate the staff that we need to manage (the) work ahead,” she said. That "doesn’t mean it will be easy and it does mean we will need additional support in terms of our interagency work and community providers.”

Medicaid renewals in Rhode Island

Wilson said that Rhode Island is “Medicaid-friendly” overall and that the state is taking steps to “reduce the pain” of the end of continuous enrollment.

In particular, Wilson highlighted that Rhode Island is relying upon existing state

GSC elects new executive officers, votes on speakers

May 3 to determine who will replace Mithila as chair of communications.

ensuring the GSC website is accessible to all students.

ed Sylla as the master’s graduation speaker.

“There are going to be (Medicaid-friendly states) who are going to look at this as, ‘How do we maintain access that people deserve?’” Wilson said. “Then there are going to be other states that say to themselves, ‘How are we going to use this to reduce our state financial commitment to the Medicaid program?’”

For Rhode Island’s part, Wilson says the state appears to belong to the first category.

“I have asked a couple of knowledgeable people about what’s going on in Rhode Island, and all they’ve said is everybody’s terribly worried about it and working really hard,” Wilson said. “There’s this risk of 25,000 to (30,000) people losing their insurance, and nobody wants that.”

This story was originally published online Wednesday, April 5, 2023.

BY KATIE JAIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Graduate Student Council elected its next president, chairs of social events, chair of master’s advocacy and chair of technology at its third meeting of the semester Wednesday. Graduate departmental representatives also voted on p hD and master’s commencement speakers.

Farha Mithila GS, who currently serves as chair of communications, ran unopposed for GSC president, winning the seat.

“I am a great advocate for our students,” Mithila said in a speech during the meeting, adding that she knows “what is happening on campus and what is happening outside GSC as well.” Mithila referenced her work in creating and distributing resource sheets, conducting a transportation survey and helping efforts to install menstrual product dispensers in University bathrooms.

A special election will be held at the final GSC meeting of the semester

Rose Gigliotti GS and Gulmeena Khan GS were elected joint chairs of social events, both also running unopposed. The two focused their platform on increasing family-friendly events for graduate student parents, which would take place earlier in the day and wouldn’t be centered around alcohol. Khan, a parent, said she hopes to “add my point of view as a mom who’s also studying” to the GSC executive board.

Christian Muñoz GS and Rudra Trivedi GS both ran to be chair of master’s advocacy. Muñoz won the election with 21 votes to Trivedi’s 14.

In his speech, Muñoz proposed ideas such as monthly town hall meetings for master’s students, a mentorship program connecting master’s students across years and increased food resources.

“Your voices deserve to be heard. And I wanted to make myself accessible, give you all platforms and carry your concerns forward to the right people,” Muñoz said.

Incumbent Muskaan p atel GS won another term as chair of technology against challenger p avani Nerella GS.

In her speech, p atel, who was first elected to the position in December, described her work so far, including

According to current GSC p resident Joe Colleyshaw GS, master’s advocacy and technology positions are up for election each semester, while all other positions are typically held from one December to the next. But because Colleyshaw will graduate in May and both social events chairs are stepping down, all five newly elected members of the GSC executive board will assume their positions in September and serve at least until elections occur again in December.

Following elections, GSC representatives listened to speeches by doctoral commencement speaker candidates — former GSC p resident Kathryn Thompson GS and Yifeng Troy Cai GS. The representatives selected Thompson, who discussed Brown’s history and the legacy this cohort of p hD students will leave.

“You're leaving a legacy that will have an impact for generations to come,” Thompson said in her sample speech. “Your research, your discoveries and your contributions will shape the world in ways that you cannot imagine.”

After hearing samples of master’s ceremony speeches from Khiara Lee GS and Hamidou Sylla GS, GSC select-

Sylla spoke about the University’s historic role in the transatlantic slave trade and the ways enslaved people built Brown as an institution, connecting this history to the responsibility of current students.

“We have a responsibility to leverage our education and voices,” Sylla said in her sample speech.

Representatives from the Graduate Labor Organization’s bargaining and organizing committees also attended the meeting, updating GSC on GLO’s ongoing contract negotiations with the University. According to Chris Woods GS, a member of GLO’s organizing committee, the union will present its proposal for graduate workers’ wages at the upcoming bargaining session Wednesday.

The meeting ended with a series of announcements from GSC executives — including news of a potential lounge dedicated to graduate students, Colleyshaw said, as well as a coming process to apply for financial assistance from the School of p rofessional Studies for graduation regalia.

This story was originally published online Wednesday, April 5, 2023.

Thousands enrolled may lose coverage, state officials concerned about process

SIMONE

Farha Mithila GS elected president, election to be held for chair of communication