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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018

VOLUME CLIII, ISSUE 18

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Watson to host Hack for Humanity Health Services to

treat mental illnesses

Hack for Humanity event hopes to develop interdisciplinary solutions for Rohingya refugee crisis

New plan will allow physicians to prescribe anti-depressants, anxiety medications

By DYLAN CLARK STAFF WRITER

The Humanitarian Innovation Initiative, or HI2, will host its first ever Hack for Humanity, an event for students to collaborate and create new ideas and technologies that address humanitarian crises around the world. The hackathon — open to students from the University, the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of Rhode Island and the Naval War College — is hosted by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs and will take place March 17 and 18. The hackathon will center on the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis, and teams will specifically address issues such as malnutrition, sanitation in refugee camps and education for displaced children. The teams will be advised by an expert in one of the five available topics they choose to address. A panel of judges will award three $500

By DIVYA MANIAR SENIOR STAFF WRITER

JULIA FISHER / HERALD

grants to the teams whose ideas deserve further funding, said Priyanka Shetty ’19, president of the student executive board for Hack for Humanity. HI2 has partnered with other University organizations such as the Brown Design Workshop, the Nelson Center

for Entrepreneurship, the Swearer Center for Public Service and others in order to promote a more interdisciplinary approach to addressing the focus issues. “Humanitarian assistance is an incredibly multidisciplinary field, and » See HACKATHON, page 2

Health Services will now allow its primary care physicians to prescribe medications to students with mental illnesses, a move that aims to help those with mild to moderate anxiety or depression, said Adam Pallant, clinical director of Health Services. As a result of this change, students across the University will experience “less wait (time) for medication management,” wrote William Meek, director of Counseling and Psychological Services, in an email to The Herald. Due to the evolving nature of general health care needs, this change was necessary, Pallant said, citing “the volume or presentation of anxiety and depression (that) has increased across the entire country.” There is a “significant

need” for primary care physicians to be trained to manage the demand for anxiety and depression treatments, he added. For this transition to benefit the community, training Health Services staff to treat students with mental illnesses properly is critical, Pallant wrote in an email to The Herald. “The clinicians at Health Services have committed to honing their skills … and how best to work very closely with CAPS providers to ensure that our approach and back-up supports are in place.” Currently, Health Services clinicians are prepared for this change, given that they are “well-versed and skilled in prescribing medication and following patients with mild to moderate depression and anxiety,” Pallant said. But Pallant said he didn’t want students to have the impression “that every time you want something, you can blow by Health Services and they can give you a psychiatric med.” Students will have to undergo an evaluation by » See HEALTH, page 2

Martinez ’18 breaks four-minute mile barrier Bill allows consent star runs 3 minute, education in R.I. schools Track 59.38 second mile Legislation passes bipartisanly, inspired by recent media coverage of sexual assault By CELIA HACK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Rhode Island House Committee on Health, Education and Welfare unanimously passed House Bill 7044, which allows consent to be included in sex education curricula in secondary schools, Wednesday night. Rep. Joseph Solomon, D-22, introduced the bill in early January, inspired by recent media coverage surrounding sexual assault. Sponsored by five Democratic state representatives, the bill passed in a committee of 13 Democrats and two Republicans, garnering bipartisan support, Solomon said. “Preventing (sexual assault) from happening, that’s something everybody can be on board with,” he added. Current rhetoric surrounding sexual assault was only one of the incentives behind the bill; Solomon himself never received education on consent while in secondary school, which he felt, retrospectively, was a significant problem, he said.

INSIDE

“I felt that a person shouldn’t learn about consent education when they get to college,” he said. “That’s something that they should learn before they go.” Kassandra Fotiadis ’18, lead peer educator for Sexual Assault Peer Education, sees consent education in secondary schools as a primary step in preventing sexual violence. “Tendencies for violent behavior start before (college),” she said. Fotiadis’ only contention with the bill is that it only allows for consent education, as opposed to making it obligatory. That said, mandating consent education if the lessons are unwanted goes against the practices SAPE teaches, she added. “I guess the full accomplishment, for me, would be for K-12 schools to do something related to consent education,” Fotiadis said. “But what that education looks like should depend on the school and the student culture.” Though the R.I. Department of Education does not prevent sex education programs from teaching consent, “from what I hear from people, it’s not being taught at the level where it should be,” Solomon said. Michaela Kennedy-Cuomo ’20, campus organizer for the University’s chapter of It’s On Us, a sexual assault » See CONSENT, page 2

at Boston University Valentine Invitational

By CORMAC CUMMISKEY STAFF WRITER

Most people can remember running a timed mile in gym class, but few can fathom what it would be like to cover the distance in under four minutes. To put such a feat into perspective: There are more than 560 billionaires living in the United States today, but only 510 Americans in history have broken four minutes for the mile. On Saturday, Martin Martinez ’18 became the 509th American sub-four miler, recording a time of 3 minutes, 59.38 seconds at the Boston University Valentine Invitational — good for sixth place in a field that included four professional runners. This record-breaking run made Martinez the first athlete in Brown history to crack four minutes on an indoor track and the first to do so since Greg Whiteley ’89 broke four minutes outdoors. The race was Martinez’s second breakout performance of the indoor season. At the Boston University Terrier Invitational in January, the senior captain won his heat in the 3000-meter race in 7:59 — the second-fastest time in Brown history. Martinez’s marks in

ANITA SHEIH / HERALD

Martin Martinez ’18 became one of the 510 Americans who can run a sub-four minute mile on Saturday, breaking Brown’s outdoor track record. the mile and 3000 are the best in the Ivy League this season, making him a favorite to win one or more individual titles at the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track and Field Championships later this month. For his recent exploits on the track, Martinez has been named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018

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Herald: Congratulations on becoming the 509th sub-fourminute miler in American history. How does it feel to join that exclusive club? Martinez: It hasn’t quite set in. As a distance runner, it’s one of those things that you always think of. When you’re » See MARTINEZ, page 2

Half-million dollar disparity separates Providence Democratic mayoral candidates

COMMENTARY Thomas ’21: Academics should make their research accessible to real world

COMMENTARY Editorial: Transparency and communication essential in BrownTogether fundraising

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» MARTINEZ, from page 1 15, 16 years old, everyone has the goal of being a sub-four miler. I was lucky to be in a good race and be fit when everything came together. What signs in your training indicated that you were ready to run under four minutes? The last few years, (Head Coach Tim Springfield and I have) felt that we’ve been at a fitness level where, given the right race, we could do it. At the first BU meet, we broke eight (minutes) for 3000; I felt good doing that. I knew that I was in a position where I could potentially run sub-four in a few different ways. I just had to get in a race where I had an opportunity to do it. Walk us through the race. The heat was a big mix of talent levels, with a few pros and a few collegians. Going into the race, I was kind of nervous. I didn’t know if I was ready to run with Nike Oregon Project runners. I just went in there with the mindset that I wasn’t thinking about time; I was just thinking about competing. At about 1000 meters in I was

» HACKATHON, from page 1 the goal is for the hackathon to bring together a diverse group of students with a diversity of perspectives,” wrote Program Coordinator for HI2 Seth Stulen in an email to The Herald. HI2 has also partnered with outside groups such as Edesia Nutrition, a nonprofit company that has provided ready-touse foods to over 5.5 million children in 50 countries since 2010, according to the company’s website. HI2 hopes to use the hackathon to connect a variety of student perspectives with professionals working on humanitarian issues. “We’re recruiting students from all different areas,” including policy, international relations, the sciences, computer science and design, Shetty said, emphasizing that HI2 is determined to recruit more students. HI2 “wanted much more direct student involvement with the humanitarian sphere and to bring their ideas to fruition,” she said. Shetty also noted the lack of connections between the world of academia and the realities of humanitarian fieldwork. “You either do research

starting to hurt. Then with 200 to go, I looked up at the clock and saw 3:29, so I was like, “We gotta buckle down here, run a 30(-second last lap).” How did your coaches and teammates react? There was a five-second delay waiting for the time to pop up on the screen and see officially if it was sub-four. Then it was like, “Holy Crap!” I ran over to Tim and gave him a big hug, which is kind of funny looking back. There were some guys on the back bend, so I went over and gave them some high fives. The whole night and the next day, I was getting so many messages from alumni and different guys congratulating me, sharing the experience a little. Because I was the first to do it for Brown, I think a lot of guys I’d trained with felt a connection.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD We were in rural Mexico, so it was farmland. It was all dirt roads. We had access to a 400-meter dirt track that was pretty nice. It was great running. I hadn’t been there in 10 years — since I was about 13. My grandfather had recently passed away, so I figured it would be nice for us to see my grandmother and make sure she wasn’t by herself.

You and a few teammates spent time training in Mexico over winter break. How was the running down there? It was actually in my grandmother’s hometown. Her house is at about 5,000 feet (above sea level); the idea was to get some nice training at altitude.

A labrum tear in your hip kept you out of competition from summer 2015 until fall 2016. While you were sidelined, did you ever doubt that you would regain your previous level of fitness? It was a long climb back. … Prior to my 3000 two weeks ago, I hadn’t (set a new personal record) in two years. I had a big year my sophomore year, then I was injured. Then the year I came back I didn’t PR. Even last cross country season was kind of a disappointment. There were a lot of moments when it was tough. After surgery, I didn’t run for four or five months. It’s tough to go through the rehab and be on the sideline. I don’t think I doubted that I’d come back and give it a shot, but there was a lot of doubt that I could come

here or you go do an internship abroad. Any kind of awareness campaign has its limits because there’s still a very big gap between what you’re doing here and what you’re trying to address,” Shetty said. The hackathon “gives you a chance to actually come out of it with a … real idea. I think it’s a unique way for students to really be able to address the issues more intimately.” Maria Kasparian ’05, executive director of Edesia Nutrition and mentor for the team covering malnutrition, said she hopes the students “can offer some fresh perspective … on some of the challenges we … face on a regular basis.” As a mentor, Kasparian will help the team tackle the various issues related to shipping food to areas in need. Malnutrition leads to “poorer health, illness (and) even chronic disease later in life — things that really impact families (and) communities, as well as countries and whole economies,” Kasparian said. She has spent time in Bangladesh, where Rohingya refugees have fled to escape the violence in Myanmar.“I think I can offer some of the field perspective … in terms of what it’s like,” she said.

Rob Grace GS, an affiliated fellow with HI2, will mentor the group trying to overcome the ways in which humanitarian support is obstructed by groups or governments. “Humanitarian actors have to grapple with securing that humanitarian space so they can operate independent of political forces,” Grace said. Like Kasparian, he will help the group develop new ideas by providing “the framework for the key challenges and dilemmas humanitarian actors are going to be facing in this context,” Grace said. “My hope is that the groups working on this issue can find some creativity within those constraints, (so) that they can think about novel and new ways to grapple with these challenges.” Ultimately, HI2 hopes that students will come away from the event with new perspectives on the complex nature of humanitarian work. “To achieve this, we need to rethink the role that everyday citizens can play in the delivery of humanitarian assistance and, for us here at Brown, this starts with reimagining how we train students to become engaged in critical thinking about humanitarian issues,” Stulen wrote.

back at the same level and get back to where I was prior to surgery. You were originally slated to graduate in May 2017. Why did you decide to stay on and compete for a fifth year? I had the option of graduating in normal time and using my remaining eligibility at a different school, like Ned (Willig ’16) and Will (Sheeran ’16) when they went to the University of Michigan. They’d also had some injuries and decided they wanted to use their eligibility at a more traditional state-style school. When I was injured, I talked with Tim and decided I wanted to finish my NCAA eligibility with the team and the coach I started with. Looking back, I’m happy I made that decision. The coolest part about this has been breaking four with Brown and being the first one to do it. Which events will you run at the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track and Field Championship? Will you race in both the 3000 and the mile? It’s still up in the air. There’s some

» HEALTH, from page 1 Health Services’ primary care physicians that will recommend the courses of treatment, from therapy to medication, that would be most appropriate, he said. Students who require psychiatric medication for conditions that are not mild to moderate anxiety or depression will be referred to a psychiatrist at CAPS, Pallant said. Allowing primary care physicians to prescribe anti-depressants and anxiety medication will foster greater collaboration between CAPS and Health Services by facilitating cross-consultation for students who need both therapy and medication, Pallant added. CAPS and Health Services are always “looking for that next opportunity to weave our work together,” Meek said. “Part of the vision … is to constantly be looking for the next place to build bridges together in the spirit of collaboration.” This cross-consultation will allow students to experience “coordinated

strategy to where you put your guys. A number of college coaches recruited you out of high school. Why did you choose Brown? Brown was the only Ivy I was looking at. I was mostly looking at schools in the Midwest — University of Illinois, Iowa State (University) and (University of) Notre Dame. But it really wasn’t much of a contest; I was set on Brown the whole time. Tim kind of sold me, and the opportunity to go to an Ivy League school was a really big thing for me. What are your plans for running — and life in general — after Brown? Do you hope to extend your competitive track career beyond graduation? Right now, I’m just trying to focus on this season. A lot of it depends on how the rest of the year goes — where my marks end up falling. I think most likely I’ll be done after the end of this year. Ultimately, a few years out, the plan is to apply to law school. Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. care” between CAPS and Health Services, said Vanessa Britto, executive director of Health and Wellness. “We are all a team … so there are mechanisms and processes that we are working on together internally, behind the scenes, (to) facilitate communication,” she added. Previously, only psychiatrists at CAPS could prescribe medications to students to treat mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, Meek said. Their prescriptions were issued after students attended counseling sessions with one of CAPS’ psychotherapists, he added. With the constantly evolving needs of students, improving mental health care is an ongoing process, Meek said. “Practices should constantly be revised to make sure we’re serving students right now.” As collaboration between CAPS and Health Services continues to grow, Britto said their progress would be incremental, but they still have “a lot of really good work ahead.”

» CONSENT, from page 1 awareness and support group, believes the bill will have an extensive impact. “This bill will help kids from a younger age start to recognize what is consensual and what’s not, improve the quality of their interactions and, most importantly, prevent sexual assault, to an extent,” Kennedy-Cuomo said. She also sees the bill as especially fitting for educating high school students. She remembers a culture of non-consensuality in her own high school that she thinks may have been improved by a program that educates students on consent, Kennedy-Cuomo said. “(During) high school, I think there are a lot of sexual encounters which are non-consensual which perpetrators don’t realize,” KennedyCuomo said. “During high school years, many survivors also don’t realize, … ‘Wait, that is really messed up.’”

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

New legislation sponsored by Rep. Joseph Solomon D-22 aims to inform youth about consent during sex education courses in secondary schools. Consent education would give high school students a clearer idea of the conversations they should be having, Kennedy-Cuomo said. It is important to dispel the notion that consent prevents students from

talking or hooking up with each other, she added. Solomon hopes House Bill 7044 will be scheduled for a hearing in the House of Representatives within the next few weeks.

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Issue

In This Alternatives to Apple's Airpods Pia Mileaf-Patel 4

Love According to Hollywood and Reality

bianca stelian 3

Defining "Cushty"

CHARLIE STEWART 2

JULIAN TOWERS 5

Cathartic Trash

postCover by Lisa Fasol

FEB 16

VOL 21 —

ISSUE 3

NARRATIVE

Defining "Cushty"

Beans On Toast and being British the other day someone messaged me asking what “cushty” meant. I’d finished a sentence with the phrase “so that’s all cushty,” which means roughly the same thing as “oh bonza” or “fabby dabby,” which are fun ways of saying “good” while also reminding people that I’m British lest they expect me to develop some sort of actual personality on the spot. Their reply was “huh?” which means “huh?” I did my best to explain. The trouble is, “cushty” doesn’t just mean good, it means good in a sort of relaxed way, a comfortable, easy-going “good” like everything will work itself out. Saving a child from a horrible car wreck is good, finding out his mum is the CEO of a successful takeout franchise and wants to reward you with a lifelong pass for free chicken tikka masala is cushty. Suddenly distracted from my typical midnight pastimes like worrying or masturbating, I set out to find a sufficient definition. If you search the word “cushty” on Spotify, you will happen upon a 2017 album called Cushty by the artist Beans On Toast. It’s an anti-Brexit protest album in the “drunk-folk” genre, a genre seemingly created and exclusively performed by Beans On Toast. To my delight I found out that Beans On Toast isn’t a band, but a man—real name Jay McCallister. Cushty, his ninth studio album, contains songs like “The House that Austerity Built,” “The Ignorant Englishman,” and “I Think Everybody Should be Terrified.” It doesn’t get much more British than a man named Beans on Toast quietly singing in baffled horror about economic anxiety based on isolationist regret. When I searched McCallister on Google images, I found that he looks exactly like what you might expect beans on toast would look like if turned into a human man by an unimaginative child’s wish. It is hard to articulate the joy I felt in that moment. Disappointingly, however, the word “cushty” is not used once in any of his lyrics; I

couldn’t find the true meaning of “cushty” through context clues alone. Once I’d resumed my hunt for the true meaning of “cushty,” I discovered that the word has its recent roots in Cockney slang. I’m from South London, but while all Cockneys are Londoners, not all Londoners are Cockneys. I was born in Croydon, while a true Cockney is a working-class Londoner born within

Letter from the Editor

It doesn’t get much more British than a man named Beans on Toast quietly singing in baffled horror about economic anxiety based on isolationist regret. Dear Readers,

hearing distance of the St Mary-le-Bow church in the East End. Think Michael Caine or Bob Hoskins, and if at all possible forget the attempts of Dick Van Dyke, Mike Myers, and Don Cheadle. Due to the massive hike in central London housing prices within my lifetime, there are few true Cockneys under the age of 40. Despite that, Only Fools and Horses, the 1981–1996 sitcom about the get-richquick schemes of three Cockney geezers, is credited with preserving some Cockney words among a wider British audience, including some of my other favorite terms, like “plonker,” meaning idiot, and “lovely jubbly,” meaning lovely, but with more jubbliness involved. Cockney should not be confused with the United Kingdom’s thousands of other accents and dialects, which just off the top of my head includes Geordie, Mancunian, Brummie, Estuary, Scouse,

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1. The Dead Milkmen

Forever the Sickest Kids

5. Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer 6. Kids in the Way 7. Lucky Boys Confusion

Happy Long Weekend!

Saanya

8. You Me at Six 9. Screeching Weasel 10. Something Corporate

Illustrated by Lillian Xie

By charlie stewart

NARRATIVE

Love According to Hollywood and Reality

They grow closer. She makes him dinner, and in that moment he realizes he loves her. They grow closer. She makes him dinner, and in that moment he realizes he doesn’t like caramelized onions.

"You've got nothing to lose." By bianca stelian

Boy meets girl. In a cute way, like they reach for the same avocado at Whole Foods, or she accidentally takes his cappuccino at Starbucks and their hands meet. Overpriced edible goods are crucial. He asks her out, and even though that big work presentation is coming up, she says yes. “You’ve got nothing to lose,” her devastatingly attractive yet platonic male sidekick says. Boy meets girl. It’s not cute, because she’s mindlessly swiping on Tinder while microwaving a Lean Cuisine. She sends him a GIF, and he responds with another GIF, and their conversation is GIF after GIF until he decides to break the pattern. His sarcasm doesn’t always register over text, but she decides to go out with him anyway. “Don’t get your hopes up for a boy from the internet,” her mom says. They go on a date. The connection is instant—their brunch turns into a full-day affair, somehow visiting every farmers market in the tri-state area without having to stop to pee. But that big work presentation is coming up, so she departs. They go home to their respective roommates and declare they’ve found “the one.” They go on a date. They don’t connect immediately, likely because she’s 20 minutes late, having gone to the wrong restaurant because he had misspelled his suggestion over text. Conversation flows eventually, though—they bond over their shared allergy to shellfish, and he shows her cool pictures from his trip to the Grand Canyon, and she likes that he doesn’t talk about it for the whole dinner. He walks her back to her apartment and kisses her on the forehead, which he thinks is sweet but she thinks is too paternal. Her roommate is asleep.

They open up to each other. She breaks down about her big work presentation. He consoles her, telling her he will be there for her and plans to help her rehearse every day. They open up to each other. He admits his hypochondria and how he thinks he has arthritis. She tries to stop cracking her knuckles for him. She still does it, but he appreciates the effort. Things take a turn for the worse. The night before her big work presentation, he won’t pick up his phone. She calls his best friend, who says he’s at pasta with Margot. Things take a turn for the worse. She sees a picture of him on Facebook posing with another girl. She checks out the girl’s profile and sees past pictures of them together. Still, she perseveres. Aided by the no-nonsense support of her sidekick, she does her big work presentation, and it goes well. He shows up at the end to congratulate her, saying that he didn’t help her the night before because he wanted her to find the strength within. They embrace and declare their love for one another. Due to a writer’s oversight, “pasta with Margot” goes unexplained. Still, she perseveres. As in, she texts him to ask about the girl, and he explains that she’s his cousin. He sends her a heart-eyed emoji to express his thanks for her understanding. They live happily ever after. They break up a few months later when he falls asleep during sex.

He texts her the day after to see her again. They begin dating regularly, and she appreciates his gestures of affection, ranging from a casual run-in with his cousin Usher to having family friend Gordon Ramsay cook them beef Wellington. She realizes that her big work presentation might not be the most important thing in the world. He texts her the day after to see her again. She doesn’t like that he said he wanted to “hang out. “What is this, a playdate?” she asks her roommate, who doesn’t really care—but agrees. Soon, they see each other more and more, and when her mom asks if she’s with anyone, she says, “I think so,” and listens to her mom deliver the classic rant about labels.

"My Bumble be a buzzin'." "My pussy ain't a balanced diet, my friends." "My existence is a social blunder." february 16, 2018(3

Illustrated by Pia Mileaf-Patel

West-Country, South Wales, North Wales, MidNorth Wales, and drunk. The origins of this dialectal diversity can often be traced to immigration to Britain. During the 19th century, the East End saw significant Romani settlement, and with it, several new editions to what would become the cockney dialect. One such contribution was the word “kushti.” The Romani people began their migration from North-West India, the modern Punjab state, nearly 1,500 years ago. Due to the diasporic and insular nature of their often-persecuted community, the Romani language has remained remarkably true to its roots. Before claims of Romani ethnic links to the Indian subcontinent were corroborated by recent DNA evidence, they had been long theorized due to strong linguistic links between the Romani language and both Hindi and Persian. “Kushti” means “good.” Not only that, but the word’s use is specifically linked to bonding between friends, implying a comfortable environment, a bit like saying “that’s great, mate” or, if you’re American, “that’s hella swella, my fella.” Having made this discovery, I at once felt a sense of undeserved accomplishment and entirely deserved uselessness, considering that “good in a sort of relaxed way” was the definition I hazarded back in paragraph two. But it was already 2 a.m.; no going back now. “Kushti” entered England through the Romani language, but it didn’t stay there. Instead, it became part of what is know called Angloromani, a form of dialect broadly using English grammar and structure but with many Romani words. In Romani it’s called “Poggaddi Jibb,” meaning “the broken language.” A few such words have entered American English via Britain as well, like “nark” for an informer, “pal” for a friend, “shiv” from “chivomengo,” meaning knife, and “lollipop,” originally a combination of the words for candy and apple. There are even some seemingly nonsense words that have Romani origins. One Romani nursery rhyme begins “yekeri, akairi, you kair an,” meaning “First—here—let us begin.” This might not ring a bell, until you hear its English corruption: “hickory dickory dock.” Other Romani words that have stayed in British English through similar integration include “chav,” usually meaning a working class young person in sportswear (we’ve had a long time to let our prejudices get awfully specific) which comes from the Romani word “chavi” meaning child, and the word “minge,” which you can look up for yourself. I think the word “cushty” deserves recognition for its complexity. It’s a reminder that ideas of Britishness, and indeed singular cultures of any nation, are bollocks. There’s no such thing as an English word, only words that somehow ended up in England along the way. I know that sounds a bit sentimental, but I’ve been listening to Beans On Toast’s Brexit protest album on repeat for nearly three hours now, and it’s getting to me a little bit. To quote a wise-ish man who may or may not refer to himself as a legume and cooked bread-based dish, “I’m an Englishman, so what would I know, but we’ve got the same bullshit going on at home.”

NARRATIVE

created By Pia Mileaf-Patel

4!post–

LIFESTYLE

Cathartic Trash

Make Some Space for the New Justin Timberlake Album written By julian towers – illustration by erica lewis

february 16, 2018(5

ARTS&CULTURE

un times in post-internet malaise: The big-pop album is not out for another week, in fact, it’s entombed in a miniUSB under Fort Knox, so while you wait, here’s all the disqualifying backlash strung together in a Twitter moment. Excited for Reputation? The roll-out’s been a misread of third-wave feminism. Taylor’s canceled. Younger Now sounds… interesting? Unexamined whiteness returns to its roots. Boycott it. No joke, the night before the Justin Timberlake album even dropped, Pitchfork had already put up a feature telling its readers not to listen to it. If you aren’t in the business of writing about music, and are under no obligation to clothe your family with hot-takes, you might wonder why your reaction is so important that the media would leave you untrusted with it. Thankfully, bad art will always be bad art; the first transgression, the one everyone will register, will likely be aesthetic, and hence, unavoidable. That is, a wackass lead single— always a welcome democratization. In recent memory, the unsettling hostage duress code of Weezer’s “Feels like Summer,” the clueless apologia of Eminem’s “Untouchable,” and the overstuffed-to-unfinished chorus bars of Katy Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm” (sorry, I mean

entirely of that absurd album title. That, as well as the equally absurd way it was announced, via an earnest video that dipped future-sex JT into scenes of unexpected and ill-fitting rural machismo. This was to be… country music? The narrative snapped into place with the release of the first single, an amusingly industrial Detroit funk riff called “Filthy” (when all one had was a tracklist, you’d be forgiven for assuming it was about rolling around in the mud with some pigs). Namely, Timberlake was skipping blithely between black and white musical spheres, retaining the former only inasmuch as it lent this new “rootsier” endeavor crossover appeal, and getting away with it under a patina of goyish caucasian privilege. Which, I mean, yes, that’s true, good job, but also have you heard Madonna’s Music? The album where she took a break from swiping Bowery Disco to put on a cowboy hat and ask us if we “liked to boogie woogie?” Careers built upon an appropriation of black culture have unthinkingly diverted back to a foundational whiteness before, and they will again. That sucks, but preemptively declaring Man of the Woods the “poster record” for racial second-use only serves to shroud the album’s more singular and intriguing awfulness—which, in retrospect, was also predicted in its announcement. Because if your vested interest in Justin

Indeed, Man of the Woods is the sound of Timberlake’s insincerity catching up with him, years of pretty boy coasting changed overnight into midlife panic. “DANCEDANCEDANC-”) have all detonated as equal opportunity landmines, making cheerfully old-fashioned dive bombs on plebeian ear-buds before cultural curators were given the chance to contextualize the little bastards away. That relationship—direct between a musician and a listener—shouldn’t come only once an album cycle. After all, pop stars, in brand and physicality, carry a closer association with their art than anyone else, and much of our delight in listening to pop music therefore comes in measuring their totemic, larger-than-life standing in mass culture. But if we want to keep that culture alive we have to keep listening to the albums released, and the packaged dismissals we see during pre-release cycles risk minimizing such a healthy plurality. So it was that the windswept, barren slipstream between January and February brought us an album rollout that was widely dismissed before any consumer had heard more than a single track: Justin Timberlake’s aforementioned Man of the Woods. Don’t be dissuaded—the album is quite dreadful. But it’s also dreadful in ways that are exciting to investigate, nourishing to consider, and more nuanced than the anti-hype would suggest. For Man of the Woods, the writing on the wall came early, and it may very well have consisted

Timberlake extends beyond his vulnerability to woke takedowns, then you know the leading facet of his career to date has been his incredible insincerity. That is, as a performer. I’m sure JT is a hell of a nice guy (or whatever), but like a lot of early 2000s pop dinosaurs, he rarely comes on like he believes any of the words he’s singing. Whereas his contemporaries often possessed a kitschy self-awareness of this fact (recall that Britney Spears played a fembot in the third Austin Powers), Timberlake’s frequent aspirations toward good taste and respectability saw him working with increasingly forward-thinking productions (from Timbaland, The Neptunes, etc) whose robotic efficiency matched the hollow pastiche of his voice. So a stripped back country album about who Timberlake is? Surely Man of The Woods was to be the final chapter in the violent and exciting death throes of the pop-culture 2000s? Indeed, Man of the Woods is the sound of Timberlake’s insincerity catching up with him, years of pretty boy coasting changed overnight into midlife panic. Taken as a whole, the album satisfies as a karmic deep-dive into toxic male insecurity— inevitable, horrific, and blissfully unintentional— with the rugged iconography functioning as the sad and desperate counterpoint. Just look at the lyrics. “Supplies” creates a last man and woman on earth scenario wherein JT’s genitalia (his “supli-

ie-ie-s,” as it were) are the only hope for the latter’s salvation. “Say Something,” meanwhile, pressures him for a response to past “transgressions,” before the superstar shrewdly decides in the outro that “sometimes the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all.” In “The Hard Stuff,” we learn that it’s the crappy, hard-won relationships that ultimately mean the most, but Timberlake still makes sure to preemptively secure a guarantee from his loved one that she’ll “forgive the things in this life that I have to learn” anyway. And sitting at the center, a smoking gun—a spoken word interlude wherein Jessica Biel directly equates her sense of womanhood with her belonging to Timberlake, to her being “his.” Whether Biel actually wrote and internalized those lines is beside the point. Because it’s an element the artist has incorporated into his art, we’re here to analyze its intention, and the ultimate takeaway is that this is Timberlake constructing scenarios where he can appear a substantial, sincere person. Naturally, his desperation is reflected in the record’s sounds, which are wonderfully flailing and rudderless. Simply going through the tracklist once is a dizzying sensation, with much of the second half blending together—an undifferentiated blur of digital acoustics spooling out over rubbery, tap pad percussion. For comparison, imagine six straight tracks of “Shape of You.” Though that isn’t to suggest the record is front-loaded, either. Coffeeshop playlist entrant “Morning Light” is barely there, seemingly built entirely around handclaps and sustained syllables (“youuuuu,” “dieeeeee”), and “Wave” is a wholesome call-and-response that never generates enough interest to imagine that anyone might bother learning the lyrics. It’s a tacky, garish listen, but it becomes extremely reassuring when measured up against the worrying trends of our current moment (such as, I don’t know, hollow nostalgia acts bogarting undeserved Grammys). Flashy mimics are people too. One day they will desire more than they have, they will reach uncertainly for authenticity, and it will destroy their back-catalog. We’ll look back on Futuresex/ Lovesounds, and all we’ll remember is that Beyonce’s B’Day came out a week earlier. Editor-in-Chief Saanya Jain Feature

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Q U I E T G R E E N I N M I D - F E B R UA RY

MENU SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Cheese, BBQ Bam Bam, Pepperoni, Meatball Provolone, Rosemary JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Chicken Wings Bar, Mac and Cheese Burger

New England Clam Chowder, Three-Bean Chili

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Blackened Flounder, Cilantro Tomatillo Rice, Smoked Chicken and Pepper Jack Cuban

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VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

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Unusually warm February days allowed students to study, relax and socialize on the Quiet Green. Temperatures have ranged from mid-forties to high fifties and will continue to rise in the next week.

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

“I felt that a person shouldn’t learn about consent education when they get to college … that’s something

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that they should know before they go.

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Janus Lecture Series: Open Borders? 5:30 P.M. List Art Building, 120

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International House of Providence

WEDNESDAY LGBTQ+ in MENA 6:30 P.M. Brown Center for Students of Color

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COMMENTARY PAGE 4 • FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Editorial: Ensuring transparency in BrownTogether

E D I T O R’ S N O T E

On Herald editorials Under the tenure of the 128th editorial board, editorials — which represent The Herald’s institutional opinion on current affairs — will be written by the editorial page board, a group of students who have no role in shaping our news content. In line with the policy of the 127th editorial board, we believe that a divide between news and opinions is integral to the work that we do as the newspaper of public record on campus. We would therefore like that divide to be reflected in the way our newsroom operates. To that end, the 128th editorial board — which actively shapes both the conception and execution of our news stories — will not be writing editorials. Editorial page boards that are separate from the reporting side of a paper are a fairly standard practice for most self-styled objective journalistic publications in the United States, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. The idea behind the separation is to ensure that reporters’ and their editors’ only consideration is uncovering the truth, rather than confirming an interpretation of events. The 128th editorial board will continue to use editor’s notes to explain our editorial decisions when required, but we will not use editor’s notes to opine on the news. We hope that this transparency about the division of labor within our office will help increase trust in the integrity of both our news and opinions sections. The editorials produced by the editorial page board will continue to be titled with the word “Editorial” and will appear under the opinions tab on our website. In the print edition, editorials will continue to appear in our commentary pages. Editorial positions are voted on and signed by the entire editorial page board. Under the 127th editorial board, editorials were written by the 127th editorial board. Under the 126th editorial board, editorials were written by the 126th editorial board in the fall and an editorial page board in the spring. Editor’s Notes are written by the 128th editorial board: Elena Renken ’19, Kasturi Pananjady ’19, Alex Skidmore ’19, Julianne Center ’19, Hattie Xu ’19 and Madison Rivlin ’19.

On Jan. 4, the University announced that it had successfully raised more than half of its BrownTogether fundraising goal, collecting over $1.64 billion since the campaign’s official launch in fall 2015. The previous month, the University also announced that it had reached its $30 million target to fund “The Brown Promise: The Future of Financial Aid at Brown,” an initiative to eliminate all loans from students’ financial aid packages. While we commend the University for the extraordinary progress it has made toward these ambitious goals, important questions about the viability of the no-loan policy and the specific allocations of BrownTogether funding remain unanswered. The most publicized part of the BrownTogether fundraising effort is, without a doubt, the Brown Promise. On paper, this subsidiary campaign heralds a new financial future for Brown — one that makes the University a more attractive destination for prospective applicants, eliminates a considerable source of anxiety for current students and promotes a more inclusive learning environment for the entire community. In practice, however, the sustained implementation of a loan-free financial aid policy will likely prove far more complicated. Though Brown Promise’s initial target has been met and the financial aid packages for incoming and current students will not include loans in the next school year, the funds raised thus far only cover the initial costs of the program. Because the initiative costs $4.5 million annually, the Uni-

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versity needs to raise an additional $90 million to make the initiative sustainable in the long term. Even if these additional funds are procured, it is not clear whether the no-loan policy will actually relieve students of the burden of loans. As the experiences of peer universities that have moved to eliminate loans indicate, administrative commitments to loan-free financial aid can still leave aid-receiving students with sizeable loan obligations. In 2008, for example, Yale came under criticism after implementing its no-loan policy because some students still had to take out loans to meet student income contributions — a component of financial aid packages that students themselves are expected to pay. Penn, which also eliminated loans in 2008, faced similar criticism and ended up modifying its policy from “no-loan” to “grant-based,” making loans available on a case-by-case basis. In light of this disappointing track record, the University must provide clarity as to how it plans to implement a no-loan policy that fully eliminates students’ loans and how it will avoid stumbling into the same pitfalls encountered by peer institutions. More broadly, the University has not yet provided a transparent breakdown of how the funds raised under the BrownTogether umbrella will finance all the president’s initiatives. The whole campaign consists of four major categories: the “Annual Fund,” “Education and Research,” “Campus and Community” and “Investing in People.” Of these, “Investing in People” is the larg-

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est campaign bucket, consisting of a third of the $3 billion total campaign — but it has also made the least progress toward its fundraising goal, with only $400 million, or 36 percent, raised out of its $1.1 billion target. Though the University plans to emphasize “Investing in People” in the next stage of the campaign, we are concerned that certain initiatives funded by the BrownTogether campaign — including the hiring of historically underrepresented faculty, as proposed by the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan — still lack visibility. In particular, it is unclear what proportion of the $165 million set aside for the DIAP has been funded and how much money remains to be raised. The project of making Brown a more inclusive, financially supportive institution is an urgent priority. But the University must better communicate to the community how it plans to resolve the challenges its fundraising efforts currently face. BrownTogether has the potential to reshape and elevate the Brown experience for generations to come. In fully and sustainably actualizing this progress, though, there is still a long way to go.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: Anuj Krishnamurthy ’19, Mili Mitra ’18, Rhaime Kim ’ 20 and Grace Layer ’20. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

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COMMENTARY FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018 • PAGE 5

Connecting the Ivory Tower to the real world QUENTIN THOMAS STAFF COLUMNIST The classes I’m taking this semester have me circling back to this one thought: How applicable is the stuff I’m learning in the classroom to the real world? We’re so fortunate to attend a place like Brown. Only a small minority of us will ever get the chance to receive a college education, live in an intellectual environment and explore many of our interests without fear of professional failure. But the work we do in academia might not serve its ultimate purpose — of shaping the world around us for the better — if it excludes or alienates people who don’t have the privilege of being able to afford a degree. The broader purpose of the university and the knowledge developed there — as distinct from service work or community outreach — is to push society forward. But we can’t do that if society as a whole — particularly those who don’t have the privilege of secondary or postsecondary education — is left uninvolved in the production and consumption of that knowledge. There are different ways in which “academic knowledge” — the kind of theoretical discourse and inquiry that professors write about and students are assigned as course readings — fails to translate in the real world. Let’s take structural racism, for example. The study of this system is performed largely by academics working to understand why and how people of color are subjected to structural disadvantages. While this information can be used by some to help address oppressive practices, those whose experience with structural racism is less abstract and more experiential ultimately get the

short end of the stick. If you went up to someone on the street and asked them if they understood how structural racism was operating on them, they might not be able to offer the kind of response that would be deemed “articulate” in some college classrooms — or they might not have even heard of the term before. In this instance, there’s a disconnect between the way we, as college students, talk about an issue and the way that issue functions in real life. Another example of the inapplicability of “academic knowledge” is the difficulty of bringing information from the classroom into everyday conversation. You might have been in a situation

complex and important topics. And while I feel like I’m grasping the information — as is expected of a Brown student — I often wonder how my understanding of these topics can actually be helpful to someone experiencing something like inequality in the educational system firsthand. As it turns out, I’m not the only one questioning academia’s purpose. According to one study, 58 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believe that colleges and universities negatively impact our country. Although there are other factors contributing to this number, that so many Americans are skeptical of higher education still reflects a

ucation — producing knowledge that helps people and creates change in the real world, not just in classrooms — and critically determine whether or not this purpose is being achieved. While Brown has taken significant steps to enhance the community-oriented nature of many courses, the Brown bubble remains a prominent feature of academic life here. And if we cut ourselves off from life outside of that bubble and talk about the world’s problems in abstract terms, it’s difficult to see any real change coming about. This past weekend I attended the Black Solidarity Conference at Yale. The “solidarity” of this conference was

If the work being done in the academy is producing knowledge that’s only accessible to those within the academy, how much good can possibly come from it? where a friend or relative back home says something harmful that you feel needs to be addressed. But, in moments like these, trying to correct your friend can come off as condescending, because the kind of discourse promoted on college campuses assumes a basic understanding of social justice that hasn’t actually been afforded to everyone. These examples point to the importance of bridging the gap between academia and the real world — especially when it comes to issues of equity and justice. If the work being done in the academy is producing knowledge that’s only accessible to those within the academy, how much good can possibly come from it? As a student studying the humanities and social sciences, I’ve been inundated with articles and books tackling

negative perception of academia’s place in society. Clearly, the relevance of the university and “academic knowledge” to the real world isn’t evident to a lot of people — and this unfortunate pattern has to be recognized and rectified. The fact of the matter is that outside of Brown, the world looks very different. While on College Hill we might encounter readings by Kimberlé Crenshaw and Michel Foucault, outside of the Van Wickle Gates, over 70 percent of prison inmates cannot read above a fourth-grade level. And, though we may think that racism can’t possibly persist on Brown’s campus, just last week racist flyers were posted near Brook and George Streets. With these realities in mind, we must remind ourselves of the true purpose of higher ed-

rooted not in our commonalities as college students immersed in academia. Rather, it was the experiences and personal stories that were shared by those at the conference that really resonated with us and brought us all closer together. Everyone in attendance was allowed and empowered to share from their own lives, rather than regurgitating what they’d read in a certain text for a class. The value of these contributions was just as significant and powerful as anything any theorist anywhere could write. With this honest, experiencebased storytelling comes a tremendous ability to mobilize people to solve important issues instead of just discussing them. It became clear to me that the most effective knowledge isn’t always academic, or rooted in complicat-

ed philosophical texts — it can take the form of lived experience, and we should value it as highly as any essay or dissertation. At the end of day, members of academia have to consistently ask themselves this question: What is the point of learning about the problems of the world if the world is excluded from the change-making process? Developing knowledge that has the potential to be helpful but making it inaccessible to those who need it the most renders that knowledge unproductive. We must remember that life outside of academia is very different. As such, researchers studying the experiences of people should do more to make sure that the research they do is beneficial to those they’re researching. For instance, if you’re studying a problematic dynamic within a specific community and you find evidence to support your hypothesis, you’re obligated to do more than publish your paper and revel in the accuracy of your research. You should try to take steps to help the community to remedy the problem, instead of simply studying it and returning to the ivory tower to have your conclusions circulated exclusively amongst academics. Only by identifying our own privileges as members of academia and by committing ourselves to supporting vulnerable communities can we start to bridge the gap between academia and the real world and fulfill the promise of the university.

Quentin Thomas ’21 can be reached at quentin_thomas@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@ browndailyherald.com and opeds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are back GEORGE KLEIN SPORTS COLUMNIST The Cleveland Cavaliers hit rock bottom just nine days ago. In an 18-point loss to the horrible Orlando Magic, the Cavaliers looked old, unmotivated and selfish. Many wrote the team off as title contenders, especially in light of Cleveland’s 32-point blowout loss to the Houston Rockets the weekend before. But little did we know that in nine days’ time, the Cavs would be one of the hottest teams in the NBA and favorites once again to reach the Finals. With consecutive victories over the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder, it is safe to say that the Cavaliers are back. On Feb. 8, hours before the trading deadline, General Manager Koby Altman agreed to trades that dramatically altered the course of Cleveland’s season. After three deals, out were Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye, Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose. To Cleveland, meanwhile, came George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. Incredibly, half the team had changed in the space of an hour. More incredibly, it seems to have worked. The losses of Thomas and Crowder were additions by subtractions already.

Thomas had worn out his welcome in Cleveland thanks to an inability to keep his mouth shut. Calling out teammates and talking candidly to reporters is fine for someone playing like an MVP candidate. But needless to say, Thomas’ comments, such as, “When adversity hits, we go our separate ways,” were not well-received by fans and other Cavaliers while he was averaging 14.7 points per game on dreadful 36.1 percent shooting from the floor. LeBron James dispassionately stood around watching Thomas miss

players were only dragging the rest of the team down and had to go. Wade, Rose, Frye and Shumpert were not big losses either, though their interactions with the other Cavaliers were far more peaceful. Cleveland lacked the athleticism and energy to compete with the league’s best — and none of these players were helping. Clarkson and Nance have plenty of youth and explosiveness, however. Nance hits the boards with unbridled enthusiasm, winning the team extra possessions. His eight offensive re-

pacted positively by the four new guys. J.R. Smith is shooting the ball well for the first time all season, and his activity all over the floor has improved. James has refocused and has stopped turning the ball over so much — he put up 37 points, eight assists and eight rebounds against the Thunder. Cedi Osman, inserted into the starting lineup, has been a revelation. The rookie from Turkey has hustled his way into fan-favorite status. Kevin Love is not even on the court right now because of his hand injury,

When their all-star forward is back, Cleveland will be more dangerous than ever — and no Eastern Conference team will be favored over this bunch. shot after shot, with perceptible derision in his eyes. Cavaliers fans booed him off the court after his woeful performances. Reporters hounded the point guard after games. Crowder, like Thomas, was not the same player that he was in Boston. He never found a rhythm in Cleveland and struggled to make even open layups, let alone three-pointers. In the aftermath of the trades, reporters described Thomas and Crowder standing off in the corner of the locker room away from their other teammates. The two

bounds against OKC were big reasons why the Cavaliers came out victorious in the tough road game. Clarkson, meanwhile, can create his own shot and drive quickly to the basket. He fulfills the role that a 36-year-old Wade was trying his best to manage, and the difference is noticeable. Rodney Hood and George Hill, on the other hand, can make the threepointers that Thomas and Crowder were missing, while providing muchneeded defense. Even the players that were already on the team have been im-

and the Cavaliers are beating some of the league’s top teams. When their allstar forward is back, Cleveland will be more dangerous than ever — and no Eastern Conference team will be favored over this bunch. The Toronto Raptors stand on top right now heading into the All-Star break. But this is a story we have seen before. The offensive system may incorporate more ball movement and threepointers than in previous years, but the important personnel remains the same. The Raptors have a deep bench, but

that becomes less important in playoff games when rotations shrink. DeMar Derozan and Kyle Lowry will decide this team’s fate, and with Lowry having a down season (16.5 PPG, 6.4 APG, 5.7 RPG), I wouldn’t bet on their chances. The Boston Celtics have hit a wall, as their recurring offensive struggles are finally starting to lose them games. Kyrie Irving is terrific, Al Horford is the xfactor and Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are exciting young players, but will the Celtics score enough to last deep into the playoffs? Judging off their past few games against worthy opponents, the answer is no. And who else remains — the Washington Wizards? Milwaukee Bucks? Philadelphia 76ers? Make no mistake, Cleveland is the best team here. Of course, the Golden State Warriors are still out there and would beat any Eastern Conference team in four or five games, but let’s leave that problem for a later article. The Cavaliers are just too much fun right now to worry about Steph, KD, Klay and Dray.

George Klein ’20 can be reached at george_klein@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2018

Mayor Elorza's campaign funds exceed competitor's by half million Democratic candidate Kobi Dennis hopeful despite budget disparity for 2018 mayoral race By SOPHIE CULPEPPER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

As of the final fiscal quarter of FY ’17 the difference in campaign funds between Providence Democratic mayoral candidates Mayor Jorge Elorza and Kobi Dennis is over half a million dollars. Challenger Dennis raised $18,690 and has $2,641.33 remaining after expenses, while Elorza raised $698,449.96, with $664,229.67 after expenses and liabilities. Well-represented among Elorza’s donors are employees of local law firms; about 12 of his contributions for the last fiscal quarter have come from employees of Locke Lord LLP alone. Elorza has more than 10 individual donations of $1,000 dollars, which is the most an individual or political action committee can contribute to a candidate in a calendar year. Dennis, one the other hand, has received three one-time donations of $1,000 in the same time period. Dennis, a community activist who worked on Elorza’s first campaign, said this difference “doesn’t worry (him)

at all.” “I have yet to reach out to any PACs. I have yet to reach out to any unions, because I literally want this race — my portion of the race — to be about the people,” Dennis said. His campaign fundraising is structured around smaller grassroots events tailored to families and youth instead of high-budget campaign events, he added. “All these huge, elaborate campaign fundraisers, all this money in the bank — and what is that doing for the person that doesn’t even have money to pay their rent? What is that doing for the young person that is struggling with college bills?” he said. Dennis, as reported in a previous Herald article, sometimes frequents nightclubs to campaign, given his interest in reaching out to the 18- to 24-yearold demographic, he said. He stressed the importance of being proactive in convincing youth to engage with politics. “Night clubs, basketball games, arcades, skating rinks — I go everywhere,” he said. So far, he is pleased with having registered “dozens” of voters, including several first-time voters, he said. Many “politicians spend a disproportionate amount of their time raising money, and they end up talking to a very narrow segment of society trying to raise that money — and so they hear about certain concerns of the donor

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Mayor Jorge Elorza’s has raised $698,449.96 for his re-election campaign, with $664,229.67 after accounting for expenses and liabilities. class that might not be the concerns of wider society,” said John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, an organization that advocates

“to limit the role of money in politics.” Dennis said that rather than the “physical” amount of money a candidate has raised, the “perception of money”

plays an important role in Providence politics. Money gives an impression of political legitimacy, he added. “I don’t think that not having enough money can ever make a candidate not legitimate,” said Rose Lang-Maso, membership director of the Brown Democrats. In terms of money for the day-today operations of the campaign, Dennis said that “according to the statistics, you would need at least $100 to $200,000 to be a formidable opponent in a mayoral race for a city of our size.” Dennis’ goal is to raise $100,000 to $150,000, first and foremost to just “cover the costs” of the campaign, he said. He has yet to secure campaign headquarters and a campaign manager, Dennis added. “Money is necessary to run an effective political campaign where the candidate can get their message out,” Marion said, emphasizing the importance of sufficient funding for advertising for a campaign. Dennis remains undeterred. “I want to get those voters that have never been interested in the process, that have never been interested in politics,” Dennis said. “So I’m going about it the old-fashioned way; I believe in the Democratic process. I’m going to trust it. I’m going to trust that every vote counts.”

R.I. eyes medical marijuana expansion Increasing number of dispensaries projected to raise $5.1 million in revenue for state By JACK BROOK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The number of medical marijuana dispensaries in Rhode Island could increase from three to 15, raising $5.1 million in projected revenue, according to a new budget proposal released by Gov. Gina Raimondo Jan. 18. When it comes to medical marijuana, “we lag far behind in comparison to the rest of the country,” said Norman Birenbaum, principal policy and economic analyst for the state’s medical marijuana program. In states with legalized medical marijuana, there is an average of 1,400 patients per dispensary, but in Rhode Island, there is an average of 6,000 patients per dispensary, Birenbaum said. Raimondo’s plan for the expansion of the state’s medical marijuana program also allows people suffering from acute pain to receive recommendations from physicians that would enable them to use cannabis products. Acute pain refers to the “normal, predicted onset of pain,” Birenbaum said. Patients could access marijuana to recover from surgery or while recovering from a car accident, for example, he added. Expanding the availability of medical marijuana could help prevent opioid addictions, since opioid products are often prescribed after surgeries and are addictive after three days, Birenbaum said. According to Raimondo’s budget proposal overview, there were 233 opioid overdose deaths in Rhode Island in 2017. “The more we can get away from opioids, the better it is,” said Nadir Pearson ’19, founder of the Student Marijuana Alliance for Research and Transparency. “Cannabis is not physiologically

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Gov. Gina Raimondo’s new budget proposal aims to increase the availability of medical marijuana and reduce opiod use. addicting the same way opioids are, and you won’t get physical withdrawal symptoms.” Licensing more dispensaries will also help ensure greater regulation as well as safer products and purchasing, Birenbaum said. While there are over 60,000 registered home-grown plants, there are only 9,500 plants in the three dispensaries, he said. Medical marijuana production could then be handed over to dispensaries to “make sure patients don’t have to buy from (the) black market or grow from homes,” Birenbaum said. But some believe that Raimondo’s proposal does not go far enough in its efforts to expand the marijuana industry. According to Morgan Fox, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, the state is being short-sighted by refusing to legalize marijuana recreationally when other nearby states, like

Massachusetts, have already done so. The continued prohibition of recreational use “is going to rob the state of financial benefits and put a strain on law enforcement for enforcing laws against behavior that should be legal,” Fox said. Though it has been legal since 2006, medical marijuana is not considered a prescription drug because the federal government still classifies cannabis as a Schedule I drug, Birenbaum said. Doctors can therefore “recommend” but not prescribe medical marijuana, he added. “It is treated like over-the-counter medicine in Rhode Island and taxed at a 7 percent sales tax,” Birenbaum said. But prices will be lowered due to expanded competition with more dispensaries and patients will have to travel shorter distances to reach one, he added. “The overall theme is making sure regulated medicine is more accessible,” Birenbaum said.

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