SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 22
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
UNIVERSITY NEWS
SPORTS
Ashish Jha to lead White House COVID-19 response
Women discuss being athletes after Title IX
Dean of School of Public Health to take leave to lead US pandemic response BY CALEB LAZAR UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR President Joe Biden has selected Dean of the School of Public Health Ashish Jha as the next White House coronavirus response coordinator, according to a community-wide email from President Christina Paxson P’19 and Provost Richard Locke P’18. In the short-term special assignment, Jha will lead the U.S. government response to the COVID-19 pandemic and advance the nation’s global health priorities and policies, according to the email. “We are thrilled that this appointment brings a top scholar and highly-regarded Brown academic leader to White House service, offering a prominent illustration
of the ways in which the University can make a positive impact on domestic and global issues of significant consequence,” Paxson and Locke wrote. “Ashish will bring to President Biden and our nation what he has successfully brought — and will bring back — to Brown: an unrivaled commitment to improving public health equitably, effectively, creatively, with heart and a commitment to science,” they wrote. “The work he has begun at the School of Public Health will continue with the strong team he has recruited and the full support of the University.” In a March 17 statement, Biden outlined the country’s priorities in its continued response to the pandemic — including approving a vaccine for young children, improving COVID-19 responses at schools, distributing tests and masks and fighting the virus and its variants abroad. “Dr. Jha is one of the leading
SEE JHA PAGE 9
Brown Athletics alumni describe competing, working in maledominated fields BY ADIZA ALASA STAFF WRITER The implementation of Title IX on June 23, 1972 marked the first time women athletes had access to an even playing field with their male counterparts. Despite this, discrimination and doubts about the validity of female athletics persisted. The Herald spoke with three female alumni who were athletes at the University when Title IX was enacted. These women discussed perseverance in the face of adversity, how athletics empowered them and the ways their experiences at Brown impacted their lives beyond College Hill. Pioneering women’s athletics: Nancy Fuld Neff ’76 Nancy Fuld Neff ’76 is the daughter of two collegiate tennis players. In
TRACY PAN / HERALD
Nancy Fuld Neff ’76, Jo Hannfin ’77 and Siri Lindley ’91 describe having formative experiences in athletics at Brown. high school, she played girls’ basketball and volleyball. But her school did not offer girls’ tennis, so Neff played on the boys’ team. The boys and coaches on Neff’s high school tennis team were supportive of her, even advocating for her to be considered for the boys’ scholar-athlete award after she had already won the accolade for girl athletes. With no locker rooms for female tennis players at her school, Neff’s male teammates would hold up towels to give her privacy
to change after practices. Neff and her father even attended the father-son dinner every year. Opposing teams were less than receptive to Neff’s position on the boy’s team. One coach — who initially refused to play the match because Neff was on the team — later berated his players for “losing to a girl,” Neff recalled. Neff was interested in continuing athletics in college, but because Title
SEE ATHLETES PAGE 2
METRO
ARTS & CULTURE
Essential reads for Women’s History Month Five novels written by women through time portray complex female relationships
Local organizations discuss working to support women, achieve gender equity
BY AALIA JAGWANI SENIOR STAFF WRITER Ninety-five years after Virginia Woolf published her thoughts on the lack of representation of relationships between women in literature, these concerns still ring true to an alarming degree across modern media. “All these relationships between women, I thought, rapidly recalling the splendid gallery of fictitious women, are too simple,” Woolf wrote in “A Room of One’s Own.” “Almost without exception they are shown in their relation to men.” Most Hollywood movies still fail the now well-known Bechdel Test — to pass, a film must have at least two women in it who talk to each other about something other than a man. The test itself is by no means an adequate measure of how media should portray women. If anything, it only makes the muchtoo-frequent failure of movies to meet the criteria more disquieting. Not only are fictional women portrayed disproportionately in regards to
Women’s advocacy groups in RI discuss outreach
BY ELYSEE BARAKETT STAFF WRITER During Women’s History Month, several Rhode Island nonprofits are targeting their efforts toward various issues that disproportionately impact women — including representation in leadership, discrimination in the workplace and childcare. The Herald spoke with three organizations about the different ways they promote women’s rights.
ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD
men, they are very often pitted against each other — whether it’s in a love triangle or as a “pick me girl.” For every
Batman and Robin or Sherlock Holmes
SEE READS PAGE 7
University News Metro
Metro
Brown Venture Prize winners take home $50,000 in prizes Page 3
State Rep. introduces bill to eliminate cash bail payments Page 11
Pop-Up PVD offers curated thrift store collections Page 4
Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Kelly Nevins, the CEO of Women’s Fund RI, said the organization’s mission is to “invest in women and girls through research, advocacy, grant-making and strategic partnerships designed to achieve gender equity through systemic change.” The organization is working on a fundraising campaign that supports a new program for women leaders
in government. Nevins said that the group works to provide hard skills for newly elected leaders such as negotiation strategies, greater comprehension for reading budgets and understanding Robert’s Rules of Order, a guide of norms for leadership. “Women often feel (that) because they’re the only female voice in the room … they’re getting a lot of pushback from the folks that have been in the room for a long time,” said Nevins. “We want to provide a coaching framework behind them, so that they feel stronger as they start to build their power in these new spaces.” Another aspect of their work is helping these leaders avoid burnout. “It can be really frustrating and lonely to be the only or one of the few women at the table, and we want to be sure that they stick around,” Nevins said. The nonprofit also runs various programs to promote gender equity in the workplace, according to Nevins. The wage gap and wealth gap partially stem from women not knowing when or how to negotiate their salaries and for certain useful benefits, she said. WFRI helped pass the Fair Pay
SEE WOMEN PAGE 12
TODAY TOMORROW
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DANA TONEVA ’24 DESIGNER JULIA GROSSMAN ’23 DESIGN EDITOR
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ATHLETES FROM PAGE 1 IX had not yet been introduced, funding for women’s sports was limited. “You didn’t really pick a school based on the sports opportunities,” Neff said. Neff chose to attend Brown because of its liberal environment. Her arrival on campus coincided with the introduction of Title IX in 1972. Between her enrollment and her graduation, women’s sports opportunities on campus grew from four to thirteen programs, she explained. After Title IX, women’s sports “changed completely overnight,” Neff said. Neff played on Brown’s women’s tennis team and posted 44 victories in the 50 matches she played, captaining the team her junior and senior years. She also joined the women’s basketball team when it was established in 1973 and was the team’s second highest scorer her senior year, averaging 12 points per game. Though opportunities for women’s athletics on campus improved, Neff and her teammates were still responsible for raising their training and travel funds, she said. In her freshman year, Neff approached Arlene Gorton, the women’s athletic director at the University, and protested the state of women’s athletics. Neff recalled telling Gorton, “This is a woeful program here — not just Brown but everywhere.” Neff and Gorton developed a friendship over the years. “I was very grateful because she really pushed for Brown women’s athletics more than anyone I know, at least in those years,” Neff said. Neff carried the lessons that she learned playing sports at Brown into her professional business career. “You learn in sports not to take things personally,” Neff said. “It’s helpful not to take things quite so personally but to listen to the constructive criticism and then move on.” After graduating from Brown with a degree in political science, Neff attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and then entered investment banking. As an investment banker, Neff found herself in a field dominated by single men. She faced numerous challenges at her company, being denied adequate maternity leave and having to draft her own leave policy. She eventually left investment banking after eight years to devote more time to raising her three children. Neff has served on Brown’s Athletic Advisory Council, which supports the athletic director and advocates for athletics with University leadership. She is currently a member of the Women’s Leadership Council and is co-chair of the Council on the College, which examines various academic priorities for undergraduates. Neff also serves on the Board of Trustees for Randall’s Island Park Alliance in New York. In her spare time, Neff still plays tennis at Randall’s Island Park. A leader in athletics and medicine: Jo Hannafin ’77 Jo Hannafin ’77 grew up in Fall River,
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
Massachusetts. She and her siblings were the first in their family to attend college. Hannafin chose to explore her academic interests — particularly biology — at Brown, drawn to the newly established Open Curriculum. While Hannafin participated in swimming and basketball in high school, she entered Brown uninvolved in athletics. A first-year hallmate who was a recruited varsity swimmer convinced Hannafin to walk onto the JV swim team, though she soon found that swimming was not the right fit for her. In the fall of 1973, one year after Title IX was introduced, one of Hannafin’s classmates convinced Gorton to establish a women’s rowing team. Hannafin had no experience in rowing when Brown’s program launched. Prospective rowers used the fall semester to learn the sport before commencing official training in the spring. Hannafin was recruited to the program by Lynda Calkins, who had been Hannafin’s swimming coach and was the first head coach for the rowing team. When the first female rowers at Brown began training, they did so under crude conditions, Hannafin said. “They had the old tanks in those days where you would sit in a room and push water around in a circle.” Hannafin and her teammates were stuck training in these tanks for almost three weeks because the men’s head rowing coach would not permit a woman to take a launch boat out on the water, according to Hannafin. The men’s coach ultimately hired Peter Amram, who would coach Hannafin for the duration of her career at Brown along with Calkins. “When we had a male coach who was allowed to drive the launch,” Hannafin said, “that’s when we finally made it out on the water.” Bouncing back and forth from JV to Varsity throughout her college career, Hannafin’s performances on Brown women’s crew were solid, but not indicative of what she could achieve at her peak. “I was not a superstar (at Brown) at all,” Hannafin said, “but I knew that I loved” rowing. After graduating, Hannafin pursued an MD-PhD at Dartmouth while continuing rowing at an even higher level. Upon moving to Hanover, New Hampshire for the PhD portion of her degree, Dartmouth’s head women’s rowing coach offered Hannafin the opportunity to train with her and other former Olympians. This sparked the beginning of Hannafin’s journey of competing at an international level. “I learned to train at a level that I had never experienced before in terms of intensity,” Hannafin said. “We trained thirteen times a week.” Hannafin then went to attend Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx so she could continue working with her PhD thesis advisor from Dartmouth. Hannafin juggled her intense training schedule with that of medical school. “I didn’t really talk about it, I just did it,” Hannafin said. “Those were the two things that were most important to me.” Hannafin, who wanted to pursue
rowing beyond her educational career, was denied entry to the New York Athletic Club, a boathouse near the Bronx, without the company of a man. But Hannafin persevered. She teamed up with another woman, acquired boats and rowed on Long Island Sound daily. After witnessing their commitment, the New York Athletic Club changed its mind and offered the two women a temporary place at their boathouse. A male coach at the club saw potential in Hannafin and recruited her to train with a group of men. Competing with and against elite male athletes who had international rowing experience challenged Hannafin in a unique way, she said. “That’s what launched me to winning some national championships.” Hannafin’s highest rowing achievement was finishing second at the World Championships in 1984. The following year, she started her residency and had to reduce her level of competition to devote more time to her medical career. Though initially intending to become a pediatrician, Hannafin decided to pursue orthopedic surgery. Inspired by the work she did alongside a surgeon who treated her knee injury, Hannifan decided to work with athletes. Hannafin specialized in sports medicine and was the National Team doctor for the U.S. Rowing Team for 27 years. “It was my way of giving back to a sport that had really helped make me who I am,” Hannafin said. “I was used to being around intense, competitive men and learned in years at the boathouse how to fit in with that group of people,” Hannafin said. “I held my own by being good at what I did and working hard and being accountable.” Hannafin started her orthopedic surgery career at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City as a fellow in 1990 as one of two women on the staff. She and the other female doctor recognized that they were seeing numerous female patients who sought them out for second or third opinions after not being treated with respect by male doctors. In the mid-nineties, Hannafin and her colleague founded the Hospital for Special Surgery Women’s Sports Medicine Center, the first women’s sports medicine center in the country, which has grown to have five surgeons, five primary care doctors and a rehab medicine physician. Hannafin and her team’s doctors have cared for Olympic Women’s rowing, basketball, track and field, skiing and snowboarding teams. Hannafin retired from her practice in June 2021, but she said that the institution continues to thrive. She is now the vice chair of the Institutional Review Board for the Hospital for Special Surgery, for which she oversees orthopedic work and evaluates patient outcomes. “Gratitude was a bridge from despair to hope”: Siri Lindley ’91 Siri Lindley ’91 originally committed to attend Princeton due to pressure from her family, but she ultimately rescinded her acceptance so she could attend Brown. “My heart was saying ‘I
want to go to Brown, Brown’s the school for me,’” Lindley said. “I was so happy (with my final decision) because Brown just fit me like a glove.” Lindley was a member of three varsity teams at Brown — field hockey, women’s ice hockey and women’s lacrosse. Despite her athletic prowess and academic success, she battled anxiety during her college years. Her internal struggle with mental health led her to major in psychology. “On the outside, people thought I had it made,” Lindley said.“But on the inside, I was really struggling, so I wanted to study psychology to try and figure out ‘what’s wrong with me?’” Lindley used her athletics and her studies as an escape from the mental turmoil she endured. “My sports saved me,” Lindley said. “My classes that I loved saved me.” Over time, she learned to shift her perspective and overcame her mental health difficulties. “I started focusing on what I had,” Lindley recalled, “what I loved and what I wanted to create in my life.” Lindley’s field hockey coach at Brown, who was also the lacrosse coach, initially discouraged her from playing ice hockey because the seasons overlapped. For her first three years, Lindley refrained from playing ice hockey — what she considers her best sport of the three — to avoid having to sacrifice the other two. Her senior year, Lindley decided to defy expectations and tried out for the women’s ice hockey team. Lindley remembered thinking, “I can’t imagine graduating from here and not having played ice hockey,” she said. “That was one of the main reasons I refused Princeton — to play ice hockey” at Brown, she added. Lindley walked onto the women’s ice hockey team during her final year at the University and continued playing the other two sports she loved. “It was my favorite year out of all four years because I was able to fully engage in the things that made me feel so alive,” Lindley said. Playing three sports her senior year proved to Lindley that she could push herself beyond her perceived limits. Lindley remembered thinking, “I want to decide what story I want to live in this life, and I want to say that anything is possible,’” she said. Playing a third sport was “a defining step in my life.” Seeing a friend race in a triathlon inspired Lindlet to pursue this new sport that combines swimming, biking and running. She began participating in triathlons upon graduating in 1991. Lindley sought refuge in the competition after being rejected by her father after coming out as gay. “At that time, I really needed a vehicle through which I could find a love for myself,” Lindley said, “a worthiness from within, a trust in myself.” Competing in triathlons was entirely new to Lindley, yet she embraced the challenge of mastering new skills. “I didn’t know how to swim, never really rode a bike before and (my skills in) running consisted of chasing after a ball on the field hockey or lacrosse field,”
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
Lindley said. When Lindley finished last place in her first race, she decided she was going “to be the best in the world,” Lindley said. Eight years after setting this goal, Lindley became the World Champion in 2001. “That was the impossible dream coming true,” Lindley said. “When I achieved that goal, I think for the first time in my entire life, I felt a love for myself … that I had been searching for for a lifetime.” Lindley retired in 2002 as the No. 1 ranked triathlete in the world — a ranking she maintained until April 2003 despite no longer competing. She then began coaching elite-level triathletes. As a female athlete at Brown in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Lindley and her teammates were still fighting for equal opportunities in sports. While this challenge continued in her coaching career — as the sport was male dominated — Lindley looked at her role as a female coach as an opportunity. “I’m so happy that after my time (at Brown) there were people … who took on that fight and made it a lot more equal now,” Lindley said. With Title IX, Lindley recalled feeling supported as a female athlete. “It felt really special to be a female athlete at Brown,” she said. “It felt like we were celebrated, supported. We were taken care of.” In addition to coaching athletes, Lindley is a life coach who emphasizes the power of women. Though Lindley has faced plenty of adversity in her athletic and professional careers, she said her greatest challenge came two years ago, when she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. After receiving a bone marrow transplant and undergoing a clinical trial, Lindley overcame the disease. “Gratitude was the bridge from despair to hope,” Lindley said. In the face of her illness, she focused on the support from her family and friends, doctors who were treating her and donors who were saving her life. “My story was not going to be this tragedy where I die of leukemia,” Lindley said. “My story was going to be that this was my most beautiful triumph.” “Life’s not happening to you,” Lindley added. “Most of the time, life is happening for you, and you get to create every single experience and how that plays out.” Today, Lindley speaks publicly around the country for prominent author and fellow life coach Tony Robbins. She runs the Siriusly Authentic Squad through which she offers individuals life coaching. Lindley is married to Rebekah Keat, an Ironman Champion, and the couple operate two nonprofit organizations that rescue horses from slaughter. Lindley attributes her athletic success, matched by professional and personal triumphs, to her experience at Brown. “It’s because I went to Brown,” Lindley said. “Who you start becoming at Brown truly is laying the foundation for all the greatness, all the magic you bring into this world in the future.”
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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UNIVERSITY NEWS
Student startup AtomICs wins first at 2022 Brown Venture Prize 2022 Brown Venture Prize Pitch Night awards $50,000 to three finalist ventures BY JUSTIN LEE CONTRIBUTING WRITER On Thursday evening, the seven finalist teams in the 2022 Brown Venture Prize gathered in Alumnae Hall to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win $50,000 in prizes. The Brown Venture Prize aims to “empower the most advanced entrepreneurial ventures by Brown students,” according to the competition’s website. The first-place prize of $25,000 was awarded to AtomICs, a startup employing molecules to store data and perform computations led by Dana Biechele-Speziale GS, Selahaddin Gumus GS, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Brenda Rubenstein ’07 and Associate Professor of Engineering Jacob Rosenstein ’05. Dream!N, an online gaming and socializing platform, won the second-place prize of $15,000, and COmmunity ADherence, a digital healthcare platform that links a smart pillbox to a mobile app and notifies users to take their medicine, won the third-place prize of $10,000. Cinemates, a platform providing community-based movie and television recommendations, was voted the fan favorite venture by audience members. Teams were assessed based on their “potential to create ‘impact at scale’” by
nine Brown alumni who have “founded and led companies across many sectors and scaled their ventures to valuations in the billions affecting millions of people worldwide,” an advertisement for the event read. The teams behind the three winning ventures also gained access to an extensive network of mentorship and support, as well as a free trip to New York City to meet with business founders, venture capitalists and other entrepreneurs, according to the prize’s website. After brief opening remarks from Executive Director of the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship Danny Warshay ’87, each of the seven teams pitched their ventures for four minutes and answered questions from the judges. Following the pitches, the judges deliberated and selected the three prize winners. The Herald spoke to members of the winning teams after the event. “I’m so excited (to win the prize),” said Yifei Wang ’23, who presented Dream!N on behalf of his team. We practiced “hundreds of times” prior to presenting our venture, and we “learned a lot” too, from becoming “more clear about what (our team wants) to do” to how we “conduct our product.” Rose Engler ’22, a leader of COAD, said she was “super proud of (her) team and everything (they had) accomplished,” noting that her team’s business “started only six months ago.” By participating in this competition, Engler said that she realized the importance of “just going for it.”
JUSTIN LEE / HERALD
The Brown Venture Prize aims to “empower the most advanced entrepreneurial ventures by Brown students,” according to the competition’s website. Though the five remaining teams did not win any prizes, members of these teams were still pleased with their overall experience as finalists. Maggie Bachenberg ’22 and Trisha Ballakur ’22, the team behind Pointz Mobility, Inc., an app which maps safer biking and scooter routes, shared how “happy” they were to be “part of the event and (to) take the time to showcase our work and see everybody else’s work.” In particular, Ballakur, who performs a lot of “technical” work as a computer science concentrator, loved the opportunity “to practice (her) confidence” and
“speaking skills.” The event — the first in-person Brown Venture Prize Night in two years — drew many excited students, staff and community members. Alexander Margulis, chief operating officer of Mansfield Bio-Incubator, a Massachusetts-based company providing lab space, connections and resources to biotech startups, came to the pitch prize night to “network with labs and startups.” “Brown is a key part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region, and I’d like to be part of it,” he said. Rui Pu GS and Vanessa Garcia GS,
master’s students in the School of Engineering’s Program in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, attended the event on their professor’s recommendation. In addition, they wanted to “see how people pitch their ideas in real life” and “learn how (the founders of these ventures) found their current co-founders,” said Pu. Many of the teams hope that the pitch night will only be the beginning of growth for their ventures. “We’re really grateful for this opportunity, and we’re going to be doing this full time,” Bachenberg said. “We are not going anywhere.”
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
METRO
Pop-Up PVD: coming to a sidewalk near you Owners discuss getting started, upcoming events, future business plans BY RHEA RASQUINHA SENIOR STAFF WRITER A walk down Power Street last summer might have led you to a casual driveway pop-up, with music playing as people perused clothing racks. Those informal pop-ups have now become Pop-Up PVD, a traveling thrift shop that features vintage clothing and local artists. Pop-Up PVD, originally named Pop-Up on Power, was started in June 2021 by Luke Dermody, Olivia Gerrits and Jacqueline Jutras, all recent college graduates from the Northeast now living and working full time in Providence. Most of the trio’s wardrobes are thrifted clothing, and after they individually started selling vintage and resale clothing online, they came together to hold in-person sales, Jutras said. The pop-ups started in driveways, and after receiving an “overwhelmingly positive response,” they expanded to more structured events and have worked with businesses, she added. “We plan to do more casual driveway pop-ups, but this summer we’re definitely focusing on partnering with local businesses,” Gerrits said. Dermody serves as the team’s operations manager, Gerrits works as the creative director and Jutras works in social media management. All three
also serve as “pickers,” meaning they look for and curate clothes for the popups along with three college students: Cole McGill, Samuel Lynch ’23 and Brian Martin. “If you show up to one of our pop-ups and you purchase an item, one of us picked out that item,” Jutras said. Picking is done at local thrift stores, including Savers, Salvation Army and Goodwill, along with flea markets and other stores in New Hampshire and Connecticut, said Dermody and Gerrits. Other clothes are donated from friends and family, and the team also focuses on reworking old and thrifted pieces. These sources have brought a great variety of clothing options to the pop-ups: “We all have different styles ourselves, so when someone comes to a pop-up, there’s something for everybody,” said Gerrits. The team is also working to collaborate with local businesses and artists. “The vision we have is bringing in more local artists and making it more of a well-rounded shop beyond just clothing,” Dermody said. A significant amount of time is put into preparing the pop-up events, Dermody said. Clothing has to be cleaned, hung and tagged, along with transporting everything and putting up flyers around the neighborhood, which is how many people learn about events, Dermody added. The pop-ups also feature some handmade components, such as Pop-up PVD clothing tags. With more events, the team has had to source clothing more frequently and manage inventory, which has posed storage challenges. The trio has had to store clothing in their apartment due to the volume. “It’s a big group effort, and we’ve gotten better and better every
RHEA RASQUINHA / HERALD
time at streamlining,” Gerrits said. After the preparation is complete, event days are one of the highlights of running the thrift shop, Dermody said. “I think that casualness is what the community really picked up on and liked about it.” Because resale can be expensive, Pop-Up PVD tries to keep prices fair, Jutras explained. The team also had one fully free pop-up and are aiming to do another, though these events are usually very short as items are quick to go, Gerrits added. After running pop-ups on Power Street and collaborating with Fashion@ Brown for the Fall Fashion Fair, PopUp PVD has a new line up of events in various campuses and businesses. This weekend, they will be having a mini pop-up at Mojo Cafe in Hoboken, New
CA L E N DA R
Jersey, where Demobody and Gerrits are from. Other upcoming events include pop-ups at the University of Rhode Island on April 20, Fashion@Brown’s Spring Fashion Fair on April 22 and events at Pizza Marvin and Kow Kow during the summer, though the list is not yet finalized. According to Jutras, thrifting has become more popular recently among young people. “My impression is that the city is definitely pro-thrifting and sustainable fashion,” Gerrits added. After learning about the store through some friends, Chloe Perel ’23 has become a regular at Pop-Up PVD’s events. In order to moderate her own direct consumption, she has tried to do more thrifting and looking for secondhand apparel, though this is not
as accessible to everyone on campus. “There’s no thrift store on Thayer Street,” she said, and most students don’t have access to cars. Calista Manuzza ’23 also learned about the pop-ups through friends, adding that Pop-Up PVD has “a lot of different types of pieces, and they also have accessories.” After attending a thrift and small artist sale on Wriston Quad last semester, she said that she thinks that thrifting is continuing to grow in popularity. Perel also noted that, beyond clothing, the pop-ups feature the work of local artists. “It’s quite the variety and I think there’s something for everyone regardless of your style or taste in clothes,” she said. “The people that do it are some of the coolest people you’ll ever meet.”
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FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | POST-
post-
MAR 18 — VOL 29 — ISSUE 5
FEATURE
5
See Full Issue: ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH
NARRATIVE
A Life Well Lived
saying goodbye to my first car by Liza Kolbasov If you were to go through my search history right now, you would find the following question, posed on a Tuesday night at 8:36 pm: how do you write a good eulogy? According to my research, an effective eulogy should highlight a few experiences of your loved one's life that matter the most. You should commemorate their personality traits, repeat their most memorable stories, and honor their accomplishments. You should try to capture their "ripple": how they affected change in their community. TJ—Thomas Jefferson, formally—was my family's 2004 silver BMW station wagon. He was my dad's greatest love; he was the car my brother and I learned to drive in...
Happy Little Sounds of ASMR
finding community in strange sensations, objects, and sounds by Joyce Gao
illustrated by John Gendron As a child, I loved having my friends explain math to me. It was never really about the content, but rather about how the pen traced geometric shapes and scribbled equations, how my friend would look up from time to time to ask if I understood. I liked to focus on the tip of the pen leaving a trace of ink, the light dent it created as it passed by, and the sound of it skillfully scraping against the paper – that sound, especially that sound. It sent hundreds of little shivers down my back in a deeply relaxing way. None of the math registered in my head, but I discovered an understanding of something else: a weird but pleasant sensation that people were just starting to put into words. Turns out, while I was still asking friends in elementary school to teach me math, people on the internet were starting to discuss similar strange,
pleasant sensations under a post titled “WEIRD SENSATION FEEL GOOD”. Many said they feel a tingly sensation that travels from the back of their head and down the spine when they hear or see certain things, like whispering, paper crinkling, or hair brushing. The discussion soon led to short videos on YouTube, like the now iconic whispering videos by WhisperingLife ASMR and SoothingWhisper. From their voices – exuding calmness in spite of the rasping of the microphone – the phenomenon of ASMR was born. I formally discovered ASMR from a short video on Instagram: a strange clip of a pair of slender hands gently tapping on a wooden surface. Slowly, one finger dropped after another, each polished fingernail landing on the wood to create a firm, slightly muffled sound...
ARTS & CULTURE
Optimism, Hedonism, and Hair live life like an '80s movie by Malena Colon
“The eighties were the best time to be alive,” my dad always tells me. He’s a teacher on the cusp of 50 who shoots hoops in his driveway daily like he’s still 17. When we first moved to my hometown, my dad got a mohawk and made a scene. But then the mohawk faded and the talk died down, and he became known as that driveway basketball man from the house on the corner again. Forget Reaganism. And the AIDS crisis...
LIFESTYLE
Spring Forward post- mini crossword 2 by Ethan Pan
“I mean… EVERYONE is just trying to have an orgy” “Cone of shame. Cone of secrets!”
Boobps 1. L-oop holes
6. And I oop–
2. Oops, I Did It Again
7. Froot l-oops
3. “Oops… I ran into you and dropped all my books haha!” *tucks hair behind ear*
8. The bigger the h-oops…
4. Boobps 5. Alley oop post–
Want to be involved? Email: kyoko_leaman@brown.edu!
9. “Boop-oop-a-doop” –Betty Boop 10. Gr-oop projects
ACROSS 1 Carla Lalli ___, former Bon Appétit food director and '94 alum
DOWN 1 Dance violently 2 "No good" leader 3 Brown housing (or
6 Brown ___ Productions, currently producing
browns, for a chef ) 4 Buds that love spuds
Sweeney Todd 7 A transition between stories? 8 Neigh sayer 9 Timid
5 Snow man in your inbox
March 18, 2022
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
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FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
EDITORIAL
The Student Government Association — new changes, old problems At the end of last semester, the leadership of Brown’s three branches of student government — the Undergraduate Council of Students, the Undergraduate Finance Board and the Class Coordinating Board — came together to form the Student Government Association, which aims to improve communication between the groups. This is a step in the right direction for Brown’s student government, fostering cooperation between the three organizations. Among other changes, SGA plans to standardize its election policies and timelines, a student government code of conduct and an impeachment and removal processes. We hope it also will end the squabbling between branches that has done little to help the students these organizations are meant to serve. The 2021 referendum reclassifying CCB as a branch of student government co-equal with UCS passed with 70.2% of the vote. The referendum ending UFB’s subsidiary relationship to UCS passed with 62.13%. Students want more cooperation and less quarreling over definitions and hierarchies. But SGA is no cure-all for the biggest problem facing student government at Brown: student engagement. This has been a long-standing issue. This board bemoaned it in 2013, and we do so again today. After all, the most recent student government election, for the class of 2025 first-year UCS representatives, had a measly 35% turnout. In general, student apathy is a major issue — 41% of students polled in fall 2021 by The Herald indicated having “no opinion” on UCS. To their credit, current SGA members have foregrounded concerns about student engagement in their reforms. UFB Chair Akilesh Raman ’22 has justified the SGA on grounds that it makes it “easier for students to understand what we’re doing.” UCS Vice President Sam Caplan ’22 described plans of both a shorter campaign season and a brief open platform event in place of a debate as measures to reduce fatigue and increase engagement among the student body. We support many of the steps SGA is considering. Running UCS, UFB and CCB elections in one cycle is a long-overdue change that will streamline election processes. We likewise agree that the shorter campaign cycle and speedier open forum event — so long as they don’t lapse into shallowness — will reduce student fatigue. But sustained student engagement requires more than just election reform and good intentions.
must do more to reach students. While UCS provides many opportunities for students to get involved, these tend to cater to students who are already interested in or enthusiastic about student government. UCS continues to overlook the students who are unwilling or unable to jump through the hoops it requires for involvement — joining a committee, obtaining voting member status, making time for weekly meetings — but nonetheless deserve to have their voices heard. UCS general body meetings are open to the public, but at their first meeting this semester, the schedule reserved just 10 minutes for “open discussion” after almost an hour of parliamentary proceedings. At best, this is inconvenient. At worst, this could limit students from speaking out altogether. Despite students passing a Transparency and Accountability Referendum last year, UCS has felt neither transparent nor accountable. The referendum stipulates that branches of student government “release a semesterly priorities document to define overarching goals for the semester” and “report semesterly on their accomplishments, including but not limited to, the number of students served via events or other services, progress on initiatives and changes to their code of operations.” But this board was unable to find any reports from UCS more recent than fall 2020. If these exist, they should not be so hard to find. For UCS — and all branches of student government — holding the door open is not enough. Student representatives must step out into the community whenever possible. For example, open hours in the Blue Room are a much more effective method for student government to engage with the average Brown student than through a general body meeting. Student government is at its best when it meets students where they are, both literally and figuratively. Of course, reaching students is no easy task. As this board has acknowledged before, students also have a responsibility to engage with student government. And the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even harder for a well-meaning student government to connect with the community. Nevertheless, as SGA builds ties between branches of student government, it must also build ties with the student body. —Editorials are written by The Herald’s Editorial Page Board. This editorial was written by its editor Johnny Ren ’23 and members Catherine Healy ’22, Caroline Nash ’22.5, Augustus Bayard ’24, Devan Paul ’24 and Kate Waisel ’24.
In particular, UCS, as the branch most responsible for addressing student concerns,
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FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
READS FROM PAGE 1 and Dr. Watson, there’s a Serena and Blair fighting over Nate or a Maddie and Cassie fighting over Nate — again. While the same disparity is present in literature — from the patriarchal society of Jane Austen’s England to Toni Morrison’s repressive midwestern towns — many women in these novels have found a safe haven from patriarchal society in friendships with other women. “What is friendship between women when unmediated by men?” Morrison asks in her foreword to “Sula.” Although this question has been answered to varying degrees over the years, the resulting conversations have not been nearly frequent or loud enough to break through the “catty woman” or “mean girl” tropes that still dominate modern fiction. In an attempt to counter this narrative, here are five novels that feature female friendships that are complicated and far from perfect, but also nuanced, powerful and crucially “unmediated by men.” “Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen “Sense and Sensibility” follows sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood within their upper-crust English society. Like all of Austen’s novels, “Sense and Sensibility” is — at least in terms of plot — about marriage. But there is a reason Austen has persisted in popularity through the centuries: she holds a mirror up to society, simultaneously exposing its ugliness and its warmth. And “Sense and Sensibility” is full of both. At the heart of the novel is the relationship between Elinor and Mari-
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS anne — their individual arcs eventually lead to the reconciliation of drastically different worldviews. Elinor and Marianne embody “Sense” and “Sensibility” respectively, and their relationship is as complex as the tensions between the two faculties. In fact, Marianne’s ultimate epiphany at the novel’s climax is essentially a realization of her respect for her sister. While it is not uncommon for Austen to portray an irreplaceable sisterly bond — like that of Jane and Elizabeth in “Pride and Prejudice” — “Sense and Sensibility” is arguably her most striking investigation of how far sisterhood can be tested and her most profound celebration of its boundlessness. “Sula” by Toni Morrison “Sula” is Toni Morrison’s poignant attempt at answering her own question: What does a female friendship look like when it is unmediated by men? The friendship between Sula and Nel reaches a level of intensity that becomes transcendent — it gives them an escape from the intersectional systems of oppression that dominate their world. “In the safe harbor of each other’s company they could afford to abandon the ways of other people and concentrate on their own perceptions of things,” wrote Morrison in “Sula.” When Sula and Nel are together, they are no longer subjected to the hierarchical gaze of society, which relegates Black women to the bottom rungs. “Because each had discovered years before that they were neither white nor male, and that all freedom and triumph was forbidden to them,” Morrison wrote, “they had to set about creating something else to be.” Their friendship also acts as an es-
sential part of their personal identities — Morrison’s women are not defined in their relation to men, but in terms of a relationship independent from men, a bond built and fostered by women alone. This in itself was revolutionary, but what makes Sula such a radical testament to the power of female friendship is Nel’s realization at the end of the novel that she missed Sula far more than her husband, following years of separation from her sister. With four reflective words, Morrison captures the depth of their friendship, which supersedes the bond of marriage: “We was girls together.” “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Moshfegh “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” does not portray a wholesome or healthy friendship. The relationship between the unnamed narrator and her best and only friend Reva is dysfunctional, to say the least — but this novel thrives on dysfunction. The narrator decides to put herself into a pill-induced year-long hibernation for “self-preservation.” Her repulsion for Reva — for her bulimia, neediness and tendency to quote selfhelp books — becomes clear from the very beginning of the novel. In fact, her merciless descriptions of Reva throughout the novel are matched only by the mercilessness with which Moshfegh criticizes the narrator herself. Through the characters’ selfishness, there is a sense of loyalty and attachment that persists between the narrator and Reva. And through layers of intoxication and isolation, they are the only real connection in each other’s lives. But none of this is redemptive, and their relationship borders on sa-
domasochism. Still, it is not the influence of a man that makes their relationship toxic. Their dynamic is terrible because they are terrible people — and as simple as that sounds, it is a shockingly rare phenomenon. The one-dimensionality of female characters is equally prominent in negative portrayals of women as it is in positive ones — it’s almost always “a woman scorned” or some rivalry over men. So Moshfegh’s depiction of female friends is absurdly refreshing even as it is fittingly twisted. “Beautiful World, Where Are You” by Sally Rooney Rooney’s first novel, “Conversations with Friends,” portrays an intense, homoerotic and fluid relationship between two women, Frances and Bobbi, through college. Alice and Eileen, her protagonists in “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” are on the cusp of their 30s and have already moved past this overwhelmingly intense phase. For a significant part of the novel, they are in different cities, communicating only through long emails about everything from the man Alice meets on a dating app to the rise and fall of civilizations. Like all of Rooney’s protagonists, they are hyper-intellectual: Rooney turns emails into an art form with the same adeptness as she did normal conversations in her first two novels. Her characters meticulously break down the nuances of the large, sometimes abstract notions in these emails, yet their attempts to communicate and empathize with each other on a personal level often ends in failure or frustration. But their tenderness and deep respect for each other never wavers. Their lives may diverge but their emails remain
7 a shared space over the years, even throughout the pandemic lockdown toward the novel’s end. Friendships between adult women are particularly sparse in fiction, and Rooney captures acutely Alice and Eileen’s careful preservation of intimacy through the course of their lives. “City of Girls” by Elizabeth Gilbert “City of Girls” is significantly breezier than the others on this list, but it is a vibrant celebration of female sexuality and friendship. Set in a pre-World War II New York City, the book follows Vivian Morris as she leaves behind suffocating upper-class morals to live with her Aunt Peg, the black sheep of her family. What follows is a glamorous romp through the 1940s — one that is full of alcohol and sex but also an all-consuming friendship with the “goddess-like” showgirl Celia Ray, which ends in a calamity that is also the novel’s turning point. The second half follows Vivian’s far more meaningful growth over the next few decades, as she finds steady friendships with women that she eventually grows old with. Gilbert’s women are vibrant, while her men fade into the background. The novel’s structure is a case in point. Written as a letter from Vivian to the mysterious character Angela, it is an inherently female space. Despite being drastically different from each other and often less than perfect, all five of these novels depict powerful, multifaceted friendships between women. It is easy to buy into stereotypical narratives of drama, betrayal and cattiness in female relationships. But in actuality, women have been building connections that transcend patriarchal limitations throughout history, in literature and in life.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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METRO
RI students reflect on changes to masking in schools Decision prompts mixed reaction from students, public health community BY ELYSEE BARAKETT STAFF WRITER Masks became optional March 7 for most school districts in Rhode Island after Gov. Dan McKee lifted indoor masking requirements in schools, The Herald previously reported. The mandate applies to all districts except Providence Public School District, the largest district in the state, and Central Falls School District, which has been among the communities hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision follows a trend of other states lifting mask mandates for schools following the national decrease in cases and severe COVID-19 symptoms. Philip Chan, consultant medical director at the Rhode Island Department of Health and associate professor of medicine at the University, explained that with low levels of COVID-19 in the community, it is safe for the public to be maskless according to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Masking restrictions depend on the community’s infection rate, which is currently low in many areas of Rhode Island, Chan added.
Chan explained that community members should continue to take precautions to limit the spread of the virus, such as staying home when they feel sick and testing when experiencing any symptoms. Schools should ensure that they have proper ventilation, he said, adding that transmission is less likely when people gather outside. Students should also mask when cases are high in schools. Jassell Medina is a student from Cranston High School East, where masks are now optional. Medina feels that the decision is a bad idea. “People can feel really uncomfortable,” she said. “They’re not going to be able to prioritize their learning when they’re concerned about their health.” Medina estimated that 80% of students at Cranston East still wear masks. She explained that masking has not really impacted her experience as a student, and that it is important to be considerate of students who may have high-risk individuals living in their homes. “It’s annoying,” Medina added. “I don’t want to wear a mask either, but I’m going to do what is right.” Chan explained that there is not a lot of COVID-19 transmission in K-12 settings. “Out of all the students who were impacted with COVID (in Rhode Island), only about 5% had contacts in or thought maybe to have gotten it from the K-12 setting,” Chain said. “That means that 95% of the K-12
setting gets COVID from the community” as opposed to in the classroom. Even with low infection rates, Chan added that “children in general are affected to a much lesser degree by COVID.” Demi Egunjobi is a sophomore at Classical High School in Providence, where masking is still mandated. “I was so thankful that they decided to keep masks because COVID is still definitely a big problem,” Egunjobi said. “It’s also frustrating because you still see people that (treat the mandate as) optional. You see people in the hallways that don’t wear their masks or are wearing them below their nose. It’s really frustrating because COVID is still happening.” After winter break, Egunjobi said she saw a spike in COVID cases and a lot of people missing school, adding that the mask mandate is “absolutely necessary.” The same week Providence Schools reopened, Rhode Island saw a minor spike in COVID-19, with just over 3,000 cases per 100,000 people. Medina added that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the quality of her education. Medina, her siblings and her friends have all had to miss significant class time due to COVID. “COVID completely changed our lives,” she said. “It’s been a roller coaster.” Though she initially faced difficulty registering other students’ expressions beneath masks, Egun-
ELSA CHOI-HAUSMAN / HERALD
Cranston High School East student Jassell Medina estimates that 80% of her classmates still wear masks. jobi said that she and her peers have mostly gotten used to wearing masks at school. Egunjobi added that her experience has been impacted by her school’s testing requirements, which include testing at the beginning of each week during class time. This sometimes hinders student learning and class pace, she said. Chan commended school boards
and the state for being proactive and aggressive with their precautions in reopening. The state’s decision to remove masks was made in consultation with the Rhode Island Department of Health as well as state and school leadership. He said students should choose whether or not to wear a mask based on their comfort level, adding that masking is a personal and school decision.
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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JHA FROM PAGE 1 public health experts in America, and a well-known figure to many Americans from his wise and calming public presence,” Biden said in the statement. “As we enter a new moment in the pandemic — executing on my National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan and managing the ongoing risks from COVID — Dr. Jha is the perfect person for the job.” “For all the progress we’ve made in this pandemic (and there is a lot) we still have important work to do to protect Americans’ lives and well being,” Jha wrote in a tweet. “So when (Biden) asked me to serve, I was honored to have the opportunity.” Jha will succeed former coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients, according to the statement from the White House. Jha will take a leave from the School of Public Health beginning April 5 to assume the position. The University will announce an interim dean for the School of Public Health in the coming days, according to the email by Paxson and Locke. VICTORIA YIN / HERALD
In his role as the next White House coronavirus response coordinator, Ashish Jha will lead the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and advance national global health priorities and policies.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
ARTS & CULTURE
Fashion Week ends with F@B’s 12th Annual Runway Show F@B’s hosts largest show to date, Granoff Center’s biggest event of the year BY RYA VALLABHANENI SENIOR STAFF WRITER Brown Fashion Week came to a close Thursday night with Fashion@Brown’s biggest show to date. Every seat of the Martinos Auditorium in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, where the event was held, was filled for “Threads and Threats,” the club’s twelfth annual runway show. Fishnets, gauzy skirts and sexy evening gowns were on display. There was beachwear, metal sheets and head drapes fashioned out of linked chains. Models even donned a pair of earmuffs and a white ski mask made of yarn. The show, which was held in front of a crowd of over 200, opened with a few remarks from F@B’s three co-presidents, Emma Rosenkranz ’23, Sydney Taub ’22 and Celia Heath ’22. Each thanked club members for all of the time and energy they had devoted throughout the year, explaining how the experience was integral to their lives at Brown. The runway show, according to Rosenkranz, was the biggest event the Granoff Center held this year. It was the product of an organization, which counts over 320 Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students, made up of 12 different departments that cover all areas of the fashion industry. The club’s membership, according to Rosenkranz, is the largest it has ever been. When she first joined during her freshman year, it numbered only around 100. She described the opportunity to see such growth as “one of the most rewarding experiences.” Planning for the event began in July and ramped up at the start of the spring semester as the event date neared. Rosenkranz estimated that she had dedicated roughly 33 hours per week to F@B since February began. “It’s basically like a full-time job,” she said. As one of the club’s three presidents, her main role is to oversee everything from
JULIA GROSSMAN / HERALD
The culminating runway show featured 24 designers. Fashion@Brown has grown from 100 to 320 Brown and Rhode Island School of Design students, according to Emma Rosenkranz ’23, one of F@B’s presidents. budget requests to lighting design to ensuring that hair and makeup remain on schedule. The Design Team also extensively prepared for the show in the past months. Co-director of Design Sebastian Immonen ’23 described preparations for the runway show as a yearlong process. “Remaining on the Design Team is actually really hard work,” Immonen said. The runway show’s 24 featured designers all had to attend workshops, as well as participate in F@B’s winter event, “Intertwine.” In addition to the designers, F@B also relies on all of its teams including Graphic Design and Photography to put together the event. “I think the biggest challenge has been … bringing this massive club together to produce one single blowout event,” Immonen said. Due to public health restrictions, last year’s runway show was held virtually. While the event was largely successful, this year’s in-person experience, according to Heath, was different. “It’s definitely higher stakes, higher pressure,” she said. “And a lot more work, but all so worth it.” Rosenkranz agreed, adding that “it’s been so lovely to actually be in-person with the people that you’re talking to literally 20 times a day.” Although each collection main-
tained a common theme — one designer focused on blue and gold accents, for example, while others sought a less than fully-clothed approach — they incorporated many different styles, ranging from knitwear to grungy black outwear to sweatshirts and other everyday wear. One focused on floral patterns, while another opted for elaborately scaffolded skirts. “There’s a lot of interesting collections that are in a direction that I wouldn’t expect,” Immonen said. “Like Y2K, and mythical, grassy vibes, and really anything in between.” Freedom and diversity in design is one of F@B’s core values, according to Heath. “I think people sometimes forget that fashion is so much more than just what you wear,” she said. “It’s really a way to express yourself, and an outlet for your identity.” Immonen echoed this sentiment and placed emphasis on the fact that fashion, at Brown, depends on teamwork. “The students here, having not gotten much sewing training, rely on each other,” he said. Immonen added that the strength of the Design Team, and club as a whole, is really what the runway show is meant to display. “I want everyone
to see that power that we have as a collective.” “There’s no other place on campus or degree that provides what we do,” Rosenkranz said. She explained
that its diversity, free workshops and accessibility to all Brown students is really what makes F@B such a vital group on campus. “It’s a pre-professional organization, and I think that it’s such a great introduction and educational experience,” she added. “It’s really the focal point for anyone interested in the industry.” The 12th annual runway show ended with one last moment for F@B’s models on stage, walking together to show the entirety of the year’s collections then exiting to cheers. The models were then joined on stage by their designers. Each was gifted with flowers by F@B’s presidents, who were all seated in the theater’s first row. Thanks were given to the entire club, flowers to some of its senior designers, and thus “Threads and Threats” came to a close. “I’m genuinely inspired by the hard work that each of these designers put into their pieces,” said F@B member Pranav Gundrala ’25, who watched the show from the audience. “I was taken aback by the personality and creativity on stage.”
JULIA GROSSMAN / HERALD
The runway show was the biggest event the Granoff Center held this year, according to Emma Rosenkranz ’23.
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FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2022
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Bill to end cash bail introduced in RI House Judiciary Committee Community organizations, officials comment on controversial bill BY EMMA MADGIC SENIOR STAFF WRITER Late in the evening during a March 3 hearing in the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee, State Rep. Leonela Felix, a Democrat representing Pawtucket, introduced a bill to eliminate cash bail in Rhode Island. The bail system is an exchange of some form of security — usually monetary funds — for release from jail in order to ensure the attendance of the individual at subsequent court hearings. Rhode Island previously passed bail reform in 2008, when “cash only” bail was eliminated “except in cases of failure to pay restitution to victims of crime,” according to testimony submitted on behalf of the Public Defender’s office for the Judiciary Committee hearing. Today, cash bail can still be imposed as bail in combination with other non-monetary conditions, according to the testimony, such as “field and community supervision.” The cash bail system criminalizes poverty, Felix told The Herald, because it discriminates against those who cannot pay to be released from jail following a misdemeanor charge. Even one or two days in jail can have devastating repercussions on a person’s life, she added. Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, the New England progressive governance director of the Rhode Island Working Families Party, described the burden this can place on some individuals. It can have “a huge impact for folks being able to maintain a job, pick up kids, maintain family commitments, provide care for relatives,” he said. “All of this can lead to increased recidivism and can be really devastating for people’s lives.” “It’s preposterous for us to say okay,
you’re innocent until proven guilty, but because you can’t afford the $100 or $200, we are going to keep you in prison until you are able to come up with the money or until we determine that you’re not guilty,” Felix added. Controversy surrounding bill Written testimony by Kathleen Kelly, general counsel for the Rhode Island Supreme Court, characterized “the language of the bill (as) overly broad and ambiguous,” adding that “such application would create an unacceptable risk to the public at large and the victims of the accused.” Felix’s responsed, “I call BS.” She said the refrain that ending cash bail would endanger the public is a “common misconception.” The bill eliminates cash bail for “every person who is subject to any misdemeanor criminal process.” Misdemeanors are less serious than felonies and are generally punishable by under twelve months of jail time. Sid Wordell, executive director of the Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association, agrees with the stance detailed in the general counsel’s testimony. “We’re really opposed to the idea of a blanket ban on cash bail,” Wordell said. Because there are different levels of misdemeanors — some presenting more of a threat to public safety than others — a blanket ban removes the Court’s ability to make an informed decision about whether to require cash bail based on that information, he added. The general counsel’s testimony also said the bill “removes the general discretion of the Court in making bail determinations based upon facts, public safety concerns and the prior criminal history of the accused.” Felix pushed back on this claim. “The only discretion that we’re removing is putting monetary conditions on a person,” she said. The Court can impose a variety of other conditions on an individual, Felix explained, including probation, an ankle bracelet, counseling or rehabilitation and community service. “Cash bail has been imposed ar-
bitrarily, and I do not trust the Court to be the one to actually make things right,” Felix said. She explained that strict guidelines are necessary because the criminal justice system has disproportionately inflicted harm on people of color. “If we don’t set parameters in terms of what judges can do, then how are we to effectively effectuate reforms in the system?” she added. Wordell, on the other hand, believes the Court’s discretion in assigning cash bail is necessary. While he noted “there was a time when cash bail was always required,” he said the Court now has more flexibility to determine “if cash bail or otherwise is appropriate. And we think it should stay that way.” But Wordell is not against any changes to the cash bail system. “We strongly believe that if there could be reforms to continue with the judges and how they would (determine bail), we would support that,” he said. He noted that RIPCA also supports other measures to address widespread issues in the system, such as “justice reinvestment,” or strategic investment in social services as an alternative to criminal justice expenditures. Organizations in support of the bill Several community organizations are supporting the bill by organizing testimony and garnering public support. Anusha Alles, a community organizer for Direct Action for Rights and Equality’s Behind the Walls prison reform campaign, testified in support of the bill during the Judiciary Committee hearing. “DARE is based on the south side. We’re working with Black and Latino communities, low- income communities who have experienced decades of state neglect, under-resourcing and the blight of mass incarceration,” Alles said in her testimony. “I urge you to pass this without delay for the sake of our people and in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of people across the country who are suffering behind bars because they cannot afford bail.” The American Civil Liberties Union
JULIA GROSSMAN / HERALD
The bail system is an exchange of some form of security for release from jail in order to ensure the attendance at court hearings. also supports the bill. According to ACLU of Rhode Island executive director Steven Brown, “the ACLU has long been concerned about the abuse of the bail procedure to keep people in prison while they’re still presumed innocent.” He said the burden of cash bail disproportionately falls on low-income people, who are incarcerated “simply because they can’t afford small amounts of money” to put towards bail. Brown added that this “serves no purpose other than to make things more difficult for the individual in a lot of ways.” Cash bail primarily presents difficulties for working class individuals, Sobrinho-Wheeler said. If you have the means to pay cash bail, Sobrinho-Wheeler said, “you don’t have to be in jail before trial, you’re able to go back and work a job, pay rent and do family duties. But if you don’t, you’re stuck in jail until trial.” Brown emphasized the Court’s different options to motivate attendance at future criminal hearings, including probation or a monitoring system such as an ankle bracelet. “It’s a matter of getting some judges out of the routine of first looking to impose monetary bail rather than looking at other less discriminatory conditions when presented with somebody whose been charged with an offense,” Brown said. The Rhode Island Public Defend-
er’s office submitted written testimony outlining key arguments to support the bill’s passage. According to the Rhode Island Public Defender’s office, the proposed legislation is part of a movement of reforms being implemented throughout the nation. Courts have held that cash bail practices violate “equal protection and due process of law” and legislative efforts have focused on ending monetary bail to alleviate its “unique hardships,” including adverse effects on the “housing, education (and) employment” of those affected, the defender office wrote in their testimony. According to a fact sheet written by Felix, evidence from Washington, D.C. and New Jersey — two places that have essentially eliminated cash bail — shows that people still show up for their court appointments after being released without cash bail. While Alles acknowledged the need for short-term reforms such as the cash bail bill, she emphasized the importance of DARE’s long-term objective of prison abolition. “As an organization we are pushing for prisons to be emptied of their population. So anything that’s going to reduce the number of people in prison is something that we feel is worth supporting,” Alles said. “There’s always this balance in pushing for these reform bills and also the longer-term fight around prison abolition.”
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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WOMEN FROM PAGE 1 Act in Rhode Island. The law requires employers, when asked, to provide the wage range to applicants for positions in which they are being considered. “Having that information for a woman candidate can be crucial to helping them negotiate for a competitive salary,” Nevins said. While the pandemic did not really impact the group’s prowgramming, it underscored where inequalities existed in the community. “Women were predominantly impacted by the economic fallout of COVID because many of them had to stay home and care for their children and homeschool,” Nevins said. Women also often work in frontline jobs like retail and hospitality, which suffered during the pandemic, she added. Nevins emphasized that increasing access to childcare is essential for women to take on leadership roles in the workplace. “If we do not fix the childcare infrastructure issue, the women who left the workforce because they lost their childcare options (aren’t) going to come back,” she said. “It’s a business problem. It’s not a parent’s problem,” Nevins added. WFRI is currently working on their 2021-22 Women’s Policy Institute, which trains women to be grassroots leaders for advocacy. The fund will be accepting 2022-23 applicants in spring. Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education The Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education was “founded to elevate the educational needs of Southeast Asian students and families” by working through a Black liberation lens, said Chanda Womack, the founding executive director of ARISE. “We believe that our liberation is tied to Black liberation and (recognize) how Black bodies and Black lives have been historically treated
and continued to be treated or how they interface with institutions of oppression.” For Women’s History Month, ARISE plans to honor women who are not always celebrated. “We really want to honor the grandmothers, the mothers, the sisters. The women who are doing incredible work that we don’t always see, like the labor that comes with being a mom at the intersection of being an organizer or community leader,” Womack said. The Herald spoke to three women who had gone through ARISE youth programming and are now active in leading and shaping the organization. ARISE uses leadership development to promote justice in youth education. Niamiah Jefferson, the lead organizer for the high school cohort, said ARISE is a family where growth is welcomed. ARISE is “a safe space for young people to come together across the nation to get to know each other and learn,” said Nancy Xiong, who leads the middle school cohort at ARISE. Xiong explained that ARISE’s programming has taught her “how toxic masculinity and patriarchy play a role, not only in my culture, but in America and the structures and systems of America.” She added that teaching young people about masculinity and patriarchy helps dismantle biased belief systems. Symone Burrell, a program organizer at ARISE, noted that being in this kind of work has taught her the importance of taking care of herself. She explained that women are constantly told that they must care for other people, and she believes that it takes strength to acknowledge that sometimes you are unable to do that. Burrell said that people “underestimate you even more because you’re a woman of color or a Black woman.”
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“Think of the comment: ‘you’re so well spoken.’ What did you expect?” Burrell said. “‘Especially as a youth.’ What did you expect?” She highlighted how ARISE gives youth in the community the tools to stand up for themselves through understanding their identity and how it fits into the world around them. United Way of Rhode Island: Women United Women United is an affinity group at the national and international level within United Way RI, according to Amanda Heinsen, director of donor relations. The group focuses on child-
hood literacy and learning through philanthropy. Women United’s programming gives parents the ability to better provide for their families and have more freedom for themselves through childcare and education services, Heinsen said. The group also works on after-school and summer programs. “Parents need to know that their kids have a safe place to go after school and that they can afford it,” she said. “There’s a huge barrier (to these programs) … last time we surveyed, there’s over 37,000 Rhode Island kids who do not have any access to after
school programs.” Heinsen said that “literacy rates for children in Rhode Island are staggering. Only about 35% of Rhode Island kids in third grade read at (that) grade level.” She added that the “third grade literacy rate is very important because up until third grade children are learning how to read, but after third grade, they’re reading in order to learn.” “It’s important that we have an infrastructure in place where kids are taken care of so that parents — especially women — can continue to work if that’s what they choose to do,” Heinsen said.