SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLXI, ISSUE 21
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2026
KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD
Brown will no longer issue CPT work authorizations for international undergraduates The move follows a warning from the Student and Exchange Visitor Program
On Nov. 11, Brown’s International Student and Scholar Services notified F-1 students in an email that the University will no longer issue Curricular Practical Training authorizations for undergraduate students. CPT, a work authorization granted under students’ F-1 status, allows international students to complete internships and
other work activities in the United States. Undergraduate students seeking to work off-campus during their time at Brown must instead apply for pre-completion Optional Practical Training. Unlike CPT, which was approved by the University, OPT requires an application to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that costs $470 and takes four to six months to process, according to the email. Time students spend on OPT before graduating also counts against the one year of OPT allowed per degree level. In August, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program — part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — released a broadcast
message to universities outlining SEVP’s refined interpretation of CPT eligibility. SEVP warned universities that these authorizations are only to be granted if the practical training experience is required for students to complete their degree. The message added that noncompliance could impact an institution’s ability to enroll international students. Following this announcement, ISSS halted the approval of CPT requests unless they met these requirements and initiated a review period to consider updates to the University’s guidelines. The resulting policy, released on Nov. 9, established that CPT authorizations for
undergraduate students are “indefinitely suspended” as internship experience is not a graduation requirement for undergraduates at Brown. Students enrolled in the six master’s degree programs that require internship or practicum experience will remain eligible to receive CPT authorization, but all other master’s students will not. “We recognize that these federal interpretations may impact individual academic plans differently,” the ISSS announcement reads. “ISSS advisors are available to discuss your specific program requirements, explore practical training options, and assist with any questions.”
Director of ISSS Andrew Shiotani wrote in an email to The Herald that the ISSS is “actively working and advising students” on additional employment authorizations such as internships with international organizations, as well as “programs and opportunities that may not require practical training authorization.” “Our advisors have been meeting with students regularly since the August 2026 messages, and are continuing to support them through these developments,” he wrote.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
METRO
SPORTS
ARTS & CULTURE
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
Kalshi plans to open prediction market for Brown acceptance rates
2026 elections break R.I. midterm early voting record
Brown football defeats Yale for the first time since 2016
‘Avedon’ breathes new life into photographer’s life and work
Study finds hunger may increase alcohol cravings in fruit flies
SEE ADMISSIONS PAGE 2
SEE VOTING PAGE 5
SEE FOOTBALL PAGE 7
SEE REVIEW PAGE 13
SEE NEUROSCIENCE PAGE 15
BY ZARINA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 11, 2026.
RISD
FACULTY
Petition alleges misconduct by RISD public safety officer, calls for removal
Faculty criticize administrators’ vision for AI at Brown during faculty meeting
According to an update posted to the petition, the officer has been barred from campus
Faculty discussed how they are adapting to and, in some cases, rejecting artificial intelligence
BY IZABELLA PIATKOWSKI SENIOR STAFF WRITER On Nov. 4, a Change.org petition requesting the removal of a Rhode Island School of Design public safety officer for alleged “harassment, inappropriate behavior and sexual misconduct” was posted online. As of Monday night, it had garnered over 700 signatures and been shared more than 500 times. The petition alleges that a public safety officer, who is not identified in the current version of the posting, “has directly pursued and harassed students both physically and online by sending repeated and undesired non-consensual communication through social media to the affected students, seeking them out
in their workspaces, and identifying them by their vehicles and clothes.” The petition outlines three incidents involving two students and the public safety officer. It also requests that RISD’s administration immediately conduct an impartial investigation into the claims, implement “protective measures for affected students” and potentially remove the officer from the school. The petition also states that its creation came in light of “the dismissal and inaction of (RISD) Equity and Compliance when alerted of these events.” On Nov. 5, the petition’s creator, identified as Fiona Y., added an update saying the school began an investigation and the officer has since been barred from campus. RISD Senior Director of Public Relations Jaime Marland did not confirm whether the officer had been
SEE RISD PAGE 4
BY SEYLA FERNANDEZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and Provost Francis Doyle III spoke about their vision for navigating education at Brown in the age of artificial intelligence at Tuesday’s faculty meeting. But some faculty members weren’t happy with their proposed plan. In her address, Paxson highlighted several priorities for “leading through change,” such as focusing on “human-centered capacities,” emphasizing the Open Curriculum and investing in AI as an “essential tool” for teaching and research, according to a slide shown at the meeting. Now that AI has become more prevalent in
K-12 education, Paxson also noted that the University should prepare for incoming students who may have varied skills in both academics and AI use. She emphasized the importance of getting “back to basics” when teaching students in the age of AI. At the meeting, Doyle announced a new AI portal, created by his team and the Office of University Communications, intended to serve Brown’s “internal community.” The portal includes links to news, training and workshops related to AI. He also highlighted two faculty members who have responded to the prevalence of AI through their research and teaching methods. Michael Satlow, a professor of Judaic and religious studies, shared how he has used AI to ex-
SEE FACULTY PAGE 3
PAGE 2
Friday, November 13, 2026
UNIVERSITY NEWS UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LIFE
Students, professors react to Barus and Holley classrooms reopening The closed classrooms are set to reopen in summer 2027
happened.” Still, Xiao said he wants to resume his usual teaching routine. “We need to get our life back,” he said. In his classes, he hopes students “can temporarily forget what happened, and … enjoy the beauty of science.” “It’s a very personal type of feeling,” he said, adding that younger students may have a harder time processing the experience. Professor of Physics James Valles, who works and currently teaches in Barus and Holley, said “it has not been easy” working in the building. “Walking past this space that’s been closed off on my way into work, and not being able to go into it after so many years of just routinely moving through that space has been a novel, unpleasant feeling for me,” he said.
BY MIRIAM DAVISON SENIOR STAFF WRITER The 10 classrooms in Barus and Holley that have been closed following the Dec. 13 shooting will reopen in summer 2027. The classrooms will be available for Summer Session and Pre-College programming, as well as classes during the 2027-28 academic year. The predicted date marks a delay from the University’s earlier goal of reopening by the middle of the 2026-27 academic year. For some students and faculty, the University’s reopening of the classrooms has been seen as a difficult but necessary decision. “I think obviously it is going to be tough for some people,” said Mariam Sufi ’29, who works in a lab at the Engineering Research Center and in the Brown Design Workshop for Brown Formula Racing. But Sufi added that she does not think the solution is to keep the rooms “memorialized forever” by never “returning to those places.” “There’s no good solution,” she said. Atticus Borggaard ’29, a mechanical engineering concentrator who works in the BDW, visits Barus and Holley around two to three times a day. Borggaard previously attended several introductory engineering classes in one of the building’s now closed lecture halls. He said he finds himself “actively avoiding” the section of the building where the shooting took place. “The first time going back to the building was really weird,” Borggaard added. “It didn’t feel good.” To aid healing efforts, the University created the Office of Student Recovery and Care in August. The office’s work focuses on “building relationships with
SAMANTHA BIRNS / HERALD
For some students and faculty, the University’s reopening of the classrooms has been seen as a difficult but necessary decision. students directly affected by the events of Dec. 13, understanding their individual circumstances and needs and helping coordinate connections to resources and support across the University,” Associate Dean and Director of the OSRC Brian Woods wrote in an email to The Herald. “We recognize that students’ experiences and feelings about returning to the building will vary, and there is no single timeline or approach that will feel right for everyone,” Woods added. Jianling Horton ’29, an astrophysics concentrator who spends a lot of time in Barus and Holley working and meeting with her research group, said she was not in the building during the shooting but has thought about how the reopening might affect those who were. “It’ll always be in the back of my mind,”
Horton said. “And I would assume, especially for someone there, it would probably be in the back of their mind as well.” Luc Bastien ’29, an electrical engineering student, said he has spent less time in Barus and Holley this year because his classes are not located in the building, but he does not “feel scared going back.” Bastien added that it may be difficult to balance student opinions when considering how to reopen the classrooms. “It’s a hard problem to navigate,” he said. While Horton thinks returning to the classroom will be “a little bit of an adjustment,” she said she doesn’t want to “lose the space because (she thinks) that’s giving too much control to the situation.” “I take comfort in the fact that we, as a community, are taking it back and taking our space back,” she said.
Phidias Brann ’30, a prospective mechanical engineering concentrator who was not at Brown during the shooting, said he had not given much thought to the classrooms’ reopening. “At the end of the day, I mean, this building is for learning,” he said. “The classrooms aren’t being used for learning, and in my opinion, that’s kind of pointless.” Professor of Physics and Engineering Gang Xiao said he was “really looking forward” to the classrooms’ reopening. “Teaching here in this building has been part of my professional life ever since I joined Brown in 1989,” he said. When he taught in Barus and Holley last semester, the first couple of weeks were “very emotional,” he said. “Even now, every time I go to the classroom, I just keep having this kind of memory of what
According to Valles, traffic in the building has fallen significantly since the shooting. Following the closure, faculty have been scattered across campus, teaching in spaces including the List Art Building, Friedman Hall and MacMillan Hall. The location changes have limited the informal interactions that came from working in the same building, Valles said. “You did run into faculty colleagues as you go to and from your classes,” Valles said. “That was always nice.” Valles said the University “regularly consulted with faculty and staff in physics and engineering” about the renovations and reopening. Looking ahead to the reopening of the classrooms, Valles said “people are going to react to it in different ways when it happens, and that seems natural.” “I just hope we’re around for each other when that happens,” he added.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 11, 2026.
ADMISSIONS
Kalshi plans to open prediction market for Brown acceptance rates Users will be able to bet on Brown’s undergraduate acceptance rate BY ROMI BHATIA STAFF WRITER On Kalshi, a prediction market site, users can bet on anything from an NBA game to the 2028 presidential nominee. Soon, they will be able to make another bet, this time on Brown’s acceptance rate. On Oct. 20, Kalshi filed a notice with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission stating that the company would open prediction markets on undergraduate acceptance rates and applicant numbers at Brown.Kalshi has filed similar notices for 21 otheruniversities, including every Ivy League school. According to Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Undergraduate Admission Logan Powell, the Office of College Admission is not involved in Kalshi’s prediction market “beyond what everyone else can see in news coverage and the company’s publicly accessible filings.” Kalshi’s filing states that employees in the Office of College Admission and other individuals with admissions information
that is not publicly disclosed are not eligible to trade on the admissions data. “My entire staff and I all sign certificates of integrity at the beginning of every admission cycle to ensure that our work is conducted with the highest ethical standards,” Powell wrote. The company has not yet opened the college acceptance rate market to traders on the app. If markets open, there will be options to make predictions on the University’s admissions data, including whether Brown’s admission rate and total number of applicants will be above, below or between certain values for a given admissions cycle. Users can make these bets until Dec. 31 or one week after the University’s Common Data Set — which provides standardized admissions information — is released for the most recent admitted class, whichever occurs first. The filing does not include options to bet on more specific admissions statistics, such as early decision applicant numbers. Assistant Professor of Economics Spencer Kwon, who studies motivations behind gambling, said that he thinks young people would be interested in the opportunity to bet on “higher education topics.” According to Kwon, people’s
motivations for gambling can range from entertainment to “desperation reasons and reaching for unattainable goals.” David Chanin ’27 has used Kalshi before and said he enjoys using the app, but only with “very small amounts of money.” He believes
that individuals using Kalshi’s prediction market on Brown’s admissions data will be competing against people who know “a lot about Brown University admissions.” “It’s a difficult market to trade on,” he added. “You’re likely to lose.”
Kalshi did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 10, 2026.
RAINIER PEDERSON / HERALD
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 3
UNIVERSITY NEWS FACULTY FROM PAGE 1 tract over 350,000 statements from the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds. Satlow said the undertaking would have been impossible without the use of AI. He now plans on using “traditional” humanities research methods to investigate how knowledge moves through time. Jeffrey Moser, an associate professor and chair of the Department of History of Art and Architecture, explained that his department has responded to AI in the classroom in several ways. These included meeting with students one-onone after writing assignments, providing course readers — printed resources that include compiled course documents — and communicating in person instead of through Canvas. Moser noted that these changes have mostly taken place in small seminars and called on senior administrators to focus on “scalability,” so that these solu-
tions can be applied to larger classes. For example, his department does not currently have the resources to print large numbers of course readers. None of these policies are being implemented uniformly across his department and are instead left up to the discretion of individual faculty members, he said. But “almost every faculty in the department has implemented strict restrictions,” Moser added. After the presentation was over, many faculty members expressed concerns about University administrators’ emphasis on AI use. Seth Rockman, a professor of history, had concerns about administrators’ investment in AI when they have expressed how its impacts are unknown. “You’re selling it really hard,” he said. “You’re selling it so hard that it actually doesn’t seem like something that sells itself.”
He emphasized that he believes that the University’s agenda should not be focused on training workers, but rather on “questions of knowledge and humanity.” Neil Safier, an associate professor of history, added that he would like to see a “risk assessment” about pursuing different approaches to AI. Assistant Professor of Engineering Monica Martinez Wilhelmus shared that she initially felt very “negative” about the use of AI in the classroom coming into the semester, but has found it helpful in teaching large classes. Nancy Khalek, an associate professor of religious studies and history, expressed agreement with Rockman’s statements and cautioned that the University should not “jump the gun” on AI. She encouraged having conversations about how Brown can take advantage of AI before discussing how to “remake” the University in the
JAKE PARKER / HERALD
Provost Francis Doyle III highlighted two faculty members who have responded to the prevalence of AI through their research and teaching methods. context of AI. “Brown is bigger than AI,” she added. Clarification: This article has been updated to clarify the types of Talmuds Michael Satlow studied in his research.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 11, 2026.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Hegseth announces end of partnership between Brown, Naval War College He said Brown was more ideologically biased than Harvard and Columbia BY ZARINA HAMILTON UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR In a speech at the Naval War College in Newport on Monday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said he had ended the college’s 12-year partnership with Brown in October. “The only place more stridently ideological in one direction more than Columbia or Harvard is Brown,” Hegseth said. “It was long past due to end that relationship in service of breaking the paradigm of civilianizing military education.” Hegseth also used the speech to lay out a broader overhaul of military education, arguing that war colleges have become too
KENNA LEE / HERALD
Hegseth also used the speech to lay out a broader overhaul of military education, arguing that war colleges have become too much like civilian universities. much like civilian universities. Brown and the NWC signed the Research and Education Memorandum of Agreement in 2014. The agreement aimed to promote collaboration and engagement in addressing national security concerns,
and included opportunities such as faculty research conferences, an annual lecture series and visiting fellowships between the institutions. “While the extent to which Brown’s partnerships with the Naval War College
can continue is unclear, our hope is that these important collaborations can be maintained,” University spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald. Hegseth said that the “critical theory” and “corrosive apparatus of diversity, equity and inclusion are fundamentally incompatible with military service and antithetical to the Constitution of the United States of America.” “Toxic and destructive ideas that corrupted our universities have little by little crept into our war colleges,” Hegseth said. “The reforms that I’m directing today are designed to reinforce military education, focus on winning our nation’s wars and reinforcing each person’s oath to our Constitution.” Later on Monday, Hegseth also released a memo outlining 33 new directives to overhaul professional military education at institutions like the NWC to promote
“combat readiness” and “practical warfighting.” The termination of the partnership between Brown and the NWC comes after Hegseth barred Department of Defense personnel from attending graduate programs at Brown and other elite institutions in February. The new policy, which began in the 2026–27 school year, ended four military students’ attendance at Brown. “Brown remains committed to supporting research and scholarship on issues important to the U.S. Armed Forces and to ensuring that student veterans and (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) participants continue to contribute their valuable perspectives and experiences to research and teaching at Brown,” Clark wrote.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 11, 2026.
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Friday, November 13, 2026
METRO RISD FROM PAGE 1 removed. The update also included a request that anyone who has further information about the officer email RISD Equity and Compliance. The petition’s creator declined to comment when contacted by The Herald. According to the update, the officer’s
name is not included in the petition due to “legal reasons.” “RISD is aware of the allegations and has taken appropriate steps to address concerns regarding the safety of the campus community,” Marland wrote in an email to The Herald. “While federal confiden-
tiality laws prevent us from commenting on the specifics of this matter, RISD does not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind and responds to all reports of misconduct, including discrimination and harassment, in accordance with our policies.”
Oliver Maxwell, a sophomore at RISD, told The Herald that he wasn’t aware of the petition but added that he’d “heard personal stories about this public safety officer from a friend who had a pretty traumatic experience with him and now is actually hesitant to spend time in her
studio because of it.” “I’m all for removing the public safety officer,” Maxwell added.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 9, 2026.
ENVIRONMENT
RIDOH reports significant annual increase in statewide animal rabies cases This year, 48 animals have tested positive for rabies in Rhode Island BY MAXWELL SILVER SENIOR STAFF WRITER On Monday, the Rhode Island Department of Health reported that two raccoons tested positive for rabies last week, bringing the total number of reported rabid animals in the state this year to 48. This count is almost double the average annual number of the previous five years. According to RIDOH data, the majority of positive specimens this year have been raccoons, with other rabid species including bats, skunks and coyotes. Rabies is a viral disease that infects the central nervous system and is most often transmitted through animal bites. A medical regimen, called rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, can be administered after suspected exposure to prevent onset of the disease. Without treatment, infection is virtually 100% fatal. According to RIDOH spokesperson Joseph Wendelken, “a number of factors” — including increased testing and larger human presence in animal habitats — could be contributing to the rise in rabies reports. “We really don’t have an explanation,” R.I. State Veterinarian Scott Marshall said. He added that scientists originally thought the increase in reports was due to dry conditions earlier in the year that forced animals to “expand their ranges” to search for resources, but the trend has held steady even as the dry conditions have subsided.
KENDRA EASTEP / HERALD
According to Marshall, Rhode Island is home to two types of rabies: terrestrial and bat rabies strains. Although these strains are specific to distinct species, the strains can cross and infect other species. Among human rabies reports, the bat strain is most dominant because many exposures go unreported, Marshall said, noting that it can be more difficult for people to realize they’ve been exposed to bat rabies.
The United States reports fewer than 10 human deaths from rabies annually, while Rhode Island has not reported a human case of rabies since 1940. But globally, rabies is responsible for an estimated 59,000 human deaths every year. An estimated 1.4 million Americans seek medical evaluations for exposure each year, and roughly 100,000 receive rabies PEP treatment. National data shows that the CDC has received 17% more rabies-re-
lated inquiries from July through August of this year compared to the same period in 2025. “When you have an animal that’s been in contact with a suspected rabies case, it needs to be vaccinated within 96 hours,” said Leanne Garzone, animal control officer and supervisor for North Smithfield. As of last week, her town had reported three animal cases so far in the past year. Garzone emphasized the importance
of reporting potential infected animals. “The public in general and the citizens just need to be aware. They need to be vigilant,” Garzone said. “Check your yards before you put your pets outside, before the kids go outside. Cover your trash containers. Try not to feed the wildlife.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 10, 2026.
BUSINESS
New eatery Giorgio to open on Thayer in coming weeks The eatery will offer focaccia sandwiches, pasta, gelato and coffee BY RENÉ CHARLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER Restaurant owner Georges Makhlouf is not a stranger to Thayer Street. For almost 25 years, he owned a business just off the popular College Hill block before it closed after the pandemic. In a few weeks, Makhlouf will make his return with the opening of Giorgio on Thayer, which will serve made-to-order sandwiches, high-end Italian meat and pasta, gelato, coffee and cocktails. The space was previously occupied by Spectrum India, which closed earlier this year. “I’ve been with the Brown community for many years,” he added. “I’m happy I’m coming back.” The eatery’s final inspection is expected to take place in the next two weeks, after which Giorgio will open to the public, Makhlouf told The Herald. Giorgio will join the cast of new storefrontson Thayer during a year of business turnover. He hopes that Giorgio will be a “fam-
The space was previously occupied by Spectrum India, which closed earlier this year. ily business to support our community,” and aims to make the space accessible to students with free Wi-Fi and student-only offerings. The eatery will also have quick service, “like a high-end restaurant, but in a low profile,” he said. “The concept is unique,” Makhlouf added. Makhlouf has been in the restaurant business for over 30 years, managing his
restaurants while also being an electrical computer science engineer. “I started this business as a place to be where I can meet friends,” he said. In Makhlouf’s three-decade restaurant career, he operated businesses across a “diversity of cuisines” in Massachusetts and around Providence. Makhlouf has “had a lot of different
SELINA KAO / HERALD
restaurants and things like that through the city, and he does a very good job,” said Harrison Dulgarian, vice president of Dulgarian Properties and the landlord of Giorgio. Of the 15 different companies that were interested in the space, the eatery was selected because Makhlouf had previously rented a Dulgarian building.
“We were comfortable with him” in the new space, Dulgarian said. In the past few months, the building has undergone significant renovations. “It looks completely different than it did before,” Dulgarian said. “They really transformed the space.” “People are excited to see them open, and they’re excited to try it,” Dulgarian added. “I think this is something that the street and the community is going to benefit from.” Some students expressed excitement about the opening of a new restaurant on Thayer Street. Jood Al-Farsi ’27 said “last night I was really craving pasta, so Italian would be nice on Thayer.” “I think Providence as a whole has a very big Italian food scene,” said Audrey Parkin ’30, who is excited for the gelato. “Thayer does not yet have any Italian food, so I think it’s really cool that there is going to be a new Italian restaurant there.” It’s “definitely an upgrade from Ratty pasta bar,” Ashna Muni ’29 said.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 10, 2026.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 5
METRO CITY HALL
Providence City Councilor Miguel Sanchez wins free speech lawsuit The ruling concludes a lawsuit filed after his firing from McKee’s office
Rhode Island. “The U.S. Supreme Court has made clear for decades that government employ-
BY JAY CHAVAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER On Oct. 28, a Rhode Island federal judge ruled in favor of Providence City Councilor Miguel Sanchez (Ward-6) in his free speech lawsuit against Gov. Dan McKee and his advisors. The judge’s ruling determined that Sanchez’s 2023 termination from his job at McKee’s Constituent Services Office due to social media comments he made in support of Palestine constituted a violation of the First Amendment. Sanchez’s lawsuit against McKee and two of his advisors, Joseph Almond and Antonio Afonso, was filed on Aug. 12, 2024. The lawsuit centered around a statement Sanchez posted on X on Oct. 22, 2023, in which he discussed his participation in a rally “calling for an immediate ceasefire,” as well as an “end to the occupation.” Four days after his post, Almond and Afonso met with Sanchez, according to the ruling. After the meeting, they claimed that Sanchez’s post was disruptive to the workplace and that, as a constituent service staffer, his private opinions could be conflated with McKee’s. Afonso told Sanchez he had the right to say what he wanted, but not a “constitutional right to work in the governor’s office,” according to the ruling.
SIDNEY LIN / HERALD
Free speech advocates say the ruling affirms First Amendment protections of government employees in the state of Rhode Island. After declining to take the post down, Sanchez was given a choice between resigning or being fired. He was fired on Nov. 1, 2023. In a nearly 25-page decision, Chief Judge John McConnell sided with Sanchez, describing Sanchez’s First Amendment rights as “paramount,” adding that First Amendment rights protect expression of an opinion on a matter of public concern. McConnell
found that the defendants had no grounds for termination because Sanchez’s role did not involve setting policy or handling confidential information, and because the governor’s office had previously tolerated political posts from other employees. The ruling does not articulate any fines and punishments that the defendants will be subject to. “Mr. Sanchez is looking forward to his trial on the amount of damages
he will receive for this brazen violation of his First Amendment rights,” wrote Gene Schaerr, Sanchez’s lawyer, in an email to The Herald. McKee’s office and attorneys for Afonso and Almond did not respond to The Herald’s requests for comment. Free speech advocates say the ruling affirms First Amendment protections of government employees in the state of
ees do not give up their First Amendment rights simply because they work for the government,” said Steven Brown, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. The ruling provides “pretty good guidance to government employers about the limits of their actions against employees who speak with their private capacity about important public matters,” he added. This September, McKee lost his primary reelection bid for governor. Last month, Sanchez said he has enough support from the Democratic caucus of city councilors to become Providence City Council president in January. Renee Hobbs — professor of communication studies at the University of Rhode Island and founder of media literacy initiative Courageous RI — wrote that the case shows why free speech must protect all viewpoints, even those that many may find offensive. “Rights that are enforced selectively, depending on which views are unpopular, aren’t really rights,” Hobbs wrote in an email to The Herald. “Protecting free expression doesn’t require agreeing with anyone,” she added. “It requires refusing to let news cycles and political discomfort decide who gets to speak.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov 10, 2026.
POLITICS
2026 elections break R.I. midterm early voting records Early voters increased from around 20% in 2022 to nearly 31% in 2026 BY ANNIKA MELWANI SENIOR STAFF WRITER Rhode Islanders showed up in record numbers to vote early in this year’s midterm elections. According to unofficial data from the Rhode Island Board of Elections, 112,068 Rhode Islanders — around 31% of those who voted — voted early during the 2026 midterm elections. In 2022, the state’s early voting rate was only 20%, with about 71,737 of 361,449 Rhode Islanders voting early. “This was the highest early voting turnout for a gubernatorial election in R.I., surpassing the only other year early voting was available, in 2022,” Miguel Nunez, executive director of the R.I. Board of Elections, wrote in an email to The Herald. To understand the surge in early voting, The Herald spoke to R.I. voting experts and policymakers to find out what motivated this shift and how it might affect future elections. In order to ensure early voting was an effective option for Rhode Islanders, the BOE took steps prior to the election such as sending their “fastest and most modern equipment to high-volume early voting sites” and “passing comprehensive Early Voting Conduct regulations over the summer to ensure a uniform experience for voters across the state,” Nunez wrote. The R.I. Department of State also took affirmative efforts to encourage early voting, according to Director of Communications and Public Affairs Faith Chybowski. “We do emphasize that voting by mail or
ANTHONY CIANFLONE / HERALD
The share of mail ballots decreased this year compared to 2022. voting early can mitigate some of the potential barriers to voting on Election Day, such as an unforeseen scheduling conflict or an illness,” Chybowski wrote in an email to The Herald. But voting by mail actually saw a decrease during this year’s midterms — despite an increase in total voting numbers. Compared to the 34,304 in 2022, the BOE received a total of 30,493 mail-in ballots this year. “Coming out of the pandemic, it became easier to vote early,” Common Cause Rhode Island Executive Director John Marion said in an interview with The Herald. “As we’re settling into a pattern, we’re finding that mail voting is less popular.” This decline in popularity could be partially attributed to the fact “that the President has spent years demonizing voting by mail,” Marion added, referencing President Trump’s attempts to restrict the delivery
of mail-in ballots to certain individuals. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “Some of the uncertainty that (those attempts) created drove some people who might like the convenience of not voting on Election Day, but who would have voted by mail, to vote early in-person,” he added. In a statement emailed to The Herald, R.I. Secretary of State Gregg Amore expressed similar sentiments about the Trump administration’s efforts to influence the methods by which people vote. “I was glad to see Rhode Islanders come out and vote early,” Amore wrote. “While the federal government worked to undermine voters’ confidence in mail ballots and our elections system overall, Rhode Islanders took their vote into their own hands.” This summer, a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowed Trump to implement
some changes to mail-in voting, but did not address his proposed requirement that USPS verify the voting eligibility of each individual who requests a mail ballot according to a government-created list. Chybowski added that “it is possible that conversation around potential changes to (United States Postal Service) procedures — even though no changes were actually implemented ahead of this election — influenced some voters.” The United States Postal Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “I absolutely think that recent federal efforts to curb mail voting have led to fewer voters casting mail ballots in the state,” Nunez wrote. “Overall, we have seen the number of mail ballots being requested trending down since 2020,” he wrote. “But several high-profile executive orders and lawsuits
as well as proposed rules by the U.S. Postal Service have likely led some voters to put less trust in voting by mail.” Nunez shared that the BOE continues to advertise mail voting in Rhode Island as a “secure method of voting with numerous safeguards in place.” “It remains as great an option in 2026 as it did in 2020,” he added. Marion added that the rise in early voting will lead to changes during the campaigning period. “Campaigns are going to learn to mobilize their voters to vote early,” Marion said, noting a “Bike to Vote” event hosted by Providence Mayor-elect David Morales MPA’19 in late October. Marion also expects the media to “schedule debates earlier, before early voting starts.” This year’s final gubernatorial debate took place on Oct. 20, almost a full week after early voting began. Legislative efforts to encourage the state to accommodate early voting procedures are also underway. The R.I. Department of State plans to submit legislation requiring cities and towns to provide at least one early voting day on a weekend ahead of general elections, Chybowski wrote. In-person polling places are expensive to operate, and because “the demand is not there the way it was pre-early voting,” Marion said that “there may be an effort to consolidate polling places on Election Day.,” “We should be learning from these voting data trends to inform future policy decisions around voting options,” Amore wrote.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 11, 2026.
PAGE 6
Friday, November 13, 2026
METRO RISD
International RISD, Brown-RISD students reflect on visa changes, midterm results
Some students are still hesitating to publicly express political views BY RACHEL WICKER & IZABELLA PIATKOWSKI SENIOR STAFF WRITERS In spring 2025, an international student at the Rhode Island School of Design student had their visa revoked. At the time, RISD students responded with a rally, calling on their school to defend them from federal actions. A little over a year later, in July 2026, a rule capping international student visas at four years was announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The rule was later delayedby a federal judge on grounds of concerns about its impact on international students and higher education more broadly, just one day before it was supposed to take effect. Yumin Wang, Director of International Student and Scholar Affairs at RISD, wrote in an email to The Herald that the program provides individualized advice and guidance to RISD’s international community and communicates updates about regulatory changes. “Given that the rapidly-shifting nature of proposed regulations may be stressful,” Wang wrote, the “ISSA also connects students to other RISD campus resources and support as needed.” “Students are referred to an immigration attorney when their circumstances extend beyond the scope of ISSA’s advising,” Wang added. International students make up just under a third of RISD’s undergraduate student body. The Herald spoke to international RISD and Brown-RISD Dual Degree students about their visa experiences and outlooks now. ‘This place doesn’t want me, and it
makes me really sad’ Yang Yi, a RISD senior from China, is considering his options for after graduation. Although the international student visa four-year cap was blocked by a judge in September, Yi emphasized that the situation is still scary “because we don’t know how long it’s going to be blocked for.” Yi explained that after he graduates, he will be able to stay in the United States for an additional year through the Optional Practical Training off-campus employment authorization — a federal program that allows eligible students with F-1 visas to work in the United States for a fixed amount of time after graduating. After that year, Yi will have to either acquire employer sponsorship or obtain legal status in the United States through other means. One of these other visa options is the O-1B visa, which is granted to “individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry,” according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website. The visa can be initially granted for a period of up to three years, and its subsequent extension is determined on a year-by-year basis. But “it’s a very biased thing,” said Yi. “How do you qualify someone as an extraordinary person?” Yi, who is currently studying animation, explained that in order to qualify for an O-1B visa, he would have to “try to get as much recognition as possible” through opportunities like animation festivals, galleries and awards. While Yi knows many international students who have used this pathway, “the issue with that route … is that it is assessed on a yearly basis,” he said. “If I ever become out of commission for a year, I just cannot stay in the U.S. I can’t grow roots here.” Yi said that after being here for four
years, “I’m at a point where I can call this place home, but this place doesn’t want me, and it makes me really sad.” Though Yi said that he sometimes wants to exercise his freedom of speech and support the causes he believes in, as an international student, “I cannot do so because I am just a lot more at risk than everyone else.” Following last week’s midterm elections, in which Democrats flipped both the House and Senate in a historic blue wave, Yi said that he feels “positive,” but he was hesitant to express full confidence. “I don’t think it’ll get better, but perhaps it’ll stop it from going worse” for international students’ visas, he said. After graduation, Yi plans to utilize the OPT program and then try to obtain an O-1B visa “for the foreseeable future.” ‘Freedom of speech is only an illusion’ Claire Francine Sunarto, a RISD first-year from Indonesia, has found the school to be “very welcoming and inclusive” for her as an international student. In September, Sunarto participated in the RISD ASIA! mid-autumn festival. “We ate mooncakes and had a wonderful time. It felt like I was back at home again but celebrating it with new people and making new memories!” she wrote in an email to The Herald. She also praised RISD’s Center for Arts and Language, which provides advising and peer tutoring in multilingual learning and various forms of communication. After meeting with the people who work at the center, Sunarto “came out more confident with (her) writing,” she wrote. In an email to The Herald, she wrote that she is “pretty comfortable” expressing her views at RISD because “the people here are very open-minded and understanding” and “a good chunk of my class (is made up of ) international students.” But Sunarto added that she is “a bit cautious about expressing political opin-
International students make up just under a third of RISD’s undergraduate student body.
ions” or criticism of the government online, since “the visa application process checks that aspect.” “It feels to me that freedom of speech is only an illusion in a country that highly promises it,” she wrote. Similar to Yi, Sunarto hopes to use the OPT program after graduation. “Then I plan on going back to Indonesia to apply the knowledge I gained and open a product design studio and maybe an art gallery to help underprivileged artists,” she added. ‘You don’t want to stay in a place that doesn’t want to treat you properly’ A BRDD student, who was granted anonymity due to concerns about their visa status, told The Herald that the Trump administration has created a new sense of fear for international students. After the midterm election results, the student said they felt “super relieved.” “The visa uncertainty and fear is always tied to the political uncertainty and fear,” they said. “You don’t want to stay in a place that doesn’t want to treat you properly.” “The fact that Americans gave the Democrats more power I think is more relief for us,” they added. The student referenced recent proposals under the Trump administration that would impact international students if implemented, including new fees on the OPT program and a $100,000 H-1B visa fee that was blocked by multiple federal judges earlier this year. After completing their undergraduate degree, the student plans to work in the United States for three years, using the extension that individuals doing STEM-related work get with OPT. But they added that “if the Trump administration was running unchecked” after they graduated, their job opportunities could be limited. Following the cancellation of a RISD international student’s visa and amid the presence of federal immigration enforce-
ment agents in Providence during 2025, the student said that they stopped driving for a period of time out of concern that a minor traffic violation could endangertheir visa status. “That period of time was super, super worrying,” they said. Although visa cancellations and the presence of immigration enforcement agents have “died down a lot,” the student said they still do not feel comfortable publicly expressing their political views. “I’m very careful about sharing anything on social media,” they said, noting that immigration officers ask for social media handles in visa applications. The student said that they still post about issues in their own home country, but nothing about America or “against the administration.” They added they would never attend a protest out of fear of deportation. This produces the feeling of “a certain level of powerlessness,” they said. “You want to be able to show your support. You want to be able to stand up for what’s right,” they added. But “if I’m not part of this country, then I don’t really expect to have a voice in what this country does in the first place.” The White House did not respond to a request for comment. As an international student in both the Brown and RISD communities, the student said that students are experiencing similar things at the two schools. They did note that RISD students are less likely to qualify for three-year OPT programs because nonSTEM students are only eligible for the one-year program. They added that certain RISD majors, such as graphic design and industrial design, can qualify for the STEM OPT extension.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 10, 2026.
KAIA YALAMANCHILI / HERALD
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 7
SPORTS
FOOTBALL
‘A long time coming’: Brown football defeats Yale for the first time since 2016 The Bears rose to No. 3 in the conference with two games to play BY KEVIN WITTEN STAFF WRITER For the Brown football team (5-3, 3-2 Ivy), the Yale Bowl has been a house of horrors for the last 15 years. Heading into this past Saturday’s matchup in New Haven, Bruno had not defeated Yale (4-4, 2-3 Ivy) on the road since 2011. In that span, Brown had been outscored 270-105 at the Bowl. The last time the Bears beat Yale at all was in 2016, before Head Coach James Perry ’00 took the reins. But on Saturday, Brown reset the record with a 24-20 win that propelled them up the Ivy League rankings. With under five minutes remaining, Bruno had a slim 4-point lead. If they successfully nursed their advantage, Brown would take down the reigning Ivy League co-champions. All the Bears had to do was keep Yale out of the end zone. “We knew they were a really good team, defending champs, and it was going to take all 60,” said Perry in a post-game interview with The Herald. At the game’s close, the Bulldogs — who entered the matchup ranked first in the Ivy League in total offense — used solid rushes and large passing gains to work their way into Brown territory. But the Bears’ experienced defense maintained their composure. “When we were out there, I mean, none of us were nervous. We all felt good,” defensive lineman Ike Odimegwu ’27 said after the game. “We saw it as an opportunity just for us to better showcase our abilities.” Yale quickly found themselves facing fourth and two with the game on the line. Quarterback Dante Reno faked the handoff and darted right — only to be dragged down
LIV FROZOP VIA BROWN ATHLETICS
The Bears will ride their three-game winning streak back to Brown Stadium, where they have not lost a game all season. from behind by Bruno defensive end Jack Middleton ’28. “Holy mackerel!” Perry said about the play. Yale’s Reno is “a great player, and we knew it, and he’s playing well out there, so luckily we were able to get some pressure on him…that’s a hell of a task.” Over the course of the afternoon, Brown leaned heavily on the passing game. While Yale led Brown 135 to 53 in total rushing yards, Bruno totaled 273 passing yards to the Bulldogs’ 186. Quarterback James Murphy ’27 tallied three passing touchdowns and completed nearly 80% of his passes. On defense, linebackers Stefano Montella ’27 and Max Malo ’27 combined for 33 total tackles, and Bruno recorded a season-high six combined sacks. Though Brown started hot in last week’s victory over Penn, this week, it was the Bears’ opponent who captured the early lead with a 15-play touchdown drive. To make matters worse, Brown went three-and-out on their first possession. On Brown’s following drive, Murphy completed all five of his passes, including a 16-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Najih Rahman ’27. The score marked the first receiving touchdown of Rahman’s ca-
reer, and it knotted the game at 7-7. “All week, coaches just told me, ‘trust your playmakers, throw completions (and) for the rest to take care of itself,’” Murphy said. Yale punted on their next possession, and six plays later, Brown also sent out the special teams unit to punt the ball back to their opponent. But the Bulldogs blocked the attempt by punter Malcom Flynn ’28, giving Yale advantageous field position in Brown territory. Thanks to a sack by linebacker Tommy Dunn ’27 and a pass breakup by defensive back Cap Davis ’27, Yale squandered their opportunity for points and were forced to punt yet again. Early in Brown’s subsequent possession, Yale intercepted a shot downfield from Murphy and ran the ball all the way back for a pick six. Halfway through the second quarter, the home team led 14-7. It only took two plays for the Bears to come up with a response. On second down deep in their own territory, Murphy connected underneath with receiver Trevor Foley ’28, who shook his defender, broke a second tackle and outran a third on his way to the end zone. The electric 73-yard touchdown silenced the home crowd, and an extra point by kicker Drew Crabtree ’29
tied the game at 14-14. After Brown’s defense forced a fourth Yale punt, Foley made his presence felt again. The wideout hauled in a contested catch with one hand along the sideline. Murphy “puts it where only I can get it,” Foley told The Herald in a post-game interview. “You know, I just have to go out and make a play if he gives me the chance to do it.” The 41-yard connection set Brown up in Yale territory. Shortly thereafter, Crabtree sent a 35-yard field goal through the uprights to give Bruno its first lead of the day at 17-14. Back on offense, Yale moved quickly downfield, collecting four first downs on their way to the Brown 29-yard line. Though the Bulldogs looked destined to score before the half, their drive was sunk by Odimegwu, who sacked Reno twice, preserving the Bears’ 17-14 lead at halftime. “As soon as I was able to get that first sack, I knew that it was going to be a long day for those offensive linemen,” Odimegwu said. The third quarter belonged to the Bulldogs. Brown opened the second half with a three-and-out, and Yale promptly marched the ball to within two yards of the end zone. But back-to-back offensive holding penalties forced Yale to settle for a field goal attempt. The kick soared true, tying the game. On the Brown offense’s next possession, they lost eight yards over three plays. Murphy and company finished the third quarter deflated, while Yale made their way into the red zone, and once again, the Bulldogs kicked a field goal to lead by 3. But Brown’s offense was not entirely out of steam. In the fourth quarter, after a crucial first-down reception on third-and-13 by wide receiver Pearson Hill ’28, Brown had the ball in the red zone. On the next
play, Murphy floated the ball to Hill once more. Draped in coverage and falling out of bounds, the junior receiver hauled in the pass for the touchdown. “Yeah, man, we needed that catch,” Perry said. “James (Murphy) played well all day. Played really well in the fourth, and it’s hard sledding against Yale.” Following the touchdown, which gave Brown a 24-20 lead, each team punted twice. While Bruno’s offense struggled to move the ball, the Bears’ defense came away with stops when it mattered most. On their first two drives of the fourth quarter, Yale’s offense gained only five yards. This stronghold Bruno defense effectively ended the game. Three Brown defenders earned their career highs in tackles on Saturday — Montella racked up 18 tackles, Odimegwu contributed 7 and defensive back Landon Heard ’27 collected 13. “It’s been a long time coming,” said Murphy about beating Yale. “It’s a really good feeling.” The Bears will ride their three-game winning streak back to Brown Stadium, where they have not lost a game all season. Bruno will host Columbia at noon this coming Saturday. “We’re a little pissed off because we didn’t start the season the way we wanted to,” Murphy said. “We want to finish (strong), and that’s something that hasn’t been common amongst teams that I’ve been on here.” Following the win, Brown ranks third in the Ivy League standings. With two games remaining, the Bears must win both to have a fighting chance at the conference title. “At home, there’ll be no motivation necessary,” said Perry. “Our kids love playing at home.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 9, 2026.
SOCCER
Women’s soccer falls 1-0 to Princeton in regular-season finale
The Bears lost their chance for a home-field advantage in the playoffs BY HARRY GUO SENIOR STAFF WRITER On a windy Saturday night in New Jersey, the women’s soccer team (10-4-2, 4-2-1 Ivy) fell 1-0 to Princeton (8-5-2, 4-2-1) in its regular-season finale. The Bears conceded a heartbreaking goal in the 82nd minute, costing them the chance to host the Ivy League Tournament. Tied with Columbia for first in the Ivy League standings, Brown entered match day having already secured a spot in the postseason tournament. A victory against Princeton would have secured Bruno the conference’s top seed and home-field advantage for the first time since the tournament was revived in 2023. The Tigers, meanwhile, entered needing either a victory or a draw combined with a Columbia (5-6-5, 4-1-2) win to secure a spot in the postseason. With both teams having plenty at stake, the stage was set for a fiercely contested match when Princeton kicked off against Brown. The Bears created their first scoring opportunity in the 14th minute. Midfielder Audrey Lam ’27 threaded a pass up the middle to forward Corine Gregory ’27, who dished the ball out wide to
COURTESY OF BOB KOCH
Tied with Columbia for first in the Ivy League standings, Brown entered match day having already secured a spot in the postseason tournament. midfielder Joy Okonye ’27 on the left wing. From there, Okonye sent a dangerous cross toward the back post, where forward Angelina Vargas ’27 was waiting. Before Vargas could get a shot on goal, a Princeton defender managed to tip the ball out of bounds. Though both teams found opportunities to push forward in the first half, neither was able to break through. In the 34th minute, forward Jael-Marie Guy ’29 nearly caught the Princeton goalkeeper off guard with an “olimpico” attempt, curling a corner kick directly toward the net. But the Tiger goalkeeper reacted quickly to punch the ball away, keeping the game scoreless. With less than four minutes before halftime, forward Anya Tansil ’30 burst down the left wing before delivering a gliding cross.
Guy met the ball with a delicate header, but her attempt bounced off the near post before pinballing between multiple players inside the box. At the halftime whistle, neither team had found the back of the net, leaving the score tied 0-0. Brown came out of the break with renewed urgency, immediately taking control of possession and pushing Princeton deep into its own half. The Tigers struggled to get touches on the ball as Bruno continued searching for the go-ahead goal. With 30 minutes remaining in the contest, Gregory nearly gave the Bears the lead. After collecting an awkwardly deflected ball just steps from goal, she fought off two Princeton defenders before firing a shot
toward the net. Her attempt was narrowly redirected by a defender, letting the Tiger goalkeeper make a diving save and preserve the scoreless tie. Brown was persistent with offensive pressure, but they were not able to turn this into success on the scoreboard. “We had some good chances but needed to have a bit more composure to upgrade our chances and be a bit more efficient going to goal,” Head Coach Kia McNeill wrote in an email to The Herald. As the contest entered its final 20 minutes, Princeton mounted more offensive pressure. In the 74 minutes in, after a Princeton pass fell to midfielder Brooke Birtwistle ’28, Birtwistle attempted to clear the ball upfield. But her clearance was blocked by a forward-pressing Princeton attacker, who suddenly found herself oneon-one against Brown goalkeeper Addison Etter ’29. Etter reacted quickly to her shot, making a crucial save to keep the contest tied at 0-0. “The situation arose out of our buildout which we typically succeed in and it’s something we pride ourselves on so I wasn’t expecting the one-v-one situation to arise out of it,” Etter wrote in an email to The Herald. “I’m glad I was able to get a good read on it.” But the Tigers were able to get past the Bruno goalkeeper soon after. With a little over eight minutes remaining in the contest, Princeton earned a corner kick and sent the ball into the penalty box.
Princeton defender Zoe Markesini connected with the pass and sent it into the back of the net, putting the Tigers up 1-0 with a few minutes remaining. “Games at this point of the season are all about margins, and one small mistake punished us,” McNeill wrote. Suddenly trailing with time running out, the Bears were unable to find a response, and Princeton held on for a narrow 1-0 victory. “I think I speak for everyone when I say it was a disappointing result,” McNeill wrote. “We knew it was going to be a battle.” With the victory, Princeton leapfrogged Brown to claim the third seed in the Ivy League Tournament. The Bears dropped to the tournament’s fourth seed because of their head-to-head loss to the Tigers. The Bears will travel to Hanover to face top-seeded Dartmouth (11-3-2, 5-2-0) in Thursday’s 7 p.m. semifinal. Though a disappointing end to the regular season, the Bears remain confident in their ability to be successful in the postseason. “We know we can’t dwell on the past, we just have to learn from it and grow for the future,” McNeill wrote. “I feel like whenever we have had a setback this season, we have also had a great bounce back.” “We know teams are scared to play us,” Etter wrote.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov 10, 2026.
FEATURE Managing Editor Chloe Costa Baker
Section Editor Christina Li
Section Editors Helen Hen Anika Kotapally
HEAD ILLUSTRATORS Lesa Jae Junyue Ma
ARTS & CULTURE Managing Editor Sasha Gordon
COPY CHIEF Jessica Lee
Section Editors Gabriella Miranda Rebecca Sanchez
excerpt from
NARRATIVE Managing Editor Gabi Yuan
the end of thirty-three miles
Section Editors Lucie Huang Chelsea Long LIFESTYLE Managing Editor Hallel Abrams Gerber
by ina ma
…Misery
flashback.
[Mile
twenty-nine,
approximately.] Post-dinner break. Everything is
Section Editors Alayna Chen Tatiana von Bothmer
sodden. Our group’s tummies are warm and full of hot weiner meat. In the warm light of a diner
Friday, November 13, 2026
POST-POURRI Managing Editor Tarini Malhotra
See Full Issue:
ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH
Copy Editors Eve Kobell Kate Schuyler Michelle Wassef Su Yang LAYOUT CHIEFS James Farrington Alexa Gay Amber Zhao Layout Designers Hannah Gapp Lily Rantanen Joshua Rezneck Emma Vachal SOCIAL MEDIA Yana Giannoutsos Hung Lam Eva Mahajan Rebecca Sanchez
in Olneyville, we watch the sky become dark, but
ISSUE 9
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Elaina Bayard
VOL 38
PAGE 8
nobody wants to leave wet linoleum tile flooring It’s time to go. I slide a large black trashbag over my torso and change my soaked socks for a dry pair. I think about quitting. We set out into the
alliterative duos
crepuscular twilight. I think about quitting, seriously, unseriously, and for a very long time. I’d been thinking about
NOV 13
for rain-slick asphalt. A deep digestive breath.
1. John Hay and John D. Rockefeller Jr. 2. Fast and Furious 3. Wario and Waluigi 4. Phineas and Ferb #fonetics 5. My Moon and My Man 6. Luke and Leia 7. Jesus and Judas 8. Grad and Greg 9. Pain and Panic 10. Pride and Prejudice
quitting since my first pair of socks got soggy. It’s surprising what soggy socks will do against morale. As I moved through the suburbs of Rhode Island, the thought came again and again of how easy it would be to quit and call a ride back to campus. God, to rest my sore feet and take a hot shower. I am not a happy quitter…
Cover by Candace Park
1
4
2
3
5
andrews' laundry room by ina ma illustrated by julia park
Across
1. Machine hogger, abbr. 4. Vapor
6
6. Laundry room standoff may be this? 7. Iron 8. Easily lost things
7
Down 1. Alamogordo's county 2. French novelist Georges 3. After you _____ you get
8
LMNO 4. Patron of the postscript, abbr. 5. Untidy condition
8
Want to be involved? Email: elaina_bayard@brown.edu!
“You exist in a world of things that I forgot.” “I am a victim of 2010 white woman diet culture.”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 9
table of contents 1 elegy, in translation michelle bi
3 under the bridge Kal Mehta
5 transparent forms Christina Li
7 stop all the clocks Chelsea Long
9 tv recommendations for the easily disappointed Acadia Phillips
11 the end of thirty-three miles Ina Ma
13 how to become someone’s friend Namrata Nanduru
15 an hour to waste Claire Zhong
“At this point, passing over the mile 20 mark, your feet have taken your body further than they ever have before. I wonder what it feels like to defy.” —Ellyse Givens, “26.2 notes for you” 11.15.24
“Is there really some higher power out there conspiring against me every time I decide to cross state lines? Is this the universe’s way of telling me to give up and settle, before I’ve even hit two decades of living?” — Michelle Bi, “en route” 11.16.25
letter from the editor Dear Readers,
With that, allow me to introduce our selection for this week’s issue. In Feature, Michelle weaves memories through an elegy about family and language. Take a trip to the ancient world in Narrative, where Kal scaffolds reflections on relationships with excerpts of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, and Christina shapes vignettes of flying around various Latin words for “to kill.” In A&C, Chelsea numbers the facets of Auden’s “Funeral Blues,” and Acadia lists the television shows that are least likely to disappoint the selective viewer. In Lifestyle, Ina chronicles the Walk across Rhode Island mile by painstaking mile, followed by a flurry of questions as Namrata
For my English classes this semester, I’ve been traversing Paradise Lost
interrogates how to make friends in college. Finally, in post-pourri, Claire
and quite a bit of Emily Dickinson. Particular attention is paid to Dickinson’s
details daylight saving time activities confined to a single hour, and in
use of punctuation (notably the em dash) and Milton’s use of enjambment
Crossword, Ina nestles the grid within the cozy walls of the laundry room.
(a term that comes from “jamb,” as in the side of a doorway or window). The
Evidently, each piece has its unique internal framework: its organizing
mortar and the border, constructing the stanza, or “room,” brick by brick and
divisions, the jambs that invite you to look inside its windows, to wander
pane by pane. Meaning created by necessary division: a framework, if you will.
through its doors. Come along and explore the welcoming rooms of this
Such considerations are not exclusive to poetry. Linguist and literary
issue with me.
theorist Roman Jakobson defines poetics using the axes of selection and combination, and I think this reveals how poetics are relevant to far more than just poetry. For instance, selection—the range of articles—and combination— ordering, placement on the page, the issue itself—are of utmost importance to a magazine.
Them’s the breaks,
Chloe Costa Baker Feature Managing Editor
November 13, 2026
9
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Friday, November 13, 2026
OPINIONS Editorial: Students need syllabi to pre-register for classes Pre-registration for the spring semester is upon us. This week holds special anxiety and excitement for undergraduates across grades and disciplines. As Brunonians compete for limited course spots, students face uncertainty over not only whether they will get a spot in a class, but also what the classes they register for are all about. For spring 2027, all Brown professors are required to upload their course syllabi to Courses@Brown by Jan. 20, 2027 — only one week before the start of classes. This is well after pre-registration closes. The brief course description paragraphs in Courses@Brown are therefore the only source of information that students can rely on to forecast classes. While this blurb can be helpful, it often contains only a broad overview of the course and a fraction of a syllabus’s detail. Instead of valuable insight into course policies or schedules, students get a marketing pitch. Requiring all professors to release course syllabi before pre-registration would help students plan out their semester and help relieve the friction placed on shopping period by more stringent course caps. Now more than ever, course pre-registration is a serious task for which students need ample information in order to be well-equipped. When selecting courses, it is important to consider teaching format, the different modes of assessment and the material covered throughout the semester — all of which should be present in syllabi. It is extremely helpful for students to be able to note exam dates and the course’s modes of evaluation when building their schedules. Since students are required to pre-register, the University must ensure students can know what they are getting themselves into. In past years, shopping period provided students with the opportunity to evaluate classes
firsthand during the first two weeks of every semester. Because a number of Brown’s largest lecture classes used to be uncapped, many students would not initially register for these courses because they were practically guaranteed a spot later on, and they instead prioritized securing spots in smaller courses during pre-registration. But after the Dec. 13 mass shooting, the University
the University to end universal course caps. But regardless of whether Brown maintains the caps on all courses, students still deserve to see syllabi before pre-registration. The point still stands that pre-registration now matters more than ever — an issue that has been illustrated even more deeply since students have not been able to rely as readily on the flexibility of the registrar. This makes it
pre-registration to obtain a spot. The benefit of releasing syllabi before pre-registration is especially pronounced given the drop-off in other effective and accessible reviews for courses in recent years. Last year, the editorial page board noted that the number of reviews received by the Critical Review — a student-run website that allows Brown students to evaluate their courses and professors — has declined significantly, and many classes have no Critical Review summary at all. As a result, there are many classes for which students have no access to valuable information about instructor teaching style, required workload and whether other students enjoyed or felt like they learned a lot from the class. We argued that Brown must integrate the Critical Review into the existing mandatory Canvas course evaluations. Rather than beat a dead horse, all we ask now is the bare minimum of a syllabus before selecting our courses. We understand the difficulty for professors to set their syllabi in advance of the shopping period. It can be hard to predict the specific routes and detours that can occur over a semester. However, students are in the same place. If Brown wants to put students in the driver’s seat of their education, they need to give us a roadmap. Assigning a syllabus in advance of pre-registration does not make the document rigidly binding, but it does make it so that students have an idea of what they’re signing up for.
JAKE PARKER / HERALD
closed 10 large lecture halls and classrooms in Barus and Holley. This strained Brown’s already limited class spaces and forced the University to introduce universal course caps for at least this academic year. The 10 classrooms in Barus and Holley will reopen this summer, potentially paving the way for
of paramount importance that students have access to syllabi to inform their course selection, since pre-registration now may leave students with their semester’s final schedule. Plus, even without course caps in every class, students make consequential decisions during pre-registration, as there are often many smaller courses that require
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board, and its views are separate from those of The Herald’s newsroom and the 136th Editorial Board, which leads the paper. A majority of the editorial page board voted in favor of this piece. Please send responses to this editorial to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
Lindemann ’29: Crisis pregnancy centers are a threat Rhode Island can’t ignore The Ocean State helped buoy the blue wave that swept the nation on Nov. 3. The Democratic nominee for governor, Helena Foulkes, won her race by over 100,000 votes. The Democrats running for the Senate, the House and Attorney General also won their races. None of these victories are surprising — we live in one of the bluest states in the country. Especially when it comes to pro-choice legislation, Rhode Island is extremely liberal. In 2019, the state codified the protections of Roe v. Wade into state law, and in 2024, we established legal protections for clinicians and prohibited legal action targeting legally provided health care. Despite these protections, however, there is something more sinister hiding behind the facade of a friendly reproductive health clinic: unregulated pregnancy centers. Unregulated pregnancy centers, also known as crisis pregnancy centers, are nonprofits that present themselves as health care clinics with the intention of discouraging and limiting access to abortion. Because these centers are unregulated, they do not need to comply with the many standards that legitimate health care providers are obligated to follow, even though the centers perform free ultrasounds and STI testing. Most CPCs are staffed by non-credentialed, religious volunteers who are not legally required to provide accurate medical information and can intentionally provide misinformation to delay care. The majority of these centers have close ties to evangelical Christian organizations that contribute to anti-abortion and anti-contraception rhetoric. Instead of leading with transparency about their views, they present as unbiased comprehensive care centers that can be trusted — some even have staff wearing white coats and scrubs even though they lack any proper medical training. It is difficult to decipher what clinics have medical licensure and which don’t, especially since they market themselves
with deceptive language. This obscurity is how the centers target what they call “abortion vulnerable groups,” which include young people. If this is the first you’re hearing of CPCs, I don’t blame you. They’re one of the country’s best-kept secrets, and in Providence, just like everywhere else, they fly under the radar. According to the Crisis Pregnancy Center Map, there are two CPCs in Providence. However, since they are unregulated, this number can only be taken as an estimate. According to Moms.gov, a federal website that recommends unregulated pregnancy centers as resources that can offer medical services as well as material goods, there are at least four in our city. And Rhode Island is not alone — there are an estimated 2,500 to 4,000 CPCs in the United States scattered across red and blue states alike. Even as a lifelong feminist and pro-choice advocate, I had no clue what crisis pregnancy centers were until I worked as a communications fellow for the Advancing Impact on Maternal and Reproductive Health Lab in Brown’s School of Public Health. The AIM Lab started just last year and has translated clinical, legal and policy-facing research into practical resources that can be used to shape legislative strategy. Their policy brief on CPCs outlines several measures policy makers can take to ensure constituents can access evidence-based health care, including requiring any entity performing ultrasounds, collecting health histories or providing pregnancy-related clinical services to register with the state’s health department as a legal health center. The brief also suggests that states can enact health data privacy laws that cover non-HIPAA organizations and prohibit the disclosure of personal reproductive health information to third parties. The lab is working to inform people about issues plaguing reproductive health and policy. In our efforts to make health care safer for
SELINA KAO / HERALD
all, students at Brown and Rhode Island residents can learn from the lab’s work. Not only do we have AIM’s guidance on how to confront CPCs, but we can follow the example of other states. Massachusetts issued a warning on its government website recommending that residents avoid crisis pregnancy centers and instead visit medical facilities that are trusted and will provide all options. And in 2024, Massachusetts passed a law barring anyone from performing a pregnancy ultrasound unless a licensed health care provider supervised it, which undermines one of the main services CPCs commonly use to draw people in.
Other states have acted as well. California has a similar ultrasound law, and both Connecticut and Colorado banned deceptive advertising by CPCs. Seventy-seven percent of Rhode Islanders say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. After they’re sworn in on Jan. 5, it’s high time our new legislators put Rhode Island on this list.
Beatriz Lindemann ’29 can be reached at beatriz_lindemann@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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OPINIONS
Tao ’27: Providence’s divestment initiative shows that the left at Brown should build movements outside College Hill Last Tuesday, Providence voters approved Ballot Question 7, divesting city funds from foreign countries conducting severe violations of human rights and companies that enable those violations, by a wide majority: 74.45% for and 25.55% against. Its wide margin of success was the result of months of campaigning by the Providence for Palestine coalition. Despite not mentioning Israel or Palestine by name, both the question’s proponents and opponents understood that Israel was the primary focus. Today, I’m not interested in relitigating the merits of divestment from Israel — I’ve written in favor of a divestment proposal for Brown in the past, and there’s been plenty of robust discourse in this section both forand againstit in Providence. Rather, I want to draw from it a lesson for student activists at Brown: Progressive victories are better achieved through local democracy than by appealing to unaccountable university committees. After my class graduates this spring, few students at Brown will remember the pro-Palestine protests of 2023 and 2024. In my first year at Brown, a coalition of student activists engaged in two sit-ins,a hunger strikeand an encampment of over 100 students.Their demand— that the Brown Corporation, the University’s highest governing committee, hear them out on divestment, which had been recommended by a University committee — was repeatedly rejected. Finally, in exchange for the coalition dismantling the encampment, the Corporation agreedto consider the proposal (in part becauseBrown needed to cut down a tree on the Main Green in time for Commencement), then rejectedit once and for all, putting an end to 13 yearsof campaigning for divestment. The lesson I learned from the encampment saga is that the undemocratic structure of the University incentivizes its leaders to ignore democratic efforts. Brown is not a democracy. If you want to change policies, you have to persuade the Corporation,
our highest governing body. However, Corporation members are unelected (except for a few alumtrustees) and therefore unaccountable to students and faculty. Pro-Palestine activists had tried a student referendum,to no avail. They tried appealing toCorporation members directly, to no avail. Consensus-building hadn’t worked, so the only path left was to strong-arm the Corporation by escalating disruptive civil disobedience. Although it was nonviolent, the occupation of the Main Green was a show of physical power intended to pressure the University. After the Corporation rejected divestment, Students for Justice in Palestine aggressively protested. This protest led to the club’s suspension, but one could hardly call them irrational — when the Corporation cut a deal to end the encampment, they revealed that they would respond to shows of force. The failure of Brown divestment inspired the activists in the Graduate Labor Organization (a part of RIFT-AFT Local 6516) to switch to a more democratic arena: local government. Their communications chair, Adit Sabnis GS, saidin a victory speech: “What makes it so special is we decided that we were no longer going to beg our leaders to have a moral compass … we started at Brown, we tried to divest, it didn’t work … So what did we do? We said we don’t care about our leaders, our city charter allows us to bring a binding ordinance to the people.” This choice was innovative: Over 120 city councils around the country have passed divestment resolutions, but Providence was the firstin the nation to do so via a ballot initiative. With the change in arena came a change in tactics. Rather than begging, bullying and bargaining with unelected Corporation members, winning a ballot initiative requires building consensus with voters on the ground. The Providence Eye reported that over six months, 130 Providence for Palestine volunteers collected nearly 9,000 signatures (of which about 6,000 were ultimately accepted by
the city) to put divestment on the ballot. Volunteers collectedsignatures at public parks, on front porchesand at political events as the September primary approached. When election day came, far from “dividing the community,” as some opponents feared,divestment won nearly 28,000 votes, accounting for almost 75% of voters.This was democracy in action. I believe this case study carries important lessons for Brown student activists: prioritize building movements off-campus, not on. First, local democracy gives us a more straightforward path to victory. Student activism at Brown has long sought to influence University policy and has found many successes, but the encampment showed that on-campus campaigns hinge on the positions of unaccountable administrators. By contrast, the ballot initiative allowed Providence for Palestine to turn a popular message and organizing effort into victory. Electoral success is not the only benefit: Off-campus organizing also creates more lasting connections. Research shows that student activists tend to stop volunteering after college because they lose their organizational membership. Loss of institutional knowledge when key leaders graduate can also stymie student organizing. But local community organizations and political parties provide student activists a home long after graduation, as well as more experienced organizers from whom to learn. Moving our organizing center of gravity off campus may also help our political education. The left is often criticized for being disproportionately college-educated and out of touch with the real “working class.” This is partly because elite universities have becomea primary incubator of left-wing movements. This is bad for the left: It limits our political dialogue to an Ivy League echo chamber and risks “elite capture,”in which radical movements devolve into ones that primarily serve elite interests. By contrast, winning over voters in a town where just
35% of residents have graduated college and median household income is $68,000 gives us a much more grounded view of social justice. Plenty of progressive activist groups already partner with local organizations: SJP with the Rhode Island Party for Socialism and Liberation, Sunrise Brownwith various environmental organizations and grassroots effortsand Students for Educational Equitywith the Providence Student Union. Others, like Housing Opportunities for People Everywhereand Brown Harm Reduction Coalition,do direct outreach to our homeless neighbors. Yet, quite a lot of activist attention is still directed at changing Brown University policies: SEE is aimingto alter financial aid requirements and SJP has targeted Brown’s study abroad programs in Israel. Regardless of the merits of these campaigns, I believe our resources would be better spent off-campus. Winning divestment in Providence was only half the battle; its implementation will face legal and logistical challenges,ones that students could help the city overcome. My political engagement in Rhode Island — whether protesting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, studying state climate policy, giving testimony on legislation, volunteering with refugee resettlement agencies or canvassing to elect David Morales MPA’19 and progressive city council members — has taught me more about politics than any class or on-campus organizing effort. I would encourage all politically minded students, especially those on the left, to climb down from the ivory tower and make change more directly in the Ocean State.
Evan Tao '27 can be reached out at evan_tao@brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
Canfield ’28: Hegseth dishonors Brown military students On Monday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth spoke at the Naval War College in Newport. During his fiery speech on the dangers of civilianizing military education, he announced that he had cut the NWC’s ties with Brown. He commented that “the only place more stridently ideological in one direction more than Columbia or Harvard is Brown.” But his announcement that he had directed the end of the 2014 Research and Education Memorandum of Agreement between Brown and the NWC was only a blip in his half-hour speech. The attack on Brown, however brief, follows a pattern of insults to the many Brunonians who served their country in the military. Brown and its military-affiliated students have made impressive strides in the past 15 years to ensure our community is welcoming to our service members and prepare students for service careers. By disrespecting that community, Hegseth dishonors these students. I am not enlisted in the American Armed Forces, nor do I plan on doing so after graduating. But I share a campus with Brown’s 53 Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students, 67 undergraduate student veterans and 90 graduate student veterans. These students have made, and will continue to make, countless sacrifices in service of our country. As my Herald Opinion colleague Tas Rahman ’26 MD’30 argued last semester, the relationship between Brown and the military is mutually beneficial. While the secretary of defense may complain about “critical theory and the corrosive apparatus of diversity, equity and inclusion,” he misses the important work that Brown is doing to expand its education to service members. At this year’s Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 expressed the University’s commitment to military-affiliated students and shared efforts taken under her leadership to grow and support this student community. From 2019 to
2023, the University more than doubled its enrollment of military veterans. Last year, Brown expanded its participation in the federal Yellow Ribbon Program, which, in addition to covering undergrad-
Ending the NWC’s partnership with Brown risks alienating military-affiliated students from potential war college mentors. Through the partnership, NWC and Brown have collaborated on research,
MARAT BASARIA / HERALD
uate veterans’ tuition, will now provide financial support to veterans seeking graduate degrees. The University also expanded its veterans peer-mentorship program into the Cisneros Veterans Scholars Program in 2025, pairing new student veterans with mentors as they move from service to academics. And in just one year, Brown expanded its veteran graduate student enrollment from 38 to 90. The University is currently tied for third in the nation in U.S. News and World Report’s ranking of the best colleges for veterans. The ceremony also included an announcement for a new award to a graduating student for work in supporting Brown’s military-affiliated community. It is clear that the University is dedicated to providing a quality education to veterans and future service members and that doing so is “central to our mission.”
visiting fellowships and annual lectures to address national security concerns. The NWC is the Navy’s senior war college, where mid-career and senior officers train for top command, and was a valuable academic partner for the University. Brown students wishing to learn from or conduct research with senior service members cannot do so anymore because of Hegseth’s gratuitous attacks on elite education. For the five Navy midshipmen, three Air Force cadets and 13 Army cadets who took their oath of enlistment at the University’s Veterans Day ceremony on Wednesday, Hegseth’s decision uniquely severs their opportunities to learn from the NWC’s senior military officers. The timing of Hegseth’s speech in Newport could not have been worse. His disregard for Brown’s military-affiliated students two days before
Veterans Day is disgraceful. Generations of Brunonians have bravely sacrificed their lives in service of their nation. Two hundred and sixty-eight Brunonians died while serving our country in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. But Hegseth’s history of disrespecting veterans extends beyond Brown: On Veterans Day this week, an Army sentinel reprimanded Hegseth and his entourage for breaking decorum at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. At Wednesday’s ceremony, Paxson voiced her disappointment with Hegseth’s decision. She expressed that this change and the Pentagon’s cancellation of the military fellowship program at Brown in February were “especially saddening” given all of the work that has been done in recent years to support these students. While her words were more diplomatic, I will put it bluntly: No matter what Brown does, Hegseth cares more about his tirade against the woke ivory tower than actually supporting service members. Perhaps what is most striking is that Brown has yet to turn its back on the military. Instead, the University has furthered its commitment to supporting those who have sacrificed for our freedoms. Every day, as you walk from the Main Green to the Sciences Quadrangle, you pass through Soldiers Memorial Gate, which honors the 42 Brown community members who died in World War I. As you walk through those gates, I encourage you to follow in the Brunonian spirit instead of listening to Hegseth’s spite, and to consider the words inscribed on the arch: “They gave their merry youth away for country and for God.”
Ethan Canfield ’28 can be reached at ethan_canfield@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this column to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
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Friday, November 13, 2026
ARTS & CULTURE PERFORMANCE
Poet Anne Waldman performs her works at ‘Writers on Writing’ reading series Andrew Whiteman and Ariel Engle provided musical accompaniment BY VICTOR QUINONES-RIVERA CONTRIBUTING WRITER On Thursday, poet Anne Waldman treated audience members in the McCormack Family Theater to a recitation of her distinctive experimental poetry. Hosted by the Department of Literary Arts, the event is the latest installment in the “Writers on Writing” reading series. Introduced as an “activist poet at the edge of poetic possibility,” Waldman has authored more than 60 books throughout her career, including her acclaimed 1974 poem collection “Fast Speaking Woman.” Waldman is renowned for her multidisciplinary collaborations with prominent artistic figures such as musician Bob Dylan, poet Allen Ginsberg and singer-songwriter Patti Smith. A recipient of an American Book Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship and the Poetry Society of America’s Shelley Memorial Award, Waldman recently made her way to College Hill to serve as last week’s poet-in-residence at the Department of Literary Arts. Waldman was joined by musician Andrew Whiteman and singer-songwriter Ariel Engle, a pair whose avant-garde electronic music provided an ambient backdrop to Waldman’s spoken word poetry. Just a few seconds after walking up to the podium, Waldman began a reading of one of her pieces, offering sweeping
imagery of relevant political issues such as immigration enforcement and automated camera surveillance. The performance opened without any instrumentation, and Waldman’s voice gripped the small dark room as she repeated the poem’s harrowing motif: “Astral omens these days.” Joined by Whiteman and Engle, Waldman also performed “Rat-tat-tat-tat” which set the mood for the remainder of the event with the combination of experimental music and spoken word. Whiteman’s pulsating electronic instrumentals set the background to Waldman’s poem recitation and Engle’s intermittent vocal flourishes. The trio’s next composition included a medley of two different pieces, “Tears Streak the Reddest Rouge” and “Kali is a Goddess.” During the medley, the ethereal sonic ambience of Whiteman and Engle’s musical accompaniment perfectly echoed the themes of rage and renewal in Waldman’s verse. “Angry as in one wanting to magnetize and destroy, oh Kali, a psychological twist,” Waldman recited. Before the trio took questions from the audience, Engle performed a musicalized version of the 13th poem in the late poet Alice Notley’s collection “In the Pines.” Engle’s lighter voice and the song’s quasi-pop structure provided a curious but welcome departure from Waldman’s performance style. During the Q&A, Waldman spoke of moments of ceremony that bookend people’s lives, from the moments of celebrations she saw in her travels to India and Indonesia to ceremonies that “go over a space of time” in Bali. Poetry can also serve as an
SHIRLEY ZHANG / HERALD
Waldman was joined by musician Andrew Whiteman and singer-songwriter Ariel Engle, a pair whose avant-garde electronic music provided an ambient backdrop to Waldman’s spoken word poetry. “antidote” and a “shield,” Waldman said. “This is such an exciting time because there’s some hope and possibility in bringing down the monster and that sort of thing, the tyrant,” Waldman said. “It’s not going to happen overnight. People can get fickle, but I’m very inspired. Especially by the youth of so many people.” For Anne Clifford-Levy ’30 — who at-
tended the event as part of the first-year seminar LITR 0710: “Writers on Writing Seminar” — Waldman’s performance affirmed her “understanding of the importance of art and how it can make you feel so much.” Saskia Sommer ’30, one of Clifford-Levy’s classmates, added that the event built upon themes that they had
previously discussed in the seminar. “It was such a life-affirming experience, and a lot of it is what we’ve been talking about in Writers on Writing — of what poetry and art are all about,” Sommer said.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 8, 2026.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 13
ARTS & CULTURE PERFORMANCE
Aerial Acrobatics fall showcase brings mind-bending display of skill, artistry From the start, it was clear just how much the acrobats enjoy the sport
strength and grace made their apparent defiance of gravity seem almost effortless. Throughout the showcase, performanc-
BY AMELIA BARTER SENIOR STAFF WRITER Last weekend, the Alumnae Hall Auditorium ditched its usual assembly setup for a silk rope, trapeze and aerial hoop hung from the ceiling. With mats covering the floors of the stage, the space became the setting for the Brown Aerial Acrobatics team’s fall showcase, “Elemental: The Last Aerial Airbender.” The showcase began with fun, theatrical choreography set to the opening monologue of the popular TV show “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” where the performers represented the “Four Nations” from the show: fire, earth, water and air. This clever, passionate display of impressive talent set the tone for the rest of the evening. From the opening number, it was clear just how much the aerial acrobats enjoy the sport. Highlighting the group’s newest members — the “Aerial Babies” — the first act included four performances aptly titled “Fire Nation,” “Earth Nation,” “Water Nation” and “Air Nation.” The musical accompaniments paired well with the elemental-themed acts, such as when Pink Floyd’s “Breathe (In The Air)” set the scene for the “Air Nation” and Hozier’s “Through
AMELIA BARTER / HERALD
The show’s lighting, which featured an entertaining range of colors and intensities, further developed the recurring motif of elemental shifts. Me (The Flood)” played throughout the After the first act, these more experi- ty and difficulty as the show progressed. “Water Nation.” enced acrobats took the stage for the four Just as the team seemed to achieve the While some of the “babies” were tenta- larger element acts, which featured both impossible, another performer would step tive with their skills and clearly new to the solos and group performances. From a onto the mats and accomplish even more sport, their willingness to step in front of fast-paced routine to Kim Wilde’s “Kids in jaw-dropping tricks. Notable performances the audience and fly through the air was a America” to a slower, soulful routine to set included “Firework” by Oscar Gluck ’31 true display of their courage and nascent to “City of Stars” from the movie “La La and “Flicker” by Brown Aerial Acrobatics talent. The level of performance from the Land,” the changes in pace and intensity Co-President Marissa Shaffer ’27, both of older, more experienced members showed kept audience members engaged through- whom took advantage of the aerial rope just how much students could evolve over out the evening. that was introduced halfway through their time in the group. The routines increased in complexi- the show. Gluck and Shaffer’s incredible
es on the aerial apparatuses were supplemented by various acts such as juggling, hula hooping and on-the-ground acrobatics. While these weren’t as developed as the main aerial acts, they were nonetheless impressive moments that kept audience members entertained during otherwise tedious equipment set-up. The show’s lighting, which featured an entertaining range of colors and intensities, further developed the recurring motif of elemental shifts. But while the lighting helped immerse audience members in the show’s theme, the choreography itself seemed to treat “The Last Aerial Airbender” as an afterthought. Nevertheless, these technicalities seemed almost unimportant when watching such a display of talent and passion. The show as a whole was never too serious, and the cheering audience significantly added to the space’s jubilant atmosphere. From its celebration of new members to its display of refined talent, “Elemental: The Last Aerial Airbender” was evidence of a bond between team members and a testament to the arduous art that is aerial acrobatics.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 11, 2026.
REVIEW
‘Avedon’ breathes new life into prolific photographer’s life and work Ron Howard paints a sympathetic portrait of the artist BY LIZE DENG STAFF WRITER Whether you recognize his name or not, you have likely seen Richard Avedon’s work before. Over the course of a six-decadelong career, Avedon cemented his position as one of the most prolific photographers of the twentieth century, capturing everything from fashion models to generals in the Vietnam War. Now, Avedon’s life and work is being reintroduced to the visual mainstream through Ron Howard’s new documentary, “Avedon,” released on Netflix on Nov. 11. At a time when photography has become as easy as tapping a button on our phones, Howard’s film is a powerful reminder of the intensity, focus and intentionality of Avedon’s work. Avedon’s impact on visual culture is evident in the omnipresence of his photographs and the endurance of his style: vulnerable faces against a plain background — “All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth,” he once said. Combining archival footage, photographs and interviews featuring critics, his family and his art-world peers, “Avedon” is a thrilling and deeply moving portrait of a complicated artist. The breadth of interviewees is a testament to Avedon’s cultural reach: The film features Calvin Klein, Tina Brown and Isabella Rossellini, just to name a few. They speak glowingly of Avedon, but Howard’s seamless integration of Avedon’s still photographs is what forms the documentary’s backbone: a narrative about personal struggle, commercial success and institutional rebellion. The result is an almost gallery-like experience where the audience is asked
ELLIE YANG / HERALD
to find traces of Avedon’s life in his photographs. This effect is even more pronounced when viewing “Avedon” in a theater — his black and white images blown up and projected onto the silver screen is a truly breathtaking sight. And when recordings of Avedon are played in the background, it feels as though he is in the room, speaking through his photos on the other side of the veil. One of the anecdotes recounted in “Avedon” was of his 1957 photoshoot with the former King of the United Kingdom,
Edward VIII, and his wife, Wallis Simpson. Avedon met the pair in their residence at the Waldorf Astoria hotel, New York’s “unofficial palace.” The couple was well-known for being media savvy and fashionable, which meant Avedon had to figure out a way to break through their mask. Aware that they loved pugs, Avedon falsely claimed that on his way to the photoshoot, his taxi had run over and killed a dog. It was then that he clicked the shutter, capturing the couple’s miserable expressions, their faces heavy with anguish.
The photo caused a scandal. Monarchists hated it; critics compared Simpson’s expression to a toad. But Avedon remained unapologetic. Avedon’s portrait of the Duke and Duchess is just one example of how his images often captured his subjects in unflattering but illuminating ways. One of his most famous photographs is “Sad Marilyn,” which captures a moment when Marilyn Monroe’s bubbly personality collapses. In the photograph, her shoulders droop, her eyes are downcast and her mouth is slightly
agape as though lost in thought. Yet, above all else, Avedon’s work reflects himself. “My portraits are much more about me than they are about the people I photograph,” he stated in a 1984 interview. After he began gaining acclaim for his early work with fashion magazines, Avedon turned the lens on himself and his loved ones. In the late 1960s and early 70s, Avedon spent time in Florida confronting his complex relationship with his father. Over the final six years of his father’s life, Avedon captured a series of portraits in his signature style, revealing a startling frailty so different to the carefully staged family photos of Avedon’s childhood. Viewing those portraits elicits a kind of existential anxiety in the viewer, which — one imagines — is probably how Avedon felt as well. The film features a recording in which Avedon reads an essay he wrote reflecting on those childhood family portraits, which even featured other people’s houses and “borrowed dogs.” “It seemed a necessary fiction that the Avedons owned dogs,” he said. “All of the photographs in our family album were built on some kind of lie about who we were, and revealed a truth about who we wanted to be.” It is this tension which Avedon interrogates so intensely in his work: control and spontaneity, accuracy and truth. Viewing “Avedon,” one cannot help but be caught in the thrill of the chase — the search for an elusive authenticity. It’s the closest thing we have to experiencing Avedon’s creative process. “Avedon was like a hunter,” states Rosellini in the film. And Howard captures that ferocious mentality with great sympathy and admiration.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 11, 2026.
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Friday, November 13, 2026
SCIENCE & RESEARCH PHYSICS
Nobel laureate P. J. E. Peebles talks new book at Brown Peebles reflected on the themes in his latest book, “The Physicist’s Way” BY NISHITA MALHAN & JANE KIM SENIOR STAFF WRITER & CONTRIBUTING WRITER A quarter of a century into academic retirement, physics Nobel laureate P. J. E. Peebles is still looking for answers. This Monday, on the heels of the publication of his book, “The Physicist’s Way: A Philosophical Guide to the Practice of Physics,” Peebles spoke to a packed crowd at the Hazeltine Commons in the Engineering Research Center. Hosted by the Brown Center for Theoretical Physics and Innovation, the lecture aimed to provide the audience with a preview of Peebles’ new book. Peebles, a professor emeritus of science at Princeton, received half of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering discoveries in physical cosmology, which is the study of the universe’s origins, evolution and structure. His research on the radiation left over from the Big Bang, known as the cosmic microwave background, and dark matter, an invisible form of matter hypothesized to play a key role in galaxy formation, helped establish the framework physicists still use today to study
RAZANNE SHOUKFEH / HERALD
The lecture was hosted by the Brown Center for Theoretical Physics and Innovation cosmology. “For more than 60 years, Jim Peebles has been known among physicists as the originator of a tremendous number of techniques, ideas and discoveries,” Professor of Physics Ian Dell’Antonio said in his introduction to the lecture. “There is no current area of research (in cosmology) … that doesn’t owe a tremendous amount to Jim.” Peebles’ probing into the nature of the universe led to “billion-dollar experiments”
and new innovations, Professor of Physics Stephon Alexander told The Herald. Published by Princeton University Press in October, Peebles’s new book explores the fundamental assumptions underlying physics. Although he has previously authored scientific textbooks, his latest work studies the philosophy and sociology of physics, including what structures and preconceived beliefs allow the field to exist as a discipline at all. “The starting assumption (that physicists
make) is that there is a physical reality,” Peebles said during the lecture.
approximations.” Throughout the lecture, Peebles en-
He explained that philosophers could spend hours arguing this premise, but bringing up philosophy in a group of physicists would likely lead to “awkward silence.” In his book, Peebles argues that there is a way to bridge these two conventionally incompatible fields. “Physicists have a philosophy,” he told The Herald in an interview. “And it must be recorded.” During his lecture, Peebles said that one of the major challenges facing modern physics is the lack of unification between quantum mechanics, which describes phenomena at the subatomic scale, and general relativity, which describes how gravity affects the structure of spacetime. He also outlined the development of modern cosmology, drawing on how he first began investigating gaps in the Big Bang Theory early in his career. As technology advanced, physicists were able to come to an increasingly precise understanding of the universe. But Peebles underscored the importance of recognizing the limitations of scientific knowledge, emphasizing that even widely accepted theories are in a constant state of refinement. “There’s no such thing as a final theory,” Peebles told The Herald. “We only get
gaged the audience through humorous anecdotes, joking that Canadian scientists were often too polite to compete with their American counterparts and drawing attention to an Icelandic sweater he wore in a photograph of his lab from the 1960s. During technical difficulties that delayed the start of the event, a four-person jazz ensemble performed a jazz interpretation inspired by the cosmic microwave background. Peebles discovered the frequencies of the “cosmic sound waves in the early universe,” Alexander told the Herald, “and so we identified the notes associated with each of those waves, and magically it turned out to be one of the most celebrated chords or scales in jazz music.” Attendee Nahum Linhart ’30 said that he was told to attend the lecture by Dell’Antonio, from whom he is taking a class this semester, but he “would have come anyway because (Peebles is) like, a superhero in physics.” Leaving the lecture, Linhart’s main takeaway was that “we don’t really know that much stuff about the world,” he said. “But that’s not a bad thing.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 11, 2026.
PUBLIC HEALTH
Brown researchers seek to improve mental health of Ukrainian youth with chatbot The chatbot will provide resources for youth in conflict-affected regions BY ALICE XIE SCIENCE AND RESEARCH EDITOR Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been going on for almost five years now. Among other consequences, the war has taken a toll on the mental health of a whole generation of Ukrainian youth who are growing up in a warzone. To ameliorate this problem, researchers from Brown’s School of Public Health are turning to a chatbot. In collaboration with the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine and the Institute of AI Problems for Ukraine, Brown researchers from the Global Mental Health and Flourishing Lab are in the process of creating Chat for Hope — an AI platform to provide mental health support to Ukrainian youth — which will be implemented in the coming years. Shufang Sun, associate professor of behavioral and social sciences, associate professor of psychiatry and human behavior and associate director of the mindfulness center, first turned her research focus to Ukraine in around 2023. Collaborating with researchers in Ukraine during Russia’s war has posed specific challenges, especially as concerns of safety fluctuated, Oleksii Shebanov, a staff research assistant in the lab, said. This was especially felt when a Russian missile hit the Ukrainian academy where some of the project’s Ukrainian co-researchers were based, killing two and injuring 13 in the institution. “That was a very heartbreaking moment,” Shebanov said. “Every morning I’m doing a little security review for (our) lab manager to make sure our collaborators
are alive and can work.” Limited internet connection, electricity and water supply add to the challenges that Chat for Hope must overcome, said Shebanov. Working to improve adolescent mental health is especially important because of how it impacts later life mental health outcomes, Sun said. Audrey Tyrka, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, who was not affiliated with the study, wrote in an email to The Herald that “when danger and fear is high and support is limited, youth can develop severe anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and risky behaviors such as substance misuse and suicidal behaviors.” The current limited available support for mental health concerns was a driving force behind the development of Chat for Hope. “There’s just not enough mental health specialists around the world, including in the U.S,” Sun said. “There’s been just such a shortage of mental health professionals, which means that most people who need help don’t get help, and the gap is particularly wide for low-middle-income country settings.” Because of the shortage of school psychology professionals, the Chat for Hope team seeks to “tap into” the school system in Ukraine. Their hope is to leverage the network of teachers and existing professionals to promote the use of digital mental health care and screening. To provide this care, the final Chat for Hope product will be a chatbot with which youth can engage. According to Sun, the chatbot will have a “deterministic style and conversation flow,” meaning that all possible answers to inputs are already pre-determined ahead of time. “It’s more boring for the user, compared to ChatGPT, for example, where you can’t predict the answers, but it’s also safer
SOPHIA MITTMAN / HERALD
In collaboration with the National Academy of Educational Sciences of Ukraine and the Institute of AI Problems for Ukraine, Brown researchers from the Global Mental Health and Flourishing Lab are in the process of creating Chat for Hope — an AI platform to provide mental health support to Ukrainian youth. because we know what each answer will be about, and it’s less addictive compared to the commercial AI models on the market,” Sun said. Since Chat for Hope will primarily serve youth, the chatbot will incorporate many safety features such as a direct online connection to a real person if a user is in immediate danger, according to Sun. A lot of the work in developing Chat for Hope has come from communication with youth in the warzone that have been “affected personally” and using their input when creating the chatbot. Noah Philip, a professor of psychiatry and human behavior who was not affiliated with the study, wrote in a message to The Herald that it is important the Chat for Hope chatbot is diligently tested before
it is rolled out. “The potential for digital mental health interventions is substantial, yet demonstrating meaningful clinical benefit through rigorous research is essential before these approaches can be widely implemented,” Philip wrote. “The last thing people need in a conflict zone is something that doesn’t help, or even worse causes harm by delaying other evidence-based interventions.” But if it does demonstrate “meaningful clinical benefits,” the chatbot could have an impact in conflict-affected regions across the world, Philip added. The chatbot will first be tested via a randomized control trial on 480 Ukrainian youth. “Half of them will receive the specific intervention, and half of them will receive the screening and referral resources,
but not the treatment that’s built within the app,” Sun said. The Chat for Hope team will then perform an evaluation and two follow up appointments. “The last thing people need in a conflict zone is something that doesn’t help, or even worse causes harm by delaying other evidence-based interventions,” Philip wrote. Shebanov said that it would be “amazing” if Chat for Hope would allow youth to “feel empowered (and) inspired to be resilient, to stand against different challenges that there may be, particularly related to war.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 9, 2026.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
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SCIENCE & RESEARCH BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE
Drinking history could be linked to disease-related biomarker levels, study finds The group studied biomarkers in relation to alcohol consumption BY ANGEL LOPEZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER Even young, healthy adults may be at risk of biological changes linked to chronic illness if they engage in drinking, according to a new study by Brown researchers. The study characterized participants as either light or heavy drinkers and evaluated how low or moderate doses of alcohol could impact biological markers levels in the body. Researchers found that heavy drinkers had elevated biomarkers that indicate changed vascular and metabolic activity. The team did not find many differences in biomarker levels due to the amount of alcohol participants consumed in the lab — rather, participants’ past drinking history was most clearly linked to differences in biomarkers, according to Mollie Monnig, associate professor of behavioral and social sciences and first author on the paper. “I was surprised at how many differences we just found as a function of lighter drinker versus heavy drinker,” Monnig told The Herald. Participants in the study were brought into the lab and consumed either a placebo, low-dose or moderate-dose alcoholic drink. Researchers took blood samples at five different points and used an immunoassay system to test for biomarkers, Monnig explained. Those biomarkers mapped to five different categories of risk factors for chronic diseases. Samantha Clark GS, an author on the
While the study’s heavy drinkers met National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism standards for excessive alcohol use, Monnig said their drinking was not particularly heavy by clinical standards. To be classified as a heavy drinker, female participants had to have had more than seven alcoholic beverages per week
five or more drinks. Monnig explained that there are a lot of studies that look at the effects of alcohol on rodent models or clinical trials that focus on analyzing the biomarkers of heavy drinkers. But there are “very few studies that actually do randomized, controlled trials of acute alcohol effects in people,” Monning said.
Erica Grodin, an assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University who was not associated with the study, wrote in an email to The Herald that the publication “fills a significant gap in the field” through the use of a “rigorous experimental design.” Grodin wrote that what she found most exciting about the project was the
and the impact of different acute alcohol levels on these markers. According to Monnig, the purpose of the study is to provide people with information on alcohol use to make informed decisions on their own. Monnig noted that even if certain findings associated with heavy drinking “don’t look so great … that doesn’t mean that the research is
paper, said that accounting for the heavy or light drinking variable allows researchers to see if “people’s bodies respond differently to alcohol acutely.”
or five episodes of drinking four or more drinks during a four-week period. Male participants had to have at least 14 drinks per week or five episodes of consuming
“For me, it’s really connecting the behavioral and the biological, because a lot of research just looks at one side or the other,” Monnig said.
“inclusion of understudied biomarkers across multiple biological domains,” which provided more information on the “disease pathways impacted by heavy alcohol use”
anti-alcohol.”
ISABELA GUILLEN / HERALD
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov 11, 2026.
NEUROSCIENCE
Brown researchers find hunger may increase alcohol cravings in fruit flies A single neuron affected how soon hungry flies found alcohol rewarding BY ELIZABETH ROSENBAUM SENIOR STAFF WRITER If you walked past the same bar every day on the way home from work, most days, you would barely register it. But if one day you accidentally skipped lunch, you might suddenly have the urge to enter the bar and order a drink, explained Associate Professor of Neuroscience Karla Kaun. A new study led by Brown researchers examines this relationship between hunger and alcohol. “Without you even realizing it, the cues that are coming from the bar — maybe the smell that’s coming from it, or a cute sign of a martini glass in the window — (are) attracting you,” Kaun, the study’s principal investigator, said in an interview with The Herald. The study found that silencing or activating a neuron in flies’ brains that releases octopamine — a neurotransmitter associated with physiological experiences like hunger — influenced how soon the flies found alcohol rewarding. Kaun explained that a fly’s reaction to alcohol is similar to a human’s. At first, flies might think alcohol is “kind of gross” and “smells bad,” Kaun said.
JULIAN BIELENBERG / HERALD
But “if you give them enough that they can feel the pharmacological effects and then let them sleep it off, they remember (alcohol) as rewarding and not aversive,” she said. “Alcohol and other drugs of abuse
hijack these pathways in fly brains, much like they do in our brains.” The team came across this hunger circuit when Kavin Nuñez PhD’21 decided to keep the flies starved after a routine exper-
iment. The starved flies moved towards the alcohol faster than the fed flies, Nuñez said. Nuñez found that the neuron VUMa3 was driving this effect. When a fly is hungry, VUMa3 is acti-
vated and “talks to the pathway that normally works when the fly is not hungry,” Kaun said. This research is significant in “figuring out the fundamental puzzle pieces through which alcohol can be felt as rewarding and remembered as rewarding,” Kaun said. She added that the scientists on this study are trying to understand cravings at a molecular level “because we actually don’t have a very good way to stop cravings right now.” Individuals recovering from alcohol use disorders are instructed to avoid stressors, such as getting too hungry or sleep-deprived, Kaun said. This research may help explain why. Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences and of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Carolina Haass-Koffler, who was not involved in the study but is collaborating with the researchers on a follow-up, said that these findings help explain how motivations to drink intensify under certain physiological conditions. This research suggests that the brain’s response to a cue associated with alcohol “is not fixed,” Haass-Koffler said. “It continues to be very dynamic between the experiences that you have.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Nov. 9, 2026.
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Friday, November 13, 2026
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