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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021
VOLUME CLVI, ISSUE XXXXI
METRO
UNIVERSITY NEWS
PPSD stakeholders react to U. initiative Community members share excitement, concern over college prep program
U. partnership with HBCU Libraries awarded $100K Pilot program to train six librarians for community-driven leadership
BY KATE DARIO SENIOR STAFF WRITER Providence Public School District educators and stakeholders shared cautious optimism about Brown’s recently-announced initiative to help prepare local students for selective four-year institutions and to increase PPSD enrollment at the University. The initiative, announced in a press release from President Christina Paxson P’19 Oct. 25, is part of a broader plan to increase financial aid and access to the University, The Herald previously reported. “We believe that every student in Providence deserves access to a firstrate education, and launching and sustaining a successful college prep program will add to an extensive array of efforts by Brown faculty, staff and students in partnership with local stakeholders to support education in Providence schools and others in the state’s urban core,” University Spokes-
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
BY DANA RICHIE CONTRIBUTING WRITER The University Library’s partnership COURTESY OF KENNETH C. ZIRKEL VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Stakeholders believe the intiative will allow PPSD graduates to achieve increased workforce success as a result of attending selective colleges.
person Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald. In conjunction with efforts by city schools and other local organizations, the University’s initiative aims to help increase the proportion of Providence high school graduates who enroll in college from its current rate of 54%. “It would be an incredible opportunity,” Maribeth Calabro, president of the Providence Teachers Union, said of the future pipeline. “I’ve always said that Brown University needs to save spaces for (PPSD) students to be part of their educational community.” She added that attending a selective university would help PPSD students eventually
ARTS & CULTURE
be more successful in the workforce. Despite being excited about the prospect, some within PPSD believe the measure is a small step given the University’s position within the city. “I think it has good intentions. I think the process is long overdue,” Precious Lopez, co-executive director of the Providence Student Union, said. She added that she felt this way because of the University’s $6.9 billion endowment and its exemption from paying property taxes to the City due to its status as a nonprofit organization. Rémy Poisson ’22, a Classical High
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with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Library Alliance was recently awarded a $100,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to establish the program “Stronger Together, Leading Through Community.” The initiative will prepare a cohort of librarians to implement community-driven leadership within their work, according to a University press release. For a small class of six librarians and archivists, the pilot year of the program will include the implementation of a socially-conscious curriculum, individual mentoring in specific interest areas, virtual conversations with colleagues from different institutions within the partnership and in-person site visits to other libraries. The program will be co-directed by
Sandra Phoenix, executive director of the HBCU Library Alliance, and Amanda Strauss, associate librarian for special collections at the University. The University became the first non-HBCU institution in the HBCU Library Alliance in November 2020. According to Strauss, this grant serves as the “first publicly tangible piece of our partnership.” “It’s designed to be a true partnership and a true place where there will be reciprocal learning between both Brown University Library (and) the HBCU Library Alliance,” said Kenvi Phillips, director of library diversity, equity and inclusion. “We’re keeping it small at the beginning, so we can provide a deeply experiential and relational (program),” Strauss said. “I think about this grant almost in terms of fellowship because you learn from somebody” at a more relaxed pace. “Collaborating with Brown University to support leadership development and to continue our mission to strengthen HBCU libraries and their staff sets the stage to advance
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UNIVERSITY NEWS
‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ Class of ’21.5 to have ceremony in-person mixes nostalgia, heartbreak U. cites COVID-19 Success of rerecorded album ‘Red’ proves Taylor Swift’s influence on music BY AALIA JAGWANI SENIOR STAFF WRITER “Musically and lyrically, ‘Red’ resembled a heartbroken person. It was all over the place, a fractured mosaic of feelings that somehow all fit together at the end,” Taylor Swift said in her Instagram post announcing her album, “Red (Taylor’s Version).” Since its release on Nov. 12, the re-recorded 2012 album has turned back time for Swift’s large following across the globe, evoking once again the heartbreak, joy, pain and angst that we first experienced nine years ago. The second in her series of re-recordings, “Red (Taylor’s Version)” broke the record for the most streamed album in a single day by a female artist, previously held by Swift herself for ‘Folklore.’ She also broke the record for the most streamed fe-
male artist in a single day in Spotify history. But the success of her re-recordings has implications far beyond the number of streams they get. She began re-recording last year, after her master recordings were sold to Scooter Braun — a talent manager at whose hands she received “incessant, manipulative bullying” in the past, according to her social media announcement. Since then, her recordings were sold a second time to an investment firm, Shamrock Holdings. Having been denied the opportunity to buy her masters back, Swift responded with her venture to re-record her first six albums. Swift’s battle against the sharks of the music industry have also inspired younger artists such as Olivia Rodrigo to retain full control over their masters. Swift isn’t just bringing attention to the politics of an industry that preys on young artists. She’s also turned what started as a clever move to regain control over her life’s work
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pandemic for expected 33% increase in midyear graduates
BY CHARLIE CLYNES CONTRIBUTING WRITER The University will hold its annual midyear completion ceremony Dec. 11, with the ceremony being in person for the first time since the pandemic began, according to Assistant Dean of Curricular Programs Janet Peters. The number of students participating in the ceremony, which celebrates those completing their degree requirements at the end of this semester, is expected to be up 33% from last year, an increase Peters attributes to the pandemic. “This year’s event will return to an in-person format, with a livestream for those who cannot attend in person,” Peters wrote in an email to The Herald. But the typical reception that follows the ceremony will not occur due to “present complexities of serving food to a large group” during the pandemic.
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Graduate students discuss eleven available doctoral certificate programs Page 3
Women’s basketball wins its first game of the season against Bryant University Page 6
Gaber ’23: Gen Z’ers should take more time to process traumatic events Page 7
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The midyear ceremony, which is separate from the formal commencement event held in May, is meant to celebrate the nearly 160 students who will fulfill their requirements in the middle of the year, Peters wrote. The graduation in May represents a student’s official commencement from the University, while the midyear completion ceremony offers “a different kind of closure, recognizing the completion of your degrees and the unique paths you have taken through
Brown,” according to the University website. Students who graduate in the fall semester do so for a multitude of reasons, including taking leaves of absence or enrolling at the University midyear as a transfer or Resumed Undergraduate Education student, according to Peters. Some students who will participate in the ceremony told The Her-
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Period Equity pushes for menstrual justice Student organization pilots period product drives, menstrual justice education BY EMILY CIGARROA CONTRIBUTING WRITER
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CEREMONY FROM PAGE 1 ald that they took semester-long leaves to pursue their personal and intellectual interests, while others took a semester off to gain more knowledge before entering the job market. Esther Kim ’21.5 spent summer and fall 2020 as a software engineering intern in Korea. “Taking a leave was a really good decision for thinking about what I wanted,” Kim said. “When you’re in college, … there’s not much time to figure yourself out.” Ryan Putman ’21.5 said he took an extra semester to prepare himself for entering a job market still recovering from COVID-19. “My goal has always been to have a job lined up upon graduation,” he said. “That goal fell into jeopardy, so I decided to buy myself some time.” Multiple students that acknowledged the increase in midyear graduates was likely due to the unique circumstances of the pandemic. “COVID changed the game on this,” Janey Litvin ’21.5 said, emphasizing that she was one of the few midyear graduates she knew of who had not taken time off because of the pandemic. Litvin took a leave of absence in spring 2020 to practice studio art and take non-University affiliated Spanish classes in Madrid, though she was forced to return home
and take classes online when the pandemic hit. She had previously spent a semester at Trinity College in Dublin through the Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad, a program that was sponsored by Brown and thus did not require a formal leave. “Brown in general fosters a community where people feel very comfortable not graduating on a typical four year cycle,” Litvin said. “That’s a really awesome thing because it affords people the opportunity to do really cool things that maybe they wouldn’t feel comfortable doing upon graduation.” Peters reiterated the University’s commitment to allowing students to pursue a variety of different paths. “The College doesn’t discourage the diverse and exploratory journeys students take to complete their degree requirements,” she said, adding that the University seeks to celebrate these journeys with “an intimate celebration with family, friends, faculty and staff.” The celebration will be held Saturday, Dec. 11 at 4 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, according to the University’s website. Despite the University not offering a reception following the event, Peters added that “the midyear team has a couple of surprises that we hope will further brighten the joyous day.”
Student-run organization Period Equity at Brown is working to increase access to menstrual products on campus and across the state by holding period product drives and advocating for legislative change. Currently, the organization is hosting an on-campus drive to collect pads and tampons to distribute to local shelters serving community members experi. Quinn Coleman ’23, PEB service director, and Irene Sung ’23, PEB advocacy director, conceptualized the organization after discovering their shared passion for period justice during their freshman year. Working with their co-founder Mina Kao ’23, PEB education director, the organization was formally approved by the Student Activities Office and began operations at the beginning of the fall semester. Alongside holding drives, PEB aims to educate the Brown community on menstrual justice through weekly meetings. Coleman, Sung and Kao agreed that the perceived lack of knowledge regarding menstruation among the general public was a major factor in founding the organization. After attending a global health conference featuring Nadya Okamoto, founder of Period Inc., an organization aimed at ending period poverty, Coleman realized how incomplete his knowledge about menstruation was. Period poverty describes a lack of access to affordable sanitary products. “There’s so many other people who have less access to education and to that knowledge that I had,” Coleman said, prompting his interest in expanding education on menstruation. The organization is also planning to engage in long-term advocacy. It plans to contact state representatives and advocate for the creation of a bill
COURTESY OF PERIOD EQUITY AT BROWN
Organizers of the initiative also hope to expand access to hygiene products for people incarcerated in Rhode Island. that would increase access to period products for incarcerated people in Rhode Island. Sung noted that period justice is a major issue in the nation’s prison system, and the club leaders see the current allocation of menstrual products in prisons as insufficient. “Supplying a few pads and tampons to incarcerated menstruators (is) not enough,” Sung said. Sung explained that PEB’s next step is to contact state representatives on a regular basis in the hopes that the organization will eventually be able to contribute to the drafting of a bill. According to Sung, “accessibility is not just (providing) a few products every month,” but instead requires “unlimited accessibility” to menstrual products in both quantity and product type. Sung added that she started a project at her previous school in South Korea to provide free menstrual products in all bathrooms. But when she tried to host a period product drive at her school, the boxes were taken by faculty members — showing Sung how stigmatized menstruation is. In early high school, “I didn’t even really think about … how this was just a given for me that I could always access pads and tampons,” Kao said. The challenges she encountered while trying to organize a sanitary product drive made her realize how hard it was to increase accessibility to menstrual products due
to the social stigma surrounding it. Ongoing efforts by menstrual justice advocates to change menstruation terminology to make it more inclusive — including the use of “menstruators” instead of “women” and “menstrual hygiene products” instead of “feminine hygiene products” — can make some even more uncomfortable when discussing menstruation, Coleman added. Still, the organization’s leaders agreed that inclusivity is an essential part of menstrual justice moving forward. “We have a commitment to make it very clear that (fostering inclusivity) is what needs to happen,” Coleman said. “We need to change our language around menstrual hygiene products and menstruators.” Sung noted that inclusive language will be applied to all of the organization’s advocacy efforts, including the legislation it aims to propose for increasing access to menstrual products in state prisons. “It’s not just incarcerated women” who experience menstruation, she said. “These products should not just be in female bathrooms, but also gender-neutral bathrooms.” The use of this terminology “ is very, very important because that’s kind of the basis of what the Department of Corrections is going to follow,” Sung added. “That’s going to create our new standard and the new normal.”
pital property used for institutional purposes.” Lopez also underscored the need for community voices to be consulted in the pipeline development. “I’d like to know who these community members are that they’re talking to because they’re not talking to community orgs — at least PSU hasn’t gotten to the table,” she said. According to Clark, the University is still in “the earliest stage of turning the vision for a robust college-prep program into a plan that outlines what a successful initiative would look like and how it would operate.” He added that the University will consult “key stakeholders” in the process, such as PPSD leaders, students, teachers and administrators, as well as the Rhode Island Department of Education. Calabro said she hopes that these college preparation efforts include students from all across the district. “We have phenomenal students in every building, and so I wouldn’t want anybody to be missed, especially with this kind of opportunity,” she said. Poisson similarly shared a desire for inclusivity across the district and concern about the pipeline potentially exacerbating educational inequity in
the city. “A concern would be if (pipeline leaders) prioritize certain schools,” he said. He explained that Classical, which requires an entrance exam for admission and is widely considered PPSD’s most competitive high school, is already “sort of a feeder” to the University. Since Classical has selective admission, there is already “elitism in that process,” he said. If the program contributes to the perception that going to Classical will get a student admitted to the University, he added, it could make that inequality between Providence high schools worse. Poisson said that he knew that many Providence students may not want to stay in their home city for college, so he believes that it is a good idea for the pipeline to facilitate increased access to universities other than Brown. Calabro also emphasized that the pipeline and college preparation efforts must start with young students. “We need to have Brown dive deep into the practices, instruction and curriculum at the high school level, and even as low as the middle school level, so that we can support all of the instruction and achievement that is required to get into a university such as Brown.”
PPSD FROM PAGE 1 School graduate who is earning a Brown/Rhode Island School of Design Dual Degree, also said the University has a responsibility to support PPSD. “There’s a moral obligation because Brown is not really paying taxes,” he said. Clark pushed back against the notion that the University does not pay property taxes. “It’s important to clarify that the statement that ‘Brown does not pay property taxes’ is factually inaccurate,” he wrote to The Herald. “We pay municipal taxes for real estate we own and lease to commercial tenants, and transition payments for former commercial properties acquired by Brown and now used for institutional purposes — more than $2.5 million in the last fiscal year alone,” Clark wrote. “That’s in addition to $3.4 million in voluntary payments that we make to the city each year and $2.3 million in annual city and state fees.” The University also pays voluntary contributions to the city government through the R.I. Payment in Lieu of Taxes program, which Clark wrote accounted for “27% of the taxes that would be paid on University and hos-
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
3
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Graduate community reflects on doctoral certificate program offerings
Irina Kalinka GS, a sixth-year PhD can-
cause it enhanced the value of courses he would already be taking. “A lot of the so-called opportunities that are presented to grad students are extra work with very little benefits,” he said. “The Cogut certificate really is not this.” The doctoral certificates may advance graduate students’ career opportunities, according to Kevin Mwenda, associate director of spatial structures.
“There is a lot of talk of people doing certificates and fellowships of all sorts, and it’s not completely clear how that brand itself will help me,” Moghrabi said. “However, maybe in a more tangible sense, it has helped me in learning how to collaborate with other young scholars.” “Unlike in the sciences, it is less common to write papers together, and the whole point of the (Comparative
didate in the Department of Modern Culture and Media, became one of the first students at Brown to complete a doctoral certificate upon finishing the Collaborative Humanities program in 2019. Kalinka was in her first year at Brown in 2017 — the year that the University introduced doctoral certificates to its curriculum. Doctoral certificate programs are available to PhD students and “are designed to extend expertise into interdisciplinary areas and to certify training beyond the home PhD discipline,” according to the Graduate School website. The programs, offered at no additional charge, require PhD students to take three to five classes in the program of their choice, with some requiring an additional “piece of written work, internship, practicum or other project.” Students who pursue a doctoral certificate receive a note indicating completion of the program on their Brown transcripts, though they do not receive any formal documents beyond their doctoral degree. The University recently began to expand certificate offerings across academic programs. Nearly three years ago, the University launched a similar certificate program for undergraduate students offering certificates in data science and entrepreneurship. At the beginning of the fall semester, the University created a new certificate in Engaged Scholarship. For Kalinka, the idea of pursuing a doctoral certificate came inadvertently as she pursued her studies at Brown. “I took a class on ethics and politics with Amanda Anderson right when they were conceiving of the certificate,” she said. “They were telling us that the seminar would count as one of the classes that you’d have to take to complete the certificate and that we could apply for the fellowship that goes along with it.”
For example, the Spatial Analysis doctoral certificate teaches students statistical methods that may be useful for their current research and are attractive to employers. “In the humanities, this shows that you have experience in the quantitative aspects of research,” he said. Mwenda added that many of the students who pursue the Spatial Analysis doctoral certificate study sociology or public health — fields where knowledge of statistics is applicable. In addition to teaching employable skills, the doctoral certificate programs allow students to explore and build connections in diverse fields, MartínezPinzón said. The Hispanic Studies doctoral certificate “is the appropriate bridge to build those translinguistic and transdisciplinary projects,” he said. “It’s not only accumulating knowledge of that region or adding more diversity to your CV or showing that you can have a broader portfolio, but also making your experience at Brown much richer.” “It’s just really nice and also sometimes surprising and unsettling to see how the same extra text or issue can be approached from a myriad of different sources,” Dai said. It “makes me try to push myself to think across all these different disciplines.” Estefan said that the interdepartmental collaboration through the certificate programs also provides students with extra support from faculty. “My department is very small. This is a way that I could find people who I would not be able to find in my department,” he said. “It’s almost like a second department.” Moghrabi said that while he is not sure the certificate will directly help him find employment, he values the skills he learned through the program, such as collaborating with scholars in different fields.
Literature) certificate is that in every seminar you have to write a paper with someone who may or may not be in your field,” he added. “That experience helped me a lot in understanding how to work with others. I now understand how my work matters in a wider context outside of rigid disciplinary lines.” Despite their potential benefits, few students actually pursue doctoral certificate programs, Lewis said. Lewis explained that between 80 and 100 students have either completed or are currently pursuing doctoral certificates. The doctoral certificates also vary in popularity. While 30 students have completed the Collaborative Humanities doctoral certificate, Peter Van Dommelen, director of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World, said that the Archaeology of the Ancient World doctoral certificate has yet to have a student pursue it. “It just sits there as an option,” he said. “It is potentially something to promote interdisciplinarity, but we haven’t had any takers for it.” Kalinka said that even though she has completed her certificate program, the experience continues to benefit her. “The project I did for my project development workshop in the end turned into an idea for my larger dissertation, so I took that and ran with it and I’m still running with it,” Kalinka said. “Amanda Anderson is on my dissertation committee, and that relationship also grew out of us working together in various seminars and the project development workshop.” “This was one of the most rewarding experiences of my time at Brown just because I got a lot out of collaborating with other PhD students and researchers,” she added. “Those kinds of conversations make a big difference in how we approach our work.”
Grad students discuss cross-department collaboration, wider career opportunities BY CALEB LAZAR SENIOR STAFF WRITER
LIBRARY FROM PAGE 1 our work together,” said Phoenix in the press release. After receiving the grant in July, the team in charge of the initiative, led by Phoenix and Strauss, began a six month period of working through logistics — preparing the curriculum, formulating the steering committee and recruiting the first class of librarians, according to Strauss. After the first cohort participates in the year-long program, the team will spend four to six months assessing and preparing for the future of the program. Strauss hopes that this thoroughness will maximize the impact of the program. “I really, truly believe in the potential of this program, and I want to see it become a permanent fixture in the library leadership landscape,” Strauss said. Phillips emphasized that this program strengthens the “true partnership” between Brown and the HBCU Library Alliance by valuing each partner’s unique contributions. As a Howard University alum, Phil-
RHEA RASQUINHA / HERALD
As Director of the Cogut Institute for the Humanities, Anderson oversees the Cogut Institute’s Collaborative Humanities doctoral certificate. “It’s really built around the idea that students would benefit from and find meaningful opportunities to engage in certain kinds of collaboration that they might not have access to in their home departments,” Anderson explained. The number of certificate programs has grown since the University first introduced them in 2016. Currently, there are a total of 11 programs, ranging from Data Science to Gender and Sexuality Studies. Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Thomas Lewis said that the certificates offer students manageable pathways to building interdisciplinary skills. Lewis explained that students who cannot pursue a full Master’s in another academic department because of the requirements for their PhD program can utilize the doctoral certificate program to “participate in and document that level of engagement and serious commitment in another area.” The exact requirements vary between doctoral certificate programs, but most include three team-taught seminars and a fourth course with a collaborative element, Anderson said. Kareem Estefan GS, a seventh-year PhD student in MCM who has completed the Collaborative Humanities certificate, said that the team-taught seminars provided unique perspectives for his studies. “Many professors that I was already interested in taking courses with were actually teaching together in collaboration,” he said. Sometimes, the courses were taught lips believes that it’s critical for institutions to learn from “the values, the lessons and the practices” of HBCUs. She said she thinks that the University’s partnership with the HBCU Library Alliance will encourage other institutions to form cross-institutional partnerships with HBCUs. “It’s very important to me that we are doing this work in earnest and honestly to help support the work of HBCUs as well as to improve ourselves as an institution,” Phillips said. “I’m pleased to be part of a project that can connect me quite directly back to HBCUs and the work that they’re doing.” Members of the team agree that this program will benefit University librarians, faculty and students by prompting the Library to critically reflect and improve upon internal practices. “Building up our professional skills and knowledge through the partnership with our HBCU colleagues will have an impact on students’ experience of the library in various ways and help us advance the kinds of student opportunities and projects that we’ve been working to expand,” said Joseph Meisel,
with what Estefan described as “creative tension,” given that instructors “had different approaches and even disagreements,” he said. “We benefited from hearing both of those perspectives.” The collaborative component for the Collaborative Humanities doctoral certificate is a project development workshop in which students across disciplines present their work and review each other’s papers, said Thomas Dai GS, an American Studies PhD candidate who is currently pursuing the Collaborative Humanities certificate. “It’s a kind of forum for graduate students from so many different departments at Brown to show their writing and research to other grad students not in your department,” Dai said. “You get these outside perspectives that you wouldn’t normally get.” “They also bring in noted faculty in the different fields that people are working within,” he added. “It challenges you to figure out how to translate what can sometimes feel like very niche work to a broader audience within the humanities.” Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies Felipe Martínez-Pinzón, who directs the Hispanic Studies graduate certificate, said that the loose structure of the programs makes them accessible to students, as they have freedom in deciding when to apply to the program and take courses to fulfill its requirements. “Since there are no requisites, the certificate is pretty malleable,” he said. Alessandro Moghrabi GS, a fourthyear Comparative Literature PhD candidate who has completed the Collaborative Humanities doctoral certificate, said that he pursued the program be-
COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Kenvi Phillips of University Libraries believes the partnership will encourage other institutions to work more closely with HBCUs. Joukowsky family university librarian. Strauss believes that this program is necessary in a time of “great friction and civil unrest,” citing libraries as a critical “part of the academic infrastructure.” “Libraries and collection-based institutions are places where access to information and knowledge are selected and stewarded,” Strauss said. “It’s not a neutral process. We have to have library leaders who are steeped in these principles, and that directly influences the student experience and
faculty research.” Those facilitating the program anticipate a positive impact that will only grow as the program develops. “We are bringing together two gigantic networks: the networks we’re connected to here at Brown University and the networks and resources of (HBCUs) and the HBCU Library Alliance,” Strauss said. “We haven’t combined those in this way before. We don’t quite know where it’s going to lead, but I know it’ll be somewhere amazing.”
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
Testing sites to close Wednesday afternoon for Thanksgiving break Testing sites to have staggered reopening after break to accomodate returns BY GABRIELLA VULAKH SENIOR STAFF WRITER Due to Thanksgiving break, the COVID-19 testing sites at Alumnae Hall and One Davol Square will be closed from noon on Wednesday, Nov. 24 through Friday, Nov. 26, according to a Thursday email to the Brown community written by Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06. Alumnae Hall will reopen on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 10 a.m. and Andrews House will reopen on Sunday, Nov. 28 at 10 a.m until Dec. 5. All three sites will be operating again by Monday. The testing sites will close since the Broad Institute, the University’s testing partner, is closing for the holiday break. “There’s no sense in doing a test if it’s going to sit for a day or two” before community members receive a result, Carey told The Herald. The email advised that community members who need a COVID-19 test result for travel purposes schedule a test at least two days prior to departure. The number of staff at testing sites has decreased in the past few weeks due to the University’s transition to optional and self-administered testing at campus sites announced Oct. 27. When the testing sites reopen after Thanksgiving break, “we will have sufficient
VICTORIA YIN / HERALD
Russell Carey encouraged members of the Brown community to get a booster shot, particularly those who received the Johnson & Johnson. staff at all three test sites open that week” to accommodate the increased volume, Carey said. Students will be required to test on the first and fifth day after their return to campus, The Herald previously re-
ported. “We anticipate doing probably around 15,000 tests that week at least,” Carey said, a sharp increase from the fewer than 2,000 tests a week that the University testing program processed over the past two weeks.
CA L E N DA R
During Thanksgiving break, Carey added that he encourages the Brown community, particularly people who received the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, to get a booster shot. The University has not yet discussed
whether booster shots will be added to the vaccination requirement, “but, from everything I’ve seen from the CDC and elsewhere, a booster is strongly recommended,” Carey said.
COVID -19 AT BROWN LAST 7 DAYS*
NOVEMBER S
7
Completed Tests
People Tested
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
1 ,865
1,684
1
2
3
4
5
6
Confirmed Positives
Positivity Rates
3
0.2 %
8
9
10
11
12
13 SINCE AUGUST 24, 2020*
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Completed Tests
People Tested
573,515
18,063
Total Cases
Prevalence
828
4.6 %
*AS OF NOV 18.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | POST-
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NOV 19 — VOL 28 — ISSUE 9
FEATURE
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See Full Issue: ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH
NARRATIVE
Drinking Buddies if people were pop By ellie jurmann Watermelon flavored Hint water (the sparkling version, of course). If Elton John were a beverage, that’s the one he’d be. We can all agree on that, right? Or that Barack Obama would be blueberry soda in a glass bottle? You understand that, too, don’t you? At the very least, please tell me you can see how Pete Davidson would be a cup of skim milk. There’s no way you can refute that one. Maybe this sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo to you, but to me this is Common Sense by Ellie’s brain. Every person I know, and every celebrity too, is analogous to a beverage in my mind. Think synesthesia, but exclusively with beverages. One may wonder why exactly this happens,
Facing Death taking purpose from loss by zoe creane illustrated by elliana reynolds cw: death In biology, everything happens for a reason. Our bodies rely on complex systems of call-and-response, on the beautiful and articulate signaling pathways that enable life as we know it. Each action in our circulatory, nervous, digestive, and immune systems can be traced back to a stimulus, an underlying cause. It’s easy to extend this biological fact to our human lives. Our brains are systematic processing centers, and we’re naturally inclined to sort our lives into orderly arrangements. Unable to embrace the overwhelming complexity of our world, we write the happenings of our existence off to fate, claiming that “everything happens for a reason.” The reality of life—as distressing and unsettling as it may be—is that very little happens for a reason. There is no irrepressible plan or automatic response, as we observe in biological processes. There are often events for which we can find no justification,
no sanity or sense. Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. This truth is something I’ve recently had to face with intensity. Several months ago, the brother of a friend of mine drowned in a river. Noam was 20 years old, a joyous and exuberant person. Our high school had thousands of students, but Noam stood out. The flashing memories I have of him are all tinged with sunlight; it felt that he had harnessed the bright energy of the sun and was channeling it into his world. One of the first times I saw Noam was from the stands, watching a school soccer game. A player flitted across the field, deftly dribbling the ball through the pack of defenders. “Who is that?” I asked my friend, mesmerized by the player’s tangible confidence. “It’s Noam, Caleb’s older brother,” she replied. “He’s ridiculously talented.” Noam and our school’s team won the North Coast Section Championship that year, and Noam continued on to play Division I soccer in college. The qualities that made Noam a captivating soccer player were also what made him a captivating person. His friends spoke of his empathy, his ability to listen and respond in a way that made the outside world fall away. They spoke of his wit and charisma, how he could make anyone laugh in that full-bellied way. Noam was a camp counselor—a fantastic one—and his campers...
“It’s cause I shaved my head this morning, so I’m essentially velcro.” “I never tried to be butch. I’m just femme and dirty.”
Simple Machines
post–
1. Inclined plane
6. Rage against the
2. Florence + the
7. Wheel and axle
3. Screw ;)
8. Gun Kelly
4. Pull the lever, Kronk
9. Time
5. My brain
10. Pulley
Want to be involved? Email: olivia_howe@brown.edu!
and I wish I had a clue. What I can tell you, though, is that there is little I can do to stop it from happening...
ARTS & CULTURE
Press Start to Play the relationship game in mitski's music By ethan pan In one of Pitchfork’s Best New Track reviews, contributor Sue Park renders fittingly lyrical prose to describe Mitski’s newest single and music video, “The Only Heartbreaker”: “Ever the harbinger of love’s decay, Mitski chokes through a self-created inferno.” Park, along with many listeners, is quick to notice the 80s influence that permeates the track from its first measure. Bright technicolor synths, punchy drums with gated reverb, an insistent beat ripped straight from a-ha’s “Take on Me” and Pat Benatar’s aptly named “Heartbreaker”—it all harkens back to the days of VHS as Mitski sings from the perspective of the “Bad Guy” in a relationship...
LIFESTYLE
Best to Worst:
a definitive and 100% factual ranking of thanksgiving foods By olivia cohen 1. Pie The undisputed winner. I won't try to pit pumpkin and pecan pie against each other here. They are both stunning reconfigurations of foods that are woefully underwhelming when out of pie form, but they clean up nicely for the holidays. Pie signals the beginning of the end of Thanksgiving dinner, a sweet release from questions like "what are you going to do with a Literary Arts major?" and "why didn't you bring your boyfriend?" Even if pie weren't the best-tasting food at Thanksgiving dinner, it would be infinitely valuable for those few blissful seconds of silence you get when everybody starts digging in. 2. Sweet potato casserole The word "casserole" is your aunt's euphemism for a medley of deep-dish, kitchen-sink, rebaked leftovers...
november 19, 2021
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
6
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021
SPORTS
Women’s basketball wins first game of season, falls in home opener Bears pull out lastminute win at Bryant, lose close match to CCSU
three-point field goal of the game, while Central Connecticut State scored inside early. The Bears’ deficit grew as they failed to convert off Blue Devil turnovers. CCSU led by 19 after two consecutive threes, forcing a Brown timeout. The Bears’ offense remained stagnant out of the timeout, and the team’s struggle to grab rebounds gave CCSU too many chances. Kirk scored off a Euro step, but the Blue Devils responded again and were up 54-35 to end the third quarter. Brown came out with more intensity to start the fourth quarter, with defensive contributions by forward Dani Short ’23 and guard Maddie Mullin ’23 off the bench. The Bears were shooting two for 17 from beyond the arc going into the quarter, but the team’s deep
BY ADAM REMELS STAFF WRITER The women’s basketball team (1-3) secured its first win of the season in a down-to-the-wire game at Bryant University (0-3) Tuesday. Brown then played its first home game at the Pizzitola Sports Center against Central Connecticut State University (1-2) Thursday, but failed to capture a win. Brown 63, Bryant 60 The Bears wasted no time getting going on both sides of the ball against Bryant. Leading scorer Kyla Jones ’24 converted on three straight drives, two of which came off Bryant turnovers. Jones finished with 16 points and a game-leading four steals. Bruno continued to take an inside approach, with the team’s first 16 points all coming in the paint. Brown’s stifling defense forced 11 first-quarter turnovers, off of which The Bears scored 15 points. A three-pointer by guard Grace Kirk ’24 put the Bears up nine and contributed to a 19-12 lead to end the first quarter. The offense found continued success to start the second quarter with three straight mid-range jump shots, two by forward Amanda Latkany ’25 and one by guard Isabella Mauricio ’25. Mauricio finished the contest with 14 points and a team-high three assists. “Nobody likes losing, so we just wanted to come together and stick to the game plan,” Mauricio said. “We had a lot of energy, and that was the difference maker in this game.” But the Bulldogs matched Brown’s defensive intensity, and the Bears were unable to convert off of turnovers. Bryant took advantage of its size to out-rebound the Bears 24-9 in the first half.
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Forward Amanda Latkany ’25 contributed eight points, three steals and seven rebounds in the Bryant win. The Bulldogs’ edge on the glass and their two three-pointers with under a minute left in the first half cut Brown’s lead to four. The second half opened with two Latkany baskets, but the Bears struggled to get their scoring going. Bryant capitalized off the Bears’ turnovers and were able to score at a higher rate, but a late three-pointer by forward Mya Murray ’24 brought Brown within two points. Bruno trailed 44-46 at the end of the third quarter. The Bears and Bulldogs went back and forth to start the fourth quarter. Brown would not settle for shots, still driving and drawing free throws to create offense. With each Brown score, Bryant quickly responded. With one minute and 36 seconds left in the game, Mauricio drilled a stepback three to give Brown a onepoint lead. The teams traded baskets again, with two points by Jones in the paint following a Bryant layup. But the Bulldogs could not answer this time and were forced to foul guard Charlotte Jewell ’24 with 16 seconds left. Jewell sank both free throws, giving Brown a
three-point lead. The Bulldogs attempted a three-pointer to tie the game with three seconds left, but Latkany came up big and blocked the shot. Finishing with eight points, three steals and a teamhigh seven rebounds, Latkany credited “extra adrenaline” and “a team effort” for her end-of-game block. “We were really hungry for a win going into the game,” Latkany said. “We were really motivated to win, so I’m so glad we pulled it off.” Brown 60, Central Connecticut State 67 Brown opened the game with intensity, with Jones making two free throws off an offensive rebound by Jewell. Murray followed by scoring after her own offensive rebound. The Bears could not hit from deep early in the game but found success driving. CCSU was able to score well while Brown struggled to find good looks. The Blue Devils took advantage of Brown turnovers and missed shots to find offense. The Bears looked aggressive following a timeout with an immediate
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Jones drive leading to two converted free throws. Bruno matched CCSU’s spirit on the defensive end, with a steal by Jones and a block by forward Emma Laszewski ’24. Jewell hit Brown’s first three-pointer of the game, but the team continued to have difficulty scoring. The Blue Devils capitalized off missed shots and took a 21-15 lead to end the first quarter. The Bears showed hustle to start the second quarter with a steal on the first play. Two offensive rebounds on the same possession led to a mid-range jumper by Latkany. CCSU answered and forced two turnovers, but Mauricio came back and attacked the defense to convert an and-one layup. Murray scored two straight baskets in the paint, but the Blue Devils were able to respond by converting off three-point looks. Every time the Bears narrowed the deficit, the Blue Devil defense forced misses and widened their lead. Brown forced turnovers and found offense at the free throw line but were down 2736 at the half. Mauricio opened up the third quarter scoring with Brown’s second
shooting came alive in the fourth, starting with a Kirk three. A three-pointer by Mullin brought the deficit down to 11, but the Blue Devils started to find more consistent offense inside the paint. Mauricio, who finished with a team-high 18 points and three steals, hit back-to-back three-pointers. With Brown down nine points and only two minutes and 25 seconds left on the clock, CCSU slowed the game down. They took a 12 point lead, but a twoway sequence by Mauricio put pressure on the Blue Devils. Mauricio drove and scored two points off a layup, quickly forced a turnover and hit a three-point shot to make it a seven-point game with 36 seconds to go. Though the Bears outscored the Blue Devils 25-13 in the final quarter, they were working against time and could not complete the comeback. The team let “offense dictate defense for a lot of the game,” Head Coach Monique LeBlanc said. “The heart and soul of this program is going to be our defense, and that’s going to be how we establish how hard we’re playing,” LeBlanc said. “We just have to do a better job with that in the first half.”
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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
7
Gaber ’23: Why did we move on so quickly from the bomb threat? YASMEEN GABER STAFF COLUMNIST
Twelve days ago, there was a bomb threat on Brown’s campus. There were also threats at Columbia and Cornell, as well as one at Yale two days prior. And yet, from my experience, it seemed that the notable event on campus from that day was the deer that was mysteriously trapped in the lounge of Morriss Hall. Why doesn’t anyone seem to be talking about the bomb threat, and how have we moved on so quickly? While it was happening, I was sitting with a friend from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. She was confused that I was scared — for her, this kind of thing happened all the time back home. She almost seemed desensitized. Constant and imminent threats to her safety had left her completely unfazed by what were some of the scariest few hours of my adult life. My lack of close-calls and scary situations might be a function of privilege and luck, but I doubt I was the only one on campus who was genuinely worried. Our generation is marked by more disasters, crises and devastations than I can count on one hand. That experience means that we should be talking more openly about our collective fear, but paradoxically, it also means that we have less time and capacity to process each new distressing event. Generation Z, only now entering adulthood, has already shouldered a stunning amount of social upheaval. In the United States, we grew up in the post-9/11 era, with the threat of terrorism looming
alongside the persecution and surveillance of Black and brown communities perceived to be Muslim. School and mass shootings have abounded at such a rate that it’s hard to keep count anymore. The 2008 recession disrupted millions of lives, not to mention the pandemic, ever-increasing student debt, the rise of political polarization and extremism and the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. All this to leave out the looming global threat to
as our reality. A relatively recent development that has made processing collective trauma difficult is the advent of social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok are ripe with news on topics ranging from Taylor Swift to terrorism. Placing such information side-by-side on an Instagram story or consecutively on a TikTok feed likely erodes our ability to interpret and process difficult or distressing
“Despite — or because of — the fact that we have seen such constant devastation, we move on with our lives quickly after jarring events, often accepting them as our reality.”
our very existence: climate change. We may not have war on our soil, but by growing up amid so much tumult, our generation has certainly lived through many traumatic events. These events have almost become quotidian, an aspect of our lives that we’ve come to see as the norm. Despite — or because of — the fact that we have seen such constant devastation, we move on with our lives quickly after jarring events, often accepting them
information. Since coverage of tragic news runs alongside popular culture and “fluff” information on social media, tragedy has been integrated into our daily routine. Those with a greater appetite for consuming grim news have turned to “doomscrolling,” the spending of excessive amounts of time consuming negative news. We are inundated with more information than ever, and that information seems to be getting bleaker by the year. Where
does that leave our mental health? Gen Z’ers are more willing to seek help for mental health conditions than our predecessors. That fact alone should be celebrated. But greater openness about mental health is not the only reason so many of us seek therapy: Our generation has also been through uniquely difficult circumstances that separate us from other generations. We’re also far more plugged in than older generations, and the negative mental health impacts of frequent social media use likely manifest in us more intensely. All of that means that we need to be more vigilant about monitoring our own mental health and checking in with others about theirs. Hopefully, there won’t be another bomb threat at Brown. But there might be, or there could be another equally distressing event. If and when that time comes, we shouldn’t panic, we shouldn’t let fear rule our lives and we also shouldn’t detach from valid coping mechanisms like jokes and memes. But we shouldn’t handle it flippantly. We should have a real reckoning with our emotions and the gravity of the situation, and perhaps consider seeking help from others. We should acknowledge that this is not normal — perhaps, even, that it is frightening — before we move on with our lives. Yasmeen Gaber ’23 can be reached at yasmeen_gaber@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
Bahl ’24: Big data isn’t always better BY ANIKA BAHL STAFF COLUMNIST
From popular Reddit threads to the discussions that happen in my own computer science classes, “big data” — the usage of large-scale datasets to extract patterns — has become one of the hottest buzzwords in tech. Big data holds incredible potential, enabling insights of unprecedented scale, but it can also pose potent risks if we are not careful about its shortcomings. Until we learn to acknowledge the flaws inherent to big data — and take them seriously — it cannot be the magical cure-all that we want it to be. Big data is used to empower new insights in artificial intelligence and machine learning models. But if these models are trained on biased datasets, they could easily amplify or overlook the distortions already present in the data. For example, one study showed how a machine learning model used to automate credit decisions in the United States was deeply entangled with systematic biases against historically marginalized groups. This wasn’t a problem with the size of the dataset, but rather with the social context that shaped the data. Years of discrimination have deprived these marginalized groups of the assets and credentials used to determine credit approval. Instead of correcting for past
discrimination, the machine learning model simply perpetuated it, disproportionately denying racial minorities credit. Even when researchers removed sensitive information like race and ethnicity from their model, racial bias was not reduced. After all, race was intimately correlated with other factors in the data, such as edu-
biases. A growing body of algorithmic bias research has produced a number of sophisticated approaches to fixing data bias. But even if these strategies are promising, it’s questionable as to whether big tech companies genuinely want to prioritize equity over profit. For example, although Google funds a department dedicated
“It doesn’t matter much whether an algorithm is perpetuating our biases or a human — in each case, we cause harm.”
cation level, property type and neighborhood. Today, data bias is an issue that developers are widely aware of. In fact, it is even a part of the computer science curricula at many institutions of higher education, including Brown. Many technologists have proposed solutions to data bias. Some simply entail collecting more data, expanding datasets in order to make them more representative or changing the design behind data collection to minimize data
to investigating algorithmic bias, last year, it fired AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru. Many speculated that it was because Gebru’s advocacy and attempts to publish a paper about the harms of data bias in language models challenged Google’s leadership. Gebru cared about the dangers of big data; Google only cared when it didn’t interfere with its regular operations. In our obsession with big data, we also forget a more salient question: Is big data the right ap-
proach? Should we be using it at all? After all, in many domains, big data will always be biased, a problem which isn’t taken seriously enough. The hype over the advancements big data brings often overshadows any concerns about its dangers. Computers are often seen as more objective than humans. But how can we expect computational models to act fairer than we when the data we’ve trained them on contain all the trappings of biased human behavior? It makes no sense to model our goals for technology on existing societal conditions when these conditions are so often flawed. It doesn’t matter much whether an algorithm or a human is perpetuating our biases — in each case, harm results. All of this is not to deny that big data has its uses. It has given us technological opportunities and insights that could never have existed even just a decade ago. However, big data is no holy grail. Its benefits are realized only when developers care to understand the context of the data they use, rather than feed it straight into a computational model. As Brown continues to educate the next generation of software developers, we need individuals who are not only educated about data bias, but are committed to fixing it. Anika Bahl ’24 can be reached at anika_ bahl@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 19
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
8
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Narrow Bridge Project unveils guidebook
COURTESY OF ANTHONY BISHOP-GYLYS
Rabbi Michelle Dardashti created the Narrow Bridge Project to bridge divides within the Jewish community at Brown.
COURTESY OF TAYLOR SWIFT / TWITTER
Swift broke the record for Spotify’s most streamed female artist in a day in with “Red (Taylor’s Version).”
RED FROM PAGE 1 into a cultural phenomenon, generating a resurgence of enthusiasm even though fans have heard much of the material before. Social media is flooded with videos analyzing the hints or “Easter eggs” that she leaves in her lyrics, as well as memes about Jake Gyllenhaal, whom the album is widely believed to be about. Walk into a Starbucks and not only are you very likely to hear songs from the album playing in the store, but you can also order a “Taylor’s Version” latte, her favorite drink — a grande caramel non-fat latte. Swift also used this controversy as an opportunity to dive into her archives, releasing previously unheard songs that were omitted from the original album under the designation “From The Vault.” Among the new tracks on “Red” is “Nothing New” featuring Phoebe Bridgers, a sincere acoustic ballad that offers a glimpse into 20-year-old Swift’s in-
tense fear of becoming irrelevant as a female artist. Another Vault track, “I Bet You Think About Me,” stuns with its accompanying music video, a narrative so nuanced that it could be a feature film itself, joining the ranks of “Blank Space” and “You Belong With Me.” But the true treasure from the Vault is the ten-minute version of “All Too Well.” While “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” were the most popular songs on the original album, “All Too Well” became something of a cult classic. Now, Swift released the original, uncut version of the song — the version she wrote in the depths of heartbreak. Despite being ten minutes long, the track became number one on Spotify’s global top 50. This is no small feat, especially in the TikTok era of music marked by 30-second clips and shrinking attention spans. Swift also wrote and directed a short film for the song. Starring Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien, the film profoundly captures the passion of her
previous relationship and the intensity of her heartache. Like the rest of the re-recorded album, the ten-minute version of “All Too Well” evokes the grief of 20-year-old Swift while simultaneously placing a more mature Swift in a retrospective conversation with her past: “I’ll get older but your lovers stay my age,” she sings, allegedly in reference to the nine-year age gap between her and Gyllenhaal, exactly nine years after the original album was released. With the music industry’s penchant to quickly discard female artists, Swift has overcome the looming threat of irrelevance time and time again, seamlessly re-inventing herself with the release of each new album. Now she is unapologetically delving into the familiar, and she remains as influential as ever. If there was any doubt that Taylor Swift is a driving force in the music industry, the wildly successful release of ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ indisputably eliminates it.
Brown RISD Hillel hosts gallery exhibits, speeches from project leaders BY ASHLEY GUO SENIOR STAFF WRITER Students, parents and scholars gathered Thursday night at Brown RISD Hillel to celebrate the launch of a guidebook created by Brown students which unpacks and confronts the issue of antisemitism . The guidebook, titled “Love Thy Neighbor: A Guide for Tackling Antisemitism While Committing to Justice for All,” is the culmination of two years of learning and research by Narrow Bridge Fellows Maya Dayan ’21, Elana Nussbaum-Cohen ’23.5, Isaac Sonnenfeldt ’22.5 and Andrew Steinberg ’22. The resource was compiled into a comprehensive guidebook by Sonnenfeldt and Hannah Gelman ’22. The Narrow Bridge Project was created by Rabbi Michelle Dardashti, associate University chaplain for the Jewish community, in an effort to bridge divides within the Jewish community and allow students to engage with topics of antisemitism, Jewish identity and Zionism in a bipartisan context. At the project’s beginning, “antisemitism was growing on both the right and the left,” Dardashti said. She noted that many Jewish community members were divided on the definition of antisemitism and, as such, struggled to proactively work against it. “It was clear to me that if we weren’t even able to agree on a definition of antisemitism — and who are our allies and who are our enemies — we were certainly in no shape to confront (antisemitism) together,” Dardashti said. Dardashti created a learning cohort of students who discussed these topics in a seminar-style class. Some students who had completed the class, however, wanted to continue their research and learning. Their explorations took on new life as they created
the guidebook so others could understand and confront antisemitism. As part of the cohort, Sonnenfeldt worked with his co-fellows to share their learning with the greater community. “It’s a very treasured, safe space for me to talk to Jewish people about how we’re feeling and coming at it with such diverse perspectives,” Sonnenfeldt said. “We fought in that class, we had arguments, but I think what was so special is that we were also committed to being in this learning experience together and engaging (with) one another.” Sonnenfeldt added that “this project is really a testament to how successful (community conversation) can actually be, even around a topic that is as contentious as Israel-Palestine.” After attending a presentation by the NBP fellows, Gelman joined the project to present this knowledge in the form of a guidebook so it could be a more widely-accessible resource. “The work that they were doing was really answering my own questions, questions that I wished I could more clearly articulate answers” for, Gelman said. “I thought, ‘This is a resource that needs to exist.’” The guidebook launch included a gallery walk which introduced the purpose of the guidebook: “to show readers the web of history and experiences that make up the hows, whys and whats of antisemitism,” the gallery read. Following Dardashit’s opening remarks, Steinberg, Nussbaum-Cohen, Sonnenfeldt and Gelman shared the process of creating the guidebook and what it meant to have conversations about antisemitism. Attendees could then walk through a hallway lined with enlarged prints of the guidebook’s pages. “When it came to Brown, I learned that it was really hard for me to be in places that were supposed to be religious without (politics) being a part of it,” Gelman said in a speech to event attendees. “For someone who is involved in political activism or someone who is like, ‘Why do I feel uncomfortable in Hillel?’… this hopefully is an attempt to answer those questions in a way that is humble and honest, but also productive.”