Friday, October 15th, 2021

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

VOLUME CLVI, ISSUE XXVI

UNIVERSITY NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

The Legend of Professor Josiah Carberry Legacy of enigmatic professor persists on College Hill, lives in lore, archives BY CAELYN PENDER UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR On an otherwise average day in 1929, an unusual note appeared on a bulletin board in University Hall. “On Thursday evening at 8:15 in Sayles Hall J. S. Carberry will give a lecture on Archaic Greek Architectural Revetments in Connection with Ionian Philology,” the note read. “For tickets and further information apply to Prof. John Spaeth.” Posted on the board by Spaeth, a professor of classics, the strange notice caught the attention of Brown’s undergraduates and professors. It was soon modified by another professor who inserted the word “not” between “will” and “give” for what he suspected was a hoax. But upon being challenged, Spaeth gave a biography of Josiah Stinkney Carberry, a professor of psychoceramics, or the study of cracked pots — introducing a fictional character that would become an enduring face of campus lore for generations of future Brown students. Spaeth explained that Carberry

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had his “ungrammatical wife Laura, his poetical daughter Patricia, his puffin-hunting daughter Lois and his accident-prone assistant Truman Grayson, who was always being bitten by things that begin with A,” according to the Brown Library. The elusive professor of psychoceramics caught the popular attention of campus. He sent so many “telegrams, letters and postcards” to local publications that he was banned by the Providence Journal. His editorials and ads became commonplace in campus newspapers. Over 250 years, students have passed down a trove of stories, legends and rules from one generation of Brunonians to the next. Professors and administrators have helped to keep these traditions alive, naming buildings after the fictional professor and writing editorials in his name. Many of these legends have a lasting influence on campus today.

$194 million allocated to University’s Fiscal Year 2021 operations budget BY PETER SWOPE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

LOKI OLIN / HERALD

across generations of alumni.” Students are introduced to these legends upon arriving on campus. For instance, “The Brown Book,” which is given to first-years during orientation, warns students about the “Holy Trinity of Libraries” and the Pembroke Seal.

SEE JOSIAH PAGE 9 Shared mythology “Urban legends are a way for students to express apprehension about being away from home but (they) also (serve) as a way to connect with other students over this shared Brown mythology,” University Archivist Jennifer Betts wrote in an email to The Herald. “It becomes an important part of the academic tradition, shared

After 51.5% returns, U. endowment at $6.9 billion

Brown’s endowment grew to $6.9 billion for Fiscal Year 2021, the University announced in a press release Thursday. The endowment generated returns of 51.5%, accounting for $2.4 billion in investment gains with an additional $120 million from donations. The University cited strong global market performance for the endowment’s success. Both the total endowment and the returns greatly exceed those of Fiscal Year 2020 when the University saw an endowment of $4.7 billion after 12.1% returns, The Herald previously reported . The gains came over the course of FY21, which began July 1, 2020 and concluded June 30, 2021. The 40.8% growth of the S&P 500 Index, which tracks the market performance of 500 large companies, during FY21 indicates the strong performances of industries across the board. Such a market-wide perfor-

mance is unlikely repeat itself, according to Managing Director of the Investment Office Joshua Kennedy ’97. “This was an extraordinary year in financial markets. Most of the price declines that accompanied the onset of the pandemic actually took place in the prior fiscal year,” he said. “The response to the crisis by governments around the world came in the form of both monetary and fiscal stimulus, which helped push prices higher.” Other universities also saw large growth in FY21. Harvard saw 33.6% returns , Yale saw 40.2% and Penn saw a 41.1% increase. The endowment contributed $194 million to the University’s operating budget for FY21, representing approximately 15% of the total operating budget — an average of roughly $19,000 per student. The exact percentage of the endowment that goes into the University’s operating budget represents between 4.5% and 5.5% of the overall endowment, Kennedy explained in an email to The Herald. The payout is determined by the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body. “The Corporation considers a balance between current needs and

SEE ENDOWMENT PAGE 9

UNIVERSITY NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Is it Greg or New Dorm?

Exploring the Hay’s Special Collections

Students say pandemic disrupted campus culture, traditions, lingo

Curators aim to increase relevance of collections, address problematic past

BY KATY PICKENS SENIOR STAFF WRITER Asking students on campus what nickname they prefer for the building on Vartan Gregorian Quadrangle will yield two answers. Some — the youngsters — call it “Greg.” Their older counterparts, on the other hand, say “New Dorm.” And there’s no love lost between these two camps. “It’s Greg. I don’t know why people are saying New Dorm, it makes me so mad,” said Ruhma Khawaja ’24. But for Hiro Cho ’23, calling the quad “Greg” is an “abomination.” Virtual learning during the pandemic prevented the Class of 2024 from discovering that Vartan Gregorian Quad has long been known as “New Dorm.” In the spring of 2020, the then first-years — insulated from the rest of the Brown community — created

new slang to refer to the dormitory. Now, to several students, the New Dorm-Greg divide is emblematic of a cultural dissonance between students who began attending Brown before the pandemic began and during it. As students adjust to life on campus after over a year online, several class years have yet to experience some of the quintessential Brown traditions, such as Spring Weekend and the Naked Doughnut Run. And many upperclassmen are returning to a campus culture they say feels slightly different from what they remember. Selena Sheth ’24 said that she felt the sophomore class still hasn’t bridged the divide with other years. “I feel connected to Brown’s culture, but then there’s also a disconnect between us and the other class years,” she said. Sheth feels that the Class of 2024 was slightly more insulated compared to other class years, demonstrated by their use of the nickname “Greg” to describe Vartan Gregorian Quad. Firstyears “kind of got their own experi-

BY JASPER YEH SENIOR STAFF WRITER The John Hay Library, a looming marble building that sits across from the Van Wickle Gates, evokes a sense of mystery and distance. Apart from the occasional study session in the Willis Reading Room, many students have not visited the stacks and exhibitions that contain the library’s extensive collections. While the Hay stacks contain volumes that seem obscure, esoteric or even mystifying, recent curation efforts aim to create a set of collections more relevant to today’s University community. Built in 1910, the Hay is the second oldest library at the University and was the main campus library until the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library opened across the street in 1964. Upon the request of Andrew Carnegie, who contributed half

of the $300,000 used to construct the building, the library was named after John Hay 1858, former U.S. Secretary of State. Today, the Hay houses the University’s special collections and is closed-stack, meaning that items are non-circulating and can only be viewed on site. According to the website of the Brown University Library, the Hay contains 1.5 million archival files and records, one million manuscripts, half a million pieces of sheet music, 400,000 monographs and more. One well-known component of the special collections is a set of four anthropodermic books bound in human skin. One of these books, “On the Fabric of the Human Body” by Belgian surgeon Andreas Versalius is an anatomy text, like many other anthropodermic books. Laura Hartman, rare-book cataloger at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland, hypothesized in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that physicians often bound their book in human skin to honor these individuals who contributed to the medical field. Two others are copies of The Dance of

JASPER YEH / HERALD

The John Hay Library will modernize its offerings catalog. Death, originally published in 1538. While items like these draw attention from the student population, librarians say that other lesser-known collections are equally unique and valuable. The Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection is a large collection of paintings, books, photos, sheet music and miniature soldiers that was donated to the Hay in 1982 by Anne Seddon Kinsolving Brown. According to Peter Harrington, curator of the military collection, Brown developed an interest in military uniforms

SEE TRADITIONS PAGE 8

SEE HAY PAGE 6

Metro

Sports

Commentary

Lotus Pepper food truck brings authentic Vietnamese cuisine to College Hill. Page 3

Dean Jha and Moderna CEO discuss their journies and innovation. Page 3

Editorial Page Board: U. must address Brown Dining issues, commit to change. Page 5

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

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What drives Lotus Pepper: College Hill’s Vietnamese food truck Family operation offers banh mi, vermicelli, friendly faces to hungry students BY KATE DARIO SENIOR STAFF WRITER Around lunchtime on Waterman Street on any given weekday, a cluster of students crowd the sidewalk, all of them awaiting the same thing: a meal from the Lotus Pepper food truck. Since 2013, the family-run eatery on wheels has been bringing Vietnamese home cooking to Providence’s East Side. According to Thang Huynh, owner and manager of the truck, his mother Young Nguyen started the business when she noticed that, despite the abundance of other Asian restaurants in the neighborhood, College Hill lacked any Vietnamese dining options. Drawing on family recipes from her native Vietnam, Nguyen aimed to deliver authentic and delicious fare to campus. Now, eight years later, that initial vision has been realized. Five days a week, both semesters of the academic year, Lotus Pepper serves scores of banh mis, vermicelli bowls and dumplings to droves of hungry students at 94 Water-

HENRY DAWSON / HERALD

Lotus Pepper is a family-owned Vietnamese food truck that serves banh mi sandwiches, vermicelli bowls and dumplings, among others. man, its home parking spot on campus since 2017. “I think my truck is special because we are different,” Huynh said on Wednesday, after another busy lunch rush. He explained that his truck offers a winning combination of good food and friendly customer service. “We have good business here. We make a lot of good friends,” he added. He especially enjoys watching students grow over their time at the University, seeing them transform from first-years to graduates all from his perch at the truck’s rear window. While a diverse array of community members frequent Lotus Pepper, Huynh said that there is a special connection

between the truck and Vietnamese students. “There’s a lot of Vietnamese students from California or from Vietnam who come here a lot of time when they miss their home food,” he said. “And when they see us, they’re just so excited.” Huynh missed the typical hustle and bustle during the previous year and a half of the pandemic. “I was dying to come back,” he said. “I came back here for a little bit in the spring, but the business wasn’t great. There was nobody here. We need foot traffic.” Luckily for Huynh, the University’s return to more typical operations this semester meant a return to normal-

cy for his truck. “I was pretty happy that business turned out good as soon as we came back in the fall,” he said. Huynh helps with every aspect of the operation, from driving and maintaining the truck to cooking and serving patrons, working alongside his wife and cousin. While his mother is no longer involved in the day to day operations of the eatery, her culinary influence still looms large. “She’s a better chef and cook than us. We just took over her recipe and follow it,” he said. His mother is still the mastermind behind many of their new specials. Huynh said they came up with the name Lotus Pepper because the lotus symbolizes Vietnam and peppers symbolize fiery food. “It translates to, like, spicy Vietnamese food,” he said. “Even though our food isn’t that spicy,” he admitted, laughing. While the University remains its primary location, the truck makes stops throughout the state, including the Hope Street Farmers Market, the Providence Flea Market and other colleges like Roger Williams University and Providence College. Wherever it parks, the truck’s savory aromas and large lotus emblem beckon customers old and new. “The vibe is nice, certainly,” Alex

Wey ’22 said as he waited for his order. “It tastes more homemade than other stuff on Thayer,” Ethan Chung ’22 added. Longtime and frequent patrons, both said that they liked every item on the menu. Joseph Jarin, a technician for Integra Biosciences, was on campus for the first time Wednesday to service equipment at the University’s science laboratories. He was immediately drawn to the truck. “I am a sucker for Thai, Vietnamese — any sort of Southeast Asian food,” he explained, after ordering the banh mi and veggie dumplings. “These guys are really, really nice,” he added. For three years, Huynh and the rest of his family have been considering finding a physical location to open a Lotus Pepper restaurant somewhere on the East Side. But so far, they have failed to find a perfect location. With the potential of a non-mobile location unclear, Huynh is still happy to keep running his truck. “I don’t think I’d be able to work for anybody anymore. I’m an entrepreneur; I work for myself. So I love the freedom — I don’t like to sit in an office,” he said.

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

Afeyan and Jha discuss past, future of mRNA technology in webinar Doctor, CEO discuss competition, innovation, effect of pandemic in biotech ISHITAA GUPTA STAFF WRITER ISHIITA GUPTA / HERALD

Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of the board of Moderna and founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, joined Ashish Jha, dean of the University’s School of Public Health, in a virtual conversation Thursday afternoon. The two began their conversation by discussing their journey as immigrants in America and how displacement shaped their identities. Jha grew up in India and moved to Canada before eventually finding his way to the US. Afeyan, whose family moved to Canada as political refugees during the 1975 civil war in Lebanon, came to the US to earn his PhD in biochemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Afeyan spoke about how most of his work is rooted in his experience as an immigrant and how he didn’t have the comfort of feeling native or settled. He also mentioned the competitive advantage it gave him in dealing with adversity and uncertainty — his 59 years of life have made him view “innovation ... just as intellectual immigration,” he said. The two then spoke about Afeyan’s journey from being an engineer at MIT to founder of Flagship Pioneering. Afeyan recalled how his chance encounter with David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett

Co-founder of Moderna Afeyan discussed increasing vaccine supply to low-income countries. Packard, at a conference in Washington, D.C. inspired him to take courses in management and start a company to make tools for the biotech industry. “It was a crazy notion back then ... there was no diversity (among business founders),” he said. Drawing from experience in simultaneously running companies in the drug discovery, diagnostics and vaccine fields, he founded Flagship Pioneering in 2000. “Flagship was set up as an institutional platform to make innovations and create companies, … and that’s what we ended up doing for 10 years … experimenting … (with) how to make internally breakthrough innovations,” he said. Afeyan also spoke in detail about Moderna’s “internal breakthrough,” an exploration spurred by the question “What if?” Unlike conventional biotech companies that launch with an invention ready for licensing, Moderna began with an idea of Afeyan’s inspired by the work of Bob Langer, who was at the time a junior faculty member at Harvard Medical School. Langer was looking into mRNA modified through a technique developed at Penn in order to make Yamanaka factors to transform human fibroblasts into a

type of stem cell. “This raised the question in my mind … What if that same notion could be used to cause a human to make any protein we want in their body as a drug?” Afeyan said. Not knowing how to proceed, he decided to take a leap, founding one of the world’s leading mRNA technology companies, Moderna, in 2010. Moderna has emerged as a lead vaccine developer during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the two spoke about the company’s journey to developing millions of vaccine doses. Afeyan credited Moderna’s vaccine rollout success to the decade spent by the company before the COVID-19 pandemic developing an extensive biotech platform. He also mentioned Moderna’s efforts at developing and clinically testing mRNA vaccines as early as 2015, with the intention of using sequences humans had never seen before and testing the number of antibodies the vaccines can generate. “That was very interesting in hindsight … (as) a procedure of what was to come,” he said. Along with scientific discourse, the webinar included questions from Jha and attendees regarding improving general access to lifesaving medicines and Moderna’s responsibility in increasing

global vaccination in the pandemic, particularly for countries and people who can’t afford it. Afeyan spoke about the financial ecosystem that has been created as a result of the pandemic which includes both competition and cooperation for vaccine distribution. “What was clear to me was that the Western countries, most notably the US and Europe, had already secured the vast majority, if not all of the supply going into 2021, and they knew that the only source of donations and supply legally would have been through the governments,” he said. “Legally, the manufacturers were forbidden to send a single dose anywhere other than where they were bought.” Attendees raised questions about Moderna’s effort to release intellectual property and transfer technology to increase manufacturing of vaccines in the pandemic. Afeyan answered the questions about Moderna’s IP by bringing to light the company’s unilateral decision not to impose intellectual property rights concerns on anyone using their IP to manufacture mRNA vaccines. This choice was made in October 2020 before an authorized vaccine for COVID-19 existed. He also highlighted the lack of media coverage

surrounding the topic. Afeyan responded to concerns about technology transfer. “Long before this pandemic, the issue of technology transfer has been raised for decades … I believe that is a very reasonable thing to consider if you have a supply constraint. But the reality is … that between Pfizer’s supply and Moderna’s scale-up supply (of 3 billion doses) that is being put in place for 2022 … we will have … more than enough capacity to vaccinate the world,” he said. Afeyan mentioned an announcement made by Moderna to open a plant in Africa that will manufacture supplemental dosesand thus lead to a technology transfer. He also highlighted several of Moderna’s ongoing efforts to increase vaccine supply to low-income countries and stressed the importance of political will and intergovernmental collaboration to make that happen. Beyond the current COVID-19 vaccine, Afeyan also discussed Moderna’s goal of developing a vaccine by next fall with combined effects on multiple variants of influenza, COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. The conversation ended with Jha and Afeyans’ discussion on the challenges of cancer therapies, as well as broader ideas about creating ecosystems for life science innovation and increasing global accessibility in the field. “I have been struck by how much there is collective interest in trying to move the world in the right direction,” Jha said. “And I think Moderna has been a really important part of that.”

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

ARTS AND CULTURE

From Romans to donkeys to abstract concretizations: public art at Brown

A brief overview of the history of public art at Brown, from 1906 to today. NICHOLAS MICHAEL AND IRENE CHOU ARTS AND CULTURE EDITORS Walking across the Main Green, you are sure to have encountered the University’s most recent public art installation: Rebecca Warren’s “Large Concretised Monument to the Twentieth Century.” Standing at a height of six feet and consisting of globular bronze mounds, the sculpture has sparked the conversation of what public art’s role is — at the University and otherwise — and what its selection process should look like at the University. Currently, public art on campus is determined by the Public Art Committee, which consists of a board of trustees and the Public Art Working group, a cohort that represents student and faculty during acquisition of new works. “Ideally, decision making about which artists to showcase and which artworks to feature will be resonant with the times and respond to the pressing issues facing our broader community and society,” wrote Avery Willis Hoffman, artistic director of the Brown Arts Institute and professor of the practice of arts and classics, who has served on the Public Art Working group since 2020. A consideration of the history of public art on campus can elucidate the ways in which art’s role has evolved in the University space. Caesar Augustus, Installed 1906-Pres. On Sept. 19, 1906, the opening day of the college year, the Caesar Augustus statue was unveiled as the first piece of public art at the University. The installation began the University’s investment in public art. A cast of the original marble Caesar Augustus statue in the Vatican, the sculpture was acquired and donated by Moses Brown Ives Goddard, class of 1854. The stoic statue of the Roman Emperor soon lost its raised limb to the elements. In the hurricane of 1938, the sculpture’s right arm was broken off. Despite being replaced after the hurricane, it lost its arm a second time

in transport. The sculpture stood proudly before the Rhode Island Hall until Sept. 1952, when it was moved to its current location outside of the Sharpe Refectory. But its move was not without controversy. As The Herald’s editorial board wrote on Sept. 19 of 1952, “Placing the Roman with a walk running between his back and the Sharpe Refectory is a tactical move that Caesar, the soldier, would decry.” And the sculpture’s placement amongst the anachronistic Georgian Colonial architecture is a “move that Caesar, the aesthete, would abhor.” Marcus Aurelius, Installed 1908-Pres. Two years later, on June 1, 1908, a crowd gathered behind Sayles Hall to see the still-standing Marcus Aurelius statue unveiled. The honorific equestrian sculpture of the emperor-philosopher is, like the Caesar Augustus unveiled two years prior, a bronze copy of a Roman original. Professor W. C. Poland, class of 1868, noted the “Artistic Significance of the Gift” during his speech at the unveiling. According to the June 2, 1908 edition of The Herald (Volume XVII. No. 180), Poland said in part: “This work, strongly realistic, triumphs over the limitations of its production through its intense vitality, and the noble ease and dignity that characterizes both the rider and horse.” Poland’s speech suggests that artistic significance rests, to a certain extent, in the representation and preservation of history. For the University, the sculpture not only represents humanistic ideals of realism and stoicism, but also “has a position of importance all its own because it is the largest complete equestrian statue preserved from antiquity.” The works are connected by more than their roots in Roman antiquity, though; the Marcus Aurelius sculpture was donated by Robert Hale Ives Goddard, class of 1858, on behalf of his deceased brother Moses Brown. Tripes, Alexander Calder, 1976, Installed 2002-2004 If the fin de siecle saw the University’s values as historical preservation and humanism, the early aughts saw a turn towards celebrity and modernity. By the mid 1980s, Chancellor Emeritus Aremis A.W. Joukowsky Jr. ’95, in close

collaboration with Visual Art Professor Emeritus Richard Fishman and other members of the administration and faculty, formed the “sculpture committee,” vetting potential donations of sculptures for the University’s grounds, according to the Public Art Working Group website. From 2002 to 2004, kinetic artist Alexander Calder’s “Tripes” occupied the Quiet Green, outside of the Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World. Despite being a static, weighty steel sculpture, “Tripes” still managed to be a dynamic and playful addition to campus. The bronze, abstract form feels aberrant against the classical architectural surroundings, and yet a 2004 Herald editorial proposed that perhaps “the sculpture’s own identity crisis is at home among the clashes of the (Quiet) Green’s architecture, where colonial brickwork sits next to a Greek chapel, and perhaps even Brown’s iconoclastic Ivy identity.” Because Calder was a “key figure of 20th century art ... to have one of his pieces here for a visit was just great,” said Dietrich Neumann, professor for the history of modern architecture and director of urban studies, who served as the chair of the Public Art Working Group from 2018 to 2021. Part of what makes public art works special, what creates their dynamism, is the everchanging environments that they inhabit: “You have to see these outdoor sculptures in different lights, different seasons. (You have to) move around them,” he said. The flux-based, environmental viewing experience that accompanies public art is what allows you to “get more out of (it) than if you just see it in one visit at the musuem,” Neumann said. “To have it right here on our daily walks is just a great privilege.” Untitled (Donkey), 2003, Installed 2004 Before the beloved Blueno, there was the enigmatic boat-bound donkey. Installed in 2004 on the west-facing wall of the Sciences Library, the large-scale mural extending over three floors was on loan from the Italian artist herself, Paola Pivi, courtesy of Galerie Massimo de Carlo, Milan. The playful image, created with ink jet on plastic, depicts a donkey riding in a rowboat on a body of water, a humorously ab-

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A new, six-foot-high bronze sculpture, titled ‘Large Concretised Monument to the Twentieth Century,’ joins other campus installations. surd combination of land animal and Mediterranean seascape. Displayed just before the 2004 presidential elections, the installation invited both amused delight and speculation of the artist’s political leanings among passersby. Despite the brevity of the threemonth exhibit from April to August, “Untitled (Donkey)” generated great popularity among students, further celebrated as a mascot via a Facebook page. The visual oddity of both content and location reflected the “wonderful irreverent spirit on campus that is so typical of Brown,” said Neumann. The “surreal wittiness” of the artwork “spoke to all of us,” he added. Exhibition of the piece was closed before the summer hurricane season. Its farewell was commemorated by The Herald with an editorial cartoon of the donkey sailing off into the sunset in July, 2004. Toward Diversity The Public Art Committee now seeks to work toward a more diverse, inclusive collection of art from local and Indigenous artists, a gradual expansion from classic sculptures of antiquity that have been subject to critique from student groups. In 2020, in response to“Brown University Statues and Monuments Town Hall,” which discussed the committee’s proposal to repair and relocate the one-armed Caesar Augustus statue, student group Decolonization@Brown questioned whether the statue should be kept on exhibit around campus at all, arguing that the artwork had implications of white supremacy and Western imperialism, The Herald previously reported. With discourse surrounding Brown’s

public art growing increasingly vigorous over recent years, Neumann noted, it was important that the committee recognize the need to diversify public art presented on campus. The committee has since then commissioned artists from various backgrounds. Kevin Beasley’s piece, “Untitled (Dyed Phoenix),” now stands in the John Hay Library, open to the public. There is more artwork commissioned for the spring of 2022, Neumann said, including those from Njaimeh Njie, the Edward Mitchell Bannister artist-in-residence at the John Nicholas Brown Center, Jazzmen Lee-Johnson and Deborah Spears Moorehead. With the influx of contemporary works that attempt to acknowledge increasing values for diversity and historical consciousness, it’s worth considering how the role of public art has evolved since Caesar Augustus’ arrival in 1906. As a newer member of the Brown community and Public Art Working group, Hoffman emphasized her excitement about the ways in which public art can operate in a community-building capacity. It is important to consider how the art on campus might represent “the diversity of the student body, faculty, and staff, Providence, and the region,” she wrote in an email to The Herald. “I believe it is important for us to engage our community in conversations about the strategic locations for these artworks, as well as the different kinds of interpretive panels and layers of context we might provide to generate informed conversation and spark vigorous discussion.”

COVID -19 AT BROWN LAST 7 DAYS*

OCTOBER Completed Tests

People Tested

S

M

Tu

W

Th

F

S

8,481

7,609

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Confirmed Positives

Positivity Rates

7

0.1 %

10

11

12

13

14

15

16 SINCE AUGUST 24, 2020*

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Completed Tests

People Tested

551,674

18,002

Total Cases

Prevalence

801

4.4 %

*AS OF OCT 13.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

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Bendicksen ’22: Ditch the hospital merger, Brown LIAM BENDICKSEN OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR The University is planning to sink at least $125 million over five years into a hospital mega-merger that, if approved, would effectively monopolize inpatient care in Rhode Island. It’s a huge deal that could have serious consequences for the cost and quality of health care in the state. So why isn’t the Brown community talking about it? Many of us probably didn’t (or still don’t) know that the merger is happening or that the University is involved. Granted, hospital mergers aren’t exactly a riveting lunchtime topic. But I’d wager that our community’s collective unawareness about this deal stems primarily from the University’s decision not to initiate a community dialogue about the proposed merger of Lifespan and Care New England. With the exception of two heavily polished press releases published months ago, President Christina Paxson P’19 and Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Jack Elias have largely declined to include students, faculty, staff and alums in discussions about the potential union of the state’s largest hospital systems. That reluctance is in part because the evidence isn’t on the University’s side. In general, hospital mergers increase prices and have a negligible or even negative effect on care quality. While Paxson has made unsubstantiated claims to the contrary in the media, a wealth of research has shown that prices tend to go up and quality tends to decline as hospitals consolidate. Researchers generally attribute post-consolidation price hikes to hospitals’ increased market power and their willingness to use it to extract ever-higher reimbursements from commercial health insurers. This is because when one hospital system dominates in a given market, insurance companies lose bargaining power in negotiations with hospitals over the cost of services. The results are higher monthly premiums and handsome revenues for merged hospital systems. The care quality issue is a bit more

complicated, but a seminal study published in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that hospital mergers were “associated with modestly worse patient experiences and no significant changes in readmission or mortality rates.” Unable to argue that the merger won’t raise costs or hurt quality, the merging parties have

with Harvard and Yale, which already do so. The transaction could also help University researchers secure prestigious federal grants to study cancer and neuroscience. While these upsides would undoubtedly benefit students and faculty at the Alpert Medical School, the risks of effectively monopolizing the Rhode Island hospital market are simply too great for everyone in this

“While (the merger) would undoubtedly benefit students and faculty at the Alpert Medical School, the risks of effectively monopolizing the Rhode Island hospital market are simply too great for everyone in this state that isn’t Brown-affiliated.”

resorted to claiming that this deal will keep care local. But we can both block this harmful merger and prevent the outsourcing of care. The Rhode Island Attorney General and Department of Health can veto hospital mergers under state law. If this merger falls through, and companies from New Haven or Boston want to acquire Rhode Island hospitals, in turn sending patients out of state for complicated procedures, our elected representatives and executive branch officials can easily send them packing. The University appears content to sponsor this merger regardless of its likely adverse effects on Rhode Islanders’ commercial health insurance premiums. This tunnel vision likely comes in part from the University’s desire to train its medical students in an integrated academic health system as a means of competing

state that isn’t Brown-affiliated. Fortunately, the Federal Trade Commission may well block this merger under federal antitrust law. Many of President Biden’s actions with regard to the FTC, such as the nomination of antitrust advocate Lina Khan as its chair and the recent executive order on competition, suggest that the administration might torpedo the deal. But even if the FTC successfully blocks the transaction on antitrust grounds, it could still happen. That’s because the University, Lifespan and Care New England will almost certainly lobby the Rhode Island legislature to insulate their merger from federal antitrust enforcement if the FTC deems it anti-competitive and convinces a court to strike it down. The Supreme Court has held that state legislatures can do just that

under a legal doctrine known as state-action immunity. Under state-action immunity, state legislatures can allow anti-competitive mergers to proceed while imposing regulations on the consolidated hospital system. Though the Commission has yet to take action against the merger, the CEOs of Lifespan and Care New England already began discussing the idea of overriding the FTC with R.I. House Speaker Joe Shekarchi and State Senate President Dominick Ruggerio months ago. My own research has found that invoking state-action immunity would be a terrible idea. In an article published on the Health Affairs blog in August, Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice Chris Koller and I reviewed the evidence concerning the use of state-action immunity for hospital mergers against the backdrop of the proposed Rhode Island merger. We found that legislatures almost always roll back state-action immunity policies in the long run, leaving deregulated hospital monopolies or near-monopolies in their wake. These hospital systems can then leverage their enormous market power to charge outrageous prices and get away with skimping on quality. As its relative silence makes clear, the Brown administration doesn’t want us to discuss this deal or its implications. They’re understandably fearful of community activism against the merger, since the University pulling out of this deal could scrap it entirely. Indeed, Brown’s lack of support for a previous merger arguably led to its downfall. If Brown’s involvement in this merger is holding the deal together, as I believe it is, then it’s up to us to do what’s right. We owe it to our fellow Rhode Islanders to use our voices and our power to pull the plug on this merger. It’s bad for patients, it’s bad for prices and Rhode Island deserves better. Liam Bendicksen ’22 can be reached at liam_bendicksen@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

EDITORIAL

Brown Dining is broken. Our workers deserve better. Brown Dining Services is broken. As recent reporting has revealed, staff at campus dining halls are suffering due to overwork, communication failures and disorganized management. Our workers deserve better. They deserve a University that acknowledges their struggles, at the very least, and commits to improving working conditions. In the short term, our campus community, especially students, must advocate for better treatment of our dining hall staff. We cannot let the issue fade, and we cannot expect Brown to act without pressure. But in the long run, we need better and more permament solutions. The University needs to fundamentally rethink how it treats the individuals who quite literally sustain our campus. Brown’s glossy public image belies a bleak reality behind its kitchen doors. Dining employees, understaffed and under-resourced, are struggling to handle their duties; one even resorted to using clothing hangers to clean the fryers. The consequences extend beyond the kitchen. Staff have noted sanitation concerns, and students have witnessed firsthand fewer dining options and longer lines. But the brunt of the damage has been felt by the dining employees themselves. In the words of one worker: “We’re in desperate need of help right now.” Despite the gravity of these recent revelations, the University has not issued

a public response to the poor working conditions within its dining halls. In the Herald reporting exposing these glaring failures, administrators pointed to a faltering job market to explain understaffing and logistical complexity to explain disorganization, but these explanations feel inadequate. They certainly do not excuse the sorry conditions currently faced by workers worn thin by a system that has demonstrated little concern for their well-being. And it’s difficult to sympathize with a University that regularly flexes its financial powerand prestige. How can Brown neglect to adequately invest in dining in the same year that its endowment return topped 50%? Brown must issue a public statement outlining how it will improve conditions for dining hall workers. Public, because this issue affects our entire community and it is easier to hold our administrators accountable when we are aware of what they’re promising. In the meantime, it is important for our campus to continue speaking up against the mistreatment of our dining hall staff. We commend the individuals — and most recently, a coalition of 18 student groups — who have spoken up to lobby administrators for change, and we urge others to join in. As one dining hall employee noted, “The only time when Brown ever listens to us is when the students get involved.” Our voices carry weight, and unlike dining staff,

we don’t put our livelihoods on the line when we advocate. At the same time, student activism is only a temporary fix for deeper issues. The University must rectify its systemic and historic failure to address the needs of its dining hall staff. Firstly, Brown should improve its existing feedback channels for employees and actually start listening. George Barboza, vice president of Dining Programs, claims that there is an “opendoor” policy for staff feedback. Yet many employees have stated that they don’t feel heard by management and that their grievances aren’t being taken seriously. The fact that each dining worker who spoke to The Herald did so anonymously for fear of retribution seems to corroborate these claims. Dining workers do not feel empowered to advocate for themselves and their well-being. Today, it is easy for the University to blame its failures on the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic. But in fact, these failures have ample precedent. For example, understaffing concerns persisted for many years prior to the pandemic. Brown’s failure to provide air conditioning in the Sharpe Refectory for many years is another example of this continual neglect. Until 2019 , staff in the kitchens of our main dining hall endured sweltering heat in the summer months. It took a combination of staff outrage, student advocacy and,

finally, administrative action to fix the problem. And the pace of change was painstakingly and unacceptably slow: One employee had worked in Dining Services at Brown for over 19 years before he experienced A/C in the Ratty kitchen. In short, the University has long failed to listen to its dining employees. When it provides solutions, they tend to be reactive, rather than proactive. Without fundamental changes to the structure of Brown Dining, the problems facing dining workers will simply permute. Dining hall workers are an integral part of our community, and they deserve better. The University must heed the concerns of its employees, and it should empower them to speak up. Providing adequate working conditions for our dining hall staff shouldn’t be seen as a bonus — it’s the bare minimum. Commenting on the state of current working conditions, one dining hall employee put it this way: “It’s got to break eventually.” But Brown Dining Services is already broken. How is Brown going to fix it? — Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. This editorial was written by its editor Johnny Ren ’23, and members Clara Gutman Argemí ’22, Catherine Healy ’22, Olivia Burdette ’22, Devan Paul ’24 and Kate Waisel ’24.

6

HAY FROM PAGE 1 as a young child, when she bought a book on soldiers that remains in the collection today. Brown purchased her first toy soldier from a shop during her honeymoon in Europe after she married John Nicholas Brown II. During World War II, she wrote about a toy shop in London that sold toy soldiers and had been destroyed during a bombing raid. Brown had “a vision that the whole history of military uniforms would be destroyed by the war,” so she “took it upon herself to save as much as she could.” Before the collection was placed at the Hay, it was housed in the Nightingale-Brown House, where the Brown family lived for five generations. Brown’s military collection “was everywhere,” Harrington said. “Every bookshelf, every corridor, every nook and cranny had books.” She even employed a full-time curator and had two servants who would process new items arriving from Europe. The thousands of miniature soldiers that Brown purchased are currently in glass cases on the third floor of the Hay, while the rest of the materials are in the library’s stacks. The H. Adrian Smith Collection of Conjuring and Magicana is another Hay collection that subverts the stereotypical image of fragile books and yellowed manuscripts — instead composed of materials used for magic tricks, such as props, instructions, photographs, wands and various memorabilia. According to Smith’s biography on the Archival Collection’s website, he graduated from Brown with a Sc.B in Electrical Engineering in 1930, using money earned from his magic performances to pay for his tuition. Smith’s biography claims that he “became an internationally known bibliographer of conjuring literature,” with this collection now deemed “one of the finest private collections of magicana in the world.” One of the most well-known items in the collection is a life-sized prop head of Harry Kellar, a famous magi-

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cian. Another section of the collection is composed exclusively of wands of various styles. As the Hay’s Special Collections continue to expand, the library has moved to make the collections more relevant and diverse. In 2020, the creation of the John Hay Library Collection Policy organized the current Special Collections along six themes, including “The University and Beyond,” “Popular Literature” and “Global Lavender Voices,” which celebrates LGBTQIA+ culture. The new policy helped the library staff draw comparisons between the Hay’s Special Collections and other special collections libraries, thus highlighting weaknesses and gaps in the collections, according to Jennifer Betts, assistant director for the John Hay Library and University archivist. “An essential element of any acquisitions discussion is ‘How does this diversify our collections?’” Betts wrote in an email to The Herald. “It is important for Special Collections materials to reflect many different groups and ensure many voices can be heard in the Library’s collections,” she added. Because of the long history and vast amount of material contained in the Hay’s Special Collections, some items inevitably are connected to problematic pasts. One collection in the library is dedicated to manuscripts, letters and drawings by Howard P. Lovecraft, a renowned writer of science and horror fiction. Despite the importance of his work in 20th century literature, Lovecraft is also a well-known racist and often outwardly expressed his bigotry in his letters. “The John Hay Library acknowledges Lovecraft’s problematic history,” explained Betts. She also pointed to an online exhibition called “The Racial Imaginaries of H.P. Lovecraft” published in 2020 by then-Brown University Library Exhibitions Proctor Alberto Alcaraz Escarcega. The exhibition argues that “a closer look at his personal correspondence reveals that ... ‘race’ exerted a tremendous influence on Lovecraft by

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

shaping both his politics and literary work to a great extent.” Recently, the library was offered roughly a dozen military figurines that depicted “West Indian” soldiers. “And I thought, I’ll take those, because if you look around the Special Collection, it’s mostly a lot of white men: white men marching, white men fighting, white men sitting,” said Harrington. Similarly, for the Smith Magic Collections, three-quarters of new items being added represent women or other underrepresented groups, curator Tiffini Bowers told the Brown Alumni Magazine in 2019. Just two months ago, the military collection also received an engraving of the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot juxtaposed with a scene of the British attacking Washington D.C. during the War of 1812. With these additions, Harrington hopes that “undergraduates, graduates and faculty will see the value of the military collection beyond just lots of pictures of Napoleon’s armies.” “How do we address that material?,” Harrington said of the lack of diversity and problematic aspects of the collections. “We can just sort of hide it away and say ‘Oh whatever, it happened.” But, he asked, “how do we use that for teaching purposes?” Betts emphasized the importance of keeping materials that can be viewed as problematic, in an effort to avoid burying history. “While collections such as Lovecraft are troubling, it is important to maintain these materials in order to fully document history,” wrote Betts. “Without archival collections, extremist points of view could be hidden and history misrepresented.”

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7

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

A ‘rooftop oasis’ at 85 Waterman Street: the University’s greenhouse

Renovated greenhouses mark seven years on campus, run by horticultural experts BY GABRIELLA VULAKH SENIOR STAFF WRITER At the Plant Environmental Center, located on the rooftop of the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society at 85 Waterman St., plants ranging from a bonsai tree over 25 years old to a collection of cycads — a prehistoric plant — find a space to grow and bloom. The Center consists of six computer-controlled greenhouses spanning a total of 5,000 square feet as well as a 1,800 square foot conservatory, creating a tranquil seating area amidst dozens of lush plants. Roots of Brown greenhouses go back 50 years Before the Center was created, there was a ground level facility in the place of today’s grassy walkway leading into Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle for nearly 50 years, said Mark Johnson, associate professor of biology. Johnson started conducting research in Brown’s greenhouses in 2004. “There were a lot of really nice things about the old greenhouse,” Johnson said. “One advantage was it was very public facing,” and people would walk in and visit often. Fred Jackson PhD’17, former director of the greenhouses, started working at the University in 1992 and also served as a lecturer in ecology and evolutionary biology before retiring. In addition to research in the greenhouse, Jackson taught courses using the greenhouse space including BIOL 0190E: “Botanical Roots of Modern Medicine” and BIOL 0150C: “Methods for Extraction and Analyzing Secondary Metabolites of Medicinal Plants.” “They hired me because they needed somebody to run the greenhouses, and

that’s what I did for my whole career,” in addition to “teaching horticulture and everything else with plants and botany,” he said. The old spaces were torn down and the Plant Environmental Center “rooftop oasis” opened in 2014 to “conserve precious green space” on campus and support botanical research and teaching on biology, ecology and environmental sciences, Johnson said. The Plant Environmental Center gave Johnson his first opportunity to work in a brand new greenhouse fully equipped with advanced research technology since starting greenhouse work in the 70’s. Many of the exotic plants in the greenhouses were brought in through Jackson’s research. “During his research, he would source plants and bring them back and create connections in other parts of the world where we could reach out to them and get plants,” current Research Greenhouse Manager Nicholas Vasques said. Other plants are “brought in through seed from vendors,” he added. A full-time team for a growing collection In addition to the computer-controlled greenhouses on the rooftop, the Plant Environmental Center also has other “support spaces” in the basement, including the headhouse, growth chambers and laboratory classrooms for plant-related courses, Johnson said. The headhouse has microscopes that researchers can use to analyze samples and materials for transplantings. Growth chambers also provide space for plants to grow in controlled environments where researchers can set specific temperatures, light intensity, amount of CO2 and humidity, according to Johnson. Vasquez runs the Plant Environment Center’s day to day operations and is responsible for keeping the “teaching collections and research experiments healthy,” he said. He ensures that each plant receives the correct amount of nutrients, creates pest management

plans and “makes sure that all of the greenhouses are functioning properly — there’s a lot of electronics, sensors and equipment in here.” Vasquez and other greenhouse staff also support researchers by watering plants and notifying them of any changes or developments in their projects. “That there is a full-time staff for the greenhouses is really what makes it so valuable to Brown as a research institution,” said Audrey Massmann GS, who conducts research in one of the greenhouses. “The staff at the greenhouse have played a huge role in my education at Brown.” Massmann added that she can draw on the “horticultural knowledge” of the staff and has “learned a lot from them about being able to look at a plant and tell what’s going wrong with it.” Seeds bloom into research projects Massmann’s work, which is in collaboration with Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Steven Porter, lies within the field of tropical terrestrial biogeochemistry. She studies the cycling of elements like carbon and nitrogen through tropical forests with the species Neustanthus phaseoloides. While climbing plants like Neustanthus phaseoloides abound in tropical forests, they are not as present in temperate forests like the ones around Rhode Island, according to Massmann. The plants “climb up trees” and “take advantage of (the) photosynthetic real estate” of trees instead of producing their own wood. “I became really interested in this life strategy,” Massmann said. She visits the greenhouse every few days to tend to these plants, giving half of them bamboo sticks to climb on while leaving the other half to create their own climbing support. Massmaun’s study will compare how this will affect the carbon and nitrogen cycling through the plants. The greenhouse provides a controlled environment for her to conduct experiments and greater freedom in

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what she can accomplish — something not all institutions offer researchers. Johnson’s research also relies on the greenhouse: He uses tomatoes as a model to explore how plant reproduction is affected by high temperatures and climate change. The tomato project is a collaboration between Brown researchers and researchers at Wake Forest University, University of Arizona and University of North Carolina and is supported through a grant from the National Science Foundation. “In the U.S., we really undervalue research on plants,” Johnson said. “It is essential to understanding so much of the biosphere and is absolutely essential for human health, so I think it’s really important for universities to maintain greenhouses … and I think it’s wonderful that Brown has this state-ofthe-art greenhouse.” Hands-on learning with plants Many courses incorporate the greenhouse space or plants in their teaching. Rebecca Kartzinel, interim director of the Plant Environmental Center, will be teaching the course BIOL0430: “Evolution of Plant Diversity” in the spring using live plants from the greenhouses. “I am probably the biggest user (of the Center) as an instructor of the collections,” Kartzinel said. She has also used the greenhouses to study a legume called Amphicarpaea bracteata. Kartzinel’s goal as interim director is to “enhance the teaching aspect of the collection to represent more different groups of evolutionarily unique plants” that can be educational, not just aesthetic, she said. “I’d love to think about ways to make other sorts of special collections,” like a Rhode Island native plant collection, relevant to what instructors are teaching and groups on campus, Kartzinel said. Courses outside the sciences, like drawing courses at Rhode Island School of Design, also use the greenhouses and conservatory.

AREEZ KHAN / HERALD

Brown’s Plant Environmental Center consists of six greenhouses occupying 5,000 square feet and a 1,800 square foot conservatory

All welcome: a space for art, plant-gazing, a break While the Center saw a decrease in visitors with COVID-19 restrictions, Vasques said that five to ten visitors come per day. The greenhouses and conservatory were open to the public before the pandemic but now are restricted to Brown ID access. “Having a greenhouse on campus is a great value to the university because it allows for a space where you can disconnect from normal classwork, but still learn,” Vasques said. He hopes to teach the public about basic horticultural facts and gardening techniques. Especially in the winter, when the greenhouses stay warm for the plants to flourish, Vasques said it is like a “sanctuary” and has a “tropical feel” with fruits like bananas, passion fruit and guavas growing inside. “A greenhouse existing even absent research is really important for (plant) awareness, education and just having a really nice place to be,” Kartzinel said. “I go up there in the middle of the winter and I’m happy — it’s like 80 degrees and humid there in January and it’s glorious with the flowers blooming.”

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UNIVERSITY NEWS

TRADITIONS FROM PAGE 1 ence within the Class of 2024, like its own little weird bubble because we were all here over the summer,” she said. Khawaja said that in some ways she still feels like a first-year student, and isn’t quite familiar with campus culture. “I feel like this sophomore year, even now, I’ve been struggling to find buildings and really understand the culture and what goes on on campus,” she said. Three upperclassmen who spoke to The Herald were surprised by Vartan Gregorian Quad’s new nickname, and said they felt disconnected from the younger students who have come to campus since the pandemic. Sam Wertheimer ’21.5, who was on a gap semester in spring 2020, said he encountered a “new normal” when he returned to campus. “I also haven’t been super tuned in because it’s been hard over the course of the pandemic,” he said. “Especially being a super senior, I feel pretty out of the loop” Wertheimer explained that he felt lucky to have been able to experience a few years of Brown traditions, including the Naked Doughnut Run and midnight organ concerts. Grassroots organizing once commonplace, such as protests about conditions for dining workers, have become less frequent and feasible during the pandemic, he noted. Kate Mason, assistant professor of anthropology, was a co-founder of the Pandemic Journaling Project, an archive of people’s experiences throughout the

8

Watson Institute unveils ‘Seeing Silicon Valley’

SOPHIA HOPKINS / HERALD

pandemic, The Herald previously reported. She explained that pandemics can be a sort of reset for cultural phenomena, and can deeply affect life on a college campus as well as broader society. “People are left to reconstruct what they thought life was like before (the pandemic), which might not actually be an exact reproduction,” Mason said. “So there are going to be certain shifts, because there’s this kind of hole in campus life that happened for a year and a half.” “I’m sure the campus has always shifted a little bit. The pandemic might have been a bigger shift than usual,” said Lucas Washburn ’23.5. “But there are definitely some things that I do miss about how it used to be, and hopefully they’ll come back.” Wertheimer said that though he missed certain things about campus life prior to the pandemic, he didn’t feel any ill will toward the changes that new generations of students would bring. “Even if the culture of Brown

is changing, it’s not necessarily a bad thing,” Wertheimer said. “New people, new minds, new experiences and traditions aren’t a bad thing.” The Class of 2025 has been on campus for just under two months, and its students say they’re still in the process of discovering Brown’s traditions that have survived the pandemic. “I’m very new here,” said Joshua Silverman ’25. “Not stepping on the Pembroke seal, that’s the (tradition) that I really know about.” Silverman believes he will come to know Brown better as time goes on, but would not be surprised if some aspects of previous campus culture were lost. “A lot of the traditions that existed before we were on campus are going to potentially start to fade if seniors don’t continue to engage in them.” When asked whether he preferred to call Vartan Gregorian “New Dorm” or “Greg,” he said he hadn’t heard of the dorm in the first place.

JACK WALKER / HERALD

Meehan’s portrait collection includes eight banners with visuals from the book “Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America.”

who found success as a result of their

Portraits aim to “engage natural creative genius. “That wasn’t the world I inhabited communities in civic at all,” Turner said. “The world I live in dialogue,” will remain out here is radically diverse, radically unequal and just filled with lots of on campus until 2023

BY JACK WALKER UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs unveiled a new large-scale portraiture series created by Mary Beth Meehan titled “Seeing Silicon Valley” during an Oct. 14 artist talk hosted by Sarah Baldwin, Watson Institute communications specialist. The series is being sponsored by the Watson Institute, the Brown Arts Initiative and the Brown Public Art Working Group, and will remain on campus from Oct. 13 through May 31, 2023. The series consists of eight large vinyl banners placed along the outer walls of the Watson Institute at 111 Thayer St., depicting workers and residents from Silicon Valley, a region in the San Francisco Bay Area renowned for technological innovation. Meehan’s aim is to illuminate the diversity of Silicon Valley often lost to a homogenous characterization of the area. Additional four-foot prints of other Silicon Valley residents are being placed inside Stephen Robert ’62 Hall at 280 Brook St. Meehan’s work comes to the University as part of an extensive career in photography, including features in the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Boston Globe, according to the Watson Institute’s website. The portraits featured in “Seeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America,” a book published in spring 2021 and originally envisioned by Fred Turner ’84, professor of communication at Stanford University. The book was created in collaboration between Meehan and Turner. As part of her creative process, Meehan rented housing and a car in Silicon Valley and drove around, making conversation with strangers and hearing their stories and relationships with the region. Among the photographs in the series, Meehan depicted a child with developmental disabilities caused by their father’s exposure to lead at work, immigrants who came to the region pursuing careers and social change, an education advocate critical of Silicon Valley’s lack of support for local school systems and more. Turner, who attended the conversation virtually, has lived in Silicon Valley for over 20 years and has written academically about the region, but felt that the valley he was writing about was a “myth,” characterized by primarily white male inventors

different kinds of people living many different kinds of ways.” Through the book, Turner sought to more critically examine the city and its perception in the American mainstream. Meehan made her first trip to Silicon Valley in the summer of 2017 when initially looking into an artist-in-residence program at Stanford. Immediately upon coming to Silicon Valley, she found that residents had to navigate issues ranging from market competition and moral dilemmas to loneliness and disconnection from family members. For Meehan, these issues complicate the idealized narrative of Silicon Valley as a paragon of innovation and self-made success. Turner noted that as an outsider looking into Silicon Valley for the first time, Meehan provided impactful insight into the region’s hustle culture and social norms, pushing Turner to reconsider them. “The kind of loneliness that Mary Beth made visible is characteristic of an information-driven economy,” Turner said. “One of the deepest fantasies out here (in Silicon Valley) is that we can take the lived world and turn it into information, and that expressing ourselves and building community depends only on being able to turn our voices into digits.” Turner added that Meehan’s photography “put voices back in the bodies of people who speak them and show how community really lives in bodies.” “The book is not just about inequality. It’s about unease and it’s about an economy on the ground that could be making life easier for people,” Meehan said. “In fact, it’s making life harder for people.” Following the event, Meehan told The Herald that “it’s a huge honor to have the work on the walls of the Watson.” She hopes that sudents will engage critically with the work. While her series is on display on campus, Meehan hopes “to hear from all your different perspectives ... to learn from all of you.” “I just couldn’t be happier that we have been able to take (Meehan’s) photographs and make them publicly available,” Baldwin told The Herald. Baldwin noted she hopes the series can “inspire conversations not just among Brown students but among people walking by.” Meehan has “brought a very faraway-seeming world to our campus, and the fact that we can share (it) publicly is among the things that excite me most,” Baldwin said.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

JOSIAH FROM PAGE 1 “Don’t step on the seal!” it exclaims, explaining that women who step on the seal will become pregnant, and men who step on the seal will not graduate. This particular myth likely originated as a “popular warning to female students in the 1940s and 1950s,” Betts wrote, but its exact source is unknown. It was expanded to include male students when the University became co-educational in 1971, she added. Another myth states that first-years who step foot in the John Hay Library, the John Carter Brown Library and the Annmary Brown Memorial in one year will never get married. Students also are told to rub the nose of the bust of John Hay in the Hay Library for good luck. The statue’s nose has been “rubbed shiny by generations of Brown students,” according to the library website. The life of Josiah Stinkney Carberry Professor Carberry’s enigmatic life leaves much to the collective imagination of generations of students. Conf licting reports place him as beginning his career at the University in 1820 and 1929, and as being born in 1825 and 1929. One 1958 article in The Herald by Josiah Carberry III that celebrated Carberry’s birthday could not locate Carberry “for a comment on his age” but expects “that he has some years to his credit.” His title ranges from professor of psychoceramics to professor of speleology, the study of caves. His years of travel have taken him to destinations such as New Hampshire, Hawaii and Turkey. He was known for being scheduled to give lectures on campus every Friday the 13th, and he would host “milk punch and rum ball” parties to welcome incoming first-years.

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Carberry appears in a May 1929 issue of The Herald, when it was reported from “semi-official information” that the professor of Hindo-Geramic Pottery would go on loan to the (similarly fictional) Southwestern Arkansas Normal Institute. In his departing remarks, Carberry mused on the glory of American womanhood and the beauty of the Providence River in a torrent of nonsensical remarks. “Whenever temptation faces you, just think of home and mother, because I love to see the true and fearless, frank and plain spoken spirit of our undergraduates,” Carberry said to The Herald. “America must go on, the saviour of the world, the only place where there are so many laws that it is fun to break them, nay rather it is hilarious to disobey these mandates.” In August 1943, The Herald announced that Carberry would be interviewed on the Brown Network — the former name of Brown’s radio station WBRU — about his recent yearlong expedition in Hawaii to conduct “scientific studies … on the culture of the aborigines of the region.” Since his return, Carberry had been working as an electrician adviser for a production of “Ladies in Retirement” and collaborating with The Herald to establish its new editorial policy. Carberry rose in prevalence on throughout the 1950s and ’60s, during which time he appeared in nearly 20 Herald articles recounting his adventures in far-reaching corners of the world. “Josiah Carberry, Brown professor of Speleology on sabbatical leave since 1892 is reported winging his way back from outer Mongolia where he has been in quest of the seven eyed wombat,” reads a February 1953 article. “If Professor Carberry returns in time, he is scheduled to appear opposite Mrs. Feeney of Sharpe Refectory fame in a scene whose nature is yet to be announced.” In January 1955, Carberry mailed a

donation of $101.01 to University President Henry Wriston. The enclosed letter explained that the funds should be used to create a special fund in honor “of my future late wife; to be known, of course, as the Josiah S. Carberry Fund.” The letter was mailed from an address later found to be the New Hampshire State Liquor Store, according to an April 1956 Herald article. The fund has been used to purchase books “of which Professor Carberry might or might not approve,” according to the library bookplate. Purchased books include “A Manual of Egyptian Pottery” and “The FlimFlam Man.” The gift also stipulated that every Friday the 13th should be celebrated as “Carberry Day,” with brown jugs left around campus for community members to drop spare change into to continue to augment the fund. These jugs have been occasionally said to collect money to pay for the “unfortunate medical bills” of his clumsy assistant Grayson. The first Carberry Day was celebrated in 1956, accompanied by a Herald feature on the professor’s life and accomplishments. The Herald, at the time, set out to interview Carberry, though he was “a difficult man to reach.” “His phone has been disconnected by the telephone company, and his daughters thoughtfully screen every potential interviewer for psychoceramosis,” the article reads. “Carberry deplores crackpots.” The Herald’s persistence paid off and an interview was arranged. When Herald reporter John Barcroft ’59 arrived at Carberry’s Benefit Street home with just a cartoonist by his side, they found that it was “jammed with vases and pots, urns and vats.” Carberry sat through the entire interview holding “a book before his face.” The reporters also found that Carberry’s assistant Grayson was, in fact, a bird. “He is the only one that I can

ENDOWMENT FROM PAGE 1 future needs,” he wrote. “For example, the payout was increased last year to help defray the costs of health and safety measures undertaken by the University.” Over 3,300 separate endowed funds comprise the endowment as a whole. In the press release, the University specifically highlighted the role monetary contributions to endowed funds have played in enabling the creation of a fund to provide full scholarships to veterans, a fund supporting investment in Providence K-12 public schools, a new fund created to launch Brown’s Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research and the continued funding of The Brown Promise, which replaced all loans for undergraduates with financial aid grants. Financial aid receives 32% of the endowment’s funding for the operating budget, the largest percentage of endowed funds. Provost Richard Locke P’18 lauded the impact this growth will have on future University initiatives. “The endowment is a foundational financial resource for Brown’s academic mission, ensuring that no student who aspires to attend the University will encounter cost as a barrier and that Brown scholars contribute locally and globally through high-impact research, teaching and public engagement,” he said in the press release. “Over time, the positive impact of this year’s historic return

TRACY PAN / HERALD

The University’s $6.9 billion endowment contributed $194 million, or 15%, to the University’s operating budget during fiscal year 2021. will have a transformational effect on Brown’s financial support for the work of current students, faculty and staff, for future generations of scholars, and the impact we can make on some of the most pressing challenges facing society.” However, Locke noted the impact of the endowment cannot be accurately understood in the context of a single year. “The investment program is intended to achieve its goals over the long term: decades or more,” he said. Kennedy also explained that the University takes careful measures to ensure the persistence of the endowment’s growth. “In order to preserve this resource in perpetuity, the endowment is invested with a goal of exceeding the rate of spending in real terms ­­— meaning in excess of inflation,” he wrote. “Considering that the endowment is

invested to achieve a relatively high rate of return, prudent risk management is central to the endowment investment program.” Similarly, he emphasized that the increased endowment will not immediately have a profound budgetary impact. “The contribution from the endowment to the operating budget is calculated on a trailing” three-year basis, he wrote. “The total will not jump higher next year, rather it will steadily increase over the coming years assuming steady returns from the endowment’s portfolio.” The FY21 numbers reflect broader growth in Brown’s endowment since 2000, according to the press release. Over the past three years, Brown’s endowment has grown at an average annualized rate of 24.1%. Over the past five years, the average rate has been 19.6%, and over the past decade, the

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trust around my ceramics,” Carberry explained to Barcroft. “His job is to dust the vases. And, of course, he accompanies me on my trips. That is why his loyalty is so amazing. He has been bitten in the course of duty by aardvark, anteater, antelope, armadillo, Aberdeen Angus and the Army Air Force.” Carberry is also known for his several notable publications, including a cookbook entitled “The Carberry Cookbook: From Soup to Nuts.” Written by Leslie Wendel ’55, the book raised funds for the Josiah S. Carberry library fund, according to her son and illustrator of the cookbook Andrew Wendel ’85. Carberry “was not really something that people were aware of very much by the time that I was (at Brown), which is something that my mother set about to correct,” Andrew Wendel said. The publication of the book was followed by an official University dinner featuring recipes from the book, including one serving camel meat. Professor Carberry has a litany of other accomplishments under his belt. In 1966, he was awarded an honorary M.A. degree by the University. He was even offered the position of University president in 1970, but turned it down because “he felt compelled by his time-honored tradition of non-appearance to refuse.” Now, Carberry is commemorated on campus as the namesake of Josiah’s — a late-night eatery known for its spicy chicken sandwiches and affectionately known by students as Jo’s.

that some legends fade over time.” “While I’m saddened to no longer represent the Library, I understand that time marches on,” Carberry wrote. “Hopefully, the Carberry name won’t be entirely forgotten — after my many years toiling away at good old Brunonia, I trust I leave some sort of legacy behind. My time at Brown has been an unmitigated pleasure for me, in any case.” Carberry sent the letter alongside a pouch of mementos from his travels as a “belated August Carberry Day donation.” “With mask and vaccine passport in hand,” Carberry wrote, “I’m off on my next adventure.” In response to an interview request for this story, Carberry regretfully declined due to travel conflicts. Rumor has it that he is sailing through the Bermuda Triangle in search of ceramics to salvage from sunken ships.

A fading legend Carberry’s most recent communication arrived on the desk of Betts on Aug. 16 after the University library announced that it would no longer use the Josiah library catalog — a move that, as Betts wrote, is a “sign

rate has averaged out to 12.9%. The average rate over the past twenty years is 10.3%. The University’s performance exceeded both its own benchmarks as well as the returns of its peer institutions. Brown’s own benchmark portfolio predicted returns of 43.1%. According to consulting firm Cambridge Associates in the University’s press release, Brown’s returns of 51.5% vastly exceeded the mean and median returns — 35.6% and 34%, respectively — achieved by 134 peer institutions examined by Cambridge Associates during FY21. Kennedy attributed this relative growth to the efficacy of the University’s Investment Office and its partners. “The core of the endowment’s investment program is hiring outside managers as partners who invest capital on our behalf. These partners are selected on the basis of exceptional ability as well as on the basis of integrity,” he wrote. “The Investment Office team, with both support and oversight from the Investment Committee of the Corporation, works diligently to identify great partners who can create meaningful value for Brown.” Public equity funds, which represent 19.8% of the University’s investments, returned 58.9%. Private equity funds, which represent 39% of investments, generated an 86.8% return. Absolute return represents 24.8% and returned 15.3%. The University also generated smaller positive returns off of real assets and fixed income investments.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the University to incur more than $55 million in additional expenses and led to the loss of more than $30 million in revenue, the University finished FY21 with a budget deficit of $52.2 million. However, as Kennedy explained, there are limits to how the endowment can be used to address such deficits, given that the gifts that comprise the endowment have designated, legally binding purposes attached to them. “Brown cannot just use endowment funds as it sees fit,” he wrote. “However, there is a portion of the endowment that is unrestricted in use and the payout to the University was increased last year precisely for the purpose of responding to increased costs arising from the pandemic.” Despite the endowment’s performance in FY21, Kennedy stated that the Investment Office is unlikely to change its long-term investment approach. “The investment program for the endowment is not going to change very much,” he wrote. “Although the portfolio is dynamic, the core of the program is a dedicated team of professionals working to create lasting partnerships with some of the most skilled investors in the world, all while receiving support and guidance from an engaged and informed Investment Committee.”

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

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METRO

Providence Athenaeum serves community for 200 years Historic library experiences membership boost, retains cultural value BY JACK TAJMAJER STAFF WRITER Visited by the likes of Edgar Allen Poe, Sarah Helen Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Providence Athenæum, founded in 1836, is one of just 21 member-funded libraries still open in the U.S. The Providence Library Company and original Providence Athenæum combined their collections and dissolved to form the current Athenæum situated on Benefit Street. Citizens of Providence formed the library with the intention of pooling funds in order to collect a greater number of books than a single community member could manage. According to Robin Wetherill, director of membership and external relations, “The Athenæum is a historic library and cultural center. It’s a library, museum, event space, special collection and historic collection all in one. We often get people comparing it to the library in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ or Hogwarts because it has a special magical quality to it.” Anthenaeums are institutions that hold books for advanced learning, particularly in subjects of science and literary arts. But beyond this

DANIELLE EMERSON / HERALD

The Providence Athenæum is currently open exclusively to members and awaits a broader re-opening to the larger Providence community. scope, the Athenæum in Providence prides itself on its unique cultural value as both a community space and a collection of the past. “Our mission is to enrich the mind, inspire the spirit and elevate the public discourse,” Wetherill said. “People get married here, get engaged here, and that’s really special, to be this sort of cultural touchstone for people.” The library hosts events at night in the downstairs Reading Room; works with both Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design to arrange student events, deals and member benefits; and even supplies treats for visitors’ dogs, which are allowed in the library and inducted as members. What the Athenæum prides itself on, though, is its dedication to reflecting the actual Providence community. Known for its rare book collections

and constantly changing exhibits, the library purposefully selects items reflecting “the reading taste of Providence from the 1830s until now,” Wetherill said. “We have items because people wanted to read them, not just because they’re rare or special. There are not many institutions like this where members and normally non-members are able to access this time capsule … it’s a really community-centered institution.” Aw a r e o f i t s p r o x i m i t y t o both the University and to RISD, We t h e r i l l d i s c u s s e d h o w t h e Athenæum takes pride in its relationship with both institutions and its status as an incredible study spot. Wetherill mentioned that she constantly sees students studying on the Mezzanine level or in the

Reading Room, and that student membership has increased significantly in the past year. “I w a s i n t r o d u c e d t o t h e Athenæum when I first toured Brown and it was part of what made me want to come to Brown!” Kate Van Riper ’23, a current Athenæum member, wrote to The Herald. “I’m an English major and it feels very cool to be a part of the same library that authors like Edgar Allen Poe were.” Daniel Newgarden ’25, also an Athenæum member, said that he “joined because it seemed like a pretty nice place to study in and because the rare books seemed interesting to look at.” He also likes “that it’s quiet, it’s got good lighting, comfortable chairs and just a really cool environment, especially the downstairs Reading Room.” Illustrating the cultural importance of the Athanæum and its contributions as a social center for students, Van Riper said, “Pre-COVID, I went to the Athenæum a few times a week. It’s one of my favorite places to study or relax. I have really nice memories of studying and talking with friends there as I adjusted to college life.” While the Athenæum remained closed for much of the COVID-19 pandemic and is currently only open to members, staff have used this time to complete repairs or touch-ups. While changes in the past included adding a children’s

area, a climate-controlled rare book room and an upper-level mezzanine, staff recently focused on fixing up the art room, expanding the collections, finalizing a gift shop and diversifying the busts present in the library to include people of color and women. Asked about any future plans, Wetherill said that the library would be implementing Zoom into its programming by simulcasting all of its events and focusing more on the visitor experience. “When we’ve fully opened back up, we’ll have more tours, fun facts and make people feel as if this is a place to visit,” she said. As for when the library will open back up to non-members, Wetherill identified four criteria: declining COVID-19 cases, declining hospitalization levels, a test-postivity rate below 3% and a “low or moderate transmission environment.” “We want to open as soon as we can,” she added. “Any city that doesn’t have an athanaeum or membership library is missing something ... The Athenæum has been at the cultural heart of this city for 200 years and we’re going strong,” Wetherill said. “We’ve seen membership explode, we’ve seen support for this institution increase, and so it’s really exciting.”

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | POST-

OCT 15 — VOL 28 — ISSUE 4

FEATURE

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See Full Issue: ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH

NARRATIVE

Coffee For Here sharing a cup with my ghosts By liza kolbasov

Summer On The Balton rediscovering family and culture from afar by emma schneider illustrated by Emilia Mann Csak az ágyban legyen jó, Csak a hajnal legyen szép, Csak a kávé legyen forró, Csak a metró legyen kék, Csak a villamos legyen sárga, ... “ Csak az àgyban” KFT The CIA has a categorization of languages listed in order of how long it would take the average American to learn to speak them. At the bottom are languages closely related to English. It should only take around 600 hours to become proficient in Romance languages and fun language cousins like Swedish and Norwegian. German is a little harder,

requiring an extra hundred hours. The next tier includes only Malaysian, Indonesian and Swahili. Then comes the fourth tier. At 1,100 hours, this tier includes most languages with roman letters that aren't linguistically connected to English. There are seven languages singled out in that category as particularly hard to learn before the final tier. One of those seven languages is Hungarian. I had always known to some extent that Hungarian was special. My family used it as a secret language, a way to communicate with one another in our own little bubble that no one could penetrate, but I’d never thought of the language as hard to learn or hard to find people to speak it with. It was my mother tongue. My first word was the Hungarian word for cat, whispered intensely: cica, with a finger pointing along with it. English came along as well, but my mother’s diligent reading of Hungarian stories, my aunt's long phone calls from across the ocean, and thethe months we spent with my family in Hungary paid off. Hungarian had the sweet sheen of family summer: my grandma, doting great- aunt, benevolent uncle and older cousins, people who would give me gum even when my mom said it wasn’t allowed...

“Oh god, do you need a hernia?” “Wow I can’t believe I had my own independent thought about Playboi Carti” been a car. Large,

Peet’s Coffee Charleston Rd.: Coconut Black Tie (Palo Alto, CA) I taught myself to like coffee through sheer force of will. I’d take sip after tiny sip from the plastic cup perched on the table next to me, a ring of condensation blooming around the edges as the ice melted, watering down my coconut-and-condensedmilk-sweetened concoction. I swallowed the last lukewarm drops before heading home for the night, proud that I’d finished my drink at last. I’d made the bitter decision to become a coffee drinker. I’d always found coffee too strong to taste good. I took sips from my mother’s morning brew, mixed only with cream, and grimaced as each sip overpowered my tastebuds. But in my junior year of high school, that changed—or rather, I changed it. I needed caffeine to deal with the mounting pressure of school, but it was more than that. The aesthetic of coffee attracted me—sipping from large mugs, admiring latte art, finding the sweet in the bitter. My unfortunate dislike of the taste barred me from the rich, dark depths I craved access to...

ARTS & CULTURE

The Reeducation Of Me movies, marijuanna, and going man free By Emma Eaton I have one list on my Letterboxd account, an inside joke with myself: “movies men made me watch.” Some of the titles are more incriminating than others, but the assemblage tells an embarrassing story either way. Fight Club. Superbad. American Beauty. American Psycho. Birdman. Safety Not Guaranteed. Inglourious Basterds. When Harry Met Sally. The Shawshank Redemption. It. Casablanca...

LIFESTYLE

Marriot Advice by ethan pan

We DON'T Want To Show Our Parents This Family Weekend 1. Emergency exit sign debris in the dorm hallways

6. The underwear your situationship left in your room

2. The last dregs of a fifth of grapefruit vodka

7. The crafts I spent $150 on last weekend at the RISD fair.

3. The giant dumpsters all over campus 4. Dorm bathroom. Any aspect of it. 5. The Bong

8. The girl who cries on the Main Green 9. Your new pet skunk 10. Wait, your parents are coming?

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Want to be involved? Email: olivia_howe@brown.edu!

Whoops! You got COVID. No judgement—you have likely taken the proper precautions and simply fallen prey to the cruel knife of chance. This is an obviously heinous situation to be in. Quarantine is ten days calculated from the day of symptom onset or a positive test result (so either you actually feel sick, or you don’t feel sick and just have to quarantine longer than symptomatic people). It’s a lose-lose situation. Regardless, you are now required to self-isolate, either at home or elsewhere. When choosing your new hibernation den, one of the finest only options is the Marriott hotel on Orms Street downtown. You might be attracted to the high-flying hotel lifestyle or the free gourmet food... October 14, 2021

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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2021

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

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