SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021
VOLUME CLVI, ISSUE XXXII
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
METRO
Bike lane completed on South Water Street despite U. objections
U. signed letter of opposition along with RISD, restaurants, community leaders BY KATY PICKENS SENIOR STAFF WRITER Construction on the South Water Street bike lane recently concluded, ending a saga of tensions and legal back-andforth between the City of Providence, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and local groups and businesses, including the University. The lane was built as part of the Providence Great Streets Initiative, an effort by the city to make streets more accessible for pedestrians and vehicles other than cars. RIDOT requested that the City halt construction until the project received approval from the Federal Highway Administration, but ultimately work on the trail proceeded uninterrupted and the FHWA declined to intervene. Businesses along South Water, the University, RISD and community leaders cosigned a letter Oct. 1 to RIDOT asking for construction to be stopped because of traffic considerations and safety concerns with the design of the two-way bike path. One lane of traffic was closed off in September to create
the bike trail and additional parking along South Water Street. The group of signatories had concerns that this would increase traffic congestion extending onto nearby streets. “We want to be clear, we do not oppose creation of a bicycle path along South Water Street, but we do not think it should come at the expense of a lane of travel which is needed for travel, deliveries, RIPTA service and which is the only access road to the interstate highway I-195 East,” said the letter, which was also signed by representatives from the Jewelry District Association and restaurants along the bike path. Albert Dahlberg, assistant vice president of government and community relations, signed the letter on behalf of the University. “Our signature on the recent letter to RIDOT was intended to signal our concerns about safety issues associated with the current design of the South Water Street bike lane, particularly behind a Brown-owned building (121 South Main St.) during deliveries,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald, reiterating that the University ultimately supports the two-way bike path. 121 South Main St. houses University departments such as
METRO
Alex Cannon runs in State Senate District 3 election Cannon hopes conservative platform will win support from local voters BY MICHAEL SEOANE STAFF WRITER Alex Cannon is running for Rhode Island State Senate in the special election for District 3, which is scheduled to take place Nov. 2. Cannon is the first Republican to run for State Senate in District 3 in the past 15 years. The seat became vacant after the resignation of Democrat Gayle Goldin, who joined the Biden administration in August as Senior Adviser in the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau. Cannon was born and raised in Las Vegas and graduated from the University of Nevada with a Bachelor of Science Business Administration degree in Economics. He moved to Rhode Island in 2017 to work for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island.
“Alex is very fiscally prudent, and I think that he will offer a different approach when it comes to how the state utilizes its money,” Sue Cienki, chairwoman of the Republican Party in Rhode Island, said. “We have a $13.1 billion budget currently, which is huge. We are also getting a boatload of cash from the federal government, and we want to make sure that money is used in a wise and efficient manner. Having a representative with an economics degree would go a long way in making sure that the money we have isn’t just tossed aside.” Cannon’s platform emphasizes three policy issues: taxation, education and security. “As a Republican, I’m opposed to doing tax increases and in favor of seeing what we can actually do about decreasing things like property taxes. A lot of what drives economic activity and (makes) Providence in particular a business-friendly climate is low taxation and low costs
SEE CANNON PAGE 2
the School of Public Health. Clark wrote that because the trail takes up a full lane of traffic, it impacts deliveries made to the University’s building, which also houses Hemenway’s Restaurant, since larger trucks are forced to “extend into a single, active lane of vehicle traffic immediately
near a corner with limited visibility for drivers traveling on the street.” RIDOT wrote a letter to Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza Oct. 6 asking to stop construction on the bike lane, citing the Maintenance Agreement — a 1999
agreement that put modifications to South Water Street under the jurisdiction of the Federal Highway Administration. RIDOT threatened a $4.4 million lawsuit if the project went forward without approval from the FHWA. “This is completely a legal matter that RIDOT responded to at the request of local businesses, including Brown University,” wrote Charles St. Martin, RIDOT chief of public affairs, in an email to The Herald. Construction pushed forward despite RIDOT’s request. “The City has engaged the public in our Great Streets Plan from the start, ensuring the changing needs of our residents, the majority of whom overwhelmingly support our street safety improvements, are met,” Elorza wrote in an email to The Herald. Representatives from RIDOT and the FHWA met with legal counsel regarding the South Water Street Trail Oct. 19. The FHWA decided it would not “implement any penalties against the City of Providence for the breach of contract” or intervene in the project, according to an Oct. 21 statement from RIDOT. “It is our opinion that taking a lane of traffic on South Water Street creates
traffic and safety issues but the FHWA, which was a signatory to the contract, does not want to get involved,” the RIDOT statement said. “Therefore, we will not press the issue any further.” Ward 1 Councilman John Goncalves ’13 MA’15 said he received “hundreds of emails from constituents in support” of the new bike lane, and that critical constituents’ primary concern was about the reduction from two lanes to one on South Water Street. He also said that the bike lane would reduce noise along South Water Street and improve pedestrian safety. In a recent statement to supporters, Goncalves emphasized the importance of investing in pedestrian and bike infrastructure. “I understand why cars and trucks are the primary priority of highway engineers,” Goncalves wrote. “But creating well-designed city streets that are accessible and safe for all residents takes far more care and consideration.” He added that new infrastructure can be an adjustment for residents and businesses, but that he thinks the bike path will improve the street in the end. “There will certainly be bumps in the road, as folks get used to the new arrangement,” Goncalves wrote, “but ultimately, this infrastructure will create a myriad of benefits for neighborhood residents.”
GRAPHIC BY NEIL MEHTA / HERALD
UNIVERSITY NEWS
U. offers its first Vietnamese classes Brown offering classes following Southeast Asian Students Initiative’s advocacy BY SIQI WANG CONTRIBUTING WRITER Visiting Lecturer in Vietnamese Trang Tran joined the University this fall to offer Brown’s first beginning and intermediate level Vietnamese language classes. There are nine students enrolled in the beginning level and seven in the intermediate, including two students from Princeton . The Southeast Asian Students Initiative, which discussed this idea with the University in April 2019, proved crucial in the creation of these courses. “They were very instrumental in reaching out to me, ... the (Office of the Dean of the Faculty) and ... the East Asian Studies department with their wish to have Brown offer courses in Vietnamese,” said Jane Sokolosky,
Metro
Metro
Arts & Culture
State prepares to introduce nation’s first safe injection sites to combat opioid crisis Page 4
Scholarship offers $1 million to for proposals on improving BIPOC communities Page 5
‘Dune” is a high stakes political thriller and an intimate story Page 5
COURTESY OF TRANG TRAN
There are nine students enrolled in the beginning level and seven in the intermediate Vietnamese class. Two of the students in the intermediate director of the Center for Language Studies. Students in SEASI presented a letter to CLS signed by students and faculty, in which they not only advocated for Vietnamese courses but also included a course list where “the knowledge of Vietnamese language and culture would be important for a deeper understanding of the course content,” according to Sokolosky. It also mapped out in-
ternship opportunities that required the skills of Vietnamese language and culture. The letter reflected “a real desire across campus and a real need” for Vietnamese courses at the University, and Sokolosky received approval to search for faculty during the fall 2019 semester. But factors including COVID-19 halted
SEE VIETNAMESE PAGE 6
TODAY
TOMORROW
56 / 49
61 / 53
2
CANNON FROM PAGE 1 of living for the people that want to be here to work,” Cannon said. “All of that dovetails into looking at how we are spending our resources now.” One area that needs to be urgently addressed is the public school system: Cannon hopes to increase spending on students and school infrastructure while reducing administrative cost. “We currently spend $18,000 per pupil on average. That’s the fourth highest average in the nation. I came from a place — Las Vegas, Nevada — where they spend $10,000 per pupil on average.” The debate over policing reform is another major issue in the upcoming election. Cannon believes that the Providence Police Department, which is currently understaffed, should receive more funding. “The Providence Police Department is almost 100 officers below their authorized strength, and that’s the lowest it’s ever been. The Chief of Police says that he needs at least 50 more officers,” Cannon’s campaign manager David Talan said. “The East Side faces many quality-of-life problems like excessive noise and speeding, but the police department can’t respond to this sort of thing right now. Alex supports having enough police so that they can respond to (these) issues on the East Side.” Cannon has also spoken about his willingness to improve Rhode Island’s infrastructure. “All the roads (in Las Vegas) were built in the past 50 years. Out here, we have bridges that are hundreds of years old,” Cannon said. “We must make sure that the railways, bridges and highways are in good shape; the basic things that allow us to live a comfortable, prosperous life are things we have to
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS put resources into.” Another issue Cannon will tackle is climate change, something he believes Rhode Island needs to take urgent action on. With growing uncertainty about the efficiency of solar and wind power, the State Senate candidate spoke about potentially shifting to nuclear energy in the future. “I know many people are not fans of nuclear power, but, to be honest, nuclear power is one of the safest forms of energy production we have,” he said. The campaign has adopted a grassroots approach, using direct outreach to mobilize support within a short timeframe. “We looked at the voting list for the district and contacted people who we thought would be favorable to voting for me. We’re hoping to drum up that support and get out the vote,” Cannon said. “We’ve raised over $1,000 in cash from donations to our website and from people I’ve met while knocking on doors. There have also been donations from the Republican Party City Committee for things like mailing efforts and signs,” he noted. Cannon added that his campaign did not seek endorsements from elected officials in the Republican party, nor do they receive donations from any special-interest groups. Even though the campaign budget is relatively small, optimism around Cannon’s run is growing. “There’s a common misconception that Providence is so overwhelmingly Democrat that you just can’t win at all as a Republican. The East Side has a lot more Republicans than people think — there’s 1,500 registered Republicans in State Senate District 3, and a large percentage of them vote regularly,” Talan said. “Money-wise, we obviously can’t match what the Democrats have. One of the candidates who ran in the
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021
COURTESY OF ALEX CANNON
Alex Cannon, running on a platform of reducing taxes, is the first Republican to run for State Senate District 3 in 15 years. primary, Hilary Levey Friedman, spent $100,000 on her campaign and finished next to last. The person who spends a lot of money isn’t necessarily the winner.” “In Rhode Island, what makes a good candidate is someone who is willing to do a lot of work and willing to meet a lot of people. Alex is very good at that,” Talan added. “We’ve got a good reaction going door-to-door, and that’s what keeps you going. Because of the (small) size of the district, you can do a lot of stuff without spending money.” In the election, Cannon will face Sam Zurier, who won the Democratic primary two weeks ago, The Herald previously reported. Zurier “has definitely been around for a long time. Alex is more of a fresh face. He is a relatively recent resident
of Rhode Island, so he doesn’t have as much baggage as some Rhode Islanders have politically, but he’s able to think outside the box really well,” said Providence GOP co-chair William Ricci. Cannon “just has a very different approach to local government than Sam Zurier would have. I think Alex is more fiscally conservative. He’d be more supportive of things such as small business and deregulation. Zurier is more of an old-school Democrat in the sense that he sees government as the solution to our problems, rather than the cause.” “Statewide, the Democrats have been in power for 80 years essentially at this point ... I think Alex would be a breath of fresh air for the East Side, which hasn’t had a Republican run for a long time,” Ricci continued. “We can take advantage of the circumstances of
the special election in the sense that there are no other distractions on the ballot. It’s really a one-to-one shot.” Talan is excited for what this election could mean for the future of the Rhode Island Republican Party. “This is the district where Biden got 89% of the vote. If a Republican won this election, it would send a message around the state that Republicans have a chance of winning. I think we would have candidates for the state legislature coming out of the woodworks at that point — this is one of the reasons we’re so excited about this,” Talan added. “We’re obviously in this to win, but if Alex even comes close in this district, then we will have tons of candidates come forward.”
SCIENCE & RESEARCH
STEM instructors reflect on lessons learned from virtual semesters Instructors discuss changes to fieldwork, labs, course exams for in-person classes
lectures to accommodate different time zones and conflicting schedules. “I don’t miss anything from last year. (This year) we still post lectures online for students to watch virtually, but talking to an empty room is not satisfying. It’s much better to be in the classroom,” he added. Senior Lecturer in Neuroscience Monica Linden also plans to bring aspects of teaching learned from virtual classes to in-person scenarios. In spring 2021, Linden conducted oral exams with each student instead of a written final in her class, NEUR 1540: “Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.” Before the pandemic, “I was never comfortable trying oral exams … but the oral exams went so well. In terms of interaction
BY JARED ZHANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER After several semesters of virtual learning, STEM instructors were eager to return to traditional in-person classes this fall semester. Still, many have incorporated virtual teaching methods to their classes this semester. The Herald spoke with five STEM instructors about their experiences with virtual learning for the past few semesters, their experiences teaching in person once again and how they have worked to readjust their courses. For some, the virtual environment impacted the fieldwork aspects of learning most. Pandemic restrictions prevented dozens of students from participating in a special component of EEPS 0070: “Introduction to Oceanography” in fall 2020: a field trip to Cape Cod. “Instead of going to Cape Cod as we typically do, I ended up actually going out and recording (the areas of Cape Cod students typically explore) on video. It really is a bad substitute,” said Steven Clemens ’86 PhD ’90, the course instructor and associate professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. This fall, Clemens was able to take more than 60 students to Cape Cod, where they were able to look at depositional environments, the glacial
ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD
context of the formation of the cape and its erosion in person. “It was fantastic to get back to normal field trips … I’m just really happy to have students back, and I couldn’t be more pleased,” Clemens said. For classes with lab components, instructors took varied approaches. Adjunct Professor of the Practice of Computer Science Donald Stanford ’72 ScM ’77’s CSCI 0020: “The Digital World” had online labs prior to the pandemic, so it was easier to adapt lab materials to the virtual environment. Meanwhile, professors whose courses had in-person labs prior to the pandemic had to find ways to creatively engage students with hands-on experiments at home. Professor of Engineering Roberto
Zenit worked with his co-instructor to transition labs for ENGN 0810: “Fluid Mechanics” to a remote environment in fall 2020. To maintain the hands-on component of Fluid Mechanics labs, course instructors provided lab kits that students could take home and use to conduct experiments themselves. In one experiment, Zenit’s class needed to pour pancake batter and observe its growth rate. Students could do this “fun experiment” at home and deduce the viscosity of the liquid, Zenit said. The instructors are retaining aspects of the take-home lab kits this year to increase accessibility to hands-on experiences, he added. As an engineering student, “working with your hands is very important,” Zenit said.
Many instructors also discussed continuing aspects of teaching STEM courses in the virtual environment. Postdoctoral Research Associate in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry Joslyn Mills, an instructor of BIOL 0600: “Genetic Screening in Model Organisms,” received special permission last fall from the University to continue having an in-person laboratory component. Because of the uncertainty of future restrictions and limited lab time, students were expected to watch lectures prior to coming to class in a flipped classroom approach. “This (flipped classroom approach) has been great, and I really liked it. We are going to continue it,”Mills said. Stanford uploaded asynchronous
with students and understanding their learning, I found it to be much better than written exams,” Linden said. “I’m planning to keep oral exams in that class going forward, which is a big change in how I was teaching it before ... I’m pretty excited about that,” she added. “We all live to teach and that’s why we do what we do,” Clemens said. “I’m really happy to have students back in class.”
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | POST-
post-
OCT 29 — VOL 28 — ISSUE 6
FEATURE
3
See Full Issue: ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH
NARRATIVE
Halloween Scares encounters with the ghost of love By Julia Vaz
Word Association stereotyping africa by Ayoola Fadahunsi illustrated by Joanne Han When you hear the word “Africa,” what is the first image that pops into your mind? Many think of mighty animals in the wild, soaring through the safari, roaring in the pride lands, pounding on the earth with tons of skin and bones. Others often picture rheumy-eyed children, whose little bony bodies wander through a village in search of food, shelter, and clothing. Be honest, what did you think about when you read the word “Africa”? Did you think back to the first time you watched The Lion King? Or of the UNICEF advertisements advocating for starving children in Africa, urging people to donate to the cause? If your subconscious or conscious mind immediately went to these common stereotypes, don’t feel bad—this is the Africa you have seen in the media your entire life. The Western representation of Africa does not seek to dive into the exquisite continent, but looks only
to superficial stereotypes—Africa is either promoted for its diverse animals or is used to guilt people into donating to a humanitarian organization. In Western media, that is all there is to it, a surface-level depiction of a continent with great depth and purpose. T.S. Eliot once stated, “We shall not cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” As a Nigerian-American, I confess that I have had an upper hand in knowing the continent’s truths. My first-hand experiences living in Africa contrasted the narrative painted by the Western media. And when did my comprehension begin? It all started with a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. When I was at the young age of three, my mother packed our bags and we moved to Nigeria. For the four years I lived there, I learned about my culture and heritage. Bright-colored Ankara clothing flooded my senses at parties, never-ending forests called to me on long journeys to Ilesha, and messy translations from English to Yoruba were my only form of communication. I learned about the pride that Nigerians possess and the many tribes (Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani) that are deeply connected...
“Good writing is really biting analysis of people’s flaws.” “No, good writing is alliteration.” “Instead of real crying once a week, I fake cry five times a day.”
The stairs creak as she slowly descends. It’s pitch black, with the exception of the slight glow from the wax candle she grips. She feels a sudden gust of wind in the windowless cellar. Her candle blows out. Silence. ... Cue the laughter of a little girl. ... Or the eerily slow-tempoed song of a music box, the hair-pulling hysteria in the infinite nothingness between each note. ... Or a pruney, lifelessly pale hand—bloodblackened fingertips and all—abruptly grasping the cellar woman’s throat. And so goes the classic jump scare. Whether the impetus be a monster, a psycho killer, or a demonic spirit in search of a new host, I always find that there is something so cozy about this Hollywoodproduced fear. I know, I know: who in her right mind curls up under the covers, sipping some Celestial Sleepytime tea (non-spons., just really great tea)...
ARTS & CULTURE
You have time
on creating just to create By Laura DaviD When I was a kid, I tried everything: ballet, taekwondo, baseball, soccer, painting (catastrophically). When I was 10, I told my mom that I wanted to “find my thing” while strapped into the back seat of her SUV on the way home from school. It bothered me more than anything that I wasn’t “the best” at something. No medals hung on my bedposts; no certificates lined my walls. Even then, I’d been conditioned to believe that this lack of visible success meant that I was not only doing something wrong but that there was something wrong with me. Thus began a vicious cycle. Every milestone of my life had to be marked...
LIFESTYLE
Halloweekend what your favorite activity says about you by Elliana Reynolds
Alternatives to “Trick or Treat”
post–
1. Treat or Trick?
6. *puppy-dog eyes* Please?
2. Fork it over!
7. Tick or Teat
3. *Gestures at candy* ...or else.
8. Tit or Teat
4. Trick or Trick ,/.,./,,,.(malicious)
9. Bic or Beet
5. Treat or Treat (delightful)
10. Fit or Feet (...pics?)
Want to be involved? Email: olivia_howe@brown.edu!
It’s that time of the year again: Halloweekend— the wonderful weekend where students celebrate the joyous holiday of Halloween. Fortunately for us this year, Halloween actually falls on a weekend, so we’re not stuck debating if Halloweekend should be the weekend before or after Halloween (which usually turns into both weekends and thus more costume ideas you have to come up with). During this weekend, there is a large selection of activities to choose from. Will you go to a big Halloween costume party or will you stay in with your friends... October 29, 2021
5
4
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
METRO
R.I. is first to legalize safe injection sites Sites will be first in the country to test harm reduction rather than criminalization
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021
UNIVERSTY NEWS
U. further lifts indoor masking requirements
BY SAMEER SINHA SENIOR STAFF WRITER Governor Daniel McKee signed a bill into law to create safe injection sites for drug users in order to combat the opioid crisis July 7. Now, plans to open such sites are underway. The sites would allow those with an addiction to use drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine in a supervised, controlled environment. The sites would also offer tests for potentially fatal doses of fentanyl in drugs, needle exchanges and recovery support. These measures will help battle the ongoing opioid crisis, which killed an estimated nationwide record 93,331 people last year. The situation is dire in Rhode Island, which ranked 15th highest in opioid death rates by state with 29.5 drug-overdose related deaths per 100,000 people in 2019. “We have a seriously rising level of fatalities with opiates,” said Rhode Island State Senator Joshua Miller (D-Cranston/Providence), the bill’s sponsor. “Everything we’ve done over the last several years has not led to any improvement in the rate of fatalities or addiction.” Miller said that supervised injection facilities have worked in other countries, like Canada, and that harm was greatly reduced, “especially when fentanyl is involved.” Rhode Island is the first state in the country to implement such a program. Safe injection sites, also called harm reduction centers, are “designed to make communities safer and have less fatalities, and to provide more access to treatment,” Miller said. “I hope that communities in Rhode Island, when they are given the option to have a site in their community,” look at the success of safe injection sites in other countries. Dr. James McDonald, the medical director of the Rhode Island Department of Health, said that “we want to make sure that people who have a chronic disease, whether it’s opiate use disorder
COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
With 29.5 overdose-related deaths per 100,000 residents in 2019, Rhode Island is ranked as 15th highest in opiod death rates by state. or substance dependence, have a safe place to consume their drugs.” He said that it is crucial that users “feel welcome, feel observed in a non-threatening manner and, if they need a referral for treatment, they feel like that is a possibility.” “We’ve been at this for a long time in the state,” McDonald added. “What we’re doing is not working quickly enough, so we are not staying ahead of the disease, and we’re seeing an increase in overdose deaths.” He specifically cited the increase in opioid potency and the increase in contaminated opioids as reasons why Rhode Island needs the sites. Communities that have implemented these projects, such as those in Canada and Europe, tend to see reduced crime, safer consumption and fewer drug overdoses and deaths, he added. Rebecca Kislak, state representative for Rhode Island’s District 4, supported the bill in the House. Harm reduction centers “help people with substance abuse disorders connect with resources and support,” she said. “I don’t think anybody wants to suffer from addiction,” Kislak said when asked about critics who believe such sites may increase drug use. “We see people whose addiction has cut them off from their community and their support network. (The sites) are a way for people to start reconnecting” and to get recovery services, she said. The need to decriminalize drug use, through concrete measures such as the creation of safe injection sites, is long overdue, Kisalk said. “For far too long we have treated addiction and drug use as a crime. It is important to offer support to every-
body, whatever their illness or issue is. We should have done this a long time ago,” Kislak said. Private grants, rather than tax dollars, will pay for the program, she added. “The (Rhode Island) Department of Health has until March to finalize the rules and (regulations) around” where and when sites will open, Miller said. Once these details have been finalized, providers will be able to apply to become an approved safe-injection site and a part of the two-year pilot program. The state legislature has passed several other bills to combat the state’s opioid crisis, Miller said, such as “decriminalization of (the drug) suboxone, better access to care and better coverage.” Miller expressed confidence that “more will be coming in the next legislative session.” McDonald added that the state has done work in drug education, improving access to treatment and recovery coaches, but more work is still needed. The safe-injection sites are a step in the right direction, providing people a treatment option while allowing them to safely use drugs, he said. “That’s what a harm reduction center is about: to make sure that people have an opportunity to get treatment,” he said. “Since (the bill) passed,” Miller said, “we’ve gotten inquiries from several states including New York and California, who are interested in monitoring how our state’s roll out happens.”
CA L E N DA R
OLIVIA GEORGE / HERALD
Masking is now optional for fully vaccinated lecturers and panelists when speaking indoors at events sponsored by academic and administrative departments or by student organizations.
Indoor masking optional for athletic recreation including Nelson Fitness Center BY CLAIRE LIU SCIENCE AND RESEARCH EDITOR The University has further lifted masking requirements for certain settings, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 announced in a community-wide email Oct. 28. Masking is now optional for fully vaccinated lecturers and panelists when speaking indoors at events sponsored by academic and administrative departments or by student organizations. This rule expands the current guidance that allows lecturers to take off their masks when teaching inside classrooms. Audience members at indoor events must keep their masks on. Additionally, masking is optional for fully vaccinated performers — including students — during performances and rehearsals for both group and solo events. Like in lecture events, masking is still required for audience members. Indoor athletic and recreation activities are now mask-optional as
well. This includes inside the Nelson Fitness Center, during club and intramural athletic competition and during varsity athletic practice and competition. In the email, Carey cited the “sustained low positivity rates on campus, as well as high vaccination levels” in the timing of the modification to masking requirements. The email included a reminder to continue to wear a mask and “cooperate with staff” who work in the libraries, Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center, dining services and other settings. The update to masking requirements comes after the lifting of testing requirements for all vaccinated community members Monday — marking a week of significant reduction in COVID-19 measures. The modifications to testing and masking guidance for those fully vaccinated have not applied to unvaccinated community members, who must continue to test twice a week for routine asymptomatic testing, wear a mask for all indoor settings and maintain social distancing outdoors.
COVID -19 AT BROWN LAST 7 DAYS*
OCTOBER Completed Tests
People Tested
S
M
Tu
W
Th
F
S
6,015
5,585
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Confirmed Positives
Positivity Rates
6
0.1 %
10
11
12
13
14
15
16 SINCE AUGUST 24, 2020*
17 24 31
18 25
19 26
20 27
21 28
22 29
23 30
Completed Tests
People Tested
566,839
18,033
Total Cases
Prevalence
814
4.5 %
*AS OF OCT 28.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
5
METRO
Transform Rhode Island Scholarship offers $1 million to BIPOC Scholarship for R.I. BIPOC students to cover education-related expenses
BY KATE DARIO SENIOR STAFF WRITER The Papitto Opportunity Connection’s new annual Transform Rhode Island scholarship asks students of color in the state a singular question: “If you were given $1,000,000 to better the lives of Rhode Island’s BIPOC communities either through education, job skills training, business, housing or healthcare, how would you do so?” The inquiry is not just rhetorical — the foundation will invest $1 million into making the first place winner’s idea a reality. The scholarship is open to all Rhode Island students of color, grades nine through 12. Applicants can answer the question through either a written essay, a video essay or a comparable multimedia presentation. POC will be accepting applications from Nov. 1 through Jan. 31, 2022. Winners will be announced at a ceremony on March 15, 2022. The top three finalists will also receive one-time scholarships covering post-secondary education-related expenses such as tuition, housing and health care. The first place finisher will receive $25,000, second place will receive $15,000 and third place will receive $10,000.
POC Managing Trustee John Tarantino and Rhode Island Department of Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green announced the initiative at a WaterFire ceremony dedicated to people of color on Oct. 16. “The proposal here is to really tap into the creativity, the motivation and the interest of young people, BIPOC high school students in our state and to have them really play a significant role in helping us to improve and ultimately transform BIPOC communities,” Tarantino said in an interview with The Herald. He emphasized that the implementation of the winning student’s proposal made the opportunity unique and unlike any other comparable scholarship he was aware of, in the state or across the country. “Something that we’ve observed during the pandemic and over the past few years is that young people are engaged, and they have something to say, and they’re more vocal than ever before. And that’s important, because we want to hear from them,” Ting Barnard, POC advisor and leadership team member, said. According to Victor Morente, director of communications for RIDE, the scholarship will help increase higher education opportunities for students of color in the state. “We know that one of the major barriers to college enrollment for students of color is cost, not only in tuition but in books, lodging and food,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. “On top of that, students of color are disproportionately likely to be working
LOKI OLIN / HERALD
to contribute to their family’s income or to be spending time providing child or elder care for family members, making it even harder for those students to earn money for college through work,” he added. “The Transform Rhode Island scholarship will help to cover both tuition and peripheral costs for these students.” RIDE has worked with POC on earlier projects, such as the Woonsocket Education Center. They are not involved with running the scholarship, but are helping to raise awareness about it, Morente wrote. RIDE will do this through social media postings and its weekly field memo, once applications open. Barnard said that the scholarship demonstrates the organization’s commitment to learning from the commu-
nities it aims to serve. “Our motto is: ‘here to listen, here to help.’ And so this scholarship is a continuation of wanting to listen and wanting to hear, but from young people,” she said. “I really feel like in a small state like Rhode Island, you can really make a huge impact with a million dollars.” POC is a non-profit private foundation that works to empower individuals in BIPOC communities in Rhode Island. Tarantino said that POC developed the idea for the scholarship after listening to young people across various communities of color in the state. While the foundation has funded more “traditional scholarships” before, he described this opportunity as “truly different and unique.” According to him, its singularity stems from the implementation of the winning idea and the
flexibility of how the top three winners can use their rewards. “We decided, let’s not just make it about tuition, which again, is good, (because) there might be different needs,” he said. “It might be a housing need, it might be a medical need, it might be a family need … that money can be used for any of those appropriate needs.” Morente wrote that this opportunity will allow for young people to develop into leaders. “This scholarship is going to empower community-minded students who want to make a difference and allow them to develop the skills they need to do so at college.”
ARTS & CULTURE
‘Dune’ balances epic, intimate narrative on galactic backdrop Director Daniel Vileneuve’s newest project near-flawlessly adapts sci-fi classic BY FINN KIRKPATRICK CONTRIBUTING WRITER After a year of delays patiently and painfully waited through, director Denis Vileneuve’s “Dune” finally made its way to the American silver screen this past weekend. As it is referred to in the title sequence, “Dune: Part One” is based on the first half of Frank Herbert’s seminal science fiction novel, “Dune,” of 1965. The film follows Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), son of Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac), Duke of Caladan and leader of one of the galactic empire’s noble houses. The Atreides’ are granted control over Arakkis, a resource rich, barren desert planet previously controlled by the Harkonnens, a rival house of the Atreides who are unhappy about the handoff initiated by imperial hands. Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), is a member of the Bene Gesserit, a mysterious sisterhood that possesses physical and mental powers that would seem like magic to outsiders. Lady Jessica was meant to bear a daughter as part of the Bene Gesserit’s breeding program, but her love for Duke Leto resulted in her having a son believed to be the Kwisatz Haderach, a kind of messiah in the Bene Gesserit religion. If all this exposition sounds like a convoluted mess of meaningless gibberish conjured up at a late night Dungeons and Dragons campaign, that’s because, on paper, it kind of is. “Dune”
is so vast and deep that any simple attempt to relay its plot points fails to reach the core of its brilliance. The genius of Herbert’s writing, and now by extension, Vileneuve’s filmmaking, is that this seemingly convoluted plot is expressed as a harmonic balance of a high-stakes political thriller and an intimate story about a mother and son. “Dune” operates on two levels: the personal and the political. In its interest in families vying for power, “Dune”’s politics feel very much like a galactic “Game of Thrones.” There is an apparent power struggle between the Atreides’ and the Harkonnens, all while the empire and the Bene Gesserit pull the strings behind the scenes. The politics in the film are compelling, though maybe a bit shallow when compared to the source material. Stellan Skarsgård steals every scene as Baron Harkonnen, the head of the rival Harkonnen family. His convincing performance as a villain is made more believable by the excellent work from the hair and makeup team, creating an unsettling screen presence that you can’t help but be totally enthralled by. The downside, however, is that he is only in three or four scenes. This rings true to essentially the entire cast. Zendaya’s Chani, Javier Bardem’s Stillgar, Dave Bautista’s Rabban Harkonnen, are all fascinating characters but are essentially rendered glamorized extras in this film. For a film on such an epic scale, the scope of this story is incredibly focused, spending most of its time on Paul and Lady Jessica, along with substantial features from Duke Leto, Duncan Idaho (Jason Momoa) and Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin). But despite the initial disappoint-
PHOTOGRAPHER’S NAME / HERALD
Caption Caption ment that “Dune” is not the massive ensemble piece trailers made it out to be, the narrative’s intimate scale against the backdrop of galactic conflict is what makes the film so stellar. Momoa is the human heart of this story, and his performance offers an empathy that is incredibly refreshing against the mostly stoic performances from the other actors. Brolin and Isaac deliver performances so grounded in reality that you’ll have to remind yourself they’re actually on a planet called Arrakis trying to avoid massive sandworms to harvest natural resources and secure their wealth. But ultimately, this film is Chalamet and Ferguson’s film, and they deliver on a monumental level. On the power of their performances, their lone trekkings
across the barren desert fighting for survival command the IMAX screen. Even when the film cuts back and forth between big battles and intimate relations, “Dune” maintains a consistent tone: the magnanimity of the battles is equally matched by the magnanimity of the struggle for survival. Though “Dune” was given a sameday release on HBO Max, it would be an utter disservice to this film not to witness it on the biggest screen possible, as cliché as it may sound. Denis Vileneuve harnesses the scale of the IMAX screen so flawlessly that it is impossible not to have an immovable grin during the entirety of the 155 minute run time. Vileneuve’s masterful vision is perfectly complemented by the sleek and breathtaking cinematography of Greig Fraser
and a score by Hans Zimmer that will resonate with viewers for weeks on end. Take out all of the brilliant acting and compelling story and you have one of the greatest audio-visual experiences that could possibly be put on film. Now add all of that back in and you are presented with what is very easily one of the greatest science fiction films ever made. Now try to contain your excitement that this is only half of a movie, and the greatest parts of Herbert’s novel are still left to be adapted. As viewers leave the theater, they will have to cling on to Chani’s very apropos words that “This is only the beginning.”
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
6
VIETNAMESE FROM PAGE 1 the process, and it wasn’t until spring 2021 that Sokolosky was able to hire someone for the job. “Students who come to my class really want to come to my class,” Tran said. They are “really motivated.” Nearly all students enrolled in both sections are Vietnamese heritage speakers, who either speak Vietnamese at home or have Vietnamese-speaking parents and/or grandparents. Brown students do not take the course to fulfill a language requirement and have overwhelmed Tran “with how committed … (and) hard-working they are,” Tran said. Although she was worried about overburdening her students by posting too many videos on Vietnamese culture and pronunciation, she said, “they watch all of them.” Kaitlan Bui ’22, a student in the intermediate section, said that she shopped the class without planning to take it but ended up staying because “it was just a community that (she hasn’t) come across before (at) Brown.” Offering Vietnamese “reflects a kind of acknowledgment (of) Southeast Asian history and (its) place in academia,” Bui said. “There has always been a component of shame that is historically rooted in war, in trauma and all these other things,” Bui said. Growing up in the United States, “I really grappled with my identity as Vietnamese-American.”
Even though she loves learning languages, she kept delaying learning Vietnamese, considering it to be accessible at home. But Bui realized “that if I don’t learn (Vietnamese) now, when will I do it?” For her, wanting to take the language course was “a metaphor for wanting to be proud of (her) heritage,” she said. “It was kind of crazy to hear my Vietnamese name, spoken aloud in the classroom and in the dialect that was spoken at home,” Bui said. “I think it just felt very warm to me.” But teaching the course comes with challenges. Tran taught English in Vietnam before receiving a Fulbright Scholarship to come to the United States and eventually becoming a lecturer for Vietnamese in the country. She said she finds a “huge” difference between instructing English in Vietnamese and Vietnamese in English: “There are so many resources and materials for teaching English, but it’s so hard to find the right textbook for Vietnamese.” In addition to teaching the beginners fundamental grammar and vocabulary and the intermediate students more reading and writing, Tran wants to “help them communicate well in real-life situations.” Tran planned to invite guest speakers to both course levels so that students could “communicate with other native speakers” besides her. She intends to invite someone with Vietnamese teaching experience who would be
“sympathetic and patient” when working with beginner-level students. For the intermediate section, Tran tries to match speakers with topics covered in class. On their Vietnamese services and tourism topic, for instance, Tran sought out a professional tour guide in Vietnam who has organized domestic and international tours. “I want to prepare them for traveling to Vietnam because some of them might go for internships or the Fulbright scholarship,” Tran said. Sokolosky said that while “less commonly taught languages” such as Vietnamese may initially see few students, “they are very important.” Also typical among less commonly taught languages is the sharing of courses between universities, Sokolosky said. For example, the CLS has done course sharing on the African language Yoruba with Cornell, even before people became familiar with Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic, she added. “The idea was, if we are trying to expand the language offerings around campus, we are going to have to start with … these programs where we share across universities,” Sokolosky said. Princeton’s Center for Language Study reached out to Sokolosky about the possibility of sharing the Vietnamese courses. “We are happy to be doing (the course) with Princeton,” she said, adding that the available technology has facilitated this partnership.
SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Editorial Leadership Editor-in-Chief Kayla Guo Managing Editors Henry Dawson Li Goldstein Senior Editors Kate Ok Kamran King Emily Teng Emilija Sagaityte Editorial Page Editor Johnny Ren
Metro Editors Ben Glickman Ben Pollard Julia Grossman Katie Chen Liza Mullett Victoria Yin News Editors Caroline Nash Caelyn Pender Gaya Gupta Jack Borris Livia Gimenes Jack Walker Science & Research Editors Rahma Ibrahim Claire Liiu
post-magazine Editor-in-Chief Olivia Howe Sections Arts & Culture Editors Irene Chou Nicholas Michael
Sports Editor Ryan Handel Commentary Opinions Editors
Augustus Bayard Jaehyun Hong Matt Walsh Clara Gutman-Argemí Johnny Ren Multimedia/Production Design Editors Anya Semizhova Keelin Lyons Lena He Raphael Li Head Photo Editors Areez Khan Nicole Kim Copy Desk Chief Catherine Healy Assistant Copy Desk Chief Lily Lustig Illustrations Head Loki Olin
Graphics Editor Usha Bhalla Podcast Ben Glickman Corey Gelb-Bicknell Olivia Burdette Business General Managers Michael Wang Noah Colón Office Manager Chelsey Barton-Keenes Directors Sales: Annika Sigfstead Finance: Andrew Willwerth Digital Director of Technology Jed Fox
@the_herald
facebook.com/browndailyherald
@browndailyherald
youtube.com/browndailyherald
88 Benevolent St., Providence, RI (401) 351-3372 www.browndailyherald.com Editorial: herald@browndailyherald.com Advertising: advertising@browndailyherald.com
“I get to speak Vietnamese every day, and that never happened before,” said Ngan Chiem, a student in the class of 2023 at Princeton, who is in the intermediate section. Chiem had wanted to take Vietnamese “since the first day of Princeton,” but, after talking to the director of study and her academic advisor, she realized that she would have to “outsource it.” This summer, she heard from Princeton about the opportunity to take the course shared with Brown. While at Princeton, Chiem is able to better connect with Brown students through in-class exercises. She also works on group projects with Brown students, during which they sometimes talk in both English and Vietnamese. “You can never do that with anyone else. It’s like a special connection,” Chiem said. But Bui said that Vietnamese language courses at Brown appear understaffed compared to other language courses she has enrolled in. For example, a University Chinese course she took had three professors, but there is only one professor for the two sections of Vietnamese, and students’ varying level of fluency in Vietnamese cannot be sufficiently accounted for given that there are only two levels. “There’s almost a strange sense of ‘we want to protect this branch of Vietnamese language learning at Brown’” as a student, she said. “The burden shouldn’t be on the students to prove
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021 that something matters, that diversity and inclusion matter.” Beverly Bossler, chair of the East Asian Studies Department, wrote in an email to The Herald that the fluency variation among students Bui described “is common in many language classes, especially in a new program and especially beyond the beginning level” because “students often come in with varying degrees of experience.” But the department does “expect that students who are at a beginning level this year and continue next year will be at a more uniform level.” “Adding additional classes would require additional funding, and that is a decision made in the Dean’s office and not under my department’s control,” Bossler wrote. The plan is to continue offering Vietnamese in the future and make sure students have “continuity of instruction,” Sokolosky said. She feels “comfortable with the offering” at Brown and thinks the University does not “necessarily need to be focusing on offering more languages” but should try to “make languages at Brown a more important part of the equation.” Sokolosky added that students can always reach out to the CLS if they wish to study a language not offered at Brown.
Submissions: The Brown Daily Herald publishes submissions in the form of op-eds and letters to the editor. Op-eds are typically between 750 and 1000 words, though we will consider submissions between 500 and 1200 words. Letters to the editor should be around 250 words. While letters to the editor respond to an article or column that has appeared in The Herald, op-eds usually prompt new discussions on campus or frame new arguments about current discourse. All submissions to The Herald cannot have been previously published elsewhere (in print or online — including personal blogs and social media), and they must be exclusive to The Herald. Submissions must include no more than two individual authors. If there are more than two original authors, The Herald can acknowledge the authors in a statement at the end of the letter or op-ed, but the byline can only include up to two names. The Herald will not publish submissions authored by groups. The Herald does not publish anonymous submissions. If you feel your circumstances prevent you from submitting an op-ed or letter with your name, please email herald@browndailyherald.com to explain your situation. You can submit op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com and letters to letters@browndailyherald. com. When you email your submission, please include (1) your full name, (2) an evening or mobile phone number in case your submission is chosen for publication and (3) any affiliation with Brown University or any institution or organization relevant to the content of your submission. Please send in submissions at least 24 hours in advance of your desired publication date. The Herald only publishes submissions while it is in print. The Herald reserves the right to edit all submissions. If your piece is considered for publication, an editor will contact you to discuss potential changes to your submission. Commentary: The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only. Corrections: The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Postmaster: Please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906. Advertising: The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.
The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. is a financially independent, nonprofit media organization bringing you The Brown Daily Herald and Post- Magazine. The Brown Daily Herald has served the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. Subscription prices: $200 one year daily, $100 one semester daily. Copyright 2021 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
7
Liu ’25: Music industry lacks space for intersectional feminism MELISSA LIU STAFF COLUMNIST
Taylor Swift is a cultural phenomenon. It’s almost unfathomable in our ever-changing cultural landscape that a teenage girl who rose to stardom in the early 2000s would still be relevant as ever 15 years later. My adolescence was defined by her music, and my adulthood continues to be shaped by the sorrowful daydreaming glory of Swift’s current sound. Swift’s career has come to be defined by resilience in the face of a misogynistic music industry wired to tear women down. Songs such as “Mean,” “Blank Space” and “Bad Blood” are angry and angsty in the way young women often are, and listening to Swift take ownership of being sort of bitchy felt incredibly validating to adolescent me. “Someday, I’ll be living in a big old city, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean,” she’d sing, and as a middle schooler with big bullies but bigger dreams, words like these resonated like no other. Just like Swift, I was a teenage girl, hormones raging and aching for stability, with no idea how to carry myself in the male-dominated world I lived in. Swift’s lyrics and sound have matured with her, but these familiar anti-patriarchal, angry-woman themes have continued well into her later albums. But, in the midst of Swift’s cultural domination, one thing is brushed over far too often: Taylor Swift is a white woman. A painfully white woman, almost, the kind that you might expect to tell you, “I see you, I hear you, I understand,” when you recount to her a racist encounter you had. The kind that has the luxury to stay out of politics until the latter half
of her career. The kind that embodies the American beauty standard. Her experiences of dealing with misogyny are valid but in no way are they universal. While Swift’s music validated my adolescent emotions, I also envied her. She was the type of girl I wished I could be — pretty, skinny, attractive to boys and white. Swift, and other conventionally attractive white women, dominated and
“Innocence,” a song interpreted to be directed toward Kanye, with an image of the VMAs interruption playing in the background. In doing so, Swift situated herself as a victim bulldozed over by a man with more power. Yet, in another view, Kanye was doing more than just acting like an asshole. Through this framework, he was — bluntly perhaps — protesting an instance of racism in the music industry, and questioning why
“White artists have a responsibility to be cognizant of the space they take up in feminist activism. But, more importantly, the industry needs to make room for women of color.”
continue to dominate all aspects of media. For young girls of color, this is incredibly harmful. It tells us that we aren’t beautiful or valuable or wanted. Our view of what a woman should be becomes distorted, because mainstream media lacks the intersectional feminism that includes us. We are left in a weird middle ground of feminist activism — feeling empowered, but not truly included. Take, for instance, the infamous Kanye v. Taylor feud, which started when Kanye West interrupted Swift’s speech at the Video Music Awards by insisting Beyoncé should have won. Shortly after, at a later performance, Swift sang
white women were so easily handed accolades when Black women were denied such recognition time and time again. Ignoring all of this, and positioning Taylor as no more than a helpless victim feeds into the problematic WhiteWoman-Abused-By-Black-Man trope, in which Black men are hyper-masculinized and turned into strong and threatening caricatures. This is not to say that Swift doesn’t deserve to be angry at Kanye. But it does demonstrate how Swift holds a level of privilege women of color are never afforded. She can look at a situation like this one and ignore the role race plays, because she has never needed to be con-
scious of the way her race might affect the way she’s treated. From the #GirlBoss movement to Lana Del Rey’s Instagram post claiming “there has to be a place in feminism for women who look and act like me,” wealthy white women in pop culture have dominated feminist spaces for far too long. In doing so, they run the risk of implicitly furthering harmful racial stereotypes, all the while pushing whiteness as the default. White artists have a responsibility to be cognizant of the space they take up in feminist activism. But, more importantly, the industry needs to make room for women of color. Swift is simply a symptom of a much broader industry-wide problem that privileges white women for exclusionary feminist activism, even as women of color like Cardi B, Dua Lipa and Doja Cat create success for themselves within this industry. Artists with large platforms like Swift should leverage their influence to uplift nonwhite women; music awards shows should end practices of indirect racism such as the use of the “urban” category; big name industry elites such as producers and record label owners should make a conscious effort to work with women of color. I’m grateful for the role Taylor Swift has played in my life. She’s been there with me through the heartbreaks, the highs and the lows, the growing pains. But women of color deserve to be empowered and validated by artists who look like us. White feminism cannot continue to be the norm — not in politics, not in film and not even in the music we blast when no one’s around. Melissa Liu ’25 can be reached at melissa_y_ liu@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
8
Han ’23: ‘Succession’s’ subversion of TV tropes makes it great BLISS HAN STAFF COLUMNIST
“Succession,” HBO’s critical darling of a TV show that returned with a third season two weeks ago, is about members of the fictitious Roy family struggling for control over their media company. A year ago, I wrote a column about the second season of “Succession,” describing it as a “hugely enjoyable hate watch” due to its impeccable, profanity-laden writing. But though the writing has stayed top-notch in the third season, I would no longer consider the show to be a simple hate watch — it’s better. “Succession” is really about just two things: power and close relationships, which become sources of manipulation and trauma due to the cast’s insatiable hunger for power. Viewers of the show have long remarked that every character is a terrible person. There are no healthy relationships in “Succession” either, as every character is bent on manipulating each other to gain power for themselves. It is through the characters’ hateability that the show pulls off a masterstroke: It humanizes its obscenely rich, white and thoroughly hateful characters without necessarily inducing audience sympathy for them. “Mass in Time of War,” the second episode of the third season of “Succession,” is a uniquely good example of the show’s broken relationships, subverting our understanding of how TV shows normally work. Most scenes in “Succession” feature nothing more than groups of characters talking in rooms, but this episode utilizes that setup more than most. One of the four Roy siblings, Kendall, is planning to take over the family company by usurping his father, the all-powerful patriarch and CEO, Logan Roy. In
the central scene, Kendall attempts to convince his three siblings — two of whom are also gunning to succeed their father yet remain firmly under his control — to join him in his revolt. In most TV shows, it is not uncommon for characters to come together by realizing their shared struggles and attempt to overthrow an oppressive power structure. If “Succession” was
Second, there is a box of doughnuts. Logan, who is not supposed to be aware that the four siblings are meeting, sends them an innocent box of doughnuts with a seemingly benign note wishing them a nice tea party (evoking the Boston Tea Party in 1773). The siblings are divided over whether or not the doughtnuts are poisoned, and whether they should eat them. The
“It is through the characters’ hateability that the show pulls off a masterstroke: It humanizes its obscenely rich, white and thoroughly hateful characters without necessarily inducing audience sympathy for them.”
a typical show, this is exactly what would have happened: The four siblings would realize how growing up under their tyrannical father traumatized them and band together to take him down. And there are moments within the episode where it seems like that sort of an alliance might be possible. But then, two things happen. First, Kendall asserts that he would want to be CEO in any takeover scenario, which is a no-go for his two siblings who also want the top spot. This, too, reflects how Logan has traumatized his children: He has instilled the notion in them that becoming CEO of the family company is the only valuable pursuit in life, branding his kids with blind ambition.
doughnuts are Logan’s power play, a way of telling his children that he is watching at all times. All it took to destroy a budding sibling alliance was a box of sweet treats, again flying in the face of standard television plotlines, where solidarity among characters typically can survive minor obstacles — particularly those as minor as a box of doughnuts. The episode ends with Kendall’s three siblings running back to Daddy, at least for the time being. For the four Roy siblings, growing up in a world where being power-hungry was the only way to earn their father’s attention and love irrevocably damaged them. They know of no relationship that cannot be exploited and ma-
nipulated for power, manifesting in a complete inability to find common ground. But it does not make them any less human, or any less desiring of love. In a scene in the middle of the second episode, one of the siblings, Shiv, and her husband Tom have a quick discussion, in which Shiv tells Tom she loves him. When Tom is slow to respond, Shiv asks, “And … do you love me too?” To which he responds, “Why do you want to know?” then declares, “You can’t just take my love and bank it and then take it to the love market and see if you want to invest in me.” These two characters are married and ostensibly care for each other. It is easy to see that they want to love and be loved. But as their discussion makes clear, real, non-transactional love is not possible in the Roy family. The attempt to humanize the characters in “Succession,” however, does not distract from their genuine horribleness. The four siblings are obviously deeply traumatized, but they are unable to handle it in a healthy way. Even if “Succession” shows how much they desire human connection, they do not earn audience sympathy. Indeed, the media conglomerate they all seek to take over is responsible for the spread of rampant misinformation, yet none have any moral qualms about it. The show is obsessed with portraying things the way they are, not how they should be, and the way it exposes both the humanity and brokenness of its wealthy and powerful characters reflects that. Its ability to depict how money and power erode close relationships is what makes the show the best thing on television. Bliss Han ’23 can be reached at bliss_han@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald. com.