Friday, March 8, 2019

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2019

VOLUME CLIII, ISSUE 29

R.I. House votes to protect abortion rights

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Alums named to ‘Top 50 Women in Tech’ Howard ’93, Lou Jepsen ’96, boyd ’00 challenge structural barriers, improve tech innovation

By JANET CHANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER

JACKSON TRUESDALE / HERALD

Four hours of debate preceded the Rhode Island House of Representative’s vote on legislation to keep abortion legal in Rhode Island. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Anastasia Williams, D-Providence, passed without amendments.

The House considered, passed a similar bill in 1993 under President Bill Clinton

By JACKSON TRUESDALE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Rhode Island House of Representatives passed legislation to keep abortion legal in the state Thursday night.

State representatives voted 44-30 to pass the Reproductive Privacy Act, which would guarantee the right to an abortion up to fetal viability — a measure advocates say is necessary in the case that the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

The bill would also permit women to obtain an abortion past fetal viability if her life or health were at risk, The Herald previously reported.

Forty-three Democrats and one Republican voted yes on the bill, while 22 Democrats and eight Republicans voted no.

The vote followed over four hours of heated debate, in which opposing representatives introduced five amendments that failed. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Anastasia Williams, D-Providence, passed without amendments.

The first amendment, introduced by Rep. Arthur Corvese, D-North Providence, would have required a 24-hour waiting period for anyone trying to get

an abortion. Rep. Mike Chippendale, D-Coventry, Foster and Glocester, likened the waiting period to a seven day wait period for purchasing firearms.

But Williams responded, “I am not to be compared to a firearm.” The amendment failed 29-43. Other amendments included criminalizing fetal homicide and removing language pertaining to municipal insurance coverage, among other changes.

During the debate, representatives such as Rep. James McLaughlin, DCumberland and Central Falls, Rep. Jose Serodio, D-East Providence and Corvese, voiced opposition to the legislation.

Before the vote, McLaughlin » See ABORTION, page 9

Forbes Magazine’s latest list of “Top 50 Women in Tech” featured three University alums — all of whom challenged structural barriers and drove technological innovation to new heights.

A roboticist, entrepreneur and educator focused on human-robot interactions, machine learning and artificial intelligence, Ayanna Howard ’93 is now Chair of the School of Interactive Computing and Director of the Human-Automation Systems Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

She is also a co-founder of Zyrobotics, a Georgia Tech VentureLab company.

While a Senior Robotics Researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, she developed the “SnoMote” robot for conducting research in challenging environments such as Arctic glaciers.

Now, she is working toward educational solutions using “theatric robotics” to engage children with diverse learning styles and mobility limitations.

When she came to the University to study engineering, Howard saw the Open Curriculum and S/NC grading option as an opportunity to explore disciplines she would not have tried otherwise, such as African dance and poetry. “It allowed me to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I would have never had done that if I had to worry about my grades,” she said.

This comfort allowed her to later take risks in her career, she added. “I don’t have fears coming into an environment where I don’t know as much as I want to. But I’m fully confident that I’m going to learn … because I’ve been trained that way.”

Although Howard said she never had female mentors at the University and occasionally felt out of place in her undergraduate program, these challenges did not prevent her from succeeding in a male-dominated industry, like tech. “This is the world and you’re used to it,” she said. Despite her acceptance of the tech industry’s realities, Howard still hopes to improve the cultural gender biases in her field. “It’s subtle and it’s hard to realize it’s there,” she said of the male-dominated space.

“It’s like dying by a million paper cuts.”

Howard is also working to address » See TOP 50, page 9

Groups advocate for Study highlights lack of women authorship women’s economic justice Huerta-Sanchez, Rohlfs Bills address discrimination against women in workforce, sexual harassment

By CLARA GUTMAN ARGEMÍ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A coalition of advocacy groups gathered Wednesday at the Women’s Economic Justice Day conference to present their platform, which supports multiple bills that would help working women in Rhode Island. Guest speakers at the conference included women workers, advocates and the legislators sponsoring these bills.

The bills supported by the advocacy groups seek to address discrimination against women in the workforce by targeting issues of sexual harassment and wage disparity, Kelly Nevins, the event’s host and executive director of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island told The Herald. The groups aim to establish fair pay, increase the minimum wage, protect women from sexual harassment

INSIDE

in the workplace and address childcare issues and education.

The bills would have a positive impact on working women in Rhode Island, Nevins said, which is “good for our economy and community as a whole.”

Alondra Estevez, a student at the University of Rhode Island, attended the event to show support for all of the proposals. If they were passed, it would create “a ripple effect” that would be most strongly felt by women of color and single mothers, she said. According to Kathy McCormick, a survivor of domestic violence and member of the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the bills are necessary because women need to have enough income to feel “empowered to become independent.”

The goal of Wednesday’s event was “to share the stories of real people who would be impacted by these bills if they were passed,” Nevins said. Although similar events have been hosted in the past, this is the first Women’s Economic Justice Day event hosted by the coalition, which includes the Rhode Island » See ADVOCACY, page 2

investigate women denied authorship in population genetics journal

By EMILIJA SAGAITYTE SENIOR STAFF WRITER

After watching the 2016 film “Hidden Figures,” which detailed the lives and work of three black women at NASA in the 1960s, many viewers were left inspired as the film shed greater light on the concealed contributions of women in STEM. But for Assistant Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Emilia Huerta-Sanchez and Rori Rohlfs, assistant professor of biology at San Francisco State University, the film sparked a research project.

Huerta-Sanchez and Rohlfs didn’t have prior knowledge of the women featured in the film, despite working in the same fields as them. This pushed them to consider how many other women they didn’t know of who had made significant contributions » See AUTHORSHIP, page 2

IMAN HUSAIN / HERALD

WEATHER

FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2019

COMMENTARY Schmidt ‘21: U. curriculum should mandate non-STEM course in first two semesters

COMMENTARY Bosis ’19: Personal inquiry into astrology reveals similarities with Christian theology

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Visual perception lab challenges common theory on visual streams Domini’s lab seeks to find evidence contrary to dual visual streams hypothesis, relate action, perception

Participants donning thick-lensed stereo glasses grab virtual shapes in front of them, gesturing as if the boxes were real.

The subjects place their heads in chin rests to keep their heads from moving, and soon, green and red boxes flash on the screen. Meanwhile, a motorized arm works with the computer program, moving a real, physical block to the same location that the virtual reality shows on the screen. When subjects reach out a hand to grab the virtual object, they feel and grab the real object instead.

This scene is common in the visual perception lab run by Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences Fulvio Domini, who researches how the human visual system processes information.

“We try to find a mathematical model to explain how 3D visual information is processed by the brain,” Domini said.

“Then I test this model with experiments I do with human subjects.”

Domini has devoted two decades to his research, and now he has help from three graduate students, as well as two undergraduates, who work with him in his lab. The lab tries to disprove a common cognitive neuroscience theory called the dual visual streams hypothesis, which suggests human beings have

separate visual streams for perception and action.

“We find that errors in perception transfer to error in action in a very clear way,” Domini said.

Bethany Hung ’19, who worked in the lab during her first year at the University, helped perform and build experiments to disprove the dual visual stream hypothesis.

“They posit that the visual streams for your eyes and for your hands are separate,” Hung said about the hypothesis, which was first proposed by David Milner and Melvyn Goodale in 1992. The theory, which is still taught in most introductory cognitive neuroscience classes, proposes that the stream for perception is more susceptible to illusions and the one for action is more in line with the real world.

“Every textbook has got this stuff,” Domini said of the dual visual streams hypothesis. “When theories are simple and taken almost for granted, it’s difficult to go against those.”

Domini, who grew up in Italy, has worked on numerous papers that challenge the hypothesis, helping to rewrite scientists’ understanding of how the brain processes visual inputs. He said that while the dual streams hypothesis is still the most mainstream theory of visual perception and action, more labs are starting to do research on how the visual system may process the same information for both perception and action. One paper in particular, which Domini, Hung, Carlo Campagnoli ScM ’13 PhD ’17 and Evan Cesanek ScM ’15 PhD ’19 co-authored, shows that action

» ADVOCACY, from page 1

» AUTHORSHIP, from page 1

Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, the RI Working Families Party, the Economic Progress Institute, Our Revolution RI and General Teamsters Local 251.

The platform supported four bills that were heard Wednesday in the House Committee on Labor, including a proposal to increase the minimum wage for tipped workers. Sponsor Rep. Moira Walsh, D-Providence, argued that the bill would be beneficial for poor women in particular, because “12.8 percent of tipped workers live in poverty ,” and “69 percent of tipped workers are women.”

Female tipped workers disproportionately bring forth sexual harassment complaints, Senator Gayle Goldin D-3, a sponsor of a similar bill in the Senate, told The Herald. Maggie Keen, who works as a waitress, testified at both the House hearing and the Women’s Economic Justice Day event. Less reliance on tips would increase women’s sense of financial stability, which could prevent sexual harassment at work, she said. “I’ve heard coworkers say, ‘This guy’s being a sleaze, but I’ve got to be nice to him or he won’t leave a tip,’” Keen said. “I need to emphasize the stress of not knowing how much money you’re going to make (each) month.”

Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell D-Providence, who also spoke at the Women’s Economic Justice Day event, sponsored a bill that would raise the minimum wage for Providence city workers to $15 an hour by 2023. Ranglin-Vassel testified at the hearing that raising the minimum wage was “a matter of justice.”

The committee recommended that both bills be held for further study.

to those fields, Huerta-Sanchez said.

Huerta-Sanchez and Rohlfs worked to find female scientists in history who were denied authorship on research publications but deserved and would have earned that level of recognition by today’s standards.

Before seeing the film, a paper caught Huerta-Sanchez’s eye because it barely acknowledged high school graduate Jennifer Smith for her graduate-level computation and programming work — tasks similar to the ones that earned Huerta-Sanchez authorship in publications. She had dismissed the example as just another historic case of unfair and unequal treatment of women. But the difference in attribution was significant because authorship in research is equivalent to “academic currency,” Huerta-Sanchez said.

Given their work in population genetics, Huerta-Sanchez and Rohlfs decided to peruse two-decades-worth of pages in the Theoretical Population Biology journal to find uncredited female scientists. The team picked the Theoretical Population Biology journal since it included studies that involved both theoretical and computational work, Huerta-Sanchez said.

They looked at editions of the journal dating from its inception in 1970 to 1990, she added. “You just keep seeing things, and no one does anything

By PEDER SCHAEFER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

NICOLE KIM / HERALD

Fulvio Domini’s visual perception lab uses experiments that involve viewing virtual objects on a screen and grabbing real ones to test the brain’s processing of information. and perception are affected by the same physics might help “to make predic- of freedom with what we do,” Kemp said. visual biases, even with physical objects. tions and disambiguate scenes when it’s Ailin Deng GS is a third-year PhD “We claim that you don’t have these not clear what’s going on,” he said. “In student who studies how sensory feedtwo (visual streams),” Domini said. the experiments, I show people physi- back from the environment around us, “We only have one representation, and cally impossible events and I test to see such as visual changes and tactile touch, if there are distortions (in how the brain if the visual system tries to correct to influences responses to perception and perceives an object), your grasp is af- the Newtonian correct event,” Deeb action. fected.” said, describing a physically impossible As for practical applications of the While trying to dispute the dual game of pool, where balls shoot off in research, Domini said that eventually streams hypothesis is one of the primary the wrong direction. “Even if we don’t the science could be used in robotics research functions for the lab, research- know any physics at all, our visual system and virtual reality applications, but sciers in the lab are also exploring other might know it.” ence for science’s sake is the primary experiments and hypotheses.

Jovan Kemp GS, also a second-year motivation for now.

Abdul Deeb GS is a second-year PhD PhD student, studies cue combinations, “The basic research in our field is student whose research focuses on the or how the visual system creates models still very much needed,” Domini said. role that Newtonian physics may play of a 3D world from various 2D cues, such “We are far from understanding how in the visual system in addition to how as texture and perspective. “We have a lot the visual system, and the mind, works.” about it,” she said. Samantha Dung, who worked on the project and is a recent graduate of San Francisco State University, said she was intrigued by the project and the opportunity to highlight the work of women in these fields.

The researchers then tried to obtain information about the authors and anyone given acknowledgements in the published research papers. They sometimes struggled to determine whether the contributors were men or women, since some citations included only initials.

Discovering more women who were involved in research through this study was “sad and validating at the same time,” Huerta-Sanchez said.

“The field actually had more women than we thought,” she said, but it’s “depressing that … not knowing about them has created a false narrative that women don’t like STEM.” She was also “surprised that … there were a lot of women that were acknowledged, and there were some recurrent women as well” whose names could be found in other journals although none were given authorship. While she said that it is difficult to determine the extent to which these acknowledged women contributed, the work they performed often involved algorithms and complex thought, and repeated references suggested that they were skilled within their fields.

Dung was also surprised by the

large amount of data that showed how “a lot of females, especially during the 1970s, actually did a lot of the … programming” but still were not given authorship.

Discussions with some of these women supported the significance of their contributions, Huerta-Sanchez said. The team spoke with Margaret Wu, who Huerta-Sanchez said was difficult to find and get in contact with because she was identified as M. Wu in the papers. After reaching out to authors on her studies, they found Wu in Australia.

When the researchers interviewed her, Wu did not seem upset about the lack of credit she had received, Huerta-Sanchez said. But learning the context of Wu’s work “gave (Huerta-Sanchez) the confidence to feel that those were significant contributions,” that warranted authorship.

In her work, Wu executed tasks independently, though she was given instructions from her boss. Wu doesn’t necessarily represent all women in science of her time — she may have been more independent than others, Huerta-Sanchez added.

Huerta-Sanchez hopes that “we can begin to change the narrative that … there’s been a lack of women in science or that women don’t like science,” she said. Other goals include increasing awareness in young girls about women in STEM and challenging the historical disparity that

resulted from “authorship norms of the time (that) hid their contributions.” She also believes the results are applicable to other fields. The team intends to identify women in biology next and is seeking funding so they can unveil the roles of more unidentified women.

Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Indiana University Eva Pietri was not involved in the study but has focused on stopping gender bias and increasing diversity within STEM-related disciplines. She said that “gender bias doesn’t always have to be this conscious, deliberate action meant to hurt women; it sometimes happens in very subtle forms.” Accordingly, the study “did a really nice job raising awareness of an issue that women were not getting those authorships, that they were just getting acknowledged,” she added.

Pietri hopes that highlighting these female researchers who were not adequately cited in the past will further other women’s interest in the field today and prevent history from repeating itself. “There’s this stereotype generally of certain STEM fields being … the person working alone,” Pietri said. “This paper does a really nice job dispelling that stereotype” because it shows that, even though the authors may have been men, they often worked alongside groups of women, she added.

In This Issue

Danielle Emerson

Sydney lo

2

Ahéhee’

(Her)oes

4

Kahini Mehta 4

Shaped Bonnie4/4Billie Mckelvie

Is Girl Rock an Exclusive Club?

5

Cathy Campo 6

Gilmore Girls

Campo Girls vs.

postCover by Rachel Shin

MAR 8

VOL 23 —

ISSUE 18

FEATURE

(Her)oes

Reflection on the Comic Book Superheroines Who Shaped Me

By Sydney lo Illustrated by Sabrina Arezo

N

ext to an out-of-business Herberger’s and a local deli chain, my hometown comic book store sits with cardboard cutouts of superheroes and logos decorating its windows.

Above the door, a font reminiscent of the ’80s spells out “Granite City Comics and Games.” When I go back home, I drive past it every once in a while and see its green exterior out of the corner of my eye, a relic from my childhood. I wonder if they ever sold those limited-edition Justice League figurines in the glass displays, or if they put up a poster for Captain Marvel. I wonder what fills the stark white shelves these days.

The fictional universes of DC and Marvel have been a part of my life since before I even knew how to read. Growing up in the early 2000s, I spent afternoons watching reruns of Teen Titans, X-Men Evolution, Batman Beyond, and Justice League Unlimited. I had an array of toys (Supergirl, Batman, Green Lantern, etc.) from Happy Meals and birthday presents, and I spent my free time pretending that my brother and I were Johnny and Susan Storm (Human Torch and Invisible Woman).

At that age, superheroines were my role models.

Perhaps it was the storytelling, or maybe just the cool costumes and powers, but my mind locked onto their stories and personalities with super-strength.

I emulated Starfire’s kindness, Raven’s dry humor, Wonder Woman’s leadership, Hawkgirl’s fierceness.

I adopted their favorite colors and foods, attempted to learn their fighting skills, and, perhaps most productively, tried to be a leader and hero like them.

By the time I entered Granite City Comics and Games for the first time, I had admired the animated versions of these superheroines for years. I knew their mannerisms, appearances, and personalities as intimately as my own, which was slightly less impressive considering I had modeled my personality

after theirs. I followed my dad and brother around the store, poring over the elaborate, plastic-wrapped covers in search of the heroines’ familiar faces. But I didn’t find any, and it was only after I borrowed my brother’s comics that I realized my role models had been there—just not the way I had known them.

By the time I began reading comics, my favorite characters’ stories had been veritably chewed up and spit out a thousand times by dozens of different authors and artists. They had gone through timeline corrections, character developments, and costume changes. They had been aged up, then down, then replaced by different characters entirely. I entered a

world of stories that had begun far before I had even been born.

The history of U.S. comic book heroes begins around World War II, in the Golden Age of Comics when comic books, according to PBS, were “cheap, portable, and had inspirational, patriotic stories of good triumphing over evil.” In the Silver Age, new creators took over and re-energized iconic characters like Superman with novel interpretations and storylines, many of which, like the reinvention of Green Lantern as Hal Jordan, lasted much longer than the originals. Next came the Bronze Age, which spanned parts of the ’70s and ’80s. Darker tones,

Letter from the Editor Dear Readers, It is a truth universally acknowledged that Friday is the best day of the week. The weight of academia is lifted off our shoulders just enough that the world suddenly seems full of possibility.

The winter sky looks a bit bluer. The air feels crisp instead of cold. You have high hopes about all you’ll accomplish over the weekend.

This Friday also marks an especially significant occasion—International Women’s Day. To celebrate, this issue presents articles exclusively about women, for women. Just in time for the release of Captain Marvel, the feature explores female representation in superhero

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comics. In the Narrative section, women break free from the boxes societies put them in and gratefully reflect on the female influences in their lives. And after reading A&C, you may feel the need to listen to Girlpool or revisit Gilmore Girls.

But don’t stay up too late on Saturday night binge-watching because daylight savings is intent on making us feel even more sleep-deprived than usual. Maybe snuggle up with a copy of post- instead.

Happy reading!

Celina

Managing Editor of Narrative

Ways to Not Slip on Ice 1. Don’t go outside 2. Uber everywhere 3. Get a horse, ride the horse to class, and let the horse slip instead 4. Bring a blowtorch with you at all times; use as needed 5. Do balance training on the Wii Fit (alternatively: on the wobbly table at Andrews) 6. Slide on your stomach like a polar bear 7. Supplement the bottom of your shoes with some double-sided tape 8. Move to South India, where it never snows 9. Crawl to class. Can't fall any further if you're already at rock-bottom!

10. Wear Heelys—ice melts under FIRE.

realism, and the subversion of tropes characterized this era, along with major steps towards inclusivity with the creation of characters like Black Panther, She-Hulk, Shang-Chi, and Misty Knight. Finally, the Modern Age, which we are currently in, has so far been marked by universe reboots, which have attempted to remove half a century’s worth of baggage of DC and Marvel characters, and interplay with TV and movies, whose popularization has informed the importance and characterization of their book counterparts.

I won’t claim to have read the whole of Marvel or DC’s oeuvres, or even the whole of a single character’s comic books. Instead, I encountered comic book issues out of order based on what I could find and what my allowance could afford: the first few issues of Teen Titans Volume 3, Marvel’s Civil War, House of M, and Young Inhumans, to name a few.

In addition, my brother and I shared two massive DC and Marvel comic book encyclopedias that we would page through when bored. Through these, I was able to learn about the experiences my favorite superheroines had in their original mediums.

Initially, this was incredibly exciting; it was like finding out your favorite TV show had five extra seasons you’d never seen and had also been renewed indefinitely. I began with Raven, who in the cartoon had been the serious but kindhearted telekinetic and empath who struggled with her evil father (a literal demon) and her own abilities. She was surprisingly similar in the comics, although her story was much darker (i.e. more deaths, resurrections, and demonic possessions), and her costume was much more revealing—a trend I would notice as I continued through my rediscovery of superheroines.

Nevertheless, I was ecstatic to see my favorite character continuing to defeat evil forces while working to be her own person and make friends, a journey that resonated with me deeply as a young girl, albeit on a smaller scale.

I sought out Ororo Munroe (Storm) next, eager to see what had become of the X-Men member who possessed the ability to control the weather. In the comics, she was the daughter of a Kenyan princess, and had in fact been the leader of the X-Men on several occasions. In addition, she was married to T’Challa (Black Panther) and was Queen of Wakanda, a fictional African country. I was overjoyed to see that Storm was even more important and respected in recent comics, given positions of leadership that might have gone to male characters in previous ages.

Moreover, she continues to be wonderful example of representation as a confident and multifaceted African American woman.

Of course, I read about Diana of Themyscira (Wonder Woman) as well. Having existed longer than Storm, Raven, or, really, any other female character, she had an even more complex history. Initially created as a suffragist and secretary to the Justice Society of America, she eventually gained enough popularity to have her own comic book series.

However, by the 1960s pressure from the Comics Code Authority forced her to give up her superpowers to focus on romance with her Steve Trevor. The rise of a Wonder Woman TV show and the use of her image in women’s movement iconography brought her back to full superheroism in the 1970s, where

she has existed in some form since, most recently as an ambassador and government agent. Many of her later iterations also worked to expand her character, exploring her bisexuality, her conflicted identity, and her relationships with other Amazonians and superheroines. It was a relief to see that, despite a sometimes-problematic past and the pressures of being the go-to example of female superhero, Wonder Woman hasn't shied away from her radical feminism and power.

As wonderful as it was to see that the hearts of my favorite superheroines’ stories remained relatively intact in Modern Age comics—exhibiting all the autonomy and complexity I’d known them to have— they, as well as other female characters, haven’t always been portrayed this way.

The history of women in superhero comics has always been a battle between the core themes of superheroism, which champions the idea that anyone is capable of being a hero, and the limiting gender stereotypes of the patriarchy. In the Golden Age of Comics, women were relegated to secretaries and love interests of the male superheroes. As heroines, they tended to be partners or sidekicks, and often still strove to conform to typically femininecoded behaviors such as homemaking, modeling, and caretaking. Furthermore, although they were powerful crime-fighters in their own right, many superheroines’ identities were frequently tied directly to those of pre-existing male superheroes, such as Supergirl with Superman. Superheroines and female stories in general evolved frustratingly slowly from the trope of the submissive superheroine, constantly forced into passive roles and immured in damsel-in-distress, coerced marriage, and infantilization plotlines. Even worse, with darker, more realistic themes in comics also came more aggressive sexist tropes such as fridging, in which

spine-breaking poses with hyper-perfected faces and unrealistic, homogenous bodies. Even while fighting and resting, superheroines were drawn as if they were modeling—which makes sense, given accusations that modern comic book artists like Greg Land use pornography as references for drawing women. I know I found it disappointing to see Starfire, who in the Teen Titans cartoon had sported a feminine but ultimately wearable purple getup, commonly drawn wearing a bright purple one-piece that barely covered her torso, so clearly designed for the male gaze.

This trend has declined in recent years, particularly with revitalized efforts to showcase more diverse bodies in comics, such as Muslim-American Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and plus-sized Faith Herbert (though she is published by Valiant Comics, which is independent of Marvel and DC), following the the popularity of superhero movies and comic cons as well as an increase in female viewership.

However, for many women, the damage had already been done, even with inspiring superheroines and stories. I stopped reading comics some time in high school after increasingly feeling that they were not for me. Although I loved my superheroines, I grew exhausted of seeing them drawn in such an objectifying, homogenized manner. Moreover, I grew tired of searching for them, given that only 26.7 percent of DC and Marvel characters are female according to a 2017 study of 34,476 comic book characters, and men severely outnumber women in superhero teams (e.g. the Wasp being the only female in the original comic Avengers lineup). Even when they were included, their storylines and emotional developments, while progressive and resonant with me, were often sidelined in favor of other plotlines or male storylines. I no longer wanted to try to force my way into a medium that was not willing to include me and even criticized me for trying.

The history of women in superhero comics has always been a battle between the core themes of superheroism, which champions the idea that anyone is capable of being a hero, and the limiting gender stereotypes of the patriarchy. female characters were murdered or brutalized in viciously sensationalized ways in order to motivate the male characters and garner shock from the reader (e.g. the paralysis of Barbara Gordon in The Killing Joke). It wouldn’t be until the 1980s that a female character would have a leadership role (Wasp as chairwoman of the Avengers in 1982), or even superpowers that eclipsed those of a male superhero.

In the Modern Age, following a rise in criticism of female representation in comics, superheroines were eventually given more liberated storylines and allowed to pursue powerful careers and goals, live without traditional nuclear families, and essentially have their own lives. However, they also became hypersexualized in order to sell comics in an increasingly uninterested market, dressed in costumes that resembled swimsuits more than practical crime-fighting attire (a stark contrast to their armored male counterparts) and drawn in

Nevertheless, my role models have remained with me. I’ve learned to pick and choose the parts of the superheroines and their stories that I enjoy; I’ve learned to emulate their passion for justice and criticize the issues that live within and beyond their comic books. I’ve rediscovered my love of superheroines through movies and TV, which have made major strides in updating the characters for the Modern Age, even though they still have a long way to go (Captain Marvel is still only the second female-centered DC or Marvel comic book movie).

Moreover, I’ve become aware of the creators behind my favorite versions of superheroines, such as Amy Wolfram, one of the screenwriters of Teen Titans.

These women have paved the way for more inclusive and unique stories, both in and beyond the comic books' pages. These are real-life superheroines, who renew my hope that comic book stores could be a space for me once again.

“You have the music taste of a Forever 21 playlist.”

“Kiwis are, like, an invasive force.”

march 8, 2018&3

NARRATIVE

Ahéhee’

May You Walk in Beauty

by Danielle Emerson Illustrated by Halle Krieger The Navajo community is a strong matrilineal society. Following Diné tradition, my formal introduction presents both my maternal and paternal clan.

I am Tł’ááshchí’í (my mother’s clan).

I was born for Ta'neeszahnii (my father’s clan).

That’s who I am.

I carry my mother’s being with me—for we are one.

I walk in the footsteps of the women in my family, heading towards the sunset as they lead. We stand hand-in-hand, shoulder-to-shoulder. Facing hardships head on, we’re a force of artists, cooks, storytellers, and leaders. Believers, caretakers, and fighters. This is my thanks to them.

They have all taught me, through love and support, that: I am strong.

I am resilient.

I am powerful.

Mom. My Shima. To those early Sunday mornings when we shared smiles over warm coffee. To those summer nights we spent curled up in shimasani’s backroom whispering secrets. To the evenings we sat and sang together in the car on our way home from town. To the days I’d return from school crying over the taunts of bullies, tears streaming down my face, boogers clumping in my nose. You’d pull me aside, hands gripping my shoulders, and tell me I should be proud. That there’s nothing wrong with my skin color.

That there’s nothing wrong with the braids in my hair.

There’s nothing wrong with being Native.

“Be proud of where you come from.”

These memories, despite the hardships, taught me resilience. You instilled in me a sense of pride. You believed in me when it felt like no one else did. Ahéhee’ (thank you).

Grandma Betty.

My Shinali. Our fingers were covered in clay as you taught me how to mold animals and pots. I’d watch, from an alcove in your craft room, as you shaped miniature hogans and Native men and women in Navajo regalia. I’d listen to you sing and hum along to the morning radio as you prepared clay and paint.

“Raise your head higher. Take pride in what you create.”

I can taste the crisp morning air as you tended to our livestock while my brother and I rounded up the cows into the corral. Your love for animals and art has created an extensive collection of figurines— collectables I protect with my life to this day. You

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illuminated a sense of pride in my culture. Hand in hand, we attended Native American Art festivals, my side pressed up against yours. Your art guided my sense of belonging. Ahéhee’.

Grandma Decker.

My Shimasani. On cold winter nights, as the snow settled outside, you taught me string games.

I remember looking into your weary eyes as you whispered, “Hush, shiyazhi, listen.”

Your hands mirroring mine as we produced Diyogí (The Rug) and K’aalógii (The Butterfly). Your warm embrace after I spent the day outside rolling in the snow. How soft the tips of your fingers were as you placed ash along the edge of my nose and forehead to keep away nightmares. You rose before the sun each morning to tend to our farmland. You retreated to bed late each night to care for shicheii (my grandfather) and cousins. On fall evenings, we’d sit outside, munching on roasted corn, reveling in its sweet taste. On summer afternoons, we’d collect fresh watermelon from the fields with my band of cousins for devouring later. Each time, you shared stories of your past and of our culture.

This knowledge will live within me forever. You are a force of love and strength to be reckoned with. Ahéhee’.

Aunt Angie.

My Shima yazhi, which directly translates to “little mother.” You opened your house to my family. I learned how to make frybread under your expert instruction.

You’d take my hands in yours, demonstrating the perfect bread-making technique.

“Don’t pull at the dough! Coax it.”

My first few attempts were lopsided and bulky, but you’d laugh and eat them anyway. You’d feed our entire family, turning meals into buffets. Food became an art form, a unifying force—something we’d gather together around the table for. You communicated love and acceptance through an old recipe of steamed corn stew and frybread. Ahéhee’.

The women in my family have held the world on their shoulders and marched onwards. They’ve stood eye to eye with their oppressors and fought for their loved ones. These are the women I look up to— whose footsteps I will follow. Without their guidance, I wouldn’t have my chance at roping the moon and climbing among the constellations.

Among my people we have a saying that conveys both self-empowerment and spiritual balance: May you walk in beauty. This is a teaching I carry with me, a teaching I live by.

To all the womxn reading this—never forget: You are strong.

You are resilient.

You are powerful.

May you all continue to walk in beauty.

Shaped

From Contortionist to Woman

By Kahini Mehta Illustrated by Gaby Trevino From the day I set foot in my first school, I knew what I was.

I was not a woman. I was not a girl.

I was a contortionist: bending my limbs and entangling my arms until I could fit into whatever box felt the snuggest around my hips. The box was like one made of cardboard, so that I could be shuffled around or hidden away, like unwanted items in storage.

When I was thirteen years old, with a rotund stomach and a round face, no box felt big enough to contain me. Girls flitted around me, petite fey folk with tutus wrapped around their waists, laughing and tinkling as they watched my body protruding out of its cardboard prison. As for the boys, they paid no heed unless it was to tip the box over or pull at strands of my hair as they jeered. I watched helplessly as they scribbled across my cardboard home with permanent marker.

I was out of place. Or maybe just out of shape.

When my friend was thirteen, she was crowned Queen of the Fairies. But the boys wouldn’t let her be. They pulled at her frocks, yanked at her crown, mussed up her hair, and leered into her cardboard box until she’d had enough. The day she gave up her crown and joined me on the sidelines, her box was in tatters.

She had to find a new one. But the new box was far too spacious for her—loose around her shoulders, too spacious around her chest. The boys didn’t like it either.

When my friend and I rejoined the fairies years later, I befriended a boy for the first time. It was no longer taboo. “It feels so good not to be cooped up anymore,” I told him.

“What do you mean?” he asked, arms perpetually extended in flight.

He and I, we came from difference.

Over the years, I returned to my box less and less.

Women around me were retiring their boxes, too. I felt hope. I felt wings sprouting from my back, and I wanted to have the world at my feet.

When I was nineteen though, the world brought me back to my knees.

“What’s a girl like you doing in chemistry?” my friend said, his condescension so sharp and caustic that I immediately retreated to my box.

Months later, he sought me out. He implored me to leave my cardboard box, to join him. Some part of me was tempted by the offer. The other half remembered his condescension.

After I said no, he told me I would die a virgin. “It takes a certain type of girl to go into STEM, you know.

You’ll never find a guy. You’re not even pretty. You’re lucky I liked you at all.”

I slapped him so hard, the recoil shot up to my shoulders. Then I ran.

For a few years, I dabbled in arts and music. I thought that maybe I could leave behind my box, if I was doing what girls were “supposed” to.

But it didn’t quite work that way.

When I did what I was supposed to, my teachers told me this meant going back to my box. I had to fit neatly, or not at all. I couldn’t just have one foot in the box, they told me. That was ridiculous.

I couldn’t be a STEM girl who liked art. I couldn’t be an artist who liked physics. I couldn’t be a girly-girl who liked rock, and I couldn’t be a tomboy who liked pink. What sort of box would I inhabit if I did? Surely, I had to have a better understanding of how the world worked. I was a fully-grown woman. I had to know it was all or nothing. A simple binary.

ARTS&CULTURE Reaching adulthood, I didn’t know whether I wanted life outside the box or in it.

I sensed that the women growing up around me felt the same. I watched my sisters struggle with their boxes. Flap half-open, flap cut off—flap reinforced with two layers of cardboard.

When I look back now, I can't pinpoint exactly when recycling bins began to overflow with cardboard boxes. I just know that it was the start of an era, an era of revolution.

Today, I stand atop a mountain of flattened boxes.

Sisters, mothers, daughters, and lovers, all alike—we stand to reject the boxes that constrained our spirits.

No girl, no woman, no human, should have to trap themselves within cardboard walls. Not again. Now I stand hand-in-hand with those around me, a wall of humanity blockading the passage of time, obstructing the way of outdated rites.

Now that I haven’t felt the weight of a box in years, I finally know. Know that I am not a performer.

I am not a contortionist.

I am a woman.

Is Girl Rock an Exclusive Club?

lose 50 percent of it? Now that Cleo had come out to the world, was he supposed to pack up and leave?

While these lines paint a funny image of Cleo as an energized dad at at his son’s sports game, they also

I remember that when I started questioning

quietly reference a deeper sense of gender euphoria

my gender, I’d wonder if transitioning meant letting

and arrival, declaring that he’s “back on the bench” but

everything that’s femme-coded go: my special bond

with a new perspective. He does note, however, that

with my sister and mom, these Girl Rock bands I grew

he still carries with him the memories of his struggle

up with? I even remember lying on the floor of my

navigating his gender identity in the Girl Rock space.

dorm room thinking, If everything has already been

The next phrase, “lying on your back,” may refer to

associated with female or male leanings, does gender

Cleo’s reliance on his fellow band member Harmony

queerness mean having nothing? When we ask whether

Tividad when feeling pressure to lean into femininity

For years, the female-fronted rock scene has been

the future of Girl Rock is trans-inclusive, beneath that

in order to sell records. This short investigation into

connecting loyal audiences with female personalities.

lies a fear that we won’t have a seat on the boat we built.

“Hire” is just a small glimpse into the self-aware poetics

In a genre dominated by men who have laid claim to

I worry that I won’t be afforded a ticket on the next ride

Girlpool brings to their latest project, which tackles

the “Rock God” persona, female-led rock movements

beyond this place, that the entertainment I consume

the deep complexity of the subgenre, the act of making

like Riot Grrrl have cut against the grain. But despite

will leave me stranded.

music, gender, and the internal conversations we have

Girlpool, Cleo Tucker, and the Future of Gender-Defined Spaces

By Bonnie(/(Billie Mckelvie Illustrated by Ashley Hernandez

efforts to subvert industry toxicity, an unwelcome

Needless to say, I was excited for this February’s

deposit of transphobia within the subgenre has caused

release of the new Girlpool album, titled What Chaos

with ourselves about the spaces in which we belong.

Even outside of this album, the band seems to

some listeners to disavow the community entirely,

have positioned itself as a real changemaker in the

while others are calling for change from within.

Girl Rock scene. Both members have been vocal

During the last few years, the Girl Rock scene has

about the invasion of racism and transphobia into the

been consumed with questions about gender identity,

community, wielding their own music to transform

implicating the name of the genre itself and the culture

the subgenre’s culture. In live shows, Cleo has adapted

organized beneath that title. If the movement is going

old Girlpool favorites to work better with his “new”

to have girl in the name, how are we defining “girl?”

voice and often points out the differences on stage.

What are we saying the word means (or doesn’t)?

This isn’t to say that Girlpool is single-handedly

Trans-exclusionary feminists have tried to stake a

changing all of Riot Grrrl, but their actions still help

claim to Riot Grrrl and all its iterations, claiming

make Girl Rock a more intersectional and inclusive

that the female-led space was created explicitly for

space. Encouragingly, Girlpool’s latest album has been

cis women to air grievances about the larger rock

received by many as their best yet, suggesting a growing

genre and—through their performances—play into a

demand for inclusivity and genre critique.

femininity suppressed by the sexist rock hierarchy. This

Is Imaginary, and for how it might interact with these

So, what does Girl Rock mean now? While

take doesn’t sit well with many people, including me,

questions of mine. The album opens slowly (but

the definition is ever-changing, I see an especially

and is steadily losing favor as understandings of non-

not quietly) with “Lucy’s.” The song pointedly and

important evolution in the subgenre’s relationship with

binary genders, gender fluidity, and gender-bending

unapologetically centers Cleo’s voice, lower now after

femininity, where “girliness” is beginning to describe

performance become more widespread. Instead, trans

hormone replacement therapy and voice training,

an experience, way of being, sensitivity, or exploration

activists argue that the Riot Grrrl space should be one

backed by heavy guitars. It’s hard for me to listen to

without a strict biological or identity standard. As we

where all people who don’t benefit from cis patriarchy

the first lyrics without reading them as a nod to his

learn to see and feel gender as fluid, it’s important to

can explore, perform, and celebrate femininity in its

experience in the genre:

consider what spaces we’ve built constrictive walls

An unfamiliar place where you'd rather stay

around and framed as cis-exclusive clubs. Personally,

A meditation plan when you sway and sink

I’ve only ever asked a few things of Girl Rock. I want

about the genre, I was anxious to see how these new

The album as a whole doesn’t shy away from

to be able to work through my response to patriarchy

intersectional philosophies would play out in real life.

the topic of Cleo’s transition. Instead of fading into

with someone by my side. I want to know that some

Would broader audiences be welcoming when a trans

the background with an unannounced change in his

people, maybe even a crowd of people, understand

person was leading a high-profile group? Then, in the

voice, Cleo jumps into the upbeat track “Hire” with

the frustration I feel and are willing to hear me. I

spring of 2018, it happened. Cleo Tucker (he/him), one

an unabashed energy that proclaims gender euphoria

want to be able to reflect on, feel, perform, and play

of the leads of the iconic indie rock duo Girlpool, came

rather than fear. A C-major key and 4/4 time signature

with “girliness.” For a while, I felt that love go away. I

out as trans-masculine/non-binary. Not only was this

keep the song filled with a lightness that builds to meet

began to see this escape as a new kind of trap, and I was

a major band in the genre that literally had the word

Cleo’s joyful belting on the chorus. He sings:

waiting to get caught and thrown out. I’m not saying

many forms.

While queer fans seemed to be winning debates

“girl” in its title, but it was also a group known for its

Now I'm the ref and a phone call cutting out

that Girlpool, Cleo Tucker, or What Chaos Is Imaginary

crooning hyper-femme harmonies on tracks like “Cut

Back on the bench I fall into the month I think about

fixed that completely, but now I’m starting to feel as

Your Bangs” and “Ideal World.” What would it mean for

How I sold seven doves when I was lying on your

though I can exhale, and enjoy something just because

a band seemingly defined by its “girliness” to suddenly

back

it feels right.

march 8, 2018&5

ARTS&CULTURE

Campo Girls vs.

Gilmore Girls

The Realities of Single Parenting

By Cathy Campo illustrated by katie fliegel I am the only person I know who drunk-calls their mom instead of their ex. In a slurred half-cry, I’ll tell her I miss her and then ask what she thought of last week’s episode of The Bachelor.

In the way that a normal person might have a best friend, someone to FaceTime every night to spill the tea about the latest boy they’re dating or divulge which friend is driving them up a wall, I have a mom. She’s been a bachelorette since 2001, which I guess makes me her life partner. If you’re even slightly relevant in my life, my mom knows your name—and also where you’re from, what your concentration is, how we met, and every interaction we’ve ever had. There’s an alternate universe in which you might be able to convince me that this behavior is weird, that nobody should ever be this close with their mom, but I’ve seen Gilmore Girls, and I know I’m not alone.

The network comedy, which debuted in 2000 and ran for seven glorious seasons, follows the close relationship between single mother Lorelai Gilmore and her teenage daughter, Rory. The two gossip about each other’s current beaus, borrow one another’s clothes; they basically invented the term “bingewatching.” I laughed with the mother-daughter duo as they threw deviled eggs at Rory’s ex-boyfriend’s car (let’s be real; he deserved it), and I cried at Rory’s high school graduation speech: “My mother never gave me any ideas that I couldn’t do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. I don’t know if she ever realized that the person I most wanted to be was her.”

Cue tears.

But if it sounds like our relationship is exactly the same, there’s one thing you should know about my mom and me: Growing up, I almost never saw her.

A business-owner and single parent like Lorelai, she was often too busy to help with my homework or pick me up from rehearsal—tasks she left for a nanny until I was able to care for myself (so, a sophomore in high school). I watched with envy as Lorelai dropped Rory off for her first day of school at Chilton. (In Lorelai fashion, of course: a tie-dye shirt, cutoff jean shorts, and cowboy boots but—Oh no!—She doesn’t know she has a meeting with the headmaster!) Don’t get me wrong, my mom was still the largest presence in my life, determining which colleges I would apply to and how I would spend my summers. But that’s just it—she was a presence, there-but-not-there, like a ghost or phantom.

If my life were a TV show, my mom would probably spend most of each season off-camera.

For a long time, I wanted Lorelai to be my mom.

She’s fiercely independent, strong-willed, and, well, cool. Then I realized my mom is just like Lorelai, she just has less free time—or, at least the appearance of less free time. What you aren’t aware of when you’re watching the show is that, since so much time is spent depicting the sweet moments Lorelai and Rory share, it skips the hours and hours they must spend apart.

The series does many things well: it has witty dialogue and multifaceted characters. But if you’re looking for an accurate representation of the time single parents are realistically able to give their children, this is not it. Amy Sherman-Palladino, who created the series and wrote many of its episodes, grew up with married parents. Figures.

Thus, the writers are left unable to portray the single most heartbreaking struggle of any singleparent/child relationship: resentment. I love my mom.

I’m thankful every day for the sacrifices she has made to support us. But it would be a lie to say that I don’t still resent her for skipping my fifteenth birthday for a business trip—that I don’t feel a pang of heartache when I remember that she also missed my Halloween parades, my back-to-school nights, my college acceptance letter arriving in the mail.

My mom sometimes feels absent even when she’s sitting right next to me. On our last vacation, after several meals together, she remarked that I never ordered soda. I wanted to tell her I haven’t drank soda in a decade. A single-parent/child relationship is kind of like a long-distance relationship. You’re overjoyed when you’re with your loved one, but in the interim, they miss a lot. FaceTiming every night helps to bridge this gap, but until Elon Musk invents phones that can replicate hugs (which, if you ask me, should be of higher priority than getting to Mars), it’s just not the same.

Is my mom the reason that I have an irrational fear of all my loved ones abandoning me? Yes. Is she the

“I am going to suffocate him with one of his own odiferous boxers.”

Jack Sparrow, “To fulfill a vendetta” 3.9.17

“These friends and I joke that my alter ego is a 12-year-old altar boy from rural Ohio: Billy Olson, born 1949.”

Anna Harvey, “Flavored Vodka and Cheekbone Glitter” 3.9.17

6!post–

reason that we have a roof over our heads, the reason I’m able to afford Brown’s astronomical tuition? Also yes. In Gilmore Girls, it’s easy for the writers to show Rory’s resentment for her father—he’s almost entirely absent. But she never expresses the same feelings about Lorelai, who owns and runs an inn (and, at one point, is simultaneously enrolled in business school), yet is somehow never neglectful.

The series gave me a model for the kind of motherdaughter relationship I desired, but it wasn’t until college that I was able to achieve anything close to it.

Between classes, rehearsals, internship interviews, and my need to stay up-to-date on the latest TV, I’ve learned to empathize with my mom and her lack of free time.

We’ll chat on her drive home from work and my walk to Andrews, or while she’s folding laundry and I’m doing my makeup. As I’ve grown older, I’ve required less from her, as I, too, only have so much to give. I don’t need her to see every play or proofread every essay. The talking is enough. That is, until I need that hug that Elon Musk hasn’t quite figured out yet.

Gilmore Girls doesn’t accurately portray the amount of time single parents are really able to spend with their children, but it does correctly depict how precious that time together is. And it’s true; when she’s not around, I feel momsickness like some feel homesickness, and that feeling goes both ways. When I was going through a period of depression two years ago, my mom would sometimes spend her Saturdays making the three-hour journey to visit me for the day.

It was like Carole King’s lyrics for the show’s opening theme song come to life: Any time I was “feeling lonely,” I could just remember that my mom would “be there on the next train.” When she’d arrive, I would cry to her about how unhappy I was, and she’d give me one of those hugs that only moms can give. Then we’d order in sushi and watch an episode of The Bachelor. I may not have seen my mom every episode of my own life, but I know that, in moments like those, we would look like Lorelai and Rory.

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PAGE 9 • FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Klein ’22 leads Bears to victory over Golden Knights Klein cites encouragement from seniors as factor in win, says team aims to beat Harvard, Princeton

By EMORY HINGORANI STAFF WRITER

Last Sunday, the women’s water polo team faced Gannon University at the Harvard Invitational tournament in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Up 6-5 going into the fourth quarter, the Bears went on a rally to outscore the Golden Knights 5-0 during the period, ending the contest at an 11-5 advantage. Katie Klein ’22 paced Brown’s offense in the match with a game-high three goals, posting one in the first, third and fourth quarters. The first-year attacker from Lafayette, California also leads the Bears in goals this season with 29 total. For her impressive performance against Gannon, Klein has been named The Herald’s Athlete of the Week.

Herald: Congratulations on the great performance last weekend against Gannon University!

What was the team’s mentality like in the last quarter of that game?

all together. We don’t have any more games until spring break, so it was just one of our seniors saying ... “Let’s just come together.”

As a first year, you’ve already had a tremendous impact on the team this season. What’s enabled you to perform so well early on?

A lot of it has to do with our team and our coach. Everyone, from senior to freshman, is very encouraging of each other. It seriously doesn’t matter what grade you’re in. Everyone is a firm believer that everyone plays a role on our team, and so I think that plays a lot into it. Our coach is also so good … He doesn’t care if you’re a freshman — everyone can make an impact. He’s really good at placing people where he thinks they’ll do the most. It’s just a combination of everyone being so encouraging.

When did you first start playing water polo, and when did you decide you wanted to play in college?

Klein: We’d lost a couple of really close games earlier in the weekend that we were really bummed about. One of our seniors said to us before the fourth quarter, “Let’s just finish it out guys. It’s been a long weekend, but let’s give it our all.” I think that really just brought us

I started playing in third grade. I wasn’t super into the idea at first, but my sister was playing and she loved it.

She actually ended up playing at Princeton, and so my parents just said, “You need to try it.” Our parents were always pushing us to try as many sports as we could, and so I tried it and ended up loving it with my first tournament.

I don’t know exactly when I decided that I was going to end up playing in college, but it was always on my mind

» ABORTION, from page 1

» TOP 50, from page 1

grounded his opposition in his Christian faith, intoning “Thou shalt not kill.”

In contrast, Corvese said his disapproval for the bill, “has nothing to do with theology.”

Later on, Serodio said he felt “emotionally and spiritually devastated by what is about to happen.”

Still, reflecting on her approval for the bill, Rep. Marcia Ranglin-Vassell, DProvidence, said, “you can be pro-choice and Christian.”

Rep. Carol Hagan McEntee, D-South Kingstown and Narragansett, who also voted for the legislation, said “pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion,” noting the complexity of the issue.

Approaching the vote, the Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Robert Craven, D-North Kingstown, said, “Democracy is a really hard thing to do. … We don’t legislate medical decisions. It’s not about you; it’s about women.”

Referencing the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision Roe v. Wade, Rep. Daniel McKiernan, D-Providence, remarked that legalizing abortion was “done over 40 years ago,” and added that the House was simply “recognizing rights already given.”

Given the rise in political rhetoric against abortion rights, Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence, said, “This is not in reaction to the current president.”

The House considered and passed a similar bill in 1993, under President Bill Clinton. The legislation then died in the State Senate.

The State Senate held a hearing on a matching bill Tuesday, which lasted until 6 a.m. Wednesday. By press time, Senate Democratic leaders had not yet released plans for a vote.

the gender biases that exist in tech products that people use every day.

Through her ongoing research, which she began in 2016 at Georgia Tech, Howard hopes to detect and eliminate implicit biases found in software systems — everything from small apps on smartphones to artificial intelligence algorithms that power organizations and industries.

Reflecting on her own success, Howard encourages undergraduates to feel optimistic about the future and consider how their choices will improve the environment for others. In addition, Howard said that women should consider how their entry into a maledominated field could convince other women to do the same. “If you even kind of want to do this, it’s literally your responsibility because it will make the world a better place. … We need to get to the point where we have good representation.”

Mary Lou Jepsen ’96 — an innovator, leader and inventor in consumer hardware, display technology, electrical engineering and healthcare — similarly emphasized the importance of femaleto-female support in the workplace.

Throughout her time at the University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and during her 20-year career, Jepsen wrote that she never had a female professor or supervisor around to call a mentor. “Never once. My female mentors were (and are) my peers. …

They can help you find ways through whatever you are facing.”

After teaching herself calculus in the seventh grade, Jepsen chose to attend the University because she wanted the

NICOLE KIM / HERALD

Katie Klein ’22, who is leading women’s water polo with 29 goals, helped the team to victory at the Harvard Invitational tournament on Sunday. Bruno defeated the Golden Knights 11-5. since … eighth grade or freshman year.

How did you choose Brown?

My sister went to Princeton like I said, and she had a great experience.

I had always followed in my sister’s footsteps in everything we’d done, and I knew I wanted a similar experience to hers, but not exactly like hers. I did look at California schools a lot, and I was ultimately deciding between Brown and USC (University of Southern

same freedom afforded to her during grade school. “The schools just let me keep studying what I was interested in.

The University offered the potential of continuation of this approach,” she wrote in an email to The Herald. At the University, she concentrated in electrical engineering and art, then went on to earn ScM degrees at MIT in both electrical engineering and computational holography. Jepsen then returned to the University to earn a PhD in Photonics, studying optical physics.

Since then, she has led technology teams at Google, Facebook, Oculus and Intel, working at the forefront of display technology and pioneering the worldwide adoption of several consumer technologies such as HDTV. Now, Jepsen’s startup, Openwater, is developing a portable electronics device that combines infrared light capabilities with holographic technology to produce more precise and accurate images than an fMRI, one of the most common imaging technologies used in the medical industry today. Along with the Forbes Top 50 Women in Technology list, Jepsen has been named a member of TIME magazine’s “Time 100,” a list of the most influential people in the world, and a CNN Top 10 Thinker. danah boyd ’00’s interest in technology began when she discovered the internet after her brother occupied the landline to play video games. “I was annoyed that I couldn’t make phone calls with friends, so I marched into his room one afternoon and he started showing me Usenet,” a popular network in the 1980’s and 1990’s, she wrote in an email to The Herald. “I realized the internet was made of people.”

She decided to chat with random

California). What put Brown over the edge was that (Head Coach Felix Mercado) is honestly just the best guy.

He’s a great coach, and I really wanted to play for him. School wise, the open curriculum was something I couldn’t turn down, and I just think Brown is the perfect combination of sports and school. It really allows us to get the best of both worlds.

What are the team’s goals for the rest of the season?

strangers online, finding enjoyment in late night conversations with “selfidentified geeks, freaks and queers.”

“I identify as all three so I was in my comfort zone. … (It was) lots of late nights, lots of crazy interactions,” she wrote.

A long way from fighting her brother for phone time, boyd is a leading technologist, social entrepreneur and educator whose work explores the relationship between technology and society. As Principal Researcher at Microsoft, visiting professor at New York University, the founder and president of Data & Society and a research affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, boyd also serves on the board of the Crisis Text Line, a free 24/7 suicide crisis text line available across the United States. Her book, “It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens,” addresses several myths about teen social media use and how social media affects quality of life.

Though she is now at the top of the tech world, boyd did not come to College Hill intending to study computer science. It was through her advisor, Professor of Computer Science Andries van Dam, that she was inspired to take an introductory computer science course. “So many faculty influenced my life at the University and beyond, but Andy shaped my career path unlike anyone else. He enabled me to do interdisciplinary work (and) to ask infuriating questions. He introduced me to so many people in the tech industry … And whenever I fell down, whenever I messed up, he was there to pick me up,” she wrote. boyd graduated from the University with a degree in computer science and

We’re definitely making big strides trying to get better. I think our loss to Harvard by one goal was pretty brutal, but I think it was really a staple in our season. Going forward, we definitely want to start beating teams like Harvard, Princeton and Bucknell. We just want to beat teams that we know we can beat.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

went on to earn a Master’s degree in Media Arts at MIT and Sciences and a PhD in Information Sciences at University of California, Berkeley.

But even with early mentors and a strong start in her career, boyd has experienced challenges. She recounts several instances of discrimination in her career, beginning from her time at the University. “A group of fellow students decided to threaten and harass me and my peers to encourage us to leave computer science … I was actively excluded from job opportunities,” she wrote. “Harassment and cruelty … (are) basically the story of my early career. And there are lots of scars, so many scars.” boyd stressed the challenges ahead for underrepresented groups and underscored the importance of support networks. “Those who are overrepresented have a responsibility to fight on behalf of those who are underrepresented. (And) I’m not going to cherry-coat what it’s like for underrepresented folks. It’s a fight. And there are many things that can help in that fight. Having strong mentors, building networks, finding spaces that feel right. … I strongly believe it’s worth it,” she wrote.

NEWS

PAGE 10 • FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2019

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

U. class collaborates with private space company Students work with OrbitBeyond to maximize scientific payout, mission returns for lunar rovers

By ZACHARY LEVIN STAFF WRITER

Last semester as part of a graduate-level seminar class, a group of students partnered with private space company OrbitBeyond to help plan for OrbitBeyond’s lunar rover launch in 2020.

Taught by Jim Head, a distinguished professor of geological science, the class combined lectures on lunar evolution with writing a design reference mission for the lunar rover, which was designed

by TeamIndus, an engineering partner of OrbitBeyond. A design reference mission is the product of thinking about each decision throughout an entire space mission, Head explained.

TeamIndus designed the rover for the Google Lunar XPrize competition, a challenge for private space companies to design a rover that can land on the Moon, navigate 500 meters and send back high-definition video and images.

The students in Head’s class were tasked with figuring out what science the rover would be capable of doing, given the competition’s constraints.

One goal of the class was to answer the question: “what science can we do with the rover and lander that (TeamIndus) designed from an engineering perspective?” said Ashley Palumbo GS, a PhD student studying earth, environmental and planetary science and a coleader of the project.

Another goal of the class was to help foster “science and engineering synergism” between the students as scientists and TeamIndus as engineers, Head said.

In small groups, students were able to focus on different questions with the goal of optimizing the scientific payout of the rover’s mission, Head said. For example, some students researched what data to collect, while others looked into

USHA BHALLA / HERALD

the best landing sites from a scientific perspective. Another group researched how the rover could best navigate the Moon with only a single solar panel as an energy source, Head explained.

As a former NASA systems engineer, Head emphasized the unique challenge that arises when engineers and scientists try and work together on planetary missions. Whereas scientists generally focus on experiments or measurements necessary to gather data, engineers focus on navigating all the challenges a mission faces before landing on a planet or entering orbit, Head said. Maximizing the scientific and engineering returns of a space mission requires a unique kind of collaboration between the two groups, he added.

The class helped build organic communication between scientists and engineers from the start of a project and not the end, Head said. The class was designed “to accelerate the process of intellectual interactions” so that the students, engineers and mission would optimally benefit from the partnership, Head said.

For the students in the class, the opportunity to lead the process of creating a design reference mission that a private space company would actually utilize was “extremely unusual” and very rewarding, said Ariel Deutsch GS, a PhD student studying earth, environmental and planetary science and a co-leader of the project with Palumbo.

“Essentially what we got to do … is

design the scientific aspect of this mission from scratch, which isn’t something that you ever get to do at the education level we’re at right now,” Palumbo said.

Toward the end of the class, the students had the chance to present their design reference mission to members of OrbitBeyond.

Though the class has ended, the project will be presented at Microsymposium 60, a conference in Texas co-hosted by the University from March 16-17. The conference will gather several private companies that are working on ways to send payloads — rovers and other cargo — to the Moon. The partnership between University students and OrbitBeyond will be presented via a poster and oral presentation by Palumbo and Deutsch at the conference. Alongside members of OrbitBeyond, students are writing a paper to detail how the project succeeded in facilitating effective communication between scientists and commercial space engineers in an academic setting. “We are really looking forward to being able to demonstrate that this sort of collaboration is effective and productive for both parties, the students … as well as the engineering company,” Deutsch said.

“As graduate students in the field, we are commonly exposed to the career path of academia or NASA, but this is an exciting new avenue … where these private industries are going to be looking for scientists to work with them,” Palumbo said. “Understanding that experience … is pretty critical.”

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COMMENTARY FRIDAY, MARCH 8, 2019 • PAGE 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Branch-out, don’t STEM-out RACHAEL SCHMIDT STAFF COLUMNIST We don’t have all the answers when we first get to college. For most students who intend to concentrate in STEM fields, the difficulty level of academics increases exponentially from high school to college. For many first-years, this is the first time in their lives living by themselves, exposed to the alluring temptations of university life — late-night parties, constant socialization and no curfews. As a result, a student’s first year at Brown is crucial to acclimating to the University, adjusting to the rigor of its academics and creating friendships. Yet, some interested STEM or pre-med students may take four concentrationrelated courses per semester. Not only do these students not take advantage of the open curriculum, but they also doom themselves to a stressful, hardhitting first year. If Brown wants to continue to be lauded as “the happiest Ivy,” it should make a mandatory policy that students take at least one nonSTEM course for each of the first two semesters. This will give prospective

concentrators in STEM a smoother, more sustainable high school to college transition.

One of the main purposes of Brown’s open curriculum is to “encourage individuality, experimentation, and the integration and synthesis of different disciplines.” But it is always tempting to table experimentation in favor of taking four, or even five, STEM courses — Brown is an academically rigorous and competi-

ing Requirement, which technically restricts the open curriculum, but few would argue for its removal. This proposal would just be an extension of the requirement and would similarly benefit Brown students.

In my first year at Brown, I took two courses per semester to fulfill my biology concentration requirements along with two courses outside of my concentration. Because of this, I not only advanced my understanding of

tellectual stimulation elsewhere. I remember hearing the woes and seeing firsthand the tired, bagged under eyes of my fellow biology-concentrating friends who took four or five STEMrelated courses each semester during their first year. I was thankful then that I had a smoother transition into my concentration, since I was able to establish a stronger foundation for my GPA, take first-year seminars and join student groups.

If Brown wants to continue to be lauded as “the happiest Ivy,” it should make a mandatory policy that students take at least one non-STEM course for each of the first two semesters. tive learning environment, and stress culture encourages students to oneup each other to take a harder course load out of fear of getting behind.

First-year STEM students who fall into this trend risk not getting enough sleep, missing opportunities to join student groups on campus and having isolated semesters focused solely on studying. Brown already has a Writ-

my concentration at a comfortable pace, but I also explored other concentration opportunities, exposed myself to new modes of thought and started learning a whole new language.

The courses outside of my concentration were just as challenging, and my mind never drew weary of my requirements, which can be dry from time to time, because I received in-

Enforcing a one exploratory course rule outside of STEM would not infringe on Brown’s open curriculum; rather, it would make it stronger. The open curriculum would be completely tailored to student interest or concentration starting in their sophomore year and onward. But, under the one-class rule, students could better assess their course load for their

second year, based on their academic performance from the first year. Students might even realize that a STEM concentration or the pre-med track may not be for them.

If the administration does not impose a mandatory policy for first year students, faculty advisors and Meiklejohns should always suggest at least one course outside of STEM to their advisees. The rule could even just be pushed for the first semester for incoming students. It is for the betterment of first-years who might not know their limits to balance their course load and test the waters of rigorous university courses before piling on hefty STEM classes. Sleep, socialization, experimentation and self-discovery are just as, if not more, important than fulfilling half of your concentration requirements in your first year alone.

Rachael Schmidt ’21 can be reached at rachael_schmidt@brown.edu.

Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Did you know Christianity is in Retrograde?

BENJAMIN BOSIS STAFF COLUMNIST “Did you know Mercury is in Retrograde?” Until very recently, I thought I pretty much knew all there is to know about Horoscopes. I was so, so wrong. (Full disclosure: I’m a Gemini. Do with that information what you will.) I would say I know an average amount about the Zodiac, Horoscopes, etc. Or knew, anyway. That was until I heard some people talking in what appeared to be a foreign tongue, and decided to see how far this stuff really goes.

The answer is deep — really deep. As I’ve mentioned in prior columns, I grew up in an Evangelical Christian family with an ex-pastor for a dad, and participated in Bible Quizzing (that’s like quiz bowl but only about the Bible) through most of middle and high school. With all I know about Christian theology, I am still totally perplexed by doctrines like the ones surrounding the Holy Trinity, the idea as expressed in the Athanasian Creed that, “we worship one God in trinity and trinity in unity; neither confounding the persons nor dividing the essence”?

It is similarly almost impossible to parse the meanings of astrological prognostications. How do I discern the role that Mercury — my ruling planet, of course — plays in my life during March? The significance of March and Mercury to Astrological creed cannot be understated.

This is a month when the planet, according to astrology: 1. is in Retrograde — that’s the easy one

2. is moving through the final degrees of Pisces, the last sign in the zodiac 3. aligns itself in conjunction with the Minor Planet Chiron 4. shifts to conjoin a fixed star in Pegasus called Scheat — this one is particularly important 5. moves backward almost exactly in the window of time between the new moon on March 6 and the full moon on the 20th 6. takes place in my ‘career sector,’ whatever that may mean 7. goes into Retrograde almost identically to

the Mercury. Neptune’s conjunction with the sun, by the way, will lead to my face being seen by many.

So what else does Neptune govern? That would be photography, music, movies, the rest of the arts, poetry, costume design, hair and makeup, perfume, auditions, compassion, charities and other humanitarian concerns. Then we have the two planets — Mars and Saturn — holding up my new moon, which govern Violence and Wisdom, respectively. Saturn’s presence in my eighth house will improve my ability to handle other people’s money, whether in the form of in-

So what else does Neptune govern? That would be photography, music, movies, the rest of the arts, poetry, costume design, hair and makeup, perfume, auditions, compassion, charities and other humanitarian concerns. a period in March of 1973, when the European Union voted on the status of Northern Ireland in the midst of the New Irish Republican Army Bombings — which, combined with Mars setting in opposition right now, could lead to hostilities caused by the miscommunications already going on.

Confused yet? Same here. And that astronomical septet comprises only a fraction of my Horoscope, which includes predictions on the effects of four celestial bodies in my tenth house — namely the new moon, the sun, Neptune and

heritances, insurance, or employment.

Meanwhile Mars sitting in my 12th house will result in surges of creativity while I am alone. Even more excitingly, Uranus, governor of Publishing and Communications, will move into Taurus, known for hard work and dedication, for the first time in 85 years. With this realignment comes creative inspiration, of course.

I have the next seven to dedicate to a project that will turn into something great, with the eventual support of Saturn and Pluto (yes, also a planet, haters).What’s the purpose of all this, you may be

C L A R I F I C AT I O N A previous version of the Mar. 7 article titled “UCS votes to put referendum on ballot” stated that “BSI does not oppose the referendum based on positions regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict itself.” It is more accurate to say that “Steinberg told The Herald that BSI does not solely oppose the referendum based on its positions regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict.” The Herald regrets the error.

asking? At this point in my research, I had realized that one thing was completely certain: There are so many aspects of astrology that practically any horoscope will in some way apply to you.

The similarities to Christianity are so obvious that it surprises me that I hadn’t noticed them before. While Christians do not receive a daily prescription, their relationship to God is intensely personal and unique and therefore cannot be generalized to apply to a population. Religious devotion can lead down any number of paths in your career and relationships, much in the same way strict adherence to a Horoscope would.

So I apologize, Astrology: you’re not a distraction — you’re a religion. All of a sudden the number of people invested in knowing these things makes a lot more sense — as does the fact that a consultation with a PhD Astrologer can cost upward of $200 an hour. And the other thing? It’s a lot of fun. Will I plan my life according to the suggestions of my Natal Chart going forward? Probably not. But will I spend more of the coming week reading about Astrology or informal contracts regarding the ownership of cattle grazing fields in the American southwest? I suppose I will have to let Mercury decide.

Ben Bosis ’19 can be reached at benjamin_bosis@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@ browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

MARCH 12, 2019 5:30 PM

Film Screening: The Past is Not our Future: The Student Years of Walter Rodney

Join the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice and film director, Professor Matthew J. Smith as we screen his film, The Past is Not our Future: The Student Years of Walter Rodney. Over 50 years ago, the Jamaican government banned the Guyanese writer and revolutionary intellectual Walter Rodney from re-entering the country, where he was employed at the University of the West Indies.

In this absorbing documentary, rare film footage and photographs of Rodney combine with personal testimonies to form a revealing portrait of this revolutionary intellectual during his university years at the Jamaica campus.

MARCH 13, 2019 5:30 PM

Our Haiti: Conflicting Visions of a Black Nation, Dr. Matthew J. Smith 2019 Debra L. Lee Lecturer

What do we think of when we think of Haiti? Ever since Haiti shocked the world with its revolutionary independence in 1804 there have been fierce disagreements over this question. A Caribbean country of constitutional black equality and freedom from slavery, Haiti was from its birth placed on a spectrum ranging from pride to peril. The pride in Haiti was strongest among blacks in the slaveholding world, particularly in the colonial Caribbean. Yet even among its neighbors some of the strongest critiques of Haiti were born and have persisted. With special focus on the post-slavery Caribbean, this presentation will discuss the history and endurance of these complicated ideas about Haiti.

MARCH 15, 2019 5:30 PM Haitian Art Panel

This panel will focus on issues concerning Haitian artist approaches. This panel being held in conjunction with the gallery exhibition, Memory Work by contemporary Haitian ’ Laurent. Panelists include; Patrick Sylvain, Renold ’ Laurent, Felicia Denaud artist, Renold and Professor Anthony Bogues. ’ Laurent, 2007 Image (Left) Liberty Guides the People, Renold

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