Monday, April 10, 2017

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017

VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 45

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Ethnobotany Society connects students to plants Chang Xiong, owner of Pak Express Farm, teaches students medicinal benefits of plants

By ELENA RENKEN SCIENCE & RESEARCH EDITOR

“Where do you guys imagine your food comes from?” asked Aja Grande ’18 as she drove a van filled with members of Brown’s Ethnobotany Society toward a greenhouse on a small farm in Cranston. Pak Express Farm is barren in the early stages of spring, but within its white greenhouse grows a wide variety of vegetables that are sold to Brown students and professors as market shares.

Chang Xiong emigrated from Laos in 1996 and started Pak Express Farm five years later. It was much easier to farm in her home country, she said, because transplanting was not necessary — the soil here does not hold the same qualities. Xiong grew sugar cane and papayas in Laos, but in her Rhode Island greenhouse, she pointed out green onions, sweet peppers and peas. The broccoli grew out of seeds sent to the United States by Xiong’s sister, who still lives in Laos.

M. LACROSSE

Goss ’20 leads Bears over Quakers Bruno overcomes early 5-1 deficit to take second conference win of the season over Penn

By NICHOLAS WEY

DOROTHY WINDHAM / HERALD

Students examined rows of seedlings and touched their leaves, listening as Xiong explained how one plant could be used to make a medicinal soup for new mothers and described a vegetable whose name she could not translate. There’s something inexplicable about being outside, surrounded by plants, Grande said. “You feel enlightened, you feel refreshed.”

Grande formed Brown’s Ethnobotany Society this semester to hear

different viewpoints on human-plant interactions and to connect students to flora through off-campus excursions like this one.

Ethnobotany, which emerged alongside anthropology, focuses on the multifaceted relationship between people and plants. Though there is no standalone concentration at Brown, students have found ways to focus their studies on ethnobotany through other areas of study, such as fashion,

food or medicine.

In studying ethnobotany, Grande emphasized the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge on plants. “There are cultures that are dying, and their knowledge of certain plants is indispensable,” she said, adding that this kind of information may not be widely known or utilized by doctors.

Shan non Ki ng sl e y ’ 2 0 , a » See PLANTS, page 2

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

After a difficult loss at Princeton last week, the men’s lacrosse team hosted Penn Saturday, hoping to build momentum toward the second half of conference play. The Bears (5-4, 2-1 Ivy) did just that, overcoming an early 5-1 deficit to take an 11-8 victory over the Quakers (4-5, 1-3). First-year goalie Phil Goss ’20 was a standout in the win, notching a career-high 19 saves.

“We had a great week of practice with » See M. LAX, page 3

‘Anya’ evocatively depicts CREW Bruno finds success on separate coasts manic depression Skilled California teams New PW production directed by Iris Cronin ’19 explores loss, mental illness, relationships

By CONNOR SULLIVAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Affecting and all too real, Production Workshop’s “Songs I Stole From Anya” movingly captures tumultuous relationships, mental illness and death itself through its depiction of a manically depressed teenage girl. The play, written and directed by Iris Cronin ’19, runs from April 7 to 10 in the PW downspace.

Mercurial and iconoclastic, the eponymous character of Anya deals with more than the mood swings and malaise typical of adolescence. She suffers from bipolar disorder, and her capricious episodes oscillate between manic highs and depressive lows, lending credence to her anguish in an exceptionally believable representation of mental illness. Fearful of being a liability, Anya seeks to correct her life as “some indecipherable human typo”

INSIDE

with the drug lithium.

Actress Carrie Adams ’17 portrays Anya — a difficult role she deftly performs, carrying Anya’s alternations between elation and depression with remarkable capability. “It was nervewracking to me to make sure I was doing it justice,” Adams said. “To just make sure that was I depicting a human being – Anya is not bipolar; she just has bipolar.”

While not autobiographical, the play aims to encapsulate Cronin’s own high school experiences with friendships and relationships as someone suffering from mental illness.

“I first started writing it in the fall of my junior year of high school,” Cronin said. “Writing it, I was able to come to terms with a lot of stuff I was struggling with. It was an emotionally, very affecting experience.”

Conversations between Anya’s friends Chloe and Nicolas constitute the play’s solemn center. Convened in a park on the one year anniversary of Anya’s suicide, the two start off the play in a match of chess that soon turns into an emotionally-charged volley of » See ANYA, page 2

test women’s crew, Harvard tops Bruno for Stein Cup victory

By ETHAN ROSENBERG CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Three thousand miles apart, the men’s and women’s crew teams took to the water this weekend to compete in Cambridge, Mass. and Sacramento, Calif., respectively. Challenged by rough conditions, the men’s crew team competed early Saturday morning against Harvard for the Stein Cup. The annual 2,000-meter race between the Ivy League rivals was held on the Charles River. Each school sent five boats to compete in separate races.

Though the Bears won three of the five events, the Crimson took home the cup after winning the deciding varsity race.

On the water, the teams faced a challenging headwind. “Conditions were pretty wild to say the least,” said Peter Woolley ’17, who competed in the junior varsity boat. Woolley added that the strong wind can exacerbate mistakes. “If you make a single error,

the headwind can throw the boat completely off course,” he said.

“The conditions made the races very slow and technically difficult,” said Daniel Meyer ’17.

Going into the race, the team knew it would be challenging and competitive. Harvard is Bruno’s biggest rival, and this is the biggest race of the year, Meyer said. Moreover, Harvard’s junior varsity team was the defending National Champion, adding another level of competition.

Although the varsity boat lost, junior varsity snuck by the Crimson boat to win an exhilarating race.

Coming from a boat length behind at the halfway mark, the Bruno’s boat overcame the deficit to win by just under a second. The conditions made it “easy to lose your head,” Woolley said. “But we had five seniors who brought a very high level of maturity to the race.”

The team saw the race as a building block for its future goals. “We know Harvard is fast, so competing well with them is a great sign for our program,” Meyer said. “We see each race as building towards the Ivy Championship and finding the fastest combination of guys for each boat.”

“A number of seniors were in the Harvard (junior varsity) boat as well,” Woolley said. “We have been racing them for four years now, so it was fun to see them again and cap it off with a win.”

On the other side of the country, the women’s team competed in the Lake Natoma Invitational. Hosted by the Sacramento State Aquatics Center, the event featured nine teams from across the country. In addition to Brown, competitors included University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University.

“It was a great chance to see how we stack up against the California schools,” said Captain Monika Sobieszek ’17. West Coast schools are able to row on the water year round, giving them an advantage over East Coast schools forced inside by the winter, she said. The competition is “a great chance to see how we are doing at this point in the season,” she added.

Although Brown won all its races on the first day of competition, the second day saw more varied results.

The second varsity and fourth varsity boats came in second while the main boat placed third in its races. Cal and » See CREW, page 2

WEATHER

MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017

SPORTS Despite three-goal effort by Paletta ’18.5, women’s lacrosse falls to Cornell

SPORTS Weekend series against Penn, Columbia features single win over Quakers for men’s baseball

NEWS Tom Perez ’83 discusses bipartisanship, education in oneon-one interview with The Herald

COMMENTARY Liang ’19: Anonymous online forums can foster unproductive, harmful communication

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

DNC Chair Tom Perez ’83 talks bipartisanship, future of DNC Perez discusses confirmation of Judge Neil Gorsuch, importance of local, national elections

By BELLA ROBERTS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Recently elected Chair of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez ’83 came to Rhode Island Thursday to deliver a lecture with Gov. Gina Raimondo. After the lecture, Perez spoke with The Herald for an exclusive interview touching on the Trump administration, the future of the DNC and education reform. Prior to becoming Chair of the DNC, Perez served as the U.S. secretary of labor from 2013 to 2017 and the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice.

The Herald: How should Democrats position themselves for future elections?

Perez: The difference between Democrats and Republicans is that we know how to govern and they don’t. And we’ve seen that. What we have to do is make sure that we’re building a strong party so that we don’t lose elections, whether they are local or national. Bad things happen to good people. We see that every

single day with the carnage of the Trump administration. That is why I ran for the chairman of the Democratic party. When we have strong parties, and when we elect Democrats that put their values into action like Governor Raimondo, we enable people to get access to opportunity. We grow economies. We make sure people have access to healthcare as a right. Good things happen across the country.

The Senate just employed the nuclear option to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch. Given this, how can we revive bipartisanship?

It would be nice if the current president did what Obama and Clinton did.

When there was a nominee for the Supreme Court, they reached out to Republicans and said, “What do you think.

What ideas do you have?” (Trump) didn’t reach out to Dems — the only person that the president reached out to was the Heritage Foundation. (Gorsuch) is a nominee that is way outside of the mainstream. If he’s confirmed, it will be a great day for large corporations and a terrible day for workers that are trying to make ends meet. He shows disdain for average workers. He has a consistent pattern of ruling in favor of corporations over the little guy. This is why the Koch brothers are investing so much money in his confirmation because it enables

their empire to have a major seat in the Supreme Court for life.

How can Democrats balance a centrist philosophy with the more left-wing Sanders faction? Does he think the DNC is unified enough to put up that resistance?

When I see this administration cut funding for higher education, it makes no sense. Democrats and Republicans everywhere have gotten the message that college affordability isn’t just an issue for Democrats, it’s an issue for Democrats and Republicans alike. We need to communicate the fraud that is Donald Trump. He talks a mean game about making America great again, but he is simply making the politico ads great again, and that’s not the America we need.

College affordability isn’t just an issue for Democrats. We need to work hard to communicate our message to everyone.

Do you think it’s crucial for Democrats to regain white working class support?

You have to work in every zip code with every person across America. It’s not simply a matter of white working class voters. I think our message of economic diversity and inclusion is a message that resonates everywhere. We have to be inclusive everywhere, and I think our

COURTESY OF IZZY LEVY

Chair of the Democratic National Committee Tom Perez ’83 came to Rhode Island Thursday to discuss the importance of higher education. message does just that. We need to put our values into action every day. That’s why I was out there today because I strongly support college affordability, and we can’t let that platform go to dust. We need to regain trust with many categories of voters — do it by leading with values, by showing what we stand for, such as college affordability, and making sure

we preserve the environment for future generations. They have created an alternative reality that doesn’t really reflect what is going on. Their pattern of lies over seven years finally collided with the reality on-the-ground in communities.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

» PLANTS, from page 1 concentrator in history and biology, was also drawn to the use of botany by indigenous groups, especially in comparison to the treatments used in the health care system. “There are benefits of using natural products to heal ailments versus using a drug from a store to suit your medical needs,” she said.

In medicine, “the thought that plants could really have healing power is novel,” said Spenser Anderson ’18, who plans to concentrate in public health and development studies. “It forms a different kind of science.”

Biotechnology has also made great advances by mimicking nature, he added.

Chiara Arellano ’20, an environmental studies concentrator, has tended to focus her studies on humans more than plants. But she was intrigued by the science of plant identification.

The Ethnobotany Society’s next event will bring students into the forest May 15 to hunt, identify and eat mushrooms. Grande hopes other members will bring ideas for the society to her, expanding the club’s focus.

» CREW, from page 1 Stanford, ranked second and sixth in the nation respectively, gave Bruno some very challenging competition, according to Sobieszek. But “second varsity and fourth varsity both beat Stanford, which is pretty incredible,” she said.

Looking forward, the men’s team faces Northeastern University and

ELENA RENKEN / HERALD

Chang Xiong, the owner of Pak Express Farm, emigrated from Laos in 1996 and started the farm five years later. Some of the seeds Xiong uses in her farming were sent to her by her sister, who still lives in Laos. The University’s Ethnobotany Society visited the farm in Cranston Friday.

“That’s how disciplines get started,” she said. “A random group of people.”

Xiong will transplant her seedlings into the earth beginning this month,

continuing to work eight hours a day with her plants.

“I like to farm,” Xiong said. “You become strong.”

the women’s team will race against Cornell next Saturday at home on the Seekonk River in Providence. “Racing on the Seekonk is very different from racing out here in California,” Sobieszek said. “The conditions are always different and can be difficult. It will be fun coming back to Providence and racing at home in the challenging conditions.”

» ANYA, from page 1

of Anya and her mental illness to an idyllic trope: “the manic pixie dream girl with the manic on the side.”

The conversations between the two remind us that the trauma of suicide is a two-way mirror which scars the victim and loved ones alike — despair set straight only by moments of communality. Through their expressions of grief and exchanges of humanity, Chloe and Nicolas approach a sense of catharsis. Each friend projects anxiety and mourning on the other, causing the play to end up being almost just as much about them and their mechanism

of coping as it is about Anya.

The pair’s praise-worthy rapport is a product of the chemistry shared by actors Erin Malimban ’19 and Ken Lumb ’19. Cronin deliberately talked to every actor that auditioned about the play’s material, filtering for those who connected with it most. In drawing on Adams, Malimban and Lum’s affinity, Cronin effectively curates the perfect cast for the character-driven production. “(We) were on the same page for the entire process, which just helped,” Lumb said.

meditations on their friend. Playful references to French literature, vocal jazz and pot-smoking abound, but such levity is rare. Chloe, a veritable force of personality and Anya’s best friend, reflects on her friend’s predilection toward “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and Russian curse words, all while recounting some of the insecurities she encountered in her friendship with Anya at the Catholic girls’ school they attended.

Nicolas, a wry pianist and Anya’s exboyfriend, laments over his reduction

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SPORTS

MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

W. LACROSSE

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Carolyn Paletta ’18.5 charges for a free position shot. Paletta has notched a goal in all but one game in her first season for the Bears. She leads the team in scoring with 24 goals.

Paletta ’18.5 records hat trick in three-goal loss to Cornell Bears, 0-4 in Ivy League play, hope to surge for last spot in postseason conference tournament

By CAL BARASH-DAVID SENIOR STAFF WRITER

With five games remaining, the women’s lacrosse team had failed to record an Ivy League win. They had a chance to do so Saturday against league-leading Cornell, a squad that has not lost since a one-goal defeat to Pennsylvania State University Feb. 25.

After an initial deficit and a hardfought second half, the Bears (4-7, 0-4 Ivy) fell to Cornell (9-1, 4-0 Ivy) in an 11-8 bout.

“It was a great game,” said Carolyn

» M. LAX, from page 1 high intensity,” said veteran midfielder Steve Hudak ’18. “It definitely translated into the game.”

Penn started off the scoring, with Jack Ulrich finding the back of the net with 5:02 left in the first quarter. Brown took over possession, but could not respond despite five shot attempts. With four seconds remaining, Penn notched another goal to take a 2-0 lead.

Less than a minute into the second quarter, Jake Miller ’18 put the Bears on the scoreboard, capitalizing on a rare goal-scoring opportunity as a defenseman.

But Penn responded with an offensive surge. Just 10 seconds later, the Quakers scored to take back the momentum and bring the score to 3-1. Over the next three minutes, Penn notched two more goals, capping a 3-0 run and taking a 5-1 lead.

“We know what we’re capable of and how quickly we can score goals,” Hudak said. “So we stayed poised and collected and made little plays to get out of that hole.”

The Bears regrouped after team cocaptain Dylan Molloy ’17 scored two

Paletta ’18.5, whose sister plays for the Big Red but was injured for Saturday’s game. “We had a lot of momentum that we’d been lacking in the past couple of weeks. … Overall, just the enthusiasm and the intensity was really high. A lot of people didn’t expect us to win this game — and we didn’t — but … I don’t think (the score) reflects the way that we played.”

The Big Red came out fast and netted a goal just 1:03 into the game. Then, just 14 seconds later, Cornell found the back of the net again.

The opposition stretched the lead goals in under a minute — his 26th and 27th of the season — to swing the momentum back in Bruno’s favor. Then, midfielder Michael Panepinto ’19 found the back of the net off an assist from veteran Matt Graham ’17 to cut Penn’s lead to one at 5-4.

The Bears continued to roll as the second quarter came to a close. Rookie attackman Luke McCaleb ’20, midfielder Ted Ottens ’17.5 and Panepinto all scored over the next four minutes to cap a 6-0 run and give the Bears a 7-5 lead going into halftime.

“There was good energy at halftime,” Hudak said. “We knew what we needed to do to finish the game.”

The Quakers rallied back, with goals at 13:14 and 11:47 in the third stanza to tie the game at seven. But Brown did not back down. With 5:58 remaining, attackman Jackson Newsome ’19 found the back of the net off an assist from Graham to put Bruno back on top, 8-7. Brown continued its offensive surge, scoring two more to take a 10-7 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the teams exchanged blows. The Bears started off the quarter with another goal by Newsome — his fourth of the season — at 10:09 to cap a 4-0 run. The Quakers responded

to 4-1 before Bruno brought the game to 5-3 at the half.

In its past two losses, Brown has fallen into early deficits. “It’s definitely a problem that we’ve had all season,” Paletta said. “I think we tend to just take a little time to get our heads in the game and get comfortable with our sticks and get comfortable with each other. … Especially offensively, adapting to the structure of the other team’s defense, I think it takes us a little while to figure them out.”

Hafsa Moinuddin ’19 finished an early second half goal to bring the game within one. But the next nine minutes saw Cornell score four unanswered goals to make the score 9-4.

Bruno outscored the Big Red 4-2 in the final 17:38, but the lead proved to be too much for the Bears. Two saves

by Cornell’s Renee Poullott and a free position shot and goal by Catherine Ellis — her fourth of the game — iced the win for Cornell.

Paletta led the way for the Bears with three goals. The junior midfielder is on a hot streak as of late, scoring nine goals in the last three games and finding the back of the net in all but one game this year.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good. My stick work’s been good and I really think our offense is starting to figure each other out more,” she said.

Cornell picked up 21 ground balls

to Brown’s 11, and Maggie Bigelow ’20 recorded nine saves in the loss.

Brown sits last in the Ivy League, but the Bears are remaining positive for the rest of the season.

“We’re really focused on belief,” Paletta said. “(It’s) our main mantra right now. We’re not officially out of the Ivy League Tournament, and we just need to play our absolute best in all of the next coming games and just believe that we are the stronger team, because we know that we have the potential and we know that we can beat these teams.”

The Bears will look to grab their first Ivy League win against Harvard (6-5, 3-1 Ivy) Saturday at StevensonPincince Field.

ELI WHITE / HERALD

Luke McCaleb ’20 keeps possession of the ball, looking for an open teammate. The first-year is second on the team in points and is the only player besides Dylan Molloy ’17 with double-digit assists and goals this season. with a goal at 1:09, but it was too late.

The Bears held the 11-8 lead as the clock dwindled to secure the win.

“It was a huge win,” Hudak said. “Any Ivy win is great.”

Ottens secured a game-high eight ground balls and won 16 of 23 face-offs for the Bears. Overall, Brown held advantages in shots, ground balls and clears, while committing fewer turnovers.

“Phil had a great week of practice and his hard work paid off in the game,” Hudak said. “He really stood on his head.”

With the win, Brown improves to 2-1 in conference play. The Bears also move into a tie with Princeton for second place in the Ivy League standings. Yale, who remains undefeated in conference games, holds the number one spot.

Bruno will continue its season with

a pivotal matchup against the Bulldogs (7-3, 4-0) in New Haven Saturday. With a win against Yale — the reigning conference champions — the Bears would take over the top spot in the Ivy League. Last year, the Bears topped the No.1 ranked Bulldogs 14-12 at home.

“We need another great week of practice,” Hudak said. “Doing the little things right will lead to success.”

SPORTS

PAGE 4 • MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

BASEBALL

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Sam Grigo ’18 looks to throw the ball into the infield. Grigo had seven hits in nine at bats in two Sunday losses to Columbia. The Bears sit third in their division with a record of 9-13.

Bears go 1-3 at home against Penn, Columbia in weekend split Seventh-inning rally fueled by Deere ’20 gives Bruno two-run win over Penn Saturday

The baseball team continued conference play this weekend, splitting a doubleheader against Penn Saturday by scores of 4-2 and 8-6 before falling to Columbia Sunday 3-1 and 9-5. With the 1-3 weekend, the Bears move to 9-13 (3-5 Ivy) on the season.

Huntley drove Grigo home with an RBI double to narrow the deficit in the bottom of the sixth. But Halevy answered with Penn’s fourth home run of the contest in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Starter Christian Taugner ’17 took his second loss of the season, allowing four runs with five strikeouts in seven innings.

Brown 2, Penn 4 Saturday, the Bears were unable to maintain an early lead in the opening contest against the Quakers (14-13, 4-4). Outfielder Sam Grigo ’18 and catcher Josh Huntley ’17 led the Bears with one RBI each, while outfielder Rob Henry ’17 recorded a pair of hits in the loss.

After Brown took an early 1-0 lead, Matt O’Neill and Daniel Halevy responded with back-to-back home runs in the top of the second for the Quakers.

Matt McGeagh added a solo home run in the top of the fourth, before

Brown 8, Penn 6 The afternoon’s contest saw Bruno recover from an early five-run deficit, scoring eight consecutive runs — including four in the bottom of the seventh — to claim the victory. Huntley and outfielder Garett Delano ’20 paced the Bears with two hits apiece, while designated hitter Cameron Deere ’20 scored three runs.

The Quakers opened scoring with five runs over the first two innings, but Bruno answered with two runs in the bottom of the third and runs in the fifth and sixth to shorten the deficit.

Henry led off the bottom of the

By ALEXANDRA RUSSELL SENIOR STAFF WRITER

seventh with a solo home run, tying the score at five. Huntley scored off a bases-loaded single from Delano to reclaim the lead, before third baseman Willy Homza ’19 and first baseman Marc Sredojevic ’17 crossed the plate on a single up the middle from Deere.

Peter Matt answered with a solo home run in the top of the eighth, but the Bears denied the Quakers in the ninth to secure the victory.

“It was kind of a death by paper cut — just score one, score two, score one and then put up a big inning,” Achilles said. “That was the difference in the ballgame.”

Starter Reid Anderson ’18 threw five innings, allowing five runs with eight strikeouts. Will Tomlinson ’20, Samuel Hauser ’17, JJ Sliepka ’19 and Dante Bosnic ’18 combined to allow one run in the final four innings.

“To come out … with a split the way we played — I was really proud of our guys,” said Head Coach Grant Achilles. “We have great leadership within the team, and the guys understand that the game’s not over until the last hour.”

“I was really proud of us,” Grigo

said. “We came back and we really rallied.”

Brown 1, Columbia 3 The following day saw Bruno fall to the Lions (7-15, 3-2) in a close matchup. Grigo led the Bears with three hits, while Sredojevic notched a pair of hits and one RBI. With the game tied at one, Julian Bury and Joe Engel crossed the plate on a bases-loaded single from Randell Kanamaru in the top of the seventh, putting the game out of reach for the Bears.

Starter Max Ritchie ’17 limited the Lions to one run with four strikeouts in 6.2 innings. Bosnic finished the final inning in relief, allowing two runs.

Brown 5, Columbia 9 In the afternoon contest, the Bears were unable to generate enough offensive pressure to match the Lions.

Grigo lead the Bears with four hits, while Sredojevic notched two RBIs. The game went back and forth early, as an RBI double from Deere in the bottom of the fourth evened the tally at three.

But Columbia responded with four consecutive runs — including a 2-RBI home run from McGill — to reclaim the lead.

Delano sent Homza home on a single in the bottom of the sixth, but Joe Engel and Kanemaru each added RBIs in the final two innings to secure the victory. Brown scored a run in the bottom of the ninth and had the bases loaded, but could not mount a late comeback effort.

“Dropping both today is disappointing,” Grigo said. “We just dug ourselves too big a hole to come out from in one inning.”

“You can’t be down that many runs in the last inning and expect to score five or six,” Grigo added.

Starter Bobby Leyman ’19 allowed five runs with two strikeouts in four innings. Calvin Farris ’20, Will Tomlinson ’20 and Hauser combined to finish the contest in relief, allowing four runs in five innings.

The Bears will return to action Tuesday with a visit to the University of Rhode Island, before continuing conference play next weekend with a four-game series at Dartmouth.

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TODAY

MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

fa u n c e n o n c h a l a n c e

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Caprese, Chicken Ranch Chicken Parmesan Pasta JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

BBQ Burrito Bowl

Soup: Tomato Florentine, Three Bean Chili

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Breaded Chicken with Apple and Kale, Quinoa and Bulgur Pilaf, Frosted Brownies

Meatloaf with Mushroom Sauce, Vegetable and Herb Medley, Oatmeal Raisin Stuffed Cookies

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Buffalo Chicken Wings, Spinach Casserole Pasta, Green Beans, Whoopie Pies

Italian Meatballs, New England Cheddar Cheese Pie, Vegetable Saute, Chocolate Cupcakes

sudoku

ELI WHITE / HERALD

Students traipse through Faunce Arch on a sunny day. Spring temperatures have finally arrived in Providence, which will enjoy a warm and pleasant week with highs in the mid-70s.

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

“There are cultures that are dying, and their knowledge of certain plants are indispensable.” crossword

— Aja Grande ’18, founder of Brown’s Ethnobotany Society

See ethnobotany on page 1.

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12:00 P.M. Memorial Lounge

Ivy Film Festival: Across the Line 4:00 PM Granoff Studio 1

Dilma Rousseff 4:00 P.M. Salomon DECI

Film Screening: 3 Beauties 7:00 P.M. Joukowsky Forum

TOMORROW Duck Hunt 9:00 A.M. Stephen Robert Campus Center

Passover Seders 10 A.M. Brown-RISD Hillel

Brown in France Info Session 4:00 P.M. J Walter Wilson 440

Quest StoryTime 8:00 P.M. BCSC

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Setting the record straight on the residency match To the Editor: Thank you for your recent article about Match Day, the day where 115 fourth-year medical students at the Alpert Medical School were selected for post-graduation residency positions (“Med students find success on Match Day,” Apr. 4). However, as members of the Med School community in different capacities — a recent alum and a faculty member who was quoted in the article — we found parts of the article to be misleading and worthy of a more nuanced discussion.

Firstly, the accompanying graphic distorts and oversimplifies match rates at Brown. Not all students pursue residency positions after graduation, and a 94 percent versus 97 percent rate (last year’s match rate) in this context is statistically insignificant.

The graph artificially projecting 97 percent to be over twice as high as 94 percent is particularly misleading and appears to insinuate a trend where none exists.

More importantly, the article very selectively quotes one of us by focusing on match rates for competitive specialties as the only indicator of a “good medical school.” No other indicators of medical school “success” are mentioned in the article, though many such indicators exist that we had originally discussed — for example, the proportion of medical students who matched at an outstanding training program, a top hospital or one of their top choices. As you can imagine, medical schools are difficult to objectively rank (similar to universities) because of the variety of intertwining factors that affect a school’s perceived quality. What is very clear, however, is that judging a medical school’s match only by the presence of

competitive specialties is bad for applicants and bad for our health care system.

For medical school applicants, focusing on ophthalmology or orthopedic surgery match rates neglects to take into account the very personal factors that go into a student’s decision to pursue residencies in these specialties versus others — not to mention the fact that matching to a top hospital in a “non-competitive specialty” is, in reality, an equally worthy accomplishment.

For the health care system at large, a distorted focus on narrow subspecialties plays a looming role in our ever pricier but ever more fragmented model of health care delivery. Primary care providers are the centerpiece of our future health care system, and the Med School’s admirable primary care match rate — as well as our innovative Primary Care / Population Health MD-ScM program — are, in our opinion, far more important factors in making our medical school “good.”

We are happy to speak with The Herald or interested readers to correct other misconceptions, for example the article’s incorrect description of internal medicine requirements for radiation oncology residencies. While the Match’s computer-generated algorithm itself may be difficult to understand, our reasons to commend the Med School’s performance are not.

D O R O T H Y W I N D HA M

Rahul Banerjee ’10 MD’14 Senior Admitting Resident, Department of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Glenn A. Tung Professor of Diagnostic Imaging and Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs

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COMMENTARY MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Anonymous confession pages dilute campus conversation MARK LIANG staff columnist This spring, a wave of potential future first-years will excitedly join Brown’s online community. The Facebook group “Brown University Class of 2021 - Admitted Students” will be their gateway social media drug, with “likes” and “follows” of other groups not far behind. Along the way, some will inevitably wander into the many anonymous confession and submission pages that current students populate.

Brown Bears Confessions, Brown University Class Confessions, Brown University Confessions, Brown Bears Admirers, Brown University Memes and Brown Dank Stash of Memes for Unproductive Teens (a personal favorite of mine): Each group occupies a unique niche and attracts a certain following from students. Brown Class Confessions, for example, presents itself as representing “the unique experiences, problems and insight of people from different socioeconomic backgrounds.” Brown Bears Admirers is, in the words of a friend, a “true cesspit of thirst.” All of these pages

feature anonymity and student-run administrative control. The results range from vitriol and online debates to hilarity and yes, thirst. Some of the Brown groups are better than others. The Brown Bears Admirers page, thanks to its focus on content and tiptop administrative work, is cute and pretty much harmless. Other general confession pages, on the other hand, post everything from the mundane to

behind a virtual mask; combine this with a character limit, and you’ve got a recipe for toxicity. That’s not even the furthest end of the spectrum: Reddit’s 4chan and Tumblr — usually thought of as occupying opposite ends of the political spectrum ­— are both rooted in anonymous commentary and often bring out the trolls from their dark hiding spots, emboldened by anonymity. I can’t imagine how many of them

what I’ve also been seeing recently is a lot of in-fighting and bickering in the confession pages. Anonymous responses are published to anonymous posts, followed by personal call-outs and complaints. This kind of online debate is not productive, anonymous or not. These pages are becoming a central way that we communicate with other students outside our normal friend groups, and that’s a problem.

There’s also a deeper issue to think about when we consider the politics of the anonymous internet: Anonymous submission boards run the risk of normalizing what kind of content we believe should be shameful or hidden. the downright discriminatory, and we should be weary of these unproductive conversations that can be fostered by anonymous pages like these.

Anonymity has always been a touchy subject in the virtual world, and it often leads to the most controversial content. Yik Yak, an anonymous forum specifically for college students, was all the rage a while back, until its creators realized the harm it was causing on campuses and beyond; app users are now tagged to personalized IDs to prevent abusive cyberbullying. Research shows that people tend to be meaner when they get to hide

have posted in Brown’s online community, but I think there are at least a few.

One thing is certain: These anonymous pages, almost ubiquitous on college campuses nationwide, aren’t going anywhere. As the New York Times reported, they’re actually getting more popular.

I understand where some of these groups may be coming from: Anonymity can be used to bring light to important issues that aren’t covered in the mainstream, as seen with Brown Class Confessions. If done right, they can give a microphone to people who might not normally get a voice. But

There’s also a deeper issue to think about when we consider the politics of the anonymous internet: Anonymous submission boards run the risk of normalizing what kind of content we believe should be shameful or hidden. Anonymity is powerful, but it is also counter to progress. Are posts about mental health, financial destitution or political ideas only meaningful if confessed or secretly shared? As one poster in Brown Class Confessions wrote: “I hate that I voice my thoughts and feelings on this anonymous page more comfortably than the real people who I’ve been living with for years.”

Reading a Facebook page can make us more attuned to the socioeconomic problems on campus, but it also deprives low-income students of a tangible presence because they’ve become this anonymous idea. We “like” in solidarity, but in the end, confessions just become more posts swept down in a nearly endless scroll on our screens.

These issues need to be solidified and debated in a better forum so the University can become better attuned to fixing them.

We should work on taking the most important content and using it to develop real face-to-face conversations and solutions. These pages and their contributors need to engage in more meaningful ways, not only with the students that frequent the spaces, but also with those who don’t, like the administration and general public. We also need to double down and consider what this media is good for and what it will always fail to do. Otherwise, we risk cementing in our minds that some topics really only should be talked about anonymously. And that would be a shame.

Mark Liang ’19 is waiting for his Brown Bears Admirers post and can be reached at mark_liang@brown.edu.

SPORTS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2017

GYMNASTICS

Bruno finishes season at USAG Nationals in Washington Olson ’18 earns AllAmerican honors, Mitchell ’17 garners firstteam award in all-around

By TESS DEMEYER STAFF WRITER

After narrowly missing out on a victory at the ECAC Championships March 18, the gymnastics team traveled to Seattle Pacific University to compete in the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships for the fifth consecutive year. The team finished as one of the top eight teams in its region and therefore qualified for the competition.

The Bears began competition Friday night during the second preliminary session but did not advance to the team final competition, finishing outside the top two with a score of 192.225.

The fifth place preliminary finish concluded the Bears’ season as a team, but Anya Olson ’18 qualified to Sunday’s individual event finals on the uneven bars, where she finished tied for second and earned her first career First Team USAG All-American honors. Jorden Mitchell ’17 earned a spot in the vault and balance beam finals but was not able to compete due to injury. Mitchell also tallied a 38.825 to place fifth overall in the all-around competition, earning first-team honors. She finished her tenure at Brown

COURTESY OF STEW MILNE

The gymnastics team competed in the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championship for the fifth consecutive year, and many of Brown’s team members nabbed personal bests on the West Coast. Mistakes on the balance team ultimately denied Bruno a chance to compete in the team finals. with six USAG All-American honors, including three in the all-around.

The Bears opened preliminary competition on vault, where Julia Green ’19 scored 9.725 to tie a personal best. Mitchell anchored the rotation by matching her season-high 9.775 and finishing seventh overall.

A second-rotation bye resulted in a brief break from competition before Bruno took to the uneven bars. Claire Ryan ’18 notched a 9.750, and Olson

logged a 9.775. Caroline Morant ’17 made her only appearance of the night on bars and matched Ryan’s score to conclude her Brown gymnastics career. Morant previously qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships last weekend but was scratched due to injury.

“Halfway through (the competition), we were pleased and ready to go on to beam,” Mitchell said. “Everyone’s attitude the whole time was good, and

we were all having fun.”

Bruno looked poised to nab a berth in the team finals after two events, but four falls on balance beam took a toll on the team score. Ryan posted a 9.675 to tie a season-high, and Mitchell scored 9.775, tying for third overall.

“The meet’s not over until it’s over,” Mitchell said. “Anything can happen, so we put it behind us. We went out there, had fun and showed off on floor.”

Brown finished strong on floor exercise as Maggie McAvoy ’18 opened the final rotation with a personal best 9.750. Olson and Anne Christman ’20 followed with a pair of 9.700s, and Brooke Williams ’17 scored a 9.625 in her first performance of the season.

“At the end of the meet, all the seniors did a huddle, and we all started crying,” Mitchell said. “The seniors will definitely miss it, but we couldn’t be prouder of our team.”

THE 17TH ANNUAL CASEY SHEARER MEMORIAL LECTURE

A Conversation with Oscar Winner

EZRA EDELMAN

Director of Academy Award-Winning Documentary Series OJ: Made In America

April 13, 2017 @ 6:00 p.m.

MacMillan Hall / Starr Auditorium / Room 117 167 Thayer Street / Providence / Rhode Island The lecture will be preceded by a presentation of the 17th Annual Casey Shearer Memorial Awards For Excellence in Creative Nonfiction