Monday, January 31st, 2022

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022

VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 3

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

UNIVERSITY NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Andrews floods; students evacuate

Break brings COVID-19 issues for intl. students

East Andrews residents offered dry cleaning for soiled clothing, emergency housing

Quarantines, flight cancellations complicate international travel

BY NEIL MEHTA SENIOR STAFF WRITER Portions of the east wing of Andrews Hall were flooded late Saturday evening, prompting a building-wide evacuation of students, according to four Andrews residents.

Dorms in all five residential floors of the building, as well as the third and fourth floor hallways, were affected by the flood, multiple students told The Herald. Following the evacuation, students whose dorms were flooded were offered free dry cleaning for soiled clothing and limited emergency housing for the night.

Multiple students reported that a cleanup of the floor occurred early Sunday morning. All the students who spoke to The Herald were able to return to their dorms Sunday.

BY NOBLE BRIGHAM STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF CHRIS NGUYEN

Flooding in Andrews Hall was cleaned in the early morning Sunday, allowing students to return to their rooms.

In her room at home in South Africa, International Mentoring Program Coordinator Mpumi Tshabalala ’23 attached photos of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center and her dorm room to her wall to remind her of Brown after she was sent home in March 2020. Over winter break, she returned back to those photos in her South Africa home for the first time in a year. Concern about travel restrictions in May and August had dissuaded her, and she almost didn’t go home for the break.

Her experience is typical of many international students who had to decide between going home, where they would face quarantines and an

uncertain return, and remaining on campus and not seeing family for the holidays.

Tshabalala had a flight scheduled, but said she talked to deans and decided to remain in Providence due to the numerous flight cancellations.

She was also concerned that not being able to return to campus could jeopardize her visa, which allows her to study in the U.S. But after spending Christmas in the States with a friend, she ended up making the trip home when travel restrictions to South Africa were lifted in late December, she said.

Jerry Chen ’23.5, on the other hand, stayed in Providence in his apartment for the entirety of break.

To go back to his home in Shanghai would have meant at least 14 days of government-mandated quarantine. After completing quarantine, he would’ve then had to use a government tracking app that would assign him a status code — green, yellow or red — which would dictate what he

SEE FLOOD PAGE 4

SEE BREAK PAGE 3

UNIVERSITY NEWS

SPORTS

Women’s hockey upsets No. 7 Yale

New semester brings concern for Omicron Students, faculty vary in views regarding appropriate COVID-19 restrictions

BY GRACE HOLLEB SENIOR STAFF WRITER The impending threat of the Omicron variant has caused uncertainty about how to proceed with the spring semester. Some professors and students have accepted the risks of the pandemic and are prepared to slowly return to normalcy. Others remain anxious and plan to proceed with caution.

On Jan. 14, Provost Richard Locke P’18 announced that instructors must hold courses in the form they originally listed in Courses@Brown and provided instruction on how to deal with student absences due to sickness. In a follow up email Jan. 19, Locke altered the policy and said instructors can choose their mode of instruction for the first week of shopping period.

In an interview with The Herald, Locke said it was important that professors teach in the format originally listed

to avoid “bait and switch” scenarios, curb loneliness stemming from remote classes, balance safety and interactive learning, as well as follow accreditation board rules. He said that large gatherings of students for in-person classes are “perfectly healthy and safe now ... sometimes we’ve been more restrictive, other times a little more permissive ... It’s all based on the science and the public health guidelines that we get from the CDC, Rhode Island Department of Health and local health experts.”

Physician and Dean of the University’s School of Public Health Ashish Jha wrote in an email to The Herald that new variants like Omicron evoke fear and anxiety, and that it is “understandable” for faculty to feel apprehensive about teaching in-person. Still, he noted that there are no documented cases of transmission between two people with COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters wearing high quality masks. Students and faculty are required to be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 before the spring semester, and the University is providing KN-95 masks, The

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

The win included Brown’s first four-goal team performance of the season, and gave the team its first win over a ranked opponent since November 2018, when Bruno defeated No. 6 Cornell.

Brown splits weekend series against Bulldogs with home win, loss in New Haven

BY NICHOLAS MILLER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

SEE OMICRON PAGE 8

The women’s hockey team (4-17-2, 4-11-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference) upset No. 7 ranked Yale (165-1, 10-4-1 ECAC) 4-1 Friday night at Meehan Auditorium before losing to the Bulldogs 5-1 in New Haven Sunday afternoon. The Friday victory was the program’s first over a ranked opponent since November 2018, when the Bears

U. News

Sports

Arts & Culture

Sports

Climate change panel examines intersections with gender, migration Page 2

Despite individual triumphs, wrestling loses against Penn, Princeton Page 3

RISD professor Matthew Shenoda speaks on art, social change Page 5

Men’s basketball falls to Cornell 74-72 after closing 21-point deficit Page 7

defeated No. 6 Cornell.

The win included Brown’s first four-goal team performance of the season and established the team’s first winning streak following the Bears’ defeat of Union College 2-1 on Tuesday.

“We know we’re capable of this. We

SEE HOCKEY PAGE 2

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Climate panel invites experts on gender, migration, climate change Watson Institute lab co-sponsors discussion on universal impact of climate change

and differences as well,” Al-Ali said.

During the panel, speakers discussed limitations and challenges to female migration, the responsibility of governments to address climate change and migration, as well as how intersectional characteristics such as race, class or education nuance the topic of migration.

Both Lewis and panelist Sabine Manigat, professor at the State University of Haiti and Quisqueya University, spoke about the importance of geographical location in maintaining family connection and historical groundedness. Many people return to or stay in disaster-affected areas even in places like Haiti, a highly migratory country, Manigat said.

In countries like the United States, people have the luxury of ignoring the “catastrophic consequences” of climate change and loss of agriculture, unlike many other people in the world, especially women, panelist Yara Asi, assistant professor of Global Health Management and Informatics at the University of Central Florida, told The Herald.

“I think people in the US need to be well aware of the ripple effects of climate emergencies even if they are 7,000 miles away,” Asi said. “We live in a global community and we are affected by global supply chains, global migration chains (and) global health security risks. So I think this is really

one of the more defining threats of our time.”

Asi, who is Palestinian, grew up in the United States but most of her family still lives in Palestine.

“Because I kind of have one foot in both cultures … it allows me to see the challenges that they’re experiencing, while also having this global lens,” Asi added.

Panelist Dina Najjar, social and gender specialist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, emphasized the importance of field work and participant observation in gender studies, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. In one instance, Najjar observed women irrigating in Egypt despite speaking with male farmers who insisted Egyptian women did not participate in the

just have to play a really solid game and that’s what we did,” Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi said.

The Bears were outshot 32-17 in the game, but 31 saves from goalie Kaley Doyle ’24 and 15 blocked shots from Bruno skaters helped limit the Bulldogs — a team with the fifth

Skarzynski.

The Bears broke the deadlock in stunning fashion with five minutes left until intermission. Defender Cameron Sikich ’25 picked up the puck in the neutral zone and weaved through the Yale defense, leaving one defender fallen on the ice before ripping a wrist shot into the top corner. The goal was the first of her college career.

“We’re a really young team, so we’re learning,” said Ruzzi. “These last two games and even the stretch coming back from break (are the results) of growing.”

Sikich also mentioned the team’s higher energy level as an important factor in the game’s result, particularly given the Brown University Band’s appearance at the game. “The band

highest goals-per-game average in the country ­— to only one goal. “They were just grinding,” Ruzzi said. “The defenders were boxing out in front of the net, picking up sticks, there were no second attempts at pucks (and) wings were blocking.”

The Bears began the game on the backfoot, with Doyle forced into action within the first 30 seconds to deny a shot from a promising Yale 2-on-1 rush. With Doyle repeatedly fighting through scrums in the front of the net to deny Bulldog opportunities, the game remained scoreless for much of the period.

With less than a minute left until intermission, defender Abby Hancock ’25 threaded a pass through the defense to forward Tina Paolillo ’22, whose breakaway chance was denied by the Yale goalie. But continued pressure behind the net from forward Madie Stockfish ’24 returned the puck to the front of the net, where forward Maya Mangiafico ’24 picked it up, sent the goalie lunging the wrong way and flipped it in to give the Bears a 1-0 lead. It was Mangiafico’s fourth goal of the season. The Bulldogs drew equal on a power-play early in the second period with a quick wrister from de-

“The space opened up when their defense fell and I was just trying to get the puck on net, to be honest,” Sikich said. Yale raised its attacking pressure for the rest of the period, forcing Doyle to make a number of important saves, chief of which was a slick glove snare from a Yale 2-on-0 chance.

In the third period, after a Yale high-stick put the Bears on the power play, a pass from forward Anna Gallagher ’24 found forward and team captain Shay Maloney ’22 at the top of the right circle. Maloney’s low slap shot beat the Yale goalie’s outstretched blocker for her ninth goal of the season. Gallagher “has great vision on the ice so she was able to find me up top. It was pretty much all her, I just (added) the final touch,” Maloney said.

Maloney’s goal gave the Bears their first multi-goal lead of the season.

“Scoring twice in a row was huge for us,” Sikich said. “We haven’t had a two-goal lead ever yet, so when we got that third goal, it was a really big energy boost for us.”

After the goal, Bruno’s defense held strong, with Doyle making a sprawling glove save on a Yale breakaway with seven minutes to go. “Kaley Doyle gives us a ton of confidence,”

… especially was boosting us up,” she said. “Pregame, we had a lot of energy going.”

The win also snapped an 11-game losing streak for Brown against Yale, stretching back to January 2015. “This is definitely special for us, especially us seniors because we’ve never beaten [Yale],” Maloney said. “It was a huge win for the team and definitely a confidence booster.”

But the Bears were unable to carry their momentum into Sunday’s gamein New Haven. Gallagher scored the lone Bruno goal at the end of the second period to make it a 2-1 game, but two Bulldog goals on either side of the intermission turned the game into a blowout. “It was not something that Yale did,” Ruzzi said of the difference between the two games. “We did not execute.” Ruzzi specifically identified cheap turnovers given away by the Bears as a factor in the lopsided scoreline.

“We know we can play with anybody in the country,” Ruzzi said of the weekend series as a whole. “Our details need to be on point.”

The Bears will return to the ice next weekend in a visit to Union on Friday and Dartmouth on Sunday.

fender Vita Poniatovskaia that made its way through traffic and into the top corner of the net. The next 10 minutes consisted of hard-fought, physical action that included matching roughing penalties from Bruno forward Anna Hurd ’25 and Yale defender Greta

Ruzzi said. “She made some huge, huge saves.” Brown iced the game with 34 seconds left when Stockfish slotted the puck in an empty net after Yale pulled its goalie, giving the Bears their second win in a row and fourth of the season.

“Those are two games we have to win,” Ruzzi said.

Despite the disheartening nature of Sunday’s loss, Ruzzi affirmed that it was a learning experience, saying, “You learn more from a loss than you do a win.”

BY HALEY SANDLOW SENIOR STAFF WRITER On Friday, Jan. 28, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies Nadje Al-Ali and Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies Patsy Lewis invited four experts to participate in a virtual panel discussion on the intersections of climate change, displacement and gender. The event, called “Climate Change and Displacement: Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East,” was co-sponsored by the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute and was also streamed on the Watson Institute’s YouTube channel.

“Our two centers have been collaborating on a number of issues already of global interest,” Lewis told The Herald. “We have been trying to see how … problems are manifested in different regions and how the responses might be similar or different.”

“While it’s important to zoom into the specifics of either the Middle East, Latin America or the Caribbean, it’s also important to de-exceptionalize the regions and look at commonalities

HOCKEY FROM PAGE 1

HALEY SANDLOW / HERALD

Nadje Al-Ali and Patsy Lewis, experts on the Middle East and Latin America, respectively, hosted four panelists. activity.

“Impacts of climate change are gendered,” Najjar told The Herald.

“They’re not the same. We need to optimize on women’s abilities to participate in … mitigation measures.”

Panelist Lucila Nejamkis, a CLACS visiting professor, emphasized the need for academics to work on concrete solutions to problems such as those linked to climate change. For the past three years, Nejamkis has been studying the link between climate change, migration and gender in a heavily polluted area near Buenos Aires, as well as working towards solutions to improve conditions there. “(People in the academic community) have a very distinguished position in society,” Nejamkis told The Herald.

“The most important thing is not only

the academic knowledge, (but also) the transformative tools for these women.”

Al-Ali said she hopes audience members take away the importance of examining how certain issues affect men and women differently. “We want to ask our panelists specifically, how women are affected … as victims of forced migration and as victims of climate change,” Al-Ali said. “Women (are often) at the forefront of the coping mechanisms and the solutions.”

“I am hoping that people … are going to come to hear about what’s happening in their particular region,” Lewis said. “I’m hoping that they leave (the panel) with a wider appreciation of the extent to which the challenges in their region are not unique (but also) felt in a very peculiar particular way.”

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

3

SPORTS

Wrestling drops dual meets to rivals Penn, Princeton Blake Saito ’25 upsets Penn’s Anthony Artalona, Harrison Trahan ’25 secures individual win

BY RYAN HANDEL STAFF WRITER The wrestling team (2-7, 1-5 Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association) fell to Ivy League rivals Penn (3-1, 3-0 EIWA) and Princeton (4-2, 3-0 EIWA) Friday at the Pizzitola Sports Center, by scores of 36-3 and 39-4, respectively. Brown earned one individual win in each match, with Blake Saito ’25 (149 lbs) taking out Anthony Artalona of Penn, ranked 20th in the country, for the biggest upset of his collegiate career. Harrison Trahan ’25 COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS (165 lbs) picked up a major decision Blake Saito ’25 took out 20th-ranked wrestler Anthony Artalona of Penn in a major individual upset. over Princeton’s Jake Marsh.

The Bears first took on Penn at noon Friday, and kicked things off posto to his back, sending the match chaotic scramble in which each man dominated the upperweights, winwith the 125-pound weight class with into overtime. In overtime, Composto was nearly pinned, but no takedown ning by major decision at 184 lbs, 7-0 Hunter Adrian ’25 taking on 25th- cradled Levine and nearly pinned him, was awarded. Saito held on for the decision at 197 lbs and first period ranked Ryan Miller. Both wrestlers winning the match 16-10.

4-1 upset, earning one of the biggest pin at heavyweight, to complete the started conservatively, with each Next, Saito wrestled Artalona, a individual victories of Brown’s season. 36-3 blowout. man picking up a stalling warning in 2019 NCAA Round of 12 finisher. Saito “That’s a position I’m pretty com“Hats off to Penn, they did a great a scoreless first period. But Miller used said he approached his matchup with fortable in,” Saito said of the final job today,” Beckerman said after the an escape and a single leg takedown Artalona “pretty similar to any anoth- scramble. “It may not have looked that Bears’ match against the Quakers. in the second period to pull ahead er match. Go in, be loose, be warm, be way, but (I) just kept (my) head cool, “I thought our guys fought hard in and eventually win the match 4-1, ready to go and wrestle in positions kept (my) head in the game.” a lot of positions. Things that we’ve giving Penn an early advantage. Penn that I’m good at.”

“That was big,” Head Coach Todd been working on all week and the last earned a major decision victory at 133 Saito showed his defensive prow- Beckerman said of Saito’s match. couple of weeks, it was showing out pounds, as 16th-ranked Michael Co- ess in the first period, circling out of “We gotta feed off that. Blake’s been there. We still have some work to put laiocco beat Nicky Cabanillas ’23 12-2, a single leg shot to avoid being taken working hard in the (wrestling) room, in to get ready for the end of the year, putting the Quakers up 7-0 as a team. down. In the second period, Artalo- getting better, and it showed in that but I thought we fought hard in this Timothy Levine ’25 then took on na escaped for a 1-0 lead. Saito took match.” match.”

16th-ranked CJ Composto at 141 lbs control in the third, escaping and then Penn regained momentum with a Princeton started hot against the in arguably the most unpredictable taking down Artalona with an ankle 4-0 win at 157 lbs, and 21st-ranked Bears at 6 p.m. Friday, as first-ranked match of the day. Composto was in pick. Artalona appeared to injure his Lucas Revano continued it with a Pat Glory proved deserving of his high control for most of the match, and led knee during Saito’s takedown, but major decision over Trahan. Brown ranking with a 16-1 technical fall over 9-4 late in the third period. But Levine was able to return to the match. In forfeited at 174 lbs, and Penn pulled Adrian. Then, Nicholas Kayal defeated won a late scramble and turned Com- the final minute, the wrestlers had a away to a 23-3 lead. The Quakers Reese Fry ’23 6-1 at 133 lbs to give the

BREAK FROM PAGE 1 would be allowed to do.

Chen tried to make the most of his break in Providence. He de-compressed from a hectic fall semester, worked on planning a sustainable investing conference that he’s involved with, spent about two weeks with his mother — who was in the U.S. on a business trip — and made trips to Boston and Amherst to visit friends.

It was strange to see the campus and streets empty at the start of break, he said. But he had experienced the same thing when he stayed on campus as others left in March 2020.

And though Chen hasn’t been home for a year, he doesn’t mind being on his own. “I’m not a person that misses home that much, partly because I’ve always lived kind of independently and I don’t rely on my parents that much,” he said. Plus, it’s preparation for life after college, he added.

The Global Brown Center organized activities for students on campus. Andrew Heald, the center’s program director, said that the center’s student staff members in Providence got access to snacks for hosting events.

Program Coordinator Natalia Roman Alicea said they also set up a group chat for students who would remain at the University during break, which 68 people joined.

IMP coordinators and other international students held casual gatherings, Tshabalala said, but plans for

movie nights were canceled because of COVID-19 concerns.

According to Sherab Dorji ’22.5, a student from Bhutan who stayed on campus, Residential Life also organized activities, including offering movie tickets, a tour of the RISD Museum,

a raffle to go skating in Providence and a meal with President Christina Paxson P’19.

Health Services, CAPS, Brown EMS and the Administrator on Call remained available to help students, according to an announcement by the

Division of Campus Life.

Despite the University’s attempts to help international students, for Tshabalala, the uncertainty was especially difficult. She thinks it’s part of the reason people didn’t go home.

“You never really know what’s going to

Tigers an 8-0 lead.

Levine took part in another shootout against Princeton’s Daniel Coles, but fell 13-7. Saito was unable to capitalize on the momentum from his win over Artalona, losing 16-2 to the Tigers’ Marshall Keller. Eighthranked Quincy Monday earned a pin at 157 lbs, and the Tigers swept Bruno’s lightweights to pull ahead 22-0.

Marsh looked ready to continue Princeton’s clinical performance as he earned the first takedown against Trahan. But Trahan transitioned from a throw attempt to a cradle and took down Marsh for a 3-2 lead. In the second period, Trahan nearly locked up another cradle, but Marsh escaped to make the score 3-3. In the third, Trahan turned the close match into a dominant win, reversing Marsh and tilting him before tripping him to his back, taking a 14-4 major decision win.

“When I got the reversal, I felt (Marsh) kind of get tired,” Trahan said. “I knew that was my moment to capitalize (and) score points in a couple of bunches.”

“Nice win (at 165 lbs) with Harrison really pushing that pace and finishing the whole seven minutes,” Beckerman said.

With a forfeit at 174 lbs, a decision at 184 lbs, a tech fall at 197 lbs and a major decision at heavyweight, Princeton cemented a 39-4 team victory.

Princeton “was a tough match.

Princeton is a solid team from top to bottom,” Beckerman said. “We have a lot … to still work on this week and the rest of the season to get ready for the national tournament.”

Bruno now has two weeks off from competition before traveling to New York to take on EIWA rivals Columbia and Long Island University.

happen. You never know when flights are going to get canceled or not get canceled,” she said. “You never know if your own country or the U.S. or other countries are going to put in place travel restrictions.”

SUMMER ZHANG / HERALD

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Positive COVID-19 rates “quite a bit lower” than expected University prepared for “hundreds, if not 1,000” students who report positive test results

BY GABRIELLA VULAKH SCIENCE AND RESEARCH EDITOR

Sixty-six students and 45 employees reported positive COVID-19 test results on campus from Jan. 20 to 26, and approximately 36 students are currently in isolation in on-campus or designated off-campus housing, according to a Jan. 28 Today@Brown announcement.

Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 said the number of positive test results in the first week students returned from break was “quite a bit lower” compared to other institutions.

“We were certainly preparing for hundreds of positive test results, so to have (fewer) than 100 is excellent,” Carey said. “The next week is really going to be very instructive” to see if the number of positive cases increases, he added.

Students who are isolating on campus are currently using Andrews Dining Hall to pick up meals and other essential items, The Herald previously reported. The University decided to re-

FLOOD FROM PAGE 1 It was not immediately clear what caused the flooding at the time of publication.

Facilities Management and the Office of Residential Life were unavailable for comment at press time.

The administrator on call declined to comment.

Multiple RPLs in Andrews contacted by The Herald did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

The alarm was triggered at the tail end of a blizzard that rocked the northeast and forced a variety of University operations, including some dining halls and shuttle service, to temporarily shutter. Providence received approximately 12 inches of

serve Andrews for students in isolation since it was “preparing for hundreds, if not 1,000 students to report positive test results,” Carey said.

“If that had happened, or if it (does happen), those people … will need to get food in a way that minimizes their contact with others,” he added. But so far the number of students isolating is “well below what we have capacity for.”

Still, it is “certainly possible” that students who test positive once can test positive again, Carey said. “The chances get reduced, but certainly we’ve had experience with people who’ve had COVID-19 more than once, so everybody should continue to treat it seriously,” he said.

Once a student who contracts COVID-19 tests negative on their fifth day of isolation and is released, they should still practice “stricter” mask-wearing for days six through 10, Carey explained.

“People who’ve tested positive need to be very careful and be really mindful of the impact that they can have on others,” he said. “Continuing to exercise common sense, and particularly to be really scrupulous about mask wearing, is very important.”

Students will be able to pick up two more rapid antigen tests Monday, which they will use to satisfy the testing requirement for the upcoming week.

Students will be able to pick up sets of two tests on Monday for the next two

snow, according to latest National Weather Service estimates.

The evacuation was met with confusion from students, according to Andrews resident Devon Newman ’25, whose room was not affected by the flooding.

“I was about to fall asleep, and this wailing alarm went off … and I thought, ‘Oh, this probably isn’t a drill,’” Newman said. “A lot of us didn’t know what was going on.”

“It was around 10:30 (p.m.) when I heard the fire alarm go off,” added Andrews resident Julia Gugulski ’25.

“Because of the snow, people were slow to leave.”

Following the evacuation, many students waited outdoors or entered the nearby Smith-Buonanno Hall.

Others entered the adjacent Metcalf

VICTORIA YIN / HERALD

During the week of Jan. 20 to Jan. 26, the University logged positive COVID-19 cases among 66 students and 45 employees, a figure lower than expected. weeks, according to the announcement.

“By the time we get to mid-February, hopefully we’ll be in a better place and can reassess what’s necessary (in terms of the testing requirement),” Carey said.

Carey said that about “half” of graduat and medical school, for whom testing is optional, “have actually picked up tests. Students on University insurance

plans can also buy antigen tests and get them reimbursed, similar to the reimbursement model for all insurance plans recently mandated by the federal government.

Carey said he would “promote” the reimbursement model for employees, as students are already required to test weekly through the University, but “anybody can take advantage of it.”

The University will be hosting another COVID-19 booster clinic offering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the multipurpose room of the Health and Wellness Center Feb. 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to a Jan. 27 Today@ Brown announcement. Students can register for the clinic in order to receive a booster shot.

Hall once permitted by RPLs. “I stood outside on the stairs in front of Metcalf for about 30 minutes,” Newman said. “And then, finally, (nearby RPLs) said we could go inside.”

After the alarms stopped, students returned to “at least two inches of standing water” in the third and fourth floor hallways of Andrews Hall’s east wing, Newman said. The upper floors of Andrews were the worst hit by the flood, according to Andrews resident Chris Nguyen ’25, whose dorm room on the third floor was flooded.

After the initial evacuation alarms, Nguyen “went outside and saw water starting to drip from the windows,” he said. Upon returning to his hallway, water was flowing from

under his dorm door. Inside, the water was “two inches deep and muddy.”

“About 15 minutes after we found out that our room was flooded, an RPL came by,” Nguyen said. “She gave us her phone number and said that if we needed immediate housing, we could text her.”

Students affected by the flooding were offered dry cleaning for any clothing soiled in the flood, multiple students said. One such student was Andrews basement resident Sam Latzman ’25.

“There was probably about half an inch of water on the dorm floor,” Latzman said. “Because the leak went off in my closet, it just got all of my clothes wet.”

Following the flooding, an RPL

told Latzman to leave the soiled clothes in a labeled bag to be picked up for dry cleaning, he said.

Students were also offered emergency housing, according to Latzman, but were encouraged to spend the night in another dorm if possible.

“There was going to be emergency housing if we needed it … but there wasn’t enough for everybody in Andrews,” he said.

According to Nguyen, Facilities Management came to the dorms in under an hour after the incident, and a cleaning crew followed at approximately 3 a.m.

“The cleanup happened overnight,” Nguyen said. “Now, my entire floor is good.”

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The University will be hosting another COVID-19 booster clinic offering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in the multipurpose room of the Health and Wellness Center Feb. 1 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Students can register for the clinic in order to receive a booster.

*APPROXIMATE

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

5

ARTS & CULTURE

RISD Professor Matthew Shenoda speaks on art, social equity RISD prof. reflects on his work as a poet, leader for social change on RISD’s campus

BY HELEN HORANGIC CONTRIBUTING WRITER Author and RISD Professor Matthew Shenoda spoke Thursday evening at an event featuring readings of his poetry, his thoughts on social equity and inclusion at RISD and everything in between.

The reading was the first installment of a new five-part virtual event series hosted by the Literary Arts department. These events will feature “distinguished artists (and) writers,” and “each visitor will present an artist’s talk with readings, presentations and/or performance extracts” in addition to discussing their field and their vision for the future of “interdisciplinary and inclusive arts,” wrote Gale Nelson, Literary Arts academic program director and the organizer of the series, in an email to The Herald.

Shenoda is currently a professor of Literary Arts at RISD, where he also serves as the vice president and associate provost for social equity and inclusion. Shenoda was introduced by poet and Assistant Professor of Literary Arts Sawako Nakayasu, who noted his list of achievements and accolades: Winning the American Book Award twice, authoring a number of other poetry collections and serving in multiple editorial positions, including as the founding editor of the African Poetry Book Fund.

The American-born son of Coptic Christians, Shenoda’s written work focuses on diasporic identity and

HELEN HORANGIC / HERALD

The reading was the first installment of a new five-part virtual event series hosted by the Literary Arts department. pan-Arabism. Bringing together elements of his work as both a writer and activist for social equity and justice, he began his reading with a quote from South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko that framed the rest of the talk: “It is perhaps fitting to start by examining why it is necessary for us to think collectively about a problem we never created.”

Shenoda said he aims to use his voice to further the collective conversation around striving toward social equity in a post-colonialist world.

He told the audience that one of the central harms of colonialism is “the creation and dissemination of simplistic binaries to describe the human experience. Dominant and often totalizing representations in their myriad forms work as tools of imperialism and colonization rather

than as a tool of humanization and education,” he said. In his work for social equity and inclusion at RISD, he said he works to reverse these trends.

As a poet, Shenoda views his craft as an essential part of moving toward social equity on RISD’s campus and beyond. “I see that one of the jobs of poetry is to challenge these narratives that are all-too-often vilifying and stultifying representations,” Shenoda said. “Look at poetry as a form of representation, an alternative type of media. It is the simple daily events that center us as humans and that create the narratives and shape our identities and understandings of ourselves.”

Shenoda argues that all art, not just poetry, embodies the work of creating “a different and radical counter-ethic” around understanding each

other and humanity as a whole.

“The role of all good art in relation to humanity should be to make complex the understanding of the human experience,” Shenoda said.

“Artists, designers and scholars of the arts play one of the most significant roles in helping drive this work … they most deeply understand the necessary textures and ethereal complexities of the human condition, as we are so often in need of seeing things from multiple angles in order to accomplish our own work.”

Still, Shenoda included a word of warning. As both an artist and scholar of art, he expressed that “we do not take the time to understand our position in a greater context, but rather often enter into spaces with a sense of expertise that erases so much around us and diminishes our work, artistic

practices and research capabilities.”

Shenoda concluded that the solution to this problem is to keep asking questions. Artists, scholars of art and people everywhere “need to ask constantly … how we can cultivate and deepen relational engagement on a daily basis, … what power the experiential plays in the shaping of society, … (and) how engaging practice, often with failure attached, makes us better.”

“The goal,” Shenoda said, “is to galvanize these questions into action, to move them from our localized spaces to wider spaces and to become greater advocates and ambassadors for what we know. Each is essential to the betterment of humanity.”

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

6

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022

EDITORIAL

Respect the concerns of the COVID-cautious Even as the pandemic rages on, public health measures have increasingly become a matter of personal responsibility on College Hill. Students on campus are now accountable for administering their own COVID-19 tests and reporting positive results. Despite high case counts nationwide, Brown students face far fewer restrictions now than they did last year. Our cafeterias and lecture halls remain open, for the most part.

Some of this freedom is justified. A vaccinated and boosted population and a better understanding of how the virus works mean that autonomy and safety can coexist.

But during a pandemic, there is a fine line between freedom and folly. Our campus cannot dismiss the continued danger of COVID-19 and forget that personal decisions still have public consequences.

For some on College Hill, fears over COVID-19 have faded; some speak of infection as inconsequential or inevitable. But such an outlook is not a luxury that everyone can afford. Every day, community members who are immunocompromised, for example, face a far grimmer calculus than their peers. Yet many professors, students and administrators take for granted that everyone is now ready for pre-pandemic normalcy. The vulnerable are now forced to advocate for themselves, asking instructors to better accommodate remote participation and reminding students in the elevators to wear their masks over their noses.

This shouldn’t be the case. As a community, our decisions must consider the concerns of the most COVID-cautious among us. And as individuals, we should not assume that our own attitudes toward the virus are shared by others. Instructors should proactively ask their classes how their course policies can better support students who need to stay home. When meeting with classmates to work on an assignment, students should take the small step to ask whether it is okay to unmask or perhaps consider remote collaboration. In whatever context, we should all be accomodating of varying COVID comfort levels. Caution should be the default; individuals shouldn’t need to justify legitimate fears.

It goes without saying that students should diligently adhere to testing responsibilities and stay home when they have symptoms. In shared spaces, students should remember to properly wear masks, and in classrooms, instructors should take care to enforce masking policies. These practices are a sign of respect, helping ensure that others feel safe in public settings. And, of course, they also matter from a public health standpoint. The protective measures we take are not symbolic, but scientific. Infractions add up — more exposure, more quarantines, more illness. Conversely, small sacrifices — distancing, masking, avoiding unsafe crowds — keep us safe. Our choices impact not only our campus, but the broader Providence community.

After two years, we understand that many are tired of seemingly endless restrictions. With the tools and knowledge we now have, we are better equipped to avoid another lockdown. But we must remember that freedom looks different for everyone. In the long journey back to normalcy, we cannot leave anyone behind.

—Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. This editorial was written by its editor Johnny Ren ’23, and members Catherine Healy ’22, Caroline Nash’22, Augustus Bayard ’24, Devan Paul ’24 and Kate Waisel ’24.

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MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

7

SPORTS

Men’s basketball fails to complete comeback vs. Cornell With 74-72 loss against Cornell, Bears have won two of last 10 games since Dec. 27

BY GABRIELLA SARTORI SENIOR STAFF WRITER The men’s basketball team continued their season during the winter break from December into January, winning two of 10 games. In their most recent game against Cornell Sunday, the Bears erased a 21-point deficit but fell just short, losing 74-72.

Brown’s winter break contests included games against top opponents such as Syracuse University of the Atlantic Coast Conference and University of Maryland of the Big Ten. The Bears fell to Syracuse 93-62 at the Carrier Dome Dec. 27. A big second half performance lifted the Orange to victory after the Bears trailed by just six at halftime. Kino Lilly Jr. ’25 led the Bears with 13 points on a 5-for-12 night from the field. Captain Tamenang Choh ’GS had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds, and Dan Friday ’23 chipped in eight points and five assists.

The main story of the game was Syracuse’s sharp shooting from three. The Orange shot 61.9% (13-for-21) from deep on the night. Despite 10 points from Lilly down the stretch, the Orange offense was just too much. Syracuse would add 25 points over the final 10 minutes to claim the 93-62 victory.

On Dec. 30, the Bears lost to Maryland by a score 81-67 at the XFINITY Center. The Bears led their Big Ten opponent by four at the half, but the Terrapins had a big second half on both ends of the floor to claim the win. Choh led Brown with 25 points, one short of tying his career high, and added seven rebounds and a pair of assists.

Lilly had 17 points and three assists, while forward Jaylan Gainey ’22 had 10 points and three blocks and Paxson Wojcik ’23 contributed a career-high nine rebounds. A back-and-forth first ten minutes of the game saw Choh and Gainey combine for 18 of the Bears’ first 20 points. Brown would push its lead to four multiple times throughout the first half before taking its largest lead of the game with 2:16 left in the frame.

Brown went up by six, with 16:47 to go in the second half after a Choh three,

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Brown’s winter break contests included games against top opponents such as Syracuse University and University of Maryland. but the Terrapins scored the next 13 points to lead 52-45 at 12:40. From that point on, the Bears would not get within five, which came at 11:59 after a Friday layup. A three by Lilly at 3:58 cut Maryland’s lead to eight, but the Terrapins would score eight of the final 10 points of the game to eliminate the Bears’ chance for a comeback.

Brown turned its attention to Ivy League play as the Bears opened the conference portion of their slate on Jan. 2 at Penn. The Bears have now played all seven other Ivy opponents this season, maintaining a 2-5 in-conference record.

The team’s comeback attempt fell just short at Penn, as the Bears dropped their Ivy League opener 77-73 to the Quakers. Brown trailed by 10 at the half but managed to work the deficit all the way back to two late in the game.

The Bears used a 9-2 run that went from the 2:15 mark of the second half down to just 12 seconds remaining, to cut the Penn lead to 75-73. Wojcik was fouled on his successful layup attempt and sank the free throw to get Brown within two, but the rally didn’t last and the Bears fell short.

Brown earned its first Ivy League victory of the season as the Bears took down Harvard 84-73 at the Lavietes Pavilion Jan. 7. As a team, the Bears were 15-for-26 (57.7%) from down-

town, which was both their most made three-point field goals and highest three-point percentage of the season.

Four Brown players ended up in double figures with Lilly leading the way with 23 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three. Choh had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Wojcik tied his career high of 17 points. Guard Perry Cowan ’23 had a career-high 15 points, all from three-pointers, and he was 5-of-7 from three. The Bears went on to play Dartmouth in a loss of 58-46 on an Ivy League back-to-back Jan. 8. Choh led all scorers with a game-high 23 points and earned his second double-double of the season by grabbing 12 boards. Brown started fast and had a quick 10-0 lead just four minutes into the game thanks to five points from Choh, three from Lilly, and two from co-captain David Mitchell ’22. The Big Green offense began to wake up and the game started to slip away from the Bears.

Brown fell to Princeton 76-74 in another close contest Jan. 15. Lilly led the Bears with a career-high 25 points.

Choh contributed 18 points, a teamhigh seven assists and four rebounds.

Friday was the third Bear in double digits as he scored 10 and added two assists and one steal. The game saw 19 lead changes with neither side ever leading by more than six.

Brown dropped their next game, a

Jan. 17 tilt against Yale, by a score of 66-63. The Bears used a 13-1 run late in the second half to cut Yale’s lead to one, but couldn’t seal the deal as the visiting Bulldogs claimed the victory.

Trailing 59-46 with 8:07 remaining in the game, the Bears scored 13 of the next 14 points to climb back to 60-59.

After two free throws by Yale pushed its lead back to three, Choh (30 points) pulled the Bears within one at 63-62 with just 46 seconds to play. On the ensuing Bulldog possession, Gainey recorded his fifth block of the game, but the ball ricocheted off the glass and straight to a Yale player who sunk the second-chance layup. Brown missed a three on its next possession and two free throws by the Bulldogs all but iced the game, putting them up five with three seconds remaining. Choh sank one more basket as time expired, but it wasn’t enough.

The Bears bounced back Jan. 22, defeating Columbia 93-74. The Bears saw four players score in double figures, forced the Lions into 22 turnovers and recorded a season-high 14 steals. Choh led Brown with 20 points and eight rebounds. Wojcik had 15 on 4-of-6 shooting from three, Forward Nana Owusu-Anane ’25 put up 12 and Cowan finished with 11. Gainey scored eight and added eight rebounds and two blocks. Kimo Ferrari ’24 had a game-

high four steals. The Bears recorded 34 points off turnovers and, thanks to 13 offensive rebounds, had 14 second-chance points.

In a hard fought game against Cornell University Sunday afternoon, the Bears came all the way back from a 21-point deficit early in the second half, but ultimately fell 74-72 at the buzzer at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

“During the first half, we were really bad — both on offense and defense, we dug ourselves a huge hole,” head coach Mike Martin ’04 said. “Clearly, we did some great things to come back in the game, but those first 21 minutes are part of the game too, just like the last 19 minutes.”

Lilly tied the game twice down the stretch. With 3:21 to play, Lilly hit a three that tied the game at 65. Over the next two minutes, Cornell built its lead back to five points, at 72-67.

Another three by Lilly cut the deficit to two, and then a layup by the freshman with 32 seconds left on the clock tied things at 72.

Lilly led all players in the game with 23 points and added two rebounds and two assists as well. Wojcik had 16 points, four rebounds and led the team with three assists. Choh, who was in foul trouble for a good portion of the second half, finished with 10 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists.

“We have to be better in the first half,” Lilly said. “We went down big in the first half, dug ourselves a big hole.

We’ve got to be better than that.”

Cornell used 53.1% shooting in the first half to build its lead, compared to Brown’s 35.7% first-half clip. In the game, the Big Red shot 42.4%, while the Bears hit 39.0% of their shots.

“I was really proud of our effort in the second half,” Wojcik said. “But there’s no reason why we can’t play with that energy and that spirit for the whole game. We know what we are capable of when we play with that emotion; we just need to play with it for all 40 minutes.”

The Bears will have a chance to do just that as they head into their final back-to-back weekend of the season next week. Brown will take on Harvard on Friday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. and Dartmouth on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 6 p.m. Both games will be played at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

8

ASHLEY CHOI / HERALD

OMICRON FROM PAGE 1 Herald previously reported.

Locke said the vast majority of classes this academic year are fully in-person, with about 40 hybrid or fully online courses in the fall semester and slightly more in the spring due to worries over the Omicron variant.

For some professors, concern over COVID-19 has remained or increased this semester.

Before Locke announced the option to teach remotely during shopping period, graduate students organized a petition calling on Locke to reinstate flexibility over teaching modes, according to Ben Easton, a third-year PhD candidate in the Hispanic Studies department. “We shouldn’t have to decide between our health … and our work,” Easton, who teaches seminars, said. He said he thinks the University should maintain more of the same precautions

that they had at the beginning of the pandemic.

But Jha said the pandemic today looks very different from March 2020 because of effective vaccines and masks. Professor of Economics and Professor of International and Public Affairs Emily Oster echoed this opinion, arguing that the risks of illness no longer outweigh the large costs to student learning from online instruction. Going online “reflects an outmoded level of caution. And it represents a failure of universities to protect their students’ interests,” Oster said in an Atlantic article on Jan 5. She told The Herald that in a hybrid course she taught last year, she noticed a significant decrease in motivation among students.

For Jad Hamze ’25, remote learning was a difficult experience back in high school. He said he was “thankful” all of his classes are in-person this year.

“It’s just really hard to focus when

you’re looking at a computer screen the whole time,” Hamze said. “It just doesn’t click at all. You have to be really personally motivated to learn online.”

Some professors voiced that health risks are still too concerning for certain members of the Brown community to accept teaching in-person. Comparative Literature professor Arnold Weinstein was approved to teach remotely for the entire year. “Teaching on Zoom is imperfect, but students and professors tend to be grateful it happens at all,” Weinstein wrote in an email to The Herald. “(Zoom) does work, and is far better than the risk of breakthrough infection for someone my age,” he added.

For Brown community members with low-risk, some still worry about spreading the virus. “What if I end up sitting on a plane going back home or over spring break, and I give it to a senior citizen ... it’s tough to play

with,” Hamze said.

Still, Jha thinks that the risk of COVID-19 transmission on campus is low, as the Omicron wave is already receding and should be at lower levels in the coming weeks.

“There is little reason to believe that there will be spread (of COVID-19) in the classrooms,” Jha said. “The spread, which should not be extensive, will happen in residential halls and other places where we people congregate without masks.

With testing, we can hopefully keep that to a minimum.”

Professor of Sociology John Logan decided last summer that he would request to teach both fall and spring courses online. Although he was surprised with how well Zoom worked to teach his small classes during the pandemic, Logan admitted that he prefers teaching in-person.

“I sort of wish now that I had the option to switch (back to in-person teaching) some time during the se-

mester,” Logan said. “(But) I wouldn’t criticize any part of the administration for their decision. It would be very messy if everyone could switch back and forth when they choose,” Logan said.

After shopping period, Michal Loren ’23 hopes that campus will eventually return to a pre-pandemic normal. As a junior, her only semester without the pandemic has been her freshman fall. “I didn’t really get to know classmates or professors or make new friends my sophomore year because it was hard to meet people.

Most of my close friends now are from my freshman year,” Loren said.

Zoe Kemper ’24 thinks that students will continue to worry less about contracting and spreading the virus. “Obviously, the way Omicron is gonna get spread at Brown is going to be through social events,” Kemper said. “But I don’t think it’s something to stop us from socializing and enjoying the semester as students.”