SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 17
SPORTS
EJ Perry ’21.5 performs at NFL Combine Perry stands out with 4.65 second 40-yard dash with 2022 NFL draft looming
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
UNIVERSITY NEWS
GLO, U. continue stipend negotiations University’s counterproposal is “unacceptable,” GLO representatives say
BY RYAN HANDEL STAFF WRITER Former Brown quarterback EJ Perry ’21.5 participated in the 2022 NFL Combine this past week at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to attempt to raise his stock for the 2022 NFL Draft. Perry performed well in Thursday’s physical testing, leading all quarterback prospects with a 6.85 second threecone drill and a 4.18 second 20-yard shuttle. He also ran a 4.65 second 40yard dash — the second-fastest of all quarterbacks, behind University of Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder — and had the second-best vertical jump (34.50”) and second-best broad jump (10’3”). Perry posted the highest athleticism score of any quarterback at the Combine, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. In addition to his physical testing, Perry had the opportunity to perform
BY CHARLIE CLYNES SENIOR STAFF WRITER
COURTESY OF CHARLES BAKST
SEE NFL PAGE 5
Perry had the opportunity to perform throwing drills in front of scouts and to meet in person with personnel from various NFL teams.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
ARTS & CULTURE
COVID-19 cases decline for third straight week
The University and the Graduate Labor Organization continued their negotiations regarding fiscal year 2023 stipend increases for graduate student workers in a March 2 meeting. In response to GLO’s proposal for a 21% stipend increase at a meeting last month, the University offered a 4.25% raise and “several cash increases to the base stipend totaling about $1,500,” Alessandro Moghrabi GS, chair of GLO’s Bargaining Committee, told The Herald. The University’s offer also includes a one-time $500 payment “in recognition of the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” wrote University Spokesperson Brian Clark in an
email to The Herald. GLO initially proposed a 25% stipend increase at a meeting in January, The Herald previously reported. After the University initially made its counteroffer, GLO revised its demands to a 21% base stipend increase. The 4.25% raise and cash increases together would amount to an effective 14.2% stipend increase for humanities and social sciences students and an effective 8.5% increase for students in the sciences, according to the University. But GLO disputes these figures. The University’s offer “basically already include(s) stuff that we won last year and that they have to give to us anyway, as per contract,” Moghrabi said. The University’s calculation of effective pay increase, Moghrabi said, included a $1,500 “equity adjustment,” the 4.25% stipend increase and an increase to the standard summer base stipend across disciplines. As part of last year’s agreement, GLO was guaranteed summer stipend
SEE GLO PAGE 7
Mezcla explores styles in spring show
Some classes transition enced this semester — a rise in cases to in-person instruction at the beginning of the semester and a decline as the semester progressed, after beginning Carey told The Herald. Since the peak of 361 positive COVID-19 tests from semester remotely BY HALEY SANDLOW SENIOR STAFF WRITER Positive COVID-19 cases among students have declined for the third week in a row, according to a March 4 COVID-19 Campus Safety Update from Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06. Eighty students reported positive COVID-19 test results from Feb. 24 to March 2, according to the announcement, a 10% decrease from the 88 positive tests reported the week before. Fifty-one students are currently in isolation in designated isolation housing on and off campus. Nine employees reported positive COVID-19 tests in the same time frame, up from six the week before. The University had “expected” a similar trajectory of COVID-19 cases to what the community has experi-
Feb. 3 to 9, the University has seen a consistent decline in cases every week. A similar decline “has been happening at other institutions and … in the community around us,” Carey said. “It’s all headed in a good direction.” The University will continue to provide two rapid antigen tests per week to the community through the end of March, Carey said. Testing remains optional for staff, faculty and graduate and medical students and the University has seen a decline in demand for tests from these groups, he added, emphasizing that University has enough test supplies to “get us through all of March.” As of March 2, individuals who have received the recommended COVID-19 and booster vaccines are no longer required to wear masks at theater performances and in recreation and fitness facilities, The Her-
COURTESY OF MEZCLA / ABIGAIL WESSON
Mezcla’s show, entitled “Revival,” explored numerous different types of dance, including tango, Paso Dobe, salsa, hip-hop and Marinera Norteña.
Friday, Saturday night shows sell out for group’s first performance since 2020 BY RYA VALLABHANENI SENIOR STAFF WRITER
SEE COVID PAGE 3
Mezcla — Brown/RISD’s Latinx dance troupe — opened their doors around 6:15 p.m. on March 3 to welcome viewers to Alumnae Hall for their first show since 2020. An hour later, there was not one empty seat in the house. Attended by an audience of over 300 at each performance, Mezcla’s “Revival” was a culmination of the work of over 20 dancers and a dedicated tech staff. Both their Friday and Saturday
Sports
Sports
Arts & Culture
Commentary
Women’s and men’s lacrosse win weekend games Page 2
Women’s basketball loses to Yale on senior night Page 3
RISD seniors display artwork at Woods-Gerry Gallery Page 4
Schiller ’25: Nonabsolutism is the best way to do good Page 6
shows sold out. The performance also included collaborations with Brown dance troupes Fusion Dance Company and Badmaash. Mezcla explored multiple different types of dance within “Revival.” After opening with a sharp tango and Paso Doble piece, the company switched gears into salsa, followed by bachata.
SEE MEZCLA PAGE 5
TODAY TOMORROW
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ANNA RYU '25 DESIGN EDITOR
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
SPORTS
Weekend sports roundup: Men’s, women’s lax, women’s tennis win Women’s water polo, softball teams have strong weekends on the road BY PETER SWOPE SPORTS EDITOR A strong performance by EJ Perry ’21.5 at the NFL Scouting Combine Thursday night kicked off an exciting weekend for Brown athletics. The highlights of the weekend included standout victories from the mens’ and womens’ lacrosse teams — men’s lacrosse beat Providence College 22-10 and women’s lacrosse beat Columbia 14-9 to begin conference play. Perry, a former Brown football star quarterback, stood out at the 2022 NFL Combine in Indianapolis, IN last Thursday. His three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle times were the fastest of all quarterbacks in attendance, while his 40-yard dash time, vertical jump performance and long jump performance all placed him second among quarterbacks. Men’s lacrosse (4-1) continued their successful start to the season, beating crosstown rival Providence College (23) handily by a score of 22-10. After the Friars pulled even late in the first half, the Bears scored 14 consecutive goals to secure an easy win. Ryan Aughavin GS led Brown with a season-high four goals, while Connor Theriault ’24 ended the contest with a dozen saves. Women’s lacrosse (3-2, 1-0 Ivy) started conference play strong, defeating Columbia (2-2, 0-1) by a score of 14-9 on the road. The Bears rode a seven-score second period to victory, with both Alaina Parisella ’22 and Jessie Bakes ’25 scoring three goals apiece on the game. The men’s basketball team (13-16, 5-9 Ivy) lost to Yale (17-11, 11-3) by a
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
This weekend’s highlights for Brown Athletics included victories from both women’s and men’s lacrosse. EJ Perry ’21.5 excelled at the NFL Scouting Combine, finishing first among quarterbacks in the three-cone drill and 20-yard shuttle. score of 74-65 in New Haven Saturday in their final game of the season. An impressive final Brown performance from Jaylan Gainey ’22 — 20 points and a career-high 18 rebounds — was not enough for the Bears to surpass the Bulldogs. Tamenang Choh GS added 13 points and seven rebounds, finishing his career with the 11th most points and sixth-most rebounds in Brown history. Women’s basketball (6-20, 1-13 Ivy) suffered a tough 64-49 loss to Yale (1610, 9-5) in their final game of the season, which was also the team’s Senior Day. Ashley Ducharme ’22, the team’s only senior, put up 10 points and five
rebounds in her final game as a Bear. Women’s water polo posted a strong weekend at the Harvard Invitational, earning two victories on Saturday before a pair of tough losses Sunday. Their first win Saturday was a 15-4 rout against Mount St. Mary’s University, and the Bears followed with a close 7-6 win over No. 20 Harvard. On Sunday, Brown fell to a pair of highly-ranked foes, losing 9-6 to No. 14 University of Indiana and 9-7 to No. 15 Wagner University. Wrestlers Reese Fry ’22.5 and Nicky Cabanillas ’23 each finished eighth in their respective weight classes at the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling
Association Tournament. The Bears concluded the event as 14th out of 17 teams. Baseball (2-4) dropped two out of three games to the University of South Florida (7-4). The Bears bounced back from a Friday defeat with a victory on Saturday but lost the Sunday rubbermatch by a score of 6-3. The softball team (4-6) had a strong weekend in Houston, Texas, winning four of their five games. The Bears took both contests against Prairie View A&M University (0-15) and won two out of three against Houston Baptist University (9-7). Women’s tennis (5-6) cruised to a
6-1 victory over Stony Brook (3-6). Ali Benedetto ’24, Sophia Reddy ’22, Ryan Peus ’22, Lindsey Hofflander ’25 and Olivia Mariotti ’24 all recorded singles victories while all three Brown duos recorded doubles wins. Men’s hockey (7-20-4) fell to St. Lawrence University (11-17-7) in the first round of the Eastern Conference Athletic Conference First Round Series. After falling to the Saints on Friday, the Bears kept their season alive with an overtime win on Saturday. St. Lawrence ultimately prevailed in the pivotal Sunday contest, defeating Brown by a score of 4-3 in overtime to advance in the tournament.
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
3
SPORTS
Women’s basketball falls to Yale 64-49 on senior night Bears end regular season with loss, look forward to bright future with young team BY ELLERY CAMPBELL CONTRIBUTING WRITER The women’s basketball team (6-20, 1-13 Ivy League) lost to Yale (16-10, 9-5) by a score of 64-49 on Saturday. Kyla Jones ’24 led the Bears with 17 points while captain Ashley Ducharme ’22 put up 10 points and five rebounds. The game began with a ceremony for Brown’s only senior, Ducharme, who has spent four years with the Bears and has played three seasons rather than the traditional four due to the pandemic cancellation of her junior season. Ducharme “has always done things the right way and to the best of her ability to set herself up and the team up for success,” Head Coach Monique LeBlanc said. “She’s done that in a really selfless way, so I honestly can’t say enough good things about Ashley.” Ducharme scored the first two points of the game on a layup, but Yale subsequently took the lead and held it for the rest of the game. The Bears kept it close up until there were five minutes left in the second quarter, when the Bulldogs scored two points and made it a 21-15 game. The Bulldogs increased that lead to their biggest lead of the game — 22 points
COVID FROM PAGE 1 ald previously reported. The updated guidance released March 2 also lifted mask requirements for fully-vaccinated lecturers at events sponsored by academic or administrative departments and student organizations. “While we are encouraged that the numbers are declining … the cases we are seeing each week remain greater than at any other point in the pandemic,” Carey wrote in the March 4 announcement. “Accordingly, we are not yet ready to lift mask-wearing requirements in classes, laboratories, offices or other indoor settings.” Julia Villani ’24, a member of Brown Emergency Medical Services, said some EMS operations, including delivering meals to students isolating in the Courtyard by Marriott Providence Downtown, were busier during the surge of COVID-19 cases earlier in the semester. Before the semester, the service had been “prepping for a surge,” and had systems in place to be able to deal with a spike in cases, she added. Villani also said that she appreciated having flexible rapid testing available during the week. “It’s important for people who are going to office hours with an immunocompromised or older professor to be respectful and take the tests,” she said. Students who spoke to The Herald agreed that despite the spike in COVID-19 cases in early February, student life in dining halls, residence halls and on campus in general has remained normal. Jonah Bernstein-Schalet ’24 said he thought most people have not “changed the way they were doing things,” adding that fewer cases in the community is still beneficial be-
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
The game began with a ceremony for the team’s only senior, Ashley Ducharme ’22, who has spent four years with the Bears. Ducharme “has always done things the right way and to the best of her ability to set herself up and the team up for success,” Head Coach Monique LeBlanc said. — with 5:45 left in the third quarter. The Bears never fully caught up to the Bulldogs, but they did gain some momentum in the fourth quarter as they began to press full-court. Beginning with a three-pointer by Maddie Mullin ’23 that cut Yale’s lead to 5440, the rest of the Bears started to heat up. Ducharme, in back-to-back possessions, hit a three and then scored a layup, bringing the score to 54-46. From there, Bella Mauricio ’25
scored a three of her own, cutting Yale’s lead to eight with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Bruno, the Bulldogs got their rhythm back and increased their lead again, working their way to a 64-49 win over the Bears. Despite the loss, Ducharme said she is “proud of how the team finished out this game.” She added that she is “definitely so grateful to have been at Brown for four years and play basket-
ball here.” Ducharme said she looks forward to coming back to games and watching the rest of her team grow. The Bears have a bright future ahead of them — all of their players but Ducharme will return next season. Jones, who was one of the Bears’ top scorers this season, said she is “looking forward to (the team) getting more experience.” “I think we’re a really young team and at times that kind of hurt us,”
Jones said. She is excited to play next year when herself and her current teammates will all have a season under their belts, she added. LeBlanc is similarly looking forward to the 2022-23 season. “This year, everything was new,” said LeBlanc. “There was so much learning everyday… I’m looking forward to being able to make strides quicker next year.”
cause there is less of a risk of having to isolate. In February, every couple of days he said he would hear of another person he knew testing positive for COVID-19 and having to isolate, including many of his friends. Some classes have also begun in-person instruction after beginning the semester remotely due to rising case counts on campus.
One of Bernstein-Schalet’s classes — COST0535: “Self Transformation and Transcendence in Later Daoist Contemplative Traditions” — recently transitioned to in-person instruction for lectures, while the lab portion of the course remains online. “It’s definitely better to have classes in person,” Bernstein-Schalet said. “It’s more effective — you put more
effort into it because actually going and being there with other people is different than just opening your computer.” Villani’s NEUR1020: “Principles of Neurobiology” also recently transitioned to in-person instruction. She said it is easier to stay engaged during in-person classes, and that it is nice to get back the “little things sacrificed
during online classes,” such as casual interactions with other students. “I wouldn’t say it was a huge difference in the grand scheme of things just because it was my only class that was transitioning from online to in-person,” Villani said, “but it was still a welcome transition nonetheless.”
AANCHAL SHETH / HERALD
Despite the decline in cases over the past several weeks, Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 does not believe the University is “ready to lift mask-wearing requirements in classes, laboratories, offices or other indoor settings.”
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
ARTS & CULTURE
RISD seniors’ paintings showcased at Woods-Gerry Gallery Show highlights diverse talent, challenges traditional definitions of painting BY RYAN SMITH STAFF WRITER One of the first in-person events for the Painting Department at the Rhode Island School of Design since the COVID-19 pandemic began, “Painting 1” celebrates RISD seniors’ artwork while challenging traditional definitions of painting. Installed at RISD’s Woods-Gerry Gallery, the show — which opened March 4 and ends March 8 — will be followed by another show, “Painting 2,” along with a series of senior exhibits showcasing RISD’s range of disciplines. For RISD first-year and attendee Avalon Lafosse, the show was “an absolute transportation into a world of vibrancy, color and richness of content.” While each room was different, the works “complemented each other well,” she said. Viewers at the gallery commented on the diversity of the displayed paintings. Walking around the exhibit’s four rooms, RISD first year Camille Callegari said the show’s diversity comes from the exhibit’s exploration of “mediums beyond paint,” such as cement and concrete. Several of the seniors whose work was displayed in the gallery told The Herald the show offered an opportunity to reflect on their development as artists throughout their college careers. Haemin Hwang, a RISD senior whose work was displayed in the show, said that working on canvas can happen “without even painting.” For India Sachi, another featured RISD senior, painting “comes more naturally” when she is “just putting crazy things together.” The creative process is not always a solitary affair and can include collaboration, she said. In Sachi’s case, she had a friend help her collect wood to paint on. Sachi’s paintings “A Big Pink Room and a Cat with Human Eyes” and “Untitled” emerge from unconventional surfaces — a bedsheet and wood scraps
JULIA GROSSMAN / HERALD
Kitty Ng (above), a senior at RISD, stands next to her painting “S to S.” The event “Painting 1” will be followed by “Painting 2” and a series of senior exhibits showcasing RISD’s range of disciplines. — reflecting the “unexpected qualities” of found materials as exciting alternatives to traditional and often less affordable canvas cloth, she said. Artists with works in the show developed their language of painting in varied ways, from using materials like textiles to replacing paint with photographs from a Kodak Portra camera. Hwang, whose work examines notions of childhood and the transition into adulthood, also alluded to the process of an artist interacting with the materials they work with. For Sachi, reflecting on her development as an artist meant revisiting her past interest in weaving themes of identity, immigration and familial history into her work. This focus became limiting, Sachi said. “As an artist of color, it’s an easy box to fall into, and then people really want you to make work about those things,” she said. Now, instead of confronting gen-
eration-defining social issues, she has refocused her work around notions of gaze and girlhood, analyzing what it means to paint as yourself. Sachi said for her that meant reflecting on personal experiences instead of just painting other people’s ideas. Hwang, who concentrates in computation, technology and culture, compared the information artists communicate to viewers to the process of coding. According to Hwang, she can only control how much information is displayed for viewers of her art, and it is up to the viewers to interpret her art in different ways and create their own narratives. Recalling a professor’s passing advice, Sachi said her work “will relate to people” whether she knows it or not. Similar to Hwang, Sachi said she welcomes differing interpretations as a testament to the value of making art that ignites creativity.
CA L E N DA R
Given the number of senior painters, there was limited gallery space for each artist, which influenced the selections of pieces. Hwang’s works “Intertwined” and “Untitled” represent her focus on balancing warm and cool colors, she said. When deciding what to put in the show, she specifically “wanted to showcase a more vulnerable sensibility,” reflecting her belief that painting can be an outlet for personal reflections. Hwang emphasized how she’s making art for a wide range of viewers, not just painters. Referring to her interest in color, she said that not everyone associates the same colors with the same moods that she does. For the seniors in the show, the exhibit reflects a three-year process of rigorous experimentation and celebrates their maturing creative sensibility. Despite the exhibit representing a culmination of four years at RISD, Sachi said she is still very much “learning as
an artist.” With a busy opening reception, attendees showed differing interests in the wide array of art on display, ranging from laughs at long, sardonic titles to appreciation for complex character designs. When asked about her process, Sachi mentioned that her works are a result of a creative process involving printer paper, glue and canvas, embodied by an attitude of “whatever sticks remains” and whatever falls off is gone. She said she finished her painting “A Big Pink Room and a Cat with Human Eyes” the night before its display — it was “definitely still wet,” she said. Still, despite the fact that her paintings are not created with the intention of preservation due to her non-archival process, Sachi said she believes “paintings should just disintegrate like everything else, and I think that they’ll be beautiful still.”
COVID -19 AT BROWN FEB. 24 TO MAR. 2
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MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
MEZCLA FROM PAGE 1 There were a few hip-hop numbers in the show, an intimate “Marinera Norteña” (defined in the show’s program as “a graceful and romantic Peruvian folk dance”) and an abundance of intricate skirt choreography. “This show really shows that there’s not one style that Mezcla does more than another,” said Nia Callender ’23, one of the company’s dancers and tech managers. Traditionally, she said, the company focuses on salsa, but this year’s show included contemporary and disco pop style performances as well. “Revival” also incorporated several skits. Mezcla’s dancers acted out what it’s like to audition for the group, and their collaboration with Badmaash, which involved performing a parody of Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” Saga, surprised audiences. According to Callender, tech week — usually taking place in the immediate lead up to the show — is no small feat: It involves “getting the show ready from the ground up, starting with light-
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
ing and blocking and staging.” “Tech week was stressful, to say the least,” said Mezcla dancer Briannah Cook ’24. “A lot of early days and long, long nights.” Callender agreed, adding that as tech manager, she had to work to find a balance between “being strict with tech stuff but at the same time trying to keep the emotional and mental health of the troupe intact.” But according to Cook, “it was so worth it seeing the show come together so beautifully. Looking at the videos, it’s surreal to see all of us on stage,” she said. Audience members showed their appreciation for the performance, cheering enthusiastically after every number. “For some pieces we weren’t expecting the crowd to go wild, but they did, and that really fueled us,” Callender said. It was, in fact, almost impossible not to cheer. Every dancer on stage looked as if they were having the time of their life.
For some in the audience, the enthusiasm of members of Mezcla was apparent. “All of the dancers, you could tell, wanted to be here,” said audience member Alyscia Batista ’23. “You could see the passion in the way they dance, and I was so happy just watching them.” Although Mezcla’s schedule will settle down after the show, Callender said that she is “hopeful that the spring semester will still be very danceheavy.” The company plans to hold auditions, as well as open classes led by Mezcla dancers that will be open to all Brown and RISD students. “I’m really excited to plan some fun external workshops so people (without dance experience) … can learn some of the stuff that we do,” Callender said. For now, though, the dancers said they plan to rest after the satisfaction of their performance. “The show,” Cook said after the performance, “is the culmination of so much hard work, and it feels so rewarding to be here now.”
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NFL FROM PAGE 1 throwing drills in front of scouts and to meet in person with front office personnel from various NFL teams. Wide receiver Wes Rockett ’23, who caught 56 balls for 664 yards and eight touchdowns from Perry during the 2021 football season, expected a strong showing from Perry at the Combine. “He didn’t surprise any of (the Brown football players),” Rockett said. “We saw it on a daily basis. He’s a super hardworking guy and he just makes that ball move effortlessly.” Running back Allen Smith ’22, who started alongside Perry during the last two Brown football seasons, was also unsurprised by Perry’s performance. “You can see how he plays with his feet as well as his arm,” Smith said. “He really did live up to the expectations.” Perry also garnered attention for his leadership when he was spotted on video picking up trash around Lucas Oil Stadium after a full day at
the Combine. “He’s just a nose to the grindstone type guy,” Rockett said. “You can even see that when he’s cleaning up trash on the sidelines.” Although player interviews at the Combine occur behind closed doors, Brown football Head Coach James Perry ’00 is confident that EJ Perry interviewed well. EJ “is really sharp, so I suspect he did really well in those settings,” James Perry said. “The feedback I’m getting is that he did exceptionally well when it comes to football knowledge.” James Perry believes EJ Perry’s Combine performance will improve his 2022 NFL Draft positioning. The Combine “very positively affects him,” James Perry said. “People suspected he was very athletic; I don’t know if they suspected he would have the highest athletic score.” “Time after time (EJ Perry) has proven how good he is and how much success he can have,” Rockett said. He added that any NFL team “would be very lucky to have him.”
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
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MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
Schiller ’25: The importance of non-absolutist efforts for good As a new vegetarian, my most devastating loss was Lucky Charms marshmallows. The delicious treats, which I would dutifully pick out from bags of bland cereal, unfortunately contain gelatin, an animal product. Unable to bear the thought of abandoning my favorite snack, I turned to an ethically questionable solution: purchasing off-brand dehydrated marshmallows and scratching out the ingredients label. I considered my decision a spin-off of Schrodinger’s Cat Experiment — Schrodinger’s Marshmallows, if you will. Unless I checked the ingredients label, they would forever live in the in-between, simultaneously vegetarian and not. Looking back, this “solution” only made things worse. It demonstrated that I cared more about the positive feeling that I got from believing that I was taking a moral path than protecting animals and the environment. By switching from Lucky Charms to Schrodinger’s Marshmallows, I did nothing to make the world a better place. I only made myself feel better. This got me thinking: Was abandoning the treat altogether the only solution? Is being good allor-nothing? The great challenge of our lives is being ethical in a world where everything is somewhat immoral. Thus, we are forced to decide where to follow our morals and where to give in. For me, the answer lies in non-absolutism — being forgiving of oneself while making incremental changes for good. The difficult truth is immorality permeates every aspect of daily life. The fresh food shipped to our grocery stores accounts for devastating amounts of carbon emissions, affordable fashion is often built on the backs of poorly paid, mistreated workers and even the
seemingly harmless act of investing in cryptocurrency contributes to enormous energy use. Often, we have no choice but to engage in unavoidable but nonetheless harmful activities. The NBC show “The Good Place,” a sitcom centered around four people navigating the afterlife, captured this idea perfectly when the characters discovered it had become too difficult
Faced with this difficult truth, I turned to research and came up with new guidelines for how I can maximize my own capacity for good, without being overwhelmed by the complexity of doing so in the modern world. Something is always better than nothing. Too many people avoid vegetarianism because they can’t bear to sacrifice a certain food — per-
“As simple as it may seem, making a commitment to non-absolutist efforts … is truly the best, and most intuitive, path forward.”
to be good in the modern world, explained in the show through the act of buying your grandmother roses. As Decider explained, “the roses (one character) bought were through a cell phone made in a sweatshop, the roses filled with toxic pesticides, picked by exploited migrant workers, transported in a way that left a massive carbon imprint and his money went to a ‘racist, billionaire CEO who sends his female employees pictures of his genitals.’ ” In short, every action has endless unseen negative implications.
haps the “Spicy With” at Josiah’s, or the beloved chicken finger Friday at the Verney-Woolley Dining Hall. But if more people tried their best (and had a couple cheat meals when necessary), the difference in carbon emissions would be astounding. One 2019 study in the journal Scientific Reports estimated that if everyone in the U.S. reduced consumption of meat by 25% and supplemented their diet with plant-based proteins, American greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 82 million metric tons. Similar positive effects would come with count-
less other lifestyle changes that would make the world a better place. Even if we all gave just a little, we could change a lot. However, I also learned that focusing solely on personal impact is sometimes harmful in and of itself, as it can serve as a distraction from bigger factors contributing to an issue. One major example of this is the anti-littering movement. Large corporations like Coca-Cola and Nestle have long backed nonprofits like Keep America Beautiful, which runs ad campaigns shaming the individual litterbug and urging the public to clean up their cities. In reality, this message wrongly shifts blame onto the consumer and away from the true perpetrators: the companies who actually produced all of that trash. Cases like this are not uncommon, and I’ve learned to be wary of spending my energy only on personal impact. The best attempts to make a difference tackle both the small-scale and systemic aspects of an issue. I’ve since abandoned my Schrodinger’s Marshmallows (which turned out to have gelatin anyway), and returned to the tried-and-true Lucky Charms. As simple as it may seem, making a commitment to non-absolutist efforts — being gentle with myself and others while still following my moral instincts — is truly the best, and most intuitive, path forward.
Eva Schiller ’25 can be reached at eva_schiller@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
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GLO FROM PAGE 1 increases and pay parity across disciplines, as well as a one-time $750 equity adjustment in FY23. Without those previously-secured raises, the effective pay increase is lower than what the University claims, Moghrabi said. The University’s offer also included the “establishment of a position in the Graduate School focused on graduate student resource and financial advising,” the creation of a third-party committee to determine the cost of living for graduate students and the formation of a $500,000 “Financial Sustainability Fund” in order “to further aid graduate students in need,” according to the text of the University’s proposal. A committee comprising University, GLO and Graduate Student Council representatives would oversee the fund. “We strongly believe that the graduate student stipends offered by Brown are fair, equitable and highly competitive and reflect the substantial investments we have made in graduate education over many years, including significant increases during the pandemic when most faculty and staff have experienced salary freezes and more modest salary increases,” Clark wrote. GLO opposes the creation of both the financial advising position and the third-party committee that would determine the cost of living, Moghrabi said, describing those aspects of the proposal as “worrying and, frankly, somewhat insulting.” “For weeks, we have been telling the administration over and over again that we know how much it costs to live
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS as a graduate student, because we are graduate students,” Moghrabi said, noting that GLO has conducted “fairly extensive data-based research” on the matter. The University’s own cost-of-living estimates vary widely from those of GLO, a discrepancy which, from the perspective of the University, the third-party cost-of-living committee would resolve. While the University estimated expenses for graduate students in the 2021-22 academic year to be a total of $31,620, GLO said that these figures do not account for all expenses graduate students face, The Herald previously reported. “We find it particularly insulting that (the University) blame(s) this on a difference of opinion,” Moghrabi said. “While they estimate living costs, we know our living costs. This just shows us that they are unwilling to listen to what we have to say.” The proposal for a $500,000 sustainability fund also met resistance from GLO. “It is just another bureaucratic wall,” said Kate Clark GS, GLO’s communications coordinator. She claims that a similar extant fund which allows graduate students to apply for up to $500 in emergency funding is difficult to access and that applicants are often “rejected without explanation.” The University disputed these claims. Brian Clark wrote that emergency funding applications, available to all graduate students via UFunds, are reviewed and responded to within 72 hours.
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DANA RICHIE / HERALD
The latest stipend increase proposal from the Graduate Labor Organization was for 21%, while the latest University offer is for a base stipend increase of 4.25% for graduate student workers in fiscal year 2023. “Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University has increased the emergency funding budget substantially in an effort to support students and to ensure continued academic progress is made,” Brian Clark wrote. “Together, both our long-standing financial support for graduate students, the proposed increases in stipends and
February 23 – March 25, 2022
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
the proposed $500,000 fund represent substantial increases and investments to graduate education at Brown,” he added. GLO representatives said they do not see the University’s offer as fair. “What we saw this week was a proposal that really aggravated us, as well as all of the members that were present
Public Humanities Lab at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage, where Public Humanities graduate students and alumni curate exhibitions and public programs that probe questions about art, memory, heritage, culture and sensation.
in the meeting,” Moghrabi said. “We will not budge on the committees that they proposed — we find those to be unacceptable. We want them to consider our demands more seriously.” Stipend negotiations will continue in a March 9 meeting.
Making a Village February 23 - March 9
Erotic Vision: Poetics of Body and Image February 23 - March 9
sonic-scapes March 1, 8, 15, 22
Coffee: A Journey through the Senses March 10 -18
Memoria: Care Work and Memory in the Free Burial Ground March 11 - 18
Oral History Crash Course March 15
All events take place at the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage 357 Benefit Street Providence, Rhode Island Building entrance at 50 Williams Street Gallery Hours Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please visit the Public Humanities Center website for more information: brown.edu/academics/public-humanities/events
@publichumans
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2022
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
101st
F E AT U R I N G
Gina M. Raimondo U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Growth, Innovation and Equity: Ensuring American Global Competitiveness in the 21st Century
Tuesday, March 15, 2022 | 5 p.m. Tickets Required For more information, please visit brown.edu/ogden This event is free and open to the public. Exact location provided with registration. Brown or government-issued ID required. Backpacks, large bags and laptops are not allowed.
To request special services, accommodations or assistance for this event, please contact Event Strategy and Management at universityevents@brown.edu or 401-863-3100.
Attendees must comply with all University COVID-19 policies and protocols in place at the time of the event.
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