THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2018
Trans-rights activists rally at State House
Hundreds protest Trump administration’s proposal to redefine gender to be determined by genitalia
By HERALD STAFF
Speaking on the steps of the Rhode Island State House Saturday morning, Payton James, a member of Rhode Island Pride, instructed hundreds of protesters to hold the hands of the people standing next to them. The group had gathered to demonstrate support for transgender rights amid recent news that the Trump administration is considering redefining gender as the “biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth,” the New York Times previously reported. Such a decision would limit the protections transgender people could receive under federal civil rights laws.
Coordinated by trans rights advocacy groups and allies from Rhode Island and surrounding areas, the rally featured speeches from several trans rights activists and allies as well as song and poetry performances. Organizers also invited attendees to speak on protecting trans rights.
The speeches delivered during the rally included a broad range of
perspectives from community organizers, writers, artists and parents of trans youth. In addition to articulating the current fears of many transgender people, the speakers addressed other issues such as the importance of voting, the rise of violence toward other marginalized communities and the meaning of strong allyship. They also highlighted how trans people have
Same story, new game: Bears fall again
Brown loses 46-16 on road against Yale, drop 13th straight Ivy League conference game
By ALEX SMOLAR SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Over a century of classic college football has been played in the historic Yale Bowl, but amid swirling wind gusts Saturday, the Bears looked listless in a loss to the Bulldogs. While the weather was certainly a factor in the contest, it seemed to always push Yale forward and hold Bruno back. The Elis jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, dominating in a blowout victory that saw the Brown offense record negative 27 yards rushing.
On Brown’s first offensive possession, plays seemed to be clicking between quarterback Michael McGovern ’21 and his receivers. The sophomore signal-caller found LJ Harriott ’20 on two drag routes to bring the Bears (1-7, 0-5 Ivy) to midfield. But just as
Bruno got into rhythm, the wind carried McGovern’s pass over Harriott’s head into the diving arms of Yale defensive back Rodney Thomas for an interception.
“We try not to worry about anything that we can’t control, and the weather — or in today’s case the wind — is one of those things,” McGovern wrote in a statement to The Herald.
“No matter what the conditions are, we just need to go out and execute our jobs.”
At first glance, this game should have been a tough one for Yale (53, 3-2), as the team gave its freshman quarterback Griffin O’Connor the first start of his college career.
But O’Connor went on to pass for 436 yards and four touchdowns, and led the Bulldogs down the field for a touchdown on his first drive.
On Bruno’s next possession, McGovern was able to march his team into Yale territory, but sacks and penalties gave Brown a 4th and 19 on the Yale 33-yard line. With the wind, the
NOVEMBER 5, 2018
displayed resilience.
While leading the crowd in a chant of “We will not be erased,” James said the rights of trans people, disabled people and people of color could not be taken away despite the challenging political climate.
“Queer and trans people have long been a community bound together
Symposium examines, reflects on activism of 1968
Two-day conference brought 18 scholars to speak about activism, black student walkout » See TRANS RIGHTS, page 3
By KATHERINE BENNETT & BENJAMIN KOBLINER SENIOR STAFF WRITER & CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Last week, the Department of Africana Studies held a two-day symposium to examine the legacy of political activism that took place around the world during 1968, including the black student walkout that occurred at Brown fifty years ago.
Planned in partnership with the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, “50 Years Since 68: The Global and the Local” is one component of “a year-long initiative that reflects on the meaning and significance of that remarkable year and examines the state of the world a half-century later,” according to the website for the Department of Africana Studies.
The conference began with an opening reception at Watson Wednesday evening. Featuring remarks from several University administrators and faculty, the reception explained the symposium’s central focus on activism from 1968
and reflected on the 1968 black student walkout.
The symposium invited 18 scholars to campus to speak. Brian Meeks, chair of the Department of Africana Studies, said these participants represent a diverse group “who have thought deeply about the acts of courage and resistance that have defined the activists of 1968, the genealogies of thinking that inspired them and drove them to the streets and … the legacies of thought and action that the current generation have inherited from them as they face today their own formidable challenges.”
The symposium’s panels and events intended to assess 1968 activism “in a comparative context … to inform our understanding of what’s happening today,” said Edward Steinfeld, director of the Watson Institute. Panels touched on political uprisings in China, Brazil and the European South in addition to those in the United States.
Additionally, the speakers said the 1968 black student walkout generated meaningful and productive conversations about race in higher education. Walkout participants demanded that “black students must constitute at least 11 percent of the class of 1973, and of all subsequent incoming classes,” according to a position paper published by The
See ACTIVISM, page 2
Protesters decry fascism, anti-Semitism
“Never Again” rally features political chants, Shabbat prayers, speeches denouncing hatred
By DYLAN MAJSIAK SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Community members met in front of Providence City Hall Saturday afternoon in protest of white supremacy and fascism following the Oct. 27 massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh.
The rally, titled “Never Again: An Antifascist Assembly for Jewish Lives,” focused primarily on the recent proliferation of anti-Semitism throughout the country and denounced racism, transphobia and xenophobia as interrelated forms of hate. In addition to giving speeches and chanting political messages, participants recited Shabbat prayers and sang to hark back to the Shabbat service of the Tree of Life, according to assembly organizer Norra Kaplan, who said she got “chills” when she learned that the words of the Torah were likely the last words that the victims heard.
“We’re living in an increasingly
fascist state,” Kaplan told The Herald.
“Instead of treating our problems as distinct or isolated, or trying to mourn in private, we should mourn in public … with anger and with compassion toward everyone who is also being victimized and targeted.”
Kaplan drew attention to the Kentucky grocery store murder of two black people Oct. 24, which — like the Pittsburgh shooting — was a recent instance of domestic white terrorism.
While the rally was primarily focused on domestic fascism, a protester pointed to Brazil and Italy as evidence of the ideology’s growing global potency. Kaplan opened the assembly by leading blessings. Replying with ‘amen,’ rally attendees sang “Hallelujah” together before Kaplan began to read from the Torah. Kaplan dedicated portions of the song to particular community members, such as the children
HANA ESTICE / HERALD
The Trump administration’s proposal to define gender would limit federal protections for trans people, according to the New York Times.
DYLAN MAJSIAK / HERALD
After the massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh last weekend, protests denouncing anti-Semitism have been held across the country.
Women’s hockey completes two major comeback upsets against Colgate, Cornell
Bears tie Colgate in overtime tilt, fall to No. 18 Cornell on the road
Bruno gains second period lead against Raiders in first overtime clash of season Friday
By ALEXANDRA RUSSELL SPORTS EDITOR
The men’s hockey team continued its season on the road this weekend, drawing even with Colgate University 2-2 in overtime Friday and falling to No. 18 Cornell 3-2 Saturday.
Jake Harris ’22 and Tristan Crozier ’22 paced the Bears’ offense, posting a goal and an assist each over the weekend. Goaltender Gavin Nieto ’20 recorded a season-high 33 saves against the Raiders Friday night, before stopping 31 shots against the Big Red Saturday.
Brown 2, Colgate 2 (OT)
Friday night, Crozier and Justin Jallen ’22 scored in the second period to give the Bears (0-3-1, 0-2-1 ECAC) a lead, but a Colgate goal early in the third stanza sent the teams into overtime.
The Raiders (2-4-1, 0-1-1) opened scoring five minutes into the second period when Bobby McMann sent a shot past Nieto from in front of the blue line. But Bruno answered eight minutes later as Crozier redirected a shot from Zach Giuttari ’20 into the net. Giuttari launched the puck from the point toward the Colgate goal, where Crozier tapped it past Raiders netminder Mitch Benson.
The Bears continued to pressure the Raiders’ net throughout the second period, outshooting Colgate 16-13 in the frame. As the period neared its close, Jallen notched a short-handed goal to give Brown a lead with 5.6 seconds remaining. Jallen maneuvered around a Colgate defenseman in front of the net and sent a backhanded shot past a sliding Benson for the unassisted tally.
Herald at the time.
“We at the Watson Institute and we all across Brown are the beneficiaries of all of the intellectual energy that that walkout generated over time,” Steinfeld said.
In her welcoming address, President Christina Paxson P’19 said that while the walkout reminded the University of its founding commitment to inclusivity, work still remained ahead to achieve this goal. “It would be naive to think that one walkout would solve all problems, it doesn’t work that way in the world. It’s continued waves of activism and standing up for what’s right that moves institutions like Brown … forward,” she said.
The symposium’s panels and workshops were open to the public. The events featured discussions on black power, civil resistance, radical solidarity and the origins of the civil rights movement. One event, titled “Disturbance 1968,” screened a documentary chronicling student protests in Kingstown, Jamaica. Afterwards, Matthew Smith, the documentary’s director and a professor of history at the University of the West Indies at Mona, spoke to attendees about his work.
Created as a part of a larger project contextualizing Caribbean student activism against the backdrop of 1960s political turbulence, the documentary aimed to “create a space where people from the present … can engage with these questions about what was happening
McMann recorded his second goal of the night on a power play early in the third period to equalize the game and send Brown into its first overtime contest of the season.
The teams exchanged blows in overtime, as Nieto made three key saves and Brown notched a pair of shots on target.
“Our defensive core has done a great job,” Nieto said. “We have an older, experienced defensive core, so they kind of know the ropes and they’ve done a really good job of keeping the middle of the ice clear for myself and for Luke (Kania ’21) to easily see pucks.”
Brown 2, Cornell 3
The following day, Harris and Brent Beaudoin ’20 each scored to bring Bruno within one goal of the Big Red (2-2, 2-0), but the Bears were edged in a contest that came down to the final seconds at Lynah Rink.
Following a scoreless first period, Cornell took the lead one minute into
the second stanza when Matt Nuttle sent a shot from the slot past Nieto. Brown responded swiftly, converting on the power play two minutes later to tie the game. Harris tapped in a shot that a Cornell defenseman batted away with his stick in midair, but the puck was ruled to be over the goal line after video review. Crozier and Tony Stillwell ’21 earned assists on the play.
“We have a good feel for the power play with both units — we have different looks on each one which help us break down the other team’s penalty kill,” Harris said. “It’s really been clicking the last couple of games. … It was nice to finally get one at Cornell.”
Cornell added a pair of goals before the period was over to reclaim the lead. But Beaudoin trimmed the deficit for the Bears three minutes into the final stanza, sending a one-timer past Big Red netminder Matthew Galajda off a centering pass from Jallen.
With just over a minute remaining,
in the decade of the 1960s … leading up to the moment of 1968,” Smith said.
Jamaican student activism during 1968 fits into a greater, global narrative of resistance and change, Smith said.
The symposium concluded Friday with a plenary conversation titled “Beyond the Conjuncture: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.” During the event, community members asked questions and exchanged ideas about contemporary racial and political issues with panelists and other audience members.
Panelist Lewis Gordon, professor of philosophy at the University of Connecticut, spoke about the different approaches members of the political left and right wings used to accomplish their goals. “The right really is invested in coercive power and … how to acquire it,” he said.
“When I was at Brown, it was very distinct. Right-wing students get
involved in any way whatsoever in running institutions here and left-wing students have become locked into the model of the protest. So, as a consequence, the right controls the conditions of possibility, and the left ends up responding to it,” he added.
Attendees also spoke about identity issues, such as how blackness as a political concept can define membership to a community and can lead to exclusion. Through the plenary conversation, Meeks told The Herald that he hoped attendees could use “the philosophical ideas which emerged out of some of these struggles” in 1968 to discuss “the world we live in and (understand) where we go from here.”
Reflecting on the past “also forces us to reflect on the present moment which … is a very special moment, both locally and globally. And that’s the biggest thing that came out of this,” he added.
momentum when the other team gets power plays and (has) allowed us to stay in games when we’ve taken too many calls sometimes.”
As the Bears continue their season against Dartmouth and Harvard this weekend, they seek to increase offensive production and maximize scoring opportunities at the net.
“When you get shot totals up, it definitely increases your confidence and makes life hectic for the goalie, which is what we want to do,” Harris said. “Just continuing to play our game and continuing to play in straight lines will help us get that total up.”
the Bears pulled Nieto for an extra skater. Bruno pressured the Big Red’s defense and pushed deep into the offensive zone in the waning seconds of the game, but Galajda held off the attack to secure the victory for Cornell.
The Bears killed off all four of their penalties in the contest. The team has demonstrated a strong command of its penalty kill this season, conceding only one power play goal in four games.
“When you’re down a man, there’s kind of that extra urgency to make plays, and I think right now we’re doing a good job of protecting the house, the front of the net and really not giving the opponent’s power play much to shoot at,” Nieto said. “Cornell’s got one of the best power plays in the country — we really didn’t give them too much offensively when they were a man up, so I think we’re doing a really good job of limiting the other team’s opportunities.”
“The penalty kill has been great,” Harris added. “It really shut down the
of immigrants and trans people.
The names of the 11 people killed in the massacre were read from a sign displayed by the advocacy organization W.I.T.C.H. Boston. One placard read, “May Their Memories Be a Blessing.”
Following the rally’s march around City Hall, organizers invited attendees to speak.
Assembly organizer Lex Rofeberg showed the crowd his copy of “The International Jew,” an anti-Semitic book published in 1920 that he said he holds as a reminder of the continued presence of anti-Semitism in society. He said that Jewish community members’ anger over the massacre has not been voiced as much as its mourning.
“We’re not being victimized by some abstract emotion,” he said, explaining that he was not just fighting hate in general but “fighting white supremacy” specifically.
Protestors urged community members to mobilize in support of those who are being targeted by white supremacists. Alt-right groups should not be engaged in debate but, rather, must be denied a platform to disseminate hateful rhetoric, said activist Sara Bilman. Free speech is not hate speech, she added.
Bilman has been targeted by extremist groups and has received death threats for obstructing white supremacists and their recruiting efforts, she said. Her name has appeared in a
“For the most part, we do take shots, it’s just … (that) we have to get better at getting them through because a lot of teams are very good at just blocking pucks,” Beaudoin said. “In terms of just getting pucks through to the net — that’s a big push we’ve got to make, and then on our part, we also have to block more pucks.”
Bruno has also benefited from the addition of its freshman class of six, which has added depth to the roster and accounted for five of the team’s goals so far.
“It’s very nice to be able to see guys come in and make an impact right away,” Beaudoin said. “I think our first three points at least were from freshmen, … so (it’s) very good they can produce.”
As the Bears proceed further into their season, they maintain a positive and industrious approach that emphasizes everyday processes of improvement.
“The mindset’s very positive, we believe in each other a lot,” Harris said. “What’s done is done, and we know that. We just want to build on that each day in every practice, and we’re very excited for the upcoming weekend.”
The Bears return home to host Dartmouth Friday and Harvard Saturday at Meehan Auditorium.
fascist publication in triple parentheses — an anti-Semitic tactic used by the alt-right to denote that a person is Jewish, she said.
“People in this country and increasingly (around) the world” are turning “to fascism in a desperate attempt to secure a false feeling of safety and superiority by scapegoating ‘the other,’” Bilman said.
The assembly also reflected on the anti-Semitism experienced by Jewish people during World War II.
“I’ve just been seeing my Jewish family and community frightened and threatened,” rally attendee Katherine Bogen, whose grandfather was a Holocaust survivor, told The Herald. “I wanted to show solidarity,” she said, adding that her aunt attends the Tree of Life synagogue.
Protestor Shane Matheson spoke about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during World War II — which marked the first organized revolt against Nazioccupied Europe — and called for rally attendees to show this same sense of unity in response to neo-Nazis.
Rally attendee Remi Graber recalled the story of Jewish people in Lublin, Poland, who were ordered by the Nazis to sing before being executed; they sang, “Mir veln zey iberlebn (We will outlive them).”
“We did outlive them and continue to do so,” Graber said.
“Our next steps are (to try) to band together … (and) learn how to take care of each other,” Kaplan said.
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Justin Jallen ’22 handles the puck. The forward currently leads the team with four points in as many games. The Bears return home to host Dartmouth Friday and Harvard Saturday at Meehan Auditorium.
MARIANNA MCMURDOCK / HERALD
Professor of Philosophy Lewis Gordon (left) and Professor of Critical and Cultural Studies R.A. Judy (right) reflected on 1968 at an event Friday.
» NEVER AGAIN, from page 1
» ACTIVISM, from page 1
Women’s hockey stuns No. 9 Colgate, No. 6 Cornell
Bears defeat two top10 ranked teams in comeback victories, jump out to early 5-2 record
By JAMES SCHAPIRO SPORTS EDITOR
Down 3-1 in the second period Saturday against Colgate University, it seemed that the women’s hockey team was headed for a third consecutive loss and a 3-3 record after a promising start. But after two upset comeback victories over top-10 nationally ranked teams, goalie Calla Isaac ’20 said the Bears’ season has taken on a completely different outlook.
“It definitely will fundamentally change how our team plays, just give us more confidence going into the next few games,” Isaac said. “It is just a game, but that’s the first time in 14 years that we’ve swept those two teams, so it proves that we’re a different team this year.”
Those two teams are Colgate, ranked ninth in the country, and Cornell, ranked sixth. The Bears played Colgate Friday and Cornell Saturday and came away with two come-frombehind 4-3 upset wins. Forward Sena Hanson ’20 scored two goals in each game, including both game-winners.
Newly hired Head Coach Carisa Wahlig praised Hanson’s performance. “She’s got an amazing shot,
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by struggle and survival,” said Ethan Huckel, board president of the TGI Network of Rhode Island — a nonprofit dedicated to serving the transgender, gender-diverse and intersex community.
Though trans people experienced progress after events like the implementation of a statewide educational directive to support transgender students in Rhode Island, Huckel added that “the progress that we have realized is not etched in stone. It is vulnerable.”
Referencing the Trump administration’s ongoing discussions to legally define sex under Title IX, Huckel said, “Conflating sex with gender is factually inaccurate.”
Huckel also pointed out trans peoples’ history of having to advocate
she’s a power forward, a very powerful player and very team-oriented,” Wahlig said. “She’s one of those players that will do whatever it takes.”
Hanson, Wahlig said, is also taking a leadership role on the team. “We’ve talked with (Hanson) about being an upperclassman and really showing her side of her leadership, which is (that) she’s very vocal on the ice … (and) on the bench,” she said. “From what we’ve seen from her, she’s definitely a player that we can count on in the clutch.”
Seven games into the season, the Bears’ 5-2 record is a welcome development, particularly after a 2-27 campaign in 2017-18. Hanson and Isaac offered similar explanations for Bruno’s newfound success: an improved cohesiveness, brought about at least in part by Wahlig and her coaching staff.
Wahlig’s leadership, Isaac said, has the team working harder than ever and working together. “She’s definitely brought our team together as a family,” Isaac said. “We’re one unit now, working for each other.”
When Wahlig was hired, her first order of business was reshaping the team’s culture. “Last year, we weren’t really a cohesive unit. We came for hockey, and our team culture was just going through the motions,” Hanson said. “This year, everyone’s holding each other accountable, Coach Wahlig is making sure that we’re all
for their rights by making psychological, scientific and legal cases for their identity. “Our rights have not been handed to us, we have fought for them,” he said.
These discussions intend “to dismantle those rights by denying us of our humanity,” Huckel added.
TC Rogers, the chair of Options — a Rhode Island-based LGBTQ+ community magazine — spoke about the power of voting to secure long-term progress and safety for marginalized communities.
“Nothing is more important than making sure the human rights of the most marginalized people of this nation are served,” Rogers said.
“The consistent marginalization and dehumanization of people needs to end,” Rogers added, noting that placing trans advocates at the forefront of the trans rights movement
staying positive and supporting each other. It changed so much that we’re even hanging out outside of hockey.”
With these off-ice changes, the Bears entered a weekend of games against nationally ranked opponents with a 3-2 record and a culture of cohesiveness and competition. “We knew they were tough teams,” Isaac said. “They’re ranked teams. We were definitely an underdog in this game, but we went in just wanting to fight, to take it to them, to prove who we are. We want people to not take us for granted.”
Hanson’s goal-scoring powered Bruno’s offense: seven games into the season, she has scored six goals after scoring eight over 29 games in 201718. “I’ve worked on the mental side of hockey a lot,” she said. “I’ve been talking to Coach Wahlig a lot about staying focused and staying consistent shift after shift.”
On Friday, Bruno also notched goals from forwards Tina Paolillo ’22 and Lizzy Gross ’22. On Saturday, in addition to Hanson’s two goals, Veronica Alois ’20 and Abby Nearis ’21 both scored.
Isaac, meanwhile, anchored the Bears’ defense. “(Isaac) played out of her mind,” Hanson said. “She was making some big saves the whole game.” In both upset wins, Isaac posted scoreless third periods.
“She’s a competitor,” Wahlig said. “She wants to compete, and she can
would help center their narratives. Alongside the speeches, several attendees sang and recited poetry. One activist, Justice Gaines ’16, recited a spoken word poem comparing President Trump’s abuses of power to the card game Spades. Pointing out a close resemblance between the administration’s politics and the lying, bluffing and power plays of the game, Gaines said, “When I think of Trump, I think of Spades … (and) how (the administration) would rely on chance instead of strategy, how they would react instead of plan.”
Wendy Grossman said she attended the event to “protest the hate being put forward.”
Grossman referenced her Jewish identity and added that she saw a “connectedness in all of our fights for our human rights.”
be relied on in the clutch. That’s huge to have a goalie like that.”
Entering the second period against Colgate, Bruno trailed 3-1. “In the dressing room, we were all just like, ‘we don’t want to lose, we want to win,’” Isaac said. “We all just banded together.”
Hanson credited the coaching staff for the turnaround. “We were in the locker room, and our coaches come in, and they say, it only takes one or two shots to tie it up. Lucky bounce here or there…” she said. “It really just sparked something in us, and we started to work hard.”
Though both games ended in Brown wins, only time will tell whether the weekend was a fluke or the start of a winning era for Brown women’s hockey. There are some indications that it may not be: In the weekend wins, the Bears were outshot 41-25 against Colgate and 41-20 against Cornell.
“That’s definitely something we need to work on,” Isaac said. “It’s always a goal to outshoot the other team. We need to get more shots on net.”
But Wahlig said that being outshot was not entirely unexpected, nor was it necessarily a bad thing. The Bears made adjustments to their defensive system to adapt to the faster forwards of a nationally ranked offense, she said. These adjustments meant that the opposition would almost certainly
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Bears elected not to attempt a 50-yard field goal, but came five yards short of the first down on a pass to Jakob Prall ’20 for a turnover on downs.
A “common theme on our team right now is finish — finishing plays, finishing drives (and) finishing tackles,” wrote defensive captain Michael Hoecht ’20 in a statement to The Herald. “We need to focus on putting ourselves in great situations and getting ourselves off the field on third down.”
Yale was again able to capitalize on Brown’s offensive errors. Moments later, O’Connor found wide receiver JP Shohfi in the endzone, who did his best Odell Beckham Jr. impression when he made an athletic one-handed catch while falling on his back. With the touchdown, the Bears found themselves in a 14-point hole by the end of the first quarter.
In the second, Yale scored another passing touchdown to Shohfi, while the Bears had drive after drive stalled due to untimely sacks. With seven minutes left in the half, McGovern found receiver Erik Kromer ’20 for an 18-yard gain, and Brown finally finished a drive with points when Dylan Brady ’22 knocked in a 32yard field goal.
At halftime, Yale led Brown 20-3 and had outgained Bruno by 143 yards.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, as Yale continued to find the endzone while the Bears struggled to sustain a drive.
The only reprieve for the Bears came when McGovern found Scott Boylan ’21 for a 53-yard touchdown strike to bring Bruno within 18 points of the Elis.
The Bulldogs managed to score in several different ways. O’Connor
take more shots. “We wanted to limit the number of quality shots that the other teams took,” Wahlig said. “So I didn’t care if we got out-shot, as long as the quality of their shots (wasn’t) very good. Yes, we didn’t have as many shots, but we got more quality shots.”
Even after beating two top-10 nationally ranked teams, the Bears need to continue working hard every weekend, Wahlig said. “It’s great, we got two great wins, but those two great wins don’t guarantee success the next weekend. You have to show up and be ready to go every game,” she added.
While these two wins were just two of 29 games on the schedule, “for the girls, it shows them that if they really put the work in and are disciplined, that they can compete,” Wahlig said. “That’s something that they needed to see early on.”
The Bears will return to the ice Friday against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2-5), and when they do, they will return not as the 2-27 team of 2017-18, but rather as the team whose most recent games were back-to-back wins against top-10 nationally ranked opponents.
“We’ve been working so hard, we’ve put in so much work in the offseason,” Hanson said. “It makes us realize that we can compete with all the teams in the conference. …This really gives us hope that our hard work is actually paying off.”
found Reed Klubnik for a 60-yard touchdown in the third quarter on a one-play drive, and led Yale down the field for a long, ten-play series for a touchdown in the fourth.
Long after the game had descended into a rout, the Bears were able to piece together a successful drive late in the fourth quarter. The series was finished off by a two-yard touchdown run from Boylan, which brought the score to 46-16.
“Going forward, we have to remain healthy and play with heart,” Hoecht wrote. “It’s our seniors’ last time wearing their home jerseys (next week) and … we will be playing for them.”
When the final whistle sounded, the Bears had suffered their fourth game of season of giving up more than 40 points, and their seventh game of being unable to score 20. Brown averaged negative 1.6 yards per rushing attempt and gained a total of 331 yards, while the Bulldogs exploded for nearly 600 yards of offense. McGovern finished the game 25-47 with 358 yards, one touchdown and a pick.
“We just need to focus on ourselves, get better everyday and fight till the end in every practice, play and game,” McGovern wrote. “We’re (going to) come out next week and give everything we have looking for the win against Columbia. As long as we do our jobs, I have full faith in our team and our coaches.”
This loss marks Bruno’s 13th straight defeat in the Ivy League, leaving Brown and its fans praying that 13 is the Bears’ lucky number and that the losing streak can come to an end next week. The team will return to Brown Stadium Saturday for its final home game of the season against Columbia at noon.
» FOOTBALL, from
» TRANS RIGHTS, from
Election day, by the numbers
Child outcomes affected by father’s background
Study examines factors that affect outcomes of children with teenage mothers
By CATE RYAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Teenage mothers are often blamed for the hard circumstances that their children may face, but fathers may play a role in the future success of their children, according to a new study co-authored by Anna Aizer, professor of economics. The research analyzed administrative data sets from Norway and found that the father’s background plays a key role in the child’s development and life outcomes.
The group looked into IQ, schooling, earnings at age 30, welfare status and other factors to measure the differences in outcomes between adults who had teen mothers and those who did not, Aizer said.
The study suggests that the underlying disadvantage of the mother compounded with that of the father is what is really responsible for lower outcomes in their children — not just the mother’s position, Aizer said.
A novel component of this study was that it examined the fathers of children born to teen mothers. Kjell Salvanes, co-author of the paper, explained that the tax system in Norway creates a strong incentive for mothers to report who the father of their child is at the time of birth, even if he is not present.
“Not only are the mothers who give birth as teenagers very different, but so are the partners, so are the fathers — they are younger, they have lower IQs. That explains part of the worse outcomes that you see for these kids,” Aizer said.
Surprisingly, when studying children of teenage mothers, the average age of the father was not below 20 as one might expect, but instead about 26, Aizer said. In 2011, the average age of all Norwegian fathers was 33.4 years old, according to the Norwegian government.
To understand the influence that fathers have on these children, fathers’ backgrounds and their presence around their children are important, Salvanes said. This approach may help form policies designed to help children born to disadvantaged households or teen parents who may
subsequently perform unfavorably in school and the labor market.
The paper worked to further investigate whether teen childbearing itself was the root cause of weaker outcomes, or if these were because of economic disadvantages that teen mothers face, said Phillip Levine P’16, a professor of economics at Wellesley College, who was not associated with this paper.
An important aspect of the study was its control of the background of teen mothers. The study ensured that there were no cross comparisons between dissimilar mothers. By controlling the experiment, the study was able to show that “being born to a teen mother is a little bit detrimental to a child’s subsequent outcomes, but not as bad as the raw differential would make it seem,” Levine said.
The authors relied on birth cohorts going back to 1950, Salvanes said. He added that since the administrative data set comprises the whole population and is comprehensive, unlike U.S. data, researchers can make claims about specific groups and analyze an individual’s progress over several decades. This allows researchers to trace a child from birth to adulthood and examine different data points collected along that trajectory.
“You really can’t do a study like this with U.S. data,” Aizer said. Previous American-based studies used survey data, which may “stymie” research efforts, she added. Data collected via surveys in the United States cannot account for a father who is not present at the time of birth if no name is provided, thus limiting domestic studies.
Understanding whether or not teenage motherhood impacts the child is important given the declining, though relatively high, rate of teen pregnancy in the United States.
“The real contribution of this paper is a lot better data. Work that has been done in the United States tends to use smaller samples (and) outcomes aren’t measured as well,” Levine said. He added that the use of the Norwegian data presents both strengths and weaknesses — though it allows for better, deeper analysis of the information available, it also raises concerns that the trends can not be extended to the American population.
“It’s an important and influential paper,” Levine concluded. It may set a foundation for future studies in the field, Aizer added.
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marcus aurelius trots through his kingdom menu
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Ruth Simmons Quad, tucked away beneath the Main Green, is home to monuments of Brown’s Greco-Roman architectural influence in the forms of this statue of Marcus Aurelius and of course, Blueno the Bear.
“ Queer and trans people have long been a community bound together by struggle and survival . ”
Huckel, board
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Athletes contribute more than their win-loss records
We first want to commend Glenn ’14, Meyers ’16, Johnston ’17 and Matsumoto ’16 for their Herald op-ed “Cutting Brown athletics isn’t a joke.” As former Brown student-athletes, they highlight the intricacies of the recurring debate on whether or not Brown athletics add value to the community. As current student-athletes, we fully support the article and want to build on it from our own perspectives.
While we play for our love of our sport, we also play for our love of the school and the pride we get from representing Brown. We play for the practices and the games during which we sport the word “Brown” on our chests, and for the hours between those workouts when we proudly represent our school and our sport in classes and in the community. It is therefore disappointing to hear of our classmates’ opinion that completely disregards the value that 36 teams bring to campus. We came to this school knowing we wouldn’t play in front of enormous crowds; some teams even compete without an audience. Yet these same teams are active participants in our community, through classroom discussions, extra-curricular activities and campus engagement. Studentathletes make a positive contribution to Brown in various ways, whether as members of the Brown Band, participants in campus research initiatives or leaders on the Undergraduate Council of Students.
So let’s build on that idea of our Brown community.
While some claim that “wins bring little, if any, value to the broader Brown community,” we beg to differ. All athletic teams bring value to our school not only through their wins or titles, but
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mainly through their actions and their symbolic value as rallying points for the Brown community. To us, Brown pride is evidenced in the 11,000 plus fans, including numerous students, who made their way back to campus in May 2016 — once summer break was already in full swing — to assemble at Brown Stadium and cheer on our men’s lacrosse team in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament. Our school had twice as
student-athletes on the top floor of the Sciences Library, who say goodnight to the kids at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital by pointing and flickering flashlights toward their windows. A strong community, which includes the broader Providence community, is not built on one or two superstar teams. It is instead built through repeated actions, big and small, that better the broader Brown and Providence community. Wins may
that 52 percent of the 2016-17 athletics budget was made up of philanthropy, which included 6,123 donors. The athletics pull, which again encompasses all Brown athletics from intramural to varsity sports, is undeniable when faced with these numbers. Considering that a large chunk of the athletics budget only exists because of philanthropists who are donating specifically to Brown athletics, the suggestion that the University
ence. But — as Glenn ’14, Meyers ’16, Johnston ’17 and Matsumoto ’16 argue — these same student-athletes will also tell you that they would refuse to cut all sports but their own, even if it would benefit their team. We would not be willing to take on the superstar status that comes with a sell-out crowd if it means cutting the eight children that have been added to various Brown rosters through Team Impact, an organization that connects children facing serious and chronic illnesses with college athletic teams. And why would we agree to reducing our student-athlete numbers, thereby hurting our peers and our friends? We would be agreeing to seeing not only our athletic community suffer, but also our broader Brown community and our city of Providence.
A strong community, which includes the broader Providence community, is not built on one or two superstar teams. It is instead built through repeated actions, big and small, that better the broader Brown and Providence community.
many fans in attendance that day as the other quarterfinal site.
Furthermore, student-athletes add value to Brown and Providence through the community engagement that they undertake. For instance, the men’s and women’s hockey teams have helped to clean up the Rhode Island beaches. Every Brown team was in attendance at the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School Kickoff Event just this past week, highlighting the decadeslong relationship between our studentathletes and a local Providence school. We contribute to our school and the greater Brown community through events such as the weekly gathering of
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play a part in this, as do the academic achievements of our fellow student-athletes and the community engagement of teams.
Some may argue that the school budget and specifically the allotted $17.7 million the University puts into Brown sports is excessive. This money does not just go into varsity athletics, but also into the Nelson Fitness Center, as well as club and intramural sports. Additionally, as Glenn ’14, Meyers ’16, Johnston ’17 and Matsumoto ’16 aptly point out, the returns on this investment are tangible, as evidenced in student-athlete alumni donations. It is in fact important to note
simply reallocate the athletics budget toward its annual “Payment In Lieu of Taxes to the City of Providence” is unreasonable. Doing so would, by eliminating the 6,123 donors, actually halve the annual budget. We do recognize that the August ’19, Kent-Daggett ’19 and Taswell ’19 argument that millions be poured into the men’s and women’s basketball teams is hard to dispute, as the sport would likely see an improvement in its win-loss record. Yet the idea that this improvement would better the Brown community is less convincing.
All Brown student-athletes will tell you that playing in front of a sellout crowd is an incomparable experi-
If you are looking for Brown pride, make sure to be in the stands next time a soccer player drills an overtime goal against cross-town rival Providence College, or when several student-athletes are honored for academic achievements at halftime of a game. While you’re in the stands, think of the broader impact that a single player, not to mention team, has on Brown and its neighboring community. Think about the child likely sitting a few seats away from you, who goes home after these games not only motivated to play sports, but also inspired to succeed academically. We’re assuming that while you sit in those stands, the thought of cutting 36 teams and telling the hundreds of student-athletes to find another passion would not even cross your mind. Go Bears.
Luke McCaleb ’20 and Erika Steeves ’19 are 2018-19 Presidents of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, as well as captains of men’s lacrosse and women’s basketball, respectively, and can be reached at luke_mccaleb@brown.edu and erika_ steeves@brown.edu.
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What we stand to gain from unionization
KATERINE PRESTON AND SIRAJ SINDHU op-ed contributors
Dear graduate student workers,
We write to share with you our excitement for the upcoming election. As first-year graduate students who have not yet begun working for the University, we support you and will soon join you as teaching and research assistants. The group Stand Up for Graduate Student Employees has already welcomed us as new students with a community of mutual support and provided a platform for our voices. We recognize that graduate students are underrepresented in the discussions and decision-making processes that affect our experience, benefits and future opportunities. Graduate school can be an isolating experience for many. Our academic futures often lie in the hands of a very few gatekeepers in our fields. We can minimize that isolation and vulnerability by organizing a union. We believe unionization and a resulting contract of employment with the University is the only way to guarantee that graduate students will have greater representation and power in the decisions that determine our careers and lives. What do we stand to gain by coming together in unionization? In addition to a seat at the table with decision makers, we will have a means of galvanizing hundreds of graduate students to fight for the changes we all need. Here are only a few examples of what we stand to gain.
Health and Family Care
Imagine a university that respects our personal lives as much as the work and research we produce. As a union, we can follow in the steps of the graduate students at the University of Connecticut who fought to expand the categories of protected and paid leave “for reasons including, but not limited to, illness or injury, immigration hearings, pregnancy, to care for a newborn or adopted child or to care for an immediate family member,” as well as bereavement leave. Brown’s existing leave policies are far more limited and not enshrined in a contract. In addition to a union contract that guarantees health insurance, we could include vision coverage, as at the University of Washington. We could also prevent the University from altering policies without our notice or in non-compliance with our contract, as is stipulated by an agreement between Oregon State University and its graduate student union. Our contract could incorporate an
easy-to-read yet comprehensive chart of benefits for reference, and our union representatives could also act as pointpeople to help us navigate complex and confusing health care terms and coverage.
Protection Against Discrimination and Harassment
Imagine a university where graduate workers who experience discrimination or harassment can turn to their union for support. Imagine a grievance
versity’s ruling and seek to compel the University to better serve the affected student. We could emulate the University of Washington’s contract in binding the University to establish and maintain “a joint committee to discuss methods of recruiting and retaining, and encouraging career development of (graduate students) who belong to underrepresented groups” regarding workplace issues including disparate treatment based on native language or dialect and parental status. Like the
clearly document all duties associated with a graduate’s appointment in advance of each semester and honor those terms. SUGSE could reserve the right to make recommendations to the University, including improved training for our worker positions. Our contract, like New York University’s, could also guarantee compensation for mandatory trainings that are a condition of our employment.
Graduate workers who pay a Student and Exchange Visitor Information
procedure independent of the administration. Our contract could provide support for any student worker who experiences discrimination or retaliation in violation of University policies, from a position crucially external to the University. Imagine an independent, graduate-led support system, available to walk you through options and support you through any investigation or bureaucratic process related to your complaint. Our contract could also delineate a clear procedure for a graduate student to contest the Uni-
UConn, our contract could stipulate explicitly that the University maintain guidelines to assist transgender and gender-diverse graduates and other groups not always covered by law or existing policy.
Working Conditions, Pay and Costs
Imagine a university where our working conditions, responsibilities and pay are documented and guaranteed for the duration of our programs. Like all the contracts we reviewed, our contract could require that Brown
System Fee or visa fee could be guaranteed reimbursement, as at Oregon State University. Our union could also agitate for immigration reform and press the University to continue taking clear stands in defense of our community of international graduates. Finally, as was achieved in every contract we reviewed, we could expect to receive an annual raise in our stipends. We can be confident that this raise would cover any annual union dues, as in the experience of all the other graduate student unions we investigated.
These are just a few examples of what we stand to gain from unionization. Other graduate worker contracts contain articles on parking, housing and summer appointments. Perhaps most importantly, each contract contains an explicit grievance, appeal and arbitration procedure to address any violation of the contract. While the contracts incorporate and therefore cover violation of existing university policies, these procedures are independent of any existing University process and stipulate timely progression — for example, NYU’s provost is required to meet with the graduate and their union representative within 10 days of receipt of a grievance, and a response is required within another 10 days.
Our graduate worker union will be our voice — we will collectively decide our unique goals and priorities through a democratic process. Unionization offers a forum for representation backed by the power of collective bargaining protected by U.S. labor law and grounded outside channels wholly controlled by the University. And finally, our contract is only the first step. SUGSE would remain active after our contract is signed through contractually guaranteed meetings between union representatives and the administration and/or required representation on administrative committees. We will continue to be a grassroots organization, working together to address emergent needs and aspirations.
Sincerely,
Katherine Preston GS, English Siraj Sindhu GS, Political Science Devon Clifton GS, English Thao Nguyen GS, Computer Science Sherena Razek GS, Modern Culture and Media Nomaan Hasan GS, Anthropology Aarushi Kalra GS, Economics Katherine Contess GS, Modern Culture and Media Katyayni Seth GS, Anthropology Olivia Lafferty GS, English Alba Vivar Fabiola GS, Economics Alexsandro Menez GS, Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Ayse Sanli GS, Anthropology Pablo Valente GS, Behavioral and Social Sciences
Eva Rios GS, Political Science Isaac Effner GS, Political Science Asimanshu Das GS, Engineering
Katherine Preston GS can be reached at katherine_preston@ brown.edu, and Siraj Sindhu GS can be reached at siraj_sindhu@ brown.edu. For more information, please visit https://brownsugse.com/grad-unions-acrossthe-us/.
