SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021
VOLUME CLVI, ISSUE XXII
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
UNIVERSITY NEWS
UNIVERSITY
Understaffing, facilities issues stretch workers at Ratty, V-Dub
NEWS
Workers express concerns over staffing, sanitation, stressful environment BY WILL KUBZANSKY SENIOR STAFF WRITER After a year without in-person dining, the Sharpe Refectory and Verney-Woolley dining halls are back to full-fledged operations — a hallmark of the college experience. But the staff who prepare, cook and serve the University’s meals say that the return to normalcy has stretched an understaffed workforce to its limits. Sanitary practices suffer and stations remain closed as pre-existing issues with dining services are exacerbated by hiring difficulties. Twelve Brown Dining Services workers spoke to The Herald on the condition of anonymity so they could discuss working conditions without fear of retribution; each worker has been given a pseudonym to protect their identities. They described a number of issues stemming from understaffing, but also detailed long-standing issues in the flagship dining halls such
TRACY PAN / HERALD
V-Dub workers describe severe sanitation issues, food waste and broken equipment amid a staffing shortage in dining halls. as broken equipment, food waste and a consistent lack of communication about who bears responsibility: BDS or Bon Appétit, an outside contractor that serves as a “partner and advisor” in dining. BDS is working to hire new staff, according to an email sent to The Herald by George Barboza, director of Dining Programs. But like the majority of food service companies, BDS is facing difficulties in filling vacant positions. In the meantime, Barboza wrote that BDS is “balancing” responsibilities and con-
ARTS & CULTURE
Jonas Brothers: a band frozen in time Band owes nostalgia factor and present charm to 2005 boyband origins
BY REBECCA CARCIERI SENIOR STAFF WRITER Few bands are as consistent and unchanging as the Jonas Brothers. Just go to one of their 2021 concerts and you’ll be immediately transformed into who you were in 2008 — maybe a kid who just got off the bus and turns on Disney Channel to watch Camp Rock, or someone who scours through their CDs to listen to “Burnin’ Up” on repeat (I mean, who can blame you?) Their shows are a whirlwind of 2000s nostalgia mixed with an electrifying dash of 2019 pop — fans sing and dance along to the decade-old song “S.O.S” one minute and their more recent release “Rollercoaster” the next. The audience, full of millennials and older Gen-Zers, can be seen proudly sporting their t-shirts from the band’s iconic 2008 “Burnin’ Up Tour’’ while others (such as myself) don the newer 2021 tour merchandise.
Regardless, the band’s strong musical foundations in 2000s boyband pop still appeal to their now-adult fans who appreciate the group’s consistent image and sound. The mid-2000s phenomenon The Jonas Brothers’ domination in the mid-to-late-2000s was not without its growing pains. Their debut 2006 album ‘It’s About Time’ included stellar covers of Busted’s “What I Go to School For” as well as “Year 3000” with a slight lyric change to accommodate a younger audience (“Triple breasted women swim around town / Totally naked!” modified to “Girls there with round hair like Star Wars / Float above the floor.”) Besides these hits, the album overall lacked a clear musical direction. The transition between tracks like “Mandy,” a heavier rock song, to the more acoustic “Please Be Mine” fails to flow cohesively. The band’s most popular album to date is the “Jonas Brothers,” the group’s self-titled second album, which debuted in 2007 at number five on the U.S. Billboard 200. This marked the first time the band had
tinuing to prioritize sanitation. Stacks of dishes, pots and pans Dining halls, workers said, have not been fully staffed in years — and multiple workers noted that numbers had declined even before the pandemic. The workforce took a further hit after a wave of retirements during the pandemic. But every worker interviewed agreed: BDS has never employed so few people to serve so many students. For the dish room at the V-Dub to function, it needs at least three people,
according to a V-Dub worker referred to here as David. But in the morning, two people work in the dish room, and at night, only one does, he said. That leaves one person to load and unload the dishwasher — a sanitation problem, David added, as the same hands that loaded dirty plates then unload clean ones. “If the city comes and sees that,” he said, “we would get in big trouble.” Without enough workers in the dish room, time runs out quickly. Multiple workers showed photos of dishes, pots and pans towering high, left to be cleaned the next morning. Other auxiliary duties suffer for being short-staffed too, David said, such as sweeping and mopping the floor. “To me, that’s like calling mice and roaches in,” he said. Leaving dishes for the morning in turn limits the kitchen’s ability to serve meals in a timely fashion, said a worker in the V-Dub kitchen referred to here as John. Temporary workers hired in the Ratty addressed a similar problem where dishes from the night before remained stacked up into the next
SEE DINING PAGE 7
Blue Room eliminates option to pay with meal plan Popular student center cafe now only accepts cash, card, Bear Bucks BY GRACE WILLIAMS CONTRIBUTING WRITER Brown Dining Services eliminated the option for students to use Flex Points or meal credits as payment at the Blue Room Cafe this year. Now, the Blue Room only accepts U.S. Dollars and Bear Bucks, which students can activate by adding funds to their ID card. Before this switch, the Blue Room allowed students to use Flex
SEE BLUE ROOM PAGE 3
METRO
Bret Jacob runs for State Senate District 3 Jacob hopes to bring experience, background to accomplish progressive platform
BY ADAM REMELS STAFF WRITER Bret Jacob is running in the Democratic primary for Rhode Island State Senate District 3 after serving as the LGBTQIA+ liaison and director of research and development under Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza. Jacob grew up in poverty and often experienced homelessness, moving more than 14 times across three states with his mother. This childhood experience helped him “understand the critical role that the government can play in improving the lives of our residents,” he said, and would come to shape his work as a policymaker and community activist. Jacob’s platform focuses on finding climate-centered solutions to issues ranging from affordable housing to racial justice. For example, “homelessness in Rhode Island is a solvable challenge if we strategically spend the ($1.1 billion) in federal aid from the American
COURTESY OF BRET JACOB
Jacob’s platform is centered on finding climate-centered solutions for issues such as affordable housing and racial justice. Rescue Plan Act to build green, affordable housing,” Jacob said. “Our kids can receive quality education if we invest in equipping them with 21st-century workforce development opportunities that attract high-paying, union, green jobs.” Jacob hopes to fund these projects through increased taxes on the rich. “The top 1% of earners need to pay their fair share in taxes,” he said. While in the mayor’s office, Jacob worked on the creation of a behavioral health response program in which trained specialists respond to 911 calls rather than traditional law en-
forcement. He also led the design of a program, set to launch in October, that aims to alleviate fiscal burdens that prevent Providence residents from regaining their driver’s licenses, helping to reduce “a key barrier to stable employment,” Jacob said. Jacob additionally helped launch Providence’s Truth-Telling, Reconciliation and Municipals Reparations process by drafting an executive order that committed the City to acknowledging and redressing the atrocities committed against Black, Indigenous and people of color in Providence. The project will
SEE JONAS PAGE 2
SEE JACOB PAGE 6
Arts & Culture
Sports
Commentary
Science & Research
Sounds@Brown brings live music back to campus with four student performers Page 2
Women’s field hockey defeats Dartmouth Big Green in 3-1 victory on Saturday Page 3
Editorial: U. must do more to ensure equity in housing quality on campus Page 4
U. researchers publish research study on movement of nanoparticles in fluids Page 5
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TOMORROW
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021
ARTS & CULTURE
Sounds@Brown welcomes live student performances back to campus Sounds@Brown hosts four student performers at its first live music event of the fall Sept. 30 BY AALIA JAGWANI SENIOR STAFF WRITER Sounds@Brown held its first live event since the start of the pandemic Sept. 30 in the Brown University Maddock Alumni Center. In compliance with University COVID-19 guidelines, the evening event took place outdoors in the Alumni Garden, an intimate setting that lent the perfect atmosphere to the acoustic performances. Sounds@Brown, a student organization that helps student artists showcase and promote their work, hosts monthly shows featuring three artists from the Brown community, creating space for live music performances on campus. September’s show opened with a duet performance by Ellie Tapping ’24 and Tara Mandal ’24, followed by Herald Senior Staff Writer Laura David ’24 and Gus Benson ’23, all of whom had collaborated with Sounds@Brown in the past. The artists played a combination of personal favorites, crowd-pleasers — including classics by Taylor Swift and ABBA — and original compositions.
JONAS FROM PAGE 1 a top 10 album in the nation. The singles from this album, a re-release of “Year 3000,” with new songs “Hold On,” “S.O.S” and “When You Look Me in the Eyes” are still viewed as staples of the band’s discography. This album features a youthful perspective on falling in and out of love with the effusive energy of teenage naivete. Outside of the “Camp Rock” soundtrack, music from the band peaked with these classic bops. ‘A Little Bit Longer (2008)’ and ‘Lines, Vines, and Trying Times (2009)’ sit nicely in the band’s repertoire as solid albums with a consistent sound. Successfully branding itself as the goto band for family-friendly fun with a strong, optimistic and energetic sound, the Jonas Brothers became the perfect boyband for Disney to support. “Burnin’ Up,” a catchy anthem and immediate hit from their 2008 album, features a verse from well-known Jonas Brothers security guard Robert “Big Rob” Feggans and
As a club centered around the live music experience, Sounds@Brown had to significantly alter its operations to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, with lockdown being enforced shortly after the club held its very first live event. “We did artist spotlights and some virtual concerts, we partnered with CCB and ‘Engines for Change’ as well and it was super fun but it was not the same,” said club founder and board member Zachary Federman ’23.5. But planning the first live event since the onset of the pandemic was not without its own challenges. “It was remarkably tough; I’m actually shocked that we managed to pull this off,” Federman said, alluding to date-changes, technical errors in the process of setting up, and changing University guidelines. “It was really hard to work things out logistically to make it happen, but we worked really hard,” he said. The efforts of the team were apparent at the “Welcome Back to Live Music Show,” and its success was evident in the huge turnout and audience reactions. “I had been waiting so long to hear live music again and it was just incredible,” said audience member Naia Wolfenzon ’24. The audience’s enthusiasm for having live music back on campus was palpable through listeners’ engaged smiles and warm applause. It was precisely these intimate con-
a music video cameo from fellow Disney star Selena Gomez. “Paranoid,” a single off of their 2009 album, demonstrates the band’s maturation with a stronger guitar sound and vocal improvements on Nick and Joe’s part. Break-up, reunion and consistent branding As the band entered the 2010s, they focused on their respective solo careers before officially announcing the band’s breakup Oct. 29, 2013. Five and a half years later, the Jonas Brothers shockingly announced their reunion on social media with the release of their new single “Sucker” March 1, 2019. The song became the band’s first number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100. Their latest album, ‘Happiness Begins (2019),’ though it was released ten years after their previous album, sounds remarkably similar to their earlier music in the best way possible. “Sucker” highlights the newfound love the now adult brothers have for their respective wives,
AREEZ KHAN / HERALD
Sounds@Brown’s “Welcome Back to Live Music Show” featured student performers Ellie Tapping ’24, Tara Mandal ’24, Herald Senior Staff Writer Laura David ’24 and Gus Benson ’23. nections between the artist and the audience that Sounds@Brown has sought to foster since its conception. “A lot of what we wanted to do when we started Sounds@Brown was to use music as a way to build community and center love, and I feel really good about it,” said Federman.
while “Cool” is a typical Jonas Brothers pop anthem about nothing but wanting to have a good time. Nonetheless, it still works. After all, that’s how the Jonas Brothers made their splashing return into the music scene with the same popularity they enjoyed during their peak. Their new songs sound similar to their old ones, and their most well-known tracks are the ones from fifteen years ago. The band’s current success in the music industry is entirely dependent on them returning to their teenage selves, channeling a nostalgic sound both intimate and anachronistic — listening to 28-year-old Nick hit the high notes in the 2007 track “Hold On” is simply surreal. While all three brothers are married and two have children, the feeling of hearing “Lovebug” live in 2021 still conjures the late-2000s fantasy that one of the teenage brothers would one day fall in love with you. The “nostalgia” factor of the band is their utmost appeal.
REBECCA CARCIERI / HERALD
The Jonas Brothers retain their original 2000’s boyband pop sound to appeal to their mostly-millennial and older gen-Z audience. The band’s charm came through their mix of covers and takes on timeless classics.
Davis Jackson ’24, an audience member, agreed. “Having all of us be in the same space reacting to the same sounds … it’s nice to hear,” he said. The performers also expressed their enthusiasm at the return of live music. “I really missed being able to collaborate with other musicians,” Tapping
said. “For me, music is so much about harmony and emotional connection that it is so difficult to only make music in solitude.” Sounds@Brown is planning to host more live music events over the course of the semester in various locations around campus.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
BLUE ROOM FROM PAGE 1
SPORTS
Volleyball sweeps weekend Ivy series Bears remain unbeaten in Ivy League with two fourset wins BY RYAN HANDEL SPORTS EDITOR The women’s volleyball team (10-3, 3-0 Ivy) defeated Cornell (4-7, 0-3) and Columbia (4-8, 1-2) this weekend in consecutive 3-1 home wins. In each matchup, the Bears were deadlocked with their Ivy rival at one set apiece before pulling away to take the final two. Brown’s 3-0 record in conference play represents its best Ivy League start during Head Coach Ahen Kim’s tenure, which began in January 2018. The matches against Cornell and Columbia represented Brown’s first Ivy League home series since 2019. “It was awesome (competing in front of the crowd),” middle blocker Gabby Derrick ’25 said. “The energy of the crowd, and to get to see everyone come out and support us — it’s great to have that feeling.” In Brown’s game against the Big Red Friday, the Bears dropped the first set 25-20 due to multiple critical attack errors in the back half of the set. But Bruno quickly recuperated, pulling ahead 9-3 in the second set and cruising to take the set 25-21. The Bears maintained their momentum in the third set, dominating 2518, and won the final seven points of the fourth set to win it 25-15. While the Bears struggled to pull away from the Lions Saturday, their clutch performance in key moments cemented their eventual win. Down 23-22 in the business end of the first
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COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
These matches against Cornell and Columbia were the women’s volleyball team’s first Ivy League home series since 2019. set, the Bears took the next three points, including a kill by Beau Vanderlaan ’25 to clinch the set. Columbia battled back to take the second set 25-21, but Brown responded with a 25-20 win in the third. Bruno then locked up its 3-0 Ivy record with the most dramatic set of the weekend. Up 23-19, the Bears looked in position for a comfortable victory. But the Lions stormed back, setting up set point at 24-23. The Bears defended their home court by taking the next three points and the match, including a crucial kill by Kate Sheire ’24 to set up match point. “We (were) playing down to the other team’s level,” outside hitter Sophia Miller ’23 said. “What really changed the game (was) we decided to destroy every single ball.” Columbia “really made us better,” Kim said. “They played their system really well, and it forced us to have to step into ours and be a little bit more disciplined ourselves. To see (my team) pull that out of themselves is good… I’m looking for my team to
bring that on their own now and not wait for someone else to elevate our level of play.” Setter Cierra Jenkins ’24 provided critical setup for the Bears throughout the weekend, notching a combined 82 assists across the home series. Vanderlaan and Sheire led Bruno at the net, with Vanderlaan making 12 blocks and Sheire generating 31 kills. Brown’s victory extended its overall winning streak to six matches. The 10-3 Bears have not dropped a match to a team outside a major conference. “3-0 (in the Ivy League) is still very early stuff,” Kim said. “It’s going to take us getting two points better every day to get to where we want to be, which is the Ivy League Championship.” Brown will look to keep its perfect Ivy record alive during another home series next weekend. The Bears will take on Dartmouth Friday and Harvard Saturday.
Points at all times and meal credits after 4 p.m. This gave students the opportunity to utilize their meal plans on drinks, pastry items, custom sandwiches, salads and various dinner specials at the cafe. The switch was intended to prompt students to eat and spend points at other on-campus eateries, namely the Ivy Room, instead of the Blue Room, according to Vice President of Dining Programs George Barboza. “To better serve the campus community,” he wrote in an email to The Herald, “we transitioned the Blue Room to the Ivy Room as a student-centric eatery starting this fall.” Barboza wrote that “because of the larger footprint at (the Ivy Room), we are able to provide an enhanced dining experience and offer student favorites such as customized salad and sandwich options, smoothies, dinner entrees from local restaurants and more. We are also accepting Flex Points and meal credits for lunch and dinner service.” Many students who remain on meal plan said they were surprised by the change. Bryan Bermeo ’24 said he went into this year thinking he could use points at the Blue Room, and that he
now avoids purchasing anything from the cafe altogether. He added that not all students can afford to use funds outside of their meal plan. “You are essentially barring a community of kids from access to convenient food,” Bermeo said. Barboza wrote that the Blue Room has “not seen a significant decrease in business with this change,” and that BDS will reassess this semester to decide whether this change will be permanent. He added that there are still plenty of locations where students can use points: “Flex Points are accepted at all other campus eateries, including the Ratty, V-Dub, Josiah’s, Gourmet to Go, Andrews Commons, the Ivy Room and School of Engineering Cafe.” Keiley Thompson ’24 echoed Bermeo’s sentiments. She said she enjoys studying at the Blue Room and is confused by BDS’ decision. “Only people that have extra funds can eat at the Blue Room,” she said. “If it is a part of the campus center, it should be for everyone, not just for the visitors or the people that can afford it.” A student who is employed by BDS and asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution told The Herald that they feel that the administration did not keep student interests in mind when implementing the change.
NICOLE KIM / HERALD
Barboza wrote that eliminating the option to pay via meal plan at the Blue Room was done to prompt students to eat at other dining halls.
SPORTS
Field hockey breezes by Dartmouth in first victory of Ivy season Bears snap fourgame losing streak with Ivy win over Big Green
BY GABBY SARTORI SENIOR STAFF WRITER The field hockey team (4-5, 1-1 Ivy) defeated the Dartmouth Big Green (4-6, 0-2 Ivy) in a commanding 3-0 victory Saturday at Goldberger Family Field. The win earned the Bears their first victory of the Ivy League season. Bruno out-shot the Big Green 17-7, picking up momentum with an early goal from Emma Rosen ’22 and never looking back. Head Coach Jill Reeve noted how proud she was of the team’s effort on offense, with every player on the field contributing to the win. “What I’m most proud of is that this was a team win. We were able to play like ourselves, strung passes together and (we) really made a unified effort,” Reeve said. Rosen sparked the Bears’ offense in the first 45 seconds of the second quarter with a goal off an assist from Chloe Perel ’23 that resulted from a scramble in front of the net. Bruno then doubled its lead in the last few seconds of the third quarter off a
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
Emma Rosen ’22 scored a goal in the first 45 seconds of the second quarter, assisted by Chloe Perel ’23. The Bears will face off against the College of the Holy Cross Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Worcester, Massachusetts. penalty corner from Chloe Sik ’25 to Dani van Rootselaar ’22. This was one of eight game-leading shots on goal for van Rootselaar as she continued to prove herself as the driving force behind the Bears’ offense. Midfielder Mikayla Walsh ’25 put
the game out of the Big Green’s reach early in the fourth quarter, scoring off a feed from Lindsey Ross ’23 from the center of the circle. From there, the Bears cruised to a win over their Ivy League rivals. The Bears’ dominant defense was
led by goalkeeper Calista Manuzza ’23. Manuzza earned the first win of her career in goal, notching seven saves. She stepped up after starting goalkeeper Jodie Brine ’23 suffered a concussion against Georgetown University in Brown’s previous game.
Although her start was a last-minute change, she felt no pressure stepping into the role. “The warm-up was absolutely flawless,” Manuzza said. “I had no nerves coming into this game because we came into it knowing what we had to do to win.” While Brown was missing a few players due to injury, the Bears also regained strength with the return of key contributors from COVID-19 protocols, including team captain Rosen. “It was a really great team win to come back to,” Rosen said. “There were a lot of connecting passes and I think everyone (was) just enjoying themselves out there. After the pandemic and losing yet another couple of games from a COVID hiccup, it’s just great to be out there.” The Bears travel to Worcester, Massachusetts for a non-conference match-up against the College of the Holy Cross Tuesday at 6 p.m. This w ill be the last game of Bruno’s non-conference schedule before they dive headfirst into Ivy League play. “We just need to stay focused and keep the effort up moving forward as we head into Ivy League competition,” Reeve said. “There is so much room to grow and I’m so excited for this team specifically to showcase what they have to offer.”
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY
MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021
EDITORIAL
We shouldn’t have to live in Wellness to live well For the first time since New Dorm opened in 1991, Brown’s campus has a new residence hall: the Wellness Center and Residence Hall, housing both a 162-bed dormitory and the University’s health services. The new building opened its doors to students on May 9 this year. Featuring air conditioning, floor-to-ceiling windows and a combination of singles and four-person suites, the residence hall seems nearly too good to be true. Those who moved in over the summer have voiced their appreciation for its design and amenities, as well as its goal of integrating wellness with student life. The Wellness Center dorm certainly sets a promising tone for future expansions of University housing, and its mission of promoting well-being is admirable. At the same time, the building’s almost luxurious design highlights existing inequities in the Brown residential experience, setting a worrying precedent for future development. What we want is for there to be no “better” dorms — only good ones. Because students are required to live on campus through their sixth semester, nearly three-quarters of the undergraduate student body lives in on-campus housing. After their first year, most students end up taking part in the Housing Lottery, a process that randomly assigns selection times at which students can choose any unclaimed room. This random lottery system is likely the fairest way to divvy up available housing; what isn’t fair is the staggering disparity between residence halls. While some students thrive in the suites of Barbour Hall and 315 Thayer St., complete with kitchens and furnished living rooms, others are isolated in the cramped singles of Grad Center. Some live in spacious doubles with high ceilings, like in Metcalf and Miller; others in forced basement triples. Those lucky enough to live in Wellness Center or New Dorm enjoy the rare luxury of air conditioning, while the rest sweat out the summer heat. New and renovated dorms boast bright, clean halls and inviting common areas. Others show their age in peeling paint and dingy carpets. These details may seem small, but they have an outsized impact on student social and emotional wellbeing. Brown purports to have a campus that “instills a sense of community among our members,” according to its Strategic Plan for Campus Development. But the drastic inequalities in housing end up fracturing us instead. What’s also worth noting about the Wellness dorm is that it requires an application, selecting for students with wellness-oriented “gifts and practices.” But don’t all students, regardless of what they have to offer, deserve good housing? Instead of fostering community, this selection process only weakens it. The University charges each student roughly $10,000 per year to live on campus, without factoring in financial aid. As each semester lasts about four months, this room fee works out to a hefty rent of $1,250 per month. Room fees are identical regardless of where a student lives on campus — whether they live in the Wellness Center or in Grad Center. This is not to say that we shouldn’t all pay the same rent. But equal rent should mean equal living conditions, and that just isn’t the case. So why is there so much variation among housing options? Perhaps for the same reason that New Dorm has kept its name for so long: the University didn’t build a new residence hall for three decades. Additionally, although several largescale renovations took place in that time period, the most recent was completed in 2013, when first-year residence halls Metcalf and Miller were overhauled. Smaller, piecemeal improvements have been made since then, but actual progress toward better and fairer housing has slowed considerably. The Wellness Center dorm, in addition to the planned Brook Street residence hall, might seem like steps in the right direction. But we’re skeptical that the University will maintain that momentum. Its principal concern seems to be increasing housing capacity, not improving quality overall; administrators have suggested that “by constructing these two new facilities, the University hopes to eliminate the need for off-campus housing for undergraduates,” The Herald previously reported. In the same article, Koren Bakkegard, associate vice president for campus life, noted that housing more students on campus would alleviate pressure on the Providence housing market. That goal is commendable. But ultimately, adding just these two residence halls, no matter how nice they are, will materially improve the lives of only a fraction of students on campus. The Wellness Center has 162 beds. So why is the University prioritizing the wellness of just 162 students? To be clear, we aren’t advocating for luxury; we don’t need to live in a five-star hotel. And we hold nothing against the students who live in the Wellness Center, or any of the “better” dorms. What we want is equity. To that end, the University should focus on improving residential life across campus, not just expanding it. Whether that means replacing old residence halls with new ones or renovating the ones we have, the University should not stop at the Wellness Center, and it shouldn’t wait 30 more years. It should continue to improve conditions until all its students can live well. —Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board. This editorial was written by its editor Johnny Ren ’23, and members Clara Gutman Argemí ’22, Catherine Healy ’22, Olivia Burdette ’22, Devan Paul ’24 and Kate Waisel ’24.
CA L E N DA R
COVID -19 AT BROWN LAST 7 DAYS*
OCTOBER S
3
M
4
Tu
5
W
6
Th
7
Completed Tests
People Tested
F
S
16,881
12,635
1
2
Confirmed Positives
Positivity Rates
8
0.0 %
8
9 SINCE AUGUST 24, 2020*
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24/31
25
26
27
28
29
30
Completed Tests
People Tested
533,263
17,963
Total Cases
Prevalence
786
4.4 %
*AS OF OCT 3.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
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SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
U. researchers study rod-shaped particles, provide modeling reference Study results have potential application in biology, health technology BY JARED ZHANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER From how to capture CO2 in the atmosphere to how to deliver lifesaving drugs, scientists can answer a variety of questions by studying the movement of nanoparticles. Early last month, University researchers published a study describing how nanoparticles move and disperse in flowing fluids. Assistant Professor of Engineering Daniel Harris was the principal investigator and worked with researchers Stuart Thomson, Ajay Harishankar Kumar ScM’20 and Professor of Engineering and Physics Thomas Powers. “Historically, (our research) goes back to the work of mathematician G. I. Taylor,” said Thomson, a postdoc in Harris’s lab. Taylor’s work described
COURTESY OF AJAY KUMAR
how shear flow, which is a type of fluid flow induced by a pressure gradient, causes spherical nanoparticles to disperse and spread out — an effect known as Taylor Dispersion. This effect is very important in fluid dynamics, Thomson said. “It’s easier to do analysis and calculations on spherical particles, but in reality not everything is spherical,” said Kumar, who was the first author of the study. “In our study, we consider particles like an ellipsoid or (a) long-shaped rod. We wanted to see what kind of effect the shape would have on the properties” of the particles in the fluid, Kumar added.
To study the motion of ellipsoid-shaped particles, which are also referred to as elongated rods, the researchers used a method known as a Monte Carlo simulation — a type of computational algorithm that uses repeated random sampling. The researchers used the Oscar supercomputer from Brown’s Center for Computation and Visualization to run numerical simulations on nearly a million elongated particles subjected to shear fluid flow, Kumar said. The Monte Carlo simulations considered both the fluid flow’s effect on the elongated rods as well as Brownian motion, or the random
movement of particles in stagnant fluid, Thomson said. “There are some differential equations you can model (particle movement) with,” he added. After running the simulations, the researchers analyzed the speed of the particles. They also described the spreading of the particles, which they used to calculate a dispersion coefficient, Kumar said. “We actually found that rodshaped particles spread much more than the spherical particles in high fluid flow,” Kumar said. The speed of the elongated rods seemed to decrease, but was statistically insignificant when compared to the increase
in dispersion coefficient, he added. Using the information from the simulations, the researchers were able to calculate a correction factor. “For real life applications … we can put a small correction factor to the spherical case and you get the rod-shaped case,” Kumar said. The simulation method and theoretical model from this study can provide a useful modeling reference for other researchers in this field, wrote Yun Chen, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Minnesota, in an email to The Herald. “If we are studying similar systems of particles … with different geometry of the particles, we could refer to this paper and modify their model … to be applied to our own system,” added Chen, who was not involved in the study. The findings about the mean speed and dispersion rate of the rods can have applications in predicting the behaviors of non-spherical biological objects, such as bacteria and microscopic health technology devices, he added.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
JACOB FROM PAGE 1 secure a $100,000 grant and facilitate “a process to determine what reconciliation in Providence could look like.” “As a biracial person, I am extremely proud to have been involved in this groundbreaking work,” Jacob said. “I am committed to continuing to press for action on racial inequities in our state.” Jacob’s work on this project is in part what led Rhode Island State Representative Leonela Felix to endorse him. “I’ve worked with Bret, and I’ve seen his dedication to the city of Providence,” Felix said. “I’ve seen his work and commitment to doing what needs to be done in order to support our communities and in order to be able to move the city forward.” Felix also praised Jacob’s collaboration with others, saying the City and District 3 need leaders who “can bring innovative ideas to really help support our communities in need.” To effect change, the government needs candidates who can build com-
munity and push for consensus, according to Felix. “That’s what I really see him bringing, that collaboration, that collaborative approach to government to make a difference.” Jacob is also supported by the Rhode Island Working Families Party, which works “to elect candidates committed to economic, racial, social and environmental justice and hold elected officials accountable to these core values,” according to its website. Zack Mezera ’13, the party’s organizing director, explained that both WFP and Jacob have worked to expand wages for low-income residents, increase taxes on the wealthy and provide protections for workers, women, immigrants and people of color. “We got really excited about feeling confident that when Bret goes into the State House, he’s going to stick to his progressive values,” Mezera said. “He’s had those his whole life and has worked on them his whole life.” “We feel like Bret has a record of
working on WFP issues and working in the community for a long time on WFP issues,” Mezera added. “He’s an organizer on his own, and we think he’ll be an organizer in the State House too.” Jeff Levy, chair of the District 3 Senate Endorsement Committee and husband of former District 3 State Senator Gayle Goldin, endorsed Jacob, noting his “great ideas and positive energy.” Levy believes Jacob will bring a different perspective to District 3 after the state government has been “dominated by people with very similar backgrounds for a very long time.” “To have somebody up there who grew up in poverty, who’s experienced homelessness, who’s queer and is a person of color will help Bret contribute to policymaking in the state in a way other people can’t,” Levy said. In running for District 3 State Senate, Jacob hopes to “uphold (the district’s) legacy of electing progressive leaders with records of bringing people together to implement policies that forward our values.”
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021
DINING FROM PAGE 1
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
7
morning, according to a worker in the Ratty kitchen referred to here as Jim. Still, the Ratty’s kitchen has other problems stemming from understaffing, workers say. “Prep rooms” likely have less than two-thirds or one-half of the staff they should have, according to another worker in the Ratty kitchen
“We see everything posted on Instagram” The understaffing, workers said, has taken its toll. Workers described being more tired than they had ever been, as well as new levels of stress and a sense of disappointment that they can’t do better, especially when students openly complain. The staff in the dining halls are
impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment market,” he wrote, noting that the efforts to bolster hiring coincide with the University resuming full operations in its dining halls for the first time since March 2020. The University is working “aggressively and proactively to recruit new staff and fill all open positions,” he added, drawing on professional, stu-
Over-ordering and limited fridge space, some workers said, also lead to considerable food waste. Peter estimated that the amount of food sent straight to compost could be measured by the “metric ton.” Ensuring timely repairs, Peter said, could be the job of a number of different groups. Bon Appétit, an outside group that the University contracts
tive rapport with the union since the start, and we expect that to continue,” Barboza wrote. Most of the changes needed to solve current problems, largely rooted in understaffing, will come through pieces of contract negotiations aimed at getting things “back to the way they were,” said Rabbit Hoffinger, a lead cook at the Ratty and a union steward
referred to here as Francis. The numbers in the kitchen as a whole, he added, are similarly diminished. Just one absence can upend a kitchen, Jim said. “You would think there’s armies of people producing food downstairs, and there are handfuls of us at times,” said a staffer who works in the Ratty referred to here as Peter. The lack of staff has diminished the quality of the food and the number of options available, according to Francis and another Ratty kitchen worker referred to here as Bruce. On the front-facing end of the Ratty — for the workers who interact with students — understaffing has likely led to clutter on the buffet lines and at the salad bar, the closure of the pizza station at dinner, general uncleanliness and a number of other problems according to Peter, Jim, Bruce and another Ratty kitchen worker referred to here as Deborah. No front-facing workers at the Ratty agreed to an interview with The Herald. But a front-facing V-Dub worker referred to here as Mary said that understaffing has forced her to do the job of “two or three” people, in addition to preventing her from rotating between different stations on different days. The repetitive work causes back pain,
doing their best, nearly every worker interviewed stressed. “Some days it just feels like there’s a rain cloud in the Ratty,” Jim said. “We see everything posted on Instagram,” he added. “It’s funny, but … they don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes.” The complaints also come as BDS staffers work what they said is an unprecedented amount of overtime — going up to 20 hours of overtime per week for some workers, Peter said. “Before, you couldn’t get people to say no to overtime,” Jim said. “Now, people are turning it down left and right.” Deborah said that she believed she could likely add a full day of overtime to her schedule every week — but that the stress of working while understaffed leaves her “burnt out.” While workers burn out, they say that the University has been slow to hire new staff. Most estimated the process takes around two months, and multiple workers wondered why the University didn’t focus on rebuilding its workforce once it decided to bring back its full student body earlier this year. Staffing issues, Bruce said, extend to the entirety of BDS — not just the Ratty and V-Dub.
dent and temporary workforces. Since July, the University has added 27 new people to BDS. Overtime, he noted, is “always optional” and pays at one-and-a-half or double time. Barboza did not specifically comment on the University’s hiring timeline for dining workers.
to help manage its dining operations, may bear responsibility — but it could also lie with the Department of Facilities Management, or with another arm of the University entirely. “You can’t get either side to admit who’s responsible for what,” Peter said. Communication, a number of the workers agreed, often proves dysfunctional — from BDS, from Bon Appétit and between the two parties. Menu changes, they said, come at the last minute, and managers can cross signals. Institutional knowledge, Peter added, has dissipated quickly. “It feels like there’s nobody in charge,” Deborah added. “I don’t know who’s doing what, who’s in charge of what.” BDS, Barboza wrote, operates under the University’s Division of Finance and Administration, and is “ultimately responsible for all decisions in dining related to staffing, menus and more.” Bon Appétit is a “partner and advisor on key dining priorities,” he said. Barboza did not specifically address questions regarding faulty equipment or food waste in his email to The Herald. In response to a request
who is not involved with this round of negotiations. The current contract, which was agreed to three years ago, wasn’t designed for the conditions that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Aside from negotiations, the union is primarily aiming to protect BDS workers from disproportionate discipline while “they’re working as hard as they humanly can,” Hoffinger said. Still, the vast majority of the workers interviewed, without mentioning a new contract, said that they hoped the University would address staffing and equipment issues. A number added that they thought students were the main drivers of change, as opposed to BDS workers themselves. “The only time when Brown ever listens to us is when the students get involved,” John said. “Once (students) find something out and it gets out in the public, they listen to (them),” said Jim. The workers also didn’t levy much blame on the upper levels of University administration, doubting that they even knew about the conditions inside their own dining halls. Barboza wrote that BDS encour-
she said. Barboza wrote to The Herald that BDS is “balancing assignments” across its professional, student and temporary positions to meet the needs of the University community while it faces understaffing. “We deeply appreciate the hard work, dedication and flexibility of all dining staff, especially during peak periods such as this one,” he said, explaining that early-semester peaks of diners tend to stabilize in mid-October. Barboza added in his email that BDS considers health, safety and cleanliness “essential priorities,” stressing the department’s commitment to ensuring “healthy and safe conditions” for both BDS workers and community members in line with regulations set by the Rhode Island Department of Health.
“I know it’s hard to staff everywhere,” Francis said. But “we’re in desperate need of help right now.” Both Deborah and Peter mentioned that they had heard anecdotes about potential candidates backing out because of fears of the continuing pandemic, or the University’s vaccine mandate. Other workers, Francis said, are accepting positions and then dropping them soon after. Nationwide, the food service industry is struggling to find workers, a problem economists attribute to a number of factors, including the prevalence of the Delta variant and mismatches between employer and employee expectations. The University, Barboza wrote, is not an exception to this trend. “Brown Dining has faced challenges finding and bringing aboard the right team members, given the significant
months, the Ratty did not have consistent hot water, workers said. Requests for repairs, workers added, tend to go unfulfilled for weeks at a time. Barboza did not specifically comment on perceived maintenance issues when asked by The Herald. At the V-Dub, a lack of fridge space also means the kitchen sometimes faces challenges regulating food temperature, according to John. Other small pieces of equipment, such as spatulas or tools to clean out the fryers, often go missing, John said. As of late, he’s turned to using a coat hanger to clean out the fryers. “It doesn’t take much to be missing to make things difficult,” said Bruce, who also has experience at the V-Dub. Mary noted that on the front-facing food service side, workers had the equipment they needed.
for comment, Director of Communications for Bon Appétit Jenny Slafkosky referred The Herald to Barboza, who also did not address the workers’ claims about communication between the different groups responsible for running dining at Brown. Former Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Barbara Chernow ’79 retired this September. Sarah Latham, who held a similar role at the University of California, Santa Cruz, will replace her in January 2022.
ages open dialogue and maintains an “open-door” environment for staff to raise questions and concerns. But a number of workers said that their complaints weren’t making it past their managers and wondered about the incentive for leaders in the department and at Bon Appétit to tell key administrative figures about difficulties they face. “You complain to the managers, it feels like they’re listening to you,” Deborah said. “But they’re not really listening to you.” “I know our main bosses and their bosses know, but I don’t know how far it goes,” Jim said. “I figure it can’t go on forever,” he added. “It’s got to break eventually.”
“The freezer’s sitting broken in the basement” Issues with understaffing aren’t the only problem: Much of the dining halls’ infrastructure, workers said, is inadequate or broken, and new equipment often takes too long to be installed. In early August, the Ratty’s freezer caught fire. Nearly two months later, it remains unfixed, workers said. Mobile freezers are currently in use in its place, while the expansive freezer space is used for dry storage. When the V-Dub received a new combination oven, it took multiple weeks to get plugged in, John said. As of Wednesday, two new grills had sat on the loading dock of the Ratty for two weeks without being plugged in — a relatively simple process, multiple workers said. Of the two grills currently installed, one is broken, and the other leaks gas, Peter said. And for
“They’re not really listening to you” On Nov. 1, BDS’ union contract will expire. A worker who is involved with the union listed their biggest priorities as labor, equipment, raises and health insurance premiums. “We’ve had a collegial and produc-
MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS
8
SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
Book about opioid addiction and treatment released Sept. 14 396 people died from opioid overdoses in Rhode Island last year, a record high
The book is aimed at an audience of non-specialists, ideally primary care doctors, nurse practitioners and hospice and emergency room doctors. Wakeman and Rich also encouraged an audience of trainees and medical students to gain exposure to addiction medicine from the book. “I think addiction and opioid use disorder has been mystified to be a very scary, different condition that has to be managed by specialists,” Wakeman said. “And the patients have been left behind.”
BY CASEY CHAN STAFF WRITER Co-edited by University Professor Josiah “Jody” Rich and Harvard Professor Sarah Wakeman and released Sept. 14, the book “Treating Opioid Use Disorder in General Medical Settings” addresses opioid addiction and treatment and draws on the expertise of a wide range of co-authors. Rich serves as the director for the Center of Justice and Health Transformation and the director of the COBRE group on opioids and overdose at the Rhode Island Hospital. Wakeman is a director for the Substance Abuse Disorders Initiative and Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Together, Rich and Wakeman reached out to a group of leading physicians, researchers and other healthcare professionals in the opioid use disorder (OUD) field to create a comprehensive, updated guide on treating the disorder. “My hope was to bring together a great range of people who I know, admire and respect in this field, who are doing interesting work and have a shared perspective that (OUD) is treatable,” Wakeman said. The goal of the book is to provide tools and evidence for general physicians to feel confident in addressing the condition in their clinical practice, she said. “It’s written in a way that people without expert knowledge can understand it and gain from it,” Rich said. “We’ve done a terrible disservice to people with addiction in general, and, in particular, with opioid use disorder.” Rich believes that opioid addiction is, in part, a result of general doctors prescribing too many opioids because they do not understand the disorder. “We’re in the middle of an epidemic.
COURTESY OF JOSIAH RICH AND SARAH WAKEMAN
The book’s goal is to create an accessible knowledge base for general physicians to feel confident about addressing opioid use disorder.
We’re not at the tail end of it, and it’s not going away,” Rich said. A multidisciplinary approach to treating OUD Rich added that, once they understood what the main issues were, both co-editors found experts in various subject areas within OUD who could speak to the disorder from different angles. Chapters discuss topics including hospital-based interventions, treating opioid use in correctional settings and incorporating a race framework into OUD treatment. The co-editors addressed stigmas as well as first-hand experiences with OUD throughout the book. The aim was to include both a big picture, historical perspective about treatment and to address racial inequities surrounding OUD, Wakeman added. One contributor to the book is Christopher Shaw, a nurse practitioner at the Massachusetts General Hospital
and a team leader for the hospital’s Substances Use Disorder Addition Consult Team. Shaw’s consulting group is composed of social workers, recovery coaches, doctors, nurses and psychiatrists, and he describes the collaborative efforts of the team in the chapter that he co-wrote on interprofessional care teams. “Hopefully the chapter that I worked on will encourage people to think about different ways to help a person,” Shaw said. He hopes that readers can take away the idea that a team approach can help in treating addiction. Shaw also said that writing the chapter gave his own team an opportunity to communicate further about care. He said he sees colleagues from different disciplines frequently, and they often have the opportunity to discuss shared patients. However, writing the chapter together gave them an opportunity to reflect and blend their collective perspectives.
The OUD epidemic OUD remains a deadly disorder. 396 people died from opioid overdose in Rhode Island last year, which is the highest rate of overdose deaths the state has ever seen, even with the state’s
together different angles of opioid use treatment to create awareness and activism around the issue. The statistics of opioid overdose deaths are only “the tip of the iceberg;” in addition to being a devastating disease for the individual, the magnitude of its impact on the families and communities involved is astounding, Rich said. “There is urgency from a social justice and civil rights perspective (and) there’s urgency from a public health and medical perspective,” Wakeman said. “That’s one of the things that makes this work so compelling.” Professor Rich began working on OUD because of his prior focus on the AIDS epidemic. Along with University students, he worked to change a law that outlawed the possession of syringes. Due to this change, injection
Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force, Rich said. Although a 2019 National Academies of Sciences report confirmed that existing medications can treat the disease, there is still widespread confusion and misinformation about OUD, he added. “It’s the responsibility of all of us to understand this disease as much as we can and support people to get into recovery.” The tragic part of the epidemic is that every opioid use death is preventable, Wakeman said. Physicians can treat opioid use disorder with medications like methadone and buprenorphine, and they have developed public health interventions and harm reduction strategies to protect people who are actively using opioids. Opioid use is tied to worsening socioeconomic and racial disparities. There was a 69% increase in opioid-related deaths in Black men across the country from 2019 to 2020, Wakeman said. “There are rising rates of death in the Black community in particular, the same community that has been so hurt by the war on drugs and mass incarceration in response to past drug crises,” she added. Wakeman and Rich want to weave
drug-use related HIV cases were mostly eradicated in Rhode Island, according to Rich. Prevention interventions including syringe exchanges, syringe prescription programs and legalization of syringe purchase at pharmacies were developed and implemented in Rhode Island from 1995 to 2000. Rich has also given care to individuals at the R.I. Department of Corrections who had HIV. While working at the Department of Corrections, he noticed that many inmates had become addicted to opioids. “I said, let’s do the same thing that we just did with HIV for people with opioid use disorder,” Rich said. “Let’s get them diagnosed, give them treatment and give them access to care on the outside.” His work inspired Wakeman, who was formally his student at the Warren Alpert Medical School. She initially thought she would be an infectious disease doctor, and then found her path into addiction medicine, which is now her primary focus. Wakeman and Rich have collaborated on clinical projects, case reports and work at the Adult Correctional Institutions in Rhode Island. “We have to find another project to work on, now that we’re done,” Rich said.
UNIVERSITY NEWS
Campus sees sharp decline in positive asymptomatic COVID-19 cases Possibility that indoor masking for vaccinated, testing frequency will be relaxed, Carey says BY GABRIELLA VULAKH SENIOR STAFF WRITER The past week has seen a significant decrease in positive asymptomatic COVID-19 cases on campus, with eight total confirmed cases during from Sept. 26 to Oct. 3., according to the Healthy Brown COVID-19 Dashboard. The University is “really appreciative of everybody’s efforts to get back to where we should expect to be with a fully vaccinated population,” Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 said. “I wouldn’t say that I could attribute (the decline in cases) to any one intervention; I think it’s a combination of factors, the most important being people practicing basic public health measures,” he added.
Due to the decline in positive asymptomatic test results, the University loosened COVID-19 restrictions last Wednesday, eliminating the five-person limit on social gatherings and the mask mandate at outdoor athletic events and during campus tours, The Herald previously reported. The continued low positivity rate has stayed “consistent” Carey said, giving the University “that level of confidence that we could make those further changes.” The five-person limit was the “highest priority” restriction for the University to lift “as soon as we felt comfortable” because of the impact it has on student life, he said. Its impact is particularly important for “new students who are connecting with friend groups and getting to know each other, (the) campus and the community,” he added. Additionally, the University lifted the mask mandate specifically for tours and athletic events because “outdoor events are safe and we’ve had very few concerns from either of those types of activities,” Carey said. “Particularly at
GUS REED / HERALD
The University lifted some of its temporary COVID-19 restrictions after only eight positive cases were confirmed from Sept. 26 to Oct. 3. athletic events, it is difficult to enforce.” Currently, the University allows events indoors to serve food; however, guidelines will change for the upcoming Family Weekend from Oct. 15 to Oct. 17, which invites student families to campus for various programming. Carey said that the University will not have indoor dining for Family Weekend events as there will be a
“large volume of people coming in from outside of the campus, and there’ll be a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated people.” In the same vein, other University events both indoors and outdoors may see different levels of restrictions implemented, he added. “It is a balance because there’s clearly a positive impact on maintaining a healthy and safe campus” with restric-
tions while providing faculty and staff greater levels of comfort, many of whom “are at different risk levels in terms of demographics and age” or have young children who are not yet eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, Carey explained. “The comfort levels for those members of our communities is really important to us; it’s not just testing positivity numbers — there are multiple factors that we consider,” Carey said. “We’re doing more frequent testing than other institutions in Rhode Island, but I think our testing approach is pretty consistent with other large research universities, particularly Harvard, Yale, Cornell and Dartmouth,” Carey said. He added that “it is certainly a possibility” that the next relaxing of restrictions will include an exemption from indoor masking for vaccinated individuals and the reduction of required twice-a-week testing similar to the loosened campus guidelines at the end of the summer semester, but he noted “there’s no specific timeline.”