Monday, September 27th, 2021

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

VOLUME CLVI, ISSUE XIX

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

UNIVERSITY NEWS

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Student’s meme page pokes fun at U. policies

Kaul ’25 and Robinson ’25 elected as UCS first-year reps

@brownumemes sees surge in popularity to discuss, cope with changing restrictions

CCB also announced election results for class of 2024, 2025 representative positions

REBECCA CARCIERI & KATY PICKENS SENIOR STAFF WRITERS A typical day for Chas Steinbrugge ’24 starts out like many others on campus — he goes to class, has meals with friends and studies in the library. But, unlike most students, Steinbrugge is often posting jokes about the University on his ever-growing Instagram page, @ brownumemes.

The page has seen a surge in popularity — gaining more 1,300 followers — since the University announced more stringent temporary COVID-19 restrictions after recording 82 positive cases the week of Sept. 13. Steinbrugge quickly began crafting and sharing memes that pointed out what he called “hypocrisy in the administration” and that reflected complaints about the restrictions, to the popular reception of students and parents alike.

The Instagram account was born

BY SHILPA SAJJA SENIOR STAFF WRITER

STELLA OLKEN-HUNT & ASHLEY GUO / HERALD

@brownumemes has posts featuring many aspects of university life, such as the SciLi, the skunks around campus and the Ratty. of the COVID-19 pandemic and has amassed more 7,000 followers. Many students go to @brownumemes to find memes, laugh about strange events on campus or commiserate about ever-changing COVID restrictions.

Steinbrugge has been creating and sharing memes since he was a freshman in high school. He runs the Instagram account @trigomemetry, on which he spoofs the issue of meme plagiarism by reposting Tweets with permission from creators along with MLA citations.

The account currently has more than 174,000 followers.

SCIENCE AND RESEARCH

Steinbrugge began @brownumemes, previously named @brown2024memes, during summer 2020 after members of the class of 2024 were informed that they would not be on campus until the following spring. “I thought of it as a way to unite the freshmen who wouldn’t be together,” Steinbrugge said. “The goal of the meme account is to joke about things that everyone’s going through so that we can cope through humor.”

Popular content on the account

SEE MEMES PAGE 8

The class of 2025 elected Anaya Kaul ’25 and Semaya Robinson ’25 to serve on the Undergraduate Council of Students as first-year representatives, UCS President Summer Dai ’22 announced on the steps of the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center last night.

About 35% of the class of 2025 — 605 out of 1,724 students — voted in this year’s first-year representative election, a drop from last year’s turnout of 82% of the class of 2024.

This year, 6 first-years ran for the position, compared to the 12 contenders last year.

UCS first-year representative elections are determined with ranked choice voting, with each voter having the opportunity to rank candidates from one to seven in terms of

preference. Kaul and Robinson were elected after receiving the highest number of first-place votes out of the six candidates.

Votes were collected through an online survey emailed to first-years open from Sept. 23 to Sept. 26. The original voting period was pushed back by two days due to technical issues with the survey platform, Dai wrote in a message to The Herald.

Robinson shared both excitement and surprise upon learning that she had been elected to the position.

“I was not expecting this. In my head I feel like I look very unelectable in America,” Robinson said. “I’m a Black, Muslim woman with a niqab on, and I wasn’t really expecting Brown to go for that.”

As first-year representative, Robinson stated that her goal “is to create a community in which everyone has equal opportunities to succeed at Brown and beyond,” according to her campaign materials.

Kaul’s platform also aims to use her position to improve the clarity

SEE UCS PAGE 3

ARTS & CULTURE

Student-led team to launch Providence welcomes new mural downtown Artist Garden of satellite in spring 2022 SBUDNIC satellite project grown out of ENGN 1760: “Design of Space Systems”

BY GABRIELLA VULAKH SENIOR STAFF WRITER A University student-led satellite project called SBUDNIC has been building an exceptionally quickly and efficiently developed research nanosatellite.

The satellite, a 3U Cubesat built on a $10,000 budget over the course of a year, would be the first of its kind built solely from terrestrial parts — materials not designed for space and a fraction of usual costs. If it passes the regulatory tests, the satellite will launch into space this spring.

From class to space: satellite launch grounded in ENGN 1760 The project grew out of ENGN 1760: “Design of Space Systems,” taught by Adjunct Associate Professor of Engineering Rick Fleeter ’76 PhD’81, with the goal of making “space accessible by pushing the limits of how cheaply, quickly and effi-

ciently people can build a satellite,” project manager Dheraj Ganjikunta ’22 said.

“One thing that worried me was that these were students who had just taken their very first course in space architecture and had never built anything before,” said Fleeter, the faculty advisor of the project.

The satellite is built from “parts that are not meant to be in space,” like double AA batteries and an $8 Arduino processor — an open-source electronic platform that can be used to construct home projects, such as a toy robot — Ganjikunta said.

SBUDNIC Chief Engineer Marco Cross GS, a second-year masters student in biomedical engineering, explained that terrestrial components are not used in space, where there is no atmosphere, because materials like plastics and metals boil off and vaporize. “We’re working within the confines of that limit to try and address these questions as best we can,” he added.

“It’s kind of like a Lego satellite,” Fleeter said. “It brings space down to a level that any old hobbyist could do.” Placing satellites in the same

Journey’s mural “Salt Water” unveiled at historic Arnold building

BY AALIA JAGWANI SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Sept. 18, members of the Providence community gathered for the unveiling of a new mural by North Carolina-based artist Georgie Nakima — who goes by Garden of Journey — at the George C. Arnold Building on 94 Washington St. The mural, titled “Salt Water,” was commissioned by The Avenue Concept, a non-profit responsible for the majority of public art installations in Providence.

Since 2015, the rear wall of the historic building downtown featured Natalia Rak’s mural “Adventure Time,” which depicted a young girl on the verge of entering a psychedelic dreamscape through a doorway. The mural had since become a Providence icon — but while it will always be timeless, the installation could not stand the test of time under New England weather conditions.

Although the loss of Rak’s “Adventure Time” was felt deeply by the Providence community, the work was soon replaced by a mural made by an-

DANIELLE EMERSON / HERALD

The new mural by Georgia Nakima, who goes by Garden of Journey, is over 35-feet by 110-feet, located at the George C. Arnold Building. other renowned female artist, Garden of Journey.

“It was really important for me to maintain that another woman paints this, because it’s important to represent the female mural artists out there,” said Nicholas Platzer, manager of The Avenue Concept’s Mural Program.

Recommended to him by Gaia, the artist who painted “Still Here” — the mural honoring indigenous heritage installed across the bridge from Memorial Park — Platzer said that he was just “blown away” by her portfolio.

The mural is over 35-feet by 110feet, making it the artist’s largest scale work to date and more than twice the

SEE SATELLITE PAGE 5

size of Rak’s “Adventure Time.” Nakima’s mural features two figures representative of creative and destructive energy, playing into the style of Afrofuturism characteristic of the artist’s recent work. Afrofuturism is a genre of many different mediums that chronicles the history and social dilemmas of the African diaspora, portraying the African American experience in a position of resilience and hope through the genres of science-fiction and fantasy, the artist said. “And ultimately we become our own protagonist or our own hero in our story.”

The work’s culturally complex

SEE MURAL PAGE 2

U. News

U. News

Commentary

Sports

Anthropology lecture on midwifery opens fall 2021 colloqium series Page 2

Biden cites Watson Institute Costs of War project in Afghanistan remarks Page 3

Editorial Page Board: Public art on campus should be more relatable to students Page 4

Men’s water polo beats MIT, falls to United States Air Force Academy Page 5

TODAY

TOMORROW

79 / 54

72 / 55

2

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

MURAL FROM PAGE 1

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Professor Sarah Williams discusses midwifery, indigeneity in the Mexican state Lecture opens anthropology department’s fall 2021 colloquium series

BY CANQI LI STAFF WRITER Professor of Anthropology and Gender Studies Sara William discussed reproductive healthcare and midwifery on the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico in a Sept. 24 lecture titled “Always Already Vanishing: Midwifery, Indigeneity, and the Mexican State.” The presentation was the inaugural event of the anthropology department’s fall 2021 colloquium series, “Anthropologies of Hope, Transformation and Repair.”

The lecture examined the endangerment of midwifery as a medical and cultural practice in modern-day Mexico. A classification of midwifery as “an Indigenous cultural tradition,” coupled with the bureaucratic exclusion of individuals from indigeneity “irrespective of their own self-identification or connection to their communities,” in the Mexican state is driving the decline in midwifery, Williams told The Herald.

Williams argued that this process of excluding individuals from a classification of indigeneity “is actually quite dangerous for midwives … It seems like it’s protecting traditional midwifery, but what it actually does is narrow down the number of people who can be considered legally traditional Indigenous midwives.” This narrowing makes midwifery “almost impossible to practice and (to be) passed along to the next generation.”

In addition, Williams said that many reproductive practices in Mexico have become increasingly medicalized, reflected in the nation’s extremely high C-section rate. According to Williams, the nation sees high levels of “non-consensual (and) medically unnecessary surgical interventions,” especially in urban areas. The burden of these medical trends largely falls on Indigenous women, influenced by gender dynamics and serving as a “manifestation of racism against indigenous people,” she said.

Williams, who arrived at the University July 1 as the Louise Lamphere visiting assistant professor of Anthropology and gender studies, said that she has always had a strong passion for examining female reproductive healthcare from an anthropological perspective.

While receiving her PhD in medical anthropology from the University of Toronto, Williams wrote a dissertation titled “Re/producing Legitimacy: Midwifery and Indigeneity in the Yucatán

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

JACK WALKER / HERALD

Williams arrived at the University July 1 as the Louise Lamphere visiting assistant professor of anthropology and gender studies.

Peninsula” based on “18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Quintana Roo and Yucatán, Mexico,” according to the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women’s website.

Since then, Williams has also penned multiple peer-reviewed publications, covering topics including maternal mortality and reproductive justice.

“I’ve always been particularly fascinated by and interested in women’s health and reproductive health, and the work of midwives in general seeks to honor the rights of childbearing and birthing people in ways that institutional or hospital-based systems often are not able to,” Williams said. She is particularly interested in “working with midwives and hoping to advocate for them in making it possible to do the care work that they do for birthing people.”

Regarding the implications of this theme amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Williams added that, within the United States, midwifery could be a viable alternative to conventional, hospital-based birthing practices “because it is less medicalized.” Throughout the pandemic, “we’ve seen hospitals are not necessarily safe places to be because of COVID transmissions,” she said.

Williams further explained to The Herald that the United States “has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.”

“Black women are 2.5 times more likely to die during childbirth than white women, and that is largely because of medical or obstetric racism, racist policies and structures in our world that make it much more difficult for (Black women) to emerge from childbirth healthy and with their babies healthy,” she said.

Adelaida Tamayo GS, who attended the lecture, noted that it was “the first colloquium (she has attended) in person” since the onset of the pandemic.

As a PhD student in anthropology, Ta-

mayo noted that she found the research especially engaging.

Jessaca Leinaweaver, professor of anthropology and chair of the anthropology department, added that Williams’s lecture “was a sensitive talk exploring how complex people’s identities are.”

Within the Mexican state, the government, many members of which are not Indigenous, determines which communities can and cannot practice midwifery. This approach leaves the decision of who “counts” to individuals outside of Indigenous communities, Leinaweaver said. Today, only Indigenous Mayans are allowed to be midwives, which omits a large portion of the nation’s Indigenous population, she added.

“Many of these midwives do have Maya ancestry, but they don’t consider themselves Indigenous, or they don’t seem Indigenous enough according to the state definitions,” Leinaweaver said.

“They are Maya people with Maya heritage, but they don’t necessarily dress in Indigenous clothes. They dress in urban clothes, and then they show up and try to do their work. And then, they get told that they’re not practicing traditional midwifery,” reflecting “challenges of the politics around Indigenous identity” and its relationship to traditional Indigenous medicine.

“Midwives can be chosen by their community. There are also different educational routes to become a midwife,” Williams noted during the lecture. She emphasized the pre-existing qualifications for midwifery that exist within Indigenous communities and outside of federal bureaucracy.

Midwives, Williams said, “should be able to self-regulate and to develop their own certification and licensing protocols that are not based on the state’s classification of who is Indigenous or not, but rather based on their own standards.”

themes are broken down visually in the multi-dimensional, celestial piece, making it accessible to a broader audience. “I really just put a lot of visual symbolism that can be digested,” Nakima said. “It kind of has an aphorism embedded into the imagery.”

Despite the massive scale of the project, the mural was completed in just two weeks. “It was very easy because The Avenue Concept did a great job of constructing a team that helped,” said Nakima. “There was a lot of support so it was, you know, just a matter of doing it.”

Years of planning and organizing preceded the relatively short twoweek period of creating the work.

“The planning starts years and years in advance,” Platzer said. Even before finding an artist, organizers must find a suitable site, get permission from property owners as well as the city and raise sufficient funds, he explained.

Nonetheless, the unveiling of the mural made it evident that the hard work paid off. The mayor of Providence, Jorge Elorza, expressed his admiration for Nakima’s work at the event. “It’s exciting to see this come together, but it’s just as exciting to see the community come together to support the artists,” he said.

Elorza also emphasized the importance of public art to the Providence community and his own dedication to investing in infrastructure for public art. “We want our city to be a canvas and a stage,” he said.

Nakima also acknowledged public art’s value. “Institutional artwork is often class-based or academia-based, so there are barriers that prevent all walks of life from connecting with it,” she said. “I love public art in just that anyone can enjoy it, anyone can consume it.”

Other new murals installed by The Avenue Concept this year include “Hope” by Joanna Vespia and “Love Is A Many Gendered Thing” by Brian Kenny.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

3

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Biden cites the Watson Institute’s Costs of War project findings Professors reflect on post-war discoveries as Biden removes troops from Afghnaistan

and counter terror attacks, has been effective.”

BY ANNA KIM SENIOR STAFF WRITER After the United States pulled out of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan Aug. 30, in his remarks on the end of the war, President Joe Biden cited the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs’ Costs of War project and its findings that “more than $2 trillion (was) spent in Afghanistan” while explaining his refusal to deploy “another generation of America’s sons and daughters” to the 20-year-long war.

The Costs of War project was founded in 2010 by Catherine Lutz, professor of anthropology and international studies, and Neta Crawford ’85, professor and chair of political science at Boston University. The project aims to be a useful addition to the “United States’ and the world’s understanding of war,” Crawford told The Herald.

“It was 10 years into the post-9/11 wars and there really wasn’t a discussion in the public (asking) … ‘what are we doing still at war?’” and probing deeper into the costs of these wars, said Stephanie Savell PhD ’17, a co-director of the project who joined in 2017.

Notable findings The Costs of War project has assessed that the post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and elsewhere have cost $8 trillion so far, which includes $2.2 trillion in funds for medical care and disability payments for veterans that have not yet been paid out, Savell said. The project calculates the human death toll to be “up to 929,000 people killed directly through the weapons of war,” she added. This number does not include those killed

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

More than 50 economists, political scientists, anthropologists and physicians have contributed to the Costs of War project. The project has aimed to help provide transparency and inform a public audience. indirectly, such as through environmental contamination, displacement and destruction of infrastructure, she said.

“Civilians in the war zones are really the ones who bear the brunt of war,” Savell said. “So it’s important not to just look at economic costs, but the human and social and political costs as well.”

“The Bush administration at the time was probably deliberately understating the true costs by a significant amount,” said Linda Bilmes, a senior lecturer in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, who is a project contributor. The war in Afghanistan was funded through emergency money, which “doesn’t go through the regular budget process,” she said. “Every single year, it was being budgeted for and paid for as if it were a one-off cost that would somehow disappear the following year, which enabled the defenders of the war in the (Bush) administration and in Congress to sustain the pretense that the war was about to be over.”

Reflecting on the cost and effectiveness of the Afghanistan war, Savell said that these wars have not only been enormously costly, but “incredibly counterproductive.” Research shows that “a military approach” to terrorism “historically has only been effective in about seven percent of cases,” she said, citing a statistic from the book “How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al Qa’ida.”

“War is never controllable in the way that advocates of war believe that it will be,” Crawford added, pointing to the inadvertent consequences that two decades of war can cause.

Currently, more than 50 scholars have contributed research to the Costs of War project. “They come from all the social science disciplines, including economists, political scientists, anthropologists like myself … and (also) contributions from human rights practitioners and physicians,” Savell said.

“Our papers are really geared toward

the public audience and informing the public about oftentimes deeper and lesser-known costs of war,” she said.

Contributors provide full documentation of source data to ensure veracity, Bilmes said.

An upcoming research paper from the project will look at the different perspectives that governments use to address the problem of terrorism, of which the war paradigm is just one approach. These alternative methods include policing and surveillance, in addition to rights-based approaches such as disarmament and conflict resolution.

Noting the absence of any largescale terror attacks in the United States since 9/11, Crawford said, “it’s possible that the Homeland Security efforts that the United States has made, for instance inspecting every container that enters into the U.S., inspecting every person that enters, engaging in law enforcement to deter, detect, prevent, disrupt

Looking forward after the Afghanistan War “The purpose of the project has been to increase transparency about what the real costs of the war are …

It’s very dangerous to minimize the costs of war because it makes it much easier to go to war and easier to prolong wars if people don’t understand the total costs,” Bilmes said. These costs are not “immediately obvious” because of government strategies to underestimate them and issues with the reporting process, she added.

Sher Jan Ahmadzai, the director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska Omaha, wrote in an email to The Herald that projects like Costs of War “improve transparency and accountability among the circles who spend public funds or fund wars.”

Savell said she was proud that Biden used the project’s data. Crawford reiterated that “the work that we do and any satisfaction we derive, is from helping the general public, the policymakers, understand what it is we’ve done, what the consequences of those policies and practices are and what potential alternatives there are to the present course.”

Ahmadzai suggested that, in the future, the project differentiate “between what actually was spent on the ground in Afghanistan and what actually was the administrative cost that was billed.” He cited a report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction that found that, for some stabilization programs funded by the U.S., up to 75% of funding was spent on administrative costs for contractors.

The project will continue to focus on how “these post-9/11 wars stretch far beyond Afghanistan and operate in many parts of the world,” Savell said.

“We need to keep holding the government accountable for these actions.”

SHILPA SAJJA / HERALD

In this year’s first-year representative election, 35% of the class of 2025 voted. This number represents a drop compared to the previous year’s voter turnout of 82% for the class of 2024 first-year representatives.

UCS FROM PAGE 1

STAY UP-TO-DATE. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK. FACEBOOK.COM/BROWNDAILYHERALD

of University communications for students.

“A lot of people have mixed feelings about how good communication from Brown is, and I want to make sure that people can come to me and know exactly what is going on,” she said.

Both candidates also expressed an interest in working with the student group End Sexual Violence at Brown.

“I really want to make sure their

demands are met, so people can feel safe on campus,” Kaul said about the group.

The Class Coordinating Board also announced results for elections held for its class of 2024 and class of 2025 representative positions. CCB, the branch of student government involved with organizing social activities, was given status as a co-equal branch of student government after last year’s spring elections, The Herald

previously reported.

Results from the Council’s internal elections were also announced Sunday. Arjun Chopra ’25 will serve as the Undergraduate Finance Board’s firstyear representative. Johann Dizon ’24 will serve as UCS-UFB Liaison and Max Karpawich ’23, a member of The Herald’s podcast team, will serve as the UCS Transfer and Resumed Undergraduate Education Representative.

4

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

EDITORIAL

Editorial: How can we identify with public art we don’t understand?

One of the values of public art on campus, according to Brown, is that it “contributes to a sense of place, and inspires identification with this institution, its history and its values.” But the “Large Concretised Monument to the Twentieth Century” on the Main Green, installed May 14, is achieving the opposite effect: Rather than helping students identify with the University, it instead leaves some of us feeling alienated from it.

To be clear, art doesn’t need to be straightforward, simplistic or easily interpretable for us to feel comfortable making it our own. But public art, in particular, should be accessible to the community on some level. With its inscrutable, ovoid protrusions, the “Monument” utterly defies comprehension. Maybe that’s the point. Or maybe the piece simply misses the mark.

Professor Dietrich Neumann, the chair of Brown’s Public Art Working Group, has stated that the new statue on the Green “presents a visceral, boisterous comment on the roles of gender, identity and the male gaze in the 20th century.” Really? Such an interpretation is surely lost on the average observer. The University’s statements about the new statue have felt

comically pretentious at times — there comes a point where art fails to be subversive, and simply becomes confusing instead.

Of course, one might ask: Why are we making such a big deal about the ugly statue on the Main Green?

Can’t we just ignore it, speed past it as we go to class?

We can — but we shouldn’t have to.

At Brown, an 8-member Public Art Working Group is charged with making decisions around installations on campus. Members of the group include art faculty and staff, facilities staff and a graduate student. Conspicuously missing from this group is any undergraduate representation. We understand that our opinions are not the only ones that matter, but they do still matter. What if the Public Art Working Group included our voices? What would it have chosen? Would it have been the “Large Concretised Monument to the Twentieth Century”? Probably not.

To be fair, the Public Art Working Group seems to be aware of how students might respond to the new statue. Professor Neumann has recognized that, “Maybe at first, students can be really indignant about how terrible it looks, and maybe they realize that there’s something more to it than what meets the eye.” He

also notes that Blueno, a beloved campus figure, was once vilified as well.

These are fair points, but we are skeptical that this new “monument” will ever really resonate with the community. While Blueno had its own fair share of controversy, it felt more approachable and accessible.

It was, after all, a giant bear. And irrespective of the art itself, the process behind our public art matters, too. It should matter whether a sculpture is chosen by the community or chosen for the community.

If one of the stated goals of public art on campus is to make us identify with this institution, accessing the meaning of that artwork shouldn’t require insider knowledge. Perhaps some, or many, students will eventually come to love the “Large Concretised Monument to the Twentieth Century.” But for now, we are left with what feels like a large concretized monument to the pretentious, select and inaccessible.

—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.

COURTESY OF NICK DENTAMARO / BROWN UNIVERSITY

CA L E N DA R

COVID -19 AT BROWN LAST 7 DAYS*

SEPTEMBER S

5

M

6

Tu

7

Completed Tests

People Tested

W

Th

F

S

18,214

12,866

1

2

3

4

Confirmed Positives

Positivity Rates

14

0.1 %

8

9

10

11 SINCE AUGUST 24, 2020*

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

Completed Tests

People Tested

516,375

17,886

Total Cases

Prevalence

778

4.3 %

*AS OF SEP 26.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

SATELLITE FROM PAGE 1 category as simple homemade robots is “paradigm breaking,” challenging the notion that years of preparation, experience and certain facilities are required, he added.

Light, cameras, orbit: equipping SBUDNIC for space Once launched, the satellite will be orbiting at approximately 500 kilometers — a height above the average altitude of the International Space Station — which contains “lots of radiation and is actually a pretty hazardous environment for CubeSats, which traditionally will be at 100 or 200 kilometers,” Ganjikunta said.

A special part of the satellite the team designed called the chassis will pop out to become wings in the absence of gravity, creating drag and slowly pushing the satellite out of its orbit. The chassis, which is made from aluminum, will allow the satellite to leave orbit within 25 years, in accordance with a recent satellite regulation imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to Ganjikunta.

But the team estimates that the satellite will be in space for around six or seven years given that the atmosphere in space changes based on the season and natural phenomena like solar flares, according to Cross.

The team is also adding cameras to the satellite with the goal of having the satellite transmit images from space.

“An image from a satellite is not all that

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

new, but an image from a satellite of this kind of variant is wild,” Cross said.

“The most gratifying thing for me is going to be when we get our first beam back down from space, because then we know that the thing we made is working,” he added.

But, once the satellite’s batteries die and it is no longer able to send down pictures, the “usable life” of the satellite is dead, Cross said. The usable life of the satellite could last anywhere from 45 days to six months, depending on the number of pictures it sends down each day as each picture “consumes a certain amount of power,” according to Cross. The team is currently figuring out ways to extend the usable life of the satellite.

Exploring space engineering: making space accessible to all The project, which is funded by D-Orbit and the National Research Council of Italy, consists of multiple subteams that each focus on specific parts of the satellite and preparations for the launch, such as “Thermal Control System,” “Electrical Power Systems” and “Altitude and Orbit Control.”

Many team members are not planning to pursue fields connected to space or even STEM-related professions. “None of us are professionals,” Cross said.

Though Haley Fores ’24 has not worked on an engineering project before, she thought the opportunity would be “such a cool experience” and decided to join. Flores is an engineer on the Electrical Power Systems team

helping to design and build the battery pack for the satellite.

“The entire space industry in the last five years has completely changed and moved in the direction from gigantic companies sending up gigantic satellites to tiny companies sending tiny satellites,” Ganjikunta said. “As a non-engineering person, the possibilities that space opens up — I find super exciting.”

Once the satellite is built, it will have to pass a series of qualification tests with the United Technologies Research Center, a third-party testing site, to be approved for launch.

5

“We have to take (the satellite) to a bona fide research facility and have it tested there with all these different vibration, vacuum and thermal tests,” Ganjikunta said.

To ensure that the satellite will pass these tests, the team must first replicate testing conditions on campus to “prequalify the satellite,” Cross said.

The stakes are high: If the satellite does not pass the official tests, the team will have to undergo the whole qualification process again, he added.

After these tests, the satellite will be classified as a controlled weapon under the International Traffic in Arms

Regulations, as per global standards for certain spacecrafts and satellites.

“Learning the engineering design process was definitely eye opening,” Flores said. “There’s no right answer; it’s just trying different things, testing it out and seeing what works best.”

If qualified, the satellite is set to launch from Florida in 157 days as of Sept. 27. The launch countdown can be tracked on the SBUDNIC team website.

“The fact that we get to reach up and touch just a little bit of (space) is kind of incredible and not something that I ever thought I would do in my life,” Cross said.

COURTESY OF DHERAJ GANJIKUNTA / SBUDNIC

Once built, the satellite will have to pass a series of tests with the United Technologies Research Center.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

6

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Students react to frequent changes in University COVID-19 policies Brown students expresses confusion, frustration over abrupt changes

BY LIVIA GIMENES AND JACK WALKER NEWS EDITORS The course of the COVID-19 pandemic on campus has been characterized by continual adjustments, with community members bracing themselves for the inevitable changes in University protocol brought by fluctuating public health conditions.

For some students, these changes have prompted feelings of confusion and frustration, especially in moments of sudden and significant changes to University procedures. In a Sept. 13 email to the Brown community, the University announced new short-term restrictions, including a pause of in-person dining — which has since resumed — increased testing and mask-wearing requirements and the limiting of “social gatherings for undergraduate students … to no more than five people,” Provost Richard Locke P’18, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 and Vice President for Campus Life Eric Estes wrote.

For many members of the campus community, the announcement of limitations on in-person social gatherings created significant confusion, especially among clubs and student organizations who had to rework their plans to fit campus health guidelines.

Campus group leaders received an email from the Student Activities Office shortly after the announcement of short-term restrictions stating that all student group activities would have to take place virtually, effective immediately. The next day, Locke, Carey and Estes sent a “clarifying” email to the Brown community, noting that certain in-person meetings, with strict mask

compliance, would still be allowed, namely classes, athletics, University events and student group activities.

Campus has since returned to some looser restrictions, including the Sept. 24 reopening of in-person dining. Still, many students and student organizations cited frustration with having to suddenly change their meetings and future plans, only to have campus procedures change back soon after.

The Herald spoke with members of the student body on navigating these shifts and the impact it has had on their experience at Brown.

For Fashion@Brown Co-Presidents Emma Rosenkranz ’23 and Celia Heath ’22, the first email announcement restricting in-person club activity was “devastating” due to the planning they had already done for the fall semester.

Rosenkranz described the first few hours after the email dropped as an incredibly emotional time as the club tried to “brainstorm” how to host their two upcoming events virtually.

Heath added that “it was just really hurtful to on a whim receive an email without a warning that all of the work that we had done would have gone down the drain.”

Becca Erdenebulgan ’24, president of the Class Coordinating Board of 2024, also felt an overwhelming sense of disappointment and stress when she found out that all the events planned for the Sophomore Orientation would have to be moved online.

The change in policy felt especially disappointing for Erdenebulgan because each time the 2024 CCB has tried to put on an event in recent semesters “they would run into COVID complications.”

Erdenebulgan also added that it was extremely hard to come up with ideas for online alternatives to the Sophomore Orientation events, which were originally intended to make up for the class of 2024’s strictly online first-year

KATHERINE OK / HERALD

University changes in COVID-19 policy spark frustration among students who scrambled to readjust plans for organization events. orientation.

Eight hours after the email was sent out, Erdenebulgan had canceled the ice cream vendor for the ice cream social and was going to cancel the vendor for the class talent show.

“We were just seeing effort and money go down the drain,” Erdenebulgan said. “That was just a lot of stress on me and the other board members. …

I lost sleep over it and (went) through an incredible amount of stress over it.”

Henry Block ’22.5, a member of the improv troupe IMPROVidence and editor-in-chief of the Brown Noser, said that the email sparked confusion for both groups.

Upon receiving the email, Block speculated that the comedy show IMPROVidence had planned with other student groups could not happen, but he said he had no idea if the Noser could carry out the monthly distribution of their paper.

The University was “not clear on what they were doing,” Block said, adding that for him the email from SAO and the later clarifying email sent two conflicting messages.

Erdenebulgan echoed Block, saying that the new University policies did not feel like they were driven “by science and their claims of keeping the student body” healthy.

Although Erdenebulgan agrees that

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD Editorial Leadership Editor-in-Chief Kayla Guo Managing Editors Henry Dawson Li Goldstein Senior Editors Kate Ok Kamran King Emily Teng Emilija Sagaityte Editorial Page Editor Johnny Ren

Metro Editors Ben Glickman Ben Pollard Julia Grossman Katie Chen Liza Mullett Victoria Yin News Editors Caroline Nash Caelyn Pender Gaya Gupta Jack Borris Livia Gimenes Jack Walker Science & Research Editors Rahma Ibrahim Claire Liu

post-magazine Editor-in-Chief Olivia Howe Sections Arts & Culture Editors Irene Chou Nicholas Michael

Sports Editor Ryan Handel Commentary Opinions Editors

Augustus Bayard Jaehyun Hong Matt Walsh Clara Gutman-Argemí Johnny Ren Multimedia/Production Design Editors Anya Semizhova Keelin Lyons Lena He Raphael Li Head Photo Editors Areez Khan Nicole Kim Copy Desk Chief Catherine Healy Assistant Copy Desk Chief Lily Lustig Illustrations Head Loki Olin

Graphics Editor Usha Bhalla Podcast Ben Glickman Corey Gelb-Bicknell Olivia Burdette Business General Managers Michael Wang Noah Colón Office Manager Chelsey Barton-Keenes Directors Sales: Annika Sigfstead Finance: Andrew Willwerth Digital Director of Technology Jed Fox

@the_herald

facebook.com/browndailyherald

@browndailyherald

youtube.com/browndailyherald

88 Benevolent St., Providence, RI (401) 351-3372 www.browndailyherald.com Editorial: herald@browndailyherald.com Advertising: advertising@browndailyherald.com

University-sponsored events tend to be safer, she felt that it was unfair to initially put such a small cap on student activities while allowing large sporting events to continue to take place.

“You can’t say you care about COVID policies if you let sporting events of 1,000 students that are super-spreaders happen and then not let small club meetings happen,” Erdenebulgan said. “It’s just not scientifically clear.”

Carey noted in an interview with The Herald that, while sudden procedural changes might be confusing for the campus community, the University still works to make its guidelines as comprehensive and clear as possible.

According to Carey, it is “the nature of the virus” that necessitated adjustments to safety procedures, though he acknowledged that these changes can be challenging at times for administrators and other community members.

Carey pointed to the Sept. 14 clarifying campus-wide email as an example of the University’s commitment to ensuring that community members understand guidelines and expectations on campus and to responding “quickly when there’s a lack of clarity.”

“I think our general sense is that that helped,” he said. “We got far fewer questions after that communication …

so I think that has made things clear.”

“We’re certainly aware of the fact that information needs to be as concise and clear as possible and coordinated and consistent,” Carey added. “We’re certainly continuing to strive to try and do that.”

But for Erdenebulgan, the recent change of policies has made her hesitant in planning future events.

“Every time we plan an event, we have to think about all the possibilities and how it can be moved to virtual and how it can be canceled,” Erdenebulgan said. “It is a possibility, and it does restrict the type of events that we can put on.”

Rozenkranz added that change in policies is a strain on student groups and student group leaders, but she noted the importance of priotizing health and safety. She added that she believes the most important thing she can do as a student is to be flexible.

“Fashion is about thinking outside of the box. It’s about using your creativity and so having event plan A and then plan B — it’s expanding our plans and creativity,” Rosenkranz said.

Still, for many students, the recurring experience of sudden change has been disorienting — and disorientation has been a defining part of their experience at Brown.

“Because the changes are so sudden and so dramatic, I think, in a way to protect your own mental health, I’ve had to just accept that this is what we’re doing,” Charlie Medeiros ’24 said.

Medeiros said that he thinks that students’ initial emotional reactions to University policy changes are valid.

“It’s healthy and natural, and it can be productive to get really frustrated about it,” Medeiros added, but it can be taxing for students to maintain their frustration with administrative changes.

Still, he said, “I understand that there is a use for this cathartic group acknowledgment of how uncomfortable it all is because it is tough.”

Submissions: The Brown Daily Herald publishes submissions in the form of op-eds and letters to the editor. Op-eds are typically between 750 and 1000 words, though we will consider submissions between 500 and 1200 words. Letters to the editor should be around 250 words. While letters to the editor respond to an article or column that has appeared in The Herald, op-eds usually prompt new discussions on campus or frame new arguments about current discourse.

All submissions to The Herald cannot have been previously published elsewhere (in print or online — including personal blogs and social media), and they must be exclusive to The Herald.

Submissions must include no more than two individual authors. If there are more than two original authors, The Herald can acknowledge the authors in a statement at the end of the letter or op-ed, but the byline can only include up to two names. The Herald will not publish submissions authored by groups. The Herald does not publish anonymous submissions. If you feel your circumstances prevent you from submitting an op-ed or letter with your name, please email herald@browndailyherald.com to explain your situation.

You can submit op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com and letters to letters@browndailyherald. com. When you email your submission, please include (1) your full name, (2) an evening or mobile phone number in case your submission is chosen for publication and (3) any affiliation with Brown University or any institution or organization relevant to the content of your submission.

Please send in submissions at least 24 hours in advance of your desired publication date. The Herald only publishes submissions while it is in print. The Herald reserves the right to edit all submissions.

If your piece is considered for publication, an editor will contact you to discuss potential changes to your submission.

Commentary: The editorial is the majority opinion of the editorial page board of The Brown Daily Herald. The editorial viewpoint does not necessarily reflect the views of The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Columns, letters and comics reflect the opinions of their authors only.

Corrections: The Brown Daily Herald is committed to providing the Brown University community with the most accurate information possible. Corrections may be submitted up to seven calendar days after publication. Periodicals postage paid at Providence, R.I. Postmaster: Please send corrections to P.O. Box 2538, Providence, RI 02906.

Advertising: The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. reserves the right to accept or decline any advertisement at its discretion.

The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. is a financially independent, nonprofit media organization bringing you The Brown Daily Herald and Post- Magazine. The Brown Daily Herald has served the Brown University community daily since 1891. It is published Monday through Friday during the academic year, excluding vacations, once during Commencement and once during Orientation by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. Single copy free for each member of the community. Subscription prices: $200 one year daily, $100 one semester daily.

Copyright 2021 by The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

7

SPORTS

Men’s water polo beats MIT, loses to U.S. Air Force Academy Saturday Shorthanded Bears reach 7-6 record with injured players going into conference play

BY LOKI OLIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER Men’s water polo (7-6) split its two games at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center Saturday, beating Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2-4) before falling to the U.S. Air Force Academy (11-1) in their final game before the Bears begin conference play at Princeton Oct. 2.

In its first game of the day, Bruno charged ahead to a 16-8 victory against MIT with a seven-goal third quarter that saw six different players find the back of the net. “Our pressure defense was way better in that third quarter than it was in the first half,” said Head Coach Felix Mercado.

“When you put that type of pressure defense on a team, you generate turnovers, and we were able to take advantage of MIT’s miscues and score the ball.”

According to Filip Aleksic ’24, the Bears’ depth and conditioning allowed them to capitalize on gaps in the MIT defense. “Usually the third quarter is when you can start outswimming the other team,” Aleksic said. “We had a lot of looks in the first two quarters that we were missing, and then we just started putting the ball in the cage.”

“We’ve been a third quarter team in almost every game,” added Max Boucher ’24. “Right when we catch the other team starting to become a little more tired, it’s our chance to put in a little extra effort to get above

or catch up.”

Sophomores Aleksic and Connor Enright ’24 continued their strong rookie campaigns with hat tricks in the game against MIT. “Both Filip and Connor have extensive water polo background, and their ability to bring that experience and hit the ground running has been very essential for success,” Mercado said.

Aleksic, who has 14 goals on the season, credits his teammates for providing him with scoring opportunities. “I have a lot of guys who know what’s going on on offense around me, so I was able to get those passes at the right time,” he said. “It was the whole group contributing as a whole — it was just up to me to put that ball in the cage.”

With the win against MIT, Brown snapped a three-game losing skid after tough contests against Stanford University, George Washington University and Harvard earlier in the Princeton Invitational. “It was a good moment to bounce back,” Boucher said. “We had not only lost the last few games but we’ve also lost a couple guys to injuries and sickness over the past week or two. I’d say this last week, prior to the games, was probably our lowest point as a team in terms of morale.”

“It was very important for us (to get this win) because MIT is one of the teams in our conference and also because it was our home pool,” Aleksic added. “It’s really important to protect the house, especially when all our friends and all the fans come.”

In their second game of the day, the shorthanded Bears —who were missing goalkeepers Ugo Piovan ’22 and Joe Gallagher ’24, as well as center Anderson Todd ’25 and attacker

COURTESTY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

Due to injuries on the team, walk-on goalkeeper Simeon Dong ’25 was in front of the net for both games.

Niko Bhatia ’22, all due to injuries – lost 10-14 to Air Force. The Falcons extended their mid-season win streak to five games with their victory. Injuries early in the campaign “throw a little bit of a monkey wrench (into the team’s season), because certain people are getting all the minutes in practice, and we’re asking guys who have less experience in those situations to step up and contribute,” Mercado said. “To be thrown in there cold ... it’s a difficult transition.”

Due to the injuries of both Gallagher and Piovan, walk-on goalkeeper Simeon Dong ’25 found himself in front of the net for both games Saturday. “Simeon Dong stepped in and had an amazing day yesterday,” Mercado said. “He came in as a freshman walk-on, we threw him between the pipes and he did well.”

“I would say both (Dong and Max-

well Patterson ’23) did a great job, especially defensively,” Aleksic said.

“This tournament, even though we missed many of our good players, was a good opportunity for Simeon and Max. I think they stepped up and they proved themselves.”

Despite the solid performances from Dong and Patterson, unforced errors led to Brown’s undoing in its game against Air Force, according to Mercado. “Any time we got within one or tied the game, we made two or three mistakes that led to (Air Force’s) goal-scoring opportunities.

We’re dealing with some injuries so we couldn’t afford those types of mental mistakes,” Mercado said. “But we watched film this morning and they were all correctable mistakes. … It’s not like we can’t beat teams like Air Force; we just have to limit our mistakes.”

As Brown heads into conference play beginning with its matchup against Princeton Oct. 2, Mercado says the team is more focused on itself than its opponent. “We need to be better at what we do,” he said.

“I don’t want us to lose focus by paying too much attention to our opponent. If we’re not successful at what we’re supposed to do offensively and defensively, it doesn’t matter how well-prepared we are for what the other team does.”

“If we don’t make elementary mistakes, we can beat Princeton,” Enright said. “They are a good team, but we are really playing ourselves more than anything else. If we can play our game and set the tone, we shouldn’t have any worries about the result.”

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

SPORTS

MEMES FROM PAGE 1

Womens’ soccer opens Ivy play with 4-1 victory against Dartmouth Sunday Victory brings Bears to 6-3 on year and 1-0 in conference play with second consecutive win

BY PETER SWOPE SENIOR STAFF WRITER The Brown women’s soccer team (6-3) came away victorious in their Ivy League opener, defeating rival Dartmouth (4-3-1) by a 4-1 scoreline Sunday evening. The crucial victory over an in-conference foe was the second win in a row for the Bears following back-to-back losses in non-conference play. Brown was paced by two goals from star forward Brittany Raphino ’23, with forward Ava Seelenfreund ’23.5 and midfielder Zoe Maxwell ’22.5 also finding the back of the net.

The Bears were constantly getting shots off against Charlotte Cyr of the Big Green, with Brown’s 20 total shots more than double Dartmouth’s eight. While the game was a physical one with multiple hard fouls, no cards were issued against either team. Ultimately, it was an aggressive offensive approach that made the difference for the Bears. They took an early 1-0 lead in the seventh minute when Raphino headed in a pass from Maxwell to score. The Big Green came close to responding and tying the game, but a sliding stop from defender Lauren Hinton ’22 protected Brown’s lead. Not long after, in the 17th minute, Raphino scored once again off a throw-in from midfielder Maesyn G’Bye ’22, pushing the Bears’ lead to 2-0.

Raphino emphasized the importance of getting off to such a fast start. “In Ivy League (play), one minor mistake can be the game, so getting something early and being able to sit back a little bit and take the pressure off was awesome for us,” she said.

The Big Green responded in the 32nd minute when midfielder Maddie Mills was finally able to put the ball in the net after multiple impressive stops by Kayla Thompson ’21.5 and the Brown defense. For the rest of

8

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

The Brown women’s soccer team took the match with an early 2-0 lead, ultimately securing a 4-1 win over the BIg Green Sunday evening. the first half and much of the second half, neither teams’ offense could get anything going, though the Bears came close on multiple occasions.

They also experienced multiple injury scares, as midfielder Gianna De Priest ’25 had to be helped off the field and did not return. Raphino also briefly exited with what she described as calf cramping but was able to return.

Brown’s repeated attacks finally paid off in the 66th minute when Seelenfreund was fouled hard and scored on her subsequent penalty kick to push the lead to 3-1. After more than 30 minutes of play without a goal, Seelenfreund’s penalty kick score was a pivotal point in the game, according to midfielder Kayla Duran ’22. “It was huge,” she said.

“Ava came up big, and it really gave us some momentum.”

The Bears added another insurance goal in the 78th minute when Maxwell scored off an impressive pass from midfielder Laryssa Hamblen ’23. Despite an aggressive Dartmouth attack, Brown hung on for an impressive 4-1 win.

The fact that the team was able to score four goals was an impressive feat, according to Raphino, and shows the team’s potential. “We can put goals away on any team,” she said. “Our coach was saying (how) it’s so hard to put four away in an Ivy League game because of the intensity and the talent, so we can do that to anybody.”

Head Coach Kia McNeill praised

her team’s toughness and resilience against a strong Ivy League opponent. “Every (Ivy League) game is almost like a championship, and you have to be willing to be aggressive and take those tackles and take those fouls,” she said. “I thought our team played really well. Scoring four goals against a good team like (Dartmouth) is a good sign for us going forward and a great way to start Ivy League (play).”

Because the game was rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday, the Bears will have one fewer day to rest before taking on Columbia in New York on Saturday. The team will focus on rest and strategy ahead of that game, according to McNeill. “I think we’ve gotta just rest and recover these next 24 hours,” she said. “I don’t think that practices are gonna be as intense (this week). It’s gonna be a lot more tactical-focused and video-focused (to) try to save (the players’) legs a little bit.”

Ultimately, the team is ready for Columbia and excited to start off conference play with a win, Duran said.

“It’s a huge start ... We’re away next weekend, so having that momentum to get us through is huge for us. It was a great team win.”

Brown women’s soccer will take on Columbia Saturday, Oct. 2 at 3 p.m. They will return to Stevenson-Pincince Field Saturday, Oct. 9 to host Princeton, also at 3 p.m. Both games will be available to stream on ESPN+.

include jokes about long lines at dining halls and footage of wildlife entering community buildings, with one popular meme captioned “Breaking news: a skunk entered the Ratty today.”

Nathan Ramrakhiani ’23, a follower of the account and self-proclaimed “meme aficionado,” took a particular liking to the post about the skunk.

“My friends know I’m critical of Brown Dining so I think I said something like ‘the skunk probably walked into the Ratty and walked out and just decided to eat trash for the rest of his life because it was a better option,’” Ramrakhiani said.

In addition to memes and lighthearted clips about campus events, the @brownumemes feed has also featured criticism of University policies and practices around COVID. Some of these critiques come in the form of traditional memes, while other posts don’t include a punchline.

Steinbrugge characterizes this new mix of content as a venture into “a new form of student journalism where you can quickly respond to new administrative policies or things going on on campus at a really fast response rate.”

Many University students, such as Andrew Truss ’24, agree that @brownumemes has turned into a pseudo news site. As a “traditional” meme fan, Truss noted that although he does not find many of the posts as funny as typical “wacko Gen-Z humor” meme accounts, he simply follows Steinbrugge’s account to stay up to date with campus news and to keep “tabs on things going on either with admin or on campus.”

“A lot of people will say it’s their favorite news source, and I have to agree.

Sometimes it is easier to get news from memes, and it’s been helpful as an outlet for the random things that Brown does,” said Christopher Vanderpool ’24.

While Vanderpool enjoys liking and commenting on @brownumemes posts, he said that at times the content can be over-critical and “unproductive.” Specifically, regarding the post of dumpsters lining the dining halls, he said “that the one in front of (the) Greg is actually here because otherwise the trash would be overflowing.”

Truss also feels that the page features too many complaints in lieu of constructive solutions.

“A lot of times it just seems like ‘okay, Brown is hypocritical.’ That’s kind of old news. What should we do about it?” he said. “A lot of things they’re com-

plaining about like COVID regulations are actually necessary precautions.”

“I’m not necessarily preaching against certain restrictions,” Steinbrugge said. “I’m just pointing out how the restrictions are to the detriment of students but argue they’re not followed or are way more lenient when it comes to administrators and their events.”

The University has defended its implementation of new restrictions as necessary to effectively manage an evolving public health situation, The Herald previously reported. “Knowing that increases (in positive cases) with this particular (Delta variant) can be relatively quick, we wanted to take some steps to prevent that,” Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 previously told The Herald.

Despite these concerns, several students feel the page provides a good outlet for students to share their thoughts.

“I feel like @brownumemes came up out of the (class of 2024’s) frustrations with our situation,” Vanderpool said.

He explained that the meme page was an especially helpful outlet for venting anxiety or annoyances with the restrictions implemented in the week of Sept. 13.

“When the most recent COVID restrictions first went into place, I was worried this would turn out to be another spring semester all over again,” he said. “Overall I’d say (the memes are) a really good way to express feelings.”

Ramrakhiani agrees with these sentiments, and views the account as a way for people to channel their frustrations. But, at the end of the day, many students turn to the page for the same reason they do most other meme accounts — for a simple laugh.

Nicolette Ducharme ’25, a thrower on the University’s track and field team, was first introduced to @brownumemes when an older teammate showed it to her while she was touring campus. The account gave her a glimpse into the Brown community before she officially committed.

“I won’t say it influenced me committing but it definitely influenced my view of the school,” she said. “It was a funny page and showed the sense of humor that a lot of people at the school share.”

Ducharme thinks the account “brings people together.” She and her friends often laugh over posts on the page. In turn, she shows posts to people that do not have Instagram.

“It’s just a conversation starter,” said Ducharme. “It’s really funny.”

STAY UP-TO-DATE. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK. FACEBOOK.COM/BROWNDAILYHERALD