Thursday, October 5, 2017

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017

VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 80

Students rally for DREAM Act

WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Belyakova ’19 remembered for humor, talent Kristina Belyakova ’19 died over summer, remembered by friends, faculty

By EDUARD MUÑOZ-SUÑÉ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

BENJAMIN TORUNO / HERALD

Students organize on the Main Green Wednesday afternoon to rally in support for the DREAM Act by encouraging peers to call their representatives and demand a revision of the DREAM Act.

Students gather to protest Trump decision to end DACA, demand revision to DREAM Act

By PRIYANKA PODUGU SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Following the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, students organized on the Main Green to call Congressional representatives, demanding the passage of a revised DREAM Act, and raise awareness of

the issues facing undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Angel Mendez ’20, a member of Brown Immigrant Rights Coalition, said that the event was “part of a national effort” with over 100 colleges holding similar events.

Mendez also said that BIRC aims for Congress to pass a “clean” DREAM Act, which would provide Dreamers with a path to citizenship without implementing harsher immigration policies or criminalizing their parents.

“A lot of the (introduced) legislation … contains … a path to citizenship for DACA-mented students, but

(they) also contain more restrictions on the border,” Mendez said, adding that policies like these further emphasized the need for a clean DREAM Act. Gabrielle Martinez ’20 said that she felt the current form of the DREAM Act would create “weird barriers for immigrants and still break up a lot of families.”

She criticized legislation sponsored

by Dick Durbin, D-I.L., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that would grant permanent legal status to individuals who arrived to the United States before turning 18, as well as the Republican » See DREAM, page 2

Friends and faculty close to Kristina Belyakova ’19 remember them as a quietly humorous, intensely passionate and contradictory individual who avidly participated in theater productions around Brown and performed in a band.

Belyakova passed away unexpectedly in the middle of August 2017, just weeks before the start of their junior year, according to an email sent out by Dean of the College Maud Mandel and Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Eric Estes.

Kristina grew up in Moscow and attended high school at Wycombe Abbey in England. At Brown, Belyakova acted in at least half a dozen plays, including many produced by the Shakespeare on the Green.

Noelle Austin ’18, who acted with Belyakova in several productions, praised their acting skills. On stage, “they could command the entire room by just standing still,” she said.

Austin also talked about Belyakova’s incredible character, especially when combined with their acting abilities. “It’s rare to me that you meet a person with that level of talent and also that depth

of character and general selflessness,” she said.

“They were profoundly not afraid to put people first,” Austin said about Belyakova.

“It was truly exceptional that they were a dancer and an actor, but in general, they were — as a person — an artist,” she said.

Multiple friends of Belyakova interviewed by The Herald also mentioned their contradictory nature as especially striking.

For example, Austin recounted a production that she and Belyakova acted in together, in which Belyakova’s face was featured on the posters that were spread around campus. At first, “they were horrified and absolutely disgusted” at the idea that they were the one featured, said Austin.

However, after “I watched them look down at the box filled with posters of them, and sort of roll their eyes, pick one up, take it and leave.”

In another example, Austin described Belyakova as an “exceptional artist who hated art.”

Austin also remembered Belyakova as “extraordinarily stubborn,” but “stubborn usually on behalf of being good to other people,” she said.

Grant MacFaddin ’19, who worked on at least six Shakespeare on the Green shows with Belyakova, remembered their humor, which he described as “playful,” “darkly humorous” and “dry.” » See BELYAKOVA , page 2

UCS continues internal Sleep lab links alcoholism, mood to sleep elections for three positions Lab collaborates with Members elect historian, parliamentarian, chair of academic affairs, three UFB board members

By EDUARD MUÑOZ-SUÑÉ SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Undergraduate Council of Students continued to hold internal elections to fill three positions in its third general body meeting of the year Wednesday night. The meeting also featured elections to fill three board seats on the Undergraduate Finance Board. Two candidates ran for the chair of academic affairs, while only one student ran for parliamentarian and historian. Seven students ran for the three UFB seats.

Mar Weiss ’20 was elected chair of academic affairs, after Jonathan Powell ’18 resigned from the position after being elected in last week’s general

INSIDE

body meeting.

As chair, Weiss, who was a UCS general body member last year, will be responsible for leading a committee of general body members on engaging with the academic curriculum. In her speech, Weiss said she wants to “make a change on campus.”

Austin Lessin ’19 was elected parliamentarian and Morgan Awner ’21 was elected historian.

In his speech for parliamentarian, Lessin referenced his past involvement with UCS. “Having been parliamentarian for UCS the past two years, I have a deep knowledge base I can apply.”

Awner mentioned that her high school experience with student council would make her an effective historian. “I know what it entails to be a historian, to keep track of records,” she said.

Julian DeGeorgia ’20, Daryl Polk » See ELECTIONS, page 2

neuroscience department to conduct experiment, study sleep patterns

By JONATHAN DOUGLAS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Everybody sleeps, yet we still know so little about why, what the brain does while we do or how it affects people’s behavior. Recent studies conducted bythe University’s joint sleep research lab with Bradley Hospital hope to answer some of these questions by identifying genes that control sleep and connecting sleep patterns to alcohol dependency and feelings of depression.

Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior Mary Carskadon started the lab for sleep research in 1985. She is “one of the pioneers of sleep education,” said Luis de Lecea, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University. Carskadon helped lead the College Sleep Study

ELENA RENKEN / HERALD

from 2010 to 2014, which surveyed incoming freshmen at the University about their sleep habits. Though the study ended with students from the class of 2018 due to a lack of funding, Carskadon’s lab had used the data to correlate sleep habits with weight gain and night screentime.

Inspired by blood samples from

participants collected in the same data set that hinted at a connection between certain genes and sleep, the Sleep Research Lab published results this year identifying five new genes in the C. Elegans worm that are connected to sleep. The researchers collaborated with the Department of Neuroscience, » See SLEEP, page 2

WEATHER

THURSDAY, OC TOBER 5, 2017

NEWS As the new dean of international students, Asabe Poloma says she will expand support, assistance

NEWS Department of Public Safety program offers safety evaluations for off-campus housing

COMMENTARY Richardson ’20: Athletes of color, like the Williams sisters, are held to unfair standards

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PAGE 2 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017

» DREAM, from page 1

Because Dreamers would lose their ability to work after DACA expires, Mendez said he hoped the University would “create a fund or fellowship where students are able to get the money” they would have ordinarily earned from their jobs as campus employees.

Pazia Bermudez-Silverman ’20 said she came to the event as a Latina student to support other Latinos who may be undocumented.

“It’s important for all of us at Brown to stick together. Why should one person have privilege over another just because they were born here or their parents were born here? … We’re all (on this campus). We all are equal, … and we all deserve to be here,” she added.

“Everyone in this country, except for Native Americans, came from a different place,” Mendez said. “At the end of the day, we’re all immigrants.”

» ELECTIONS, from page 1

» BELYAKOVA, from page 1

’19 and Aryan Chhabria ’18 were elected UFB board members.

Chhabria and DeGeorgia both held positions last year in UFB, and they ran unsuccessfully for UFB chair and vice chair, respectively, in last March’s general elections .

UFB board members meet with student groups individually to discuss funding and meet as a group to determine the amount of money groups receive from a budget of over $2.1 million.

Like last week, any UCS general body member can run for or vote in the internal elections. Candidates were granted a minute to deliver speeches, and had to wait outside while competing candidates spoke and members deliberated and voted using a Google form.

Next week the council will finish apportioning general body members to its various committees and will hold an ideation session.

Belyakova died in the middle of August 2017, weeks before their junior year was about to begin. At Brown, Belyakova acted in more than six plays.

Belyakova concentrated in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies and Classics.

William Monroe, a senior scholarly resources librarian and Belyakova’s firstand second-year adviser, described them as “just a delightful person,” who was “extremely intelligent, extremely talented, with such a wide range of interests,” he said.

As an example, Monroe listed the diverse set of subjects that Belyakova studied in their first semester: linear algebra, physics, Byzantine history and Japanese.

“I’ve never had an advisee before who was interested in so many things,” he said.

They were a “very smart, talented person who would have been very successful at anything they decided to do,” Monroe said. “It’s such a loss.”

One of Belyakova’s favorite and most impactful course in their time at Brown was an upper-level classics course in the spring of 2016 entitled “The Culture of Death in Ancient Rome,” said their

friends. The course explored “the way that death and dying were perceived and managed in ancient Roman culture,” according to the course website, and was centered around small discussions since only Belyakova and one other student enrolled, said John Bodel, the professor who taught the course.

The course culminated with a final paper, in which Belyakova explored the use of satire in Roman death customs.

Bodel praised their work, saying even “without fully understanding the cultural context of the satire — because Kristina was not yet a fully formed classicist — they had put their finger on a very perceptive understanding.”

“The result was a very fine piece of writing and something that reflected, in a very profound way, on, unfortunately, a topic that was all too relevant: What is the reaction of the society to death of a member?” he said.

They were a “sheer force of nature,” finished Austin. “I’ve never met anyone like Kristina, and I don’t think I ever will again.”

Studies that link sleep habits and psychiatric behavior to alcoholic tendencies. While alcoholism is caused by a complex set of factors, the group determined that sleep also comes into play.

Most recently, the group has published results connecting certain sleep patterns to mood. While previous researchers have focused on this

original data set. “It’s a very rich study, and it is technical from the molecular to the behavioral level,” Carskadon said. In addition to the alcoholism sleep classification study, the group hopes to further its partnership with the neuroscience department to identify more genes connected to sleep.

Carskadon also proposed the possibility of restarting the incoming

freshmen study to get richer, deeper data.

Even with the lab’s progress, much remains unknown about sleep. But De Lecea is optimistic about the future.

“The sleep field is an extremely active one, and recently it has become mainstream in neuroscience,” he said.

“The questions are emerging more and more frequently.”

proposal, which would not sponsor the families of protected children in receiving green cards. “How do you expect them to come in (to the United States) without their parents or their family? Why are you still trying to separate families?” she said.

Durbin and Graham’s DREAM Act would only give legal status to individuals provided they pass security

» SLEEP, from page 1 which helped run experiments on the worm, drawing off the sleep expertise of Carskadon’s lab. The study shines light on some of the mechanisms that control sleep in animals.

The Sleep Research Lab also published results this year alongside the Center for Alcohol and Addiction

checks and fulfill certain criteria like employment, military participation and education level.

Martinez argued that treating minors with dignity and humanity shouldn’t be contingent on them being productive members of the United States economy.

Mendez said that while he was happy to see that the event received “a lot of involvement from the Brown community,” he felt that they should

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD have seen “the entire student body coming in.”

He stressed that the University should support the entire immigrant community in the United States, as well as “the students who are here at Brown who might lose their legal status, they might lose their opportunity to come to Brown, they might lose their financial aid from the University” as a result of the decision to roll back DACA.

COURTESY OF GRANT MACFADDIN

connection, Visiting Professor Tamar Shochat of the University of Haifa statistically showed that certain sleep behaviors correlated with patterns of depression. In the future, the group hopes to identify sleep patterns associated with types of alcoholism using similar analysis.

The lab’s recent studies illustrate the range of research enabled by the

NEWS

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Jim Gates theorizes on equality, skepticism in science Theoretical physicist talks new forensics research, role models, communicating science

but recently there was a story in the New York Times that showed that the percentage of African Americans in college has basically been the same for the last 30 years. People think that there has been rapid progress, but if you look at the numbers, that’s just not true. For my community, there has been very little change.

By MIA PATTILLO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

World-recognized theoretical physicist Sylvester Gates, better known as Jim Gates, started at Brown this year as the Ford Foundation Professor of Physics. Gates, who served on former President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, studies supersymmetry, supergravity and superstring theory. More recently, he started working in forensic science.

In 1998, he became the first African American to hold an endowed chair in physics at a major U.S. research university as a professor at the University of Maryland in College Park, and was also the first African American theoretical physicist to receive a National Medal of Science and be elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

The Herald spoke with Gates about his work in forensic science and errordetecting codes, his role models and today’s skepticism surrounding science.

Herald: Could you explain your work in forensic science, and what drew you to that area?

Gates: Most people who have watched TV for the last decade or so have seen programs like CSI, which portray forensic science as extraordinarily scientific and effective at solving crimes.

The reality falls far short from what you see in Hollywood and the media. In fact, the 2009 study report, “Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward,” pointed out that a large number of the forensic disciplines, which often have people testify in court, lack a strong scientific basis for showing that what they present as science is reliable. Since 2009, there’s been a slow evolution. As a scientist external to the discipline, I have no vested interest in the outcome, one way or another.

Working with groups (such as the National Commission on Forensic Science and the Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science), we are slowly putting in policies to move forensic science as a practice to be more based on actual scientific methods that can be reliable and useful.

What kind of “more” scientific methods are you referring to?

Let me use the example of bite marks. People have made claims that you can identify individuals from bite marks they have left on a body. The Obama PCAST, which I was part of, looked at reports of forensic science and pointed out that there is basically no scientific evidence that bite marks can lead to identification of a specific individual.

What research do you hope to pursue going forward and why do you think it’s important?

A number of people are familiar with a TV production called “The Big Bang Theory,” which talks about string theory. Well, I am one of the people who actually works on this topic, and I have done so for all of my professional life.

There are unresolved questions — ­ in fact, string theory itself is incomplete

How do you hope to see it change going forward?

I’d like to see a society where fairness is more widely distributed and where outcomes are not dependent upon one’s economic or geographical origins.

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Jim Gates has enjoyed a successful career as a scientist prior to his becoming a professor. He has held a number of positions, including one on former President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. as a scientific theory. For the last decade or so, I’ve been pursuing some unusual mathematical leads on how we can make it more complete. These leads have led to really strange results. One of the strangest that we have found is that many of the equations that we have about string theory are error-correcting codes. These are normally found in computer science, so why should the laws of nature involve this?

It seems like a lot of your work has been interdisciplinary — why do you choose to work at the intersection of conventional fields?

It is really only in this final push in my career that I have become more interdisciplinary. In my field (of theoretical physics), there is a problem that has not be solved in over 40 years. In the latter half of the ’90s, I decided that I wanted to go back and look at this problem and why it hadn’t been solved.

Part of the reason the problem had not been solved is that everyone trying to solve it was using the same approach.

I started developing some new ways of thinking about the problem (involving mathematics), and that’s what led to the discovery that certain equations have error-correcting codes in them. The old ways of thinking about it have failed, so I’m trying to at least make progress and move in an interdisciplinary direction.

Are there people that you’ve found particularly inspiring in your career?

For a long time in my life, I did not

understand the term “role model.” And then I realized that the reason I didn’t understand it was because I had so many (role models) that I had never thought of it! My personal role model was my father, who was an incredible man — not a scientist, but a soldier and veteran of World War II. A couple of outstanding ones from my youth were my geometry teacher, my high school physics teacher and my first physics teacher at the (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). The list goes on and on, and today it includes an array of people far too many to name. One of the people that I have had as a real hero was Dr. John Holdren, who was Obama’s science advisor. I had many interactions with him over the course of eight years with the Obama administration.

My hero maximus is Albert Einstein.

Many people have heard about Albert Einstein — he was one of the most brilliant scientists. But many people do not know that in addition to science, he was just an incredible human being.

In 2005, there was a celebration of his work because it was in 1905 that he produced the first set of his dazzling results. That year, I had to speak more than 40 times on five continents about Albert Einstein, so I basically bought a library so I could knowledgeably speak on him. I knew about his physics, but I learned about him as a person during that year. What I found most incredible was that Albert Einstein was one of the most forceful speakers against racism in the United States during the ’50s.

He made forceful statements about the racism and the injustices that were inflicted upon African-Americans in this country. There’s a book called “Einstein on Race and Racism,” where anyone who wishes to learn about this aspect of his life can do so. He was also just someone who tried to help people in general, and this is something I didn’t understand about Albert Einstein until I had to speak on him.

In physics and the science community in general, how do you think that the academic climate has changed for members of historically underrepresented groups?

The unfortunate truth is not very much has changed. There’s a general idea that things have vastly improved,

In your work communicating science to the public, what do you hope to leave people with? Are there any common conceptions you’d like to correct or influence?

There are many misconceptions about science in the public. I’ve spoken on very specific things — for example, the detection of gravitational waves. When I am called upon to speak to the public about specific scientific discoveries, I try to do so in a way so that it becomes understandable, and also in a way that it becomes understandable as part of a human activity.

When someone writes a great novel or piece of music for the public, a lot of people get enthusiastic and understand that there’s a creative process at work there. It’s the same thing with science.

It’s a very human endeavor, and it’s not something that only geniuses do, which is one of the biggest misconceptions. I try to communicate these things when I speak about science. It’s a large-scale activity that’s extraordinarily important for our species. We face changes like climate change, and the only thing that’s protecting us is our technology, and our technology comes straight from science.

In this current era of fake news and distrust of science, how has your role as a researcher changed and how have you approached skepticism?

First off, skepticism is one of the bases of science, which most people don’t seem to understand. Scientists don’t just fall in love with our ideas.

Science is one of the most argumentative things. Skepticism actually drives the development of science, because you’re always skeptical of your colleagues’ ideas. On the other hand, the kind of skepticism that we see playing out in the large social realm of our society right now is extraordinarily concerning. It kind of implies that everyone’s opinion is equal, and that’s just not true. People who are not informed do not have good opinions.

NEWS

PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

University opens new mindfulness center Interdisciplinary center focuses on mindfulnessbased research, community service

By SOPHIA GRACE CARTER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Beginning in the late 1970s, mindfulness moved from the ashram to the laboratory, where researchers began to study its effects on health. Brown has been at the forefront, having formally introduced a contemplative studies initiative and concentration over 10 years ago. Now, Brown is opening a new center for research and public facilitation of mindfulness practices that will work to “increase the quality of the evidence base and promote adoption of well-proven mindfulness practices,” according to a University press release.

The goal of the center is to convene researchers from various disciplines and assemble the data they have collected to “educate consumers on the impacts of mindfulness on mental and physical health,” said the Director of the Center Eric Loucks, associate professor of epidemiology at the School for Public Health.

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Eric Loucks is the director of the new center for research and public facilitation of mindfulness. Loucks, pictured above, is also the associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health.

“There is so much research on mindfulness happening across the country and in Rhode Island that if we can be more organized and connect with one another, we will be so much

stronger,” he said.

Locally, the center is affiliated with Rhode Island Hospital and Miriam Hospital. The center will also collaborate with other institutions pursuing

similar research across the globe, such as those at Oxford University, the University of Massachusetts Medical School and the Cambridge Health Alliance.

“Each (mindfulness) center has its niche. Ours is that we are housed within a larger center of epidemiology and mental health, so we have a strong emphasis on research and methods,” Loucks said.

The center also brings together many departments on campus. Housed in the School for Public Health, the center’s senior researchers come from a range of backgrounds including behavior and social sciences, psychiatry and human behavior, epidemiology and religious and contemplative studies.

“One of the purposes of the center is to develop mindfulness practices that are available to the larger community in the city and the state,” said Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Contemplative Studies Initiative Harold Roth.

The center aims to make mindfulness-based intervention more accessible to the public through community outreach and education efforts. To further that goal, the Center for Mindfulness will work alongside the Swearer Center for Public Service, Roth said.

“We want to be able to implement intervention for people from all walks of life,” Loucks said.

Poloma takes on role as assistant dean for international students Poloma to start position Oct. 23, expand support for international, minority students

By JACOB LOCKWOOD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Asabe Poloma will start as the assistant dean for international students and associate director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship on Oct. 23, wrote Dean of the College Maud Mandel and Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Eric Estes in a community-wide email Sept. 25.

Within her role as assistant dean for international students, Poloma said she will help international students transition to studying in the United States and support them throughout their educational experiences as they prepare to graduate.

She hopes to bring a “social justiceoriented approach to academic advising” by finding ways to “stand with our population of international and minoritized students.”

As associate director of the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship,

Poloma said she will help minority students to “map out a successful career plan while at Brown that would allow them to be competitive, to pursue their PhDs and to join the professoriate ranks.”

The fellowship aims to increase “the number of students from underrepresented minority groups … who pursue PhDs” and professorial careers, according to its website.

Poloma’s hire is a part of the University’s efforts to expand support for international students. According to Dean of the College Maud Mandel, the position of assistant dean for international students was restructured after Shontay Delalue, who formerly held the position, became interim vice provost for equity and diversity this spring. The responsibilities of Delalue’s former position will be divided between Poloma’s new position in the Dean’s office and Christina Phillips’ position as program director for the International Student Experience. Meanwhile, Delalue will continue to support international students from the Provost’s office. “In a sense, we went from one position to three,” Mandel said, adding that she expects Poloma, Phillips and Delalue to work

closely with one another.

Phillips said she looks forward to working with Poloma to advocate for international students and develop programs related to internships and careers. “She’ll provide an additional form of personal support for international students,” Phillips added.

“She was such a standout candidate during the interviews, I’m really excited for her enthusiasm and her energy,” said Associate Provost for Global Engagement and Strategic Initiatives Shankar Prasad. Poloma’s hire is “a huge step in the right direction” toward providing robust support for international students, he added.

Poloma’s background as an international student drew her to this position. “My early experiences in elementary, middle and high school really were shaped by the theme of global mobility,” Poloma said. Born in Nigeria, she began school in Moscow, graduated from high school in Tanzania and immigrated to the United States to study at Hampton University in Virginia. Poloma’s educational path led her to pursue a PhD in international comparative higher education.

Poloma currently works as executive director for the Institute for

COURTESY OF ASABE POLOMA

Asabe Poloma says she wants to help international students as they transition to Brown, as well as offer assistance to minority students.

Recruitment of Teachers, which works to promote “more diverse faculty both

in K-12 administration and teaching but also in the professoriate,” she said.

TODAY

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

transpor ted to the green

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: BBQ Bam Bam, Mary Jane, Spicy 5 Cheese and Garlic Poke Bar, Cookie Slice JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Chicken Alfredo Bowl, Mushroom Swiss Burger

Soup: Chicken Artichoke Florentine, Turkey Chili

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Fire Braised Chicken Thighs, Herb Rice, Rosemary Portabello Sub, Sugar Cookies

Jambalaya, Parslied Rice, Curried Quinoa and Chickpea Saute, Sugar Cookies

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Pork Carnitas, Spicy Pepper Pulled Chicken, Vegetable Bean Stew, Cream Cheese Brownies

Roast Turkey with Sauce, Shells with Sauce, Nachos, Breast Cancer Awareness Cookies

sudoku

TIFFANY DENG / HERALD

Brown Transportations Services featured their shuttle transport on the Main Green, alongside a display from the Department of Public Safety. Students learned how to protect themselves and make smart choices.

Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

“I’d like to see a society where fairness is more widely

RELEASE DATE– Friday, October 5, 2012

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle c rNorris o s sandwJoyce o rNichols d Lewis Edited by Rich ACROSS 1 Seat of Florida’s Marion County 6 Airhead 10 Nonkosher 14 Tijuana address 15 Cooper’s tool 16 Incline 17 Start of a quip 20 Berry of “F Troop” 21 Network with NEA funding 22 Like some pasts 23 Decked out 26 Contemporary of Dashiell 27 Quip, part 2 32 Power, slangily 35 Want ad initials 36 First name in fashion 37 Lumber tree 38 Quip, part 3 42 Lodge member 43 Cocktail party irritant 45 Agnus __ 46 80% of them come from South Australia 48 Quip, part 4 52 Skull and Bones members 53 Emphatic followup 57 “To speak the broken English is an enormous asset” speaker 60 Pontiac muscle car 61 Cautionary road sign 62 End of the quip 66 Stead 67 Cartesian connection 68 Surrealism pioneer 69 PDQ, in the ICU 70 Pharmacy unit 71 The FDIC may insure them DOWN 1 Honshu city 2 Relinquished 3 Reprimand ending 4 Roleo item 5 Delaware’s Twelve-mile Circle, e.g.

6 11th Greek letter

55 “Came up short” 7 Works of Sappho 50 The BBC’s 8 Liq. measures 56 Pushes “Pinwright’s 9 Fox Movietone 57 Friends Progress” is piece reportedly the first 58 Handling the 10 In that connection problem TV one 11 Outer coating 51 Crazy way to run 59 Author’s 12 Curriculum range, 54 Band that sang inspiration briefly 60 Lady of pop “The Star13 Escaped 63 Icy comment Spangled 18 ’70s embargo gp.

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47 Green shade 49 Fleshy-leaved 10/05/12 xwordeditor@aol.com plant

distributed and where outcomes are not dependent

”

upon one’s economic or geographical origins.

— Jim Gates, Ford Foundation Professor of Physics

See gates on page 3.

CORRECTION A previous version of the article “Award recipient quotes Hobbs through Moby-Dick” quoted Isabella Catten ’20 saying that translating “Moby-Dick” into a political context made it “timelessly different.” In fact, she said it made it “timelessly relevant.” The Herald regrets the error.

A previous version of this article misspelled the first names of Conor O’Byrne ’18 and Briana Nuñez ’19. It also misstated the class year of Julian Gau ’19. The Herald regrets the error.

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Korean Language Week 12:00 P.M. Sayles Hall Hurricanes and Climate Justice Panel 7:00 P.M. Solomon, 001

TOMORROW Clothing Swap 11:00 A.M. J. Walter Wilson Lobby

EEB Brown Bag Seminar 12:00 P.M. Biomed Center, 002

Depression Support Group 12:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson, 516

Cognition Seminar Series 3:00 P.M. Metcalf Research Building

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017

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COMMENTARY THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Credentials over color RANDI RICHARDSON staff columnist

This year has been a big one for women’s tennis. Serena Williams, arguably the greatest living tennis player, won a Grand Slam while pregnant and delivered a beautiful baby girl. Meanwhile, her rival Maria Sharapova not only returned to the circuit after fulfilling the conditions of her suspension for using banned substances, but also authored a book. That book immediately threw Sharapova back under the spotlight for her ill-advised — and racialized — comments about Williams. They echoed the ubiquitous misrepresentation of black women that is all too common in the athletic community and society as a whole, and offer a telling reminder of why we need to challenge these stereotypes.

By Sharapova’s account, she was 12 years old when she first saw the Williams sisters play in an open practice session in Florida. Despite the raging crowd, Sharapova decided not to sit in the stands. “I’d never put myself in the position of worshiping them, looking up, being a fan,” Sharapova recounts. Ultimately, her father found a nearby shed for her to watch the match without being seen. “I could watch through a kind of knothole — just me alone, in the dark, seeing the

next 20 years of my life,” she recounts.

But the truly problematic part of the book came later: when Sharapova refers to Williams’ presence on the court. “First of all, her physical presence is much stronger and bigger than you realize watching TV,” Sharapova writes. “She has thick arms and thick legs and is so intimidating and strong.

And tall, really tall.”

For starters, this statement blatantly ignores the fact that, in real-

ing, even when they are just navigating the spaces that belong to them.

Instead of objectively crediting Williams for her superior skill and accomplishments, somehow Sharapova is able to idealize her own wins and make excuses for her defeats — excuses that are rooted in racialized misperceptions. It’s unfortunate that no matter how hard Williams competes, no matter how many Grand Slam titles she earns, she is constant-

even though her claim to fame is regularly losing to Williams. She gets to play on center court, although she is often ranked lower than other players assigned to smaller courts. Bizarrely, she still received this center court preference in the U.S. Open last month, though she was just emerging from a doping scandal at the time.

She regularly gets the benefit of the doubt — chalking defeats up to injuries or fatigue — instead of being ex-

This is precisely why Serena Williams is so important to young, black athletes of all genders, but especially women. She consistently debunks racial stereotypes and reminds us that credentials matter more than color.

ity, Sharapova is the taller player. She towers over Williams by five inches and is a powerful tennis player in her own right. But the statement is particularly troubling in light of the physical build and color of both athletes. The image of a “little girl” playing against a “grown woman,” as Sharapova describes their first match, brings to mind the stereotype that black women are somehow threaten-

ly undervalued and critiqued for her body.

Here lies the difference between white excellence and black excellence: White excellence doesn’t have to battle the omnipresence of racism to gain recognition. Williams can beat Sharapova all she wants (her record stands at 19-2) but the narrative seems to stay in Sharapova’s favor. She initially received more endorsements,

pected to win in spite of everything like Williams.

The advantages Sharapova receives — both on and off the court — as the losing member of the Williams-Sharapova rivalry is rooted in what has been historically celebrated in this country. For far too long, global standards — about athletics, beauty, marketability — have been shaped by images of white women’s bodies.

In commercials, movies and magazines, there is an overrepresentation of easy-to-sell, blond-haired, greeneyed, slender white women. This imbalance tells the next generation of black women that their bodies will consistently be perceived as lacking.

And it tells black female athletes that their accomplishments will always be undermined solely because of their identities. This is precisely why Serena Williams is so important to young black athletes of all genders, but especially women. She consistently debunks racial stereotypes and reminds us that credentials matter more than color.

In the context of these trends, Sharapova’s book isn’t just a petty attack against a tennis rival — it’s much more. Her book had many stereotypes that underrate black excellence, demean black women’s bodies and create artificial hurdles for women of color. The widespread criticism of Sharapova for her tone-deaf comments has been encouraging, but many Americans still share the same views. Clearly, we still have a long way to go when confronting biases and stereotypes specifically targeted at excellent black women. But the overwhelming support for Williams is a start.

Randi Richardson ’20 can be reached at randi_richardson@brown.edu.

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NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017

DPS offers program to assess vulnerabilities in off-campus residences Officers provide suggestions for students on how to make offcampus living more secure

By NATHAN KAKALEC CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Department of Public Safety is offering a program to allow students living in off-campus residences under DPS geographic jurisdiction to assess the security of their homes.

The Residential Security Vulnerability Assessment Program has been offered since last fall, wrote DPS Officer Kelly Mitchell in an email to The Herald.

Students start by filling out a short questionnaire on the DPS website, which asks questions about home ownership, security concerns and past vulnerabilities, according to the program’s website. Then, an officer from DPS contacts the student to set up a convenient time for the assessment, Mitchell wrote. During the evaluation, the officer tours the home and takes notes using a checklist to help formulate a final report. The document, which is given to the student after the assessment, discusses any vulnerabilities in the residence and provides suggestions to increase security. Students can either use the report themselves to make improvements or take it to their landlord, Mitchell wrote. Students can also follow up with DPS if they have any concerns after the assessment. Twelve students

TIMOTHY MUELLER-HARDER / HERALD

Students living within the Department of Public Safety jurisdiction will now be able to have an officer assess the safety of their homes and provide useful information on how to make their off-campus residences more secure. Twelve students have taken part in the program so far. have used the program so far, Mitchell wrote.

Mitchell decided to start offering the program after she attended a threeday training seminar with the National Institute of Crime Prevention, she wrote. The workshop focused on “crime prevention through environmental design,” a multidisciplinary approach to deterring crime through the use of buildings and other public

spaces. “After attending the seminar, I wanted to expand our outreach initiatives as it applies to the ‘whole community,’” Mitchell wrote. “I took bits and pieces from other programs.”

Harrison White ’19 said that while he hasn’t used the DPS service, he does take steps to make sure his offcampus residence is secure. “We lock our doors,” White said. “Our landlord came by recently because we had a

window open, and he freaked out at us for having a window open, so now we lock our windows.”

Upgrading window and door locks, closing the blinds and moving large items such as garbage cans away from windows are all tactics students can use to reduce vulnerabilities in their homes, Mitchell wrote. “Keeping porch lights on 24/7 is a plus,” Mitchell added. “With the new energy-efficient

light bulbs, it costs pennies. The light not only assists residents entering and exiting, it provides light for those walking.”

“Our recommendations are not fool-proof, but will certainly maximize residential safety. It is our hope that we will assist in improving the quality of life for students and our neighboring communities,” Mitchell wrote.

CENTER FOR

Physician Assistant Studies

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2017 Registration: 4:45 p.m. / Presentation begins promptly at 5 p.m.

RSVP: 401-598-4558. Space is limited.

Location: 35 Claverick Street, Providence, Rhode Island GPS address: 157 Clifford Street, Providence

Accreditation-Provisional is an accreditation status granted when the plans and resource allocation, if fully implemented as planned, of a proposed program that has not yet enrolled students appear to demonstrate the program’s ability to meet the ARC-PA Standards or when a program holding Accreditation-Provisional status appears to demonstrate continued progress in complying with the Standards as it prepares for the graduation of the first class (cohort) of students. Accreditation-Provisional does not ensure any subsequent accreditation status. It is limited to no more than five years from matriculation of the first class.

17-01-295 10/17

OPEN HOUSE

The ARC-PA has granted Accreditation-Provisional status to the Physician Assistant Studies Program sponsored by Johnson & Wales University.