SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLII, ISSUE #71
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
Rhode Island codifies DACA recipients’ right to obtain driver’s licenses Law protects right even if DACA program ends, activists push to include all undocumented people By COLLEEN CRONIN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
For 21-year-old Rhode Islander Rodrigo Pimentel, driving is an essential part of life. Pimentel is the only member of his family with a driver’s license, so without one, “doing anything in life would be complicated,” he said. “Every job that I’ve had has required driving,” Pimentel said, adding that “Rhode Island is very cardependent state. A car ride that takes 20 minutes could take an hour on the bus.” Pimentel is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows eligible undocumented immigrants to study and work lawfully in the United States. He has fought to maintain his driver’s license by advocating for the codification of license eligibility for DACA recipients. In June, the actions of Pimentel and local advocacy groups culminated in the Rhode Island General Assembly’s vote to pass a bill
SUMMER ZHANG / HERALD
to protect DACA recipients’ current ability to obtain a license — even if the DACA program were to end. This
legislation comes in the wake of threats from the Trump administration to end the DACA program altogether. Gov.
Gina Raimondo signed the bill into law June 18. The legislation, to be enacted Dec.
3, was sponsored by Rep. Shelby Maldonado (D-56) and Sen. Michael McCaffrey, D-Warwick. By passing a law to protect DACA recipients’ right to procure licenses, “we have given these youth a level of certainty that ensures their valuable contributions to the Ocean State will continue for years to come — no matter what happens in Washington,” McCaffrey wrote in a statement to The Herald. Pimentel attended and spoke at the bill’s signing in June. “It’s a common-sense issue,” he told The Herald, explaining that licensing drivers will allow people to purchase car insurance and receive more driving instruction, leading to safer roads. According to a Roger Williams University study, traffic fatalities and car insurance rates are lower in states where undocumented immigrants can obtain a driver’s license. Pimentel praised Raimondo for her role in the bill’s passage, saying that “the governor showed real leadership here by doing this, as well as the General Assembly.” Raimondo did not respond to The Herald’s request for comment. The bill will only effect the small » See DACA, page 3
Outdoor adventure store Artist decodes studio, curatorial work Denali camps out on Thayer Yevgeniya Baras Denali hopes to promote environmental awareness, connect with local community By JACK BROOK STAFF WRITER
If you’re looking for a good coat for the impending winter, you will no longer have to go further than Thayer Street. The doors of the mountainstyle clothing company Denali are open for business following a Sept. 15 launch party. “We supply people with knowledge and products to go on different adventures no matter where they’re going,” said store manager Kevin Devine, “whether it’s around the corner from the house, or if they are traveling overseas to go hiking or backpacking.” The University’s real estate subsidiary Farview, Inc. leased 271 Thayer to Denali, replacing City Sports, wrote Director of News and Editorial Development Brian Clark in an email to The Herald. “As a key commercial district that intersects campus, what’s most
important to Brown is that Thayer Street is an attractive, clean and safe retail corridor where members of the University community can visit and local merchants can thrive,” Clark wrote. The 271 Thayer property lay vacant for around two years while the University’s Real Estate Office searched for a suitable tenant, said Vice President of Real Estate John Luipold. The University did not want to subdivide the building or bring in another restaurant, he added. “We took a very thoughtful approach,” Luipold said. “We like (Denali’s) mission to help the environment, and we wanted a tenant that we thought would be a draw from beyond the immediate College Hill area.” Denali sales associate Melissa Monteiro-Lopes emphasized Denali’s relaxed and welcoming atmosphere as its defining feature. Denali’s live garden of ferns and other plants running up its two floors, along with trees serving as support columns, provides customers with a refreshing vibe. The apparel on display ranges from outdoor classics like Patagonia » See DENALI, page 3
influenced by language, considers curation extension of artwork By LIYAAN MASKATI SENIOR STAFF WRITER
At 5 p.m. Wednesday, members of the Providence community gathered in List Art Building 120 to hear Yevgeniya Baras discuss her experiences as a studio artist and a curator. Originally from Russia, Baras immigrated to the United States in her youth and is currently based in Brooklyn. She teaches art at both the Rhode Island School of Design and Sarah Lawrence College. The talk began with Baras discussing her career as a studio artist and exploring the way both her Russian roots and her life in the United States have influenced her work. “I (want) my paintings to be bilingual,’” Baras said as she described her usage of text and symbols to depict her personal experiences. “Sometimes it’s a single word in a different language that I speak, sometimes it’s an acronym that I made up, sometimes it’s a combination of » See BARAS, page 2
ARTS & CULTURE
JACK JACOBY / HERALD
Yevgeniya Baras’ Russian roots and immigration to the United States shape her work; she strives to make her paintings “bilingual.”
PIA MILEAF-PATEL / HERALD
Register to vote in R.I. The statewide election is on November 6. The deadline to register is October 7. For more information, visit vote.sos.ri.gov.
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PAGE 2 • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
UCS outlines, brainstorms committee projects for next year Committees to increase transparency, outreach to support athlete mental, physical health By MELANIE PINCUS SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The Undergraduate Council of Students introduced some of the initiatives its committees will work on this academic year at its general body meeting Wednesday night. Committee chairs outlined their committees’ roles to the general body and then met with smaller groups to brainstorm additional project ideas. Communications Director Sofia Jimenez ’21 will lead a newly established committee dedicated to communications, which UCS added “because we want to do a lot of cool things that involve transparency between the student body and UCS,” Jimenez said. Not only charged with managing “the brand, publicity and all forms of social media UCS has,” the committee will also aim to implement a new version of “What to Fix Brown,” an online forum that previously enabled students to provide feedback to UCS. The committee also hopes to work with the Student Activities Office on “a more visually stimulating way to announce certain club events,” Jimenez said. Chair of Student Activities Alex Song ’20 stressed that his committee’s primary task is “taking care of new clubs that want to be created on campus, or clubs that want to increase their funding opportunities.” The committee also aims to make the process of establishing a club or changing club categorization more efficient and make information about the resources available to student groups more accessible, Song said. Chair of Student Wellness Shivani Nishar ’20 outlined four projects relevant to her committee. First, the Student Wellness Committee will work on developing a reporting system within Student and Employee Accessibility Services “so that if students aren’t getting the accommodations that they need they can report and have that concern be dealt with within SEAS,” Nishar said. Second, there will be a Title IX Town Hall “in around two weeks” intended to provide a space for students to discuss “the guidelines that are being released by Betsy Devos’s office on how educational systems should deal with sexual harassment and gender-based violence,” Nishar said.
» BARAS, from page 1 different languages … I like to play with letters as a way to make form. They give the painting structure and it’s another way to imbue the painting with meaning,” she explained. While Baras makes a conscious effort to be aware of where the symbology originates, it occasionally feels like the symbols in her work are just “floating in the ether,” she said. “My paintings are
JASMINE RUIZ / HERALD
The Undersgraduate Council of Students, headed by President Shanzé Tahir ’19, met in small groups Wednesday night to discuss upcoming projects for the school year. These projects include organizing a Title IX town hall and creating an award to recognize informal advisors. It will also pursue initiatives within Health Services, such as developing “a Health Services student advisory board,” Nishar said. Finally, the Student Wellness Committee will work to “partner with the athletes on campus and figure out how we can better wellness both mentally and physically for that community,” Nishar said. The Academic Affairs Committee, chaired by Mar Weiss ’20, will coordinate an award for informal advisors, defined as “anyone who is doing a lot of mentorship and taking a lot of time out of their lives … without getting enough public recognition as well as money,” Weiss said. The committee will decide how to divide $1,500 allocated for the award. They will also determine a nomination process for the award, Weiss said. Academic Affairs will also work on dedicating space in engineering
labs to people of color in the field, a project that has been “spearheaded” by the regional head of the National Society of Black Engineers at the University, Weiss said. A third initiative the committee will work on is “getting student representation on the disciplinary hearing committee,” a topic Weiss said will be discussed at an upcoming faculty meeting. If the University grants permission for a student representative to join that process, the Academic Affairs Committee will determine how to select that person and work with the Offices of the Provost and the Dean to formalize a training process. Melissa Lee ’20 chairs the council’s Campus Life Committee, which works on topics related to University divisions including the Office of Residential Life, Dining Services and the Department of Public Safety. Lee said she has been in contact
with Bon Appétit Management Company, which manages menus for the University’s dining services, “to try to find a more reliable, consistent way to get student feedback,” Lee said. Among the committee’s other projects is working with the shuttle service “to find out a more consistent and reliable way to get the shuttle service to come on time and for students to indicate when they want to get on and off the shuttle,” Lee said. In a smaller group meeting, Lee also mentioned that plans and funding are in place for the University to increase the number of hydration stations on campus, an initiative the committee worked on last year, as The Herald previously reported. The Department of Facilities Management could not be reached for comment by press time. The council is also looking to recruit applicants for several open
student representative positions on various University councils, Appointments Chair Jason Carroll ’21 told The Herald. There are two vacancies on the Brown University Community Council, two vacancies for first-years on the Financial Aid Advisory Board, one vacancy on the Diversity and Inclusion Oversight Board and three vacancies on the Student Advisory Board on Equity and Diversity. The council also selected Michelle Liu ’22 to serve as their webmaster, filling their final open internal position. Liu ran unopposed and was confirmed via unanimous vote. The UCS-coordinated Community Accountability Focus Group, which intends to explore informal ways to address harm in the community, held its first meeting at 8:30 p.m., following the general body meeting’s conclusion.
often said to be encoded,” she added. “They’re like closed universes.” However, despite the esoteric nature of some of her artwork, Baras feels closely connected to her art. “I work on 20 to 30 paintings at once,” she said. “It’s like being a part of a big family with kids.” “I really liked the way (Baras) plays with media,” said Josh Cabello ’19, referring to Baras’ unique incorporation of materials in her artwork. “Sometimes I find materials and sometimes people
who are important to me give me materials and I embed them in my work,” Baras explained. For instance, when Baras’ friend was immigrating from the United States, she gave Baras her curtains, which Baras proceeded to insert in one of her paintings to “function as the frame.” In addition to her work as a studio artist, Baras also spoke of her role as a curator. In 2010, she co-founded and was a co-curator at Regina Rex Gallery
in New York, alongside a group of other artists. Being a curator allowed Baras to interact with different artists and understand more about “other artists’ lives.” The job of a curator is to pair different kinds of artists together and recontextualize their work, Baras said. In that sense, it parallels the work of artists. “I began to feel like my studio is my practice and the gallery is just a different branch of my practice,” she
explained. “I think it’s really important to look at the types of artists that have a dual role in the community,” said Kristine Newson, the academic program manager for the Visual Art Department. Baras “is both curatorial and an artist, so she can provide that dual perspective of what it’s like to see art in the real world in relation to other art being created, as well as taking inspiration from around her and making (art),” she said.
NEWS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
» DENALI, from page 1
COURTESY OF DANIELLE CAPRI
Mountain clothing company Denali opened a new store at 271 Thayer Street Sept. 15. The space had been vacant for two years but was previously the location of a City Sports store. Denali sells brands such as Patagonia, The North Face, Merrell footwear and high-end Kühl fabrics.
» DACA, from page 1 portion of the undocumented community in Rhode Island who have or had DACA status. “It’s a nice gesture,” said Carl Krueger, a staff attorney at Dorcas International Institute of Rhode Island, who believes that the state still needs to push legislation that gives all undocumented people the opportunity to get a license. Currently, Rhode Island requires a social security number from driver’s license applicants. Driving is not a “privilege, it’s a necessity for most people,” Krueger said, adding that anyone who can prove residency and pass a driver’s exam
should be able to drive in the state. Currently, 12 states and the District of Columbia allow undocumented people without DACA status to apply for driver’s licenses, including Vermont and Connecticut, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Ultimately, Pimentel sees the recently passed legislation as an important “first step.” “One of the greatest things we have is storytelling,” Pimentel said. “Appealing to logic, appealing to emotion, and telling your story is a tool that you can use to orchestrate change. … You can actually change people’s minds by telling your story.”
and The North Face to sturdy Merrell footwear and high-end Kühl fabrics. “We throw everything together,” said Monteiro-Lopes, a Cranston native. “We have the rugged, the classy, then everyday wear for people who are leisurely but always on the go. These are pieces that are going to last for a very long time.” The Thayer Street Denali store wants to find ways to connect with the surrounding community by hosting free clinics to teach outdoor skills like orienteering and day hiking safety, Devine said. Of Denali’s 14 employees, nine are from Rhode Island, he added. Denali also plans to work with local organizations like Save the Bay and the Brown Outing Club to help publicize environmental awareness and clean-up campaigns, he added. “The Brown Outing Club for a long time has been trying to give back more for the community,” said Ethan Taswell, a member of the BOC. “We’re looking to expand beyond Brown, (and) we’re hoping to develop a partnership with companies on Thayer Street like Denali.”
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PAGE 4 • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
‘Lizzie’ hacks away at patriarchy Avon Cinema’s latest thriller revisits Lizzie Borden murder mystery through feminist lens By MAIA ROSENFELD STAFF WRITER
From the very beginning of Craig Macneill’s film “Lizzie,” viewers are right behind the fierce female protagonist, played by Chloë Sevigny. We watch her walk into the impending murder scene, we hear a scream, then see her stepmother’s corpse on the ground next to the infamous date: August 4, 1892. In 1892, the real Lizzie Borden was tried for —and acquitted of — her father and stepmother’s axe murders in Fall River, Massachusetts. Was she a fiery, passionate woman, suffocated by the patriarchy until her resentment boiled into violence? Perhaps — that’s certainly how Macneill portrays her. This new take on the age-old story of
ARTS & CULTURE
the Borden murders presents a radical explanation for the mysterious bloody deaths of Andrew Borden (played by Jamey Sheridan) and Abby Borden (Fiona Shaw). Though it leans toward the trope of the 19th-century madwoman — painting Lizzie as a rebellious spinster whose defiant outbursts and epileptic fits lead her father to consider sending her away — this depiction of the Borden murders packs a feminist punch. Lizzie holds immense power on screen, and while rejecting her father, she casts off other oppressive forces as well, from the corset around her waist to the legal barriers blocking her inheritance. Bridget (Kristen Stewart), the Bordens’ new Irish maid, is the perfect complement to Lizzie. She appears timid, and there is an instant connection between her and the strong and unruly spinster. The two become secret lovers and partners in crime, sharing intimate moments in a shed where Lizzie goes to escape from her repressive household. Lizzie teaches Bridget to read, Bridget helps Lizzie dress and undress and together they
make a powerful pair. Bridget faces domination by Lizzie’s father as well — every night he comes into her room and rapes her. But it is Lizzie who fights back, scattering pieces of a broken mirror outside of Bridget’s door for her father to step on as he flees the site of his sin. Lizzie sees her father’s vulnerability — he regularly receives threatening notes, and she undertakes the dangerous task of tracing their origins. Lizzie faces violence and ridicule for questioning male authority, but her strong will keeps her going. Macneill’s feminist reimagination of this classic murder mystery walks the line between thriller and old-fashioned drama. Women often fill the screen, sometimes stoic and other times quivering with emotion. The film jumps around in time, revealing more about Lizzie and about the murders as the story unfolds. Viewers have the chance to see the opening scene three times throughout the course of the film, suspense building each time we see the body beside the date. At the end of it all is a fervent, unstoppable woman hacking away at the patriarchy.
THIS COULD BE YOU.
JASMINE RUIZ / HERALD
Chloë Sevigny plays Lizzie Borden in Craig Macneill’s new take on the 19th-century Massachusetts murders. Sevigny acts beside Kristen Stewart in her role as Bridget, the Borden family’s Irish maid.
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TODAY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
s ta c k ‘ e m u p , r a c k ‘ e m u p
menu SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS
Pizza: Barbecue Bam Bam, Chicken Parmesan Queen’s Green Salad, Wok, Boneless Chicken Wings JOSIAH’S
BLUE ROOM
Taco Thursday, Mac and Cheese Bacon Burger, Quesadillas
Kabob and Curry, Minestrone Soup, Focaccia Sandwich
DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH
DINNER
Italian Beef with Tomato and Onion, Maple Root Veg Stir Fry with Sesame
Gardner’s Pie, Jambalaya, Fish of the Day with Chorizo and Sweet Corn Cream
VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH
DINNER
Dal Cali, Cajun Tofu Melt with Cheddar and Slaw, Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap, Magic Bars
Achiote Chicken with Orange Sauce, Mangu, Broccoli Quiche, Autumn Bisque
sudoku
GUS REED / HERALD
Students play with an oversized game of Jenga at the List Art Center barbecue. Just as the blocks of the stacking game threaten to fall after each move, students’ semesters threaten to fall apart as midterms approach.
Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
crossword
“One of the greatest things we have is story-telling. Appealing to logic, appealing to emotion and telling your story is a tool that you can use to orchestrate
”
change.
— Rodrigo Pimentel, DACA recipient and community activist
See daca on page 1. CORRECTION An earlier version of the Sept. 24 Herald article “Center for Language Studies institutes film series” referred to the Southeast Asian Studies Initiative as the South East Asian Studies Group. An earlier version of the article also misspelled the name of the French film “La Haine.” The Herald regrets the errors.
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Workshop: Midterm Preparation 12:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson, 203
Out for Lunch: LGBTQ+ Life at Brown 12:00 P.M. LGBTQ Center
Chinese Tea Time 4:00 P.M. Gerard House, 101
Reading: Novelist Chris Kraus 5:30 P.M. McCormack Family Theater
TOMORROW Food on the Move Fruit and Vegetable Market 12:00 P.M. 121 S. Main Street, Room 241
Latinx Welcome Back 5:30 P.M. Alumnae Hall
Lecture by Lama Rod Owens 5:30 P.M. Kassar House, Foxboro Auditorium
Bulrusher 8:00 P.M. Leeds Theatre
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
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COMMENTARY THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
U. needs to invest in making all dorms more accessible CAROLINE MULLIGAN staff columnist
Twenty-four million dollars later, and the building formerly known as Wilson Hall has completed its transformation into the sleek, modern, fully accessible Friedman Hall. This is a welcome change, coming to fruition almost three years after students in PHP 1680I: “Pathology to Power: Disability, Health and Community” drew attention to the challenges faced by students with limited mobility when trying to access it. But this is just the first step necessary to making Brown a fully accessible campus. Going forward, I urge the administration to prioritize renovations of residential halls to build a more inclusive community. It’s hard to overexaggerate the inaccessibility of student living spaces on Brown’s campus. Of the 58 dorms listed on the official Residence Hall Map, 26 receive scores of “0” on the Campus Accessibility Map provided by Facilities Management: 111 Brown St.; 219 Bowen St. (Donovan House); Grad Center A-D; Hegeman A-E; Hope College; King House; Littlefield Hall; Minden Hall; New Pembroke 1-4; North, Middle and South Caswell; Slater Hall; West House; and Young Orchard 4 and 10. This means that in all of those buildings, “a physical barrier exists that would prevent a wheelchair user from entering the facility.” Some, like Minden, might have
elevators once you make it inside, or, like Hegeman E, will have wheelchair-accessible bathrooms if you can somehow make it to the second floor with no entrance ramp or elevator. But they all fail the basic test of allowing people with limited mobility to easily get inside. Based on the rooms listed in the 2015-2016 housing lottery, at least 1,175 students are living in these spaces. That’s approximately 18 percent of Brown’s under-
terparts. As Samantha Savello ’18 pointed out, “Intuitively, it would seem that Brown’s primary motivation for focusing on first-year housing at the expense of other facilities is to boost its retention rates, which are an important metric for college rankings and reputation. Firstyear students are less attached to the University and more likely to transfer out if they have bad experiences, including with unaccomodating or
to bring your friends to your space, to navigate through all floors of your building to meet your community. When it seems like something as vital as accessibility is prioritized more in first-year dorms than all others, then Brown’s housing priorities turn from mildly annoying to shameful. Upperclassmen with disabilities are as deserving as first-year students of having a wide range of housing opportunities, especially since off-cam-
When it seems like something as vital as accessibility is prioritized more in first-year dorms than all others, then Brown’s housing priorities turn from mildly annoying to shameful.
graduate population — and the percentage only gets higher if you are specifically looking at undergraduates living on campus. It is also worth noting that of the residential halls listed above, only one of the New Pembroke buildings is (sometimes) set aside as first-year housing. Past writers (myself included) have argued that first-year housing options are of considerably higher quality than their sophomore and upperclassmen coun-
deteriorating rooms. As such, the University has done its best to make these first-year havens as comfortable as possible.” When you’re talking about things like peeling paint or the occasional rodent problem, these can be dismissed as small-scale complaints. But in this case, this isn’t just a matter of comfort. This is a matter of being able to be a member of the community: to go to events held in residential halls, to visit your friends or
pus options are even less likely to be fitted with ramps, elevators, and other necessary accommodations. The construction that would be required to raise the accessibility scores of dorms would not be cheap or quick. But this is not an excuse for inaction. The University Accessibility page on the Residential Life website itself acknowledges the problem, albeit in an understated way, when it says, “Although some of … the improvements remain to be completed,
we want to report to the community on the substantial progress that has been made in completing projects that improve the infrastructure of housing for students with disabilities.” It is of course expected that an official University website would emphasize Brown’s accomplishments, and there certainly have been improvements. But fixing some spaces in order to offer a limited array of options to students with disabilities is simply not enough, especially considering that previously able-bodied students may become injured and therefore unable to easily access their rooms. Wider options are needed. Brown’s residential halls may meet the minimum standards set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act for accessible dormitories — which mandates that 5 percent of the bedrooms must be handicap-accessible — but it’s time to seriously ask if that is enough. We should strive to do better than just providing such accommodations as the law requires. All University buildings should be subject to as intense and rigorous criticism as was formerly Wilson Hall — but particularly those buildings that house students and function as such vital centers of social life at Brown.
Caroline Mulligan ’19 can be reached at caroline_mulligan@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
A reminder of reality to those who judge ALEXA CLARK
op-ed contributor Earlier this week, Aidan Calvelli ’19 wrote a column calling to ban consulting firms from campus, arguing that “the mad rush to help rich companies get richer obscures a search for employment animated by an independent quest for meaning and social fulfillment.” But Calvelli’s argument relies on two seriously flawed assumptions. First, students who consider salary as a part of the decision to take a job in consulting do so because of the love of money, rather than the need for it — he implies that students in consulting “sell out in a spirit of greed and cynicism.” Second, self-actualization is a greater end than earning a large salary, and therefore should be prioritized in career decisions. Calvelli concludes that the University should protect us from opportunities that appeal to the desire for money. I want to show that these assumptions are misguided, and that banning consulting groups from campus would only be deleterious to students’ freedom to choose what is best for us. Calvelli insinuates that students who take consulting jobs are sellouts because consulting is a lucrative career. The implication here is that students choose this job over other pursuits because we want money more than we want to make a positive impact on the
world around us. Perhaps, at the age of 21, Calvelli is able to prioritize a job’s fit for his “individuality” over its ability to pay his bills. However, this is not the case for all of us. I took a job in consulting because I have to support myself when I graduate, and so my salary matters to me. Other students I know want consulting jobs because the remuneration would allow them to pay off student loans and support extended family. Calvelli’s suggestion that all students who choose a consulting job
growth is certainly admirable, but wanting to earn a salary than can support your family, pay off your loans or pay for your continued education is equally praiseworthy. Practical reasons aside, consulting appeals to many students because it can springboard us into positions of influence once we leave our firms, including positions in careers that speak to our passions and goals to help our communities. In fact, many graduates spend only three years at a consulting firm before leaving
Brown students are individuals. We have different aspirations and needs, and we are capable of making our own decisions about how to optimize what we value.
because of its salary are motivated by greed comes from the incredibly privileged assumption that students do not need to make practical and financial considerations when choosing a job. Not only is it privileged to assume that all students can share his same priorities, but it is also intolerant to believe that all students should have these priorities. Choosing a job based on its conduciveness to your self-
to pursue graduate school or another career. Thus Calvelli’s cited data, which breaks down graduates’ employment plans only for the year immediately after graduating, is misleading when trying to understand what Brown students end up contributing to the world in the long run. Brown students are individuals. We have different aspirations and needs, and we are capable of making our own decisions about how
to optimize what we value. Arguing that consulting groups should be completely banned from campus implies that individual students aren’t capable of upholding other values when faced with an opportunity to make money, and so the University should protect us from temptations that will lead us to make bad decisions. But we do not need the University to make decisions for us. Students who enter consulting make this choice because it aligns with our goals, and not because interactions with recruiters cause us to lose our powers of independent decision-making. Of course, the University should make every effort to ensure that all students have the opportunities we need to start careers that fulfill our interests and passions. This requires ensuring that a diversity of organizations recruit on campus, and that students are aware of these opportunities. However, this does not require banning groups that are of interest to a large population of students. The job of the University is neither to prescribe moral hierarchies nor to impose its values on its students, and so Calvelli’s proposal that it paternalistically preempt students from applying to careers of our choice is unwise.
Alexa Clark ’19 can be reached at alexa_clark1@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and opeds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018
Mental health nonprofit hosts first open mic night Art to Reduce Mental Stigma aims to create safe space for community, promote dialogue By KATHERINE OK CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Art to Reduce Mental Health Stigma kicked off Friday night with the Express Your Psych Open Mic Night, an event aimed at creating a safe space in Providence for individuals to illuminate and express their experiences with mental health through all mediums of art. A nonprofit established this summer by co-founders Nicole Spring ’20.5 and former Herald Metro Editor Mirabella Roberts ’20, ARMS aims to combat the stigma surrounding mental health by directly encouraging conversations on the subject. Events like Express Your Psych are just the start of many initiatives directed at promoting dialogue on mental health. Spring and Roberts were motivated to curate events like Express Your Psych after realizing the necessity of safe spaces to discuss mental health. Express Your Psych encourages University students and other Providence residents to communicate their experiences with mental illness through art, Roberts said, adding that she hopes to challenge stigma around mental health by “starting conversations, … and hopefully (developing) a space where people aren’t afraid to be themselves.” Express Your Psych included “spoken-word,” “original music” and “stories,” Roberts said. Creating a sincerely safe space where individuals could express themselves enabled audience members to feel “welcome to speak about (their) mental illness” — a common refrain left behind in ARMS’ response cards after the event. These response cards, which showed the audience’s feedback on the event, were overwhelmingly positive, as the majority of respondents expressed interest in future events and stated that the event influenced their perception of mental health stigma, Spring said. “Those who said that their
ARTS & CULTURE
COURTESY OF BELLA ROBERTS
ARMS co-founders Mirabella Roberts ‘20 (left) and Nicole Spring ‘20.5 (right) hope to continue their mission to combat the stigma surrounding mental health by creating outlets for artistic expression. Moving forward, they will focus on fundraising and planning similar performances and events. perception wasn’t changed … usually (were) people who have experienced mental illness already … or were very aware of what mental illness is like,” she added. According to Spring, Express Your Psych required extensive planning during the summer. After the initial success of ARMS, an interactive art gallery that featured an open mic Sept. 6, the organization decided to continue its programming. “We planned and got the space (at AS220) booked
early summer,” Spring said. “Once we got to school, we met in person to go over how we wanted to promote the event and (to) gather names of people who wanted to perform.” ARMS’ Express Your Psych coincided with the University’s football game against Harvard, which created a possible obstacle for attendance at the new nonprofit’s event, Spring said. However, Express Your Psych “had a little over forty people show up, so (ARMS is) really optimistic about
future events that are not at the same time as Brown events,” Spring said. Melissa Sierra ’20, the recruitment officer of ARMS, described her overall experience with ARMS as very positive. She emphasized the importance of ARMS’ purpose and impact on campus culture, as well as the greater Providence area. “It was very obvious that people were really resistant to even talking,” Sierra said. “But it’s so important that (conversations) happen,” she added. Spring related how Express Your
Psych’s safe space allowed for people like her, who had not planned to perform, to share their stories. More events like Express Your Psych are in the works. “We’ll definitely have more open mics and more art galleries, and we want to end up selling our art to fundraise and also enable people to see what is being produced by members of our group,” Spring said.“We’re really hoping to make a positive and substantial change in the way mental illness is viewed.”