SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLIX, ISSUE 4
BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
WHAT’S INSIDE
METRO
Ceremony cafe to open second location SEE CEREMONY PAGE 4
ARTS & CULTURE
BCSA hosts annual banquet for Lunar New Year
41 sit-in demonstrators plead not guilty to willful trespassing on Monday, Wednesday RYAN DOHERTY / HERALD
All 41 students pleaded not guilty to “willful trespassing within school buildings” and received a pretrial conference date of March 5.
Pre-trial date for all 41 BDC demonstrators set for March 5 BY RYAN DOHERTY AND TOM LI UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR AND METRO EDITOR The remaining 21 of the 41 students arrested at a Dec. 11 University Hall sit-in for divestment and ceasefire were arraigned at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The other 20 students were arraigned on Monday. All 41 students pleaded not guilty to “willful trespassing within school buildings” and received a pretrial conference date of March 5. An hour before the arraignment, approximately 75 students, faculty and
staff members gathered on the Main Green in support of the students who were arrested. The group then walked to the Providence 6th Division District Court, where the arraignment took place. “It’s great to see people remaining energized to come out to things even at eight in the morning,” said Garrett Brand ’26, one of the students who were arraigned. His mom came to support him as well. “She’s supportive of me making my choice to protest and all that, but it’s a lot for her as a Black parent to see her son wrapped up in the legal system,” Brand said. “She really wanted to be there, and I’m happy to have her.” At an Undergraduate Council of Students town hall last November, University Investment Office officials
UNIVERSITY HALL
said that Brown does not “directly invest in any weapons manufacturers” or companies with direct ties to Israel. A large portion of the endowment is invested in external managers with undisclosed, confidential portfolios. University Spokesperson Brian Clark previously wrote to The Herald that the University is “confident that our external managers have the highest level of ethics and share the values of the Brown community, including the rejection of violence.” At the arraignment, the students were granted permission to travel out of state, and all students agreed to return to court for future proceedings and give up the right to an extradition trial in their home state. Students also received a personal recognizance set at $1000 — a release without bail unless
BY ANISHA KUMAR UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR During the Brown Corporation’s meetings held last week, members of the University’s highest governing body approved a 4.75% tuition increase and a 4.5% salary pool increase. President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 wrote in her summary that members felt “moved” by student protests for divestment. Beyond announcing tuition increases, faculty compensation pool changes and gift acceptances, in this year’s meeting summary Paxson also addressed student demands for divestment.
SPORTS
Julia Bedell ’25 awarded GEC specialist of the week SEE BEDELL PAGE 7
UNIVERSITY NEWS
they fail to make future court dates. “We weren’t there for terribly long, but it’s just the very beginning of what is going to be an entirely unnecessary and arduous legal proceeding,” Brand said, He believes the proceedings are “wasting the city’s taxpayer money for Brown to prosecute its own students.” University Spokesperson Brian Clark did not respond to request for comment on the protesters’ characterization of the proceedings. Hanna Aboueid ’24 worries that the charges “might take the spotlight off of the real issue, which is Palestine and divestment,” she said. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that this isn’t used as a distrac-
Students confront Paxson at BUCC meeting SEE BUCC PAGE 16
POSTMAGAZINE
SEE ARRAIGNMENT PAGE 3
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
Corp. approves 4.75% tuition CCB to pursue monetary bump, discusses protests compensation for members Corporation was “moved” by student protestors, Paxson writes
SEE BANQUET PAGE 13
“Members of the Corporation shared how moved they were by the conviction of the activists holding protests throughout the meetings, including the group of students advocating for divestment during a days-long protest that ended Friday evening,” Paxson wrote, referring to the weeklong hunger strike urging the Corporation to consider a divestment proposal. The hunger strike culminated in a day of protests on Friday, when strikers and other students chanted outside buildings and rooms where Corporation members were gathering. Paxson wrote in her message that divestment proposals should be submitted to the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management, which makes divestment recommen-
SEE CORPORATION PAGE 14
Source for funding unclear as CCB aims to measure student support BY KATIE JAIN AND JULIANNA CHANG UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITORS
The Class Coordinating Board plans to pursue monetary compensation for members’ work on campus, according to CCB Senior Co-Presidents Logan Torres ’24 and Becca Erdenebulgan ’24. Torres and Erdenebulgan hope that their proposal — which requests compensation in any feasible format, such as tuition reductions or hourly stipends — will be placed on the ballot as a referendum in the Student Government Association spring elections. CCB has not determined the compensation amount it will request. The source of funding is also so far unde-
cided. First, CCB hopes to measure whether the student body supports the group’s members getting compensation through the referendum, Erdenebulgan said. According to Torres, CCB is currently considering asking “any office that integrates itself into serving the student body, or has some sort of student facing role,” to fund their initiative, citing the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity and the President’s Office as examples. Student Activities Office Director Joie Forte declined to comment on CCB’s planned proposal for funding because she did not review the proposal. SAO advises all student-run campus organizations, including CCB. Torres and Erdenebulgan argued that members of CCB are unique-
SEE CCB PAGE 14
SEE POST PAGE 8
ARTS & CULTURE
SEE BANQUET PAGE 13
PAGE 2
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
TODAY WEEK IN HIGHER ED
WEEK IN PHOTOS: DEMONSTRATORS ARRAIGNED
HERALD FILE PHOTO
1
California may host its first HBCU as satellite campus
2
Backlash against Harvard, Penn looms over Yale’s presidential search
California is one of the 31 states in the country without a historically Black college or univeristy. However, San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission held a summit with HBCU and local university to discuss potential opportunities for a satellite campus to come to the state.
As Yale searches for its next president, the recent resignantions of Harvard and Penn’s presidents, students have shared concerns over what ideals a new president will bring onto campus. Finding an adminstrator who voices empathy for student voices, while mainting their own perspective has turned into a unique quota many people can not fill.
3
UMich professor accused of sexual misconduct denied full professorship
Last week, Chair of Middle East Studies at the Univeristy of Michigan announced that Professor Yaron Eliav would not be promoted to full professor after allegations have come to light accusing Eliav of potentially violating the Univeristy’s policy of sexual and gender-based misconduct.
DANA RICHIE / HERALD
THIS WEEKEND Piano Birthday Feb. 17, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Orwig Music Building
Harmonizing Grace Gospel Choir Rehearsal Feb. 18, 4:00 p.m. Manning Chapel
Brown University Women’s Basketball vs Penn - Play4Kay Game Feb. 17, 5:00 p.m. -7:00 p.m. Main Green
Brown|RISD Dual Degree Student Exhibition “While the Sap Flows” All Day until Feb. 25 Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
NEXT WEEK Queer and Trans of Color Support Group Feb. 20, 12:00 p.m. -1:00 PM Stonewall House
Brown Semester Internship Program Information Session Feb. 20, 3:00 p.m. -4:00 p.m. Hemisphere Building
Archaeological Drawing Club Feb. 21, 12:00 p.m. -2:00 p.m. Rhode Island Hall
Responsibility to imagine: A future for Israelis and Palestinians without Zionism Feb. 22, 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Leung Conference Room
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 3
UNIVERSITY NEWS ARRAIGNMENT FROM PAGE 1 tion … to siphon our energy and our momentum.” Abouied reemphasized claims made by students arraigned earlier this week, highlighting the racial differences between JFCN and BDC. “Our group is made up of a lot
of people of color, especially Black and brown students … much more so than JFCN was,” she said. According to Abouied, BDC ensured that they “were abiding by University directives in the same way that JFCN did, and for them to be painting this narrative, it just feels very racialized.” She fears that this response may
“set a very bad precedent for student activism on campus, but especially student activism among Black and brown individuals who are already criminalized at large.” Clark previously pushed back against similar implications of racial bias made at the Monday trial. “Respectfully, this is a disingenu-
ous claim,” Clark wrote in an email to The Herald on Monday. “At multiple points on Dec. 11, both verbally and in writing, University leaders made abundantly clear to the students that, while arresting students is not an action that Brown takes lightly, Brown would proceed with arrests and criminal charges if they chose not to leave
the building after 5 p.m.” At Tuesday’s Brown University Community Council meeting, Abouied, Brand and other audience members confronted President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 on the University’s decision to press charges against the sit-in demonstrators, The Herald previously reported.
UNIVERSITY HALL
OCR investigating Brown over alleged discrimination against Jewish students Investigation follows complaint by editor of conservative news site BY ANISHA KUMAR UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR The Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education opened a Title VI Shared Ancestry investigation into Brown on Jan. 9, according to the OCR’s website. The investigation follows a complaint filed by Zachary Marschall, editor-in-chief of conservative campus news site Campus Reform, which alleged the University discriminated against its students. Marschall has no affiliation with the University. Brown joins a list of dozens of universities currently under investigation by the OCR for alleged discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. A spokesperson for the Department of Education declined to comment further on the specifics of the investigation in an email to The Herald. Marschall and his spokesperson Christine Goss did not share a copy of the complaint upon multiple requests by The Herald. Instead, Marshall’s spokesperson said he “aggregated news stories, which report the specific problems on the campus” in the complaint.
TRACY PAN / HERALD
The investigation follows a complaint filed by Zachary Marschall, editor-in-chief of conservative campus news site Campus Reform, which alleged the University discriminated against its students.
A list of news articles aggregated by the complaint and provided by Goss includes coverage of on-campus groups’ responses to the start of the Israel-Palestine war on Oct. 7, both at Brown and at universities across the country. According to University Spokesperson Brian Clark, the University was notified of the investigation in
a letter from the OCR on Jan. 9 and received no communication from Marschall. “The letter characterizes the investigation as fact-finding, requests information from Brown and states clearly that ‘opening the complaint for investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination on the merits of the complaint,’”
Clark wrote in an email to The Herald, quoting the OCR letter. “We remain resolved in our cross-campus efforts to ensure a community where … no instance of antisemitism, Islamophobia or bias based on religious, cultural or ethnic differences is tolerated,” Clark wrote. “We will provide additional details directly in our response to OCR.”
In a statement to The Herald, Marschall wrote he was “encouraged” by the Department of Education’s decision to investigate Brown’s alleged failure to protect Jewish students under Title VI.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 13, 2024.
Submissions: The Brown Daily Herald publishes submissions in the form of op-eds and letters to the editor.
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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD 134TH EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Neil Mehta Managing Editors Julia Vaz Charlie Clynes
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Photo Chiefs Claire Diepenbrock Dana Richie
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Opinions Editors Juliet Fang Anusha Gupta Paulie Malherbe Yael Wellisch MULTIMEDIA
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Op-eds are typically between 600 and 900 words and advance a clear argument related to a topic of campus discourse. You can submit op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com. Letters to the editor should be around 250 words and respond to an article or column that has appeared in The Herald, or critique or commend The Herald’s editorial decisions. You can submit letters to the editor to letters@browndailyherald.com. Submissions undergo multiple rounds of editing. These rounds of editing generally take place over the course of one evening, and you may have to respond to edits late in the evening. If you know you will be unable to do so, please mention that in your email, and we will do our best to work with you. Submissions can build on reporting from The Herald, reporting elsewhere, official statements from the University or other groups and other reputable sources, but they cannot break news or contain information that The Herald cannot verify. Because we cannot publish unsubstantiated information, failure to provide appropriate sources may mean we have to modify or remove unverified claims. The Herald will not publish anonymous submissions or submissions authored by organizations. Leaders of student organizations can be identified as such but cannot write under the byline of their organization. The Herald cannot publish all submissions it receives and reserves the right to edit all submissions. All submissions to The Herald cannot have been previously published elsewhere (in print or online — including personal blogs and social media) and must be exclusive to The Herald. Once your submission is published in The Herald, The Brown Daily Herald, Inc. owns the copyright to the materials. 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.
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PAGE 4
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
METRO BUSINESS
Ceremony cafe to open second location on South Main Street Set to open by March, location focuses more on food BY RHEA RASQUINHA METRO EDITOR Fans of the popular cafe and teahouse Ceremony are in luck: a second location is set to open within months on South Main Street. Ceremony will join the School of Public Health and Hemenway’s Restaurant at 121 South Main St., in the former lot of Cafe La France. “The new location will be more focused on food,” including “onigiri, yubuchobap, fruit sandos and comfort foods like egg sandos,” Ceremony’s owner and founder Michelle Cheng wrote in an email to The Herald. According to Cheng, her team is aiming to open the new location before March. While the closure of the Washington Bridge has impacted businesses across the city, Ceremony’s current location has not experienced any negative impacts, she said. The tea shop first opened on Thayer Street Dec. 2019 and moved to Eu-
CHRIS NGUYEN / HERALD
The tea shop first opened on Thayer Street Dec. 2019 and moved to Euclid Avenue two years later in order to refocus on tea ceremonies, the original purpose of the shop.
clid Avenue two years later in order to refocus on tea ceremonies, the original purpose of the shop. “Ceremony’s brand message has always been to build a bridge between cultures,” Cheng wrote. “It has been an honor serving this community and watching people find comfort in the products we offer, either because it reminds them of home or (discov-
er) something new.” When Cheng’s team came across the new location on South Main Street, “everything fell into place organically, just like how it happened with our current location,” Cheng wrote. “I knew that it was meant to be before we signed the lease.” Through their offerings, Ceremony hopes “to expand our community’s palate and acceptance to things that
are unique to other cultures,” Cheng wrote. With the shop’s success, she also hopes to inspire chefs and entrepreneurs with dreams of opening their own shops in the future. “Ceremony brings people from different backgrounds together organically through their love for food,” wrote Cheng. “We want to share this special space we have created with more people.”
Samantha Levin ’26 had not previously heard about the new location but is excited for the opening and hopes a second shop will help with the long lines. “I really like Ceremony because it has fun and unique drinks and great vibes,” she wrote in a message to The Herald. Trinity Williams ’26 is also looking forward to the new location. “I honestly would take the trek to go to Ceremony and try the drinks anywhere else,” she said. “The people here are so great and it’s just a nice place to stop by on campus after a super long day,” Williams said. She praised the quality and consistency of the drinks along with the tea shop’s seating, which provides a more accommodating space for students to study. Williams also gave a special shoutout to the matcha with lavender syrup and coconut milk. “It’s amazing,” she said.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
R.I. awards $12 million in grants to local green projects
RISD students answer governor’s call for housing
Community members inducted into MLK Hall of Fame
READ IT ONLINE BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
Additional reporting by Avani Ghosh.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 12, 2024.
EVENTS
Winter festival Lumina brings shimmer of light to Downtown Providence Month-long event features festivities, art, discussions BY SANAI RASHID SENIOR STAFF WRITER Lumina, a new winter festival sponsored by Downtown Providence Park Network, held its opening ceremony on Jan. 19. Open until Feb. 20, the festival features unique art installations, family-friendly events and panel discussions on recreational development. “Drawing inspiration from the enchanting winter displays of iconic cities like New York City and Montreal, (Lumina) will connect the Providence Rink BankNewport City Center to the 195 District Park via a light-adorned Dorrance Street,” reads the organization’s website. At the festival’s core is “Prismatica,” an art exhibit that features over 25 rotating prisms, which reflect different colors depending on the viewer’s perspective. This kaleidoscope of lights transforming Providence’s Dorrance Street is the creation of RAW Design, a Quartier des Spectacles Partnership product. According to the organization’s website, RAW Design has brought this public art installation to cities across North America, including Niagara Falls, New York City and Orlando. The 195 District Park area has seen many “dramatic and incredibly rewarding” changes within the past decade, according to Caroline Skuncik, executive
director at I-195 Redevelopment District. The location of “Prismatica” used to be a stretch of Interstate 195 — “an elevated highway, with off-ramps and parking,” Skuncik explained — until the state relocated it in 2011. “Now (Lumina) can happen in this park,” she said. Beyond the “Prismatica” exhibit, Lumina has offered a multitude of events throughout the past few weeks. The festivities included beer gardens, mobile saunas and local performances by the Rhode Island Black Storytellers and the Providence Drum Troupe. “Providence is not lively at all, especially in the wintertime,” said Ivana Petrovic ScM ’13 PhD ’18, a data scientist from Serbia who now calls the Ocean State her home. “In European cities, people get together in civic squares and there is lots of life in the downtown area. Here it is empty.” Petrovic and other Rhode Island residents attended a Feb. 8 panel discussion titled “Downtown Illumination: Strategies for Downtown Economic Prosperity” at Venture Café to hear from leaders and representatives of several Providence development organizations. The panel also offered an opportunity for audience members to share ideas for the community’s future. The panel included Suzanne Bornschein, a doctor in the Division of Emergency Preparedness and Infectious Disease at the Rhode Island Department of Health, Nora Barre, executive director of Downtown Providence Park Network and Emily Crowell, the chief of staff
for Providence Mayor Brett Smiley. among others. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, community initiatives like Lumina serve public health objectives, according to Bornschein. “We think about what we can do for addiction and obesity, (but) there are things we can also do for social isolation and loneliness,” she said. “This kind of event where you’re outside, seeing other people that you don’t know, or bringing friends and co-workers, creates the best opportunity that we have to build community.” In a 2023 study, United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called isolation resulting from COVID-19 “the loneliness epidemic.” But increased community engagement is just one of the goals that Lumina hopes to achieve. “We want people to fall in love with this city. It’s all about the destination and making (Providence) the attraction.” Crowell said. “Having activities like ‘Lumina’ at down times in the tourism calendar is just a wonderful way to showcase the creativity that the city has to offer.” In 2022, Rhode Island welcomed 27.7 million visitors — a record-breaking number. This marked a 5.4% increase from the year prior, according to a report by Rhode Island Commerce. As tourism attempts to return to pre-pandemic levels, smaller cities across the country are attempting to attract a fresh stream of visitors.
SANAI RASHID / HERALD
At Lumina’s core is ‘Prismatica,’ an art exhibit that features a kaleidoscope of 25 rotating prisms, all reflecting different colors depending on the viewer’s perspective.
In 2023, Connecticut embarked on a $1.8 million advertising campaign with the new slogan, “Make It Here,” to rebrand what Gov. Ned Lamont called the “out of date” Connecticut lifestyle. San Franciscio’s “It All Starts Here” and Oklahoma’s refurbished slogan, “Imagine That” shared similar purposes. Barre closed the event with a question to the panelists: “If you could come up with a dream headline for a news story about Providence, what would it be?” While some of the panelists mentioned headlines about Providence being seen as “cool” or “innovative,” Bornschein had something different
in mind. “I would love to see Providence called the happiest (city),” she said. “In terms of social connectivity, in terms of kindness, in terms of healthiness. Not just physically in the spaces we have to walk and green parks to be in, but in the ways we are kind to each other.” “Whether somebody lets you in during traffic or the person in front of you buys you coffee, that’s how we build community,” she added. “I’d love to see us be that kind.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 13, 2024.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 5
METRO HOUSING
Skyrocketing housing costs drive rent stabilization proposal Activists, community members, officials reflect on rent increases EMMA GARDNER STAFF WRITER Dramatic rent increases in Providence are leading tenant activists and local elected officials to demand the city intervene with a rent stabilization policy. In January, the activist group Direct Action for Rights and Equality drafted a policy proposal advocating for rent stabilization. The proposal recommends that lawmakers cap annual rent increases at the lower of 4% or 75% of the yearly increase in the Consumer Price Index, an indicator used to track inflation. Last year, rents rose an average of 7.5% in Providence — faster than any other city in the nation — and over double the national average of 3.2%. For Naty Estrella, who has rented for over five years in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood, rent increases have had major impacts on her life and community. “It has been very tough,” she wrote in a message to The Herald. “I had to cut out a lot of activities we used to do as a family … I’ve seen people moving out that have lived around me since I’ve lived in this neighborhood.” Michael Ziegler GS, the political director of the Graduate Labor Organization, said that rent consumes the “lion’s share” of expenses for many graduate students at Brown. According to Ziegler, it’s common for graduate students to spend about half of a paycheck on rent. He expects GLO to support the rent stabilization ordinance once it is introduced to the City Council. Clare Kearns GS was forced to move out of her East Side apartment to Pawtucket this year after her landlord increased her rent more than 50% over two years. Kearns supports rent stabilization. “I think affordable housing is and should be
KAITLYN STANTON / HERALD
a human right, and I’m supportive of any and all efforts to make more affordable housing for folks who don’t earn as much money, (including) graduate students and many other Brown workers,” she said. Skyrocketing rents have driven many Providence residents to appeal to local government for relief, according to Miguel Sanchez, a City Council member representing Ward 6, which includes the Manton and Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods. “It’s something that all of us (Council members) are hearing on a daily basis” from constituents, he said. Sanchez added that some residents are reporting annual increases as high as 20 or 25%, numbers which far exceedoutstrip both wage growth and inflation. “I can definitely say that just (in the past four years) it has gotten dire, we are hearing about it on a more and more regular basis,” Sanchez said. KStearns said she supports rent stabilization. “I think affordable housing is and should be a human right, and I’m supportive of any and all efforts to make more affordable housing for folks who don’t earn as much money, (including) graduate students and many other Brown workers,” she said. According to Kinverly Dicupe, an organizer for Direct Action For Rights And Equality’s tenant housing association committee, the worsening situation led
DARE to launch its years-in-the-making rent stabilization campaign last month. “Everyone that I know of, whether in activism or not, is either living with roommates or living with family. There are very few people that I know that are capable of affording (Providence’s rents) on one salary,” she said. One central issue behind the increases, Dicupe said, is that “we don’t have enough housing for the people who live here.” In 2021, the state’s per capita annual housing production rate was the lowest in the United States, according to a September 2023 presentation by Stefan Pryor, the state’s secretary of housing. In Dicupe’s view, greed on the part of the city’s landlords is a significant driver of rent increases. For people who have the capital to purchase homes and apartments in Providence, “it’s free money,” she said. “You can just continually raise, raise, raise, raise, raise the rent.” Dicupe added that one challenge facing the movement for rent stabilization is the power these interests have accumulated in city government. “Wealthy people just dominate the politics” in Providence, she said. “It’s legalized bribes. They think that nobody can beat them (and) we just are going to take it.” Sanchez, who strongly supports a rent stabilization ordinance, said that while “DARE’s proposal is a good starting point,” it will need to be vetted by the
Council’s policy team. “By the time it gets introduced (to the Council) it will look slightly different,” he said. He expects the proposal to hit the Council’s docket “at some point this year.” “We really want to not rush a big policy initiative like this,” Sanchez said. “With how dire the crisis is, it would, in my opinion, be very irresponsible to not bring a rent stabilization bill through the public process,” allowing community members, landlords and developers to weigh in. But Sanchez said he is optimistic that the ordinance will be approved by the Council “in the near future” given the pressing nature of the situation. Rent stabilization advocates say that the policy, while an important step in protecting Providence renters, is just one part of the solution. According to Ziegler, the ordinance would have to be paired with other policies that increase the supply of housing in the city. “This isn’t just a matter of municipal government,” he said. “To increase housing supply, we’d need help from the state.” Sanchez said the City Council is considering a number of longer-term solutions to the housing crisis. A proposed abolition of single-family zoning in the city is expected to reach the Council’s docket in a few weeks, and the body is looking to reconsider commercial property taxes that have “pushed away or stopped bigger housing developments in the past,” Sanchez said. A major political obstacle to rent stabilization in Providence is the opposition of Mayor Brett Smiley, who opposed rent control policies before he was elected mayor, according to reporting from the Providence Journal. “While Mayor Smiley is deeply concerned about the cost of rent in Providence, rent stabilization has proven to be an ineffective policy in other communities,” wrote Josh Estrella, the press secretary for the Smiley administration, in an email to The Herald. Rent stabilization “does not control property costs, arbitrarily picks winners
and losers, and often leads to unintended consequences such as reduced investments in property maintenance,” heEstrella addedwrote. Instead of pursuing rent stabilization, he added, the administration has focused on working “aggressively to invest in and incentivize long-term affordable housing solutions and supported the development of housing options at every price point.” Estrella wrote that the administration has invested heavily in housing rehabilitation, eviction defense and has “moved forward with important policy changes like strengthening our code enforcement practices and streamlining development processes.” Given the mayor’s opposition, the Council would need a veto-proof 10-vote majority to make rent stabilization law, Sanchez said. If necessary, he added, community organizations might have to organize “to tell the mayor that this is a crisis and this is the solution we want to see.” Neil Thakral, an assistant professor of economics and international and public affairs who specializes in housing policy, addressed the administration’s economic arguments in a message to The Herald. HeThakral wrote that rent control policies in other cities have failed to appropriately target their benefits to those in need, and have reduced “the supply of available rental housing … (causing) an increase in average rental prices.” Thakral wrote that policies supported by economists that would take effect quickly include rental assistance for low-income households, easing Rhode Island’s unusually strict residential land use regulations, and imposing a vacancy tax on unoccupied residences in the state. For Estrella, rent stabilization can be transformative. “I believe that it can significantly help so many families that are either cutting it close or are soon to be evicted for being late or nonpayment,” she wrote. “I can get back to having these outdoor outings with my family and save up some money for a rainy day.”
ENVIRONMENT
New bill on coastal resiliency introduced in Rhode Island General Assembly Bill mandates creation of plan to address rising sea levels by June 2025 AVANI GHOSH METRO EDITOR Rep. Tina Spears (D-Charlestown, SouthKingstown, New Shoreham, W esterly) introduced H7022 — a bill to improve coastal resiliency — in the Rhode Island House of Representatives Jan. 5. The bill mandates the creation of a coastal resiliency plan by June 30, 2025. The plan will outline “strategies and necessary investments” to prepare for and address the effects of rising sea levels on Rhode Island communities, Spears wrote in an email to The Herald. “Rhode Island has an erosional coast,” said Laura Dwyer, information coordinator for the RI Coastal Resources Management Council. “Over time, coastal property owners are losing the land in front of their
homes to the ocean.” According to Topher Hamblett, executive director of Save the Bay, “in urban areas, popular places like India Point Park are more frequently flooded and eroding,” he wrote in an email to The Herald “In suburban areas, neighborhoods that were built along the water’s edge are flooding more frequently. On the South Coast, we are seeing entire dunes systems disappear.” “Rising seas are causing salt marshes — the nurseries of life in estuarine and coastal environments — to deteriorate and sink,” he added. “We will lose most of the marshes we have.” For Spears, Rhode Island must prepare for inevitable changes to its coast. “This must include a statewide strategy that leverages federal funds and supports local municipalities,” she wrote. Coastal resiliency projects can involve “natural green infrastructure such as dunes or reefs, hard infrastructure such as sea walls or eleva-
AVERY GUO / HERALD
tion or retreat and relocation strategies,” Spears explained, noting that these initiatives must be deployed in ways that are appropriate for different communities. Spears shared that she and Sen. Victoria Gu (D-Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown) are currently working to get support from environmental agencies and academics for the bill. “Legislation is rarely successful without a concerted effort from the
experts on the policy and legislators whose communities are impacted,” she wrote. The bill itself doesn’t outline a plan, instead mandating the creation of one, which, according to Spears, should allow for a more extensive assessment of the issue before the state makes an investment decision. Hamblett believes that this bill “can serve as a catalyst for real, effective resilience planning in the state.”
“We must begin to prepare and take care of our communities” to effectively address climate change-related issues, Spears wrote. “If we act today, we will be prepared for what is to come.” The bill was referred to the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee. According to a press release from the Rhode Island General Assembly, Gu will soon introduce the bill to the Senate.
PAGE 6
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
SPORTS MEN’S BASKETBALL
Lilly Jr. blossoms in the second half as men’s basketball falls 83-69 to Columbia Bears now 2-5 after first round of Ivy Play concludes BY LYDELL DYER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
On Saturday afternoon, the men’s basketball team (6-16, 2-5 Ivy) hosted the Columbia Lions (12-8, 3-4 Ivy) in The Black History Month Game at the Pizzitola Sports Center, concluding the first of two rounds of Ivy League play. Entering the contest, Brown, Columbia and Harvard found themselves in a threeway tie for fourth place, the threshold for entry into March’s Ivy Madness in New York. After handing the Bears an 83-69 loss and knocking them down to fifth place, the Lions now share the fourth spot with Harvard alone. Starting the game for Coach Mike Martin ’04 were junior-duo Kino Lilly Jr. ’25 — who led the team with 24 points — and Nana Owusu-Anane ’25 — who racked up 14 points alongside two steals and a block. Totaling eight points and five assists was Aaron Cooley ’25, who finalized the starting five alongside Felix Kloman ’24 and Kalu Anya ’26. The Bears started the game off hot. Forty seconds in, Kloman pivoted the ball out of the paint and into the corner, where Cooley knocked down the Bears’ first triple of the day. Following a defensive stand on the other end, Lilly Jr. doubled down from distance, hitting a three from the opposite corner. In a stellar display of complementary play, Owusu-Anane stole the ball on
Columbia’s next possession. Hitting a floater, Anya was able to capitalize, and the Bears claimed an early 8-2 lead. Speed was the name of the game during the opening stretches of the contest. Columbia’s depth from the bench provided their starters with vital rest, and whenever they took the court, they pressured Brown’s defense and swarmed the paint. “I think they played about ten people,” Lilly Jr. said in an interview following the game. “Everybody can shoot. So we have to respect everybody’s jump shot — it’s hard to guard when everybody’s shooting and you have to guard one-on-one.” But the Bears matched the Lions’ speed, pushing quickly in transition and employing pick-and-rolls to spread Columbia’s defense and pull them out of the paint. And whenever Columbia vacated the key, the Bears struck — at no time more potently than nine minutes in, when Landon Lewis posterized a Columbia defender off a Kimo Ferrari ’24 assist, bringing the score to 18-17 Columbia. Though the beginning of the first half was characterized by the competitive interplay of both sides, the latter half was marked by runs. Ten minutes in, the Bears had a three-minute-long offensive drought in which Columbia was able to take a 27-17 lead. “Columbia is playing really good basketball,” Coach Martin said in a press conference following the game. “They have guards who can attack. They have forwards who can shoot and pass. They do a great job of screening and cutting and spacing the floor. So, credit to Columbia
for how they defended us. But I think some of our droughts were maybe a little bit more self-inflicted. “We have to do a better job of (running) our offense consistently over the course of 40 minutes,” Martin said. But when the Bears’ offense ran, it did so seamlessly. With seven minutes left in the half, Owusu-Anane put an end to Columbia’s run, rebounding the ball and driving the length of the field for a dunk. Coming out of a time-out with five minutes left, two quick Brown buckets brought the score to within three points. Owusu-Anane then found Cooley cutting through the paint, who hit a left-handed reverse layup. Ndur and Owusu-Anane combined to cement the 13-0 run, and the Bears took a 32-29 lead with two minutes left. But Brown was unable to maintain the lead, and the team entered halftime down 40-34. Dominant offense from the inside was pivotal to Columbia’s success. “Coming in, I thought (the key) was an advantage for us,” Coach Martin explained. But over the course of the contest, the Lions outhooped the Bears 44-36 in the key. “They beat us up in the paint … It’s just very surprising for us to get outscored like that.” Over the first five minutes of the second half, Columbia pushed its advantage to 49-37, and the Bears were never able to recover. With eight minutes left, the Lions claimed their biggest lead of the day at 63-45. “We just weren’t good enough,” Coach Martin declared. “Offensively, we turned the ball over too much. We gave them too
COURTESY OF EMMA C. MARION VIA BROWN ATHLETICS
Entering the contest, Brown, Columbia and Harvard found themselves in a three-way tie for fourth place.
many offensive rebounds … Our defense wasn’t consistently good enough, and our offense had too many lapses. They played a really good complete game, so credit to Columbia.” The upside in an otherwise disappointing quarter was the stellar performance of Lilly Jr. After scoring only five points in the first half, he dropped 19 in the second, finishing the game with 24 points on 18 attempts. My “coaches told me to stay aggressive,” Lilly Jr. said after the game. “I wasn’t making shots in the first half. They told me to keep shooting; they liked the shots that I was taking. They just went in in the second.” “We rely on (Lilly Jr.) an awful lot,” Martin said. “He’s someone who can make difficult shots, he can make plays. He draws so much attention from the other team. We have to continue to be better as
coaches to find the balance of going to him and putting him in positions where he can attack and be a playmaker, but then also being able to play off others. The more we can get other guys to make plays for Kino, the better this team will be.” The Bears will begin the second round of Ivy League play on Friday, on the road against Princeton. The game will begin at 7 p.m. and is available for streaming on ESPN+. “Some great challenges await,” Coach Martin concluded. “I’m excited for the opportunities to go on the road (and) to practice and prepare for what’s coming up. I’m confident that we will be ready to have a great second half of the Ivy League season.” This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 12, 2024.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Women’s hockey earns back-to-back win, tie over weekend Jade Iginla ’26 powers Bruno to playoff homeice advantage BY DENNIS CAREY SPORTS EDITOR This weekend the women’s ice hockey team (11-13-3, 7-10-3 ECAC) faced off against Harvard (5-20-2, 3-16-1 ECAC) and Dartmouth (6-18-3, 3-14-3 ECAC). Bruno managed to grab a win against the Crimson, but conceded two late goals in Hanover to draw with the Big Green. Because of their performance this weekend, the Bears managed to clinch their first home-ice advantage for the playoffs since the 2006-07 season. The Bears’ away trip was all about forward Jade Iginla ’26, who contributed to five of the six goals across both games. Iginla — who leads the Bears in points, goals, shots and shooting percentage — recorded her second career hat-trick against Harvard on Friday night in Cambridge. Iginla credited her linemates with her scoring success this weekend. “They made great plays, and I went to the right spots,” she wrote in a message to The Herald. “Our team has worked hard to become more offensive, so it’s fun when it pays off.” One of those key linemates was Ava DeCoste ’27, who assisted all three of Iginla’s goals on Friday and scored in Saturday’s match. Her contributions to the Bears’ offense led to her being named ECAC Rookie of the Week on Tuesday. “I think what helped me be effective this weekend was not only our commu-
COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS
The Bears’ away trip was all about forward Jade Iginla ’26, who contributed to five of the six goals across both games.
nication as (a) line but also as a team altogether,” DeCoste wrote in a message to The Herald. “The energy on the bench was unmatched and we were getting fired up for every little good play someone made.” Bruno dominated the match on Friday from the first drop of the puck. Iginla notched the Bears’ first goal of the weekend within the first three minutes of play assisted by DeCoste and Miranda Calderone ’27. Despite taking an early lead, Bruno showed no intention of slowing down against the Crimson. Harvard’s offense mustered only three shots during the first period, while the Bears unleashed a barrage of 11 shots during the first 20 minutes of play. “I think what allowed us to outshoot Harvard on Friday night was our focus on attacking on offense,” DeCoste wrote. “We went into each period determined to outshoot our opponent and I think our ability to get screens in front of Harvard’s goalie along with quick low shots allowed us to do that.” The Bears continued their dominance into the second period. At the 3:21 mark,
Iginla notched another early goal assisted by DeCoste and India McDadi ’26. The Bears fired 11 shots again, with Harvard summoning only one shot during the period. The Crimson came out quickly against the Bears in the third period, forcing action from goalkeeper Kaley Doyle ’24 within the first 20 seconds. Despite Crimson’s elevated pace, the Goalie of the Year candidate managed to make seven saves in the period to prevent a Harvard comeback. Iginla fired up one final time and snatched the last goal to give the Bears a late 3-0 lead. In the eleventh minute of the match, Harvard managed to grab one consolation goal to bring the score to 3-1. “We felt that the team played a complete game against Harvard on Friday night to secure the win,” wrote Head Coach Melanie Ruzzi in a message to The Herald. “Harvard made a push on a couple of occasions, particularly late with the goalie pulled. I thought our team defense gave up very little to close out the win.” One key to the Bears’ success this weekend was staying out of the penalty box. The team ranks last in penalties in
the ECAC and has the lowest number of penalty minutes per game. “I think staying out of the box was in large part a product of having the puck more,” Ruzzi wrote. “As the season has progressed, it seems the officials are letting more go — allowing the women to play — so that is certainly resulting in mostly 5v5 hockey.” But the Bears’ electric offense and lack of penalties were not enough to hold onto the lead over the Big Green. Iginla started the first period of Saturday’s match strong, opening the scoring in the sixth minute for her fourth goal of the weekend. But Dartmouth never stopped fighting back: The Big Green fired six shots within the next four minutes after the opening goal. The game then descended into a duel of evenly matched teams both firing shots, with neither team finding the decisive goal. After a Sam Broz ’27 shot was saved at the Dartmouth end of the ice, the Big Green set up a clinical attack, finally finding the back of the net in the 20th minute to tie the game back up. The Bears controlled the pace of the game, outshooting the Big Green 11 to six. Bruno capitalized on the gap in shots, regaining the lead. In the 20th minute, Maya Mangiafico ’24 found the only successful shot of the period to make it a 2-1 game heading into the third. This was the only goal that neither Iginla nor DeCoste were a part of. Entering the third period, the Bears kicked it off with what looked to be the final statement of the match as DeCoste notched her first goal of the weekend in the period’s first five minutes of play.
The game turned on its head as Dartmouth began to chip away at the Bears with shot after shot against Doyle. After dominating possession for nearly four minutes, Dartmouth reopened the game with a goal in the ninth minute. The barrage continued as the Bears spent most of the third period mitigating the constant Big Green shots. Despite the Bears holding on as best they could, the 18th minute of the game spelled disappointment for the Bears as Dartmouth notched the game-tying goal to take the score to 3-3. “The Tie at Dartmouth was another strong game offensively with some different players chipping in,” Ruzzi wrote. “We didn’t lock down defensively as well on Saturday in terms of our transition defense so we allowed Dartmouth back in the game to tie it late.” The game went to overtime where the Bears outshot the Big Green 4-3, but neither team got the winner and the Bears were unable to return home with two away wins on the weekend. “When you are up with a lead and then finish with a tie, it feels like a loss, but Dartmouth is a good team too, and they took control of the game in the last five minutes,” Iginla wrote in a message to The Herald. “We learned some lessons for the next time. Keep competing, stay focused.” The Bears look to finish out their regular season play on Friday and Saturday at home against Colgate (26-5-1, 17-3-0 ECAC) and Cornell (15-5-0, 206-1 ECAC). This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 13, 2024.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 7
SPORTS PROFILE
Julia Bedell ’25 awarded GEC specialist of the week for second time in three weeks Gymnastics showstopper, YouTuber continues to garner accolades
Bedell is also a successful YouTuber. She began her YouTube career seven years ago, posting videos of slime content — a trend that took over the YouTube scene in 2015 — on a channel called “Slime Tyme.” Today, Bedell’s channel has over 317,000 subscribers and 24 million views, with content ranging from “day in the life” videos to routine vlogs and clothing hauls. “I love the creative freedom of my YouTube channel,” Bedell wrote. “I love capturing moments with my friends and family to have forever. It’s truly such a unique opportunity for this time period, which I’m so grateful I started when I was young,” she added. Bedell’s floor skills will be back on display Saturday night, when she and the Bears will compete against Long Island University, Penn and Cornell in Brookville, New York as part of the LIU Quad Meet.
BY COOPER HERMAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER Since her arrival to College Hill in 2021, Julia Bedell ’25 has redefined greatness for Brown gymnastics. From setting a new school record on floor with a winning score of 9.950 at the GEC Championships — eclipsing her previous record of 9.925, which she shared with Olympian Alicia Sacramone — to being named a USAG Collegiate national champion on floor, Bedell has cemented herself as a premier gymnast in the Gymnastics East Conference (GEC) and one of Brown’s best floor gymnasts. As an energetic 2-year-old, Bedell began her career through “Mommy and Me” gymnastics classes. Her mom “wanted to put me in something fun that would help get rid of some of my energy,” Bedell wrote in an email to The Herald. “I soon fell in love with the sport and kept doing it because I found it fun.” Bedell began taking the sport seriously at 12, after realizing the educational opportunities that gymnastics offered. Six years later, Bedell enrolled at Brown and started her time on the floor as a Bear. But beginning her college career during the pandemic made the transition to Providence difficult. “My freshman year at Brown, I struggled with the transition from my club facility to my college facility,” Bedell wrote. “A stress fracture in my lower back and (COVID-19) affected my senior year (of high school) both academically and athletically.” This combination of
COURTESY OF CHIP DELORENZO VIA BROWN ATHLETICS
Julia Bedell ’25 smiles as she flawlessly lands her floor routine.
problems tested Bedell’s resilience as a college freshman. “I was not in the right position to get (my) routine (freshman) year,” Bedell wrote. Nevertheless, she managed to compete in 14 meets her freshman season. Even then, Bedell was unsatisfied and eager to elevate her game, deciding to dedicate the following summer to developing her skills. “I felt I could do more and that I could get this upper-level routine if I really tried,” Bedell wrote. “I trained consistently over the summer at my club gym and prepared myself for the facility shift going back to college in the fall.” Bedell’s dedication and hard work certainly paid off. Last year,
as a sophomore, Bedell was an Ivy Champion, First Team All-Ivy honoree on vault and floor, GEC Co-Specialist of the Year, USAG Collegiate National Champion on Floor and set the new school record on floor. This year also seems promising for Bedell’s success. For the second time in the last three weeks, she was named the GEC Specialist of the Week. In last week’s meet against Yale, Bedell excelled in both of her events, securing victory with a score of 9.800 on vault and 9.900 on floor — the seventh-best score for floor in program history. Bedell’s performances played a crucial role in Brown’s triumph over Yale during the final rotation, ultimately leading to a dual meet
victory with a season-high score of 194.025. “The focus this season has been on her technique and landing on all of her tumbling passes, having clean leaps and jumps throughout her routine and making her floor routine come alive,” wrote Head Coach Brittany Harris in an email to The Herald. “As this season progresses, I am eager to see how she continues to shine.” Along with her skillset on the floor, Bedell is a leader of this year’s team. “Her infectious personality and huge heart make her a great role model for her teammates,” Harris wrote. “Through thick and thin, she is there for her teammates, providing encouragement whenever they need it.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 13, 2024.
BY THE
NUMBERS
49.2
With a score of 49.2, the Brown gymnastics team tied the all-time program record at the quad meet at the University of New Hampshire.
19.54 Junior Chidinma Agbasi’s weight throw of 19.54 meters is a new women’s track and field program record in the event.
5 Brown men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams won five events on the first day of the Boston Winter Open.
SCORES RECAP
WOMEN’S
ICE HOCKEY VS. HARVARD VS. DARTMOUTH TENNIS
W 3-1 T
W 4-2 VS. UPENN L 1-4 VS. COLUMBIA L 2-4 VS. PRINCETON GYMNASTICS VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE L 194.700-195.875 VS. RUTGERS L 194.700-196.200 VS. TOWSON L 194.700-196.300
MEN’S
TENNIS VS. INDIANA VS. PURDUE
L O-7 L 3-4
postpostAPR 14 — VOL 31 — ISSUE 9
See Full Issue: ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH
FEB 15 — VOL 33 — ISSUE 2
Letter from the Editor
Dear Readers, As campus curls in on itself, with people retreating
This week, our writers are pushing boundaries as
indoors to escape the snow, I can’t help but reflect on
well. In Feature, the writer rejects the idea that love is
what creatures of habit we are—how dependent we are
only for the young, advocating giving flowers as gifts at
on weather, on seasons, on holidays to dictate what we do
all ages, at all times. In Narrative, one writer fights back
and how we spend our time. We wait for Valentine’s Day
against the idea that you shouldn’t text your ex, revisiting
to make heart shaped crosswords, to write about our love
a piece she wrote for post- in 2021, a love letter to math,
of math. I waited for a snow day, classes canceled, post-
while our other writer finds solace in the midst of anxiety,
moved to Zoom, to do the things I had been wanting to
using color and love to ground herself. Our Arts & Culture
do for ages—bake banana bread, sleep in late and watch
writers are firmly pushing back against notions of femi-
The Bachelor—when really these are things that we could
ninity, writing into existence an ode to feminine care and
have and that we could do every day. Part of me loves
a wrenching testimony to the movie Bottoms and sexual
order, routine, everything in its place (flowers in spring
assault on college campuses. Finally, a Lifestyle classic:
and sun in summer and apples in fall) but a bigger part of
a guide to putting together outfits using prompts, and a
me, perhaps, thinks we should celebrate and enjoy every-
heart shaped crossword puzzle, the second of the semes-
thing all the time.
ter. I’m still torn—I love having the excuse to celebrate, to treat snow days like a vacation or to spend Valentine’s Day being whisked away, but I can’t help wishing that we
See Full Issue:
didn’t need an excuse to celebrate. As you make your
ISSUU.COM/POSTMAGAZINEBDH
perhaps) remember that we don’t have to think of these
Valentine’s plans, readers (a trip to the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum or a romantic dinner at Olive Garden, as indulgences that we must wait around for a year to do again, but as normal ways we deserve to spend our time. Read our sweet Valentine’s week edition of post-, but read it again next week. Do a heart shaped crossword for Valentine’s Day, but do one the week before too. Subvert the notion that joy and love must be prescribed and constrained. I’ll work on this too, upping my weekly sweet treat allowance and celebrating my favorite things and
XOXO!
Klara Davidson-Schmich Feature Managing Editor
Flowers on V-Day… cat gao
N+1 Reasons I Love You ellie jurmann
Gray Area Indigo Mudbhary
6
All The Purple I Could Need sarah frank
Outfit Prompts and You sean toomey
A New Nervous System Alaire Kanes
Losing Game will hassett
Snows
“Why is it always the sexiest animals that are the most invasive?”
1. Day! 2. “Snow Angel” by Renée Rapp 3. Angel (regular) 4. Cone 5. Dandruff 6. Yellow 7. Duck 8. Coriolanus 9. White & the Seven Dwarfs 10. The kind that Glows white on the mountain tonight… not a foot print to be seen… a kingdom of isolation, and it looks like I’m the queen
“Orange powder is among the greatest food groups.”
Losing Game
2
1
by will hassett
Across 4
3
5
1
Greek god of Love
2 Spanish word for love 3 Conc. for deep learning and UI/UX students
6
4 Falsehood, fib, or fiction
5 Abbr. that may
precede "I love you" at the end of a note
7
Down
3
Spasm, stitch, or charley horse
6 Han and Ben 7 Title for Lancelot and Percival
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joe Maffa
“Light posts kiss the sidewalks with a warm yellow, outlining the curving paths that shepherd students from class to class during the daytime. The campus is so cute, like a quintessential colonial town, that the irritation brewing in my chest is forced to recede.” —Ellyse Givens, “Into the Woods” 2.17.23
“The clock strikes midnight. We gather on the couch. For once, my mother does not fall asleep. For once, my brother comes down from his room. We turn the TV on, eagerly anticipating another installment of our ten-week-old ritual.” —Malena Colon, “The Case Against Binging” 2.18.22
post–
Want to be involved? Email: joseph_maffa@brown.edu!
Section Editors Emily Tom Ananya Mukerji
FEATURE Managing Editor Klara Davidson-Schmich
LIFESTYLE Managing Editor Tabitha Lynn
Section Editors Addie Marin Elaina Bayard
Section Editors Jack Cobey Daniella Coyle
ARTS & CULTURE Managing Editor Elijah Puente
HEAD ILLUSTRATORS Stella Tsogtjargal Junyue Ma
Section Editors Christine Tsu Emilie Guan
COPY CHIEF Eleanor Peters
NARRATIVE Managing Editor Katheryne Gonzalez
Copy Editors Indigo Mudhbary AJ Wu Gabi Yuan
SOCIAL MEDIA HEAD EDITORS Kelsey Cooper Tabitha Grandolfo LAYOUT CHIEF Gray Martens Layout Designers Amber Zhao Alexa Gay Romilly Thomson STAFF WRITERS Dorrit Corwin Liza Kolbasov Gabi Yuan Elena Jiang Sofie Zeruto Sarah Kim Samiha Kazi
Aalia Jagwani AJ Wu Olivia Cohen Ellie Jurmann Sean Toomey Sarah Frank Emily Tom Evan Gardner Audrey Wijono Jeanine Kim Sydney Pearson Samira Lakhiani Cat Gao Indigo Mudhbary Will Hassett Ayoola Fadahunsi Joyce Gao Eleanor Dushin Malena Colon Alaire Kanes
Want to be involved? Email: joseph_maffa@brown.edu!
February 15, 2024
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PAGE 10
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
COMMENTARY Editorial: Antisemitism at Brown is a wound to our community
“We must treat these threats as
what they truly are: a wound to our community that should never be normalized
“
On Sunday morning, Brown-RISD Hillel leaders received violent threats in their inboxes, specifically targeting Hillel employees, their families and the Brown-RISD Hillel Weiner Center. The incident came just four days after Christina Paxson’s school-wide email which stated that the University is working “to enhance our anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and processes.” Though Brown is taking administrative action to mitigate hateful behavior on campus, College Hill is still plagued with an ignorance that produces such threats. The threats sent to Brown-RISD Hillel leaders are unacceptable and we must refuse to grow complacent in the presence of antisemitism. In the fall of 2022, an antisemitic note was left at the Weiner Center. In response, the Brown Daily Herald editorial page board published an editorial entitled, “Antisemitism has no place on College Hill.” A year later, BRH must now acquire a “special security detail” and update its “safety and securi-
ty plans” in the light of recent threats. If we want to eliminate the chance of future antisemitic incidents, then we as a school must refuse to accept any inkling of normalcy in the threats sent to BRH. We must take this offense as an attack on our community’s values as a whole and recognize the ways in which demonstrations of prejudice like this weaken our University. The Brown community must respond with
the same outrage and fervor that our board expressed in saying “Antisemitism has no place on College Hill,” or else we have failed to uphold the integrity, compassion, inclusiveness, antiracism and accountability that Brown students have demonstrated over decades of organizing and action. After authorities deemed the building safe, BRH decided to assume its usual programming despite lingering fear and alarm,
refusing to let antisemitism disrupt its community gatherings and connection. But the University and its student body must not take this perseverance for granted. While the administration must develop and enforce targeted anti-discrimination programming, Brown students cannot compromise our core values by allowing inaction to define our response. We must treat these threats as what they truly are: a wound to our community that should never be normalized.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board and aim to contribute informed opinions to campus debates while remaining mindful of the group’s past stances. The editorial page board and its views are separate from The Herald’s newsroom and the 134th Editorial Board, which leads the paper. This editorial was written by the editorial page board’s members Paul Hudes '27, Paulie Malherbe '26, Laura Romig '25, Alissa Simon '25 and Yael Wellisch '26.
Chang ’27: Brown should reinstate standardized testing Central to the test-optional argument are claims that the tests themselves are biased
their children through extracurriculars, a phenomenon that has been referred to as the “ac-
“
We have to accept the metrics we use to measure applicants are deeply flawed and that any effective admissions schema must take these flaws into account
“
On Feb. 5, Dartmouth became the first Ivy League school to reinstate mandatory standardized testing for its 2025-26 admissions cycle. In the coming weeks, Brown’s Ad Hoc Committee on Admissions Policies plans to release a report regarding our current test-optional policy. Brown must follow Dartmouth’s lead and reintroduce mandatory standardized testing into the undergraduate admissions process. The test-optional movement has been around for decades. In 1969, Bowdoin College became the first school to eliminate its standardized testing requirement. Yet it wasn’t until the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic that colleges and universities began to adopt test-optional policies en masse. Between April and June of 2020, every Ivy League university went test-optional, with Brown announcing its transition to test-optional admissions June 12. This shift made sense in light of the cancellations and testing site changes necessitated by the onset of the pandemic but has since been refashioned as a matter of social justice. The logic goes that the racial disparities in test scores made them ill-fit to guide admissions decisions and that alternative metrics, such as high-school grade point averages, can more accurately predict success in college. However, a recent study on Ivy-Plus institutions co-authored by John Friedman, the chair of economics at Brown, challenges this theory. The study found that while standardized test scores were highly predictive of GPAs in the first year of college, high school GPAs were ineffective at predicting academic success in college.
against racial minorities. There is an element of truth to this: A 2020 Brookings Institution study found that Black students scored an average of 93 points below their white counterparts on the math section of the SAT. Those higher on the socioeconomic totem pole have the resources to pay for test prep services and private tutors, which increases their performance on exams — an indicting statistic, except for the fact that nearly every other component of college applications is also biased. SAT score disparities merely reflect just another inequity plaguing the college application process. Extracurricular activities require resources that underprivileged minorities lack. Wealthier families are better equipped to put
tivity gap.” The dreaded college essay is also tainted by privilege. The personal statement is meant to demonstrate your character and experiences, but among more affluent students, essays are sometimes written by a committee of parents, school counselors and writing services with a nominal contribution from the student themself. Even school GPAs, often touted as an alternative to standardized testing, are subject to similar systemic biases (with a bit of grade inflation for flavor). The connection between socioeconomic status and performance by any metric is clear. If everything is biased, should we throw our hands in the air and admit the class of ’29 by simple random sampling? While I’m sure some
social engineers would have a field day with admissions-by-lottery, the plethora of legal and ethical challenges — antitrust law being one of them — to such a system make it unworthy of further discussion. Instead, standardized test scores should be interpreted within the context of an applicant’s upbringing. Despite the College Board’s ill-fated attempt to append adversity scores to SATs in 2019 (“Darn, I’d have a perfect score if my parents weren’t happily married!”), the idea that a 1400 from an impoverished first-generation applicant should outweigh a prep-schooler’s 1600 certainly has merit. This is already done to an extent, making the choice to apply test-optional potentially disadvantageous for those of little means. Part of why Dartmouth reinstated mandatory standardized testing was that too many disadvantaged applicants were omitting scores that would have otherwise gotten them accepted. We have to accept that the metrics we use to measure applicants are deeply flawed and that any effective admissions schema must take these flaws into account. At the same time, proper use of metrics is vital to selecting applicants who can academically flourish once admitted. A decision to deemphasize standardized tests via test-optional policies devalues a valuable predictor of college success. Victor Chang ’27 can be reached at victor_a_chang@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 11
COMMENTARY
Valdes ’27: In defense of the Open Curriculum students demonstrates a highly valuable sense of independence and critical decision making. The Open Curriculum was founded amid the sociopolitical tumult of the 1960s, supported by an increasingly diverse student population with the conviction that their education should enrich them as individuals and equip them to solve real-world problems. This
Still, Brown struggles to communicate the value of an interdisciplinary education to those outside the Van Wickle gates. Given the rapid pace of the industry, it’s easy to see how computer science initiatives could struggle to maintain connections with large firms. Note that this is certainly not due to a lack of proficiency or resources among Brown CS stu-
“
As Brown students, we should feel empowered by the kind of learners that we are
“
“So … why would you not just take everything pass/fail again? Why buy the cow when the milk is free?” Sitting on a dorm floor during the blur of the gameday weekend, a semi-well-intentioned Harvard computer science major poses a genuine question about Brown students. Why is it that we still register for graded classes, sometimes risking our “GPA,” when we don’t have to? Why buy the cow? It is no secret that Brown’s unique approach to interdisciplinary study attracts a very specific kind of person. We all seem to come with a twist: the computer science concentrator with a knack for creative writing, the econ buff with a keen interest in biology, the music major juggling two different language courses. Such combinations might be deemed unconventional anywhere else, but Brown is designed to facilitate them through the Open Curriculum. While this freedom is something Brunonians hold sacred, it has also colloquially earned Brown the reputation of being “laidback,” implying a lack of structure or rigor compared to other institutions. But it is a huge misconception that wanting to study more than one discipline comes at the sacrifice of academic depth. As a Brown student, I recognize that I may be biased toward the style of my education. However, my goal is not to exalt Brown’s curriculum, but rather to defend it against accusations that its emphasis on choice lessens its quality. Brown’s academic environment does not bear any consequence on the work ethic, ambition or capabilities of its students. Rather, the responsibility over their education took on by Brown
belief manifested itself through the Group Independent Study Project (GISP), a coalition of twenty-five students that would go on to shape the future of Brown’s curriculum. The sentiments shared by GISP members are just as important fifty years later, amid modern-day ideological entanglements — think cybersecurity, vaccines, stem cell research and AI, to name a few. With the way that technological advancements are playing out across an ever tumultuous world stage, we should encourage the professionals at the forefront of these fields to have a well-developed worldview beyond their specific area of study.
dents, and that historically, Brown has been at the forefront of some fascinating advancements within computer science (check out the history of the department and this appropriately grainy clip from 2007). Brown’s lack of momentum within the post-graduate job market is a wider trend across disciplines. The University ranks 19th in employability, the second-lowest ranking within the Ivy League. Given that Brown students have the freedom to study across as many subjects as they please, you’d think they’d have a greater chance of being readily employable across more fields. With fresh
eyes and all cynicism aside, I’ve seen the work people do on this campus and the zeal with which they do it, and I find it disheartening that simply because our curriculum is uncommon, it is rarely seen as practical. We derive our passions from a unique awareness of the skills we possess, not just a superficial interest in the topic itself: the Computer Science and English concentrator has a gift for syntax of all kinds; the Econ pre-med has the ability to analyze a trend and diagnose the problem; the polyglot music student wields an unmatched talent for pattern recognition. As Brown students, we should feel empowered by the kind of learners that we are: It takes a kind of mettle to have the responsibility we do over our education and elect to be curious and explore. I firmly believe this is our greatest strength, and the pathway to success lies in finding the best way to communicate it outside our community. So why buy the cow? Because you’re genuinely interested in the cow, and you’ve been shopping the cow all week, and the cow has a really charming old professor who reminds you of your grandpa and inspires everyone to succeed in the class, and because you have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself, and because you know you can do it. Why buy the cow? Because it’s not about the milk. It’s about what we have to show for it when it all runs out. Camila Valdez ’27 can be reached at camila_valdes@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com
Sandhu ’25: Is social media the puppeteer of our memories? people’s lives are better than yours or to feel alone in your personal struggles. To counter these dangers, consumers and producers of social media must shield their memory formation and be cautious not to view online identities as a true reflection of themselves or the people around them.
start choosing to partake in experiences based on where we can take the coolest photos? The desire to perfect an online presence can also influence decision-making. Oftentimes, we fear judgment and prioritize how we are perceived over our personal needs and realities. For instance, Instagram itself encour-
“ The act of curating our lives for public
consumption shapes not only how we present ourselves to others, but also how we perceive and remember our own past.
“
In a recent New York Times Magazine interview, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience Charan Ranganath explains how memories are far more complicated than a chronological record of past experiences. He claims that “we update our memories through the act of remembering,” creating a biased sense of self that is controlled by present ruminations on the past. Some memories seem more memorable than others depending on how profoundly that moment impacted us or how often we revisit it in our minds. Personal identity, then, is constantly changing due to this fluidity of memory recall — both good and bad memories come together to make us who we are. But what happens to our brains when we scroll through our Instagram feed? As an image or video flashes by, the mind subconsciously absorbs important details: the person’s username, what they’re up to, who they are with and how much more fun they’re having than you. Each frame seems to capture a spontaneous moment in another person’s life, but these have actually been carefully selected for their followers. These fleeting glimpses into the lives of others challenge the traditional method of memory formation and retention. Usually, the brain selects which freeze-frames out of the full motion picture of our lives we end up remembering. However, in today’s online world, Instagram allows people to cherry-pick which memories to showcase to their peers. Never mind that they all happen to be fabulous. It is very easy to feel that other
The impact of social media on memory is not limited to the content we consume, but extends to sharing our own experiences. The act of curating our lives for public consumption shapes not only how we present ourselves to others, but also how we perceive and remember our own past. A lot of our lives are devoted to recording as many experiences as possible with our phones so we can post them later. Do we end up only remembering these photo-worthy experiences? Or are we so intrinsically tied to our online identities that we
ages users to post their “highlights,” like vacation photos or a fun night out with friends. This lack of authenticity in one’s online presence may hide difficulties such as loneliness, financial struggles or unsuccessful relationships. The pressure to showcase an airbrushed version of reality can distort our self-perception and put even more pressure on the suggestible memories we build our identities on. While humans may have always obsessed over our own good and bad memories, now we also have access to our peers’ highly curat-
ed, almost exclusively good experiences. This creates unhealthy insecurities and a culture of comparison. In reality, life is full of imperfections and hardships. People used to value sharing these complicated experiences with their closest friends, which made human connection individualized, genuine and meaningful. Now, with one generalized story or post, people can update everyone from their immediate family to mere acquaintances on major life events, hobbies and friendships in a way that is undeniably shallow. Individuals are discouraged from reaching out to their peers to check in, reconnect or ask for support because that information has already been made widely available. A cycle of increased connectivity online and increased isolation in the real world can harm relationships and memories and ultimately alter the makeup of one’s own personal history. We must remain aware of the psychological impacts that social media can have on the very human way we live and experience life. All who participate in social media must strive to engage in other more holistic channels of communication. Since the human experience is rich with emotional dimension, our memories should reflect this superabundance of experiences. Meher Sandhu ’25 can be reached at meher_sandhu@ brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
ARTS & CULTURE REVIEW
‘Anatomy of a Fall’ gracefully explores balance between innocence, guilt Oscar-nominated film takes viewers into French courtroom BY GABRIELLA WRIGHTEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Justine Triet’s Oscar-nominated film, “Anatomy of a Fall,” revolves around a woman named Sandra (Sandra Hüller) and the death of her husband Samuel (Samuel Theis) after he takes a fall from their attic. On the surface, the premise is simple, but there’s a complication — the only witness to the death is Daniel (Milo Machado Graner), the couple’s visually impaired son. From the film’s first scenes, viewers are consumed by confusion in the best way possible. We open with Sandra in the middle of an interview. She avoids the journalist’s questions, revealing next to nothing about herself to the journalist or the audience. We know nothing about Sandra, aside from the fact that she writes books inspired by real life and that she doesn’t like sports. Her husband and family’s lives are mysteries, and that’s how Triet wants it. This technique — omitting crucial information and visuals — is nothing new for the mystery genre, but Triet’s take is fresh and innovative. We are not asked to figure out “whodunnit,” but rather to determine the innocence of one single suspect. As soon as Sam-
COURTESY OF NEON
“Anatomy of a Fall” is about belief, and lead actress Sandra Hüller makes it excruciatingly and amazingly difficult to stay on one side.
uel dies, Triet assigns the audience the role of the jury. We are left to wonder the same thing the characters are: How could he have possibly fallen? Hüller shines in her portrayal of resolve, willpower and strength; there’s a reason she stars in two of this year’s Best Picture nominees and is herself nominated for her performance in “Anatomy of a Fall.” Throughout the entirety of the film, there is no doubt in Sandra’s dedication — whether it’s regarding the protection of her hus-
band or herself. Her sentences flow quickly and with conviction. When she spontaneously remembers and reveals events that may or may not have happened, it’s with the same determination and fervor. However, Hüller’s acting is subtle — never overly distraught or content. Whether it’s translating languages or deciding exactly what to say, there is visible calculation in her eyes. Once she’s made up her mind, there’s no turning back. When Sandra cries for the first and
only time, it’s incredibly built up, and it is an understandable breakdown after staying strong for so long. Uncertainty is everywhere, but Hüller plays Sandra with confidence and honesty. A sympathetic viewer may be fully convinced by Sandra’s testimony; a pessimistic or critical viewer may think that she is just a great liar. “Anatomy of a Fall” is about belief, and Hüller makes it excruciatingly and amazingly difficult to stay on one side. Even with Hüller’s masterful per-
formance and Triet’s careful direction, “Anatomy of a Fall” would not be what it is without Milo Machado Graner. Sharing in Hüller’s quickness and confidence, Graner astutely embodies a child rapidly growing up in months rather than years, gracefully oscillating between devastated, confused and determined. Graner makes it easy to feel for the child in the middle of it all, adding a much-needed element of heart to the film. Complete with subtle smiles and held-back tears, Graner’s acting is the finishing touch to an already excellent film. Even though it depicts a far-from-everyday event, “Anatomy of a Fall” still feels universally pertinent. While it’s not quite an ensemble cast, each character is unique and each actor carries their weight. Without the death, Sandra is just a woman with some problems. She’s probably not the best mother, and she’s definitely not the best wife. Outside of the movie’s context, we may not even blink twice at her life. But powerful acting and clever directing reel us in, leaving us enthralled by the story of Sandra’s life and Samuel’s death. While it’s difficult to predict this year’s Best Picture winner, “Anatomy of a Fall” is certainly a triumph and a worthy contender. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 11, 2024.
REVIEW
‘Maestro’: A stunning portrait of the lives of Leonard Bernstein, Felicia Montealegre Love, loss, underscored by beautiful cinematography BY RYA VALLABHANENI ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Biopics are typically restrained by the genre’s nature: there has to be some accordance maintained with real life. Sometimes, this results in films that appear to lack aesthetic depth — focused only on narrating the life of the person’s life at hand — or films that tend to drag, if the person chosen ends up failing to capture the audience’s interest. Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” by contrast, has shed an unbelievably artistic light on the lives of American conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and his wife Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), creating a beautiful portrait of a tragic marriage that feels (because it is) real (because it is).
“Maestro” is told through the framework of Leonard giving an interview — but the film quickly zooms back to a much younger version of him, who has his first encounter with actress Felicia Montealegre at a party. Within the first thirty minutes or so, The two immediately fall in love, become married and have children within the first thirty minutes or so, but the honeymoon period ends shortly thereafter. As Leonard gets busier, as Felicia begins to forsake her own career for his and as their children take the toll that all children do, Leonard begins to crack. He becomes depressed, deeply lonely and neglects his family — con-
stantly consumed by the effort of trying to balance his inner artistic life as a composer with his outer performative one as a conductor. He seeks solace in extramarital affairs with absolutely no regard for how his actions impact Felicia, who, after decades of putting up with his selfishness, eventually refuses to take it. Tensions in Leonard and Felicia’s relationship begin to climax on a family vacation. Leonard has brought his friend Tommy (Gideon Glick) along — coming up with some nonsense excuse that he’s a potential suitor for his daughter Jamie (Maya Hawke) — and Felicia decides that she’s had enough. When he announces to the family that he has just finished composing a big piece, Felicia walks swiftly out of the summer house and jumps into the pool. The two soon have a fight on Thanksgiving which leads to a temporary separation. Both, however, find that they are even unhappier without each other. They get back together during the most impressive conducting scene in the entire film — but this celebratory moment soon turns into another grief in their lives: Felicia is diagnosed with breast cancer upon their reunion. Yet, in some way, this grief is the film’s version of a happy ending: it is only through Felicia’s illness and death that the Bernstein family finally seems to come back together. As a biopic, “Maestro” captures not only Leonard Berstein himself but the time in which he lived to a
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
As a biopic, “Maestro” captures not only Leonard Bernstein himself but also the time in which he lived.
tee. Bradley Cooper clearly took the time to study Leonard’s conducting style, theatrical movements and enraptured expression that appear in actual footage of Bernstein, which is shown during the film’s credits. The film shifts from black and white to color, features a huge cinematic score and uses different aspect ratios to capture the spirit of both old and new Hollywood. As a whole, the cinematography is perhaps the film’s greatest strength. From an early scene shot against a closed window shadow — , with Leonard’s back in silhouette facing
the camera — , to watching Felicia watch her husband conduct in his shadow thrown up against the backstage curtain, every moment has been carefully angled, staged and lighted. The result is a film that continually keeps audience members invested — in both the emotional pull of Leonard and Felicia’s relationship and the superbly aesthetic experience of watching it unfold. Perhaps the most tragic part of “Maestro” is not Berstein’s marriage, but the fact that Leonard, even after years of depression, family issues and the death of his wife, does not neces-
sarily change. His habits remain consistent as the film closes out; he still appears to be the same troubled artist who suffers internally yet can’t bear to be alone. Although his life was lived far from the level of perfection he sought to achieve in any of his music, it did make for a masterful film. Full of subtlety and artistry, “Maestro” asks viewers to remain attentive to its aesthetic choices in order to be moved.
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 12, 2024.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 13
ARTS & CULTURE EVENT
Brown Chinese Students Association hosts annual banquet for Lunar New Year Students perform, celebrate year of the dragon at Alumnae Hall
A&C CATCH UP
BY CAMPBELL LOI SENIOR STAFF WRITER The Brown Chinese Students Association hosted its annual Lunar New Year banquet Friday, Feb. 9 in Alumnae Hall. Typically observed in China and other Asian countries and cultures, the Lunar New Year celebrates the beginning of a new year on the lunar calendar and the arrival of spring. The dates for the fifteen-day festival vary slightly from year to year on the Gregorian calendar, but generally fall between late January and mid-February. Preparations for this year’s event CAMPBELL LOI / HERALD began in June 2023, when the new- The banquet has similar programming to the annual Spring Festival Gala in Beijing, China ly elected executive board booked both Alumnae Hall and Askew Bar The event kicked off & Lounge for the banquet and after- with a performance of party, respectively. Later in the fall, “Spring Festival Overfurther preparations were made to ture” by members of secure performers, sponsors and ca- the Brown University tering, with Co-Vice Presidents Sudy Orchestra. The song is Qin ’25 and Evan Ren ’25 adding that the first movement of the board was working in full swing “Spring Festival Suite” even over winter break. by composer Li Huan“We put everyone to work,” said zhi and is commonly CSA President Jocelyn Yang ’24. played during Lu“Without them, we definitely could nar New Year not have had this event happen.” celebrations “We’re very grateful for our en- in China. tire board,” Ren added. “They all go Michael above and beyond in their roles.” Fu ’25 and The banquet has similar program- C a t h e r i n e ming to the annual Spring Festival Jia ’26, the Gala in Beijing, China: a variety show’s two show broadcast by Chinese Media emcees, introGroup featuring a wide range of per- duced each act toformances including song, dance, gether through short skits, magic shows, martial arts and skits and puns. acrobatics. “In celebration of Having grown up watching the welcoming in the new gala on TV, many members of CSA year, we have a night filled with expressed a wish to evoke feelings of food, performances and more,” Performances ranged a Lunar New nostalgia through the banquet. “We Fu said, addressing the crowd from traditional culturYear-inspired try to mimic it as much as possible after the first act. al displays by Brown Lion dragon “birb” (and) recreate what we felt as kids,” “This year, as you may know, is Dance and Molì East Asian made by Birbs at Ren said. the year of the dragon,” Jia added. Dance Company to modern Brown or, in line with As guests entered the venue, they “In Chinese culture, the dragon is an pop dance numbers by Daea long-held banquet were greeted with a large spread of auspicious symbol of fiery strength bak, Tempo, Impulse and Fusion. tradition, a Ten One Tea traditional Chinese food catered and power.” Brown Ground Breakin’ and Brown House or Ceremony date with from Chong Qing House, a restauThe show featured multiple Chi- Aerial Acrobatics also performed at CSA’s freshman representatives. rant in East Providence. nese and East Asian student clubs. the event. The auction ended up being a Singers performed well-known very fruitful fundraiser, with several Chinese songs including “Yue Li- competitive back-and-forth bidding ang Dai Biao Wo De Xin” and “Hua wars resulting in sales of as high as Fang Gu Niang,” prompting many $150 for the three prizes. audience members to join and sing “Lunar New Year is a huge event along from the crowd. not just for Chinese Americans, but Among these performers was for many other countries,” Yang said Tanya Qu ’25, who performed two when asked about her hopes for the Chinese rock songs with her band banquet. “We bring everyone togethStrapless. Qu said she aimed to er for a night … The main (reason) showcase modern Chinese music, that I wanted to be president in the as much of what is known about first place (was) to create a commupopular music in China tends to be nity and introduce people to Chinese on the traditional side. culture.” “This is something that I’ve al“Celebrating Chinese New Year ways wanted to do,” she said. “I’m has always been a big thing at home, excited to get to share this aspect and obviously my family is not here of music and bring a band to the at college,” Qin added. “I’m hopbanquet stage.” ing that attendees who come from Finally, the banquet wrapped up similar backgrounds found a similar with a raffle drawing, which includ- sense of belonging.” ed gift cards of up to $100 for use at the event’s sponsor restaurants as prizes. Audience members were This article originally appeared online at KENDRA EASTEP / HERALD also able to bid in an auction to win browndailyherald.com on Feb. 11, 2024.
Student fashion brand IRONWIRE presents collection
‘City of Laughter’ doesn’t live up to its themes
Staff artists shine in annual ‘After Hours’ exhibition
Brown students, alumni founds Syntax Magazine
READ IT ONLINE BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES “In Return: A Community Taiko Concert” Enjoy the culiminating performance of the East Coast Taiko Conference 2024, hosted by Gendo Taiko. Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. Lindemann Performing Arts Center
Sandbox Percussion: Music by Brown Composers Graduate students and faculty in the Music & Multimedia program perform for Brown’s community. Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Tomeka Reid Quartet, Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets
Different music styles blend together in this joint performance. Come for Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. Granoff Center for the Creative Arts
PAGE 14
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
UNIVERSITY NEWS CORPORATION FROM PAGE 1 dations to the president, according to the University’s existing procedure. This echoes Paxson’s previous statements released during the strike and past demonstrations. In 2020, the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies — ACURM’s predecessor — published a report recommending that the University divest from “companies identified as facilitating human rights violations in Palestine.” In her summary, Paxson reiterated her finding that the 2020 report lacked “rigorous analysis and research” as well as “the requisite level of specificity in regard to divestment.” Paxson further wrote in February’s Corporation update that “any proposal seeking to use Brown’s endowment to ‘take a side’ on contested political issues would not be approved, as Brown’s financial assets serve the entire University community.” The approved 4.75% increase in undergraduate tuition and fees — the same as last year — comes with a projected increase in undergraduate financial aid between roughly 6% and 7%. A budget presented to the Corporation in May will “solidify financial aid resources across master’s, doctoral and all groups of students,” the summary reads.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
Hunger strike in support of divestment ends
TIFFANY DING / HERALD
The Corporation accepted over $55 million in gifts and pledges made since October, which were used to establish several new endowed professorships in athletics, biology and philosophy, politics and economics.
The 4.5% approved employee salary pool increase is the highest in 16 years. Factors taken into consideration in the increase included recruitment and retention, cost of living and inflation, Paxson wrote. The Corporation accepted over $55 million in gifts and pledges made since October, which were used to establish
several new endowed professorships in athletics, biology and philosophy, politics and economics. Trustees and fellows also approved the appointment of faculty to named chairs in emergency medicine, psychiatry and diagnostic imaging. Other Corporation discussions covered the role of generative artificial
intelligence in academics, the planned Integrated Life Sciences Building in the Jewelry District and the new indoor turf facility in the Erickson Athletic Complex.
Inaugural Associate Dean of Faculty Development
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 13, 2024.
PSC sends roughly 14,000 letters to University
Amid delays, Brown postpones FAFSA deadline READ IT ONLINE BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
VICTORIA YIN / HERALD
The Undergraduate Council of Students hopes to continually express student concerns to University administrators and establish a campus-wide space for “community care.”
CCB FROM PAGE 1 ly suited to receive compensation due to the nature of their work as the branch of SGA responsible for planning and hosting campus-wide events. The two spend roughly 20 to 30 hours per week in their roles, while less involved members spend roughly 10 hours weekly, Erdenebulgan shared. In comparison, UCS President Mina Sarmas ’24 dedicates anywhere from five to 20 hours per week to her role, she told The Herald. Undergraduate Finance Board Chair Arjun Krishna Chopra ’25 estimated that UFB representatives work an average of eight to nine hours per week if they’re fulfilling the “bare minimum” of their roles. UFB’s chair and vice
chair spend as many as 40 hours per week each Torres and Erdenbulgan stressed that compensation would help the board’s efforts to diversify and expand access to students who might otherwise need to work to support themselves or who are sacrificing their well-being to do both. “Students who come from diverse backgrounds need financial support,” Torres said. “If I was financially supported (by CCB), I would have been able to not work my three other jobs on top of this role.” He added that because of his other jobs, he couldn’t achieve all of his goals in CCB. “All of these larger initiatives that we really want to dive into get put on the back burner.” Another motivation behind CCB’s
request is to improve retention. Many members, according to Torres, only stay on the board for one to two years due to the large time commitment. “There’s so much training and experience that you get from being on CCB for a long time,” Erdenebulgan said. “That makes our events so much better if (they’re run by) people who are experienced.” Every semester, Erdenebulgan says that the board spends up to 10 hours training new staff members. Torres and Erdenebulgan hope to sponsor the proposal — which is currently being drafted by their Diversity and Inclusion committee — as a referendum in the upcoming SGA elections. The current UCS Code of Operations states that if “the Council at any time feels it is necessary to
determine the opinion of or to express the overwhelming concern of the entire student body on an issue, it may sponsor a referendum to be placed on the ballot during the next scheduled election or whenever the council deems fit.” The Code of Operations stipulates that, in order to be placed on the ballot, the referendum “must be approved in its exact written form by a two-thirds majority vote” of UCS. But, according to UCS Elections Chair Eli Sporn ’24, the decision to include CCB’s proposal on the ballot will likely fall to SGA leaders and the elections board due to “the novelty of the process,” he wrote in an email to The Herald. CCB “has never independently run a referendum before outside of
the (2021) referendum for their independence as a branch from UCS instead of a subsidiary,” Sporn wrote. That referendum passed with 70.2% of the vote, The Herald previously reported. The results of the referendum will not determine whether or not CCB receives any compensation. If students vote in favor of CCB’s request, Torres and Erdenebulgan hope that the results will demonstrate to the University that the student body supports their initiative. Sporn wrote that the funding of the compensation itself is “up to the discretion of (the Student Activities Office) and higher Brown institutional bodies, which are not held by anything SGA does at all.”
This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 13, 2024.
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
PAGE 15
UNIVERSITY NEWS STUDENT ACTVISM
Brown Divest confronts Paxson on response to divestment at BUCC meeting Paxson raises concerns over instances of antisemitism on campus BY ANISHA KUMAR AND TOM LI UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR AND METRO EDITOR Members of the Brown Divest Coalition confronted President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 on her response to protesters’ calls for divestment at a Monday meeting of the Brown University Community Council attended by roughly 40 community members. In her opening report, Paxson highlighted a “rocky” atmosphere on campus precipitated by “what’s going on in the Middle East.” On Feb. 2, 19 students began a hunger strike calling on the Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — to “hear and consider” a resolution to divest from companies “which profit from human rights abuses in Palestine.” On the morning of the BUCC meeting, members of the Brown Divest Coalition began court arraignments for trespassing charges following a Dec. 11 sit-in for divestment. Paxson also expressed concern over instances of antisemitism on campus. On Feb. 11, an unidentified individual emailed violent threats to leaders of Brown-RISD Hillel, including “specific violent threats” to them, their families and Hillel’s Weiner Center building, The Herald previously reported. Police searches found “no
VICTORIA YIN / HERALD
The meeting’s “open time” saw discussion over freedom of expression, student protest and divestment.
imminent threat” within the building. “We have to take proactive steps to keep our community safe,” Paxson said at the council meeting. Alongside the need to protect community members is the “need to protect academic freedom, … community building and civil discourse,” Paxson added. “People have listened to the congressional hearings that featured several of my colleagues at other universities. And a lot of the real questions are, where does free speech end and where does harassment begin?” After an audience member questioned the University’s decision to not drop charges against the 41 students facing arraignment this week, Paxson said the arrests were a “hard decision.” “You (have to) make it really clear to students that this is a choice,” Pax-
son said. “There’s a long history of civil rights activism where people willingly violate rules (and) the law, knowing what the consequences will be, and being willing to accept those consequences.” Garrett Brand ’26, a BDC member facing arraignment Wednesday, asked about the Corporation’s lack of response to student protestors during the Feb. 9 demonstration. “Students (tried) to have a difficult conversation and they were ignored,” he said. “We sat there on the top floor of the Watson while you all walked past and didn’t look at us.” During a luncheon hosted for Corporation members following their Feb. 9 meeting, protesters repeatedly addressed members as they moved around the building and received no response, The Herald previously reported. Responding to Brand’s comments,
Paxson noted that she has met with “a wide range of students with very different views about different issues” since Oct. 7. “I think there’s a difference between being listened to and having things go exactly the way you want all the time,” she added. “I’ve been really clear with everybody from the beginning … I don’t have to bring things forward to the Corporation, but I’ve said that I will.” On Feb. 2, Paxson told protesters she “would not commit to bring a resolution” in front of the Corporation, suggesting protesters file a proposal with the Advisory Committee on University Resource Management. BDC member Hanna Aboueid ’24 then asked, “why won’t you bring (the BDC’s divestment proposal) forward to the Corporation? It’s what students are demanding.” Paxson responded, “Because the Corporation knows what the proposal is and they didn’t want to hear it … You asked to put something on the Corporation agenda. The answer from the Corporation was no.” Paxson noted that ACURM traditionally hears divestment proposals before bringing its recommendations to the Office of the President. For Brand, this formal mechanism is a way “that this University weaponizes bureaucracy to stifle student protest,” criticizing Paxson’s decision to reject a 2020 recommendation by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies
for the University divest from “companies identified as facilitating human rights violations in Palestine.” Paxson previously declined to bring the ACCRIP recommendation to the Corporation, writing that she “found that the recommendation to divest still does not meet the standard as stated in the committee’s charge.” During Friday’s protests, members of the Brown Divest Coalition handed out edited versions of the 2020 ACCRIP report to Corporation members. For Brand, the formal process for divestment is too slow. He said that “by the time they got around to it … there might not be a Gaza.” He pointed to the Brown Divest Coalition’s revised report, which he says addresses Paxson’s concerns with the 2020 ACCRIP report. Paxson urged students to go through official channels — like ACURM, which includes from student, faculty, staff and alum stakeholders — for more holistic input. “Rushing something forward … with no thorough vetting and no discussion would be unfair to others.” Paxson concluded the meeting by encouraging the community to look ahead to information sessions on divestment for faculty and students later in the week. The next BUCC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 20. This article originally appeared online at browndailyherald.com on Feb. 12, 2024.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT LIFE
Group, individual independent study projects rise in popularity post-pandemic Students share interests in classroom setting, fill gaps in U. curriculum BY JULIANNA CHANG UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR As 22 students filed into a small classroom in Sayles on Monday for GISP 0010: “Addressing Stigma and Creating Conversations Around Mental Health” facilitator Michael OuYang ’26 prepared the day’s opening exercise: class karaoke to “My Girl” by The Temptations. Within seconds, the room was filled with laughter, shouts and smiles — the best way, OuYang said, to break the ice before delving into students’ personal experiences with mental health. OuYang’s course is one of 11 group independent study projects offered this semester. Overseen by the Curricular Resource Center, the projects involve collaboration between at least one student and a faculty advisor to “develop a credit-bearing course that is not a regular Brown offering,” according to the CRC website. Unlike independent and global independent study projects, GISPs allow other students to register for the course on Courses@Brown at the discretion of the student facilitator. This semester features the largest number of GISPs offered since before the pandemic, according to Courses@Brown. Including OuYang’s, four GISPs offered this semester have more than 20 students enrolled. By facilitating and registering for a GISP, students “learn a lot about what makes a course for credit a course — clear learning goals, a method for discussion and
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analysis and the joy of collaborating with their advisor and other students,” wrote Peggy Chang, associate dean of the College for curricular engagement and director of the CRC, in an email to The Herald. Daniel Newgarden ’25 and Kristoffer Balintona ’24, independent study co-coordinators, said that the process of creating a GISP starts with an idea. “We want to help turn a Brown student’s passion into a course,” Newgarden said. The CRC “is here to help them do that, however possible, by giving them advice and guiding them through the process.” Students typically begin discussing their course idea with coordinators like Newgarden and Balintona at the CRC in the semester before they hope to offer it. Coordinators “talk people through their
concept” and inform them of other CRC programming and resources available, Newgarden told The Herald As the founder of No Empty Seats, a nonprofit organization aiming to spread mental health awareness, OuYang noticed last fall that there were no active course offerings discussing mental health outreach. “It’s important to teach people what goes into mental health outreach and how we can make this campus a better place,” OuYang said. After finding a faculty sponsor, student facilitators like OuYang create a lengthy proposal and syllabus — OuYang’s reached 30 pages with over 100 sources — outlining the course curriculum. “You have to answer questions about why you think
(your course) fills a gap in the curriculum,” OuYang said. After rounds of advising meetings with coordinators, the students will then submit their proposal to the CRC for a preliminary review ahead of the November deadline. “We think about whether the syllabus is well-structured, and if the goals of the class are well-thought-out,” Newgarden said. The proposal is then sent to the College Curriculum Council — an elected body of administrators, faculty and students responsible for the undergraduate curriculum — for final approval. Each GISP offered is different, as the program is “extremely flexible by design,” Newgarden said. “The program doesn’t have many restrictions on what can or can’t be the structure of the course.” But regardless of the way each GISP is structured, all grading is done by the course’s faculty advisor. Some GISPs are entirely collaborative, in which the student facilitator and other registered students take turns assigning readings and facilitating course discussions, according to Newgarden and Balintona. “The student (coordinator) isn’t necessarily the professor teaching the course,” Balintona said. “They’re creating the course they want to take in the future.” Other groups are led primarily by the students who proposed the course, like OuYang’s. In addition to creating the course syllabus and assigning weekly readings, OuYang leads class discussions and activities and coordinates student presentations. “I share my experiences because it’s scary for people to talk about mental illness,” he said. “I know people
follow by example.” Erin Williams ’26, who is currently registered for OuYang’s course, believes that OuYang’s facilitation and experience with mental health outreach allows the course content “to resonate on a deeper level, because you hear stories from people in the class that are close in age and have similar experiences,” she said. “You come to the realization that other people are going through the same things that we are.” OuYang noted that creating and leading a course on your own is no easy feat. “It’s much harder than I thought — some students are just looking at you, some are checking their phones, some are on their computers and some are zoned out,” he said. “I had to learn that I can’t take anything personally.” But facilitating a GISP comes with some benefits, too. “Some people have said this is their favorite class so far at Brown, which I think is one of the most rewarding things,” OuYang said. “I truly think it’s making a difference.” Each GISP can only be offered once, according to Newgarden and Balintona. But if a GISP is widely successful, it can occasionally become a University-offered course. MUSC 0021J: “Stephen Sondheim and the American Musical” and APMA 1910: “Race and Gender in the Scientific Community” are two courses offered this academic year that originated from GISPs. The CRC hopes that the recent popularity of GISPs and other independent study programs will continue to rise, Newgarden said. Balintona emphasized that creating a GISP “is not just feasible — it’s realistic.”
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024
UNIVERSITY NEWS CAMPUS SAFETY
Violent threats sent to Brown-RISD Hillel, police finds “no imminent threat” Hillel open for use after clearance, investigation into threats ongoing BY JULIANNA CHANG UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR An unidentified person emailed violent threats to Brown-RISD Hillel leaders at 3 a.m. this morning, according to Rabbi Josh Bolton, the executive director of the center, and a community-wide email sent by the Department of Public Safety. Police searches found “no imminent threat” within Hillel’s Weiner Center building, which is now open for use. According to Bolton, he and Molly Goldmeier — assistant director of Hillel — both received “specific violent threats” to them, their families and the Weiner Center via email early Sunday. Bolton declined to comment on the type of threats received. Rodney Chatman, the vice president for public safety and emergency management, confirmed in the DPS email that there is “no evidence of any on-site threat” after officers conducted a safety assessment of the Weiner Center. The threats are currently under investigation by “a collaboration of local, state and federal authorities,” Bolton told The Herald. The leaders discovered the emails at 7:30 a.m. and immediately informed the Providence Police Department, Bolton said. Providence Police responded in person at the Weiner Center at 9 a.m.
and contacted DPS to assist. Providence Police and DPS also notified the Rhode Island State Fusion Center, a network for collaboration between federal, state and local agencies in response to threats. Bolton wrote that Hillel is currently updating its safety and security plans. “Special security detail is now in place at our building and will remain in place over the coming days,” he wrote. In an email to the Hillel community, Bolton confirmed that the Weiner Center will remain open and will proceed with regularly scheduled activities. President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 and RISD President Crystal Williams addressed the threats in an email sent to Brown and RISD students Sunday afternoon. “Our fervent hope is that, in this difficult time, each of us in the Brown and RISD communities renews our commitment to eschew all forms of hatred and work toward mutual understanding,” they wrote. Paxson and Williams confirmed that the Providence Police are continuing to investigate the violent threats in collaboration with Brown and RISD’s departments of public safety. According to the email, security plans are in place at the Weiner Center and for all individuals threatened. “It was absolutely gut-wrenching to see that the only safe space that is left for us Jewish students on campus was threatened,” said Sonya Rashkovan ’27, who frequently attends Hillel,
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Rabbi Josh Bolton confirmed that the Weiner Center will remain open and will proceed with regularly scheduled activities.
in an interview with The Herald. Rashkovan found out about the violent threats upon receiving the DPS email. Daniel Solomon ’26, who learned about the threats from friends, believes they indicate the “grim, unfortunate reality of what it’s like to be a Jew in America,” he said in an interview with The Herald. “You cannot go into a synagogue or
a Jewish institution anymore without there being police cars out front and security guards,” Solomon said. The violent threats made against Hillel will “definitely have a mark on how we feel, not because of Hillel specifically, but because of the environment on campus,” Rashkovan said. Rashkovan said that since the Oct. 7 attacks against Israel by Hamas,
many Jewish students have not felt safe on campus. “I hope that, after this, people will start to take our calls more seriously,” Rashkovan said. “Jewish students on campus are strong, and we’re united,” Rashkovan said. Solomon hopes that “Jewish community pride can continue to be strong and effervescent on campus.”
STUDENT LABOR
GLO’s second union contract implementation faces delays Graduate student employees await back pay on increased wages BY GRACE HU SENIOR STAFF WRITER Some provisions in the Graduate Labor Organization’s second union contract — which was ratified with the University last December — have not yet taken effect for all graduate students, according to GLO’s Communications Chair Andrew Clark. The contract stipulates a 7.75% increase on base stipends for graduate student employees on wages earned since July 1, 2023, the start of the 2024 fiscal year. As a result, the University owes graduate student employees who are part of the bargaining unit back pay — the difference between the newly raised stipends and their previous values. But the University has not yet distributed the back pay, Andrew Clark told The Herald. Although the contract does not state a formal deadline by which it should be paid, representatives of GLO said the delay has frustrated graduate students. “We have known since November … what the raise would probably look like,” said Jasper Cattell, a member of the GLO communications committee. “It’s really important to us that we get that back pay soon, because we’ve been waiting for a while and we need that money,” Cattell added,
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The University owes graduate student employees who are part of the bargaining unit back pay — the difference between the newly raised stipends and their previous values.
citing increases in the cost of living. Andrew Clark told The Herald that he and other graduate students expected their back pay to come in much sooner. “The most recent update I heard is that the back pay would come at the end of March. I do not know if that’s a guarantee,” he said. GLO has not received a formal notice about when the back pay will be distributed. “To be honest, none of us in the union knows why our employer is taking so long,” he said. “We do not understand the reason for the delay.
As far as I understand, this would not be acceptable in any other workplace.” “The new stipend rate will take effect March 1, and retroactive pay will be distributed in the pay period following the implementation of the new rate,” University Spokesperson Brian Clark told The Herald. “Implementing this retroactive pay rate is a complex endeavor,” Brian Clark said, citing the need for individual tax assessment reviews of international students, who make up 40% of the graduate student body.
Different academic departments bear the responsibility of adjusting pay for their graduate students, he wrote in an email to The Herald. “With all those factors in mind, we are pleased to be able to implement the new stipend rate in roughly two months — a timeline that all parties have been aware of since we agreed to the contract,” he added. The contract also stipulates that “all PhD and MFA graduate students are eligible to receive a Child Care Subsidy of up to $6,000 per child” for up to three children.
Andrew Clark and Cattell claimed that the University had denied these subsidies to certain graduate student employees and their spouses because their spouses were on non-work visas. “The eligibility criteria for the child care subsidy are clearly stated on the Graduate School website. International students are eligible,” Brian Clark wrote. “If a student is married, their spouse must be one of the following: a full-time student, working at least part-time, seeking employment, or considered legally disabled.” “Brown is making decisions based on the stated criteria, as we have consistently,” he added. Despite the delays, a few of the contract’s provisions took effect immediately after its ratification, Andrew Clark said. The contract provides graduate students with union representation in harassment and discrimination cases, The Herald previously reported. Another provision in the contract allows master’s student research assistants working at least 20 hours a week to have representation in the bargaining unit, regardless of whether they pay tuition. The agreement also bolsters COVID-19 protections, granting graduate student employees access to masks and testing kits as well as the “discretion to require that attendees in their classes, labs or meetings wear a mask,” the contract reads.