Thursday, March 15, 2018

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018

VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 32

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Walkout mourns Parkland victims, calls for action

Students scrutinize legacy-based admission #FullDisclosure campaign points to historical discrimination, little benefit to endowment

By JACOB LOCKWOOD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

TIFFANY DING / HERALD

Students and community members gathered on the Main Green Wednesday to take part in a walkwout to show solidarity against gun violence and advocate for gun safety regulation. The walkout was just one among many across the nation on the month anniversary of the Parkland shooting.

Paxson, community members, students rally for legislative measures to mitigate gun violence

By KATHERINE BENNETT SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Against the backdrop of a nationwide

school walkout Wednesday morning, members of the Brown community gathered on the Main Green to show solidarity against gun violence and advocate for gun safety regulation.

The event commemorated the onemonth anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. President Christina Paxson P’19, Erin Arcand,

a legislative aide to Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, and Nina Gregg, a Rhode Island School of Design student and Marjory Stoneman Douglas alum, addressed the crowd about reducing gun violence in the United States.

In her speech, Paxson emphasized that she was not taking a political stand by speaking at the rally. “As president of this university, this is not

about vilifying any side of the debate on guns in this country, it isn’t about rehashing partisan talking points or pushing people towards partisan echo chambers. … This is about the public good. This is about thinking clearly about what kind of civil society we want to be and the fact that we want to be a place where nobody should fear » See WALKOUT, page 5

A coalition of student groups across 12 top colleges and universities issued a letter Feb. 14 announcing an effort to challenge legacy admission policies, which give preference to college applicants who are close relatives of alums. The campaign, called #FullDisclosure, asks universities to publicize all internal information about legacy admission policies and form committees of students, administrators and alums to reconsider the use of legacy status in admission, the coalition wrote in its letter.

The group argued in its letter that legacy admission policies are “rooted » See LEGACY, page 7

UCS passes Campus of Former professor sentenced to 51 months Rosenberg Consent amendment Jerrold convicted of health care Student group representatives to receive peer training, legacy poll added to election ballot

By MELANIE PINCUS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

​​ The Undergraduate Council of Students unanimously voted to both amend the Campus of Consent Bill and hold a referendum concerning legacy admissions on the 2018 election ballot at its general body meeting Wednesday night. The campus-wide referendum will ask whether the University should “disclose all internally written admissions policies and disaggregated data about legacy treatment” and further “charge a joint committee of students, alumni and administrators to re-examine the use of legacy status in the admissions process.”

Students can vote in the referendum from March 20 to 22 through an online survey that will be sent to all undergraduates. This ballot will also include voting for the next UCS executive board and Undergraduate Finance Board chair, vice-chair and

INSIDE

at-large members.

Under the amended Campus of Consent Bill, all Category III student groups will be required to send two representatives to one of six trainings during the 2018-19 academic year or risk losing UFB funding. Each student who attends the training may represent up to three clubs. The trainings will be organized by UCS and hosted by student groups such as the Sexual Assault Peer Education program.

The Campus of Consent Bill has undergone several revisions since it was first passed in spring 2017. The original bill required that all Category III student groups have at least one member of their executive boards trained as a “SAPE liaison” by the end of spring 2018. But SAPE was not equipped to facilitate training for all student groups, The Herald previously reported.

To decrease the burden placed on SAPE, “UCS is taking on the labor of organizing and setting up those trainings, making sure they happen, making sure that the logistics of that go smoothly,” UCS President ChelseAmoy Steele ’18 said. » See UCS, page 6

fraud, received kickbacks for opioid prescriptions

By ALLIE REED SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Former Clinical Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics Jerrold Rosenberg was sentenced to 51 months in prison Friday for health care fraud and for receiving kickbacks from Insys Therapeutics in return for prescribing Subsys — a highly addictive opioid — to his patients.

Rosenberg was indicted Feb. 1, 2017, according to the court documents. He served at the University for nearly 30 years and left his position June 30, 2017, wrote Brian Clark, director of news and editorial development, in an email to The Herald.

Clark declined to comment further on the reasons for Rosenberg’s departure.

Subsys, a more powerful version of the opioid Fentanyl, is an underthe-tongue spray designed to rapidly disperse painkillers to cancer patients’ vital organs. Because of the risk of misuse, abuse, addiction and overdose for patients taking the drug, the Food and

SAM BERUBE / HERALD

Jerrold Rosenberg was paid to encourage health care providers to prescribe Subsys, a highly addictive opioid, despite known risks.

Drug Administration has approved its use solely for “the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients … who are already receiving and who are already tolerant to opioid therapy for their underlying persistent cancer pain,” according to Rosenberg’s indictment.

However, 63-year-old Rosenberg prescribed the spray to many patients

who did not qualify for it under the FDA rules, some of whom did not even have cancer. He falsely diagnosed these patients with cancer in their medical records at his practices at 827 North Main St. in Providence, and, later, 1637 Mineral Spring Ave. in North Providence. Nevertheless, Rosenberg claims he “never knowingly » See ROSENBERG, page 3

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THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018

METRO Rhode Island tackles opioid crisis through Medical Assisted Treatment Program in prisons

NEWS Number of international students in STEM graduate program drops nationwide, rises at Brown

COMMENTARY Johnson ’20: More diverse CS faculty needed to encourage underrepresented student success

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COMMENTARY Mulligan ’19: Deteriorating and neglected University housing hurts students and the community .PAGE 12

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Statewide program treats opioid use disorder in jails, prisons R. I. Medical Assisted Treatment offers three drug treatment options, reduces overdose deaths

By DYLAN MAJSIAK SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Rhode Island Department of Corrections’ medication-assisted treatment program reduced overdose deaths among recently incarcerated persons in the state by 61 percent and cut the number of overdose deaths statewide by nearly 12 percent, according to a recent study published by JAMA Psychiatry.

The program, which began July 2016, treated 1,300 individuals afflicted with opioid use disorder in jails and prisons in its first year, according to Substance Abuse Coordinator Lauranne Howard. Now in its second year, the department is expected to exceed that figure, she added.

The program initially grew out of Governor Gina Raimondo’s Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force, which details how the state should reduce opioid overdose deaths in the next three years, said Public Information Officer of the R.I. Department of Health Joseph Wendelken.

“We were looking at where we wanted to focus our treatment efforts (and) which populations were at highest risks,” Wendelken said, adding that a priority of Raimondo’s initiative is extending treatment to those who have been incarcerated.

Mortality rates as a result of overdose are much higher among individuals recently released from correctional facilities — specifically in the first two weeks after release — than the general population, said Jennifer Clarke, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and medical programs director of the Department of Corrections. When an individual experiences “a period of forced abstinence,” their tolerance will significantly drop, Clarke said. A lower tolerance leaves recently released persons at greater risk for overdose death if they resume using opioids at the same dosages as before their incarceration.

“With this program, we’re trying

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ALEX SKIDMORE / HERALD

to eliminate that increased risk by treating as many people as possible,” Clarke added. “It’s going very well.”

Each individual entering a R.I. prison or jail is screened and evaluated for opioid use disorder. The RIDOC MAT program will then place individuals diagnosed with the disorder on their own, unique regimen, which includes one of the three Food and Drug Administration-approved medications for opioid use disorder, group meetings, individual counseling and discharge planning for when they leave the facility.

While the RIDOC MAT program treats many individuals who are starting treatment for the first time, it also allows people who began treatment prior to entering the RIDOC to stay on their original treatment plan, according to Howard.

“We are having a lot of people

come in on treatment who stay on treatment,” Howard said. “Then there are folks who may have been here for a while but their discharge date is coming up and they are really worried about their ability to handle their addiction in the community and they’ve asked to be put on treatment … as well.”

The official in charge of planning discharges ensures that individuals on the program leave the facility with access to an opioid treatment program in the community, allowing them to continue treatment without pause, Howard said.

CODAC Behavioral Healthcare, a Rhode Island-based non-profit involved with addiction treatment and education, is responsible for providing the medication determined

by RIDOC’s program. While being treated, individuals are registered

within CODAC’s system and are considered CODAC patients, which allows them to be seen at any of the CODAC locations throughout the state upon release, Clarke said. During the discharge process, patients have the opportunity to change their treatment provider from CODAC to other treatment centers, such as Discovery House Comprehensive Treatment Center of Rhode Island or The Journey to Hope, Health and Healing, Wendelken said.

Looking forward, Howard hopes the program can expand to treat more people for a longer period of time.

Currently, only those with a sentence of a year or less are qualified for MAT due to the costs of treatment. “Now that we have a year behind us, we would definitely like to expand the length of time that we’re able to treat people to perhaps two years,” Howard

said.

The program is the first of its kind in the country, according to Clarke.

While Rikers Island has had a MAT program for several years, it only offers methadone, one of the three FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder. RIDOC’s program offers the other two FDA-approved medications, buprenorphine and naltrexone, said co-author of the JAMA psychiatry study Dr. Josiah Rich, professor of medicine and epidemiology.

Rich believes the program’s success is the “first piece of good news of this epidemic in years.” Rich, alongside other researchers, is now collecting more data on those who have participated in the program to determine if they stay on treatment after discharge, he said. Rich is expecting to have more answers in the next year, he added.

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THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018 • PAGE 3

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Fewer international science, engineering grad students in U.S. U. sees increase in international grad students in science, engineering despite national decrease

By ERIC CHOI SENIOR STAFF WRITER

International enrollment in science and engineering graduate programs in the United States saw a 6 percent decrease from fall 2016 to fall 2017, said Diane Souvaine, National Science Board chair and professor of computer science at Tufts University. However, the University saw nearly a 10 percent increase in enrollment of international graduate students in science and engineering programs, said Ethan Bernstein, director of admissions and operations.

International graduate applications for all fields also saw a national decline, with 3 percent fewer applications

submitted between fall 2016 and fall 2017, according to a Council of Graduate Schools report.

But the University saw a roughly 15 percent increase in applications from international graduate students in science and engineering programs, Bernstein said. With a total of 3,727 applications and 229 enrolled students for 2017, the University has seen increased applications and enrollment nearly every year since 2008.

Most academic departments contacted by The Herald declined to provide specific enrollment statistics, citing confidentiality.

Within the computer science department, the enrollment of international students in the doctoral program increased, said Ugur Cetintemel, professor of computer science and department chair.

Nationally, computer science programs had the largest decrease in

international enrollment with a 13 percent decline, Souvaine said, though the decline “follows several years of continued growth.”

Cetintemel cited multiple reasons for the national decline. More international students are staying in their home countries since these countries are “making big investments in the tech space,” he said. Students can also apply to other places such as Canada, Australia or parts of Europe that are more “friendly to international students,” Cetintemel added, contrasting such countries with the United States and its current political climate and immigration policies.

However, “the top-tier programs — as far as I’ve seen — in computer science haven’t been affected,” Cetintemel said, adding that enrollment and applications at these institutions “stayed either flat or they even improved, … so they didn’t see (a decline) so far.”

Students applying to top-tier programs, such as the University’s, may be more willing to take the risk of going through immigration, Cetintemel said.

“You’re more willing to actually come to a place like Brown,” he added.

Despite the overall increase in applications for science and engineering, engineering itself saw an 18 percent decline in master’s of science applications and a 1.9 percent increase in doctoral applications between fall 2016 and fall 2017, said Jennifer Casasanto, associate dean for programs and planning in the School of Engineering. Engineering also made fewer admission offers, so enrollment “should have gone down, (but) they actually stayed exactly the same,” Casasanto said.

Casasanto attributed the enrollment numbers to faculty outreach. Faculty members were making “phone calls, Skype calls, having students come here and visit,” Casasanto said. As a result,

“the yield actually went up,” she added.

It is unclear why enrollment and applications from international students declined nationally, said Hironao Okahana, director of statistical analysis and policy research for the CGS. “Workforce needs in their home country, availability of postsecondary and graduate education opportunities in their home country” and “rhetoric around U.S. immigration policy” might have “cooled down interest,” Okahana said.

The national trend is not surprising, Souvaine said. The “share of international students in the (United States) has been on the decline since the turn of the century.”

It is “too early to say” what the implications of this international enrollment decline is, Souvaine said. “It’s an issue we all need to pay attention (to) … within the context of the health of our science and engineering enterprise.”

ALEX SKIDMORE / HERALD

» ROSENBERG, from page 1 mis-prescribed Subsys,” the Providence Journal reported.

Eight of Rosenberg’s patients suffered from sustained bodily injuries as a result of his inapropriate prescription. When using Subsys or withdrawing from it, each of these patients experienced some combination of sleepiness, loss of appetite, weight loss, drug overdose, disorientation, shaking, sweating and vomiting. One patient said Subsys “made him ‘feel like a zombie,” according to court documents. Despite his patients’ complaints, Rosenberg refused requests to switch from Subsys to another medication, the court records state.

Rosenberg prescribed Subsys inappropriately because of financial incentives. In 2012, Insys Therapeutics, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Subsys, established a program incentivizing doctors to educate other health care providers about the drug.

“In reality, the primary purpose of the Speaking Program was to provide a financial reward to providers who were prescribing large amounts of the Fentanyl Spray and to incentivize those providers to continue to prescribe the Fentanyl Spray in the future,” according to Rosenberg’s indictment.

Doctors who spoke at these programs were paid a flat fee anywhere from $1,000 to several thousand dollars per session. The pharmaceutical

company made it clear to doctors that the more they prescribed Subsys, the more speaking engagements the company would offer. Rosenberg received roughly $180,000 from the 91 presentations he gave advertising Subsys, his indictment stated.

Even the programs at which Rosenberg spoke were fraudulent. Many of the events took place at high-end restaurants such as the Capital Grille in downtown Providence. The pharmaceutical company paid the costs of guests’ meals, which could run up to $125 per person. At many of the speaking programs, “the only attendees were Rosenberg’s family and the Pharmaceutical Company sales representative,” his indictment stated.

Rosenberg regularly forged sign-in sheets and ordered extra meals to make it seem like other medical professionals actually attended the events.

Rosenberg’s son also served as a local sales representative for the pharmaceutical company from June 2012 through Sept. 2013. He worked on commission and received a greater income as a result of his father’s prescriptions, according to court records.

Rosenberg and his defense attorney, Charles Tamuleviz, believe that the prosecution’s supplemental summaries of Rosenberg’s patients’ claims against the doctor were “misleading,” Tamuleviz said. In two cases, patients’ overdoses could not specifically be traced back to Rosenberg’s

prescription of Subsys. One patient said she overdosed because of Subsys, but her toxicology report found no opiates in her system. “He did what he did, he accepted responsibility for it, he pled guilty for it, but at the same time he shouldn’t be held responsible for things that the evidence doesn’t establish he’s responsible for,” Tamuleviz said.

“You, in effect, sold your medical license to a pharmaceutical company,” said U.S. District Court Judge John McConnell Jr. at the sentencing, the Providence Journal reported.

On top of his 51 months in federal prison, Rosenberg must pay $754,736 in restitution, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

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THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018 • PAGE 5

» WALKOUT, from page 1

SAM BERUBE / HERALD

President Christina Paxson P’19, Erin Arcand, a legislative aide to Sen. Jack Reed, D-RI, and Nina Gregg, a Rhode Island School of Design student and Marjory Stoneman Douglas alum delivered speeches to the crowd Wednesday morning during the nationwide walkout against gun violence.

ever being shot and killed.”

The shooting’s occurrence was deeply shocking and irrevocably changed her hometown, Gregg said.

“Parkland is a community where little kids learn to ride a bike for the first time, where you ask your kids to go to the neighbor to borrow some flour, where we have farmers markets every weekend, where we thought our classrooms were a safe place to learn, untouched by gun violence. But this is not the case — not anymore,” she added.

“Parklanders everywhere are changed forever. Perhaps the only people who can truly understand are those whose communities have been violated in this way,” she said.

Members of the R.I. congressional delegation were invited to speak at the event, but both the House and the Senate are currently in session. Arcand — representing Reed — read a letter from the Rhode Island senator that spoke about the need for “common-sense solutions” to mitigate gun violence, such as “reinstating the assault weapons ban, expanding federal background checks, preventing domestic abusers from possessing firearms, banning bump stocks, repealing the liability protections of gun manufacturers, preventing the production of firearms that do not trigger metal detectors and funding gun violence research.”

The University walkout was created and coordinated by students at Brown, said Keiko Cooper-Hohn ’21, one of the event organizers. She said she was motivated to help organize the event because “we are students and given that so many shootings, in the last couple (of ) decades especially, have taken place on college campuses,” it’s important “that we show our solidarity.”

The gathering allowed community members to “be together and stand up together and talk about (gun violence) together,” she said.

For attendees like Eleni Gkini ’21, the event provided an opportunity to advocate for greater gun control. “It’s really important to inform some kind of law or regulations around (gun violence) because … it’s not the first time and probably not the last time that (shootings) are going to happen,” she said.

“I’m not from the US … To me it’s kind of absurd that people can carry guns around so easily,” she added.

Throughout the event, speakers and organizers repeatedly stressed the importance of continuing the fight against gun violence after the rally’s conclusion. “I hope what you’re doing today is not just today. I hope it extends beyond today. The history of this nation and this university is full of examples of citizens and students who decided that enough is enough and change is necessary,” Paxson said.

“Our next steps are being more aware of these issues … (and) trying to elect politicians that are on the same page of gun reform, that are trying to do things for the students and not for their pockets,” Gregg told The Herald.

In a direct call to action, Gregg closed her speech by highlighting the urgency of the situation. “I can’t stop until we make that change together, the time has come. … I’m from a tiny, quite close-knit community of Parkland, Florida, forever changed, now forever making change. Please make it with me.”

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» UCS, from page 1 Earlier this semester, Steele proposed requiring clubs to amend their constitutions to outline how they would work to prevent incidents of interpersonal harm within their groups. That provision was removed in the final version of the bill because “constitutions really dictate the way that a student group functions, and the role of UCS isn’t to dictate how student groups themselves should run,” Steele said.

The general body also voted to add the legacy referendum to the ballot in response to advocacy from students representing the #FullDisclosure Campaign, a coalition of student groups from universities including Brown, Yale and Princeton that aims to increase transparency about the role of legacy status in the admission process.

“If a policy is historically racist, brings little to no financial value to the university, and is unpopular, I think at the very least it deserves a re-examination, which is what this campaign is all about,” said Shawn Young ’19.5, who attended the general body meeting on behalf of #FullDisclosure.

Young said the campaign is pushing for access to data to clarify the effects of legacy status on admission.

“We’re not against legacy, we just want to see all the data before we can have a more informed conversation about it,” he said.

UCS Parliamentarian Austin Lessin ’19 noted that the University’s administration “can do nothing” even if the referendum receives support from the student body.

“There’s already an inherent power dynamic here, because even if we get 100 percent of students at this university to vote yes, they don’t have to do anything,” Young said. “The whole point of this is … to create a strong enough advocacy campaign so that they have to respond.​”​

MELANIE PINCUS / HERALD

Shawn Young ’19.5 addressed the Undergraduate Council of Students at its general body meeting Wednesday night on behalf of the #FullDisclosure movement. Young and other students are petitioning the University to release policies and data related to legacy admission.

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TIFFANY DING / HERALD

The Herald’s Fall 2017 poll found that more than three quarters of all legacy students are white, while over 70 percent of legacy students do not receive financial aid. Dean of Admission Logan Powell said he welcomes the discussion and analysis of legacy admission that the the widespread #FullDisclosure campaign hopes to create.

» LEGACY, from page 1 in discrimination, having been a tool used to reduce the rising Jewish population in elite colleges.” Further, the group countered the common claim that legacy admission policies encourage alums to donate to their alma maters by citing a study that found “no short-term measurable reduction in alumni giving as a result of abolishing legacy preferences.”

“Anything that has no demonstrable value to the University, … has discriminatory origins and is unpopular, at the very least, deserves a reexamination,” said Shawn Young ’19.5, who is involved with coordinating the campaign at the University.

Dean of Admission Logan Powell defended the value that legacy students bring to campus in an op-ed published last Tuesday in The Herald. “Many of these (legacy) students grew up immersed in the values of Brown,” Powell wrote. “They are often mentors and guides to other students in navigating the University.

We see them giving back through BrownConnect by mentoring and developing internship opportunities for Brown students.”

“All members of the campus and alumni community benefit from the unique attributes that children of Brown contribute,” Powell added.

Powell further wrote that the #FullDisclosure campaign is based on a “long-held and entrenched misunderstanding about the role that legacy plays in the admission process” and that the campaign’s focus on legacy admission distracts from the central issue of improving “access to Brown for low-income and first-generation

students.”

Undergraduate Council of Students President Chelse-Amoy Steele ’18 disagreed with Powell. “I don’t think that (the #FullDisclosure campaign) distracts,” she said. “I think that it enriches the conversation and adds a needed complication to this narrative.”

Young also pushed back on Powell’s claims about the campaign in a follow-up email to The Herald. “Powell makes it seem as if #FullDisclosure is solely about increasing access for first-generation and low-income students,” he wrote. “I’d like to make it perfectly clear that #FullDisclosure is about ensuring equal opportunity for everyone and making this University the best it can be.”

Young and other students are pushing for UCS to hold a campuswide referendum on legacy admission. UCS approved this proposal at its general body meeting last night, adding the question to its 2018 election ballot, The Herald reported.

If a two-thirds majority of the UCS voting body approves the measure, the referendum would be conducted through online voting similar to the procedure for UCS elections, said UCS Student Activities Chair William Zhou ’20, who is acting as the campaign’s liaison to UCS. Zhou noted that the results of a referendum would not directly result in any policy changes. “It’s more a way to show the administration where students lie on the issue,” he said.

By pushing for a campus-wide referendum, the #FullDisclosure campaign aims to “to start a conversation with the administration and with the Corporation about the use of legacy preference,” Young said. Specifically,

Young hopes the University will form a “University-wide task force … to reexamine legacy preference.” To have an open conversation about legacy admission policies, the University must also release all the information it has about legacy admission, Young added.

In his op-ed, Powell countered the #FullDisclosure campaign’s call for transparency. “There is no written policy about how applicants’ status as a child of an alum may be considered in their admission process, because they are reviewed like all other aspirants to Brown — one case at a time, and without the use of formulas or quotas,” Powell wrote.

“I find it a little hard to believe that there are no internally written policies to standardize the practice of admissions,” Young said. “At the very least, even if they don’t have hard data, … I want to see those memos.”

In an email to The Herald, Powell clarified the significance of legacy status in the admission process. “(Legacy) students, like all other students we admit, are academically strong and show great promise for the future,” Powell wrote. “The fact that they are children of Brown alumni is only a modest factor in the admission process and would never, on its own, be enough to garner an offer of admission.”

Former UCS president Viet Nguyen ’17 is a leading force behind the national #FullDisclosure campaign, Young said. “If (legacy students) have the (same) qualifications as other applicants, let them stand by those qualifications alone,” Nguyen wrote in an email to The Herald. “Why provide a leg up (to) those who already have

an advantage?”

A 2004 study estimated that legacy status is roughly equivalent in value to an additional 160 points on the SAT in admission processes.

According to The Herald’s fall 2017 poll, 13.7 percent of undergraduate students are legacy students. But, “if (legacy status) really doesn’t have the kind of weight that people say it does, then there should be no problem with (the University) releasing all the data, all the policies and all the internally written memos to have everyone take a look at them,” Young said.

Admission officers at the University use legacy status as one of many “tie-breakers” when deciding between identical applicants, Powell wrote in his op-ed. Identifying as a first-generation college applicant is another tie-breaker, he added.

Outside of the tie-break consideration, public information on the University’s legacy admission policy is scarce. Zhou said this lack of information makes it difficult to develop a stance on legacy admission. The #FullDisclosure campaign wants the University to release more information on legacy admission so that people can “evaluate and form an opinion” on the issue, Zhou added.

Steele expressed concern that legacy admission policies could reinforce past discrimination in college admission. If legacy students “are granted more access” to higher education because their parents were able to attain admission to college, then “that is arguably discriminatory, because that leaves out a lot of folks who have been barred from institutions of higher education for hundreds of years,” Steele said. This leads

to “a select group of people having a higher chance of being legacy and that group of people being racialized,” Steele added.

In his email to The Herald, Powell maintained that legacy students are increasingly diverse. “As the composition of our graduates changes, so too does the composition of our legacy applicants,” Powell wrote. “Legacy students now represent racial and socioeconomic diversity in ways that we have never seen in Brown history. In the past five years, almost 25 (percent) of enrolled legacies are also students of color. Likewise, as many as 35 (percent) of legacy students also qualified for financial aid.”

The Herald’s fall 2017 poll found that 78.4 percent of legacy students are white, while 51.7 percent of nonlegacy students are white. Meanwhile, 72.6 percent of legacy students do not receive financial aid, while 46.3 percent of non-legacy students do not receive financial aid.

Steele expressed support for the #FullDisclosure campaign’s goal of starting a conversation between students and administrators about legacy admission. “I would hope that everybody who is invested in admissions is also willing to have this conversation that I think will truly dispel any negative tensions or questions and concerns,” she added.

Powell wrote in his email that he is open to further discussion of the issue with students. “Our interest is in direct dialogue and engagement with students who bring concerns to the University,” Powell wrote. “We have a strong history of this at Brown and would expect to enter a dialogue with students if they approach us directly.”

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Battle of the Bands winners to play alongside professional acts

COURTESY OF BROWN FOLK FESTIVAL

Solo-artist Charlie Steinman ’20 and cello-violin duo Kate Reed ’21 and Allie Reed ’21 were the winners of this year’s Battle of the Bands and will play in April’s Folk Festival.

Relaxed competition between four student folk acts decides who will open for Folk Festival in April

By ANNABELLE WOODWARD SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The Brown Folk Festival’s coordinating committee held its fifth annual Battle of the Bands Friday to decide which student folk artists will have the honor of performing alongside professional acts in the

ART & CULTURE

Brown Folk Festival in April.

The competition, which was held in the Underground and was widely attended by both Brown students and community members, was judged by a 12-member student committee that books performers from across the country and coordinates adjunct activities for the two-day festival. According to Thea Monje ’19, one of the festival’s leading coordinators, the committee holds Battle of the Bands because its members love to integrate on-campus folk groups into the lineup. The committee aims to make the Battle of the Bands’ selection process as inclusive as possible.

“We like to make the festival really inclusive to everybody’s definition of folk, … anyone who wants to play can play,” Monje said.

This year, the winners were Charlie Steinman ’20, a solo artist who sang a number of poignant-yet-humorous original songs, and sisters Kate Reed ’21 and Herald senior staff writer Allie Reed ’21, a cello-violin duo who performed a set of playful American, Scottish and Gaelic fiddle tunes.

“I wasn’t expecting there to be so many people. … They were all really enthusaistic after each song, which was comforting,” Allie Reed said about the Battle’s atmosphere.

Steinman and the Reed sisters will open for seven to eight professional folk acts from across the country, including a number of “snazzy headliner” bands whose names will be revealed in the coming weeks, Monje said.

Other performers at the event included Patrick Nugent ’21, who performed a mixture of original songs and covers, and David Wingate ’20, who sang covers but occasionally changed the lyrics to appeal to the Brown audience. For example, when covering James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain,” Wingate cheekily swapped the line, “Won’t you look down upon me,

Jesus” with, “Won’t you look down upon me, C-Pax.” The competition was informal and relaxed, and audience members were unanimously supportive of their onstage peers. Zack Even ’20 said he “enjoyed the low key atmosphere,” adding that, “everyone was really nice even when (the acts) messed up.”

Wingate said that while he didn’t think he was “particularly ready for the performance,” he thought that Battle of the Bands would be the “kick in the ass” that he needed to start performing.

The Brown Folk Festival will be held April 20 and 21.

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THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018 • PAGE 9

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menu

not so hot wheels

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Po’ Boy Pizza: Cheese, Pepperoni, Spicy Sausage and Garlic JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Nacho Bar, Quesadilla Station, The Jo’s Burger

Turkey Chili, Chicken Tikka Masala, Madras Vegetable Curry

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Pot Roast Jardiniere, Korean Teriyaki Pork Stir Fry, Fried Beet and Kale Patty

Roasted Corn Chowder, Italian Chicken Parmesan, Homestyle Mac ‘n Cheese

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Red Hummus and Roasted Broccoli Sandwich, Chicken Andouille Shrimp Jambalya

Chicken Cutlet Parmesian, Homestyle Mac ‘n 5 Cheeses, Rice Pilaf

sudoku SAM BERUBE / HERALD

No one was riding bikes on campus this week after Tuesday’s blizzard. Students were grateful for Executive Vice President for Planning (Snow Days) and Policy Russell Carey for a day off from classes.

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

“I’m from a tiny, quite close-knit community of Parkland, Florida, forever changed, now forever making change.

”

Please make it with me.

—Nina Gregg, RISD student and Marjory Stoneman Douglas alum

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Community St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon Buffet 11:30 A.M. Brown Faculty Club

5th-Year Master of Public Affairs Information Session 12:00 P.M. Watson Institute

Applied Mathematics Colloquium 12:00 P.M. 170 Hope Street, 108

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MASS MoCA Bus Trip 7:00 A.M. List Art Building

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SAC Shamrock Bingo 12:00 P.M. Robert ’62 Campus Center

Piano Workshop 4:00 P.M. Grant Recital Hall

COMMENTARY PAGE 10 • THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

comic Comic | Stephanie Wu

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COMMENTARY THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018 • PAGE 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Reconsider the suspension of the elementary MAT program

Neglecting teacher training is shortsighted

To the Editor: After reading Polly Ulichny’s March 11 op-ed “Brown’s elementary MAT program gets it right”, it is difficult to understand the administration’s thinking in choosing to suspend a program that has met with such amazing success. Did they actually review the data? Have they ever visited The Learning Community to observe the incredible teacher energy and impressive student participation?

As a financial supporter of The Learning Community and a variety of educational programs in my home state of California, I think the Rhode Island program stands at the top. After several

personal site visits both in California and Rhode Island, I found that there are no comparable local charter programs producing such excellent scholastic and social outcomes. Has the University really carefully evaluated the data included in Ulichny’s letter? Most readers cannot help but realize the seminal role Brown played initially, providing many of the teachers who make these results possible. It is inexplicable that the University would now back away from such a great success.

Our children will create our future.

Please take another look!

David Fraser

To the Editor: I read the article about the suspension of the elementary Masters of Arts in Teaching program with a great deal of regret for many reasons.

As a former administrator of both the elementary and secondary MAT programs, I was proud of the work and the dedication demonstrated by the professors who designed and nurtured the programs and the wonderful program alums who would eventually guide good practices in the public and private education systems. The joy of developing the art of teaching could one day be our future.

I had hoped that the University would understand and guide this mission, but over the years it has dismissed the real need for such programs in favor of the more lucrative — and also important — scholarship of their other programs and departments.

There is a certain short-sightedness in refusing to recognize the important place that teachers of students in secondary and elementary schools play in the building of a society. Conceit of scholarship and tradition sometimes blur the need for such practical programs that do not bring immediate dignity and

notoriety to the University with large and fancy grants. What it has done quietly over the years is hone a small army of brilliant teachers who have gone out into the trenches and made a real difference. I do not say that all the other important work the University is doing should not be applauded and recognized, just that the art of teaching the young should stand out as a sacred goal for all universities and especially Brown.

Yvette Nachmias-Baeu Former administrator, elementary and secondary MAT programs

COMMENTARY THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018 • PAGE 12

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

We need a more diverse CS faculty CHANEL JOHNSON staff columnist In late February, the computer science department announced that Seny Kamara will be promoted to Associate Professor with tenure as of July 1, 2018.

This is an amazing achievement, especially for Kamara, since there is currently only one other professor in the computer science department who is from an underrepresented minority group, a term used for the purposes of this piece on diversity in computer science to refer to black people, Latinos and Native Americans. As of 2015, black people “represent only 1.7 percent of tenured and non-tenured faculty in computer science and related departments” in the United States, according to a Computing Research Association report. This underrepresentation of minorities in computer science faculty can impact the experience of minorities currently pursuing that degree. An increase in minority representation among faculty members in the computer science department can improve the engagement of underrepresented minority students in the field, and Brown should work toward this goal.

For one, research has shown that black students are more likely to succeed in a STEM major if they are

taught by a black professor. Furthermore, for every additional course taught by a black professor, the likelihood that a black student persists in a STEM field increases. A possible reason for this could be that it can be affirming to minority students when they see someone who is also an underrepresented minority in a leadership role. Some may say that minority

representation in faculty can strengthen mentorships for minority students.

The faculty in the computer science department help guide students to complete their degrees. A good academic advisor not only needs to be knowledgeable and helpful, but they also should be aware of the academic challenges students can face, including the role that negative stereotypes

sented minority professors can relate more to minority students since these professors have been in their shoes before. They have faced the same academic stresses and challenges that minorities face on a daily basis in the computer science field, and therefore they can provide advice to help guide students though these challenges in order to succeed.

With an increase in minority representation within the faculty of the computer science department, underrepresented minorities can be further motivated to pursue the field.

students can still succeed when being taught by a white professor in these STEM fields, which is true. However, underrepresented minority professors can motivate underrepresented minority students to thrive in their course and related field, since these professors faced significant challenges in order to be successful and obtain a high-ranking role, providing a model to which their students can aspire.

In addition, increasing minority

can play in student achievement. The underrepresentation of minorities in the faculty can impose an additional barrier for underrepresented minority students to potentially building close mentor relationships with their professors. “Prior research has shown that same-race (and same-gender) mentorship can provide more psychological support than cross-race (and crossgender) relationships,” according to aforementioned report. Underrepre-

With an increase in minority representation within the faculty of the computer science department, underrepresented minorities can be further motivated to pursue the field. As there is still underrepresentation of minorities within the faculty, students and faculty can provoke action in order to have an environment that welcomes different perspectives. Minority professors in the sciences note that they are more motivated to pursue a job

at a university with a strong minority presence in their departments. In order to motivate potential new hires to join the computer science department, the current faculty could hire more than one minority faculty member at a time in order to create an inclusive community and decrease isolation for these professors. The University could also recruit from minority-serving institutions like historically black colleges and universities and offer special summer sessions and mentoring groups in order to attract minority professors to Brown. If these two options aren’t feasible, our university can consult minority-serving institutions that already have a diverse faculty and learn more alternative options for how they can recruit a similarly diverse faculty. Students can talk to a member of the computer science department’s Student Advocates for Diversity and Inclusion about bringing awareness to the lack of diversity within the department and about how to create a more inclusive community.

Chanel Johnson ’20 is intending to concentrate in computer science and can be reached at chanel_johnson@brown.edu.

Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

ResLife must start prioritizing upperclassman housing CAROLINE MULLIGAN staff columnist Brown recently announced plans to build a “wellness dorm,” The Herald previously reported. No one has yet elaborated on what this means: whether the dorm will be focused on physical health, mental health, general healthy living habits or some combination thereof. In any case, this project demonstrates a commitment to consciously constructing housing that prioritizes students’ needs and wellbeing.

The wellness dorm is a promising first step, but Brown should go further in improving the quality of housing that it offers. Prioritizing accessible and appealing residential halls will benefit the health of both students and the community at large.

It’s not easy to write in support of better dorms; one always runs the risk of sounding entitled, as though student housing should be on the same scale as luxury hotels. Let me be clear: I’m not requesting that Brown give us all a lazy river. I’m not asking for a movie theatre. These are wastes of money that could be better spent elsewhere.

What I am asking for is housing that students actually want to live in. Earlier this year, Samantha Savello ’18 detailed how the Office of Residential Life seems to put little effort into making desirable housing options for upperclassmen. Savello describes entering a Graduate Center dorm and finding rat poison, peeling plaster and holes in the walls.

My experiences have been similar. In my Hegeman room, I’ve had several opportunities

to play my favorite guessing game: Did I drop some of the dried coconut that I was snacking on, or is the paint just falling off my walls again? (It’s difficult to get a correct answer; the best practice is to just be safe and not put it in your mouth either way). The halls are even worse. On my floor alone, I counted three spots where paint just hung off the walls. And while I won’t complain about the occasional cockroach in the bathroom (I recognize them as an inevi-

points out, decorating dorm rooms can help students create environments that offer a comfortable and relaxed escape from the academic pressures of Brown. But decor can only do so much against the general dilapidation of Brown’s upperclassmen dorms. I can attest to the fact that it’s hard to be happy when you have to sweep up chipped paint from your floor.

But even these aesthetic concerns aren’t the biggest downside to many of Brown’s dorms.

Brown should go further in improving the quality of housing that it offers. Prioritizing accessible and appealing residential halls will benefit the health of both students and the community at large.

table problem when you’ve got so many people crowded under one roof), the basement — home to the washers and dryers, trash room and the sole kitchenette that serves the 100-plus residents living in Hegeman — is a bit of a mess. It’s so hot that there’s no way to comfortably cook a meal down there. Not to mention the fetid smell created by storing trash in the steamiest part of the building, which makes the one lounge in Hegeman extremely uninviting.

These conditions aren’t exactly conducive to wellness. As a Herald article by Emily Miller ’19

Many of these living spaces are physically inaccessible to students with disabilities. On the second floor of the Hegeman tower where I live, the bathroom has both a toilet stall and a shower stall designed to accommodate a person in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, there’s no elevator. So if you can make it up the stairs, you’re rewarded with an accessible bathroom, but if not? Well … tough luck. I encountered a similar situation last year in New Pembroke.

Sure, there are some residential halls that students with mobility difficulties can navigate

with relative ease. They just might not be able to visit their friends’ rooms. Or, if you have a parent with a physical disability, they might not be able to help you move in or even see your room at all. Again, tough luck.

Making simple changes, like increasing accessibility or brightening up decaying paint jobs, could ultimately encourage students to stay on campus as upperclassmen. And if more students are encouraged to stay on campus, that could ultimately slow down gentrification, benefiting the health of the greater Providence community. In a Herald recent article about efforts to control rental prices, advocates pointed to a family whose home was sold to Providence Student Living, a group that provides students with housing at higher rent prices than what the family paid. Although I can’t say if that house, which is in the Federal Hill area, will be targeted toward Brown students, Providence Student Living owns student housing all over Providence. It’s not hard to imagine families closer to campus being evicted for the sake of renting out overpriced student apartments.

While the wellness dorm is a good step, there are many other improvements that ResLife could make to existing dorms in order to prioritize the physical and mental health of the students that live in them. No college student needs a luxury dorm, but asking for a space free of holes in the wall or falling chunks of plaster is not an unreasonable demand.

Caroline Mulligan ’19 can be reached at caroline_mulligan@brown.edu.

Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and opinions@browndailyherald.com.

COMMENTARY PAGE 13 • THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Advocating for ideological diversity at Brown EUGÉNIE BOURY op-ed contributor In 2001, newly instated President Ruth Simmons famously responded to controversy surrounding a racist advertisement in The Herald by stating that “it is easy enough to exist in a realm where everyone is like-minded and speaks only of unimportant matters. That’s easy. While comfort may be found in silence, truth cannot dwell there.” Fifteen years later, her successor, President Christina Paxson P’19, stressed the importance of freedom of expression on college campuses in her 2016 convocation speech, likening the censorship of ideas in universities to “turning off the power in a factory.” Both emphasized that civil discourse and debate among opposing views are essential resources for students to develop, build on and perhaps even challenge their pre-existing beliefs.

In that vein, universities have the responsibility to expose their students to a diverse spectrum of ideologies and opinions, as doing otherwise would effectively lull students into thinking in a one-dimensional manner. All this begs the question: Has our university lived up to the promise of engaging its students in ideological diversity?

A university can be judged by the type of thought and discourse it attracts, as this indicates its commitment to challenging commonly held ideas and engaging in frontierpushing work. Those who are invited to speak, debate and lecture in its halls are representative of that commitment, and we are coming up short here on College Hill.

In 2017, the University invited a long list of speakers to campus — and we should know. Over the past year, the SPEAK coalition — a group of students, professors and student organizations seeking

to bring more ideologically diverse speakers to Brown — has collected data on every speaker invited by the institutes and centers listed by the Political Science Department as “bear(ing) on the study of politics.” We chose to analyze the political affiliations of these speakers as a transparent metric of the ideologies welcomed on campus and of the general environment of discourse. Of the 237 speakers who were politically identifiable based on campaign contributions, social media statements and career histories, 94.5 percent leaned left, while a

tailed methodology on our website.

Our mission has been supported by several student organizations and faculty members.

The Herald reported on this last Tuesday, and reached out to administrators for comment. According to the article, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs Director Edward Steinfeld took issue with our analysis, commenting that Watson’s programming focuses on “public policy issues from an international and comparative perspective.” He claimed that a left-right dichotomy does not apply to these

not be bipartisan — the two planned speakers are 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee ’75 and Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez ’83 P’18. (The title of this event has been changed to “A Conversation about Partisanship Today,” but the description of the event still calls it “a discussion on the future of bipartisanship.”)

Brian Clark, director of news and editorial development, also noted in The Herald piece that the left-right dichotomy in our data failed to capture “in totality the richness and complexity of viewpoint diversity

Diversity of thought is crucial to academic and personal development, and is one of the main reasons we’re all here. How can we truly experience diversity of thought when most of our speakers come from the same perspective?

mere 5.5 percent leaned right. In an examination of political contributions by these speakers, 97.4 percent of donations went to Democratic races and political action committees, whereas only 2.6 percent went to Republican ones. Though political affiliation may be an imperfect measure of ideology, the results are so skewed that they can’t help but betray a lack of diversity. The complete results of our findings are available in our 2017 Brown University Speakers Report, with an extended analysis of the data and a de-

topics. However, in order to mitigate this very problem, we chose not to include international speakers who had never lived in the United States in our data, and collected additional data on whether speakers’ talks had any relevance to American politics. Of those that were relevant, 93.4 percent of speakers still leaned left.

As a concrete example of this issue, the Watson Institute will be hosting a talk later today that was originally titled, “The Future of Bipartisanship.” Yet even this event will

at Brown.” This begs the question: If such a wide diversity of viewpoints is brought to campus, why do almost all of the speakers fall on the left side of the spectrum? This isn’t a matter of chance — as we showed in the report, this bias occurred among professors and non-professors alike, as well as those who addressed both American and international topics.

For these reasons, we, the SPEAK coalition, challenge the Brown community to improve. Diversity of thought is crucial to academic and personal development, and is one of

the main reasons we’re all here. How can we truly experience diversity of thought when most of our speakers come from the same perspective?

We at SPEAK seek to hold the University to its promise of creating a more ideologically diverse environment for personal growth, self-reflection and discussion. To this end, Brown should invite intellectuals, journalists, policy practitioners and others from across the ideological spectrum who can articulate their worldviews and subject them to respectful campus scrutiny.

This would not include spectacle speakers or professional agitators, who offer nothing of intellectual substance and attack marginalized groups on and off campus. We are now working to expand our coalition and receive input from these groups on how to achieve our goal in the most inclusive and productive way possible.

We are staunch liberals, lifelong conservatives, avowed libertarians, passionate socialists and everything in between; however, we share a common interest in diversity of thought. As an advisory and watchdog group, SPEAK hopes to facilitate civil debate and open-minded discovery for ourselves and our peers, an environment we argue is currently lacking.

The like-mindedness within our university can only be mitigated by welcoming differing voices into our discourse. Otherwise, how can we be sure that, in Simmons’ words, we do not speak “only of unimportant matters”?

Eugénie Boury ’20 is the media relations director of the SPEAK coalition and can be reached at eugenie_boury@brown.edu.

Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

EDITORIAL

Go forward with the disability identity center On Feb. 21, The Herald reported that a collective of Brown students and activists had proposed to University administrators the creation of a student-led disability identity and cultural center. The proposed center — which aims to fill a void in campus life and establish a robust sense of community for students with disabilities — will feature study rooms free of distractions, accessible group meeting rooms and open hours for peer mental health advocates. According to student activists, University administrators have responded positively to the proposal, though logistical details and a timeline for the center’s establishment have yet to be cemented. We wholeheartedly

support the students and organizations behind the push for a disability identity center, and hope that the proposal engenders constructive conversations about the experience and well-being of students with disabilities at Brown.

While official resources — like Student and Employee Accessibility Services and Counseling and Psychological Services — do exist to accommodate students’ needs, there is a notable dearth of student-driven community programming on campus for students with disabilities. “There’s a sense of not belonging, this feeling of ‘I’m not getting the support I need,’” Matthew Flathers ’19 told The Herald.

“A lot of people feel really isolated on

campus.” A disability identity center — initiated, managed and sustained by students — would go a long way toward curtailing the sense of isolation experienced by students with disabilities and developing the peer support structure available to them.

Further, a disability identity center is a natural extension of the University’s recent efforts to address student concerns about accessibility. In keeping with the objectives laid out in its Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, the University — along with individual academic and administrative departments, which have created their own DIAPs — has taken significant steps to enhance the accessibility of

its physical and technological infrastructure. These steps — which include the ongoing renovation of Wilson Hall and the creation of a digital arm of the Campus Access Advisory Committee — would benefit tremendously from a grassroots, student-driven center that effectively channels student input and addresses student needs.

The proposed disability identity center is, ultimately, a fitting culmination of years of student activism around issues of inclusivity. And, while the proposed disability identity center is still in the ideation stage, we value the opportunity to think deeply about Brown’s commitment to accessibility, the needs of our fellow students

and the ways in which the University can more fully actualize its values.

After all, students of all marginalized identities should be able to access the resources and support they need in a space they can call their own. We look forward to seeing plans for and discussions about the proposed disability identity center mature and develop further.

Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board: Anuj Krishnamurthy ’19, Mili Mitra ’18, Rhaime Kim ’ 20 and Grace Layer ’20. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

ART & CULTURE THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018 • PAGE 14

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

“A Wrinkle in Time” not worth the time despite powerful cast Director Ava DuVernay’s rewrite of children’s book marks historic debut, fails to reach potential

By ZACHARY BARNES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“A Wrinkle in Time,” the latest film from director Ava DuVernay, has such a decent heart that it feels cruel to strike it down.

But it’s probably best to come out and say it: “A Wrinkle in Time” is a disappointment — an ambitious, even touching one, to be sure, but a disappointment all the same.

There was good reason to hope that “A Wrinkle in Time” would be a success. For one, it’s based on Madeleine L’Engle’s novel of the same name, a delightfully weird classic of children’s literature. And DuVernay, who with this becomes the first black woman to ever direct a film with a budget of over $100 million, has a diverse, impressive resume, from sensitive indies, such as “Middle of Nowhere,” to last year’s documentary “13th.” But “A Wrinkle In Time” sees her making a series of unfortunate, sometimes bizarre choices.

And while Hollywood could certainly use an injection of the bizarre these days, DuVernay doesn’t quite supply the kind to do the trick this time around.

Meg, played by Storm Reid, is a smart but insecure girl who has become more introverted and difficult since the disappearance of her scientist father, Mr. Murry, played by Chris Pine, four years ago. She lives with her mother, played by Gugu MbathaRaw, also a scientist, and her genius younger brother, Charles Wallace, played by Deric McCabe. At school, she’s the nerd with the absent father and weird little brother, and endures the taunts of classmates and stern words of the principal.

Soon enough, intergalactic curiosities start filtering into the story, beginning with the arrival of Reese Witherspoon as Mrs.Whatsit, who drops references to Meg’s father. Mindy Kaling as Mrs. Who and Oprah Winfrey as Mrs. Which follow, and together they whisk Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin, a new friend of Meg’s played

by Levi Miller, off to find Mr. Murry.

Most of these first scenes feel

ART & CULTURE

oddly limp, with the bullying presented as we’ve always seen it — a line of sneering girls standing in a row — and Mrs. Whatsit’s arrival landing with a wonderless thud. The camera stumbles upon her, as if it took a second for the cinematographer — Tobias Schliessler, a marked step down from DuVernay’s previous collaborator, Bradford Young — to point it in the right direction.

This clumsy camera work frames the whole film. That DuVernay should have this problem is surprising, since her show “Queen Sugar” has some of the best compositions on television.

But the intentional, character-driven framing that works so well there gets transmuted into something awkward and heavy-handed on the big screen, full of close-ups that at once crowd the audience and distance the characters from each other. The film is not alone here; there’s a crisis of craft in Hollywood right now, and “A Wrinkle in Time” isn’t immune.

That said, the film has its impressive moments. In one scene, Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin fly on the back of a transmogrified Mrs. Whatsit, and the soaring aerial shots are wideeyed and dazzling. Also, it’s hard not to be delightedly agape at the sight of a one-hundred-foot-tall Oprah.

Indeed, Oprah is indicative of the largely top-rate cast. Other than Miller and McCabe, two typically bad child actors, everyone delivers, including Reid as the protagonist.

But best of all is Pine as the absent father, who once again proves himself to be the most talented and versatile Chris in the business. In one scene, we witness Mr. Murry struggle for any scrap of family that he can hold on to with a heartbreaking desperation that briefly jolts the movie into a genuinely affecting realm.

But despite her great cast and obvious emotional intelligence, DuVernay can’t escape the flaws of the script.

Flitting from place to place across the galaxy, it has a half-baked episodic quality to it, where the individual events and adventures neither build powerfully onto each other nor stand on their own as exciting planetary pit stops. The dialogue, meanwhile, too often leans on empowerment mantras, which range from sweetly wellintentioned to laughably trite. The soundtrack — including a handful

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

With “A Wrinkle in Time,” Director Ava DuVernay is the first black woman to ever direct a film with a budget of over $100 million. DuVernay is known for her diverse resume of films and her series “Queen Sugar.” of R&B and pop songs written for the film — is similarly ham-fisted.

“A Wrinkle in Time” is very much a children’s movie, and will likely appease — maybe even inspire — the youngsters who see it. For everyone else, it may be a bit of a bore, to be

remembered more for the historical landmark it represents than the glittering mess of its plot. And that’s okay.

The first $100 million movie directed by a woman was Kathryn Bigelow’s “K-19: The Widowmaker.” Remember it? Neither do I. Bigelow, on the other

hand, didn’t fade away, and became the first woman to win the Oscar for best director in 2010 for “The Hurt Locker.” So, if history’s any guide — and I suspect it will be — there’s no need to worry about DuVernay. She’s not going anywhere.

ART & CULTURE PAGE 15 • THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Puppetry, painting, performance collide in ‘Erratics’ Sock and Buskin’s show sheds logical structure for technical impressiveness, haunting atmosphere

By JUSTIN FERENZI STAFF WRITER

Thomas Cole’s “The Course of Empire” is a series of five paintings from the 1830s that depicts the rise, peak and eventual destruction of civilization. There is an anxiety underneath the art — a fear of the negative consequences of empire’s excess coupled with a nostalgic longing for a pastoral past.

Nearly two centuries later and an ocean away, Cole’s paintings have inspired director Dan Hurlin to create Sock & Buskin’s latest production, “ERRATICS: Scenes from Thomas Cole’s The Course of Empire.” The show loosely followed the same pattern of “The Course of Empire,” artfully interweaving live performance with puppetry, visual effects and musical numbers to grapple with the development and decadence of civilization. Peppered with hints of a tumultuous family structure and a star-crossed romance between a dog and a deer during the apocalypse, the production muses on the destructive effects of time and human folly.

Though the complex nature of the performance’s thematic skeleton left audiences scratching their heads, a

ART & CULTURE

COURTESY OF MARK TUREK

LITERARY ARTS PRIZES 2018

Sock and Buskin’s production of “Erratics” is inspired by Thomas Cole’s series of paintings “The Course of Empire,” which depict the rise and eventual fall of civilization.

logical structure was not necessarily the production’s objective. Instead, the piece performed itself like a dance, sensational perhaps for its absence of apparent order — but not without technique.

“ERRATICS” was defined by its use of bunraku, a traditional Japanese style of puppetry with a chanter, a shamisen player and three puppeteers who operate the head, face and appendages of large, lifelike puppets. Hurlin, known for his puppeteering, trained the cast extensively in the physically demanding art form. The puppets were modeled on some of the actors, mirroring their physical appearances and costumes. Though bunraku artists are traditionally dressed in hooded black robes, the cast of “ERRATICS” mainly doned white and bright blue, blurring the line between the world of puppets and the world of human actors throughout the play.

The show also stunned audiences with a remote control piano on the stage. The play began with a cacophonous eruption; the piano keys wriggled rapidly, projected onto a screen with no pianist in sight.

“ERRATICS” achieved a true theatrical experience: By stripping away the burden of a readable plot, the play was able to synthesize an aura that was mystical and grounded in harsh reality, tragic and comedic, off-putting and enrapturing. To echo the sentiments of the audience, “ERRATICS” may be “nonsense,” but it is an effective nonsensicalness rooted in movement, feeling and artistic inspiration.

The Literary Arts Department is sponsoring the following prizes for the Brown community

Academy of American Poets Prize: For the best poem (up to 10 pages). Open to all Brown students.

Kim Ann Arstark Memorial Awards: For the best poem or poems (up to 20 pages) written in celebration of life. Open to all Brown students.

Mark Baumer Prizes for Language Art: For the best works in language art (any media).

Open to Brown students. A discrete Mark Baumer Prize is open to university staff and information about this will be shared under separate cover.

Feldman Prizes in Fiction: For the best story or stories (up to 20 pages). Open to all Brown students.

Beth Lisa Feldman Prize in Children’s Literature: For best story or stories for children four to eight years old (up to 50 pages). Open to all Brown students (and may be a collaboration).

Frances Mason Harris ’26 Prizes: For a book-length manuscript of poetry or prose fiction by a currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate woman.

John Hawkes Prize in Fiction: This contest honors the memory of John Hawkes, the internationally-recognized author and dedicated professor of creative writing at Brown University. The contest is open to all students currently enrolled in the Graduate Program in Literary Arts. The submission must be a work of fiction (up to 50 pages).

Edwin Honig Memorial Prizes in Poetry: Honoring the memory of Edwin Honig — poet, translator and founder of the Literary Arts Department at Brown University (up to 10 pages). Open to all Brown students.

Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop Prize for Innovative Writing: For literary work, any genre, that best exemplifies the spirit of innovation found in the writings and translations of Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop. Up to 15 pages. Open to all Brown students.

DEADLINE: 11:59 PM ON 19 MARCH. ALL APPLICATIONS ARE COMPLETED ONLINE. TO APPLY, VISIT: HTTPS://WWW.BROWN.EDU/ACADEMICS/LITERARY-ARTS/LITERARY-ARTS-PRIZES-2018-LISTING

SPORTS

THURSDAY. MARCH 15, 2018 • PAGE 16

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Brown slams season-opening series against Florida A&M, swept by Berkeley

COURTESY OF BROWN ATHLETICS

The men’s baseball team swung into their regular season schedule with away series against Florida A&M and the University of California at Berkeley. Will Tomlinson ’20 silenced the Rattlers, pitching five scoreless innings to close the series with a 7-0 shutout win. Despite close contests in California, Bruno fell to the Golden Bears’ powerful offense four games to none.

Bears dominate games against Rattlers, strike out on critical opportunities against Golden Bears

By ALEX SMOLAR SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The baseball team opened its season with a series victory over Florida A&M University and a series loss to the University of California at Berkeley over the past two weeks. The Bears claimed a trio of wins against the Rattlers (6-8) but fell to the Golden Bears (5-2) four games to none.

“We’ve shown a lot of positive results both on mound and offensively,” said Head Coach Grant Achilles. “We’ve played well against good teams, too, and have put ourselves in position to win.”

In the season opener against Florida A&M, center fielder Sam Grigo ’18 powered Bruno (3-5) to a 5-2 victory with two home runs. Grigo knocked in

BASEBALL

his second moonshot in the top of the ninth inning, which extended the Bears’ lead to two and helped the team clinch the win. Starting pitcher Reid Anderson ’18 was stellar on the mound, recording six strikeouts over six innings. “(Anderson) gave us a great start that night,” Grigo wrote in an email to The Herald. “So it was nice to capitalize on his performance and get a win our first time out.”

The following day, Bruno’s bats came alive as the team dominated offensively in a 9-1 victory. The Rattlers recorded six hits, but Bruno doubled the mark with 12. Second baseman Rich Ciufo ’20 hit 4-4 for the day and crossed home plate three times, while third baseman Louis Gaitley ’21 tallied three RBIs. Later that afternoon, the Bears had only two hits in the second game of their doubleheader, which ended in a 5-0 loss.

“It felt great to be able to contribute in a positive way and help our team win,” Ciufo wrote in an email to The Herald. “We have a lot of talent at every position and our lineup is strong.”

The Bears exacted a bit of revenge

to close the series against Florida A&M with a 7-0 shutout win. Bruno posted five runs in a hot seventh inning to put victory out of reach for the Rattlers. Gaitley and shortstop Willy Homza ’19 recorded two RBIs each and pitcher Will Tomlinson ’20 earned the win with five scoreless innings.

The following weekend, the Bears flew across the country to take on Berkeley in a four-game series. In the series opener, Brown’s pitching could not keep up with red hot Cal as the team fell 11-6. Although Bruno outhit Berkeley 15-13, the Bears gave up two home runs, including a threerun blast in the sixth inning which widened Cal’s lead to four.

That evening, Bruno once again could not contain Berkeley and dropped its second contest 10-9.

The Bears gave up two home runs and failed to retaliate with any of their own. Starting pitcher Brennan Vasquez ’21 was pulled in the first inning after giving up six runs, and the Bears were forced to dig deep into their bullpen, sending five pitchers to the mound throughout the game.

“Coming into this weekend, Cal was ranked third in the country in batting average,” Achilles said. “So in all honesty, I think our guys have done really well. There’s always room for improvement and ways that you need to work to be better, but we are putting ourselves in position to win games and that starts with how we’ve been getting performance on the mound.”

The Bears came close to earning a victory Saturday, but were edged out 4-3 in a 12-inning marathon. Bruno took a 3-1 advantage in the sixth inning, but could not hold on in the final frames. An RBI single from Cal second baseman Darren Baker in the bottom of the ninth knotted the game at three. After two scoreless extra innings, Baker struck again in the bottom of the 12th with a walk-off home run to send Bruno to a crushing loss.

The Bears fought hard Sunday, but ultimately fell 7-6 in a close contest against Berkeley. Although Brown maintained a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning, a three-run rally from Cal — highlighted by a walk with the bases

loaded — trimmed Bruno’s lead. With the Bears leading by one in the bottom of the eighth, catcher Tyrus Greene erupted with a two-run homer to give the Golden Bears the advantage, which they would not relinquish for the rest of the game. Brown led in hits 10-4, but could capitalize on its opportunity on the road.

“It’s definitely challenging (to play so many road games),” Achilles said.

“Our guys have done well with it. It’s something where taking care of your body and getting the right amount of rest is certainly a huge part of being able to recover well.”

The Bears will stay on the road for the next two weeks, traveling to Dallas Baptist University Friday and Penn next weekend.

“Our number one objective is to go out every day and give ourselves a chance to win,” Achilles said. “Our main goal for the season is to be competing for the Ivy League championship.”

Brown will open its home slate against Bryant University March 27 at Murray Stadium.