Tuesday, September 26, 2017

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 73

Wexford Innovation Center breaks ground

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U., Pokanoket agree to create land trust Pokanoket left monthlong encampent Monday morning as part of accord with University

By RHAIME KIM SENIOR STAFF WRITER

MELANIE PINCUS / HERALD

President Christina Paxson P’19 and Gov. Gina Raimondo spoke at what will become the new Wexford Innovation Center, which will include 50,000 square feet for the School of Professional Studies.

Complex to convert I-195 land in Jewelry District to Wexford Innovation Center, create new jobs

By MELANIE PINCUS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I-195 land parcels in the Jewelry District were the site of a groundbreaking yesterday morning, where Gov. Gina Raimondo, President Christina Paxson P’19 and several state officials symbolically began construction for

the Wexford Innovation Center.

The Innovation Center, a 191,000 square-foot facility funded in part

by Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, will include 50,000 square feet for the School of Professional Studies, for which the University signed a 15-year lease. Dean of the School of Professional Studies Karen Sibley MAT’81 P’07 P’12 P’17 told The Herald this space will enable the School of Professional Studies to expand its programs and build a relationship with the Cambridge Innovation Center, another tenant in the complex.

Brussenbrugge reads excerpts from book, ‘Hello, the Roses’ Multi-dimensional poetry toys with boundaries, multimedia in poet’s artistic process

By SANYA DEWAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The McCormack Family Theater was silent Thursday morning with the exception of one voice. Last week, poet Mei-mei Berssenbrugge read some of her poems from her new book, “Hello, the Roses,” a novel published by New Directions Publishing, a top press for experimental poetry and literature.

Born in Beijing, China, Berssenbrugge now lives in New Mexico and New York. Since completing her education at Barnard College, Reed College and Columbia, she has released 12 books of poetry and collaborated with artists utilizing various media, including music, visual arts and theatre performance.

INSIDE

Most students present at the reading are currently enrolled in the first-year seminar Writers on Writing, in which “Hello, the Roses” is currently being taught and discussed by Leigh Cole Swensen, professor of literary arts. Berssenbrugge “is one of the best artists writing in an experimental mode in contemporary poetry,” Swensen said.

Swensen, who is in charge of picking speakers such as Berssenbrugge for the “Writers on Writing” events, says she chooses “poets that experiment with the boundaries of normal poetry.”

Characteristic of Berssenbrugge’s poetry are long lines and paragraph-style sentences that “most poets today” would not experiment with, Swensen said. Berssenbrugge explores the dynamics of space and format and pushes the boundaries between poetry and prose, she added.

At the reading, Berssenbrugge read the poems “DJ Frogs,” “The New Boys” and the title piece “Hello, the Roses.” » See POETRY, page 2

The Cambridge Innovation Center rents “spaces to people who need a place to be where they can thrive with other like-minded people, and what (the School of Professional Studies does) is offer educational content that helps people of that sort develop their ideas further and have a better grounding in order to deploy new enterprise all over the world,” Sibley said.

In remarks at the ceremony, Paxson said the School of Professional Studies’ presence in the new complex will enhance the University’s ability » See WEXFORD, page 8

The University and the Pokanoket Nation reached an agreement Sept. 21 to put a portion of the Bristol land in a preservation trust, wrote Russell Carey ’91 MA’06, executive vice president for planning and policy, in a community-wide email on Monday. The trust will be accessible not only to the Pokanoket Nation, but also to other tribes with historical claims to the land, according to the agreement. The University made its announcement after confirming that the Pokanoket Nation cleared their over month-long encampment as part of the agreement.

The exact portion of the Bristol land that will be transferred into the trust will be determined by a cultural resources survey, which will be led by a firm hired and funded by the University, Carey told The Herald. The Pokanoket Nation will be able to determine the governance and structure of the trust after its discussions with “other tribes with a historical interest in this land,” according to the agreement.

The agreement was signed after four in-person meetings between Pokanoket representatives and Brown representatives Carey, Deputy Provost Joseph Meisel, Director of the Haffenreffer

Museum of Anthropology Robert Preucel and the University’s legal counsel.

Two meetings were on the Bristol lands and two were at the School of Professional Studies.

So far, two sacred sites that will be part of the trust have been identified. The first is the location where Chief Metacom — also known as King Philip — was killed, and the second is where he held tribal council meetings, Carey said. The cultural resources survey and the search for organizations with the appropriate historical and anthropological expertise will begin soon, he added.

The cultural resources survey will require input “from all parties with a historical interest in the land,” and these parties will also be given “full and transparent access to … survey output before any final determinations are made,” according to the agreement.

The University has acknowledged that the people of the Pokanoket Nation, who have historical ownership of the Mount Hope lands on the Bristol property, have been “dispersed among many tribes” and “aboriginal peoples of New England” other than the “presentday Pokanoket Tribe,” according to the agreement.

The Pokanoket dispersal began during King Philip’s War in the 1670s, when Pokanoket identity was criminalized and punishable by death, said Sagamore Po Wauipi Neimpaug of the Pokanoket Nation, The Herald previously reported. » See POKANOKET, page 2

R.I. Senate meets for special session General Assembly passes gun safety, paid sick leave bills after leaving issues unaddressed in June

By DIVYA MANIAR CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Though the State House does not regularly meet in September as a parttime General Assembly, a legislative session of the Rhode Island General Assembly was held last Tuesday to resume issues left unaddressed in June, when legislative talks were diverted to discussions of budget.

This session saw a number of significant bills passed, including one regarding paid sick leave, a gun safety measure aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence, as well as modifications of the probation and parole system.

The sick leave bill, sponsored by Sen. Maryellen Goodwin, D-Providence, and Rep. Aaron Regunberg

NAOMY PEDROZA / HERALD

The Rhode Island General Assembly held a September session last Tuesday in an effort to resolve three issues left unaddressed in the summer. ’12, D-Providence, passed in both chambers. This bill will provide paid sick time to Rhode Island employees.

It also aims to ensure that employees

will be able to take off time to care for their personal well-being, as well as their families, without fear » See SESSION, page 3

WEATHER

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

UNIVERSITY NEWS Two University researchers earn grant for wind tunnel to study flight patterns of various animals

UNIVERSITY NEWS Watson Institute to undergo renovations, become fourbuilding complex

COMMENTARY Campanelli ’18: Professional athletes have right to participate in political activism

COMMENTARY Vilsan ’19: Even college students don’t need to have their lives all figured out

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NEWS

PAGE 2 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Financial Times columnist discusses new book

» POETRY, from page 1

Edward Luce describes worldwide elections as phenomenons of modern politics, extremism

By EMILY DAVIES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

“Some of you might remember the famous and much-deservedly celebrated New Yorker sketch writer, Andy Borowitz, writing an immortal headline on the 24th of June after the Brexit result had become known,” started Financial Times columnist Edward Luce. “He said ‘British lose (the) long cherished right to look down on Americans as dumber than they are.’ And then, as you know, in November, America leveled the playing field.”

Dry British humor and sharp political analysis defined Monday evening at the Watson Institute for International Public Affairs, when Luce joined Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs Mark Blyth to discuss his most recent book, “The Retreat of Western Liberalism.” Luce looked at Brexit and the election of President Trump against the backdrop of failing Western democracies. The talk explored history and governance across national lines as a means of understanding the present and of proposing a progressive reaction.

Luce pointed to the June 2017 election in France and Sunday’s election in Germany to both demonstrate the normalization of extremism transpiring globally and to provide glimpses of hope. Though French President Emmanuel Macron’s liberal party secured a comfortable majority in June, Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front party received 34 percent of the vote, Luce said. In contrast to the national identity crisis that befell France when Le Pen’s extremist father received 18 percent of the vote in 2002, Le Pen’s 2017 support stirred less of a reaction, Luce said.

“It’s the glass of champagne half full,

CREDIT

Edward Luce, author of the book “The Retreat of Western Liberalism,” conceded that economic pessimism in the United States and Europe led to the political upheaval seen in the past few months. but no time to be popping champagne,” Luce said of the French election.

German voters, who re-elected Angela Merkel to a fourth term as German chancellor Sunday, also voted the radical right-wing party Alternative for Germany into parliament. Though this is the first time in Germany’s post-war history that a far-right party has had representation in the “Bundestag,” a main house of parliament, fewer than one in seven of the electorate voted for the extremist party. Luce pointed to this number as notably low given a proportionately massive influx of refugees that had the potential to provoke stronger nationalist sentiments.

Britain and the United States could learn from Germany, Luce said. Germany is less prone to extremism, he argued, not only because it has grappled with its own history, but also because it has a middle class that has expressed less dissatisfaction than the middle class in the rest of Europe. The German vocational degree should serve as an example of successful skills training, Luce said.

“In Germany, they don’t make the mistake we make in the United States and Britain in particular, but in other

countries too, of confusing having a college degree with being skilled. Or confusing not having a college degree with being unskilled.”

But even in this more resilient Germany, male middle-class wages have been stagnant since the late 1970s, a phenomenon prevalent across Western democracies, Luce said.

“I think there is no getting away from the economic pessimism of middle-class Americans and Europeans of all colors in explaining what we’re going through,” Luce said. “And I think not to do so, to simply attribute it all to deplorability, is not just a tactical mistake. It’s an analytic error as well.”

Cultural anxiety serves as another explanation for the swell of right-wing support, Luce said. He referenced the “good analytical questions” asked in Hillary Clinton’s recent book, “What Happened,” and pushed audience members to ask themselves how “Trump could have gotten in spitting distance of the presidency.”

With the reality of Trump as president, Blyth pushed Luce to consider if it would be possible for another nation to rise up and replace the United States as

a global superpower, especially amidst the disarray plaguing the American democracy.

“I think no matter how bad we get, no one is going to replace the United States. But that’s slightly different to what your question is implying. I don’t fear China is going to supplant America as the hegemon, I fear chaos is,” Luce said.

Luce proposed civics education in K-12 schooling to educate voters on how to handle the massive influx of information, marketing and advertising that will only increase in future elections.

Students from the seminar POLS 1823Y: “Global Governance” asked the first round of questions, which were followed by questions from the general audience. Student inquiries included questions surrounding political strategy in harnessing Trumpian energy and the future of the environment and alternative energy.

“I thought the talk was very interesting,” said Llewellyn King, executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS, who was in attendance. “And I thought the questions were extremely good. The class was extremely bright.”

When asked by a student about her artistic process, Berssenbrugge said that when teaching children how to make poetry, she often tells them to “combine words and emotion to make music happen.”

A common theme throughout Berssenbrugge’s poetry is delving into different dimensions. She pushes “language into saying more than what language usually can,” Swensen said. One of the most remarkable things about Berssenbrugge’s poetry was how “the beauty and patience of her language encourages readers into believing more than the extent of what we can normally perceive, while still saying something very important about being human,” Swensen added.

Berssenbrugge said that during the process of her writing, her “mind takes on a sort of intellectual style.” Though she usually does not know what she wants to write, she said she has a question she wants to explore and that poetry writing is an “unconscious process at times.”

» POKANOKET, from page 1 If necessary, the University “is willing to help identify and support a mediator to assist in facilitating an agreement among the parties” who have claims to the Bristol land as they select the governance and organizational structure of the preservation trust. Such relevant parties include the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Assonet Band of the Wampanoag Nation and others, according to the agreement.

In addition to the cultural resources survey, the University will fund a land survey, a standard procedure for drawing the new boundaries that will be established between the land in the trust and the land to be kept by the University, Carey said. According to the agreement, “the University has already reached out to a land surveyor to discuss the commencement” of such a survey.

In the agreement, the University outlined its commitment to the conservation of the Bristol land by ensuring “appropriate stewardship” as well as appropriate management, as the Bristol property is a “unique historical, sacred and natural resource.” The lands in the trust will be prevented from sale or future development, Carey said.

The Bristol property currently owned by the University is about 375 acres, according to an earlier press release. The Haffenreffer Museum’s Collections Research Center and a multipurpose center used for summer programs and environmental research currently sit on the land, according the agreement. This land was donated to the University by the Haffenreffer family in the 1950s.

According to an online statement by Neesu Wushuwunoag, director general of the Federation of Aboriginal Nations of America, this Bristol land was originally transferred from the Pokanoket Nation to the Plymouth Colony in 1680 in an unlawful “by Turf and by Twig” transfer ceremony. Following the beheading of Metacom, Plymouth representative James Ingrahm presented a snapped twig from a tree and “a clod of dirt” from this land to declare to colonial proprietors his ownership, according to the statement.

The Sagamore of the Pokanoket will publish a statement on the Po Metacom Camp Facebook page soon, said Wushuwunoag, who declined to comment on the agreement until the statement is released.

NEWS

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

U. professors Swartz, Breuer receive grant for new wind tunnel Multi-million dollar wind tunnel to improve aerodynamics, animal flight research

By CHRIS SCHUTTE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The National Science Foundation has awarded two University researchers, Sharon Swartz, professor of biology and engineering, and Kenneth Breuer ’82, professor of engineering, a grant which will be put toward the construction and implementation of a million-dollar wind tunnel facility to study aerodynamics and animal flight.

What began as a simple interaction over coffee nearly 15 years ago has now coalesced into years of collaboration, Swartz said. “Over time, I began to see that incorporating better understanding of aerodynamics into our research program would be really beneficial to us scientifically, but you need the right collaborator for that to work effectively.” This realization led Swartz to reach out to Breuer, whom she began to collaborate with when one of her students wanted to conduct research about gliding mammals, she added.

The Prince Engineering Laboratory is already home to one of the few wind tunnel facilities in the world, but its technology is dated and has limitations, said Senior Associate Dean of Engineering Rod Beresford.

The original wind tunnel’s technology is “becoming obsolete,” Beresford said. He added that it has “been around longer than Kenny Breuer and it’s been around longer than Prince Lab.” The new wind tunnel will incorporate numerous advanced capabilities such as speed, pressure and temperature controls as well as particle image velocimetry, Swartz said. In particle

» SESSION, from page 1 of monetary repercussions.

“This bill protects all Rhode Islanders in terms of public health and providing for their families. It means working people — especially those in lower-wage positions that lack benefits — will finally have the ability to take care of themselves or their families when they are sick,” Goodwin said in a press release.

Paid sick leave will be an option to over 90 percent of Rhode Island employees, and violating employers will be subject to fines between $100 and $500 for every day that they’re found to be in violation of the legislation, according to the press release.

Regunburg said, “with this legislation, we’ve got an opportunity to make a concrete, positive impact on over a hundred thousand Rhode Island workers.”

The bill is planned to come into action July 2018 and will provide those eligible with three earned sick days in a year. Gradually, this number will be phased up to five sick days, which will take effect in 2020, according to the press release.

Some legislators raised questions, however, regarding the financial efficiency of this approach. “We are killing businesses,” Rep. Michael Chippendale, R-Foster, Coventry and

COURTESY OF KENNETH BREUER ’82

image velocimetry, “we use tiny microscopic particles, and we image them … to study the velocity of the air,” she added.

This facility will rival similar ones at Ontario’s Western University, Sweden’s Lund University and Stanford University, Swartz said.

This project has had many chapters, as various grant proposals were initially denied due to skepticism surrounding controlled bat flight in a wind tunnel, Breuer said.

“It’s an important aspect of what we do. … You never know if you’re going to win,” Breuer said. “It’s exciting that we’ve got it, and now we have to all pull together to make it happen.” Breuer and four undergraduate engineering students are now in preliminary stages of designing the facility and expect construction to finish by 2019, he added.

Earning grants from institutions such as the NSF or the National Institutes of Health is not a rare occurrence for University professors, Beresford said. The University “has historically been quite successful with this type of funding, with faculty acquiring major research instruments through this

grant mechanism.”

The wind tunnel and other such projects that receive grants are also funded in part by the University, Beresford said.

“As a faculty member and leader in (the) School of Engineering, it’s really important that Brown continues to step up when its faculty step up and undertake these major proposals,” he added.

Swartz intends to use the new wind tunnel’s technology to research the impact of temperature conditions on muscle movements and other aspects of bat flight, Swartz said.

“I have developed … an interest in using engineering or physical science principles, such as physics and mechanics and materials and mechanics of fluids to understand biological processes. I’m interested in how do animals achieve flight — bats in particular — but animals in general,” Breuer said.

The hope is that researchers at numerous universities such as the University of Rhode Island, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Texas Tech University, Miami University in Ohio and more will be able venture to Providence to make use of the new facility, Swartz said.

Glocester, said, after commenting that the move would negatively affect him as a business owner.

Rep. Teresa Tanzi ’07, D-Narragensett and South Kingstown, and Sen. Harold Metts, D-Providence, sponsored legislation that focuses on protecting victims of domestic violence by prohibiting those convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses as well as those who have received court-issued final protective orders from possessing guns, according to a press release.

Tanzi called the bill a “life-saving piece of legislation,” adding that “this bill will help keep victims of domestic violence safe by keeping guns out of the hands of domestic abusers.”

A victim of domestic violence is under more risk when their abuser is in possession of a firearm, according to the press release. The bill implements measures to ensure that abusers are not only prohibited from owning firearms, but also required to turn their existing weapons in.

Rep. Patricia Morgan, R-Coventry, Warwick and West Warwick, who opposed the bill, said she disagreed with the bill regarding the Second Amendment, noting that the bill would be infringing on a citizen’s constitutional right to bear arms.

There were also six bills passed to modify Rhode Island’s systems of

probation and parole. According to a press release, the bills were part of a package presented by Gov. Gina Raimondo’s Justice Reinvestment Working Group, which is charged with overhauling Rhode Island’s criminal justice system in a manner “that would relieve pressures from the correctional system while increasing public safety.”

One of the bills passed will create a “batterer’s intervention program fund,” while another will expand the maximum compensation allotted to victims of crimes. The package will also modify sentencing and execution guidelines for criminal procedures, create a diversion program that allows for defendants to undergo substance abuse screening as well as counseling and clarify the definitions of specific crimes under general laws.

Sen. Michael McCaffrey, D-Warwick, a sponsor of these bills, called the package “a collective effort to modernize Rhode Island’s broken criminal justice system.”

A host of other issues were discussed during the session. Amongst other bills that passed was a bill that prohibits smoking e-cigarettes in schools and puts in place more packaging rules, one that aims to ban dangerous chemicals in some furniture products and a bill that accelerates animal adoptions.

COURTESY OF KENNETH BREUER ’82

Kenneth Breuer ’82 and Sharon Swartz were awarded the grant and hope to better incorporate aerodynamic studies into the research program.

NEWS

PAGE 4 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Watson Institute to see extensive renovations, construction of new building New building will feature large meeting spaces to encourage discourse, community participation

By CELIA HACK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs is expanding into a new complex consisting of four buildings and an outdoor plaza, said Edward Steinfeld, director of the Watson Institute.

Currently, the Watson Institute consists of two buildings: 111 Thayer St., which is 78,000 square feet, and 59 Charlesfield St., which is 8,000 square feet, said Michael Guglielmo, director of design and construction. The expansion will add 31,000 square feet to their existing space — 10,000 from a renovation of 63-65 Charlesfield St. and 21,000 from 280 Brook St., which is being built from scratch. These two new buildings will be connected by a bridge once construction is finished — tentatively planned for fall 2018, said Steven Bloomfield, associate director of the Watson Institute.

The expansion’s budget is $25 million, received as a gift in November 2015, Guglielmo said.

The architect of the building is Toshiko Mori, who has worked on two other buildings at Brown: renovations of Pembroke Hall and 85 Waterman St., where she decided to place a greenhouse on the roof. “Between the combination of her success with adaptive reuse and re-imagining existing buildings on campus, (she) really aligned with the goals and aspirations of this expansion and addition to the Watson

Institute,” Guglielmo said.

The foundation has been laid for the construction of 280 Brook St., which is directly to the east of the current buildings. Construction for the steel structure will begin within the next two weeks, but the facade of the building has not yet been determined, Bloomfield said. The building will be used primarily as a public gathering space, with small and large rooms to meet in, Steinfeld said.

The current buildings lack sufficient physical space for large public events that the institute often holds, Steinfeld said.

“We’ve found that we’ve had to do live streamings of events to other rooms of the building sometimes, because the Joukowsky Forum, which is our largest space,” often becomes filled to capacity, Bloomfield said. “That’s not conducive to dialogue.”

The new building will have a large, flexible classroom that seats 80 to 120 people, Guglielmo said. Joukowsky seats 59, according to Watson’s website.

Steinfeld said there are not enough spaces designed solely for students to meet in larger groups in 111 Thayer St., as it consists mainly of individual faculty offices.

Plans for the new building include meeting rooms that can fit groups of various sizes, ranging from four to 30 people, Guglielmo said. A large, agoratype space will make up a significant portion of the first floor, with an atrium-like space opening above it on the second and third floors.

“You could have public speeches, where people can assemble in formal and informal types of settings, and be able to have that discourse between the participants and the speakers” here,

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

The new layout for the proposed renovations to the Watson Institute for Public Affairs is pictured above from the view from Brook Street facing north. The four-building complex will also accommodate an outdoor plaza.

Guglielmo said. And “you can actually look down upon … a speech or a presentation that’s going on in that common space.”

Fostering this kind of discourse is a central goal of both Steinfeld’s and Bloomfield’s.

“The idea is to encourage interaction across different disciplines, across different types of people, across different types of interest and subject matter,” Steinfeld said. “My hope is if we create space where people will

feel comfortable hanging around and spending time, they’ll be more likely to participate in our events and engage in conversations of learning.”

Starr Plaza, an existing outdoor space connecting the Watson buildings, will also see changes to its landscape and pathways, including an addition of more comfortable seating areas and a less enclosed perimeter, Steinfeld said.

Additionally, the west wall of the new building will be made of glass to overlook the plaza, Guglielmo said.

“The aesthetics are important, but to me, what’s most important is we have many people here who wouldn’t have been here before, but who feel (comfortable) now in this new space,” Steinfeld said. They “feel that they can get their work done, feel that they can relax here. I think if we have that, we’ll have more of the impromptu kind of reactions that lead to creative thinking and learning.”

R.I. General Assembly passes parole, probation reform bills Legislation focuses on rehabilitation, aims to minimize recidivisism, save taxpayer money

By STEPHANIE REYES SENIOR STAFF WRITER

A package of six bills meant to reform the parole and probation system in Rhode Island officially passed in the R.I. General Assembly last week. The legislation “overwhelmingly” passed in the State Senate in June and in the House last week, said State Rep. Robert Craven, D-North Kingstown.

Craven, a sponsor of three of the bills, discussed the legislation’s aim to minimize recidivism and save taxpayer money.

The state spends more than $70,000 a year incarcerating a single individual, Craven said. “More than 90 percent of the people that go to jail in Rhode Island don’t go to jail as a result of a trial and conviction — they go to jail as a result of being on probation.”

The Ocean State has one of the highest probation rates in the country, second only to Georgia. With approximately 24,400 offenders under adult probation and parole and 8,400 under active supervision, Rhode Island’s probation rate is 91 percent higher than the national average,

according to National Institute of Corrections’ 2015 statistics.

The legislative package offers a better set of post-conviction and pre-conviction services, Craven said.

While crafting the legislation, those in the Assembly with background in criminal defense law consulted with a variety of stakeholders, including the public defender’s office, the attorney general’s office, the National Assocation for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Civil Rights Roundtable, said State Rep. Edith Ajello, D-Providence, who also introduced the legislation.

Often, those on probation will go on to commit very “minimal” actions that rise “to the level of failing to keep the peace and good behavior,” and, consequently, those offenders return to jail again and again, Craven said.

By shifting focus from jail time to rehabilitation, the state can save tax revenue: Every convicted individual that does not return to jail saves money for the state.

“Eighty percent of the people in the district court coming through the door are there directly or indirectly as a result of mental illness, drugs or alcohol, and, if you can solve those problems, (they are) far less likely to come back,” Craven said.

Vanessa Flores-Maldonado ’14, campaign coordinator for the

Providence Community-Police Relations Act — an ordinance passed in order to reform police-community relations and prohibit racial profiling — said that mental health programs are salient in combating criminal activity.

“It is important to address mental health issues and how they come into play especially in the criminal justice system,” Flores-Maldonado said. If individuals “had the proper mental health resources, then they probably wouldn’t find themselves in the situations that they are currently in,” she said.

One of the six bills in the package — the Act Relating to Criminal Procedure, Sentence and Execution — would change several sentencing and execution guidelines, including new conditions of probation. For instance, when a person violates the terms and conditions of probation as deemed by the court, they will have the chance to appeal.

Before the six bills were passed, there was no way to appeal a violation, Ajello said.

Additionally, Ajello said she supported one of the bills that will reduce the maximum sentence for certain felony assault crimes from 20 years to six years. Attorney General Peter Kilmartin was opposed to this part of the legislation, and it ultimately caused him not to support the package as a

whole, she said.

“The Attorney General urged (Governor Gina Raimondo) to veto (the package), making statements that these people are not being punished for serious crimes,” Ajello said. Some could see this as unfair to the vicitims of assault crimes — but, under the new law, prosecutors could still bring multiple charges against alleged perpetrators in order to up their potential sentences, she said.

Ajello said that a lot of defendants faced with a package of charges often plead to one of the charges in order to start serving their time and get back into the community quicker but in doing so, defendants can end up agreeing to “a really long probationary period.”

“Defendants, in many cases, don’t have the money to pay a lawyer to defend them in court, so they end up making these pleas,” Ajello said.

Another part of the legislation includes new methods in identifying candidates for rehabilitation in diversion courts.

“The diversion court is a method by which people are identified right after they are being charged in their first contact with the court system as being people suffering from mental, drug and alcohol abuse,” Craven said. “And if appropriately presented as a candidate, they would be diverted from the typical path in the criminal justice court system to a diversion

court,” he added.

In turn, the diversion court will work with offenders to supply counseling, supervision and drug testing for a minimum of six to 12 months, Craven said, adding that the court itself will ultimately decide how it is run.

Past the legislative stage, there will be challenges in implementing the new bills, Flores-Maldonado said, specifically the need for proper resources and training within police departments.

Police officers must be trained to handle individuals with mental illnesses, she said, pointing to instances of police officer pulling their weapons on individuals experiencing panic attacks.

“I don’t think any cop really knows what to do when a person is having a mental breakdown other than ‘we should throw you into jail and see if that calms you down.’ This is an issue that needs to be looked at from different angles not just within the jail system,” she said.

The adult correctional institution will implement the changes in probation and parole, Craven said, while the courts will implement the changes to the rules of criminal procedures and sentencing guidelines for certain types of crimes.

“It is important to look at the whole chain of how someone ends up in prison from the very beginning,” Flores-Maldonado said.

TODAY

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

menu

r u m i n at i v e r o a d m u r a l

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Spinach and Feta, Bacon Chicken Ranch, Pepperoni Poke Bar JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Chicken Wings Bar, Make Your Own Grilled Cheese

Soup: Organic Black Bean, Turkey Sausage and Kale Soup

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Corn Chowder Soup, Tex Mex Rice, Tofu Mushroom Taco, Maple Apple Crisp

Meatloaf With Mushroom Sauce, Mashed Potatoes, Chipotle Chicken Pasta, Fudge Bars

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Lentil Soup, Beef Carnitas, Chinese Style Chicken Wings, Cranberry Chocolate Blondie Bar

Chicken Noodle Soup, Cilantro Tomatillo Rice, Beef Pot Pie, Panettone Bread Pudding ANITA SHEIH / HERALD

sudoku

A mural of a girl sitting forlorn in a wooded landscape hangs plaintively above a Providence parking lot, contemplatively casting artistry in Rhode Island’s Creative Capital.

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

“The beauty and patience of (Brussenbrugge)’s language encourages readers into believing more than the extent of what we can normally perceive, while still

”

saying something very important about being human.

RELEASE DATE– Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis c r o s s 36wRecipe o rmeas. d ACROSS 54 Evenings, in ads DOWN

1 Coal holders 5 “The Censor” of Rome 9 Hiked, as prices 14 Australian golfer __ Scott 15 Most fit for duty 16 Emma Roberts, to Julia 17 Pass catchers 19 Company that ironically had a crooked E in its logo 20 Golfer’s gadget used at the edge of water hazards 22 10-Down substance used in roofing 23 Salinger title girl 24 Sumac of Peru 27 Cries of pain 30 Little rascal 32 How animals boarded the ark 34 Early leader in a race 38 Cries of surprise 39 “__ Were the Days” 40 __ Intrepid 41 Curing solution 42 Watches a kid for cash 43 Pelvic contusion 45 Form 1040 data 47 Many moons: Abbr.

48 Erie summer hrs.

49 Bk. before Esther 50 “__ la Douce” 53 Extremely long time 55 “Joy to the World” group, and based on the ends of 20-, 34- and 43Across, what you’re having if you solve this puzzle after dark?

61 Way up 63 Deceived 64 Duplicate, briefly 65 Bath, in Bordeaux 66 Wyatt at the O.K. Corral 67 Look of disdain 68 Pisa’s river 69 Portly Jolly Roger pirate

1 Wire fence point 2 It’s all in your head 3 Salt, to a chemist 4 Silvery food fish 5 Oater hero’s request when entering the fray 6 Work without __ 7 Land in Paris 8 Desert refuge 9 In need of leveling 10 Tree with needles 11 Daily Planet editor 12 Prefix with system 13 Room with a remote 18 Call from one who more than calls?

21 Arab commander 25 Gazed dreamily 26 Declare 27 Decides to join 28 Hula dancer, often 29 Present wrapper’s aid 31 Spitting sound 33 In tatters 35 Pump sign on the Alcan highway

37 Make out 41 Buffalo’s minor league baseball team 43 “Take this” 44 Pizza herb 46 “Snow White” fairness judge 51 Toast type 52 “Be __ ...”: start of a polite request

—Leigh Cole Swensen, Professor of Literary Arts

See poetry on page 1.

56 Add to the work force 57 Viking war god 58 Protein unit 59 Fabled slacker 60 Make words using keys 61 Many retd. boomers 62 Farthest-right bowling pin

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

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General and Tech Career Fair 11:00 A.M. OMAC

Study Abroad 101 Info Session 12:00 P.M. J Walter Wilson, 440

Brown Meditation Community Sit 4:00 P.M. Manning Chapel

Starla Improv Auditions 7:00 P.M. Sayles Hall, 306

TOMORROW Quaker Meeting for Worship 12:00 P.M. J. Walter Wilson, 409

Archaeological Illustration Club 3:30 P.M. Rhode Island Hall, 109

Effective Interviewing 5:30 P.M. CareerLab

ECON DUG Talk on Gap Year Experience 7:00 P.M. Barus and Holley, 165

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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COMMENTARY TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Professional athletes deserve a political voice BRYCE CAMPANELLI staff columnist Over the weekend, President Trump unleashed a series of tweets criticizing NBA star Steph Curry’s unwillingness to accept an invitation to the White House, as well as the multitude of NFL players who have collectively refused to stand for the national anthem. While these tweets are not the first time Trump has critiqued popular sports figures, they are striking because they speak to a broader societal issue: censoring athlete’s voices.

Ever since Colin Kaepernick decided to kneel during the national anthem back in 2016, many pundits have accused the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback of disrespecting the United States and misusing his platform as an athlete. While many have used this case to debate the application of First Amendment protections, Trump’s most recent critique takes it a step further. His statements insinuate that athletes should just be quiet, play a game, make their teams money and be happy they are earning a decent salary. This sentiment is, however, deeply flawed. Despite what some say, athletes have a crucial role in speaking up, speaking out and making a difference for society. And

this social engagement can take many forms: Kaepernick raising awareness about police brutality, the U.S. women’s national soccer team fighting for equal pay or Muhammad Ali protesting against the Vietnam War. All of these athletes took a stand on topics that mattered to them and made a positive difference in the public per-

of children and adults who idolize their athletic abilities and look up to them. As such, they make a significant impact on our society, and we should not relegate them to silence.

They should not be told to keep their mouths shut or their opinions hidden while others make millions off them. Speaking out on political is-

positive role models for change on both the left and the right. Through political activism, they can inspire people to talk about important issues that often are swept under the table — something that is crucially needed in our country. Needless to say, not everyone will agree with the message or the activism that cer-

Activism is not antithetical to athletics; rather, it illustrates the power of sports to be a rallying cry for larger issues. It is this behavior that shows that sports are connected to who we are as a larger society.

ception of these issues. Activism is not antithetical to athletics; rather, it illustrates the power of sports to be a rallying cry for larger issues. It is this behavior that shows that sports are connected to who we are as a larger society.

Further, professional athletes make millions of dollars for their respective teams, brands and communities. They have large followers

sues is their right. If they choose to speak out, they should be respected and listened to, not vilified for their failure to “stick to sports.” It is for this reason that people like Tim Tebow — who, while in the NFL, kneeled as an expression of his Christianity — should not be lampooned by the media.

In this day and age of widespread political apathy, these athletes can be

tain professional players partake in, but that is okay. We need not agree on their message, but we do need to agree on the fact that they should not be punished for taking stands, whatever they may be.

Our professional athletes do not have to be mindless jocks. They do not have to be people who only are remembered for their physical abilities. These athletes are not all just

dumb competitors; they come from diverse backgrounds, educations and walks of life. They bring different experiences to the sports they play, and they should be allowed to express this however they choose.

Politicians, pundits, team owners and coaches should not actively discourage political activism by athletes because in doing so, they continue to perpetuate the myth that politics can be neatly separated from other segments of life. This is frankly not true, and owners and coaches should respect the agency and independence of players who feel the need and responsibility to speak out on broader issues. This will not desecrate the “game.” It will create a more realistic sport where the players are not just people who show up for games, but individuals who can be more deeply engaged in their communities and practice their rights as citizens of this country. If athletes believe they can make a positive difference, bring attention to an issue and help move our nation forward, we should not be so quick to judge them. We should rather rally around them and engage with them. Censoring our professional athletes is not the answer.

Athletes have a powerful platform, and it is time that we let them use it.

Bryce Campanelli ’18 can be reached at bryce_campanelli@brown.edu.

My mid-college crisis FABIANA VILSAN staff columnist As a junior who came into Brown thinking she had it all figured out, I’m more confused about what I want to do with my life now than I was as a bright-eyed freshman. In high school the choices seemed black-and-white: I imagined I’d spend my undergraduate years preparing for either law, medical or business school. No matter how much I procrastinated, there had to be enough time. Don’t get me wrong, I have two years to go, but I thought I would know by now. I imagined I’d walk into a lecture class second semester freshman year, a light would go off in my brain and I’d scribble my dream profession on the cover of my notebook.

I wouldn’t be writing this article if that had happened. I now realize that juniors, however close we may be to walking out of the Van Wickle Gates, don’t need to have their lives figured out by the time they turn 21. There is value in continued exploration, and instead of giving into the pressure of mapping out a detailed life plan in your early 20s — like many Brown students feel compelled to do — we should be using our time in college to figure out our passions and skills. More often than not, the profession you’ve been trying to find amidst a sea of confusion will find you as you experiment with different opportunities during and after college.

But I’ve come to realize that you don’t have to know your exact career path right out of the gate, as long as you use your time in college to meaningfully self-reflect. Pursuing internships are the obvious answer when it comes to making up your mind: real-life, real-time

experience in a profession that you might be interested in. That’s how I realized law wasn’t for me (a girl can change her mind, though).

It turns out a law office simply doesn’t work the way you would imagine it would based on a Suits episode. Without my summer job at a law firm, I never would’ve known the difference.

At Brown, though, we too easily fall into

for you. This isn’t how you’re going to make the best use of your skills or truly discover your passions. Though for some it’s hard to resist the allure of a brand name, blindly and reflexively pursuing a career for the prestige ultimately distracts you from understanding what you really want to do with your life.

That’s why we should seriously reevaluate how we use our summers and the priorities

There is value in continued exploration, and instead of giving into the pressure of mapping out a detailed life plan in your early 20s — like many Brown students feel compelled to do — we should be using our time in college to figure out our passions and skills.

the trap of pursuing internships that look glitzy and glamorous on a resume, instead of using them as tools of self-discovery. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met at investment banking info sessions who simply didn’t want to be there — but were there anyway, looking for a resume booster to catch a future employer’s eye. Unfortunately, this isn’t the way to find the job or the career that’s best

we set for ourselves in college. Even though internships can’t solve the career puzzle for you entirely, they can definitely find the corners if you use them right.

You may be thinking to yourself: Why are we even listening to you? I did say from the very beginning that I’m feeling confused. I wish I could spill secrets and cautionary tales from several years in the workforce, learn-

ing from my scholastic mistakes and finding a one-way ticket to a tailor-made career. But, as it turns out, we’re all in the same boat. And, at least for me, it feels good to know that I’m not sailing on my own. It can feel alienating to attend information sessions where everyone seems to know exactly what they want.

As students, we ought to try to be more open about our insecurities and uncertainties. By being open with ourselves and with our peers, we might be able to avoid the hysteria surrounding the few, elite jobs that seem attractive — because of the sheer number of applicants — but do not guarantee any professional satisfaction. And we might better be able to use our liberal arts education in service of our own fulfillment and our own interests.

We’ve all had our share of awkward dinner encounters, with our relatives asking us, “So what do you want to do?” only to be met with our blank stares. At times, it may seem like you’re moving backwards, away from the narrow path you thought you wanted into a pool of possibility. Don’t be fooled. Nobody expects you to know exactly what you want from the minute you step out of your dorm into the real world. A quick conversation with most adults will lead you to the realization that many of their jobs today have nothing to do with their post-graduation offers. Limiting yourself to a particular career path in your early 20s often does just that. At the risk of sounding cliche, perhaps one of the most fulfilling journeys you embark upon as a 20-something is that of professional self-discovery. Don’t rob yourself of that experience by setting a graduation deadline for your future career.

Fabiana Vilsan ’19 can be reached at fabiana_vilsan@brown.edu.

NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

» WEXFORD, from page 1 to innovate.

“We can leverage the talent that we have at Brown in new, different and very compelling ways, and when I look at our (faculty, researchers and students), they’re working in exactly the kind of areas where innovation is most needed and is growing in different parts of the country,” Paxson said.

The School of Professional Studies’ current site at 200 Dyer St. is not large enough to accommodate having more than one of the school’s programs on campus at once. Though this problem does not prevent the School of Professional Studies from functioning effectively, the new space will enable different groups of students to interact and increase room for faculty, Sibley said.

“We’d like to bring everyone under one roof, and the new building will enable us to do that,” Sibley said.

In addition to bolstering the University’s programs, this complex marks an important step in growing the state’s economy, Raimondo said to those in attendance. “A few key projects like this one will be catalytic in moving this state forward to the 21st-century economy and underpinning that economy,” Raimondo said.

Raimondo projects that around 1,000 jobs will be created in the process of constructing the complex, which should be built in two years.

Of the jobs created, 675 will be directly or indirectly related to construction,

MELANIE PINCUS / HERALD

Donning construction helmets and formal attire, several in attendance at yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremony symbolically started construction for the new Wexford Innovation Center in the Jewelry District. according to Rolfe.

“A couple of years ago, the unemployment in the building trades was in the teens,” Raimondo said. “We talked to these guys, they were losing their houses, they were out of work for a year at a time.”

“This innovation complex is going to be a space for exactly the kind of jobs the governor has been working

to create and foster,” Catherine Rolfe, deputy press secretary for Raimondo, told The Herald.

For more than two decades, the state has been working to relocate portions of I-195, said Bonnie Nickerson, director of the Department of Planning and Development for Providence.

“All of that groundwork was laid to create an opportunity for economic

growth and revitalization to literally pave the way to be here this morning,” Nickerson said in her speech.

I-195 had divided Downcity and the Jewelry District, according to the Jewelry District Association.

Developments like the Wexford Innovation Center and a $40 million academic building that Johnson & Wales University broke ground for in 2015

are helping to foster economic development in the area, according to the I-195 Redevelopment Commission.

“By generating economic energy, (this project) will create opportunity for residents of Providence and Rhode Island generally. What’s exciting about a catalyzing center like this is that it will create jobs at every level of every description,” Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor told The Herald. “This is an enormously important project for the economy of Rhode Island.”

Funding for the $88 million dollar Wexford Innovation Center includes around $32 million in tax dollars, according to WPRI. Taxpayer funding can act as a necessary incentive for investors, Rolfe said. “With any large economic initiative, unfortunately, to compete, Rhode Island has to stay in the game by offering some kind of incentive,” she added. “The governor’s committed to doing everything she can to keep Rhode Island competitive while balancing financial interests.”

Representatives from Rhode Island’s state and federal delegations, members of the I-195 Redevelopment Commission and officials from the University expressed optimism about the economic advancements and academic innovations that this complex could help spark.

“Experiments like this, if you navigate them effectively, they can lead to even more positives than you imagine at the outset,” Sibley said.