Tuesday February 4, 2020

SINCE 1891

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

VOLUME CLV, ISSUE 10

METRO

Iowa Caucus precinct at U. splits delegates Sanders, Warren split delegates in the University’s first satellite caucus

ARTS & CULTURE

String quartet brings global sounds to Granoff Community Musicworks explores themes of nostalgia, memories in folk songs

BY BEN GLICKMAN AND BENJAMIN POLLARD SENIOR STAFF WRITERS Ten Iowans sat in an auditorium waiting to caucus Monday night. But unlike tens of thousands of registered voters in the Hawkeye State, they were over 1,000 miles away from their home.

MacMillan Hall hosted its first satellite Iowa Caucus, welcoming voters, observers and campaign supporters.

After about half an hour of caucusing, the caucus site’s four delegates were split two and two between Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VM) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

The caucus held at the University functioned as one of the 87 “satellite caucuses,” which take place at different places and times than the traditional precincts, including some out-of-state and out-of-country locations. This year’s use of satellite sites was a move by the Iowa Democrats to allow more people to vote.

All the satellite caucuses were treated as one county. The “county” contrib-

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BY EMILY TENG ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR

LEON JIANG / HERALD

Iowans, gathered in an auditorium in MacMillan Hall, raise their voting cards to cast their vote in a “satellite caucus.” utes to deciding what portion of Iowa’s 41 delegates go to each candidate.

Iowa does not have a winner-takes-all system, so it can send delegates for different candidates to the National Democratic Convention in July.

To begin the caucusing process, the precinct captains representing the campaigns of former Vice President Joe Biden, entrepreneur Andrew Yang ’96, Sanders and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (DMN) gave minute-long speeches to the attendees, attempting to sway the room.

Supporters for different candidates gathered together in groups around the auditorium.

Non-voting attendees set up camp

UNIVERSITY NEWS

in different parts of the auditorium, with some hanging posters. Sanders’ camp had light-up signs, while Yang’s representatives brought a life-sized cardboard cutout of their candidate.

After the first vote, Sanders and Warren received six and three voters, respectively. Klobuchar received one vote, failing to meet the 15 percent threshold of viablity.

Despite a campaign presence for Yang and Biden, neither candidate received support from any caucus voters.

With a switch by Claire Brown ’22 — who was so excited to caucus that

SEE IOWA PAGE 3

On the evening of Feb. 1, community members streamed into the Granoff Center for Creative Arts to enjoy the Providence-based ensemble Musicworks Collective perform a series of string quartet pieces inspired by traditional music from the East to the West.

The first part of the show featured pieces composed by Zhou Long, who incorporated elements of folk songs from different regions of China into his music, and Claude Debussy, a French impressionist composer. In one of the pieces, titled “A Horseherd’s Mountain Song,” a folk song inspired by the Chinese province Yunnan, the musicians added chants in intervals of the melody, a common technique in traditional Chinese folk songs.

The theme of tradition, nostalgia and memory continued into the sec-

ond half of the concert — students and teachers at Community Musicworks performed three duets composed by Bartøk, who was inspired by folk songs during his travels to Central and Eastern Europe. After the joint collaboration, musician residents returned to the stage and closed the evening with Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 2.

Musicworks Collective is an ensemble of musicians-in-residence at Community Musicworks, a Providence-based organization that aims to “create cohesive urban community through music education and performance that transforms the lives of children, families and musicians,” according to the description on CMW’s website.

“Every performance, (CMW musicians) put in so much passion, so much precision,” said Stuart Blazer, an audience member who has attended CMW performances for many years and appreciates the way the organization engages with youth in the community.

Currently, the organization houses an ensemble of 14 musicians, who both perform and teach free

SEE CMW PAGE 4

METRO

Graduate Center Bar, BSA Durk’s moves away from College Hill to host bartending classes Restaurant set to move BSA hopes classes will bring mixology, bartending to University social scene

BY CAROLINE NASH CONTRIBUTING WRITER Brown Student Agencies will partner with the Graduate Center Bar to host regular two-hour bartending classes for students 21 and older on Saturdays throughout the semester, according a BSA press release. The $60 classes will be taught in the GCB by GCB bartenders.

BSA has already scheduled the first two classes for Feb. 15 and 29. GCB Manager Susan Yund said that the class is something the GCB has always been interested in bringing to campus.

Classes — which will be led by Yund and GCB bartender Partick Cull — will cover basic bartending skills, such as how certain drinks are made and the difference between mixed drinks and cocktails. Students will then be able to

make and taste their own drinks.

BSA hosted bartending classes several years ago, but the classes were discontinued due to organizational challenges. The original classes were independent from the GCB and taught by outside bartenders. The classes also covered more material and would take up most of the weekend for students.

BSA Strategy Director Max Low ’20 said he had received feedback from students interested in bringing back the bartending classes and believes the new format will be more flexible for both students and BSA. BSA’s Marketing Director Dorothy Windham ’20 added that “Part of (bringing the class back) was realizing that we had the GCB there as a resource and someone we could partner with, because we do like being really involved with the Brown community and it is preferable to do something in a space people are used to with people that they are used to seeing.”

The former bartending class included a Training for Intervention

SEE GCB PAGE 2

to larger space in downtown Providence in spring 2020

BY SOPHIE BUTCHER STAFF WRITER

Thayer Street restaurant Durk’s BarB-Q closed its doors on Dec. 22, marking the end of the establishment’s three-year run on College Hill.

The restaurant’s management decided to move to downtown Providence in order to be accessible to more customers, Stefanie Carr, managing partner of Durk’s, wrote in an email to The Herald.

“We need to be in a space and neighborhood that are able to grow with us,” she wrote. “We will be announcing our new location soon!”

The restaurant will reopen at its new site in spring 2020, and Carr is excited to see some familiar faces at the restaurant’s new home. “Our goal

SEE DURKS PAGE 4

NICOLE KIM / HERALD

Durk’s Bar-B-Q will move to downtown Providence in the spring, with the hopes of opening their doors again before commencement.

News

Music Review

Commentary

Series Review

RISD exhibition features first-year students’ work in different media styles Page 2

070 Shake’s debut album expresses raw emotional development Page 4

Ren ’23: Rejection in firstyear job search has its valuable lessons Page 7

New docuseries “Cheer” becomes Netflix’s first major hit of 2020 Back

TODAY

TOMORROW

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

ARTS & CULTURE

RISD exhibition showcases first-year students’ talent Experimental, Foundation Studies exhibition features multimedia pieces

BY CHANIKARN KOVAVISARACH

SENIOR STAFF WRITER Spread across four large rooms on the first floor of the Woods-Gerry Gallery, pieces composed of a multitude of materials, from paper and wood to textile and glass, are displayed as part of the Rhode Island School of Design’s Triennial Experimental and Foundation Studies exhibition. The show opened to the public on Jan. 30, and will remain until Feb. 16.

Experimental and Foundation Studies is a compulsory program taken by first-year RISD students that “emphasizes rigorous critical inquiry,” according to the program’s website.

The exhibition featured artworks produced by students during their time in this program. “We selected works from last spring and this fall that (capture) students in two phases,” said Shawn Greenlee MA ’03 PhD ’08, the EFS program head.

The theme for this year’s exhibition was “duration and emergence.”

The theme “really represents the way we teach and the way the program is structured,” said Ken Horii, professor of Spatial Dynamics, who was responsible for a “lion’s share” of the exhibition’s technical organization, Greenlee wrote in an email to The Herald.

The exhibition was collectively curated by EFS faculty, who looked for pieces that “(were) not a goal-oriented conclusion … but something that emerges from the process,” Horii said.

When curating this show, EFS faculty must reconcile the encouragement of “moving between different media” with the limited space of the exhibition. Horii said that this year’s main challenge was accommodating the “explosion of submissions” of student-made videos. “The only final decisions (the technical team) makes are … logistical,” said Horii, whose role

focused mainly on “aesthetic judgement.” Even with two prior exhibitions’ worth of experience, Horii acknowledged the technical challenge of organizing the selected works, noting how “there (are) a lot of variables and unpredictables.”

“We have a lot of conversations about that throughout the day: Is it a soft piece? Is it a hard piece? Is it tall?

Is it short? Is there a lot of pattern?

Is it simple or irregular? That kind of thing,” he said.

Ultimately though, “everything eventually comes together, it’s just a matter of time,” Horii said.

The EFS curriculum “has existed for a very long time, coinciding with the beginning of RISD becoming a higher education institution,” Greenlee said. He explained that the program is primarily concerned with “(students) forming their own foundations and not following the footsteps of others but creating their own pathways.”

In 2010, the division changed its name from Foundation Studies to Experimental and Foundation Studies “to communicate better to the world what happens in this first-year program,” said Greenlee. The program consists of three sections — Drawing, Design and Spatial Dynamics — to advance its experimental philosophy.

EFS is “all about inquiry … about finding and arriving at new questions through the work so that you’re constantly in a process of development,” Greenlee added. With almost eight hours of studio time per section every week, “students can really slow down, decompress and figure out what they’re doing,” he said. “Work comes out of (this process) that couldn’t come out of a shorter duration course.”

Paphonvit Wanitprapha RISD ’23 described the EFS studio sessions as “super fun because (RISD) allows you to experiment with so many mediums.”

This multimedia approach is “something that will be evident in the exhibition,” Greenlee said.

“When you walk through you’ll see this amazing variety of work … you’re seeing the best of the first-year work,” Horii said.

SUMMER ZHANG / HERALD

GCB FROM PAGE 1 Procedures certification unit in which students were taught skills used by bartenders to prevent excessive intoxication and drunk driving, as well asto identify fake IDs — a certification required for all bar employees. Low emphasized that the new class, in contrast to previous renditions, will focus more on mixology. “(BSA is) trying to make

ANDREW DING / HERALD

The theme for this year’s Experimental and Foundation Studies exhibition was “duration and emergence.”

The exhibition was curated by the course’s faculty members, who sought to highlight different media styles.

bartending a thing on campus so that people will sort of actively seek out and try to learn” new skills. BSA wants students to take the skills learned in the class and create drinks for their friends.

Both Low and Windham noted that the new, more limited format did not seem to affect the popularity of the class since, as of Jan. 29, the first class

was sold out and the second class had only a couple spots left. Yund explained that GCB bartenders are not qualified to teach the TIPS certification, but that there are plenty of outside classes available for students seeking that certification.

Stephanie Keller ’20 expressed excitement about the upcoming classes.

“It would be fun to take the class and have a learning experience in a place we already spend so much time in,” Keller said.

But some students questioned why the new course was open only to students 21 and older. “The classes should be open to all students 18 and older because in many states you only have to be 18 to work as a bartender, and a

“inaccessible for many students,” especially now that it does not include a certification. But Low said that BSA is a non-profit but also a business, so students must pay a fee sufficient to cover the goods and services provided.

Addressing concerns of accessibility, Low acknowledged that “this is an issue that (BSA is) aware of and (is) actively thinking of ways to overcome.”

class at Brown would provide students with the opportunity to learn a good life skill that can help them find jobs outside of school,” said Michela Savignano ’22. In Rhode Island, bartenders must be 19 or older.

Yund explained that including younger students would be a liability concern, emphasizing the importance of tasting drinks during the course. “In my mind, part of the way that we want to teach is by (saying) ‘try this and then taste it, and see what you think about that experience,’” Yund said. “And if the student is under 21 and they can’t actually taste it … we’re not comfortable with that.”

Some students also wished the class was less expensive. Grace McCleary ’20 felt that the price made the course

Windham also cited the Undergraduate Finance Board’s Event Assistance Fund as a resource for students who want to take the class but could not afford it. The fund was created “to assist undergraduate students in participating in student events hosted by UCS-categorized student groups.”

Savignano also suggested that the BSA should consider a group rate for the class. “I wouldn’t pay $60 to take the class by myself, but I think it would be a fun thing to do with your friends, especially if you could sign up as a group and get a discount for it.” Both BSA and the GCB emphasized that they will see how the first class goes and make changes from there. If the first two classes are successful, BSA will offer more classes throughout the semester, Low said.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

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LEON JIANG / HERALD

Supporters who were not voting in the caucus observed the event, some bringing signs. One group of students brought a live-size cutout of Andrew Yang ’96 and signs with his campaign slogan “MATH,” Make America Think Harder. Despite observer support, none of the particpants voted for Yang.

IOWA FROM PAGE 1 she sent photos of her participation back home to her family in Iowa — from Klobuchar’s to Warren’s camp, the Massachusetts senator finished with four. The caucus site’s four delegates were then split evenly between Sanders and Warren, as neither received enough votes to meet a 3/4 majority.

This was the first caucus experience for many participants, and it was one they were looking forward to.

Connor Johnson ’21 organized the

satellite caucus. Johnson, who voted in person in the Iowa caucuses in 2016, began the application process to hold a caucus in Rhode Island over the summer. He says the process is lengthy: Organizers have to ensure that only registered Iowa voters will be participating, and they must properly advertise the caucus and report its results.

Despite the challenging organization process, Johnson likes the new satellite system. “Normally, the caucuses are pretty disenfranchising,” he

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said. The satellite system “is allowing a lot of people who would not have access to the caucus to get involved in the process.” Johnson says people who work night shifts, have children or live out of state often cannot participate.

Many caucusgoers shared Johnson’s concerns over the system’s lack of accessibility. They welcomed the satellite caucus as a step in the right direction.

Sarah Murphy, who came all the way from Hartford, Connecticut to caucus, agreed. “I absolutely was ex-

cited,” she said. “This is a great ability for those of us who can’t get to Iowa.”

Murphy caucused for Sanders primarily because of his promise to cancel student loan debt, she said, but she also likes the social changes he is proposing. In addition to being the most favored candidate among caucus voters in attendance, Sanders was supported by 10 observing University students, who brought signs and clapped vigorously after a speech in favor of the senator.

Maggie Levandoski ’22 voted for

Warren in the caucuses. “I’ve looked at her plans and her proposals, and I think that I agree with a lot of what she is putting forward,” she said.

Levandoski, who also respects that Warren has changed her party alignment from Republican to Democrat, said “(Warren) went and she listened to people, and she listened to the problems they were having and what they had to say, and she changed her direction.”

At press time, the full results of the Iowa caucus had not been reported.

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

ARTS & CULTURE

070 Shake’s first studio album examines emotional, relational turmoil Experimental hip-hop artist plays with sonic dimensions of personal expression

BY NICHOLAS MICHAEL SENIOR STAFF WRITER In 070 Shake’s debut album, “Modus Vivendi,” the rising artist employs sanguine, dreamy studio production while lyrically reflecting on relationships. But, the 22-year-old still seems to be polishing how studio experimentation can serve her genre-less introspection.

Released Jan. 17, the GOOD Music-produced record showcases the highly anticipated voice heard first on Kanye West’s “Ghost Town” in 2018.

On West’s track “Ye,” Shake sings “I

put my hand on the stove, to see if I still bleed,” with a ghastly, tender sense of emotionality.

It’s that same fervent rawness that Shake brings into “Modus Vivendi.”

The album title is a Latin phrase that translates to “way of life,” which can most obviously be understood as a reference to the revelatory nature of Shake’s writing.

“Modus Vivendi” is far from a musical diary entry though, as Shake’s personal candor saturates her tracks with resonance. In an interview with Vogue, Shake spoke to what she hopes her music can do for listeners: “I just want to make people feel something.

Open people’s minds, save people.

Do what I’m supposed to do. I need to reach people; I’m not really doing this for myself,” she said. Through production and vocal transparency, “Modus Vivendi” reflects upon

the inharmonious relationships that seem to haunt many. The opening track, “Don’t Break the Silence,” serves as a sort of audible sunrise to the album. Shake’s enchanting, guttural voice climbs atop an optimistic synth as she speaks to an assumed ex-lover, “I need your love (I need your) / Need your love / Say she miss me / But she say she also need time.”

The act of desire makes it so that human relationships can’t help but be inclined to tumultuousness. So, the lover is elusive for Shake — always in sight, but slightly out of grasp.

This desire for intimacy persists in “The Pines,” her modern romantic adaptation of the nineteenth-century folk tune, “In the Pines.” Shake leaves her comfort zone of hip-hop for a Cocteau Twins-esque rock — her ethereal Gregorian-chant-like exploration of desire is preluded

by electric guitar and snares. Later, in “Divorce,” Shake’s characteristic autotuned voice ascends over percussion. Over a more minimalist production than in previous songs, her voice becomes incandescent. She sings, “Gemini, see both sides / Trade this ring for peace inside / … / Me and you, we were one / That was once, but now we’re two,” lamenting on the liminal nature of union and the arbitrariness of marriage.

Again, Shake cultivates harmonious sound to reflect on cacophonous relationships.

Though the glorious production usually elicits the feeling of connection that Shake seeks in her music, her authenticity begins to feel muddled under orchestral sound in certain moments. For instance, on “Daydreamin,” over-experimentation in production slips into sounding lethargic.

Shake raps, “Like my ends, baby girl, we need to split up / She said, ‘I get crazy when I start to get my drink on’ / Ah, told the bitch I wasn’t fucked up off the liquor,” but her emotional personal anecdote is quieted as the production grows belligerent. The Bladee-adjacent autotune that works to Shake’s advantage in other tracks renders her voice lost. That being said, the young artist demonstrates clarity and sophistication which far surpass that of slurred sound.

Shake’s unforgiving retellings of the personal is refreshing, poignant and didactic, and they deserve room to breathe. The bright melodies of “Modus Vivendi”’s early songs feel like a gift of vulnerability from Shake, and it is when she balances production and vocal display that her tender message becomes incandescent and readable.

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EMILY TENG / HERALD

Community MusicWorks plans to use the $500,000 Lewis Prize toward the development of an alumni fellowship program. instrument lessons to about 150 children generally from low-income families, said Sebastian Ruth ’97, the founder of CMW. Ruth is an American musician, a violinist and the recipient of a McArthur Genius Grant in 2010, The Herald previously reported.

“The inspiration of Community Musicworks grew out of my time at Brown studying music and education,” Ruth said. During his time at Brown, Ruth explored the intersections between classical music, education and social justice. With the support of former Swearer Center director Peter Hawkins and the Swearer International Public Service fellowship, he was able to start a music residency in the West End of Providence by the end of his senior year — the prototype of today’s CMW. Since its conception in 1997, CMW has grown and collaborated with community partners, sharing its teaching philosophy with other musician residencies while retaining its core model of performing and teaching, Ruth explained.

“CMW is a really special organization. … It does creative, innovative work with youth and youth development that is not just about learning the instruments, but about developing our students as citizens,” said Holly Dyer, a cellist and fellow at Community Musicworks.

Earlier this year, CMW was awarded the $500,000 Lewis Prize for Music, for its commitment to providing children access to music learning, the Providence Journal previously reported. The organization plans to use this prize money to answer “questions of how this organization is making a long-term presence in this community through the lens of racial equity and social justice,” Ruth said.

CMW intends to use this prize to create an alumni fellowship program that will provide returning alumni with teacher training opportunities. The one-year program will invite alumni fellows to be teaching assistants, allowing them to be eligible for teaching positions at CMW or other music organizations after the fellowship.

Read Join

CMW FROM PAGE 1

is to be open before graduation so our loyal Brown students, faculty and their families can come celebrate with us!” wrote Carr. “We are so grateful to all of our fans and loyal regulars,” she added.

Carr informed The Herald that fans of the restaurant can get their fix of Durk’s at local bars and breweries in the interim period as they undertake their move. Pop-ups featuring the restaurant’s ribs and mac’n’cheese will appear at on-campus favorite the Graduate Center Bar along with off-campus locations including the PTX Lounge, Long Live Beerworks and others across Rhode Island. The estab-

lishment’s catering service will also be in operation until the shop opens their new location, catering for events of up to 450 people.

Many Brunonians frequented Durk’s, and some were saddened by the restaurant’s decision to relocate, including Nina Hastings ’22. “The ambiance is really great, and it’s awesome food, too,” she said. “It was such a great location to walk to and very convenient for family visits.”

Hastings said that she will certainly make the trek to visit Durk’s when it opens up at alternate locations across Rhode Island and hopes that the new permanent restaurant will be close enough for frequent visits.

It is not yet clear what will take Durk’s place at 275 Thayer St. Donna Personeus, executive director of the Thayer Street District Management Authority, wrote in an email to The Herald that “there has been a lot of interest in the location.”

“Once a letter of intent is signed by a new tenant, it can take 6 to 12 months for the new tenant to open their doors,” she wrote.

Until the new storefront opens up, students can get their fix of buffalo wings, slow-smoked brisket and pulled-pork sandwiches at pop-ups across the state. Durk’s is scheduled to appear at the GCB on Feb. 29.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | TODAY

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Wellness Rewards Info Sessions 12:00 P.M. South Street Landing

PRIME Practice Seminar 1:00 P.M. Engineering Research Center

Jeronimo Documentary Screening 6:30 P.M. Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center

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Financial Wellness Series #3 12:00 P.M. Rhode Island Hospital

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TOMORROW Getting Started With Workday 10:00 A.M. Watson Institute

Quaker Meeting 12:00 P.M. Page-Robinson Hall

Ayana Evans | In Performance 5:00 P.M. David Winton Bell Gallery

Public Helath DUG Ice Cream Social 8:30 P.M. Salomon Center

Q U OTE OF TH E DAY

S U D O KU

“CMW ... does creative, innovative work with

youth, and youth development that is not just about learning the instruments, but about developing our students as citizens.”

—Holly Dyer Community

Musicworks fellow SEE CMW PAGE 1

C O RRECT I ON

RELEASE DATE– Monday, September 3, 2012

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle O S SWO D Lewis Edited by CR Rich Norris and JoyceR Nichols

ACROSS 1 Hand over 5 Actress Petty 9 Response to “Who’s there?”

14 Response to a sermon 15 All tied up 16 Vital sign 17 Accommodations in a balcony or box, say 20 Prefix with -pod 21 Cone-producing tree 22 Turn out to be 23 Encouraged, with “on” 25 Long deli sandwich 27 NW state with a panhandle 30 Advance 31 Lose its solidity 32 Frenzied 34 Video game giant 36 Spill the beans 37 Gadget found in a sofa, all too often 40 Weasel out 41 Working, as a machine 42 Untrue 43 Editor’s “Never mind” 44 Pet lovers’ org.

48 Volcanic fallout 49 Locking mechanism 50 Bringer of thunder and lightning 51 Theater employee 54 Co. for Web users 56 Once around the track 57 Third cousin, say 61 “Let’s Make __”: TV game show 62 Puerto __ 63 Cake finisher 64 Avoid, as the draft 65 Fencer’s blade 66 Hawaiian goose DOWN 1 Price-fixing bloc 2 Come to light 3 Architect’s task

4 L.A.-to-N.Y. dir.

5 First name in denim 6 “Where are you?” response 7 Rare meat color 8 Newspaper circular, e.g.

9 2010 Apple blockbuster 10 “Swan Lake” attire 11 Don, as something more comfortable 12 AOL rival 13 Neurologist’s order, for short 18 Outlying mail delivery svc.

19 Music producer Brian 24 “My Cup Runneth Over” singer 26 Draws out, as a confession 28 Pickle herb 29 Bullet in a deck 31 Brisbane buddy 32 Yoga class needs 33 Motionless 35 Like drive-thru fare

36 Letter-shaped hardware 37 Vintage autos 38 Really excited (about) 39 Unlike a bikini 40 Genetic messenger 43 “No Exit” dramatist 45 Cops 46 Horror director Wes

47 Unit of current 49 Farm layer 50 Hotel amenity 52 Dateless attendee 53 In good health 55 Fruit used to flavor gin 57 Pop 58 Altar vow 59 Tear, or actor Torn 60 Oz Woodman’s makeup

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

xwordeditor@aol.com

Due to an editing error, a previous version of the Feb. 3 article, “Three Brown Alums awarded Forbes 30 Under 30 spot,” mistakenly stated that Kassie said “I’m more interested in lifting the voices of others (over) than my own.” In fact, she said “I’m more interested in lifting the voices of others (over lifting) my own.” The Herald regrets the error.

A previous version of the Feb. 3 article, “Brown men’s basketball bests Columbia, Cornell,” stated that the men’s basketball team will face Dartmouth and Harvard next weekend on the road. In fact, these games will be held at home. The Herald regrets the error.

WHI R L P O OL OF WORRI ES

09/03/12

REBECCA HO / HERALD

By David W. Cromer (c)2012 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

09/03/12

In a small pond in Providence, whirlpools dot the suface of the water. If students come across this pond, they can feel free to dump their course assignments in these pools to be pulled into the mud.

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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

7

It’s time to get real, Dems ANDREW REED ’21 STAFF COLUMNIST In a recent interview with the New York Times Editorial Board, Senator Bernie Sanders was asked how he would, as president, push his legislative agenda through a Mitch McConnell-controlled Senate. “Not only will I be commander in chief, I will be organizer in chief,” Sanders answered. “I think the agenda that we have brought out in almost every case is supported by the American people.” When pressed, Sanders said his legislative strategy involves wielding grassroots support for his proposals to force Congress to enact his legislative goals, chief among them his Medicare-for-All healthcare plan.

But while Medicare-for-All and other progressive initiatives have taken center stage in the Democratic primary, there has been little discussion regarding the political viability of these policies. Thus far, Democrats have spent so much time debating pie-in-the-sky solutions that anything resembling feasible policy is relegated to a new subclass of Democratic politics: realism. Instead of discussing practical solutions to the problems facing this country, Democratic primary candidates have focused their attention on a series of far-left policies; even the least extreme of these proposals has next to no chance of passing through the Senate.

It’s no surprise that practicality has taken a backseat, given that even broaching the subject can be a one-way ticket out of the race. During a July debate, Congressman John Delaney attacked Senator Warren’s plans as unrealistic, “impossible promises.” Warren replied, “I don’t understand why anybody goes (through) all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for.” Pundits hailed the quip as “the line of the night.” Congressman Delaney exited the race last week, after months of polling at zero percent.

Since when did it become taboo to discuss political reality? Certainly, politicians’ overpromising is nothing new. However, the height-

ened degree of dishonesty and the vitriol with which one is attacked for pointing it out is alarming. This country faces serious challenges in the near future: tackling a growing national debt while protecting essential government programs, combatting the threat of climate change and fixing a healthcare system where getting sick may mean going bankrupt. And the seriousness of those challenges necessitates solutions that are themselves serious — in large part because they are practical. Bernie Sanders may be leading, as he says, a political revolu-

seat they currently occupy and win every single “Toss-up,” “Lean-Republican” and “Likely-Republican,” they still fall three votes short of a 60-vote majority. And if Sanders is hoping to pick off a few of those “Solid Republican” seats, consider this: Since the Seventeenth Amendment established the direct election of senators, no party has flippedmore than 12 Senate seats in an election, ever.

So, it appears that if Sanders or Warren expect to get anything done in the Senate, they’ll need at least some Republican support. Well,

want to talk to the 24 of 27 declared Democratic primary candidates who either do not support their Medicare-for-All proposal or are also open to other options like Medicare-for-Some.

Ordinarily, I would say Sanders and Warren’s policy proposals are harmless political wish-making. However, the time Americans are willing to spend focusing on political discourse is limited. And, up to this point, that scarce resource has been squandered talking about the virtues of issues like decriminalizing illegal border crossings, gun confiscation, abolishing pri-

“For every column-inch or debate question the media dedicates to Sanders-Warren political fantasies, we lose an opportunity to discuss a future that’s grounded in reality, rather than in the clouds.”

tion in this country. He clearly has energetic supporters — and a lot of them. But he has also been in the Senate long enough to understand that Mitch McConnell will not be persuaded by a cavalcade of Bernie Bros. To pretend otherwise detracts from much-needed discussion and debate over politically feasible solutions to real problems facing real people.

To some extent, it is true that Republicans and Mitch McConnell are the biggest obstacles to Warren and Sanders’ legislative goals. But at a more fundamental level, their real enemy is math. Democrats need to gain 13 seats to have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate (accounting for the two independents, Sanders being one, who caucus with the Democrats).

According to the Cook Political Report, there are exactly 14 Senate seats in the upcoming election not rated “Solid Democrat” or “Solid Republican.” Four are held by Democrats, 10

by Republicans. If the Democrats held every

what about Bernie’s plan to use grassroots support to persuade the ever-conciliatory Mitch McConnell? Let’s take Sanders’ flagship Medicare-for-All proposal as an example. He loves to tout polls showing majority support for Medicare-for-All. And indeed, when asked whether they support Medicare-for-All, a majority of Americans consistently say they do. Unfortunately for Sanders’ grassroots strategy, these polls are more dispositive of a misunderstanding of his proposal rather than actual support.

Sanders’ plan is to move to an entirely government-run health insurance system, which means abolishing all forms of private health insurance. And when polled, only 22 percent of registered Democrats say they favor a Medicare-for-All plan that abolishes private health insurance; among all voters, that number drops to just 13 percent. And before Sanders and Warren try to convince 87 percent of the country to join their grassroots movement, they may

vate health insurance and a whole host of other unpopular — not to mention could-never-happen — policy proposals. If we are going to solve these problems, Democrats need to be willing to discuss feasible solutions. Perhaps there is a large segment of the population who want their politicians to be the uncompromising, swingfor-the-fences type. Certainly, Warren and Sanders’ performance thus far is evidence of that. But for every column-inch or debate question the media dedicates to Sanders-Warren political fantasies, we lose an opportunity to discuss a future that’s grounded in reality, rather than in the clouds.

Andrew Reed ’21 can be reached at andrew_ reed@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

First-Years can get a lot from a job search (that’s not a job) JOHNNY REN ’23 STAFF COLUMNIST One day at the start school year, barely a month into my first year of college, I scurried off to the library in a dress shirt and trousers to print out ten copies of my resume, which I had only scraped together the night before. It was a tragic sight — the resume, that is — sparsely populated with the limited accolades I had earned during high school. In a rush, I plucked each page off the printer and hurried away.

The existential dread did hit me at some point later that day. As I stood in line at the career fair, I started to wonder if I was being overzealous. I didn’t even know what I wanted to study in college, let alone what the company I was waiting in line for actually did. I wondered if I was moving too fast, if the half-windsor knot around my neck was crooked. And looming over all these concerns was the bigger question: What am I going to do in life?

Two career fairs, one LinkedIn profile and five resume updates later, I still don’t have the answer. If anything, the uncertainty has gotten worse. And while I have explored opportunities outside the professional world, I have also continued my fruitless job search.

Starting my second semester of college, I have started to see the process for what it really is: an exercise in dealing with the uncertainties and self-doubts of adulthood.

Prior to college, I could always be prepared.

I went to kindergarten to master phonics and

went to middle school to learn algebra. In high school, there were test prep books and always tests to prepare for. The college application process provided me with a healthy dose of the unpredictable. But even then, there was the sense that the time was right, that 18 was a good age to move away from home and start anew, wherever that would be.

ly boosts my chances of finding somewhere to work for the summer.

The whole process is also a fantastic experiment with failure. I’ve been rejected in the past, from sports teams and clubs and colleges. But my recent adventures have shown me how to fall on my face with flying colors. Apply to ten companies. Get rejected from eight and ghosted

“Two career fairs, one LinkedIn profile and five resume updates later, I still don’t have the answer. If anything, the uncertainty has gotten worse.”

Fast forward to now, and any sense of preparation starts crumbling away. Reading the qualifications for practically any summer internship is a sobering experience. In most cases, I am hopelessly unqualified.

So why apply at all?

I still don’t know what I’m doing — if the frantic fray of employment is the best way to spend the summer. Maybe two months of research would be better? Maybe I just need some time to think. In light of such indecision, I would like to keep my options open. While each job I apply to is a Hail Mary, it marginal-

by two. Apply to other places. There is no time to wallow in self-pity, and so the rejections have started to feel not so bad at all.

Of course, the challenge of being a firstyear remains. It is a curse that has required me to intentionally overlook calls for “junior and senior applicants only” and to apply anyway. I once considered making the font for my class year smaller on my resume, hoping recruiters wouldn’t notice it. I decided against this when I realized that everything else about my profile would immediately expose my youth and inexperience.

But I suspect that I am not alone — that we all start with this freshman resume, one that requires us to use our imaginations in creative, slightly misleading ways. Every resume, after all, presents a version of ourselves we want to be. It’s a kind of desperate aspiration that compels us to flex our own competence when we are unsure what competence even means.

So many of us feel like we are faking it, and so many of us feel like we are underqualified.

For first-years, this may be especially true. I doubt these anxieties will ever fully fade. Deep down, I have the sneaking suspicion that I will never feel truly ready.

Three years from now, I will be a senior, with graduation right around the corner. I will step past the Van Wickle gates and into the real world. I hope I will be wiser then, more certain of my convictions. Most likely, however, I will feel as I did but five months ago, like a first-year at his first career fair.

When that feeling returns, I will be prepared. I will know the weight of ignorance and inexperience. I will know what it is like to hold out hope in the face of impossible odds. It’s all just an act, but an act that we can perform with some confidence. Walk up. Give a firm handshake. Pass over the resume and hope for the best.

Johnny Ren ’23 can be reached at jiawei_ ren@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2020

ARTS & CULTURE REVIEW

‘Cheer’ redefines, challenges existing stereotypes of cheerleading

Netflix docuseries follows Navarro College cheerleading team to Nationals

BY KAITI YOO SENIOR STAFF WRITER “Five, six, seven, eight, one!” That’s the cue for Navarro cheerleader Morgan Simianer to hurl herself thirty feet into the air, flip twice at the top, then land back in the arms of four of her teammates. She groans upon impact but hops out of the stunt nonchalantly, clearly used to the pain.

“There’s a lot of stereotypes that go on with cheerleading. People think that we’re dumb blondes … (or) that we just do cheers like ‘Go team!’... But we actually put our bodies through a lot of pain,” Simianer tells us in a voiceover.

This is the opening scene of “Cheer,” the six-part Netflix docuseries following the 14-time national champion cheerleading team of Navarro College, located in small-town Corsicana, Texas. Released on Jan. 8, the series was directed

by Greg Whiteley, also known for the docuseries “Last Chance U.” “Cheer” spotlights the highs and lows of the sport by underscoring the deep significance it holds to all who practice it. It does so by zooming in on the backstories of five athletes on the team — Morgan Simianer, Lexi Brumback, Gabi Butler, LaDarius Marshall and Jerry Harris — and their poised, tough-as-nails coach Monica Aldama, the “queen” responsible for transforming the college’s cheer program into the title-winning machine it has become over the past two decades. Over the course of the docuseries, the audience

grows to love these individuals as Whitely’s attention to the intricacies of their unique relationship with cheerleading — and each other — captures viewers’ attention.

The series begins 65 days out from the National Cheerleaders Association National Championships held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. This competition is the only chance that collegiate cheer teams get to win a national title every year. Because the stakes are so high, only half of the 40 Navarro cheerleaders will “make mat,” which is Aldama’s slang for making the cut to compete on the big day.

From the beginning, Butler, Brumback and Marshall are portrayed as front-runners for the top 20. Butler, a flyer and tumbler, is a “cheer-lebrity” (cheerleading slang for a household name within the sport) with a reputation that precedes her. Yet, despite her slew of world champion titles and her large social media following, a closer look reveals the pressure she lives under to satiate her family’s escalating expectations to expand her brand. On the other hand, Brumback, the team’s tumbling “beast,” is a high school dropout who attributes cheerleading to be the sole reason she’s not “sitting in a jail cell right now.” Throughout the episodes, she struggles with separating from her rebellious past and fully embracing her present identity as a cheerleader. Finally, Marshall, a survivor of sexual abuse and bullying, struggles to let and keep his walls down while protecting his spot as the team’s bombastic, vibrant and confident center performer.

Conversely, Simianer and Harris start out among the underdogs of the squad. Simianer enters as an alternate flyer with lacking technique and inse-

COURTESY OF NETFLIX

Monica Aldama (left) is the mastermind coach who has led the Navarro cheerleading program to fourteen national championship titles over the past two decades. She serves as a role model to her team. cure performance in the air. Coming from a broken family where both of her parents left her when she was a child, Simianer takes the camera crew and the viewer along her journey of making cheer her outlet to fight her way to the top (of the pyramid). Harris makes an impression as a crowd favorite from the beginning. Although he is not as agile or strong as some of his competitors, Harris showcases his endearing personality, unparalleled work ethic and unforgettable “mat talk” — cheer slang for shouting encouragement to others while performing on the floor. Despite recently losing his mother to cancer, his traits and strengths keep him close to hearts of Aldama, his teammates and the Netflix audience.

Together, these diverse experiences and backgrounds culminate to demonstrate how unifying and powerful this sport is. Cheerleading breeds devotion

and tenacity in its participants — they will literally bend over backward despite no promise of a career in cheer after graduation, as a professional league for cheerleading does not exist.

The docuseries delves into many discussions about the underlying social problems embedded within the Navarro cheerleading experience. However, many of them are left half-formed and underdeveloped. It touches on the industry’s breeding of body dysmorphia through the weighing of flyers, the ideological conflict between the conservative Texas landscape and the LGBTQ+ identities of many of the team members and the over-dominant monopoly of Varsity Brands on the cheerleading industry, but “Cheer” rarely pushes past a few vague statements, only raising the subjects instead of offering a deep critique.

“Cheer” accomplished a milestone

for cheerleading by giving it the exposure and visibility it needed to prove its value as a difficult feat. By the end of the six episodes, it is no longer a question of whether cheerleading is a sport, but rather a question of how far its players will go in order to play it. Because of the enormous, intrinsic danger of the three-tier pyramids, intricate tumbling sequences and complex stunts, even if athletes are competent enough to make mat, they are never safe from sudden injury and subsequent replacement.

From bodies hitting the ground at full speed to members refusing to get their injuries checked in order to continue competing, viewers feel out of breath, full of adrenaline and anxiety, as if they were the very athletes pushing through the bloody, sweaty and teary two minutes and 15 seconds on the floor.