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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 98

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New Lego set celebrates women in NASA Nobel prize winner talks

economy, common good Jean Tirole addresses government, ‘veil of ignorance’ in discussion defining common good By JACKSON WELLS SENIOR STAFF WRITER

COURTESY OF MAIA WEINSTOCK

Margaret Hamilton, one of the women represented in the new Lego set, worked as a programmer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and created software for the Apollo Space program.

Set proposed by Weinstock ’99 provides first representation of women in space science Legos By MIA PATTILLO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Today, young girls who dream of becoming astronauts or space scientists will be able to literally hold their futures in the palms of their hands. Lego has released a new 231-piece set featuring figures

based off of real women who worked for NASA, including Sally Ride, the first American female astronaut, and Mae Jemison, the first black woman in space. “I really hope to normalize the idea that women have been in these fields for a long time and have contributed to NASA since its earliest days,” said Maia Weinstock ’99, the woman behind the whole idea. She added that she hopes that it will help boys understand that women, too, belong in STEM areas. For girls, the figures can act as miniature role models in fields such as

Students to play music under the stars at B-side tent shows Brown-RISD musical community brought together for cozy, outdoor performances By DIVYA MANIAR CONTRIBUTING WRITER

B-Side Magazine’s semi-annual Tent Shows will return to Ruth J. Simmons Quadrangle this Friday to showcase student musicians in an outdoor setting. Originally hosted by the Brown Concert Agency, the yearly event was taken over last year by B-Side Magazine. “B-Side is all about showcasing music in general but especially music at Brown and RISD, and Tent Shows is a good way to bring that music to people in person,” said Michael O’Neill ’19, B-Side’s managing editor. “This year we have a variety,” O’Neill added. Spread over three stages and two and a half hours, this year’s concert will showcase sixteen

INSIDE

musical acts that represent different genres and styles. Audiences can expect folksy singer-songwriter acts alongside hip-hop performances, electronic instruments and rock bands’ acoustic sets, he continued. Fall Tent Shows have since become one of B-Side’s many community events that provide avenues for the Brown-RISD music scene. “We played Tent Shows last year and had a great time, so we thought it would be fun to play it again,” said Luk Yean ’19, speaking on behalf of his band, Strawberry Generation. B-Side is “doing great work,” he continued. “It’s one of my first times performing solo on campus with my original material. I’m very excited,” said Allison Rosenbaum ’18, another performer at the event. “I’m very grateful that … (B-Side) has this opportunity where they showcase so many different people,” she said. Planning this event was a monthlong process, according to O’Neill. » See B-SIDE, page 2

engineering, math or science, where they might feel inferior or unwelcome as females, she said. “There’s that phrase — if you can see it, you can be it — and in a lot of toys and books and movies you don’t necessarily see many STEM role models for girls,” Weinstock added. When young girls are out looking at a toy and they see that it doesn’t offer female protagonists, they may start to develop a sense that they don’t belong in those fields, Weinstock said. It’s » See LEGOS, page 3

Studying economics doesn’t necessarily mean selling your soul. Jean Tirole, Nobel Prize winning economist and professor at the Toulouse School of Economics, visited the University Oct. 27 to discuss his new book, “Economics for the Common Good.” The panel, which was held in Salomon Center, saw Tirole answer questions from Glenn Loury, professor of economics, along with some audience members. Loury began the panel by asking Tirole about his path to becoming a renowned and award-winning public intellectual. Tirole said he wrote his book so a wide audience could understand the science of economics and how economists can work to achieve the common good. This lead to discussion about how to define the “common good,” and how economics could bring it about. Tirole said that it was difficult to define and that the best tool available for achieving the common good is what he called the

“veil of ignorance.” What sort of society would you want to live in if you were not yet born and had no knowledge of what your life would be? Obviously, people are not completely dedicated to the common good, he said. Rather, they are motivated by their own incentives, which must be taken into account. Governments also follow their own incentives, Tirole said. Those within government sometimes prioritize their own goals and agendas — such as reelection — over the common good. Certain policies that may further a government’s goals can also force debt, climate change and poor education onto young people. All of these things need to be considered when thinking about the common good for society, he said. Contrary to popular belief, economists do not inherently love the market; in fact, much of their time is spent analyzing market failures, Tirole said. When they look at these failures, they consider different governmental policies that can correct them and will work to achieve the common good. The idea that everything should be a market is “just plain wrong.” For instance, if college education went simply to the highest bidder, then knowledge would have nothing to do with education; » See ECONOMICS, page 2

Magee Street renamed Bannister St. Street previously named after slave-trader now named after black artist, businesswoman By DYLAN MAJSIAK CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Providence City Council unanimously voted Monday to change Magee Street — previously named after slave-trader William F. Megee — to “Bannister Street.” This renaming will commemorate the renown 19th century black couple, Edward and Christiana Bannister. “These people lived in a time when African-Americans did not have any freedom,” testified President of Stages of Freedom, Cheryl Jordan, at the committee session. “And yet with the freedom that they did have, they didn’t just do something for AfricanAmericans. They served the greater community.” Stages of Freedom, a Rhode Island based non-profit that aims to promote black culture, decided to propose the renaming of a street for the Bannisters

COURTESY OF THE CITY OF PROVIDENCE

The change in name condemns the commemoration of a slave trader while honoring a local and distinguished 19th century Providence couple. more than a year ago. Edward Bannister was a famed landscape and portrait painter who awarded the “Best Artist in America” at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. His wife, Christiana Bannister, was a successful businesswoman and served as one of Providence’s first civic leaders through founding the Bannister Nursing Home, according to Executive Director of Stages of Freedom, Ray Rickman. The organization offered several

street options but did not always receive full support from residents who subsequently would have had to change their addresses. Upon receiving positive feedback from the community on changing “Magee Street,” Rickman sent a letter to Councilman Samuel Zurier of Ward 2 with the idea for the project. The decision to change Magee Street stemmed both from the desire to subvert the commemoration of a » See STREET, page 2

WEATHER

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

NEWS Melissa Flowers hired as senior director in ResLife after departures of Richard Bova, Natalie Basil

ARTS & CULTURE Performance of electronic piece ‘Hymnen’ incorporates a variety of national anthems from Europe

COMMENTARY Liang ’19: In spite of U. statements, money, legacy play a role in admissions decisions

COMMENTARY Fernandez ’21: As UPR faces obstacles, higher ed in Puerto Rico requires global attention

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»B-SIDE, from page 1 “We only opened up (applications) to Brown and RISD students as performers because we wanted to make sure we highlighted students as part of our community,” he said. This year, every application from performers could be accommodated, allowing for a diverse range of acts. O’Neill said one of the show’s priorities was to have a balanced lineup that ranges in musical genres. “The way the applications this year came in, it worked out naturally,” O’Neill added. Though Tent Shows does not adhere to any particular theme, it aims to provide a cozy ambiance for students to enjoy live music. “It’s outside on Simmons Quad, and under the stars. We have lights in the trees, blankets and sheets. It’s a quiet,

intimate setting.” Though there are many “gig opportunities to be found” at Brown, according to Yean, the Tent Shows event is differentiated by its laidback outdoor settings. Tent Shows also accommodates more folksy acoustic acts than the average performance space, Rosenbaum said. Looking ahead, O’Neill highlighted other upcoming B-Side shows, including their more frequent “Coffee Haus” events, which also give Brown and RISD student musicians performance space. “We can write about music all we want, but actually having student musicians and giving them a platform to perform for their friends and even for people they don’t know is really, really valuable,” O’Neill said.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

COURTESY OF B-SIDE MAGAZINE

The Tent Shows will be held on Simmons Quad and will bring student performers from a range of genres to perform together in a laidback outdoor setting under the cover of darkness.

» ECONOMICS, from page 1

» STREET, from page 1

rather, it would be dependent upon parents’ wealth. There is much blame directed at experts, especially economists, for many issues taking place across the globe, such as poverty, climate change and artificial intelligence, Tirole said. These fears are exploited by the media, which in turn creates both a disdain for and distrust of the media, he said. However, many issues are caused by governmental policies, sometimes in exact opposition to the advice of experts, he said. Tirole also discussed the financial crisis in Spain, arguing that the true blame lies more on regulators of the economy than on economists themselves. Tirole discussed the integrality of including experts from other fields in economic studies. This allows experts to learn from one another, he said. It is also necessary not to view science and policy in the same way, since science relies on observation and dissent, while policy instead relies on a consensus, Tirole said. Tirole also discussed the inequity in the burden put on countries for issues such as climate change. Western countries have benefited from polluting. Meanwhile, a lack of carbon price in China or India means that smaller countries now face a heavier burden from climate change than the larger countries. This could be mended by subsidizing these smaller countries, he said. As there is an ever-increasing proliferation of technology, many people are concerned jobs will disappear. Tirole

slave-trader and the serendipitous fact that the Bannisters would have regularly walked this street — having lived on Benevolent before Wriston Quad was built. Zurier formally introduced a bill championing the change September 26. “The timing of this request was very fortunate. It came in just as we were dealing with these issues down in Charllotesville about monuments to Confederate army generals and Confederate flags,” Zurier said. The City Council approved legislation condemning Confederate symbols on public property, The Herald previously reported. Because R.I. was part of the Union during the Civil War, this was a gesture of solidarity and not meant to rectify a local issue, he added. “On the other hand, we do have this legacy in R.I. about being involved in the slave trade. So it just looked like the perfect opportunity to address this national issue in the context of where we live.” Jordan and Rickman of Stages of Freedom testified in favor of the resolution alongside Providence City Archivist, Caleb Horton; Manager of Policy & Research of the Council, Nick Freeman and Executive Director of the Rhode Island Historical Society, C. Morgan Grefe. Letters of support from Colonel Chief of Police, Hugh Clements Jr., Commissioner of Public Safety, Steven Paré,… and Postmaster Ronald Pauline were also shared. “My only regret is that the street is so short that we can’t make an even

COURTESY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY

Recalling John Rawls’ idea of the “veil of ignorance,” Jean Tirole discussed the difficulty of universally defining “the common good” in economics. said the real concern, though, is that the types of jobs will change. There are a number of policies, such as taxation on robots, to act as “sand in the wheels of technological progress” to give people

time to adjust. A number of complications arise from this as well such as job outsourcing. The solution is to protect workers, not jobs. For this, there is no “one” policy, he said.

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bigger statement about two of the most amazing people I’ve had the privilege to study and treasure,” Grefe said in session. The resolution — despite its overwhelming support from the community — did initially receive criticism from Richard Wagner and Elizabeth Wheeler ,who run a business on the corner of Benevolent and Magee Streets. The objecting party made claims that changing its business address would cost thousands of dollars, but Rickman rejected the legitimacy of those figures and argued that their business did not directly face Magee Street but rather Benevolent Street — as the actual address is 12 Benevolent Street. Wagner and Wheeler did not attend the committee session to request for comment. The passed resolution will be finalized by the Urban Redevelopment Committee next Thursday. Its implementation marks a significant victory for the community, according to Stages of Freedom. “This widening of knowledge, of black life and culture in Rhode Island, should be addressed in a way that everyone can share it,” Jordan said. “The names of our cities and towns and communities should reflect the full legacy and diversity of our society.” Until now, no street in Providence had been named after an African American citizen, according to Rickman. Stages of Freedom plans to propose two more street name-changes in order to highlight the contributions of African Americans to Providence.

NEWS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 • PAGE 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Flowers hired as Reslife senior director to provide strategic vision Former Trinity University director hired at ResLife after departures of former administrators By TRISHA THACKER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

After an extensive national search, Melissa Flowers has been appointed senior director for residential education and operation, wrote Mary Grace Almandrez, associate vice president for campus life and dean of students, in an email to Residential Life staff. “Melissa will provide innovative leadership and a strategic vision for the Office of Residential Life, staff, programs and facilities,” Almandrez wrote in the email. “She will also partner with colleagues to ensure Brown’s residential programs and operations cultivate educational environments that promote transformational learning and community-building among our interconnected

community of students.” Flowers’ appointment follows the summer 2016 departures of both former Senior Associate Dean of Residential Life Richard Bova and former Director of Residential Experience Natalie Basil. In the interim, Assistant Vice President for Campus Life MaryLou McMillan served as the director for ResLife until she left the University Sept. 1 after 30 years of service. Almandrez told The Herald that Bova and Basil left “to pursue other opportunities” and that since their departure, ResLife has been operating as a result of “hardworking staff who had to pick up a lot of additional responsibilities” and “strong student leaders.” Flowers said she has worked in higher education and residential life for nearly 15 years, most recently serving as director of residential life at Trinity University. Carolan Norris, senior associate director of athletics and member of the search committee, said “she was the best and most qualified candidate of

the people brought in,” adding that the committee “had a very strong pool and she rose to the top with all the different constituencies that she met with.” Flowers hopes to cater to the needs of students by working with them directly. Upon reading the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, she remarked how “intellectually independent, curious, principled and collaborative” Brown students are. “I want to hear directly from the students and turn that into a strategic plan for the department moving forward,” she said. Norris said Flowers was “engaging, had a very calm presence and was a very good listener.” Moreover, Flowers said she “appreciated the three-year residency requirement at Brown” and that working at Brown “felt like a really nice fit.” She is very excited about the great potential of the staff and facilities and aspires to “enhance the experience of students,” she added.

COURTESY OF TRINITY UNIVERSITY

Flowers has previously worked for nearly 15 years in higher education and two years at residential life at Trinity University before coming to Brown.

Gloria Cheng to perform at Granoff Center Acclaimed pianist to premiere 32 short pieces as part of a tribute to late Steven Stucky By ELIZABETH TOLEDANO SENIOR STAFF WRITER

On Nov. 10 at 8 p.m., Grammy Awardwinning pianist Gloria Cheng will premiere 32 short compositions. Sponsored by the Brown Arts Initiative, the event will commemorate the life of the late Steven Stucky, an acclaimed composer and mentor to Assistant Professor of Music Eric Nathan. In addition to the works of 31 of Stucky’s other friends and students, Cheng will include Nathan’s work in her performance at the University. She will perform these works, in addition to Stucky’s own composition, at the Martinos Auditorium before she completes the CD with Bridge Records. That Friday afternoon, Cheng will also give a lecture in the Orwig Music Library as part of the “Music Now” series.

Stucky was a “singular force in the world,” Nathan said. “His music was filled with such feeling, intellect and humanity.” Nathan first met Stucky at the Aspen Music Festival and School in 2005 as an undergraduate student. He continued to study with Stucky between 2008 and 2012 as a doctorate student at Cornell. “He led lessons like a colleague who was lending another set of ears,” Nathan said, adding that he pushed his students to make decisions on their own. When Stucky passed away in February 2016 at age 66, he left fellow composers, students and followers in mourning. He was a “lovely, erudite and eloquent man who so many of us turned to,” Cheng said. During his career, he taught at The Julliard School and Cornell and was a resident composer at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. In 2005, he received a Pulitzer Prize for his “Second Concerto for Orchestra.” Cheng first began working with Stucky when she was playing second keyboard with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Stucky had been

working as a new-music advisor during a “golden age” for composition, she said. He would attend practices, bringing a “benign, supportive, funny, humble yet brilliant presence,” she added. During that time, Cheng began to work with Stucky’s own compositions. She made a recording featuring the works of Stucky and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Stucky suggested that she pair these works with a piece by Witold Lutoslawski, whose work he helped bring to the public eye. When she released the CD in 2008, Stucky wrote the liner notes. The recording received a Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance. “I know, in my heart, that the reason it won the Grammy was because of Steven,” she said. In April 2016, the director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic suggested that six of Stucky’s friends and former students write their own compositions for a tribute concert. She asked Cheng to divide the pieces amongst different pianists. Upon hearing about this project, more of his friends asked if they could contribute their own

works. In response, Cheng decided to organize and perform a larger compilation that would incorporate these different voices. She reached out to Stucky’s friends and fellow composers and received an overwhelming response. “I knew how many of us, including me, really wanted a way to express our … grief over losing such a dear man so shockingly and unexpectedly,” Cheng said. So many friends and students of Stucky wanted to participate that Cheng had difficulty creating a list of works short enough for the single recording she will perform next week at Martinos Auditorium. In bringing this performance — entitled “Garlands for Steven Stucky: Gloria Cheng in Recital” — to the University, Nathan hopes to introduce students to Stucky’s work. Stucky exemplifies what “being an integral part of a musical community” means, Nathan said. He hopes that this event, as well as the “Music Now” lecture series, will give students insight into the close bonds integral to the music community and help foster artistic relationships at the university level.

» LEGOS, from page 1 important to start young and help girls understand that they can be leaders, she added. A child’s surroundings have the power to inspire and motivate young minds, said Elizabeth Silber, astronomer and postdoctoral research fellow at the University. “I remember watching Star Trek as a child and thinking, ‘How wonderful would it be to explore space?’ Here I am now, doing exactly that,” Silber said. In choosing the women who would be turned into figures, Weinstock took several factors into account. Since she wasn’t allowed to use anyone currently working for NASA, she looked at past scientists and astronomers to choose five women who had different focuses at NASA and different cultural backgrounds. She included women who were well-known so that the set would draw attention and also lesser-known figures to teach people about their achievements. “I think it’s really, really cool that this Lego set is based on real women, because it can encourage more girls to pursue STEM when they see females who have actually made important contributions,” Silber said. While the set includes two astronomers, it also features scientists and engineers to show other possible career paths that women have and can pursue. For Sandra Wiseman, senior research associate in earth, environmental and planetary sciences at Brown, it’s affirming and interesting to see science brought into toys. As someone who had worked on Mars-related research in her years as an undergraduate, she enjoyed seeing Lego come out with the Curiosity Rover. “It’s really neat when something that’s happening in the scientific world can be immortalized as a toy,” Wiseman said. It’s even better when these toys help bring visibility to women in science, she added. “Role models are important because they show that ambition, perseverance and determination will get you there,” Silber said. “Just because a societal perception might imply that you shouldn’t do it, it doesn’t mean you should turn around.”

NEWS

PAGE 4 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

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U. hosts performance of ‘Audiovision: Stockhausen’s Hymnen’ Electronic piece by German composer Stockhausen weaves European anthems By ELISE RYAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Granoff Center’s Martinos Auditorium filled with sound Monday. Pieces of national anthems woven with radio static and voices spiraled around the room, as “Hymnen,” an electronic piece by German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, was played through loudspeakers positioned in each corner of the auditorium. “Audiovision: Stockhausen’s Hymnen,” was presented by the Brown Arts Initiative in collaboration with the Cogut Institute’s collaborative humanities program. Butch Rovan, director of the Brown Arts Initiative, said this performance is different than anything else presented at the University previously. “(You are) listening to music presented in this very immersive, multichannel format, but you’re not looking at anybody performing,” Rovan said. The performance was presented in accordance with a graduate-level course co-taught by Dean of the Faculty Kevin McLaughlin and Professor of Humanities and Comparative Literature Peter Szendy titled “What Was Europe?” This course comes as part of a new initiative focused on collaborative humanities funded through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The program aims to pilot “PhD-level seminars that highlight collaboration between two faculty members and … graduate students from different

SIMONE ZHAO / HERALD

“Hymnen” was played through loudspeakers in each corner and wove together national anthems, radio static and voices. The performance was presented in accordance with a graduate level course titled “What Was Europe.” departments,” McLaughlin said. Students in the course have been discussing the symbolic representations of Europe, Szendy said. “Without some sort of symbolic representation a political entity doesn’t really even exist because people can’t identify with it,” Szendy added. “Hymnen” acted as the reading for this week’s class. “We’ve looked at literature, we’ve looked at visual art … this week we’re looking at music,”

McLaughlin said. Stockhausen’s piece acts as a “utopian attempt to gather in one musical work many anthems from the whole world,” Szendy said. At the end of the piece, Stockhausen imagines an anthem called “Hymunion,” for a utopian political entity called “Harmondie,” Szendy explained. Stockhausen’s “Hymnen” is divided into four “regions,” which were each presented on Monday night. Each

region contains anthems from numerous countries, shortwave radio sounds and voices that speak in different languages, which have been “totally metamorphosed,” Szendy said. At times, sounds combine and clash, creating tension, before falling quiet and calm again. At one point, voices projected through speakers at different corners of the room, announcing varying shades of red in different tones and languages. At the end of the

piece, Stockhausen’s own breathing is projected. Before the concert began, Szendy quoted Stockhausen’s introduction at a concert in 2001: “Don’t forget to close your eyes,” he said. While the piece contains no visual elements, Szendy told The Herald that this comment was “precisely a way of generating audio vision instead of preventing it,” as “you have all kinds of images that come to your mind.”

‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’ overly sentimental, forgettable DANIEL WAYLAND arts & culture critic

A child’s mind is the ultimate theater for imagination, but you’d never know it watching “Goodbye Christopher Robin.” Directed by Simon Curtis, the film stars Domhnall Gleeson as A.A. Milne and Will Tilston as his son, Christopher Robin Milne, and centers around the senior Milne’s creation of the famed Winnie-thePooh tales, which were inspired by observing his son’s inventive fantasies. It’s part period piece, part familial drama, part war meditation, part coming of age story — but in the end, “Goodbye Christopher Robin”

is just a messy entry and an otherwise forgettable, Oscar-baity biopic. The film follows Gleeson’s Milne, your classically aristocratic British gent, after he returns home from World War I. Wracked with post-war trauma, Milne struggles to regain a sense of normalcy and eventually moves to the countryside with Christopher, his wife, played by Margot Robbie, and their nanny, played by Kelly McDonald in the film’s strongest acting performance. A series of father-son jaunts in the forest form the backbone for Milne’s eventual Winnie-the-Pooh series, but the film assumes a darker character once unexpected fame hits the family. The parents, who have never treated young Christopher as any-

thing but a nuisance — even arguing at one point over who would have to assume caretaking responsiblities in the event of a divorce — use him as a vehicle to advance their own statuses. In terms of sentimental biopics, “Goodbye Christopher Robin” skews more sinister and ambiguous than its counterparts, and certainly more willing to air out dirty laundry. But the film ultimately collapses in its attempt to execute those complexities that characterized Milne’s life. Curtis treats his vision with a heavy hand. Transition cuts occur awkwardly, transporting the reader between eras in an act of uncomfortable timebending. In one scene, Milne charges through a bunker and directly into

an English ballroom. Wartime PSTD has been handled better by films with more nuance and originality. Tilston’s Christopher, who has just outgrown the toddler stage of youth, occasionally offers carefully articulated insights that almost felt like he was reading from a script meant for an adult actor. If these critiques sounds harsh, forgive me. It’s just easy to become frustrated by the type of film Simon Curtis makes. Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times writes: “Hollywood greets the end of the year by suddenly noticing that roughly a third of moviegoers (and threequarters of art-house audiences) are over 50, most of them women. …(It) can lead to theaters clogged

with old-lady bait, which usually means something British and upper-crusty, preferably with literary roots. A dollop of war, a death or two, and it’s off to the awards races.” It’s a style found in “My Week with Marilyn” (which I admittedly enjoyed) and “Woman in Gold,” the last two films Curtis directed. Middlebrow cinema trying to pass for highbrow handles its material with a superciliousness that leaves itself subject to more spiteful criticism. It is precisely that quality that makes “Goodbye Christopher Robin” endlessly more entertaining to lambaste than to actually watch. With that said, don’t let my snobbish judgment stop you from watching the film.

TODAY

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 • PAGE 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

h a l l o w e e n h av o c h i t s t h e h i l l

SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS

Pizza: Spicy Sausage & Garlic, Mushroom’s Revenge, Pepperoni Pizza JOSIAH’S

BLUE ROOM

Chicken Pot Pie Bowl, Quesadilla Station

Beef Chili with Beans, Build Your Own Burrito Bowl

DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH

DINNER

Cream of Tomato Soup, Chicken Santa Rosa Calzone, Cookies and Cream Cookie

Orange Teriyaki Haddock, Roasted Summer Squash, Chocolate Cake

VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH

DINNER

Country Wedding Soup, Beef Carnitas, Shaved Steak Sandwich, Cookies and Cream Cookies

Spicy Pepper Pulled Chicken, Cilantro Tomatillo Rice, Potato Bread with Roasted Onions

sudoku

crossword

GUS REED / HERALD

Fright filled the air this Tuesday as students celebrated Halloween festivities. Besides attending the annual Midnight Organ Concert, students dressed up in spooky costumes and consumed sweet treats.

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

“I remember watching Star Trek as a child and thinking, ‘How wonderful would it be to explore space?’ Here I am

”

now, doing exactly that.

— Elizabeth Silber, astronomer and postdoctoral research fellow

See legos on page 1 calendar TODAY OCTOBER MARCH

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

Affirmative Action and AAPI Tea Talk 5:30 P.M. BCSC, Informal Lounge

Brown/RISD Democratic Socialists Meeting 6:30 P.M. Sayles, 005

Culture, Colonialism, and Cows 8:00 P.M. JWW, 501

TOMORROW

Brown in Cuba Info Session 12:00 P.M. JWW, 440

Critical Language Scholarship Info Session 4:00 P.M. JWW, 440

Reading: Poet Adrienne Raphel 5:30 P.M. McCormack Family Theater

LGBTQ Dating Forum 7:00 P.M. BCSC, Formal Lounge 1

COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

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COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017 • PAGE 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Let my sister into Brown MARK LIANG staff columnist Ah, Nov. 1. Amid the wafting breeze of pumpkin spice and sepia-tinged sunsets, there’s another thing about today that truly makes my heart sing. It’s the anxious typing of teens all over the world as they send in their early decision applications. Think of all those essays about scuba-diving in American Samoa and building toilets in Wyoming. I didn’t apply early decision, but I nevertheless have a modest proposal for the Admission Office: Please, pretty please, let my sister — Joyce Shao-Wei Liang, Aries, would-be Sagittarius and current high school senior — into Brown. Why? Just because. After all, since when does Brown need clear reasons to make their admission decisions? Sure, there are many non-academic intangibles that could affect her acceptance — but then again, Brown has always made it clear that those intangibles are not major factors in admissions, so why should we even worry? I mean, it’s not like Brown ever considers legacy status, sibling or otherwise. Nepotism absolutely does not exist in any form within the hallowed halls of this uni-

versity! Sure, former Dean of Admissions Jim Miller once said that Brown gives “almost no weight” to sibling legacy cases. I’m going to assume “almost no weight” is about as meaningless as saying “almost gluten-free” or “almost making the S/ NC cutoff.” So it feels good to know

matter at all, because when has early decision ever affected people’s chances? The Admission Office’s website clearly states, “The Board of Admission makes the same decisions under Early Decision that it would under the Regular Decision plan.” So what if the acceptance rate

lantic article titled “Early Decision Racket” that delves further into this, but it’s long and boring, and so we don’t have to worry about it. Yawn. And it’s not like the college-admissions game is money-driven in any way. Money is a social construct and has no role to play in any de-

Maybe one day I can read an article that features a name like Joyce Liang ’22 MD ’26 P ’46 ’48 ’51 ’59 GP ’74 ’79 and not involuntarily cringe about the admission connotations associated with such a title. But for now, I’m a sucker for the status quo.

that legacy will not impact my sister whatsoever, that she will be admitted to this university solely on her merit alone, and not at all because I wrote an article in this newspaper or baked the Admission Office cupcakes or broke into President Christina Paxson’s P’19 house and entered her dreams “Inception”-style. And we know that my sister’s decision to apply to Brown early won’t

for early decision is almost three times higher than regular admissions? So what if early decision favors the rich, the trained test-takers and white people in general? And so what if accepting her early decision means that Brown won’t have to woo my sister during ADOCH or worry about providing her with any sort of financial aid flexibility? There might be a 10,000-word At-

cision made by this university. The Admission Office doesn’t need to consider how much my parents will donate when my sister gets in (Leung gallery, ha, more like Liang gallery, amiright?). It won’t need to think about how the $69 my parents donated to the Brown Band will pale in comparison to their donations to club basketball, or recreational pole dancing, or nude underwater bas-

ket-weaving or whatever weird millennial thing my sister is into right now. It’s not like every donation counts, right? Let’s say for arguments sake that these things, maybe, possibly, potentially, have a teeny-weenie effect on admission decisions. Ordinarily, I’d say that it’s better to talk about things like money or power or privilege honestly than to pretend they don’t exist at all. But we seem to be ignoring a lot of things about college admissions and, for now, I’m willing to sell my soul and journalistic integrity to help my parents avoid the inordinate cost of sending two kids to two different colleges. Maybe one day I can read an article that features a name like Joyce Liang ’22 MD ’26 P ’46 ’48 ’51 ’59 GP ’74 ’79 and not involuntarily cringe about the admission connotations associated with such a title. But for now, I’m a sucker for the status quo. So I appeal to you directly, Dean of Admissions Logan Powell: When you’re making your decisions this year, keep in mind that if my sister doesn’t get into Brown now, a school like your former employer, Princeton, just might pick her up in May. Imagine the horror … my family would have to disinherit her. Or worse, actually send her there.

Mark Liang ’19 can be reached at mark_liang@brown.edu.

The crisis of higher ed in Puerto Rico MARYSOL FERNANDEZ staff columnist In the wake of Hurricane María, the Brown community has led several efforts to provide aid to the devastated island of Puerto Rico. Most recently, the University announced that Brown would host students from the University of Puerto Rico to help them continue their studies while the island struggles to get back on its feet. Brown is covering tuition, fees, housing, meals and other expenses, eliminating most economic obstacles for the students accepted into the program. The community is working hard to help the 25 students already on campus get adjusted with courses, campus life and the new setting. Brown has become a leader in aid efforts amongst American universities with this commendable act of compassion and solidarity. Yet it is essential to remember that only a very small group of the most high-achieving students from Puerto Rico have been accepted, an understandable limitation, but one that does not reflect the number of students in need. The demand for this kind of action from private institutions highlights the critical situation in which UPR finds itself and the implications of this crisis for all of Puerto Rico. UPR is one of the greatest cultural and social projects in the island’s history. It was founded in 1903 with only 273 students. Today, UPR is an internationally recognized institution that provides financially accessible higher education to around 60,000 students. Furthermore, UPR has remained dedicated to developing and transmitting knowledge for the good of all the community; it strives to be

an institution by and for the people of Puerto Rico and has time and again proven to have achieved this purpose. In its early history, the university played a significant role in helping transform Puerto Rico from an agrarian society into a modern one. In the past decade, as Puerto Rico faced fiscal crisis, UPR became the most powerful

the U.S. Congress — were in direct opposition to UPR’s core values and would have forced a significant portion of the student body to drop out. In addition, on May 1 students and workers’ unions mobilized much of Puerto Rico in a general strike against the financial oversight board that served to further highlight the university’s civic leadership.

The issues that the University of Puerto Rico is facing should resonate not only with students at Brown, but with anyone currently pursuing higher education as an investment in their community’s future.

voice of resistance against forces that have placed the needs of exploitative colonial structures over those of the island. Just before the hurricane, students shut down the university with strikes to protest proposed cuts in funding and increases in tuition. These policies — proposed by Puerto Rico’s Financial Oversight and Management Board undemocratically imposed on the people of Puerto Rico by

While these recent efforts to protect the University of Puerto Rico are noble and, arguably, necessary, it is undeniable that they have caused serious turmoil in the community. Hurricane María has worsened the situation, as the university is now facing rebuilding costs and a lack of electricity, as well as a faculty and student body struggling to survive. Furthermore, UPR continues to be one of the

first institutions to face cuts, despite the fact that it has historically been the island’s most powerful tool for development. This combination of issues has prompted a mass exodus from the island. While this is true throughout all of the population, so much so that there are more Puerto Ricans currently living outside of Puerto Rico than there are on the island, the trend has particularly impacted higher education. Puerto Rico’s attempts at recovery become increasingly difficult when it is unable to provide the support and educational opportunities to those most equipped to make a real difference on the island. Universities have always facilitated the open exchange of ideas and social development, a reality that is especially relevant in Puerto Rico. It is important to understand that a threat to this kind of space anywhere in the world is a threat to all of us who benefit from intellectual freedom and opportunity. Students, faculty and administrators at Brown have already proven their commitment to Puerto Rican education by supporting affected students. However, this is only a temporary solution. These same issues will continue to challenge Puerto Ricans long after this generation of students graduates. It is time for universities across the country, including UPR, to develop a discourse that addresses how essential higher learning is to intellectual growth and democracy. And it is time for U.S. students to learn from UPR students who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice so much for the ideal of education, and to follow their lead in becoming agents of change.

Marysol Fernandez ’21 can be reached at marysol_fernandez@brown.edu.

NEWS THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017

Former ambassador to China discusses career in foreign services Rank cites unwillingness to involve himself with pulling out of Paris Climate Change Accord By JACOB LOCKWOOD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Immediately following his inauguration, President Trump dismissed all foreign diplomats appointed by the administration of former President Obama. As the “number two” at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, David Rank assumed the responsibilities of Ambassador. Rank spoke before an audience of about 40 students at a talk hosted by the Political Science Departmental Undergraduate Group at 85 Waterman Street Tuesday. He sat down for a candid conversation about careers in the Foreign Service and the state of U.S. foreign policy with former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman, currently a senior fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Rank, a foreign service officer who returned to Beijing on assignment six times over the course of his career, rose through the ranks to become secondin-command at the U.S. Embassy in China. Then, “as soon as I woke up on the morning of (Jan. 20, 2017), I became chargé d’affaires,” or acting U.S. ambassador to China, Rank said. But there was a problem. “I couldn’t imagine taking an ambassadorship under the current president,” Rank said. He led the U.S. Embassy in Beijing until June when Trump announced his decision to pull the US out of the Paris Climate Accords. “As a parent, patriot and Christian, I could not in good conscience be involved in any way, no matter how small, with the implementation of that decision,” Rank said in an op-ed published in the Washington Post in

June, which said that Trump’s decision would degrade the US’s authority as global leader in diplomacy and science. Rank resigned from the Foreign Service in protest of the decision, ending a 27-year career that brought him through Greece, Afghanistan and China. As Freeman put it, Rank “jumped out of a plane without a parachute.” But, he joked, “you’re not on the street yet.” “It may come,” Rank quipped in response. The stories Rank and Freeman shared from their time in Beijing revealed that they faced vastly different circumstances despite serving in the same position at the U.S. Embassy in China. Freeman, who told The Herald he served as acting ambassador to China at a time when “China and the United States shared a common interest in frustrating Soviet policies,” described a friendly environment in Beijing that allowed him to form strong personal relationships with his Chinese counterparts. Rank, on the other hand, said it became increasingly difficult to establish close relationships with his Chinese counterparts as the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping progressed. “The U.S.-China relationship is much bigger today,” Rank explained, adding that “the atmosphere is much more tense now” for American diplomats in China. “There are certainly less empathetic regimes in both countries (today),” Freeman agreed. Rank said he didn’t expect China to become a global economic power when he first expressed interest in serving the U.S. diplomatic mission in Beijing. But having been accepted to the Foreign Service in 1989, which he described as a “momentous year in Chinese history,” Rank witnessed the rise of China over the course of his career.

Freeman tailored much of his conversation with Rank toward political science students interested in joining the Foreign Service by asking Rank what led him to pursue a diplomatic career. “I was a junior in history with no marketable skills,” Rank said. “I remember leaving my undergraduate studies and wanting to lead an extraordinary life. … The Foreign Service gives you that opportunity.” Rank described his career as full of excitement and uncertainty. “The day that the list of the next jobs came out was always my favorite moment,” Rank said, emphasizing the thrill of wondering, “Where will I be in the next six months?” Freeman echoed the sentiment, warning that “if you join the foreign services, you can’t really control where you end up. They turn to a world map and fling a dart at it,” he joked — “and you end up in places you never expected to be.” Rank saw this uncertainty as one of the best parts of his job. “The world is open to you,” he said. “You might be motivated by a desire to serve your country, or you might be motivated by a desire to constantly change your work environment,” Freeman said. “In either case, you might get to be a part of history.” When Freeman opened the conversation to questions from the audience, Rank touched on a variety of topics including his involvement in securing the release of Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban captivity, the language training he often went through before new foreign assignments and the role of China in the increasingly tense conflict between the United States and North Korea. David Golden ’19, who attended the event, said he was impressed with Rank’s deep knowledge of the varied topics he discussed. “He had very measured and interesting responses to

TIFFANY DING/ HERALD

After President Trump left the Paris Climate Accords, David Rank resigned from his role as foreign diplomat in Beijing. questions,” Golden added. “He backed his claims up with evidence and didn’t just make assertions.” Throughout their conversation, Rank and Freeman expressed concerns over the unstable state of American foreign policy. “We have erratic leadership. We have a government that can’t make decisions because of gridlock. We’re looking to your generation to clean up the mess we’ve made,” Freeman said, addressing the students in

the audience directly. “The US is not ordained by God to be the leader of the free world or the driver of the global system,” Rank said, arguing that our failure to honor international agreements such as the Paris Climate Accords reduces our global authority. “I worry that the breakdown of global structures will lead to the breakdown of global economics and political norms,” he added.