SINCE 1891
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
VOLUME CLII, ISSUE 74
WWW.BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM
WBRU alums contest sale of FM signal U., security contractor sued for gender bias, negligent hiring
U. students, alums butt heads over direction, medium, priorities of student-driven station
Former security guard alleges three years of gender discrimination by her direct superior
By KYLE BOROWSKI SENIOR REPORTER
Nearly a month after WBRU announced the sale of its FM radio signal, a group of the radio station’s alums have joined together to fight the sale, looking for legal loopholes and standing to challenge the $5.63 million deal. Representatives of a group of alums concerned with the sale met with the R.I. Attorney General’s office seeking some intervention based on irregularities in the sale process. But state regulations prohibit such intrusion into a private deal. “Attorneys from our office met with alumni and their attorney as a courtesy,” said Amy Kempe, public information officer for the attorney general’s office. “But as our attorneys explained, Rhode Island statute and regulation does not give the attorney general any legal authority to intervene, as is the case in nearly all private sales.” Citing falling student participation, station revenues and the declining relevance of radio as a medium, station staff have debated the possibility of a sale for some years, according to station General
By ANNA KRAMER SENIOR STAFF WRITER
QUYEN NGO / HERALD
WBRU sold its terrestrial radio signal for $5.63 million dollars, and students at the station hope to use the capital to venture into new forms of media. Manager Kishanee Haththotuwegama ’19. In 2013, she added, students voted to take the word “radio” out of the station’s mission statement. “Today’s reality is that young adults do not engage with music through FM radio as they once did,” Haththotuwegama wrote in an email to The Herald. Recognizing some change was needed to ensure the station’s longevity, the Board of Directors of the Brown Broadcasting Service — the entity which holds WBRU’s license — voted to authorize a sale of the station’s signal in January 2017, said Ted McEnroe ’89 MAT’92, a member of the station’s board of directors. The
sale, which will see WBRU’s terrestrial signal transferred to the California-based Christian contemporary nonprofit Educational Media Foundation, has proven divisive among both students and alums trying to forge a path forward for the historic station. The sale As students considered the station’s future, they were presented with two options: sell the station’s signal while it has its greatest value or attempt to save the station. “I absolutely believe the station could » See WBRU, page 2
A former security guard with a University contractor filed a lawsuit in June against the company and her former supervisor for gender-based discrimination and retaliation, as well as the University for negligently contracting with the company and violating its duty to hire a non-discriminatory company. In the lawsuit, filed in Providence/ Bristol County Superior Court, Nancy Stanley details numerous incidents in which she claims that her supervisor at APG Security, Account Manager Paul Bassett, discriminated against her based on her gender. The accounts begin when Bassett refused to grant Stanley her meal breaks, according to the lawsuit. When Stanley was on duty at the BioMedical Center, as was often the case, she could not take her meal breaks without a substitute security guard covering her shift. Bassett often failed to send a replacement,
forcing Stanley to work without breaks. Stanley “never received payment for that time worked,” the suit alleges. Stanley’s lawyers declined to comment on the suit, and Stanley could not be reached for comment. The suit alleges that Bassett then threatened to fire Stanley when the two met to discuss the issue. “I hope you’re not going to be like the other females that work here. … All they do is cause drama. … I just got rid of one, only three more to go,” Bassett said to Stanley during the encounter, according to the lawsuit. Bassett also frequently told Stanley she was dressed inappropriately, even though Stanley dressed in a buttondown shirt and jacket, and her male colleagues often wore t-shirts, the lawsuit alleges. In addition, Bassett’s “haphazard” rule-changing over time-off documentation and leave for medical procedures applied only to Stanley, the lawsuit also alleges. Bassett’s actions caused Stanley “to leave an APG work shift to receive emergency medical care for a panic attack caused by stress,” according to the lawsuit. » See LAWSUIT, page 2
CAPS introduces new CineBrasil explores culture through film policies to improve care Initiatives address student concerns, restructure department leadership, highlight staff diversity By PRIYANKA PODUGU SENIOR STAFF WRITER
During shopping period this semester, for the first time, Counseling and Psychological Services allowed students to meet with therapists without scheduling an appointment beforehand, said Will Meek, director of CAPS. The availability for walk-in appointments during shopping period is just one of a series of new initiatives and policies intended to improve the quality of mental healthcare on campus. After stepping into his role in February, Meek said he consulted with students to learn about the services they hoped “CAPS could provide on campus.” These conversations helped inform the changes CAPS has made over the past six months to its internal structure and external services, he added. CAPS is involved with “mental health outreach to the community. … We’re
INSIDE
involved in providing psychiatric care, we provide counseling, we provide consultation to faculty, staff and parents,” Meek said. But Meek felt CAPS could improve its organization when assigning responsibility to staff members to oversee these obligations, he added. As a result, “we did a restructuring of the department … that (allows) us to have two assistant directors and an outreach coordinator,” Meek said. He added that they would work with President of Undergraduate Council of Students Chelse-Amoy Steele ’18 and UCS Vice President Naveen Srinivasan ’19 to conduct an “external review for CAPS’ diversity and inclusion efforts and our cultural competence as clinicians.” CAPS is also working to improve its after-hours sexual assault response. Laura Sobik, assistant director of CAPS, said she works regularly with BWell Health Promotion, SHARE Advocates and Health Services to “look at all of our department policies around sexual assault and make sure that not only are we following best practices but that we’re creating something Brown-specific that is empowering and healing.” » See CAPS, page 2
ALEJANDRO SUBIOTTO / HERALD
CineBrasil screened multiple Brazilian movies and included speakers and discussion centered around each of the film’s unique themes, exploring issues of social and personal identity throughout the event.
Annual film festival screens independent, small-budget Brazilian films By CINDY ZENG SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Film festival CineBrasil’s fourth an-
nual edition showcased five recently produced Brazilian films that dealt with a wide range of subjects. The festival, which ran from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24., has been hosted by the Portuguese and Brazilian Studies Department and the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs since 2014. The selection this year included docudramas and feature films alike,
most of which were produced by independent film producers. “This is more of a showcase of recent Brazilian film productions,” said Pedro Lopes de Almeida GS, a curator of the film festival. “We are not bound by a theme, we just want to show » See CINEBRASIL, page 3
ARTS & CULTURE
WEATHER
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
ARTS & CULTURE ‘Stronger,’ film about Boston Marathon Bombing victim, explores aftermath of trauma
ARTS & CULTURE The Killers’ album ‘Wonderful Wonderful’ focuses on outdated themes of nostalgia, masculinity
COMMENTARY Okin ’19: While many choose to invest in new media, we shouldn’t forget power of print
ARTS & CULTURE ‘Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche’ explores lesbian identity, sisterhood through humor
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» WBRU, from page 1 be returned to profitability,” said Patti Galuzzi ’83, a station alum. “Selling it without trying one more time seems ridiculous.” Galuzzi, a station alum, became involved in trying to save the signal after some alums reached out for assistance. Galuzzi, a former vice president of music programming at MTV, was not completely unfamiliar with the task, having been brought onto MTV when the company was experiencing financial difficulties in 1992. The solution Galuzzi and other alums proposed was similar to those that had worked to turn around the station in the past. To save the station, the plan would be to hire a new general sales manager and a staff of account executives to increase the station’s ad revenues. It would have additionally received a $600,000 line of credit from the University that would have been repaid over seven years, according to financial documents obtained by The Herald. The station paid for an outside consultant to evaluate the potential of this plan. According to that consultant’s projections, the plan would have resulted in a return to profitability with a net cash flow of $16,000 by 2019. The same consultant estimated that the station would finish 2017 with a net negative cash flow of $259,000, according to the financial documents. Haththotuwegama wrote to staff members that while the work of the consultants showed “there could be ways where WBRU could be financially viable in commercial radio … that financial
success would come at significant cost to the student experience,” according to internal WBRU emails acquired by The Herald. In those emails, Haththotuwegama wrote that increasing the influence of adult professionals would diminish the integrity of the station, which has been, at its core, a workshop for students. “WBRU has always been about student autonomy in the world of media and music and we remain committed to that model,” she added. Considering this, Haththotuwegama penned a letter to over 800 alumni Mar. 2 informing them of the station’s intention to authorize a sale in concurrence with the board of directors’ vote. Voting The student vote was originally scheduled for March 11 but was delayed by a series of events until April. In emails obtained by The Herald, some station staff began bristling around this time at what they perceived to be preferential treatment of a sale as opposed to saving the signal. In email chains with all the station members, some students objected to the fact that meetings discussing the viability of the turnaround were not mandatory while other meetings in which the sale was discussed positively were required. The vote was eventually moved to April 24 and failed to authorize the sale, which required a super-majority, by a single vote. With 25 in favor of a sale and 14 opposed, it was impossible for students to move forward with a transfer of the signal. Haththotuwegama, noting
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD that a majority of students had voted for a sale, notified station members that a second vote would be held three days later on April 27. The decision was a point of contention for many students who accused leadership of violating the will of students and regular voting procedures. Students debated the decision fervently over staff-wide email chains, occasionally in a personal manner. Many accused students with leadership positions of leveraging their authority to assert their own opinion. Haththotuwegama defended the decision in an email to students, claiming that the station needed a definitive path forward for the summer or else risk a drastic loss of capital. When the second vote was held, enough votes had been made to authorize a sale. Next steps Without the intervention of the attorney general, alums have few options left with which to challenge the deal. Galuzzi said the University could have some standing in the matter, citing evidence that the original capital used to purchase the station’s license came from a University donation. But representatives from the University seem reluctant to wade into the matter. “Throughout this process, our interest has been in the sustainable, long-term ability of Brown Broadcasting Services to fulfill its mission of running a vibrant educational workshop for students,” wrote Brian Clark, University spokesperson, in an email to The Herald. “Ultimately, the future of the station was a decision for the students and board members at
» CAPS, from page 1 This work involves reviewing cases and considering how they could have responded more effectively and whether any protocol needs to be changed, Sobik added. Ultimately, CAPS wants to make the process “as smooth and as easy as possible during a really vulnerable moment,” she said. “Given that sexual assault is a lowfrequency event but a high-stress event, we really wanted to consolidate the providers who were doing that work. That’s where that decision was made to have a specific team on-call,” Sobik added. Additionally, CAPS has created an Urgent Care Clinician position. “If students were having a really hard time and wanted to see someone that day, they weren’t able to or it would have to be so severe for them to get in,” Meek said, adding that this position aims to resolve this issue. Stressing that he wanted to dispel the narrative that CAPS was not diverse, Meek said the department has “11 providers of color” and can provide counseling in six languages. “One of the things I see CAPS being is a leader on campus for diversity and inclusion,” he said, adding that he wanted the department to reflect the presence of the campus’ large global community and become even more multilingual. Meek’s desire to place CAPS at the forefront of diversity and inclusion efforts led him to “totally rewrite our ad” for positions, he said. “We’re looking for (clinicians) who can understand and really work with people with intersecting identities.” CAPS has partnered closely with Project LETS to formulate better policy and build stronger partnerships “with the peer advocacy groups on campus,” Meek said.
Stefanie Kaufman ’17, founder and executive director of Project LETS, said she appreciates that Meek understands that “we need to do a better job of educating the community about what it looks like to be mentally ill … (and) that there are ways as a community that we can support folks without always going to the more interventionist types of solutions.” The addition of a “scope of practice” section to the CAPS website has helped with increasing transparency of its services, Kaufman said. “I think a lot of people … at elite institutions have a really difficult time separating (themselves) from the work and (being) able to criticize the system as a whole, (but Meek) does that really well,” she added. He’s “able to identify what structural issues exist within (mental health care) policy.” “At Brown and at many of our peer institutions, there is definitely a culture of considering mental illness a community disturbance. (Meek) is one of the first administrators in his position to acknowledge that as a core issue,” said Molly Hawes ’17, director of expansion
CATHERINE HABGOOD / HERALD
at Project LETS. “Addressing that issue (ensures) we can actually … come up with concrete solutions to it.” Hawes and Kaufman said they hope CAPS, alongside the Office of Student Life, would work to reform the University’s medical leave policies. Kaufman added that they spoke with Meek about “offering midway programs (to) students … (such as) the ability to take online classes,” having Brown accept community college credits and financially support low-income students who “cannot access services like … therapy and medication.” Student demand for mental health services is at an all-time high, Meek said, adding that with a massive shift in the appearance of mental health care on campuses, CAPS has also embraced that “there needs to be not just some tweaks but some legitimate evolution.” Meek hopes to shift CAPS’ mental health care to being more goal-focused rather than oriented around a timeline. “I’m really interested in coming up with innovative, creative ways in providing access to care and not being bound by individual couseling appointments,” he said.
WBRU to make.” “As the station reinvents itself on a new digital platform, we wish the station members every success in creating a media workshop that proves as beneficial for future generations of students and listeners as WBRU has for more than half a century,” Clark wrote. The ultimate character of that new media workshop is not yet entirely clear. WBRU is already operating dual streams of 24/7 content and is exploring new programming in news and music, according to WBRU spokesperson Art Norwalk. The station is tentatively looking to acquire a smaller terrestrial signal to ensure its 360 Broadcast in Sound reaches incarcerated individuals at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, McEnroe said. The funds from the sale will be put into the station’s endowment, the returns of which are expected to annually generate about $250,000. A portion of that funding would go toward fixed costs, including $45,000 in annual rent to the University, utilities and payroll, Haththotuwegama wrote. But the capital needed for the kind of redevelopment students have envisioned may not be available for some time. WBRU still owns the FM radio license while the deal awaits approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission, McEnroe said. Currently, the Educational Media Foundation is leasing the signal at a set price but funding from the deal itself won’t be available until the deal’s closure, which McEnroe anticipated to occur sometime later in the fall. The delay in funding may prove problematic as some alums presented students with a lofty vision of the capital the station would be receiving from a deal, said Tucker Hamilton ’17, a former WBRU staffer. “The way one alum put it to us is, ‘You’re going to get millions of dollars in an endowment … that is for you to use’,” Hamilton said. “The alum was saying, ‘You’re going to have hundreds of
thousands of dollars to try new ideas. … You could fund three startups, and even if you lose that money, it won’t matter,’” Hamilton said. Galuzzi concurred with Hamilton’s assessment and said that it was likely one of the greatest factors that led to the signal’s sale. “I can understand if you’re a student thinking you’re responsible for this business and thinking, ‘Our assets are losing their value so maybe the smart thing to do is cash them in while they have their greatest worth.’” Haththotuwegama pushed back on these assertions in an email to The Herald, writing that expected returns from future investments in programming “(aren’t) purely financial, but based on what students in the workshop find fruitful and how we impact the communities we serve.” While alums have justified their continued involvement with the sale as acting in the station’s best interest, Haththotuwegama maintains such an intrusion jeopardizes the station’s future. “While the vast majority of alumni have shown us support, we are concerned about a vocal group of alums whose energy is focused on delaying or derailing the work we’ve been doing, rather than helping us move into the future,” Haththotuwegama and other station leaders wrote in a letter to alums. In a separate letter to organizers of the “SaveWBRU” movement — a group not connected to the alums involved in trying to save the station — summer staff of the station responded broadly to alums pushing against the sale. “We chose to sell because we no longer see a future for our student workshop in commercial radio,” the letter reads. “If you do not want to help us, or disagree with what we are doing, that is understandable. But the decision has already been made, so please respect our autonomy and do not stand in the way of our chance to create a valuable workshop that maintains the spirit that WBRU encompasses.”
» LAWSUIT, from page 1
not be reached for comment, and Holden declined to comment. APG terminated Stanley in July 2016, and the lawsuit was filed nearly a year later in June 2017. APG and Bassett denied the lawsuit’s allegations in a response submitted to the court on Sept. 1. The defendants also filed a counterclaim that accused Stanley of harming and interfering with the University-APG relationship with “a frivolous legal claim … directly against Brown,” according to the counterclaim. The defense team for APG and Bassett declined to comment. Following the Sept. 1 answer and counterclaim filing of the defendants, the University filed a motion to remove itself from the suit Sept. 5. The University argued that Stanley and her lawyers failed “to state a claim upon which relief may be granted,” according to the memorandum in support of the University’s motion to dismiss. “We are aware of the complaint filed in Rhode Island Superior Court. The complaint centers on alleged interactions between two individuals who at the time were employees of a third-party contractor hired to provide supplemental security services on campus. We will respond as appropriate through the legal process,” wrote University spokesperson Brian Clark in an email to The Herald. Clark declined to comment further on the matter. A hearing on the University’s motion to dismiss has been set for Nov. 15.
“I don’t like you, and I know you don’t like me, but we need to get along or there will be trouble. Off the record, I will win,” Bassett told her, according to the lawsuit. David Allsworth, Stanley’s fiance and an employee of Brown’s Department of Public Safety, entered the fray when Bassett discussed Stanley with Allsworth and told him that his fiancee “was just being a difficult woman like the rest of them and just starting trouble,” the lawsuit alleges. Allsworth declined to comment for this story. Stanley informed APG’s human resources department about the gender discrimination in May 2016, three years into her job. APG did not investigate her complaints, the lawsuit alleges. As the alleged discrimination intensified, Stanley kept record of Bassett’s behavior in a notebook. She discovered in May 2016 that her notes had been removed and the book had been tampered with. The suit alleges that Bassett retaliated against her decision to keep track of his discriminatory behavior and to report that behavior. Whistleblower protection laws protect Stanley from any such retaliatory action, the lawsuit states. Previously, Stanley had also complained about Bassett’s behavior to Joe Coutu, the night manager for APG at the University, and Peter Holden, the BMC facilities director. Coutu could
ARTS & CULTURE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 • PAGE 3
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
‘Stronger’ explores complex realities of heroism, recovery Film depicts trauma, return to normality following Boston Marathon bombing By ZACHARY BARNES STAFF WRITER
The word “hero” gets tossed around a lot these days. It often carries with it a certain prefix — super — to the detriment of heroism everywhere. But what does it mean, “hero?” Is it an ugly American obsession, or an inescapably human desire to see goodness made real? In “Stronger,” David Gordon Green’s powerful new film, Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds these questions unexpectedly thrust into his life after losing his legs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. As he struggles to recover and restore some sense of normality to his life in the aftermath, Bauman is continually surprised, even troubled, when called a hero. The film begins the day before the bombing, when Jeff gets off work at Costco and heads to a bar to watch the Red Sox. There, he sees his ex-girlfriend, Erin Hurley (Tatiana Maslany), raising money for the hospital she’s sponsoring for running the marathon the next day. Jeff takes up her collection box, telling everyone to “give up a round of Stellas” and donate to a good cause. He’s charming and perfectly at ease, in a goofy sort of way. At first, it’s hard to imagine that he and Erin could be engaged in a “torrid melodrama,” amiable as Jeff is, but we soon learn that they have broken up and gotten back together three times already. Jeff sees their current separation as just another twist in their storyline. He tells Erin he’ll be waiting at the finish line for her, bearing a sign and a smile. Erin has her doubts. And, though he does show up the next day, standing at the finish line
» CINEBRASIL, from page 1 what’s going on, what’s being released and produced in Brazil.” “We have the film ‘Araby,’ which is like a road story, but it’s also a bluecollar worker story, but it’s also a love story, in some ways,” said Chloe Hill GS, another curator of the film festival. “We have ‘Jonas and the Backyard Circus,’ which is a sweet film about a young boy who was born into a circus family, but … it’s kind of a coming-of-age story. ‘Fresh Cutz’ is about three different barber shops. … It’s really cool and it’s really fun and it’s really contemporary. And then (there is) ‘The Third Shore,’ which is a look at a specific indigenous community within Brazil and that community’s relationship with the white Brazilians,” she added. Though the films are Brazilian, the themes they deal with are universally relatable, according to Hill. “Fresh Cutz” is a socially engaged documentary, but it also deals with personal issues. “It’s about personal style and how you represent yourself. … What does your haircut mean about who you are? I think it speaks to us on many levels, both micro and macro, and personal and universal,” Hill said. “Reaching out to the producers, that’s probably the largest bulk of our work. And getting their approval to
and holding a poster resplendent in marker-drawn lettering, Erin doesn’t see him. She sees only a burst of smoke and flame a mile ahead of her on one side of the street. From there, the film does not cut to Jeff lying bloody and delirious on the street, as you may expect. Green and screenwriter John Pollono aren’t interested in the shock-and-awe effect that comes with raw images of gore and terror, and it’s to their credit that they never accede to the xenophobia that often seeps into stories of terrorism. They aim to tell a different story focused on the hard realities of trauma and recovery and the troubled but loving relationship that gets Jeff through. This guiding ethos is captured in a shot at the hospital, when Jeff gets the dressings on his amputated limbs changed for the first time. Green positions his camera at an angle, so that Jeff ’s face is on one side of the frame and Erin’s the other as she does her best to comfort him, while his legs rest blurry in the background — detached, foreign. It’s at once intimate and pregnant with meaning, sensitive to the complex struggle that lies before him. Even within all this solemnity, the film maintains a warm sense of humor. Much of this comes from Jeff and his family, a bunch of blunt, testy, working-class Bostonians who talk loud and laugh louder. In a few scenes, “Stronger” even moves into “Jackass” territory, as Jeff and his brothers drunkenly mine his disability for physical comedy. His family is not without problems, though. Jeff lives with his mother, Patty (Miranda Richardson), in a small apartment, and the two of them have an uneasy relationship. They both drink too much, and Patty is more excited by Jeff ’s newfound celebrity than he is. When Jeff refuses an Oprah interview, Patty gets upset — “I don’t know where I’d be without Oprah,” she says. Erin ends up being the one reliable screen movies,” Lopes de Almeida said. Brazil has no large distributor of movies, so “most of the films are what we would call independent movies. … It’s a very small crew, one producer, small budget, and it’s very hard for them to cross the borders and get to the US,” he added. “Another thing we spend a lot of time doing is thinking about who we want to invite to speak about these films afterward,” Hill said. “I think most people know Brazil through its music. … We wanted to show something else that is just as visceral and not only show it but create this community that would engage with the film, talk to us (and) ask questions,” she added. A thoughtful discussion followed the screening of “Fresh Cutz,” led by Watufani Poe GS. Poe commented upon the conversations observed within the barbershops in the film, which ranged from being deeply personal to social issues. Occasionally, the dialogue turned problematic. Slurs were used, and “there were also moments — messed up moments — where … folks were talking about … where to buy a gun. Or talking about violence against women,” Poe said. These barbershops represent imperfect spaces of resistance, he said. “I think that the filmmaker made so much space for thinking through these questions,” Poe added. The way social issues and race
MATT BROWNSWORD / HERALD
Jeff Bauman — a survivor in the Boston Marathon bombing — is the focus of “Stronger,” a film about the challenges of trauma that envelop his recovery after losing both of his legs in the bombing. adult in the room — cleaning up after Jeff and his mother, making sure that Jeff gets to therapy and protecting him from people who want to turn him into nothing but a spectacle. Maslany is superb in the role and brings a firm resolve to the character. She is compassionate, and maybe too giving, but she expects Jeff to work just as hard as she does on his recovery. When she finally snaps, you can sense the deep well of feeling behind her fury and frustration. Maslany knows how to shout without making it feel like empty Oscar-baiting.
The same can be said of her onscreen partner. Though the film has been justly criticized for hiring an able-bodied actor to play Bauman, Gyllenhaal’s performance is a wonder. His physical commitment is complete, and he has an assured grasp of Jeff ’s vast emotional range. With pain behind his eyes but a strength behind his smile, Gyllenhaal shows trauma to be an unwieldy beast that can crop up where you least expect it and hurt the people you need the most. The middle of the film drags as it
sinks deeper into Bauman’s depression, and the end occasionally slips into mawkishly inspirational territory, where “Go Sox!” becomes a stirring rallying cry, and a we-can-do-this voiceover is leaned on a bit too heavily. But the bulk of the film maintains an exquisitely clear-eyed approach, from the finely-tuned performances to Green’s clean, thoughtful compositions. “Stronger” treats its subject with the requisite sincerity and artistry to achieve something rare among inspirational dramas — it inspires.
ALEJANDRO SUBIOTTO / HERALD
Four films — “Araby,”“Jonas and the Backyard Circus,”“Fresh Cutz,” and “The Third Shore” — were shown as part of the CineBrasil event. The films differed widely in terms of settings, ranging from a barber shop to a factory. relations were brought up in “Fresh Cutz” presented thought-provoking insight into the way Brazilian people interact with such issues. “We have all these kinds of ways that we talk about race in Brazil … but it’s important to see how people are talking about race in their communities in an everyday way,” Poe said.
“For me, it was especially the fact that those barbershops … were spaces of male to male vulnerability,” said Abner Santos GS, who attended the screening of “Fresh Cutz.” “And I think this is an important role. … In those places … they feel free to be open and (talk) about their weaknesses … (and) about their pain, even if it’s emotional
pain.” But the spaces weren’t perfect, because “they are part of a greater narrative of being male, of sexism (and) many other problems,” Santos said. “But it still feels like it’s such an important place for them to have, in which they can open up, and in which they can be vulnerable.”
ARTS & CULTURE PAGE 4 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Killers’ album showcases antiquated ideals of masculinity ‘Wonderful Wonderful,’ Killers’ attempted comeback, delves into nostalgia, politics By ELIZABETH TOLEDANO SENIOR STAFF WRITER
The Killers released “Wonderful Wonderful” Friday. The 43-minute album is their first in five years. The songs on the album cling to the nostalgic ’80s stadium rock sound The Killers have continued to maintain years past its prime. This time, Brandon Flowers takes his band’s leather jacket glam rock, complete with questionable Christian undertones, to a new level. The Killers bank on the same masturbatory masculinity that might have been kind of okay in the ’80s — if okay means obscene and in desperate need of reassessment. But they try — with a little desperation — to place it in a contemporary context. The Killers is like a child birthed by Bruce Springsteen, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dave Matthews Band — a child that probably grew up to ride motorcycles, play poker and occasionally make people uncomfortable by throwing around terms like ‘babe’ without any sense of irony. This has shaped The Killers into an automatic oldies band, nostalgic before they even dropped their first album, and historical by 2017.
COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
The Killers released their first album in five years this Friday, titled “Wonderful Wonderful.” The album, which was met with a mixed reception, was their first studio album since their 2012 album “Battle Born.” Frankly, the last time leather jackets were cool was before Kurt Cobain died. The band promotes their image of campy masculinity with lyrics like “I know the direction/the lay of the land,” “I got news for you baby/ you’re looking at the man” and the real winner, “Who’s the man with the plan?” Here, listeners encounter an ode to mansplaining. To give Flowers the benefit of the doubt, listeners can assume he’s self-aware — no one who claims to play “alternative”
rock would really promote manhood in this way, right? But then there’s the video of “I’m the Man”: four minutes, 27 seconds of biceps, American flags and sparkly blazers. The last time this imagery would have impressed young people was when “Footloose” was still a thing. Even watching Flowers take shots wearing a cowboy hat, poker chips littered around the room, must make contemporary listeners want to barf out the past fifty years of toxic masculinity.
Dissecting molecular mechanisms of vocal learning and spoken language: a personal journey Erich D. Jarvis, Ph.D. Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language at The Rockefeller University Vocal learning, the ability to imitate and pass on vocal repertoires culturally from one generation to the next, is a rare and precious behavior displayed by several groups of birds, such as songbirds and parrots. Come hear Erich trill about the genes, evolution and mechanisms of vocal learning – and how being an underrepresented minority in the sciences provided a finely tuned ear for discoveries which bear on mammals like us.
October 4, 2017, 5:30 p.m. 85 WATERMAN STREET, ROOM 130 Online registration is now open at: brown.edu/thinking-out-loud
But if you’re a Killers fan to begin with, which you probably are if you’re listening to this album, maybe you already knew what you had in store. And maybe The Killers is onto something, banking on vintage imagery like The Decemberists, who admit their songs can get a little BlurredLines-ish. Sure, taken out of context, their songs are all about dominant white men, but they take these themes out of old folk songs. They’re not definitive, they’re simply referential. And then listeners can choose to take the music with a grain of salt: enjoying the instrumentals and the stories without falling for them. Some might even argue that in “Wonderful Wonderful” The Killers makes an attempt to “be real.” Flowers has an agenda — he is a Democrat and a Mormon, after all — a volatile combination to say the least. The song “Tyson vs. Douglas” uses boxing imagery to address his personal struggle with his wife’s mental health — and also his effort to never break down in front of his sons. Somehow, Flowers takes this otherwise heartfelt, if violent, song and adds an extra problematic layer of masculine showmanship.
The song “Run for Cover” attempts to send a political message, and it’s pretty honest in a way only a band that uses phrases like “the dirtbag’s famous” and “he did her dirty” can get. That said, The Killers can’t help get a little aggressive, with a chorus that goes, “Run for cover, baby, don’t look back.” Maybe these political undertones demonstrate to listeners that there’s more to The Killers than fringe and manhood. In a song packed with all the imagery that might appeal to supporters of President Trump, Flowers pretty frankly condemns the U.S. president, attacking fake news and Trump’s excuses. The album also contains outlier songs, including a rather bizarre, ethereal ballad entitled “Some Kind of Love.” The imagery is certainly cliche: Flowers sings about a wild bird, a graceful storm, a faithful child — painting a very expected image of serenity. The song, produced by Brian Eno, specifically references the work of the ’70s artist, which grants the album more grounded roots in twentieth century rock. One of the last songs on the album echoes music history as well; “Have All the Songs Been Written?” is a cross between Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra, complete with immense whininess and romantic nostalgia. But in reality, the song seems disingenuous on an album that otherwise attempts some kind of pop-punk-glam-rock revival. The album is a classic in a bad way, holding onto the hyper-masculine imagery that plays a role in the history of rock-and-roll and lost its edge in the ’50s — if it ever even had any value at all. The music is at least consistent with the image the band still projects even as their most relevant singles have faded into background music. The infatuation with nostalgia exhibited in the album shows that The Killers is old news — a band of Christian white men just can’t cut it in today’s alternative scene. Even if they’re secretly self-aware, no one can see it beneath their layers of outdated cliches and worn-out rock gear.
MEAL PLAN
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T DAY THE LASEA L PLAN
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SEPT. 27!
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TODAY
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 • PAGE 5
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
menu
wa k e m e u p w h e n s e p t e m b e r e n d s
SATELLITE DINING ANDREWS COMMONS
Pizza: Spicy Sausage and Garlic, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Ham, Assorted Roasted Mushroom Pizza JOSIAH’S
BLUE ROOM
Chicken Wings Bar, Quesadilla Station, Bacon Burger
Build Your Own Burrito Bowl, Broccoli and Cheddar Soup
DINING HALLS SHARPE REFECTORY LUNCH
DINNER
Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders, Vegetable Calzone, Cream Cheese Brownies
Grilled Latin Spice Pork Chops, Eggplant and Pepper Pizza, Strawberry Cheesecake
VERNEY-WOOLLEY LUNCH
DINNER
Feta and Tomato Quiche, Herb Marinated Chicken, Cookies and Cream Cookies
Fagioli Soup, Country Style Potato Salad, Honey Bran Flax Seed Bread
sudoku
SARA RUNKEL / HERALD
crossword
It’s almost October and temperatures have risen into the mid-80s, as first-years are experiencing a climate more conducive to plants growing and summer attire than the cooler autumn that has already arrived.
Q U O T E O F T H E D AY
“I think a lot of people … at elite institutions have a really difficult time separating (themselves) from the work and (being) able to criticize the system as a whole,
”
(but Meek) does that really well.
— Stefanie Kaufman ’17, founder and executive director of Project LETS
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Facebook: Crush Your Coding Interview 12:00 P.M. CIT, Room 368
Hurricane Maria Relief For Puerto Rico 12:00 P.M. Sayles Hall
Michael S. Goodman ’74 Memorial Lecture Series 4:00 P.M. Metcalf, Room 101
Vinyasa Yoga 6:00 P.M. Hillel, Winnick Chapel
TOMORROW Assertive Speaking 9:00 A.M. 164 Angell St., 4th floor conference room
Middle East Studies Lecture: Conflict Urbanism 12:00 P.M. Watson Institute, McKinney
Talk: Dealing with a Nuclear North Korea 4:10 P.M. Pembroke Hall, Room 305
Thursday Night Interfaith Supper 5:30 P.M. 58 Keene St.
COMMENTARY PAGE 6 • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
A L E X W E ST FA L L
comic Still | Maddie Billings
Letters, please! letters@browndailyherald.com
COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 • PAGE 7
THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
Pick print REBECCA OKIN staff columnist
Last week, Rolling Stone co-founder Jann Wenner announced the sale of the iconic publication that has been both reporting and influencing pop culture since 1967. The sale of the magazine demonstrates a broader decline in print media, which is a daunting subject to tackle in writing or even think about. I will always be a champion of physical copies, cherishing the illicit dog ears that track the quest through a novel and safeguarding that familiar scent that blankets any reader who finds themselves nose-close to a good story. Although my literature-centric brain is usually focused on the closings of bookstores nationwide and the transitioning of traditional book sales to e-books, Wenner’s sale caught my attention as a particular omen of the demise of an era. Rolling Stone was once a symbol of counterculture relics. Now, perhaps, it also encompasses a time when print was in fashion. Even as print declines, we should still push ourselves to pick up physical copies of publications we love, given the benefits print provides. In the dramatic twists of second grade, the only constant was the glimpse of a colorful cover of Highlights on the kitchen table, my name printed in the address box. American Girl and Seventeen were the silent instructors of confusing pre-teen years, not only ready to provide advice, but also to simply reassure me that everyone else had the same questions. In my current, extremely sophisticated collegiate life, the New Yorker is the reason I put up with the mailroom crowds
every week. I flip to the comic contest first. Clearly, print magazine subscriptions have much sentimental value to me. They have, in essence, chronicled my life, and I am sure others feel the same. Yet there are reasons beyond personal nostalgia to defend print journalism. Spotting another subway rider clutching the same issue of Time Magazine elicits similar feelings as conversations
ing a profound sense of unity for its members. Amidst a devastating amount of e-distractions, the print magazine is a sanctuary of singular focus. Rather than being tempted by the colorful floating dock of applications at the bottom of my screen when reading on my computer, having a publication in my hands allows me to read content free of distraction. Not surprisingly, studies have found that
Amidst a devastating amount of e-distractions, the print magazine is a sanctuary of singular focus.
about the last night’s episode of “American Idol” once did, when no one was three seasons behind and everyone was ready to talk specifics of the most recent details. Netflix and binge-watching culture may have supplanted these moments in the television realm, but magazines allow a re-creation of this feeling in real time. The community behind a publication is physically visible through print distribution, foster-
print readers retain plot information better than their Kindle counterparts, scoring significantly better on story comprehension assessments. Considering this disparity in comprehension between print and electronic readers, perhaps we can extend this to mean that the former establishes a connection with the text more easily and quickly. One study found that when reading an upsetting story on paper versus on
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tion to it is perhaps what motivates more genuine and impassioned engagement. Though many publications provide great deals on their print subscriptions, the cost of buying print magazines often means reading articles online is more financially accessible. You can still read physical copies without a cost. Public libraries help make print publications more available. Walk a few feet off
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an iPad, those who used print media scored higher on measures of empathy. In other words, reading anything from a New York Magazine article warning about climate change to a personal disclosure of fears with the repealing of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in print would allow the best connection to the content. Not only being educated in a topic, but also feeling a personal connec-
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campus to the Providence Athenaeum’s vast collection of publications, free to explore. Pick up a copy of the New York Times in the Sciences Library’s lobby. In weighing your decision to splurge or seek out physical copies, consider the research that has shown the significant disparity in impressionability between print and online media. Besides the meaningful connection you might feel toward the text due to a surge in empathy, you will retain what you read in print much better than what you read online. In other words, you truly get what you pay for when it comes to swapping a URL for glossy pages. On a local scale, the ability for student publications to distribute print versions is essential. Whether this involves an eager editor offering copies outside the Sharpe Refectory or a waiting stack of issues on the front desk in the Stephen Roberts ’62 Campus Center, the benefits extend past establishing and bonding a community of readers. It also increases the visibility and accessibility of these publications. Whereas a new first-year or a graduating senior may be unaware of some of Brown’s online gems, encountering a physical reminder of the existence of a publication increases awareness and readership. This is advantageous for both the contributors, whose work thus has a larger reach, and the readers, who reap the pleasure of reading something that could have remained hidden in the realm of online publications. And perhaps you’ll find that reading something in print, distractionfree, could be one of the highlights of your day.
Rebecca Okin ’19 can be reached at rebecca_okin@brown.edu.
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ARTS & CULTURE THE BROWN DAILY HERALD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
Production Workshop presents ‘5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche’ Performance explores nuances of lesbian identity through comedic character studies By ANNABELLE WOODWARD CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Five saucy, self-described “widows” are living in an idyllic, patriarchal 1950s suburban world, and boy are they “dealing with it.” By virtue of invitation to the annual quiche breakfast of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein, audience members in the Production Workshop Downspace are also “dealing with it,” even while attempting to keep up with the performance’s dizzying comedic absurdism for over an hour. The PW theater performance “Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche” ran for four shows this past weekend and was directed by Kayla Kirk ’19. Stage lighting illuminated a cheery 1950s kitchen — picture your grandma’s needlepoint and rooster-themed everything. Designed by Zachary Silberberg ’18, a Herald cartoonist, the set was a domestic wonderland; its cuteness only compromised by what appears to be a heavy, bolted metal door — the kind that belongs in a submarine or a fallout shelter. Three chipper women clothed in boldly patterned, conservative brunch attire burst onto the stage, eager for their annual “quiche” breakfast. “Oh my!” they exclaimed to one another shrilly with somewhat overwhelming vigor. “Hello! How are you?!” Revolving around an
egg-and-vegetable dish that contains no meat, the sisters’ all-female “no men, no meat, all manners” “quiche” breakfast is clearly no ordinary brunch. Enjoying each other’s presence, flirting with double entendres and certainly never eating meat, the actors’ commitment to seeming genuinely in lust with the breakfast dish was impressive and entertaining, though the script itself could probably have benefitted from some comedic variety. Following along with the “sisters” improbable lunch, the audience became acquainted with one quirky member after another: Goofy Dale has a troubled past and harbors a deep distrust of men; sweet, simpleminded Wren only wants the best for her sisters; fork-tongued southern belle Lulie, the society president, demonstrates a bold physicality on stage that doesn’t waver from start to finish; British Ginny is always at odds with the propriety expected of her; and Vern, clever and brazen, never fails to put the team on her back. Despite certain comedic shortcomings, the audience was engaged and laughing throughout the performance due to the dynamic and interactive efforts of the cast. Performance-goers were handed nametags as they walked into the Downspace to signify that they, too, were members of the Sisterhood. People in the front row were called out and directly addressed on occasion, and one lucky audience member, whose nametag read “Marjorie,” had the privilege of being spotlighted and shamed at regular intervals — the story goes that Marjorie dared to bring a sausage
quiche to last year’s meeting and had been promptly ousted from the Sisterhood’s inner sanctum. At moments when audience members assumed something shrewd was about to be said about domesticity and sexuality in 1950s United States, the absurdity intensified. Alarms sounded, signaling a Soviet nuclear attack, and the apocalypse was suddenly upon the sisters. Hysteria, madness and more shrill cries ensued. The ludicrous cacophony was successful due to its flawless execution and sheer situational improbability. Ninety-something closeted lesbians were stuck in a recently refurbished community center basement with exactly enough rations to get them through the nuclear fallout. Its success largely rested on the brilliant performances of Vern, played by Luna Floyd ’19, and Lulie, played by Haley Wong ’20, whose pregnancy — with a boy — further complicates life in the bunker for the Sisterhood. But the performance also had powerful but fleeting moments of gravitas, including a hope that the legalization of gay marriage will come to fruition as “soon” as the 1960s, which the audience knows to be painfully untrue. Audience members emerged from the PW slightly exhausted and a little sweaty from all the muscle clenching that reflexively occurred every time the ladies denied their expectations. Though weary, the play’s reception was primarily positive. The jam-packed joke density — imagine laughing as much as you laughed in “Bridesmaids” — and all five actors’
NAOMY PEDROZA / HERALD
Audience members were given nametags as they entered the Downspace, signifying that they were included in the sisterhood featured in the play. gleaming enthusiasm managed to redeem the performance for its less stellar aspects. The play was written by two men, which is a tad ironic considering the play’s focus on the female experience in the 1950s. Still,
it’s refreshing in its own way, demonstrating and celebrating the many dimensions of the lesbian identity without leaning on referential cynicism that so frequently underwrites contemporary comedies.
Brandon Keith Brown offers new direction for U. orchestra New director brings experience in Germanic orchestra, attention to individual growth By CONNOR SULLIVAN SENIOR STAFF WRITER
On any given Tuesday or Thursday night, Visiting Professor of Music and Orchestra Director Brandon Keith Brown can be found in Alumnae Hall, presiding over the assemblages of undergraduate performers who serve as the fundamental elements of his reflexive flair and measured technicality. The orchestra is currently rehearsing Brahms’ First Symphony — a piece that, in its swirling structure and Beethovian emulation, captures the dynamism and tradition clearly present in Brown’s incarnation of the University orchestra. Sweet remembrance Like Brahms himself, the newly appointed conductor appears compelled by a complex anxiety of his influences. Brown aspires to embed himself and his orchestra in classical music’s extensive tapestry of tradition. “That tradition is the most valuable thing in my teaching and conducting — it’s something you can’t find in a book,” Brown said, underscoring the
necessity of engaging with a lineage of composers. “I make peace with myself by pretending that the original composer of a piece sits down at rehearsals and is comfortable with my orchestra and its musicians’ individual interpretations of the composer. If you aren’t speaking for the art, you should be quiet.” Brown’s tracing of the classical music tradition might have been most literally realized during his three-week-long Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Scholarship, during which he undertook a rigorous and extensive study of Mendelssohn’s life and music. The once-in-a-lifetime award is granted to prominent conductors outside of Germany and encompasses research opportunities and private lectures on the German Romantic composer, as well as the chance to conduct a concert of the composer’s works. “I got to see the towns he lived in, as well as original parts of his and other composers’ compositions, such as Beethoven’s Fifth,” Brown said. “Germany is wonderful in that they value music over everything. No matter what
your education level is there, you know who Mahler or Mendelssohn was.” “Professor Brown is sharing his admiration of the Germanic orchestral tradition with us by choosing classic repertoire like Brahms and Mahler symphonies and moving the instrument sections to mimic a Berlin setup,” said Max Naftol ’19, a bassist in the orchestra. The symphonies are “great learning opportunities for students and I can’t wait to show the Brown community what we’re up to at our October 20th and 21st concerts,” he added. A portrait of the conductor The orchestra director’s experience with classical music began at age six. A native of North Carolina, Brown learned composition from an “incredible” elementary school music teacher. The conductor subsequently composed until high school, when he began playing violin, and was admitted to the North Carolina School of the Arts shortly after. From there, Brown attended music programs at Oberlin College and Northwestern University. As an undergraduate, Brown studied under violin instructors Roland and Almita Vamos. Since then, his estimable resume has come to include
training by the illustrious David Zinman and Lorin Maazel — accomplishments joined by studies at the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute and a position directing the New York Philharmonic. Rhapsody in Brown The virtuoso is set to fulfill his roles as Visiting Professor of Music and Orchestra Director through the 2017-18 academic year, aspiring to realize some “very high artistic goals” before leaving the University in a year. “The technicality of the musicians is no different than that of those in the top conservatories, so I’m focused more on helping them develop and mature as musicians,” Brown said. “I use the Socratic method and try to get students to interrogate questions like why notes and key signatures are where they are in a piece. … I need the students I’m teaching to realize that the destination is not as important as the journey in education, no matter how painful that journey might be. And, so far, I’m very impressed with how capable Brown students are of thinking about music in a way they never have before.” Stressing extensive mentorship toward the members of his orchestra,
Brown said he strives toward “engaging the imagination of (his) musicians and helping them sound better than they ever could have thought they could sound.” The conductor is decidedly less passionate about the spaces his musicians practice in, deeming them “wet,” a phrase from classical music vernacular that refers to echo-ridden orchestra halls. “The University’s spaces are historic, regal and august, with something very intriguing about them,” Brown said. “They just don’t work particularly well in a concert setting because of how echoey they are. But that’s not going to stop me — it’s all simply a matter of putting people in the right places,” he added. “For orchestra veterans, he has a significantly more formal demeanor that takes some getting used to,” Naftol said. “There’s going to be a bit of a learning curve as both Professor Brown and the orchestra musicians get to know one another.” “Brown is extremely passionate and attentive to all individuals during orchestra,” said Rainbow Chen ’21, a bassist in the orchestra. “Although he can be quite intimidating, it’s cool to see he truly loves his work.”
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