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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD VOLUME CLVII, ISSUE 30

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Dorm listing shortage prompts new process

ResLife staff details structural issues

in contrast to previous years in which certain dorms were reserved for sophomores. But, within StarRez, all listed housing that fit remaining groups’ criteria was filled by Tuesday afternoon. Rising sophomores whose designated selection times came after available housing had already been filled were unable to select a dorm through StarRez. Some students told The Herald

Some incoming sophomores unable to select housing due to housing group size BY NEIL MEHTA SENIOR STAFF WRITER Many rising sophomores were unable to select housing in this year’s regularly scheduled housing lottery due to a lack of availability and will instead enter a secondary process the week of April 25, according to an email sent to affected students Tuesday by the Office of Residential Life. The shortage of rooms listed in StarRez — a housing portal used by ResLife — was due to its inability to match all participants to a residence appropriate for their housing group size, according to Brenda Ice, senior associate dean and senior director of residential life. This year, the same pool of housing locations was available to all upper-division students regardless of class year,

that the experience has led to confusion and worry. “Once we got in (the portal), we saw that no rooms were available,” said Oliver Villanueva ’25, who will now join the secondary selection process. “We were anxious and we weren’t sure what was going to happen.” “Honestly, it was very surprising to me that Brown wasn’t able to provide housing,” said Daisy Martinez ’25, who is also eligible for the secondary housing selection. “I was panicking because I didn’t know where we were going to live.” In the secondary selection process, ResLife will “make an adjustment such

SEE HOUSING PAGE 2

BROWNDAILYHERALD.COM

Employees note insufficient access to laundry, heating, entryways, bathrooms BY NEIL MEHTA SENIOR STAFF WRITER This academic year marked a return to fully occupied on-campus residences for undergraduates after the University’s spring 2020 move to remote learning. But according to multiple employees from the Office of Residential Life, the return to full capacity brought a number of long-standing issues surrounding University residence to light. The Herald spoke to five current and former ResLife employees, including three Residential Peer Leaders, one current Area Coordinator and one former Area Coordinator, who described multiple structural issues in residential halls and organizational issues within ResLife. The Herald spoke to two of the three RPLs and the current AC on the condition of anonymity. All five employees described lim-

METRO

LEON JIANG / HERALD

Employees described long-standing issues in student residences, including heating failures and a lack of accessible entryways. itations in residence hall facilities, including a lack of accessible entryways, laundry machines, heating and bathrooms. According to three RPLs, some dorm rooms lost heating during the winter. RPL Megan Donohue ’22 said that rooms in Hope College, her residence hall, were not being heated

despite numerous service requests. According to the first RPL, referred to as Kate, heating in their dorm building fell below 60 degrees during the early spring semester. This was confirmed by multiple students conducting temperature checks in their rooms.

SEE RESLIFE PAGE 5

UNIVERSITY NEWS

East Side gentrification: An overview Adjunct faculty reflect on challenges of roles Professors, experts, organization leaders discuss causes, history of housing issues

Faculty reflect on opportunities, obstacles, pandemicrelated issues

BY RHEA RASQUINHA & KATY PICKENS SENIOR STAFF WRITER & METRO EDITOR

BY SARAH ONDERDONK STAFF WRITER

This article is part of a series on gentrification and development on the East Side of Providence. The movement of people in and out of neighborhoods is a natural part of cities’ development. But an issue seen across Providence and the rest of the country is gentrification: the influx of new, often wealthier populations into an area in a way that negatively impacts its current members and the surrounding communities, often by increasing the costs of living and displacing residents. The Herald spoke to a variety of housing experts about how gentrification has played out specifically on Providence’s East Side.

RHEA RASQUINHA / HERALD

What is gentrification? “Gentrification, as I understand it, involves re-envisioning neighborhoods to accommodate middle-class or upper-middle-class people at the expense of working-class and marginalized groups,” said Professor of Anthropology Patricia Rubertone. Beyond land valuation in economic terms, there are also “related values

that have more to do with how people dwell in different spaces … and the values that they attach to them,” because of experiences and family histories, Rubertone added. According to Westfield State University Associate Professor Emerita of Geography and Regional Planning

SEE DEVELOPMENT PAGE 2

The COVID-19 pandemic hit all members of the University community with a wave of uncertainty. But for many adjunct faculty, this sense of instability wasn’t new. “The stressor of COVID exposed the weaknesses in our society,” said Connie Crawford, adjunct lecturer in Theatre Arts and Performance Studies and director-in-residence of Rites and Reason Theatre in Providence. Because of the University’s three-semester structure during the pandemic, many professors taught multiple semesters in a row, which Crawford worries will lead to faculty burn-out. Crawford, alternatively, had time when she was not teaching, leading to a loss of income because adjunct lecturers are paid based

S&R

Commentary

U. News

Metro

Brown-led startup AtomICs uses molecules to store image data Page 3

Liu ’25: We must stop assigning worth to the Grammys Page 5

SGA hosts open-platform events for student candidates Page 6

Attorney General files emergency appeal over utility company sale Page 7

on the number of courses they teach. Teaching during the pandemic forced Crawford to spend more time preparing and learning new skills related to remote learning. “It takes more energy, but I get paid the same,” she said. “COVID exposed this system where so many colleges and universities around the nation depend on adjunct teachers.” The University’s Handbook of Academic Administration defines “adjunct faculty” as “persons who are normally not otherwise employed by Brown, or who, if holding full-time administrative positions at Brown, … are appointed to meet a specific department need.” Adjunct faculty are typically hired for one, two or three full years, and their contracts can be renewed according to departmental needs, according to the handbook. According to Joel Revill, senior associate dean of the faculty, 7% of University faculty are considered “adjunct.” This number includes staff members other than professors to whom the University

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THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022

HOUSING FROM PAGE 1 students’ inability to secure housing “is no indication that we have run out of bed space.” Additional beds for students will be made available before the secondary housing lottery for a variety of reasons. For example, spaces that could “potentially have been held for accommodations … are no longer needed,” and some juniors whose requests are currently under review will be permitted to live off campus, Ice explained. ResLife will work to maintain group formations so “students still can have the experience they want to have by living with or near those individuals,” Ice said. But “there will come a point

DEVELOPMENT FROM PAGE 1 Marijoan Bull, who also previously taught at Brown, the issues of gentrification and displacement are interconnected. Gentrification generally occurs when a stimulus brings people of higher incomes into a neighborhood where people of lower incomes have lived, she said. There may or may not be displacement associated with this movement, Bull added. Displacement can be physical, cultural and social — or a combination, Bull said. Physical displacement involves involuntary movement when individuals can no longer afford to stay in a neighborhood due to factors such as higher rent and property taxes. Cultural and social displacement is a result of services and businesses changing to cater to the new populations that move into a neighborhood, she said. In some cases, the institutions that were serving the initial residents may find that, as displacement occurs, business slows down, Bull added. But “you can also have people still living in a neighborhood where they feel displaced culturally because the institutions or the businesses that served them are no longer there,” she said. Another key issue specific to neighborhoods with institutions of higher education is “studentification,” which is similar to gentrification in that there is an influx of outsiders into communities — often communities of color — where a significant proportion of the population is low-income, but these outsiders are specifically university students, said Nathaniel Pettit ’20, whose senior thesis studied the history and displacement of communities on the East Side. Landlords are often incentivized to take in students because they can often afford to pay more, he said. Additionally, several students can be housed in an apartment originally designed for one working-class family, Pettit added. Another definition of gentrification describes the use of public-private partnerships and state-incentivized development in the private sector to construct newer and more expensive property in certain neighborhoods, according to Clinical Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Africana Studies Dannie Ritchie MPH’03, who teaches a course about Providence housing and gentrification. Black communities have been disproportionately impacted by these developments, fueled by a

JACK WALKER / HERALD

Some additional beds for undergraduates will be made available to students without housing assignments before the secondary housing lottery.

“narrative that Black Americans are undeserving of certain American staples of wealth and their possessions,” she said. Factors at play in Providence Just as gentrification can manifest in several different ways, there are many factors which influence why groups enter and leave a community, along with how the community is impacted, Bull said. Urban renewal in the 1950s and 60s displaced residents of multiple communities in Providence, including Lippitt Hill, South Providence and Mashapaug Pond, Rubertone wrote in an email to The Herald. These types of urban renewal projects occurred early and often, she added, displacing populations from their ancestral homelands. “These are the traditional lands of the Narragansett tribal nation,” she said. “Like many cities, Providence is very much a tale of two cities,” with East Side neighborhoods near Brown and RISD looking very different from the west side, said Brenda Clement, director of HousingWorksRI, a clearinghouse for information about housing policy at Roger Williams University. According to the organization’s 2021 Housing Fact Book, 73% of Providence households cannot afford the region’s median home price of $275,000 and there are drastic differences in housing prices between the East Side and the rest of Providence. The East Side has more single-family homes, higher median household incomes and lower poverty and disability rates among households, according to the report. Gentrification has contributed to this disparity as where people live impacts education, health outcomes, work prospects, pay and more, Clement said. “We knew well before COVID that zip code matters,” she said. In Providence, a shortage of affordable housing is a major factor contributing to displacement and gentrification, according to Clement. Students moving off campus into rental units, in addition to an insufficient building rate, especially at the low-income housing level, increase competition and drive up prices, she said. Before the pandemic, the rise of short-term rental services like Airbnb took properties off the market for long-term ownership and rental, and the pandemic has increased pressures from outside buyers, as people who are

able to work from home have moved into the area, Clement said. Concern among community members about housing, especially for families seeking affordable units, was exacerbated by the pandemic, The Herald previously reported. The Providence real estate market is also influenced by nearby cities, such as Boston and New York, according to Bull. As those markets become saturated, investors may look to cities like Providence for future development, potentially contributing to rising prices and the displacement of individuals who can no longer afford to stay, Bull said. Beyond financial systems impacting housing, systemic racism also played a role, Ritchie said. She pointed out “long histories of (property) devaluation” for Black communities specifically. “I think they’re the most stigmatized. … Their property for decades has been valued less,” she said. Additionally, Ritchie said Black communities have historically been denied generational wealth through housing policy. One method of wealth accumulation is through home ownership, but when people are “systematically denied” homes, “that’s stolen wealth,” she added. Neighborhood impact from gentrification “is not one story,” according to Bull. Some people in a neighborhood that becomes gentrified may benefit from impacts such as higher prices when selling property, she said. “It’s difficult to untangle all the forces that are happening in a neighborhood at one time,” Bull added. Another major impact of gentrification is the exacerbation of disparities around home ownership. Little to no progress has been made on homeownership rates for Black and other minority homeowners in Rhode Island and across the country since the 1960s, according to Clement. “We have literally slammed the doors shut now for several generations for Black and brown families,” with rates about half the rates of white families, she said.

ping Brown” from demolishing historic homes to build Keeney Quad, said Executive Director of PPS Brent Runyon. “The people involved in forming PPS were people with long histories or family histories in this area,” Runyon said. He added that Antoinette Downing, wife of George E. Downing, chairman of the Art Department at the University from 1949 to 1963, was one of the individuals instrumental to PPS efforts and research. Her work in preservation contributed to the restoration of approximately 750 homes between 1960 and 1980, according to a 1985 article in the New York Times. Restoration of these buildings on the East Side had long-term implications and contributed to the displacement of non-white residents on and near College Hill, according to Pettit. “Restoring Benefit Street, for instance, interwoven with urban renewal, resulted in gentrification and the displacement of longtime residents, many of them being residents of color,” Pettit said. In 1959 and 1967, PPS published two editions of The College Hill Study, a survey of neighborhood buildings that pushed the idea that “historic preservation and all the historic architecture” in Providence can be part of urban renewal projects. While PPS brought a fresh perspective to development that emphasized history, it was very inwardly focused on College Hill in its early years, Runyon said. Historic preservation has at times been linked to gentrification and displacement because it can increase property values and housing payments, The Herald previously reported. “If you’re trying to preserve something or restore something, then it’s very likely that you might need to increase the rent,” Runyon said. “Improvements will often mean displacement because the people who currently live there can’t afford the new rent.” Today, PPS works to be available to and “show interest in the people and historic architecture in all 25 neighborhoods of Providence,” said PPS Director of Preservation Rachel Robinson. PPS released a new strategic plan to “democratize preservation” last November, she added. “It’s really considering whose voices are heard in preservation and planning,” Runyon said. “What decisions are going to be made by having a broader

where the group size configuration just simply doesn’t meet what we have.” Ice clarified that the secondary process is an extension of regular housing selection. It is separate from the late housing assignment process, which is reserved for students who fail to select housing. Martinez and Villanueva told The Herald they were relieved by the secondary housing selection process, though they still cited some uncertainty. “I’m relieved that they have a plan to give us housing,” Martinez said. “It gave me a bit of reassurance,” Villanueva added, who noted that he is unsure about the details of the upcoming process. “I just feel like I have no clue what they’re going to do.”

set of voices at the table.” He added that PPS is striving to diversify their mostly-white staff, and that they are seeking to preserve more histories and buildings in marginalized communities. Looking to the future Though the issue of gentrification and its consequences have deeply historical roots, there are future policies and steps that institutions and communities can take to address the issue, several sources told The Herald. “It’s important to realize that … urban renewal is one of the many tactics settler-colonists used to expropriate Indigenous land. Urban renewal didn’t destroy Indigenous people’s resolution to city living or their memories,” Rubertone wrote. “Investing in housing is really an investment in a lot of aspects in our overall well-being,” Bull said. “Everybody has a right to live in a community that has quality services.” But when services are upgraded in a community, there is a fear that it will draw in people of higher incomes and displace original members of the community, Bull said. Solutions to protect community members include increasing affordable and permanently protected housing, she added. But she noted that there are challenges in scaling up these efforts. Another strategy involves compensating long-term homeowners by slowing increases in taxes, said Ritchie, as some homeowners struggle to afford property taxes that steadily increase. At the institutional level, community benefits agreements help address the needs of communities, Bull said. These agreements, which originated in Los Angeles and are now more widely used across the country, involve negotiations between community representatives and institutes so that if the institution expands in some way, it must make contributions to the community in exchange, she added. Such agreements have been effective in some cases around other college campuses, according to Bull. Ritchie also hopes to see a community-campus advisory board created to look into issues of gentrification and housing. The goal is to have something “collaborative in a shared power arrangement” that is permanent and stable, in order for community members to have ways to protect themselves and prevent further displacement, she said.

STAY UP-TO-DATE. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK. Impact of Historic Preservation Historical preservation has also played a role in how housing markets, development and displacement has occurred on the East Side of Providence. The Providence Preservation Society was established in 1956 in response to the University demolishing historic homes to construct dormitories. But “they were unsuccessful at stop-

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ADJUNCT FROM PAGE 1 grants the adjunct title in order to allow them to teach and get access to systems like Banner. But these staff members often “have roles that are very different from what most people think of as the stereotypical adjunct faculty member,” Revill said. The standard pay per course at the University is about $10,000, according to Revill. A full-time faculty member without any other responsibilities typically teaches six courses per academic year, and according to the Office of Institutional Research, the median salary of a lecturer at the University is $82,000. Revill said he does not know of any adjunct faculty members who teach as many as six courses per year. Crawford, like many adjunct faculty members, chose this particular path because she started teaching at institutions of higher education later in life. She sees both advantages and disadvantages to her role. “For some people, being an adjunct offers a flexibility that’s good,” she said, but downsides include lower pay, lack of research support and lack of benefits. Irene Glasser, adjunct lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, used to be a full-time professor at Eastern Connecticut State University, then retired to focus on research. In 2013, she decided she wanted to go back to teaching part-time in an adjunct role. “I’m very happy with what I’m doing and I feel like my adjunct position does not get in the way of teaching my students,” she said. “Being an adjunct also means that I do have time to pursue research” at Brown. Glasser acknowledged that her situation as a former full-time professor puts her in a privileged position compared to many adjuncts. While she still has healthcare from Eastern Connecticut State University, she “can understand fully that (healthcare) would be very stressful” for adjuncts who do not have it from other jobs. Adjunct faculty are eligible for health, dental and vision insurance, according to Kimberly Almeida, the director of benefits operations at the University. All employees of the Univer-

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS sity who work less than 50% of full-time employment — which typically includes adjuncts — pay a full premium. “If somebody was trying to make a full-time living out of” being an adjunct, Glasser added, “they would probably have to teach quite a few courses.” Richard Fleeter ’76 PhD’81, adjunct associate professor of engineering, has taught as many as four courses per year but has to buy into Brown’s health insurance. “You’re eligible to pay for the Brown Health System, which is what I’m doing,” he said. “I can’t complain about it because they were upfront when I took the job, but that’s a disadvantage.” Fleeter only teaches at the University for part of the year and spends his remaining time at another job in Italy. Similarly, David Upegui, adjunct lecturer in education, also has a fulltime job at Central Falls High School. He serves as a site leader for students in the University’s Master of Arts in Teaching program, which requires its students to complete a residency at a local school. Upegui’s students attend a seminar he holds once a week at Central Falls High School, so they can interact with real high school students. He does not teach in person at the University. Upegui said he is one of many adjunct faculty members who are able to provide students with real-world skills due to industry experience outside of teaching in higher education. “We are really a bridge between what happens in public education and what’s happening at Brown,” he said. “We are providing Brown students with an experience that is fulfilling and engaging,” he added. “It’s preparing them for when they teach their own class.” At the same time, Upegui said he feels that his unique status can feel isolating at times. “You’re in this sort of limbo space where you’re part of the Brown community, but you’re also not,” he said. “I think (my off-campus position) is an amazing thing because I’m teaching a class about urban schools,” Upegui added. “But because I’m not physically (on campus), some of the things that happen when you have colleagues that you interact with on a regular basis

don’t happen.” Upegui also said that adjuncts are often uncompensated for the time they spend on University matters outside of class hours. Certain responsibilities that all professors have — such as human resources and administrative work — take time. “We still have to do the same administrative things that someone who gets all the benefits of being a full-fledged faculty member at Brown has to do,” he said. Revill said that adjunct faculty are not expected to do extra work, as they “are generally PhD holders who should have already developed both the ability to teach and a portfolio of courses that they’re ready to teach.” He added that their pay is supposed to encompass everything they do to prepare for their course. For Crawford, it is essential that she puts time into improving her craft as a teacher. “We need to be trained about new ideas, how to support across abilities and new techniques in our field,” Crawford said. “The University needs us to be informed in order for us to teach well.” In Fleeter’s experience, this isn’t much of an issue. “Brown does pay you a fixed amount and everything you do is on your own time,” he said. “But nobody is forcing you to do those things.” He added that the University offers helpful workshops that are open to all professors regardless of their status and that everyone who participates does so voluntarily outside of class hours. Crawford and Upegui found that the pandemic only increased their working time outside of class. Upegui had to follow the same testing protocols as those on campus, even though he only teaches in person at Central Falls High School. “I understand the health concerns,” he said. “But it provided an extra layer of challenges for us because now we had to solve the problem (operating) outside of campus while professors that are on campus got the testing there.” Crawford felt she had to make lots of adaptations during the pandemic. “We were not given any kind of extra pay for all the learning we had to do, such as how to teach an acting class

MUKUL KHANNNA / HERALD

The pandemic has added uncertainty in finances and career plans for many adjunct faculty members. on Zoom,” she said. “It required a lot of learning, and since I’m not getting a full paycheck with benefits, I’m working way more for way less.” Nevertheless, Crawford said she feels that she is very fortunate to be part of a department that seems to be mindful of the issues adjunct faculty face, specifically commending Professor of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies Patricia Ybarra, former chair of the department and former president of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education. Crawford pointed to a report Ybarra contributed to while at the ATHE called “Best Practices Document: Adjunct and Contingent Labor.” It contains results of various surveys done by the ATHE of adjunct faculty in the arts fields at various schools. Of the 49 participants in one survey, 44 disclosed that “they could not support themselves on their adjunct teaching income alone.” The report also noted that art adjuncts often lack health insurance because, unlike adjuncts in other fields, many don’t have other jobs in the private sector. Ybarra “addressed some of the places where I have not had a lot of support,” Crawford said, “so compared to most adjuncts I have a good situation” at Brown. “I do think that all colleges and universities need to look at how much they lean on the inequity of having adjunct or contingent faculty.”

Ybarra did not respond to a request for comment for this story. Crawford mentioned that universities could create a “tiered system that’s on a different branch from that of an associate professor” which would allow adjunct professors opportunities for advancement. Upegui said he thinks small fixes would help make adjuncts feel at home. He recalled award ceremonies he was included in when he was a fulltime University employee, as well as a cookout he was invited to this past year. “Those are the kinds of things that make you feel like you’re part of an institution,” he said. “There are ways that you can make people feel special that do not necessarily mean money.” Ultimately, Fleeter stressed the honor it is to be an adjunct at the University. “It’s really hard to become an adjunct and I don’t think people should take it for granted,” he said. “It isn’t as simple as someone just being paid to come in and teach. They really are going to bring somebody in who is at the standard of any other faculty.” “Our positions as adjunct lecturers are unique. It feels nice that you can say ‘I’m an adjunct at Brown’ because you’re coming from a place where a lot of really great things are happening,” Upegui said. “But I think the University overall does need to consider what burdens they’re placing on people.”

SCIENCE & RESEARCH

Computing startup AtomICs aims to revolutionize data storage U. researchers develop novel molecular data storage, computing technology BY ANNA KIM SENIOR STAFF WRITER AtomICs, a data storage and computing startup led by University researchers, won the first place prize of $25,000 at the 2022 Brown Venture Prize competition, The Herald previously reported. AtomICs is the first PhD student and faculty team to win a Brown Venture Prize and is led by Dana Biechele-Speziale GS, former Herald columnist Selahaddin Gumus GS, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Brenda Rubenstein ’07 and Associate Professor of Engineering Jacob Rosenstein ’05. To “revolutionize the way we store and process digital data,” AtomICs aims to develop “new ways to use molecules to carry information” to solve the growing need for data storage, Biechele-Speziale and Gumus wrote in an email to The Herald.

Rubenstein’s chemistry lab and Rosenstein’s engineering lab have previously collaborated on research at the intersection between molecular science and data. Rubenstein and Rosenstein recruited Beichele-Speziale and Gumus to help commercialize the molecular data storage technology to “scale up and bring this revolutionary technology to market,” Beichele-Speziale and Gumus wrote. Biechele-Speziale and Gumus pointed to the limitations of current data storage methods as motivating their research. “Data centers are struggling to keep up with our explosive data creation,” they wrote. Currently, information is stored in solid-state drives that use transistors, which require chip-grade silicon, they added. As a result, “prior to 2040, the demand for microchip-grade silicon will be 10 to 100 times the world’s supply, leaving the data storage industry facing a huge supply and demand challenge,” they wrote. These transistors also produce an “enormous amount of heat, and, to keep the data cool, data centers around the

world use more electricity per year” than some countries, they added. This cooling process also uses large amounts of water. Given the already-compact size of modern transistors, “conventional technology is struggling to make data storage denser,” Beichele-Speziale and Gumus wrote. AtomICs uses “small molecules to enable denser, more sustainable and longer-term storage of data at room temperature when compared to conventional and current DNA-based competitors,” they added. COURTESY OF BRENDA RUBENSTEIN AtomICs has obtained a patent Information stored in solid-state drives requires a large amount of for their information storage process, electricity to keep the data cool — a problem AtomICs hopes to solve. which uses molecules to store image data. A mass spectrometer identifies and then to show that it is more ena highly compact, highly energy-efwhether a molecule is present or absent ergy-efficient and also cheaper than ficient way of storing information in in a chemical solution to create a binary comparative storage techniques.” molecules,” Rubenstein said. Ultimatecode. “From here, we use novel artificial “After the first round of storage, … ly, AtomICs’s goal is to “develop more intelligence to interpret these spectra we’re going to look further into how in situ molecular computation capabiland read out our image,” Beichele-Spewe can actually compute using molities,” she added. ziale and Gumus wrote. ecules,” Rosenstein added. Achieving “We’re very appreciative of the sup“In past demonstrations, we’ve been computation would involve finding a port that Brown has given us,” Rubenable to show that we can store many way to “create molecular circuits in stein added. In addition to providing megabytes of images in molecules,” a soft system,” which are biological funding for the project, the University Rubenstein said. With the funding from systems or robotic systems made of facilitated cooperation across different the venture prize, “our first aim will be flexible materials. departments to make the project posto scale that up to the terabyte regime In the long run, “we want to realize sible, she added.

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Brown/RISD Arab Society hosts discussion on crisis in Lebanon Panelists discuss Lebanese political history, economic crisis, upcoming elections BY ALEX NADIRASHVILI UNIVERSITY NEWS EDITOR The Brown/RISD Arab Society held a panel discussion Tuesday evening titled “Lebanon: A State in Collapse” in MacMillan Hall. Organized in collaboration with the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, the event was moderated by Serena Fadel ’25, Tania Sawaya ’22 and Nader Maarouf ’23 and included three panelists: Paul Salem, president of the Middle East Institute, Melani Cammett, director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, and Ferid Belhaj, vice president of the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa. The aim of the panel was to provide attendees with “political, economic and humanitarian perspectives (on) the ongoing crisis in Lebanon” — particularly in the context of the country’s current hyperinflation, the August 4 Port of Beirut explosion and the Lebanese Revolution, according to the event description. Elias Muhanna, associate professor of comparative literature and history, opened the panel with introductory remarks. Lebanon is a “land of contradictions. It’s a place that embodies many different contradictions on a topographical level, geographical level, cultural level (and) political level,” he said. “In a region known for its totalitarian regimes, Lebanon is known for its freewheeling, dynamic (and) ungovernable system.” Over the past 50 years of Lebanese history, a pattern has emerged where “about every 15 years, … all of the arrangements that have been put into place to govern this very strange and beautiful country eventually kind of fall apart,” Muhanna added. He recalled the Lebanese Civil War, which lasted from 1975 to 1990, the Syrian occupation of Lebanon between 1990 and 2005 and a chapter of rebuilding between 2005 and 2020 which culminated in the country’s economic collapse. In 2020, in light of the explosion at the Port of Beirut — one of the world’s

MEG O’CONNOR / HERALD

Elias Muhanna, associate professor of comparative literature and history, described Lebanon as a “land of contradictions. It’s a place that embodies many different contradictions on a topographical level, geographical level, cultural (and) political level.” biggest non-nuclear explosions which left more than 200 dead — and banking, currency, health and security crises, the Lebanese economy collapsed, Muhanna said. “What has to happen for this 15year period to come to an end and for the country to pick itself up in the way that it did during the previous periods?” Muhanna asked the panelists. “Has it actually reached a point where it can’t pick itself up anymore, where there has to be some kind of … replacement of the deck with something completely different?” “Lebanon is defying gravity and that gravity, at some point, catches up to you,” Belhaj said. The country has had to support a massive Syrian refugee population and endured an energy and food crisis in 2021, he added. As of October 2021, nearly 78% of the Lebanese population was living under the poverty line. Ferid referred to the current crisis in Lebanon as “The Great Denial.” “This is a country where there is a deliberate depression orchestrated by its elites, … by people who really

look more at their own interest (and) the interest of their clients more than the interest of the people and Lebanon itself,” he added. The Lebanese government has “a power-sharing system among communities who have leaders that claim to work for the community,” Salem said, “but they are actually working for themselves.” Following the Lebanese Civil War, political power came to be shared “so extensively that there was no longer anybody in charge,” he said. “This is a state that brought in warlords … and let them run the government. Now, these warlords brought their habits of warlordism, intense corruption (and) mafia-style politics, and that became the politics” of Lebanon, he added. “Power-sharing systems have been said to win the war but lose the peace,” Cammett said. “They’re good at getting people to stop killing each other … because every party … gets a seat at the table in the new government. But then what happens is that they have to (actually) govern.” In 2021, Lebanon was downgraded

CA L E N DA R

from to a lower middle-income economic status. “On the economic side, I’m not very optimistic about the short term. We do have the (International Monetary Fund) agreement, but the things that are required to be done are not that easy,” Salem said. “It’s going to be an extremely rough ride.” Earlier this month, IMF reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies with Lebanon for a four-year extended reform program that aims “to rebuild the country’s economy, restore financial stability … and increase social and reconstruction spending,” according to the IMF website. Lebanon is also facing a number of political obstacles between now and the end of the year, with the Lebanese general elections happening in May 2022, according to Salem. “It’s very important in addition to domestic (reforms) to have sustained international support,” he added. Belhaj emphasized the importance of continued help from the international community, though he added that “it is getting more and more difficult.”

“Lebanon is in a serious dilemma right now because it absolutely needs aid,” Cammett said. “If aid funnels through the existing political structures, then you’re … going to have the same kind of crisis.” The Lebanese people have mobilized in an attempt to enact some structural changes, but “they haven’t managed to unify in a major way,” Salem said. “There are dozens, if not hundreds, of groups that are mobilizing,” but not under a single position. Salem is hoping that this year’s elections will introduce new faces to the Lebanese parliament. “We have to do much better at working together,” he added. “Grassroots mobilization and political organization have been shown in many places around the world to lead to important political changes,” Cammett said. “Organizing and reaching out and speaking to different communities and building an alternative is absolutely critical for political change.” “Young Lebanese people … are the key to changing the reality in Lebanon,” Belhaj said. “You are the hope and future of Lebanon.”

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | COMMENTARY

Liu ’25: We must stop assigning worth to the Grammys Last Sunday, April 3, the 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony took place in Las Vegas. Hosted by the Recording Academy, the Grammys are heralded as the most prestigious music awards event in the country. But, especially in recent years, viewership is declining and critics say the awards show is becoming more and more irrelevant. In the face of a changing music industry where social media has transformed the relationship between listeners and musicians, the Grammys and other similar prestigious music awards only serve to arbitrarily stratify and assign worth to artistry in ways that benefit connected artists who are predominantly white. Because of the exclusion of Black artists and opaque selection processes, these awards shows are at best irrelevant and at worst contrary to the purpose of music and the impact that it has on listeners. Historically, there have been major issues with how Grammys are nominated and awarded. In 2020, then-Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging corruption in the voting process. Specifically, she cited “secret committees” of industry elites who undermine the voting process with undemocratic practices and claimed that members of the committees “chose artists with whom they have personal or business relationships.” While these secret committees were eliminated in 2021 and the Recording Academy has reformed the voting process, the committees still consist solely of Recording Academy members. In order to become a voting member of the Recording Academy, one must actively work in the music or recording industry. Prospective Recording Academy voting members must also be recommended by other music industry professionals. Thus, despite reforms, it nevertheless remains the case that those who vote on Grammy nominations and awards still tend to be elites with-

RESLIFE FROM PAGE 1 “That’s how I know that these buildings haven’t been renovated,” the anonymous AC said. “It’s not supposed to be that way. The reason why it is so difficult to heat (dorms) up is … because they haven’t been fixed in a long time.” “The place that you live (in) really does affect your overall happiness and feeling of safety,” Donohue said. “It’s on the school to … make sure that (students) can be comfortable in their space.” According to former AC shaquan harris, these issues stem from the age of the dorms and the campus’s heating structures. Even after Facilities Management conducts repairs, “because it’s old, (dorm heating) falls back apart and then folks have to come back and do another patch,” harris said. He noted that because of the layout of the campus’s central heating structure, “areas more north of campus will be warmer, and the heat travels throughout the rest of campus. That’s just another old structural thing.” Two RPLs described limitations in laundry access for their residents. University laundry services are managed by ResLife, according to the Brown Card Services website. Donohue said that it took over four months to replace a leaky washer, leaving “one washer for 80 people.” Now, there are “still only two washers and two dryers for the whole building.” The second RPL, referred to here

in the music industry — many presumably with connections to Grammy-nominated artists. When a group of interconnected industry professionals are given the sole authority to determine nominations and awards, the inevitable result is ambiguous and unclear methods of awarding Grammys. Viewers and music lis-

Black artists who popular and critical consensus deem more deserving. Most notably, in 2014, Kendrick Lamar’s “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” lost Best Rap Album to Macklemore’s “The Heist” — and, again in 2016, Taylor Swift’s “1989” won Album of the Year over Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly.” It is impossible to know exactly what

“We should try to make the music industry look more like a diverse group of authentic artists rather than an elite interconnected group of wealthy individuals.”

teners have no way of knowing whether music and musicians are awarded truly due to musical impact, creativity and other merit-based traits rather than industry connections or power. The Grammys therefore comes closer to a celebration of already-established musicians and creators rather than a place to honor a more diverse and up-and-coming group of artists. Largely because of ambiguity within the voting process and these membership restrictions, the Grammys has encountered numerous controversies concerning diversity, equity and inclusion over the years. Since the awards ceremony’s inception in 1957, only 11 Black artists have won Album of the Year. The Grammys have repeatedly received criticism for choosing white artists, particularly in major categories like Album of the Year or Song of the Year, over

as Tom, said that he too was frustrated when washing machines were not working. In those times, “you’ve got one working washing machine for a total of 112 people.” “Every dorm has laundry problems consistently,” Tom added. Two employees also described long-standing issues in student access to bathrooms. Donohue said that in Hope College, multiple students were unable to find bathrooms that aligned with their gender identity because there is only one bathroom available on each floor. “If the school wanted to make it a priority to build more bathrooms to make everybody comfortable, they could,” Donohue said. “But that’s not where the school is allocating funds (to), from what I see.” The University did not respond to multiple requests for comment on funding. The anonymous AC noted ResLife does not keep track of bathroom designations, making it challenging to address these needs at an administrative level. “It’s our job to make sure that every student feels included, that every student feels safe and every student, to the best of our abilities, can make their dorm a home,” they said. “So it is just odd to me that there seems to be no intentional supervision on the part of (ResLife) … to make those (bathroom) designations.” “At the end of the day, the problem was that these halls were built such a long time ago,” they added, noting that

caused these albums to win, but that is precisely the problem and the reason music fans were angry that Kendrick Lamar lost both times. We should have a better idea of why an artist who has produced three consecutive widely-acclaimed albums has never been able to win Album of the Year. In addition, the Grammys consistently groups genre-bending Black artists into solely rap and R&B categories while excluding them from more prestigious categories like Album of the Year and Song of the Year. All of these controversies suggest that racism infects the Recording Academy and the general music industry. Despite the massive impact that Black artists have had on music, culture and society, they are nevertheless grouped into restrictive categories where they are overlooked, mini-

many dorms were built when Brown was an all-male college. “That’s the larger structural problem.” Further, multiple dorms lack accessible entryways and elevators, according to harris. “There are buildings that are just not accessible for folks with differing physical abilities,” they said, adding that many buildings are also located far from academic buildings and dining halls. Collectively, these challenges in residential halls create unequal residential experiences for students in different dorms, some RPLs noted. “You have Grad Center versus Wellness versus this new Brook Street dorm,” Tom said. “It’s just a huge difference in quality of life. For a university like Brown, it doesn’t make sense to me that a large percentage of our dorms have so many issues.” Brenda Ice, senior associate dean and senior director of residential life, noted that ResLife works with Facilities “to support the overall experience” of students. “As we discover that there are immediate issues that need to be addressed, that (goes) through the traditional work order system,” Ice said in an interview with The Herald. “Students can do that on their own, or we can assist them in figuring out how to get that in.” “We have our own facilities operations team within ResLife that is also doing daily checks of buildings,” Ice added. “And when they discover things out of sorts, they’re also reporting it.” Ice noted the need for long-term

mized and forgotten. While this exclusion of Black artists exists in all aspects of music and popular culture, the Grammy Awards act as a prime manifestation of it. Whether purposeful or not, rewarding one artist over another makes a statement, implying that the mostly white artists who receive nominations or awards are more worthwhile and deserving of acclaim than the many non-white ones who do not. Assigning prestige to artists in such a skewed, exclusive and racist way as the Grammys has thus only makes the music industry less inclusive. Even disregarding bias and racism within the Recording Academy, the Grammys and other prestigious music awards shows nevertheless rest upon a flawed model that stratifies the music industry and assigns worth and prestige to certain musicians and pieces of music over others. When an event as prestigious as the Grammys uses confusing and elitist methods to try to determine the value of new music, it effectively obscures what music fundamentally should be: an authentic, expressive and fluid art form. Awards shows like the Grammys thus take away from the focus on creating and listening to music that people love and identify with. Within the larger entertainment industry rife with elitism, we should try to make the music industry look more like a diverse group of authentic artists rather than an elite interconnected group of wealthy individuals. To do this, we must stop assigning worth to the Grammy Awards.

Melissa Liu ’25 can be reached at melissa_y_ liu@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald. com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

renewal efforts within residential life. “We acknowledge that we do need a more committed renewal effort in place, and it cannot be only addressing the immediate need or situation that arises,” she said. “And that’s where, since I arrived in September, I have been tasked with thinking about.” “It is great if all we’re doing is creating accessibility and things of that nature, but can we also think about the common space area and the way our students commune, rather than only focus on renewal?” Ice added. “Can we add some moments of renovation to that?” Ice acknowledged that internal departmental goals set by ResLife last year “seem very lofty,” adding that now that she has been here a year, she “can get to a place to operationalize specific tasks.” All five employees interviewed pointed to an unusually high turnover among ResLife employees as a cause of challenges this academic year. Kate noted that employee turnover this past year was 80%, up from a usual 50%. The Office of Residential Life did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this figure. According to four of the employees, ResLife’s independence from other departments, especially Facilities, was another cause of these challenges. Tom reported being instructed to file “as many requests as possible” to Facilities when facing issues with residential facilities. “Problems arise when you can’t communicate … between an RPL and Facilities,” he said.

According to the anonymous AC, the separation between ResLife and other departments limits accountability in maintaining student residences. They noted that collaboration with other departments could ensure that residences meet students’ holistic needs. “Imagine, for example, if the counselors who work at (Counseling and Psychological Services) … had to do a tour of every single dorm and sign off on a report saying … from a mental health perspective, this is fine,” they said. “Imagine if the academic deans had to do a tour of the dorms and say, ‘Yup, there’s enough space here for everybody to study and to sleep.’” Employees were split on whether new ResLife staffing could lead to their concerns being addressed. “There’s a whole new set of staff at ResLife,” Tom said. “We owe them the benefit of the doubt that they’re gonna try to make changes. And I think these are all people that genuinely care about the lives of students.” However, Kate noted that efforts at changing ResLife operations have been ineffective, adding that new goals set by the office are “abstract.” Employees were told, “‘We want trust,’ but what does that mean?” Kate said. “We need clear goals.” “We pay a lot of money to be here, and I think that Brown should give you what you pay for,” she added. “You don’t pay to live in a broken dorm, you pay to have everything working so that you can focus on why you’re here, which is to study.”

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022

UNIVERSITY NEWS

UCS, UFB, CCB candidates host open-platform event in Sayles Hall Candidates give speeches, have one-onone conversations with students BY KATHY WANG SENIOR STAFF WRITER The Student Government Association, a group formed to foster better communication between the different branches of student government, hosted an open-platform event for spring elections this Tuesday afternoon. The event allowed candidates for all three branches — the Undergraduate Council of Students, the Undergraduate Finance Board and the Class Coordinating Board — to discuss their campaign platforms with students. Attendance of the event was required for all candidates for president of each branch, The Herald previously reported. UCS Chair of Health and Wellness Emma Amselem ’24, UCS Student Activities Committee Chair Ricky Zhong ’23 and Chas Steinbrugge ’24 are competing for the UCS presidency, while UCS Chair of Campus Life Mina Sarmas ’24 is running uncontested for the vice presidency. UFB At-Large Representative Amienne Spencer-Blume ’23 is running uncontested for UFB chair while UCSUFB Liaison Johann Dizon ’24 and UFB First-Year Representative Arjun Krishna Chopra ’25 are running for vice chair. The open platform event included speeches by the presidential candidates in Sayles Hall and was followed by a meet and greet between candidates and students on the Main Green. According to current UCS President Summer Dai ’22, the debates hosted in previous years asked the same questions to all candidates running for a certain position and the answers were “more

KATHY WANG / HERALD

The event, which was held in Sayles Hall, featured speeches by presidential candidates for student government organizations and was followed by an outdoor meet and greet on the Main Green. or less similar.” The open platform event provides candidates with “more flexibility to talk about their ideas and values” and is less intimidating, thus encouraging more participation in the election process, she added. SGA decided to host an outdoor meet and greet because they “want candidates to get the opportunity to talk to as many people as possible,” Dai said. Common issues mentioned by candidates were housing selection, dining, sustainability and the UFB surplus, which was approximately $1.2 million in the fall, The Herald previously reported. Chopra emphasized that they hope to spend the UFB surplus by making at least half of tickets to UFB-funded events free and by working with the

Office of Residential Life to ensure laundry is either free or subsidized. Amselem addressed sustainability, mentioning that she wished to continue a yearly sustainability fair she organized this year. A common theme in all the candidates’ speeches was supporting and strengthening communications between the student body, student government and the University administration, with UCS and UFB acting as liaisons. “All UFB needs to be successful is … clear communication and (the student body’s) clear understanding of what UFB does and what the student body can do with the money that they paid for,” Dizon said. Steinbrugge emphasized the importance of communicating with the

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student body. “My main priority is to use my background in … communications (to) talk about (the current issues) more publicly with students on social media … to make sure they have a bigger voice,” he said. Some candidates also emphasized collaboration between student groups and the student government on top of this communication. Zhong talked about building “a coalition of … student leaders and student groups that will advocate for changes on the most relevant (issues),” citing his experience in working with “hundreds of student groups” during his three years serving on UCS and two years serving on UFB. Another recurring theme among candidates was giving back to the campus community.

“The student activism on campus taught me to … advocate for social inclusion and change,” said Zhong. “The desire to give back to the Brown community shapes every single thing I do with regard to student government.” During the meet and greet, candidates introduced their platforms to students walking by and answered any questions they had. Dizon explained to a student that his platform doesn’t propose specific UFB policies for a fear of making empty promises and that UFB policies are a collaborative effort of the whole board. Voting for the positions opens today and closes April 15, with results being announced April 18. Undergraduates can vote through a link sent via email.

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

METRO

RI Attorney General files appeal against sale of utility company Environmental orgs suggest sale could impact state’s ability to reach climate goals BY JULIA VAZ SENIOR STAFF WRITER On Feb. 23, the Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers approved the sale of Narragansett Electric Company — National Grid’s electric and gas supplier in Rhode Island — to Pennsylvania-based electric company PPL Electric Utilities. One day later, Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha filed an emergency appeal of the decision in the Rhode Island Superior Court “on the grounds that it does not sufficiently provide assurances that the sale is in the best interests of Rhode Islanders,” according to a Feb. 24 statement. Despite concerns raised by community organizations during the sale’s review process that PPL lacks sufficient experience to further National Grid’s advancements toward green energy and meet state climate goals outlined by the 2021 Act on Climate bill, DPUC approved the $5.3 billion transaction. Now, as Neronha’s appeal process moves forward, the case has come to represent “one of the first opportunities to uphold the Act on Climate and send some guidance to other state agencies that it is a legal standard that they need to follow,” said Hank Webster, senior policy advocate and Rhode Island director at Acadia Center, a clean energy research and advocacy organization that voiced concerns regarding the sale during the review process. State climate organizations raise concerns While upon review DPUC guaranteed that the sale was made in “public interest” — a requirement for the purchase to pass — some environmental groups cited different interpretations of public interest given ongoing climate concerns. According to Kim Salem ’18, policy coordinator at Green Energy Consumers Alliance, utility companies are essential to the state’s commitment to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030 through the Act on Climate. Many community advocates who partook in the review process cited PPL’s lack of experience in green energy as a concern with the sale, given that the company currently only operates in states which lack green energy goals comparable to those outlined by the Act on Climate, Salem said. “The vast majority of electricity and natural gas in our state goes through the utility systems,” Salem said. These companies “are charged by law with administering most of the green energy plans” in the state. If a company fails to meet these policies, it “could really hamper our ability to meet our climate goals.” National Grid currently operates in Rhode Island, New York and Massachusetts, “three of the top five states

LOKI OLIN / HERALD

nationally for energy efficiency,” Webster said. National Grid’s experience in Rhode Island as well as other states with green energy pathways means that the company has already “lived in that ecosystem” of green energy, he added. Should they maintain control of the state’s power supply, “they can leverage that expertise” to help “decarbonize the utility based systems” in a way PPL cannot. During the review process, Salem also questioned the company’s ability to meet climate goals without impacting Rhode Island ratepayers. “PPL could gain that experience and expertise,” she explained, but the money necessary to provide it “is going to be charged to Rhode Islanders.” During the review process, National Grid refuted the claim that the transaction could negatively impact the state’s ratepayers. In its rebuttal, the company stated that, after analyzing the information supplied by PPL, it is “confident that customers of Narragansett will continue to receive safe, reliable and cost-effective electric and gas distribution service.” In an email to The Herald, Mark Miller, director of communications for PPL, wrote that the company has maintained rates in its present localities that are “31% lower than the average rates in the Mid-Atlantic region” as of the most recent comparison in summer 2021. Miller also noted that, by investing in the automation of the electrical grid, PPL reduced outages by 30% and incorporated “over 14,600 customer-owned and third party-owned distributed energy resources,” he wrote. Currently, National Grid is piloting a geothermal network — a project that, according to Webster, would be deeply beneficial to Rhode Island. PPL indicated during the review process that “they have no intention of pursuing that pathway, at least not right now,” which led to concern from local climate activists, he said. Additionally, PPL would have to continue National Grid’s project of developing technology to blend green hydrogen into distribution heating to help displace natural gas within the Ocean State, Webster said.

Salem also highlighted that Rhode Island has focused on offshore wind power as the main way to reduce carbon emissions, but PPL has no experience with such infrastructure. None of the states in which it currently operates have wind power installations. In their testimonies during the review process, National Grid and PPL pointed to ongoing collaboration between the two companies as a way PPL will negate concerns regarding its overall experience with green energy. PPL noted that it will leverage the experience “managing energy efficiency programs and programs similar to least-cost procurement in its existing utilities” while taking advantage of the knowledge provided by National Grid employees that will be transferring to PPL. Miller did not comment on PPL’s ability to meet climate goals. Bringing the sale to court Margaret Curran, senior attorney at the Clean Energy and Climate Change Program at the Conservation Law Foundation in Rhode Island, noted that because “utilities are a regulated industry, they come under a number of regulatory requirements” that independent businesses do not, necessitating that the state DPUC approve the sale as within public interest. Curran, who voiced environmental concerns in the review process on behalf of CLF, said that DPUC had a “much more lenient” approach to the case than she anticipated. “It didn’t want to ask a lot of the questions that the Attorney General’s office was arguing were necessary,” she said, including certain financial information and storm response plans. For Curran, DPUC’s decision to uphold the sale despite widespread public criticism only further demonstrated the current division’s hands-off approach, which she said does not meet the expectations of community stakeholders. “The Hearing Officer seemed to view the Division’s role in overseeing this interaction as very light-touch,” she said, suggesting that the DPUC only worried about the utility being in “good financial order.”

The Climate and Development Lab at Brown University also raised concerns regarding PPL’s knowledge of offshore wind supply, according to J. Timmons Roberts, professor of environmental studies. Roberts alleged that DPUC’s “historical focus is about low rates and reliability above all else.” In Neronha’s March 23 opening brief to the Superior Court, he alleged that DPUC “expressly denied the statutory command to consider climate impacts of the transaction, as it must in all its decisions, enacted by the legislature in its adoption of the 2021 Act on Climate.” While we are “confident the Division’s decision will be upheld, we also understand that this is a complex transaction and recognize the Attorney General’s commitment to ensuring Rhode Island customers will not be impacted by it,” wrote Ted Kresse, director of strategic communications at National Grid, in an email to The Herald. Thomas Kogut, DPUC associate administrator, wrote in an email to The Herald that DPUC is unable to comment on the review process as it falls within its current legal proceedings at the Superior Court. Setting a precedent for the Act on Climate The Act on Climate set legally enforceable emission reduction requirements for state energy companies. But, according to climate activists, even though DPUC’s approval of the purchase came on the condition that PPL would eventually meet these goals, it did not satisfactorily outline steps to do so. That represents a potential limitation of the bill in ensuring that businesses uphold state climate goals prior to gaining control of state energy resources. According to Webster, the focus on “the company’s willingness to commit to meeting targets without any specifics around how they plan to do that” could set a dangerous precedent for companies entering the review process with promises they might be unable or unwilling to act on later. During the review process, PPL released a list of seventeen methods to

meet state climate goals. The document promises that PPL will “submit a report to the Division within 12 months of the transaction closing on its specific decarbonization goals for Narragansett to support the goals of Rhode Island’s 2021 Act on Climate.” But Webster said their language was too abstract to verify with confidence. In its rebuttal testimony, National Grid said the Act on Climate does not place any immediate requirements on public utilities and that “compliance with future rules or regulations implementing the 2021 Act should be addressed in a separate forum and not as a condition of approval of the transaction.” Amid these disagreements on the implementation of the Act on Climate, Curran suggested that businesses within the state might look to the result of the ongoing hearing when interpreting how they will meet the requirements of the bill moving forward. The resistance toward incorporating the Act on Climate in decisions “comes from entrenched economic interests that are fighting pretty hard not to have those changes put into place, because it means they will have to substantially change much of the business that they have been doing,” she said. “Although it is frustrating that this is happening, it demonstrates the power of the Act on Climate and how important it is to have legally binding climate mandates because it allows us to use the court system to enforce it,” Salem said. On April 1, the Superior Court ruled in favor of Neronha’s appeal and scheduled a subsequent oral argument held Tuesday, suggesting DPUC failed to “adequately consider the environmental impacts of the transaction in accordance with the 2021 Act on Climate” in its initial approval. After the oral argument, the Court will provide a final decision and community members will have one more opportunity to contest the sale. According to Curran, both the Attorney General and PPL could decide to take the matter to the Supreme Court. If the sale moves forward, Curran thinks there is still room for optimism about PPL’s ability to meet climate goals. “Maybe we will be pleasantly surprised by PPL. They actually have done some interesting work in Pennsylvania and have actually done more work than National Grid in putting up advanced metering functionalities,” she said. “Maybe this is a utility we can work with.” According to Miller, PPL is “excited about the prospect of serving the energy needs of Rhode Islanders as well as partnering with the State to achieve its decarbonization goals.” While Webster is less confident about PPL’s ability to meet state climate needs, he noted that the Acadia Center is “committed to help PPL advance the clean energy future.” But first, he added, the organization wants “the state to conduct a thorough review of all the elements of that clean future that we need to address.”

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 2022

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD | NEWS

METRO

Providence mayoral candidates discuss platforms in open forum Cuervo, LaFortune, Smiley, Solomon speak to community members in Jewelry District

to change how it calculates eligibility for affordable housing. “We could be leveraging those federal funds to build in Providence, to rehab old housing stock, build new stock, use tons of irregular and undersized lots,” he said. Solomon said that the city needs to collaborate with nonprofits, noting his successful work with groups such as the West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation while serving as council president.

BY ELYSEE BARAKETT STAFF WRITER

Four Democratic candidates who are running to be the mayor of Providence — Gonzalo Cuervo, Nirva LaFortune MA’19, Brett Smiley and Michael Solomon — explained their platforms and answered questions in a Jewelry District Association open forum Tuesday. The event was moderated by Dan McGowan, a columnist for the Boston Globe. The Democratic primary for mayor of Providence will be held Sept. 13, and the general election will be held Nov. 8. At the forum, candidates discussed topics including the taxation of nonprofits, issues with Providence Public Schools, the housing crisis and others. Cuervo is the former deputy secretary of state and former chief of staff to R.I. Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea. The Herald previously reported that Cuervo’s platform is centered around reducing income inequality, fighting the housing crisis and focusing on green initiatives. LaFortune is currently the Providence City Council member for Ward 3. Her platform says she will focus on advocating “for safe and healthy communities for our families” and “for access to a quality education for all of our children.” Smiley was chief operating officer in Providence under Elorza, as well as chief of staff and director of administration for former Gov. Gina Raimondo. According to his website, Smiley aims to improve quality of life in Providence through supporting schools, small businesses and safety. Solomon, the former president of the Providence City Council, ran for mayor in 2014 along with Smiley. Solomon stated that his priorities are education and public safety in an interview with WPRI in February. To improve public safety, he seeks to combat gun violence and increase school educational programs, he told WPRI. Education in Providence Cuervo said that he would push for

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The mayoral candidates discussed issues such as education, public safety, the housing crisis and PILOT payments in the open forum. a longer school day and year. Solomon said he would demand more accountability from teachers and administrators. Smiley said that the current teachers’ union contract is too restrictive and that a new contract is necessary to give teachers more flexibility. LaFortune said she would address absenteeism and called for a pipeline to attract more teachers and a residency program to better retain teachers. LaFortune said that the process for appointing the new Providence Schools Superintendent Javier Montañez was not inclusive of the community. But she added that this is the first time in her lifetime since being a part of the Providence Public School system “that I have seen a superintendent that has actually gone through our school district (as) a teacher, then became an administrator and now serves as the superintendent.” The three other candidates expressed their support for Montañez. Smiley added that the teachers and students he has spoken to approve of the appointment. Solomon advocated for the presence of school resource officers — police officers positioned in city schools — while Smiley said principals should determine whether or not they should be present on a case-by-case basis. LaFortune and Cuervo said that they do not support SROs and would rather invest in other support services for local schools.

Public safety McGowan asked candidates about crime in the city, referencing a spike in homicides over the past year. LaFortune called for a strong public safety plan. Her plan would include more officers on foot talking to people and learning the community, greater investment in crisis response initiatives to respond to nonviolent incidents and more extracurricular youth programs. Cuervo said he would address community policing so “that people in neighborhoods get to know the officers that are assigned to their neighbor,” he said. “This breaks down whatever barriers may exist, and those relationships can help improve that perception (of high levels of crime) and the reality of public safety in our neighborhoods.” Solomon said that the city needs a “perpetual police academy to get the level of policing that we need for our neighborhoods.” He added that he supports greater community policing and increased education programs and jobs for young people. He said he would support a mandatory minimum sentence for anybody with an illegal firearm in the city. Smiley said that policing cannot be the entire solution. He said that while more police staffing is necessary, the city should also focus on tools to keep people safe, such as behavioral health response teams or the 911 diversion program, meant to reduce the number

of emergency calls that police respond to. He said that Providence is the economic heart of the state and needs to guarantee safety and security for community members. All candidates agreed that there should be a Providence fire chief, a role that has not been filled since 2015. The housing crisis McGowan asked candidates about their plans to address the housing crisis. He noted that the data show Providence has historic lows in rental vacancy and housing production. Smiley said that the city needs to build more housing to increase the supply, adding that the city needs to make it easier to buy and sell property. He also said that the city should make it easier for homeowners to “develop additional single units on their property,” which could provide income and add housing units. LaFortune talked about actions she has already taken on the City Council to help the housing crisis. “I introduced legislation to incentivize developers to develop more affordable housing,” she said, adding that the city needs to increase the supply of housing to lower the cost. Cuervo said that the city needs “to increase the level of homeownership and the level of poor occupancy.” He said that he would use the soft power of the mayoral office to lobby the state

Taxing nonprofits The candidates expressed different views on taxing nonprofits in the city, which are tax exempt. The city has Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreements with various nonprofits in Providence, under which the organizations make voluntary contributions to the city. The University makes direct payments to the city under two agreements, both of which are set to expire this year. Cuervo said that taxpayers are being “taxed beyond burden.” He said that while Brown brings economic development, prestige and research dollars, the University also brings gentrification, burden to city services and a rise in cost for residents. He said the city should use the city of New Haven’s relationship with Yale as a model for Providence’s relationship with Brown — Yale recently announced it would increase contributions to New Haven by $52 million over six years. Smiley noted that Brown has buildings on Thayer Street and pays commercial taxes on those properties while other nonprofits do not. He said the Brown and RISD are huge parts of the city and make Providence special. Solomon said that he supports some sort of payment to the city by nonprofits determined by a formula. He added that the city should renegotiate its agreement with the University once the current agreement expires because Brown’s “footprint is a lot bigger than it was 10 years ago.” LaFortune said that local universities should all pay more taxes to go toward investment into the city. She underscored her work in higher education and said that students from underrepresented groups need money from these colleges, and that she would not want to take away these students’ ability to attend these institutions.